Chapter 148: Enemy of the Entire Nation

First Prince Mula was utterly dumbfounded.

When he had hopefully smeared his fresh blood across the sacred spear, the brilliant radiance emanating from the weapon had filled him with ecstasy. Yet, the light had rapidly faded away, vanishing into absolute nothingness.

This plunged his mind near the brink of collapse. He refused to believe that anything could be wrong with the sacred spear, which meant the only possible flaw lay within himself.

"Could it be... could it be that I am not truly of royal blood?" The First Prince's heart skipped a beat, his emotions teetering on the edge of shattering.

"Impossible! This is utterly impossible!" Trembling, the First Prince sliced open his own wrist, crimson blood flowing freely until it nearly drenched the entire sacred spear.

Yet, no matter how much of his warm vitality he poured forth, it failed to elicit even the slightest reaction from the weapon.

"Only those of the royal bloodline can break the seal and fully activate the sacred spear! Why—why—why am I not enough?!" The First Prince's voice trembled uncontrollably.

Terrified by the sight of the blood-drenched First Prince, Keli turned and bolted toward the exit.

The First Prince no longer had the spare energy to pay attention to Keli. If he lacked the royal bloodline to activate the sacred spear, he would be unable to absorb the divine fragment, and all his grand plans would crumble to dust!

Keli was intercepted at the doorway by Leotis. Knowing that the girl still served a purpose—and uncertain of how Mula intended to extract the fragment from her—Leotis did not kill her outright.

"You little brat, you'd better cooperate obediently with the First Prince, or all your companions will be buried along with you," Leotis threatened the young girl.

At the same time, he found it rather strange that the First Prince had allowed Keli to run off in the first place.

Seizing Keli by the collar, Leotis hoisted her up and dragged her back upstairs, ignoring her cries and struggles.

Before long, he beheld the First Prince, who was kneeling on the floor, frantically slashing at his own wrist. It seemed the prince had yet to give up, convincing himself that his bloodline was merely too diluted and that more blood was needed to rouse the sacred spear.

"Your Highness, what on earth are you doing...?" Leotis was thoroughly startled by the gruesome scene.

"Is it you?! What sort of sorcery did you use to bewitch the First Prince?" Leotis's gaze snapped instantly to Keli, though he quickly dismissed the thought.

The First Prince, wielding the God-Devouring Spear, was not someone easily manipulated by evil intents, and Keli appeared entirely harmless.

When he heard the First Prince continuously chanting bizarre incantations under his breath, a sudden dawn of realization struck him.

Hearing the voice of Leotis, the First Prince finally regained a sliver of his sanity.

"Ha! How foolish I was; it must be the sacred spear that is at fault. Didn't that fellow called Chu Yun claim he had absorbed a divine fragment, yet the spear showed no reaction whatsoever? How could a little girl as weak as this one possibly have absorbed a divine fragment, and yet the sacred spear reacted to her?"

"Yes, that's it! There is definitely something wrong with the sacred spear, hahaha!"

"Your Highness, please compose yourself," Leotis advised with a helpless sigh.

Trembling, the First Prince stepped toward Keli, gripping the longspear tightly.

Sure enough, this time the sacred spear failed to sense any divine fragment within Keli, refusing to tremble as it had previously.

Witnessing this outcome, the First Prince could not help but laugh through his tears of joy.

"It really was the fault of the sacred spear! My royal bloodline is beyond question!" The First Prince twisted his face into a ferocious grin.

Leotis furrowed his brow, utterly bewildered by the bizarre turn of events. What on earth was going on here?

Still, he could see that the sacred spear currently exhibited no reaction toward Keli whatsoever, and judging by the girl's state, she hardly looked like a divine fragment wielder—after all, where had anyone ever seen such a feeble divine fragment wielder?

Unlike Chu Yun, ordinary people who absorbed divine fragments experienced a drastic transformation; even the most sluggish person would become as fierce and predatory as a wolf upon absorbing such power.

"Your Highness, the most suspicious person in this city is undoubtedly that Chu Yun. Even a genius, even a tier-three mage, would not possess the arrogance to completely disregard your majesty under normal circumstances."

"It is highly probable that he truly is a bearer of a divine fragment, which is why he acts with such unconcerned impunity."

"The reason the sacred spear malfunctioned is likely his doing. It is said that certain high-grade divine fragments can exert influence over divine weapons!" Leotis offered his own hypothesis.

Clutching at it like a drowning man grasping a straw, the First Prince accepted this seemingly logical conjecture without a second thought.

"Indeed! According to the historical records left by our ancestors, the divine rank of this divine weapon is not exceptionally high. Any divine fragment superior to it in grade possesses the potential to interfere with its function!"

"Didn't that Chu Yun openly admit to having absorbed a divine fragment? The damned scoundrel clearly holds us in utter contempt and is deliberately provoking us!" The First Prince suddenly understood, a sinister realization dawning on him. "Come, let us go find that Chu Yun right now!"

Yet, facing the eager and enthusiastic First Prince, Leotis hesitated once more.

If Chu Yun truly was a divine fragment wielder, and had the audacity to ignore the majesty of a tier-five dragon knight while wantonly provoking the First Prince right to his face, then his power might genuinely be formidable.

After all, if even the sacred spear could be suppressed by him, the opponent's strength was certainly beyond Leotis's ability to contend with.

To offend a powerful divine fragment wielder merely for the sake of a demented, disgraced prince—Leotis was forced to weigh the pros and cons carefully.

"What are you standing there for, you idiot? Hurry up and help me capture him! It must be him who tampered with the sacred spear!" the First Prince urged impatiently.

Leotis's mouth twitched. The First Prince certainly had a talent for making people want to punch him; he even toyed with the fleeting thought of killing him right here as a stepping stone to earn favor elsewhere.

Yet he knew that notion was far too naive—at the very least, he would have to wait until the Second Prince officially issued an arrest warrant for the First Prince before any such move could become viable.

Extremely reluctantly, Leotis followed the First Prince out of the building, dragging Keli along with them as an afterthought.

Fortunately, just as they emerged from the house, Count Mond finally arrived, accompanied by an enraged, beautiful elf lady—doubtless his wife and Keli's mother.

Seeing that Keli had not been harmed, Count Mond let out a breath of relief before angrily demanding, "Mula! What is the meaning of this? Do you intend to murder my daughter?!"

Judging by the way Count Mond addressed him, it was clear he was consumed by fury. Outside, the Black Stone Knights, under the leadership of Haige, had already surrounded the Royal Knights.

Although the Royal Knights possessed greater combat prowess, the Black Stone Knights held the absolute advantage in numbers, morale, and moral high ground. Surrounding them were numerous adventurers and elite masters from various professional guilds, all summoned here by Count Mond.

Count Mond was generous and benevolent, commanding immense prestige within Black Stone City, and countless adventurers had benefited from his kindness. Furthermore, fueled by the lingering anger from the banquet of the previous night, though actual combat was one matter, showing up to back him by lending their presence was something everyone was more than willing to do.

Mula was startled by this overwhelming momentum, and in his desperation, he ordered Leotis to clear the area.

At that exact moment, Keli's mother, Yilisha, stepped forward.

"I ask you: do you intend to represent the royal family in declaring war upon the Elven race?"