Chapter 155: The Injured Paimon

One of them was a flame storm magic scroll, though the scroll happened to be cast in a rather "unfortunate" location, directly encompassing the First Prince himself.

Everyone simply assumed that he had suffered a concussion from his injuries, leading to a miscast spell, while the second scroll was a thunderburst that similarly caught him in its radius. In this way, the wounds on his head were seamlessly covered up.

Looking at the First Prince engulfed in a sea of fire and lightning, the onlookers exchanged awkward glances.

Chu Yun dismissed Mula’s soul, then cast a satisfied glance at his experience points. Farming experience truly relied on quantity to achieve results.

Planeswalker Lv18 (1326/3400), General Experience 665 points.

The raging fire was quickly extinguished by a mage’s torrential rain spell, leaving Mula’s entire body charred to a crisp. His soul had also dissipated, making it impossible to interrogate him through soul-related magic.

Gazing upon Mula’s corpse, Barrett, the legion commander of the border forces known as the Iron Hammer, was brimming with excitement.

He snatched the holy spear tightly gripped in Mula’s hand. This was a godhead-tier weapon, an artifact he had never even had the chance to admire before!

"What a pity, I've heard this weapon can only be wielded by members of the Aino royal family." After admiring the holy spear, Barrett stowed it away in his personal spatial inventory and began to loot the corpse.

Chu Yun had left a few platinum coins and miscellaneous items on him to make the scene look more convincing. As for why the spatial ring couldn't be found, Chu Yun was hardly in a position to worry about such details.

The surrounding soldiers stared with greedy eyes at Barrett, who had just finished looting. According to convention, they ought to receive a share of the spoils. In particular, the families of those soldiers killed by Mula would receive higher compensation pensions.

Yet, aside from the long spear, a handful of platinum coins, and some random trinkets, Barrett found nothing else—falling far short of expectations.

"Barrett, where is the spatial ring? If it's sealed, I can help you lift the seal," a military mage asked with a covetous gaze.

Barrett shook his head. "Not found. It was probably destroyed in the heat of battle."

No one believed him. Spatial equipment would burst apart entirely if destroyed, scattering all its contents across the ground; it was impossible for it to simply vanish into nothingness.

"Impossible. As the First Prince, how could he not possess a single piece of spatial storage?" everyone thought to themselves.

Barrett offered no further explanation. He was the legion commander; if he chose to share a fraction of the spoils, it was their good fortune, and if he didn't, what could they possibly do to him?

Besides, he truly hadn't found any spatial equipment.

Barrett could sense the distrust in the gazes of his officers and men, who assumed he had secretly pocketed the spatial ring to keep the treasures for himself. He could not explain, nor did he deign to explain.

"Transmit the situation here back to the Royal City and inform His Majesty. After examining Mula's corpse, guard it strictly, and send men to transport it back to the capital shortly," Barrett ordered his subordinates, while he himself pulled out the holy spear to continue studying it.

The coroner examined Mula's body with utmost care, but Chu Yun's plan was so airtight that they could discern nothing amiss. Barrett's looting had also been exceptionally professional, leaving the coroner unable to glean any extra clues.

The Aino border army on the opposite side of the Carlos River had also detected the battle across the water, though they were unaware that it was their First Prince involved. By the time a spy risked exposure to relay this critical intelligence back, the First Prince's corpse had already been hauled away.

Enraged, the Aino border army nearly crossed the Carlos River to launch an all-out war. Fortunately, the officers remained relatively rational and only dispatched an elite force across the river in an attempt to intercept and retrieve the body midway.

However, the Camilla Kingdom's side was extremely cunning; they directly utilized transport airships and deployed several decoy squads. The Aino Kingdom's air force was somewhat inferior by comparison, and ultimately failed to catch up.

The border forces had no choice but to report the situation to Blackstone City and the Royal City. Truth be told, they were in the wrong here. The First Prince had clearly crossed the border first and slain numerous soldiers, making the opposing side's actions a matter of legitimate self-defense.

Upon receiving the news in Blackstone City, Leoties nearly fainted. Just what kind of theatrical farce was the First Prince putting on? Leoties wouldn't even have been surprised had he defected to the Karachia Kingdom seeking political asylum.

Yet, to venture alone into the border army's territory and ultimately meet his demise—he was practically an idiot!

"No, wait. The First Prince's behavior over the past few days did seem rather idiotic. Could it be that something went wrong with the holy spear, frying the brains of its wielder as well?"

"No, no, that's not it. The First Prince's escape plan was quite brilliant; it's not something an idiot could come up with. Could it be... intermittent cerebral palsy?" Leoties no longer held any shred of respect for the First Prince who had dragged him down, internally cursing him relentlessly.

After all, he was the commanding officer ultimately responsible for protecting the First Prince's safety. Now, the First Prince had not only slipped away from his custody but had also been slain by the empire. They had even failed to recover the body—Leoties's offense was by no means minor.

Even if this outcome was secretly welcomed by the Second Prince, failing to punish Leoties would make it difficult to appease the public. After all, he truly hadn't executed the Second Prince's critical order to bring Mula safely back to the capital.

With a new emperor ascending the throne, making an example of a powerful Knight Commander whose family background wasn't overly entrenched served as a warning to many restless ministers.

"No, I must retrieve the corpse at all costs!" Leoties ultimately made a perilous decision.

Riding a black dragon entirely alone, he flew across the Carlos River, intending to personally reclaim the First Prince's corpse. Naturally, such an intrusion deep into enemy territory was fraught with danger, and a fierce battle was inevitable.

The mastermind behind this entire incident, Chu Yun, had already returned to Blackstone City.

Harvesting a bountiful haul, he hummed a cheerful little tune as he made his way toward his residence.

With this wealth, he could live a blissful, carefree life of utter idleness. Various magical artifacts would be well within his grasp, and he eagerly wished to experience the thrill of striking it rich overnight a few more times.

He had even mapped out his retirement: finding a safe city, buying a luxurious mansion, raising some pets, and hiring a retinue of maids, simply wandering around the city to farm experience and slowly level up whenever he pleased.

However, just as Chu Yun was delightfully mapping out his future, he received a distress signal via Kalo's contract link.

Though the monster contract had no distance restrictions, message transmission could only be achieved within a certain range. Chu Yun had just arrived at the academy gates, putting him close enough to receive Kalo's contract message.

"Master, it's bad! Someone is trying to force their way in. Paimon is fighting them and is already injured." The message relayed by Kalo instantly filled Chu Yun with fury.

He hurriedly activated his flight wings, rushing back to his apartment at maximum speed.

There, a group of individuals clad in Royal Knight uniforms were surrounding and attacking Paimon. Numerous bodies lay sprawled across the ground in disorder, and Paimon was covered in blood.

Many staff members and mages were watching from the periphery, but intimidated by the prestige of the Royal Knights, none dared to intervene. The warrior leading them stood out from the rest, wearing the attire of the First Prince's personal guards.