Chapter 291: Niya the Lord

Swish—

Aiboke did not hesitate in the slightest, immediately standing up and saying with equal solemnity: "Aipusi, you need not doubt my loyalty; I will continue to follow Niya's orders until the end of my life."

After speaking, Aiboke's expression softened, and after hesitating for a moment, he ultimately could not help but ask: "Aipusi, are you really, really—"

"Yes, I am dying." Regarding this point, Aipusi was quite calm; naturally, he would not explain that he was merely entering the Stasis Chamber and might still live in the future.

No one could say for sure about the future; it would not be too late to talk about it once he could come out alive. He looked at Aiboke, who wore an expression of unbearable sorrow, and felt a sense of sadness in his heart:

"With you in the Tower of Time and Sain in the Territory, I am very reassured."

As he was speaking, a series of light footsteps came from outside the room. Aipusi knew the others had arrived, so he let Aiboke bring them in.

Soon, the people outside entered this conference room located in the Town Hall one after another, dividing into three rows according to their respective Sequences.

Aipusi's gaze swept across these familiar faces one by one—

There was the Temple Sequence, which was relatively independent and the easiest to hand over; the Tower of Time Sequence, linked together with the Mage Tower as its core bond; and the Territory Sequence, which had the weakest strength but involved the most people.

"Bishop Anbulier, you shall bear witness: from now on, the Lord of Savile Territory is Niya."

Aipusi's words shocked everyone, and they all began to calculate whether the change in leadership would affect their own interests. However, Bishop Anbulier, who was the first to be named by Aipusi, did not hesitate at all and immediately bowed to Niya.

At the same time, Bishop Anbulier summoned the will of the Lord of Radiance. Once that orderly, ruthless Holy Light filled the entire room, Aipusi repeated his previous words:

"From now on, I hand over Savile Territory into the hands of my daughter, Niya. From now on, Niya is the Lord of Savile Territory, with the Lord of Radiance as witness."

"Lord Niya, I, on behalf of the Territory Temple, offer my loyalty!"

Under the will of the Lord of Radiance, Anbulier led the Temple Sequence in collective allegiance. With someone having taken the lead, the Territory Sequence, under the leadership of the Chief Executive of Savile Territory and Town Mayor of Savile Town, Sain, bowed to Niya and swore their loyalty.

Of course, compared to the Temple personnel, whose demands were simple and whose personal desires were minimal, the minds of the bigwigs in the Territory were much more complex. Even if they pledged loyalty, it did not mean they would fully obey, and they might even misinterpret orders.

Yet, the governance of the Territory could not function without them. Aipusi knew these people were trouble, but they were merely trouble. What he worried about most was not this, but the Tower of Time.

The people of the Tower of Time were not loyal to the Tower Master, but chose to be there based on interests, connected by contracts. If Niya could not guarantee the normal operation of the Tower of Time and the interests of the Mages, then the Mages would quickly abandon the Tower of Time.

"From now on, Niya will lead the Tower of Time!"

As soon as Aipusi finished speaking, the Mages in the conference room began to stir, and some even started secret Spellcasting to communicate.

Aipusi did not stop this, but instead signaled for Niya to speak. He looked at his daughter, whose expression was still somewhat dazed, and felt angry in his heart, but at the same time, for the first time, he felt regret for his own actions of taking risks for the sake of a Plane Crystal.

He had to admit that he had indeed been blinded by the interests represented by the Plane Crystal at the time, and even if it were only a possibility, he had paid a huge price.

But from another perspective, how many people in this world could resist the temptation of a Plane Crystal!

Aipusi sighed inwardly, then looked at his daughter again, his heart full of pity and reluctance, but the handover had to continue. Aipusi reminded her:

"Niya, share your thoughts."

"Oh." Niya seemed to have just come back to her senses. She first glanced at her father, then noticed a group of Mages waiting to hear her thoughts, and only then did she react.

"I will maintain the Tower of Time's existing measures, keep the relevant Permission Levels and shares of all Mages unchanged, actively pay attention to external Magic development, promote trade with the outside world, and safeguard the overall interests of the Tower of Time."

These words sounded like some kind of action program; in fact, that is exactly what they were. A Tower Master could not force Mages to be loyal; they could only gain recognition through their own governing philosophy.

Without the Mages acting as wings, no matter how strong the Tower of Time was, it would just be a Mage Tower, lacking the influence to radiate across the entire Territory and even further regions.

Even a Great Arcanist could not ignore the class of Mages under them. They might be able to easily kill a specific Mage, but they could not kill the entire Mage class.

If everyone turned their backs, even with great power, life would not be easy.

Of course, such a situation usually did not happen. When ordinary Mages faced a Great Arcanist, their bottom line was shockingly low! More often than not, countless people would cry and beg to be a subordinate of a Great Arcanist.

And Niya needed to ensure the maintenance of past Permission Levels and shares, while also guaranteeing development, to gain the recognition of the Mages.

It was terrifyingly real.

After Niya finished stating her governing program, led by Aipusi's Apprentice, the group of Mages, headed by several Intermediate Mages, collectively announced their firm support for Niya's leadership.

With this, the handover of all three Sequences of Savile Territory was complete. Aipusi watched all this with a smile, his thoughts drifting back to the time when he became the Lord.

He knew that although the surface handover was complete, there were still many details that needed to be slowly ironed out, but unfortunately, he might not live to see it.

"There is one more thing. For certain reasons, the Tower of Time cannot return to the Territory for the time being. You must do a good job of appeasement in all aspects."

This matter could not be hidden forever, so Aipusi said it all at once to avoid adding trouble for Niya. Sure enough, just as he finished speaking,

Sain immediately began to complain tearfully, "Without the Mage Tower, how can we Stun those outsiders? How can the residents of the Territory live and produce in peace?"

The Mage group also came to complain, worried that the Tower of Time not being in the town area would affect its normal supply, especially regarding the procurement of experimental materials and the export of Magic Items; these all required a stable trade environment.

"Sain!" Aipusi knew he was speaking of reality, but the Tower of Time truly could not move now. Even if they accumulated enough energy for an overall teleportation in a year, for the sake of the stability of the Guidance Beacon, it was not suitable to change its position.

"I will have Niya arrange for Tower of Time members to be stationed at the Town Hall. At the same time, the Temple also needs to send people to be stationed in the East District. Finally, if necessary, the power of the Tower of Time can descend at any time."

Just like Guidance teleportation, other Spell powers of the Tower of Time could also descend remotely, though it was a matter of cost. In the past, there was rarely a need to do so, but the situation was different now.

"That is all. Bishop Anbulier, stay behind; everyone else, return to the celebration!"

"Yes!"

The celebration outside was still continuing, and it would not be good for so many people to stay away for long. It was just that they had arrived with one mood, but were returning with another.