Chapter: 45. How True!
Philex’s abnormal behavior attracted the attention of all the royalty and guard knights present.
The usually hot-tempered and impulsive First Prince of the Kingdom slammed the armrest of his chair and suddenly stood up, pointing at the back of Philex’s head and cursing loudly!
“You jerk! Can’t you hear His Majesty speaking to you? How dare you shamelessly gnaw away at what our kingdom offers, don’t be so arrogant!”
“Arsen, sit down.”
“But Father, he…!”
“I know, I am right here; you don’t need to say more.”
“Okay… I understand!”
The First Prince also realized that this was not his place to speak, and saying too much would be overstepping.
But he just couldn’t help but curse Philex, who flaunted himself thanks to the Church State’s support!
The First Prince was passionate, and his character was suitable for fighting on the battlefield.
But he was not meticulous enough, and handling political affairs didn’t come easily to him, which was his shortcoming.
Because of this, King Celtic had excluded him from the line of succession to the throne.
A true ruler… cannot be expected to lead merely with passion.
The King called out Philex’s name once more.
Seeing that he was still arrogantly gazing at the scenery in the distance, shaking his head and swaying, the King’s patience was running thin.
He raised his hand, signaling the guard knight corps to prepare to act and capture him.
But at that moment…
Philex, even without turning around, spoke in a mocking tone.
“I say, Your Majesty, is this really okay?”
Celtic raised his hand again, telling the knights to wait a moment before acting.
“Why not.” Since Philex was not in a hurry, neither was Celtic. “Philex, you have no contributions to the kingdom. Coincidentally, the Pope is present today, so let him teach you what the relationship between a ruler and his subjects is. Or do you want to bring up the Church State again? I’m sorry, times have changed. As you can see, Princess Xue Feiya is willing to cooperate with our kingdom, which entirely changes the situation. Philex, I advise you to see the situation clearly and find a suitable path early on to avoid making yourself too miserable.”
“Hahaha… thank you, Your Majesty, for your kind advice! But… who exactly can’t see the situation?”
Under the eyes filled with hatred and contempt, Philex turned around.
His crafty, elongated face was surprisingly calm, with a smirk of delight.
He stroked his slender beard, and his purple luxurious robe danced in the night wind, as if narrating tonight’s inevitable unrest.
“Your Majesty, do you remember who is responsible for maintaining the gladiatorial arena?”
“Naturally, don’t say I don’t let you take on great responsibilities; if you truly want to showcase your talents, you should return to the Church State…”
“Ah, no, no, no, I never said I was dissatisfied, did I?”
Philex first pretended to be humble and scared, waving his hand.
But in the next moment, he straightened his back, glancing at the royal family members lined up on both sides.
And his next words struck like a hammer at everyone’s hearts.
“Thanks to you granting me this position… I am able to set up a 【Blast】 here on this high platform that can blow all of you to smithereens, right? I say, Your Majesty, do you think this magic, once activated, would be enough to wipe out all the royalty of Olus in one go?”
“Outrageous!”
The knights tightened their grips on their long spears, aiming them at Philex’s face, while Philex slowly raised his hands and partially opened his mouth, revealing the recently fitted teeth.
He had lost a front tooth previously and had it replaced with a prosthetic using the magic engineering of the Church State.
“Prosthetic teeth can do more than just chew food, they also include the activation procedure for magic… I advise you not to stab your spears over here; otherwise, I can’t guarantee that when my head gets pierced, you’ll be able to sit here in the next moment, hahaha…!”
Perhaps seeing the timid expression of the weak Third Prince, made Philex feel quite satisfied!
With this, the knight corps didn’t dare to take further action.
“Bluffing.” Celtic remained calm, “Is the magic on the high platform something you can set up just like that? The kingdom has its own inspection department; you can’t bypass them… tsk.”
“Hey, hey, hey, you finally found out, huh? Do you really think I’ve just been idly eating and doing nothing in the kingdom all these years?”
Celtic caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye.
The personnel responsible for facility inspections, who were originally on standby below the high platform, had already disappeared without him noticing.
Tsk… did Philex bribe them in advance to make his actions easier?
In fact, Celtic had always been on guard against Philex and secretly monitored his every move.
The King had his own means.
But Philex had resources from the Church State.
Philex knew very well that in the aftermath of the war, when the kingdom’s finances were severely depleted… aside from Ecklight and a few loyal fools, there were no officials who could resist a huge sum of money.
Of course, Philex wouldn’t be foolish enough to make direct contact with those people.
He had recently been active in the kingdom’s merchant association, spreading the word that he intended to “use the merchant association to facilitate the Demon Princess’s appearance in the gladiatorial arena,” distracting the King’s attention.
In reality, his agenda with the merchant association had nothing to do with it.
What he wanted was for the association to provide benefits to the kingdom officials he needed and leave his name behind so he could make a significant move at a critical moment without any restrictions.
The King quickly pieced all of this together, but it seemed he was a bit slow in coming to a conclusion.
“Philex… you sly fox… it turns out I underestimated you.”
“You shouldn’t treat me like a useless dog, should you? Guess how a useless dog gets chosen by His Holiness the Pope to be sent to the kingdom? Haha… don’t blame me, I never had good intentions from the start; we both know that.”
“……”
The King understood that no one should act recklessly now.
On this high platform, it was not just him; his royal offspring were also present, and they were the future of the kingdom; nothing could go wrong.
The King had slightly underestimated Philex.
But one thing he would absolutely not be mistaken about—Philex was a cowardly person afraid of death.
He was probably smarter than he had imagined.
However, since he was also standing on this high platform, he would never rashly trigger magic.
Moreover… Celtic couldn’t really say what Philex’s intentions behind this threat were.
