Chapter 146: Bearer of the Godhead Fragment

The attack on Chu Yun came from a Tier 4 black dragon mount belonging to a dragon knight—this was a genuine, flesh-and-blood giant dragon!

"If I can take it down, both Paimon and I should get a significant boost, right?" Chu Yun felt a surge of temptation.

Unfortunately, his strongest fire element summons were currently unsuited for aerial combat.

"No, wait. That Leotis is a dragon knight, which means this giant dragon has formed a pact with him, doesn't it?" Chu Yun's heart skipped a beat.

"If... if I take out Leotis, I wonder if the dragon will die too. And I wonder what kind of pact they signed."

There were many kinds of pacts in this world. Aside from the common demonic pet pact and slave pact, there were custom pacts with self-determined clauses. Dragons rarely signed life-and-death-related pacts with humans.

After all, human lifespans were negligible compared to those of dragons. Even among powerful individuals, unless they received the blessing of the Goddess of Life (or the Goddess of Death), their lifespans generally would not exceed those of ordinary humans by much. This was the helpless plight of humanity compared to other races.

Many humans went to extreme lengths for longevity, such as transforming into vampires or liches, or stealing the Spring of Life from the elven race, using any means necessary. Of course, the best path was to ignite the divine fire and transform one's physical body into a divine vessel, which granted a nearly eternal lifespan.

"I heard that this giant dragon didn't just follow Leotis out of gratitude after being saved by him; there are also rumors that Leotis took advantage of the beast being at death's door, using coercion and enticement to force a pact."

"Whatever, I'll just try and see. Besides, he happens to be right next to First Prince Mula." Chu Yun made his decision.

Aside from avenging the dragon's earlier attack, he made this choice to probe Leotis's bottom line; no one knew if the man might become an enemy in the future.

The black dragon clan belonged to the chaotic evil alignment. Chu Yun found it hard to believe the creature would so loyally circle overhead, protecting Leotis every moment of the day. The restrictions of their pact were likely extremely strict.

Wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth, Chu Yun concluded that casting via the Weave was indeed unreliable. The very first time he borrowed the Weave to cast a spell, it had backfired and caused him to spit blood.

Fortunately, Chu Yun's mental and vital forces were exceptionally resilient, so this indirect injury was nothing. He quickly regulated his spiritual energy.

Chu Yun estimated the distance to the black dragon and Leotis's perception range. If he summoned a Fire Element Lord at the edge of that range, there would likely be enough time for it to rush toward Leotis and the First Prince and detonate itself before the black dragon arrived.

However, the destructive death ray the black dragon had used earlier also had a very long range, allowing it to intercept the Fire Element Lord's path ahead of time. Because of this, success wasn't guaranteed. Once he stepped into Leotis's perception range, the black dragon, bound by their pact, would also sense Chu Yun's presence and launch an attack.

"Since that's the case, let's try the alternative method of advanced summoning!"

Spellcasting promoted by the Law of Chaos was relatively flexible. With fire element summoning, one could enhance the individual strength of a single fire element, or choose to increase the summoned quantity, transforming a single Lord-grade fire element into two Elite-grade fire element giants.

Chu Yun's strength had advanced further since his hunt for the Earth-Eater Beast; his intelligence attribute was currently as high as 33 points, and his professional level had reached Lv 16.

He could now summon fire elements up to Lv 49. Lv 49 was the absolute peak of Tier 5, and under normal circumstances, this spell could only summon fire elements up to Lv 50 at most.

Leotis was merely a Tier 5 knight; facing the self-destruction of a Tier 5 elite fire element, his chances of survival were slim to none.

Chu Yun flew closer to the perimeter of the perception range where Leotis and First Prince Mula were located. Just as he prepared to cast his spell, however, the group began to move.

They seemed to have finished searching the previous residence and were preparing to move on to the next.

Chu Yun recognized this next place: it was the headquarters of the Four-Leaf Clover.

When Bethrena rushed back upon receiving the news, it was already too late—members of the knight order had already entered the residence. She grew anxious. Koli was still inside the house.

If the First Prince discovered that the city lord's daughter was bouncing around inside, proving that her so-called severe illness was entirely a lie, it would bring immense trouble to the city lord.

The personnel at the headquarters were led out one by one. Koli was no exception, following fearfully behind the crowd.

Fortunately, the First Prince did not seem to recognize Koli and did not connect her to the city lord's daughter.

"Why are there so many elves here? Isn't this the aristocratic district? Why are these elves allowed to live here?" the First Prince asked, frowning.

Naturally, Leotis had no idea. He glanced at the guide beside him, a local from Black Stone City whom they had hired from the Adventurer's Guild.

"Your Highness, perhaps you aren't aware, but the Four-Leaf Clover Adventuring Party has a close relationship with the City Lord's wife. Their leader was granted honorary noble status, which is why they are permitted to live here," the guide said cautiously, glancing at Bethrena's hostile expression.

Since the prince hadn't asked, the guide kept quiet about Koli's identity, terrified of offending Bethrena and the city lord. The money for today's job was not easy to earn.

The First Prince was pressed for time. His mind was entirely occupied by the divine spark fragment, and he cared nothing for these trivial matters.

He had already unhooked the holy spear from his back and held it in his hand. The members of the adventuring party filed past him one by one, and Bethrena accepted their rude inspection without resistance.

"Hurry up, don't drag your feet. The brat at the back, come over too," the First Prince's lackey urged incessantly. Koli, positioned near the rear of the line, clutched her three-tailed cat tightly in fear.

Finally, just as Chu Yun was halfway through casting his spell in the mirror world, Koli stepped before the First Prince.

"Hum, hum, hum—"

The holy spear in the First Prince's hand began to tremble violently, buzzing with the excitement of a starving beast catching sight of prey after a thousand years.

The First Prince's eyes lit up. This was the limit-detection response for a divine spark fragment; he would never have dreamed that the fragment had actually been absorbed by a little girl!

"Heaven aids me! Hahaha!" The First Prince burst into hearty laughter.

He had finally found it. As long as he absorbed the divine spark fragment, his strength would instantly soar. With the holy spear to back him up, even if the Second Prince controlled a massive army, he would still be able to reclaim the throne.

Bethrena was deeply shocked. Originally, she had only worried that Koli's identity would be exposed and complicate the city lord's lies. Even in her wildest dreams, she hadn't expected that Koli possessed something like a divine spark fragment inside her body.

"So that's how it was. No wonder Koli's condition seemed different when she fell ill before. Those glazed lilies could only stabilize her condition; they could never have cured her outright. Now that I think about it, Koli simply absorbed the divine spark fragment and healed herself—it had almost nothing to do with the glazed lilies." Bethrena finally pieced it together.

This question had long troubled the city lord's family, but once a divine spark fragment was absorbed, it could not be detected without special tools.

"That's right, I remember the three-tailed cat brought back some strange fish from somewhere before. Koli's stomach felt a bit uncomfortable after eating it, and she fell ill shortly after. Could that fish have eaten the divine spark fragment, and then been eaten by Koli?" Bethrena recalled the past events.

At that moment, an impatient First Prince grabbed Koli and dragged her toward the interior of the house, while instructing Leotis, "Guard the door. No one is allowed to enter."

"No! Koli doesn't want to go with the bad uncle! Save Koli!" Koli burst into frightened tears.

Yet, to the First Prince, the more Koli struggled and cried, the more excited he became.