The unusual atmosphere on the high platform naturally confused the audience present.
From their perspective, several knights suddenly aimed their spears at an official; yet nothing happened, and the platform returned to calm.
At first, no one thought much of it.
Until, below the high platform, a figure soared into the air.
It was Ecklight.
When the King pressed his palm down a second time—that was the signal for an emergency.
It wasn’t just him rushing to the high platform.
Members of the Light Family and masters of the Kingdom’s Knight Corps were hurrying from all directions; the sensitivity of the 【Sword of the Nation】 was sufficient to protect this country at any moment.
But…
Swish!
The sound of countless blades clashing rang out simultaneously.
Right alongside the appearance of the Light Family members, numerous figures in black robes burst forth from the audience, each holding curled blades, forcibly challenging, blocking all the kingdom’s masters rushing to the high platform outside the arena.
Their specific identities were unidentifiable, but they all shared a common feature.
—that was the crescent-shaped pendant hanging in front of them.
Ecklight charged forward, sweeping away three black-robed masters who tried to block him with a single slash.
But just as he was about to reach the high platform…
A large-scale swirling fire dragon and sharp ice blades suddenly appeared before his eyes!
This forced him to adjust his posture in mid-air and land, delaying his advance.
Ecklight’s sharp gaze locked onto the direction of the magic source.
After raising his broadsword and slashing down to dissipate the two magical attacks, his expression became grave.
If it were just ordinary magic, it couldn’t possibly obstruct his steps as a Tenth-Phase Expert.
But if the opponent was also a Tenth-Phase Expert… and not just one…
Then it was another story.
From the dissipating magical dust emerged two elderly individuals with white hair.
Both surrounded by magical energy, they had already cast various magical enhancements on themselves in advance.
“Tenth-Phase mages from the Church State, huh… tsk, there’s no time left… step aside quickly!”
As fellow Tenth-Phases, how could one expect a swift victory when facing two?
【Windsong Fire Domain】
【Thunder Dragon’s Roar】
A large-scale fire entwined with the swirling thunder surged around Ecklight, forming an imperfect small domain.
Even though it wasn’t as inescapable as domain magic itself, it was enough to temporarily restrain Ecklight’s actions.
On the high platform.
Celtic had already signaled, but no one came to assist.
He could see that the personnel sent to guard him were all being held back.
This made the King’s expression grow slightly strained.
Looking at those strong individuals hiding in the audience who suddenly appeared, the King’s voice turned cold.
“Can I interpret this as… the Church State declaring war on the kingdom?”
“Not at all. See, His Holiness the Pope is just as surprised.”
The King looked up and saw the Pope also standing, glancing around in confusion.
—Whether that was genuine ignorance or feigned ignorance remains to be assessed for now.
But Philex’s next words made the King’s heart grow cold.
Not in a state of being helpless.
But in deep pain.
“Alright, alright, Second Prince, how long are you going to sit there? Isn’t everything you arranged? Please come to my side to command the battle; you are the star of this feast, tomorrow’s ‘His Majesty the King of Olus.'”
“Philex, you are clever but lack manners. My father is still here, what nonsense are you speaking?”
“Oh dear… it is indeed my disrespect.”
Even while speaking the words “nonsense.”
In the shocked gaze of Livra, her second brother, the Second Prince of the kingdom, Mi Erhe, with his tousled golden hair, smiled and stood up, leaving the royal area steadily to walk alongside Philex before anyone could react.
………………………………….
Below the platform, in the audience VIP area.
Miss Shaya held a grilled fish head, while Xial clutched the grilled fish tail.
They hadn’t even started the finals, and they were already in a brawl!
“You perverted beast… let go! Are you stealing my grilled fish? Are you even human?!”
“Wuw… Princess Xue Feiya, just a bite! Just one bite!”
“Didn’t you say you don’t like fish? Why are you stealing now at a critical moment?!”
“Because this is the fish you’ve eaten! I want to bite where you’ve bitten!”
“That’s why I said you’re a perverted beast?! Ah, what’s wrong, Xiya?”
Xue Fei… you even asked me what’s wrong.
Why don’t you look up and see, the audience area is in complete chaos.
Just look at the flashing blades; the battle is extremely fierce!
You’re still here fighting over grilled fish?!
Xiya also stood up, focusing and serious as she stared towards a spot not far from here.
As a hero, she should have been the first to rush to the high platform.
But… she knew that trying to get there would consume a lot of time.
A few meters away, there stood a thin, frail old woman holding a magic staff, appearing as if she could be blown away by the wind.
But if one were to sense closely… they would realize she was already a Tenth-Phase Expert.
Including those two who were stalling her father, there were three Tenth-Phase Experts from the Church, that was an all-out deployment…
“Sister Xial, get ready to transform into the Holy Sword; battle is coming…”
“Not happening, I haven’t had my grilled fish yet, you fight by yourself first.”
“!”
The evil grilled fish!
Shaya used her palm to push against Xial’s forehead, nudging her aside, and pulled the grilled fish back into Storage Magic, tilting back her head with her black hair cascading down, revealing her cute forehead.
“It’s fine, Xiya, if you don’t take action, that old lady won’t either; you see her not moving, it’s clear she’s just there to stall you.”
“But I have to go rescue the high platform…”
“Don’t worry~ just wait and see, I knew the Pope wouldn’t be so honest, we have our preparations~”
“True… oh, indeed, I didn’t expect what you said before might really come in handy.”
“Hehe, what can I say, I’m just smart. By the way, look over there, I have an impression of that guy; isn’t he the one from the last gladiatorial match that rigged it? Isn’t he a prince from your kingdom? He’s actually standing next to Philex, could it be… this is the legendary coup?”
“Shouldn’t be, let me take a look… uh, it really is?!”
