When the king suddenly left just like that, the fief leaders and the ministers present were at a loss. It
was as if he did not really plan to properly explain his peculiar behavior at all.
"So, that's it? What are we going to do then? What about the matter regarding the Blood Fief?"
Obviously, Briggs still had a lot of complaints. As the son of the late leader of the Blood Fief, he had
just taken the role of the leader of the fief. Since he was very dissatisfied with the outcome of the
discussion, he had no choice but to raise his concern to Zain. "Your Royal Highness, please uphold
justice for me on this matter!"
Immediately after, Zain shot a glance at Gilbert. After thinking for a moment, he eventually said,
"Gilbert, I know that the royal family has rarely intervened in the fight among the fiefs, but this situation
is an exception. I think you'd better return the control of the Blood Fief to Briggs."
"Your Royal Highness, don't get me wrong. It's not that I don't want to return it. However, what will I say
to the generals and soldiers of the Ghost Fief who have risked their lives in order to take the Blood Fief
back from the human army? Don't you think that it's going to be unfair for them? The Blood Fief fell
completely under the control of the human race, and what did the other fiefs do? They just stood aside
and did nothing. But in order to protect the dignity of the Shura Race and the nine fiefs, the Ghost Fief
tried its best to drive off the human army and retake the Blood Fief. Even if Briggs is now the new
leader of the Blood Fief, do you think that I should just easily return it?" Gilbert answered calmly, but it
was very obvious that his tone subtly put on airs.
"Really? If my father had not been instigated by you, he would not have let me lead most of our forces
to attack the Primitive Fief! Don't think that I'm stupid enough not to see through this kind of trick! For all
I know, the army of the human race must only be a cover, and this was an elaborate trap designed by
you!" Since Briggs was already familiar with the internal strife happening among the fiefs, he was smart
to guess part of the truth.
"Do you think you can just slander me however you want? So, are you saying that your father was
stupid enough to be easily instigated by me? He decided for himself. He saw that attacking the
Primitive Fief was good for the long-term interests of the Blood Fief. That was why he was willing to
send his troops! Besides, did you forget that the troops of the Ghost Fief were also there? You were
there, and you saw the size of our force. I guess you were not blind to see that it was definitely not
smaller than the army of the Blood Fief! Furthermore, if you are saying that it was just an elaborate
trick, do you think that I would let my sister lead the army in person?" Gilbert argued with fierce
conviction. Of course, everything he and Rocky planned was carefully thought of and foolproof. Hence,
no matter what Briggs tried to accuse him of, he had enough reasons to dismiss it.
Hearing everything Gilbert said, Briggs was rendered speechless. He could just clench his fists
remembering that the Ghost Fief's army, under Vivian's leadership, had indeed launched a powerful
raid against the Primitive Fief. It could not be just a mere diversion.
"Your Royal Highness, just so the Shura Race could take back the Blood Fief, I bet all I had and took
the risk that none of the other fiefs did. Now, can you look me in the eye and say that I should return it
so easily? Would you do it if you were in my position?" Gilbert turned to Zain, looked straight into his
eyes, and asked this.
Obviously, Zain was not able to respond. Just the mere fact that he belonged to the royal family
hindered him to involve in this matter. Moreover, everyone knew that the Blood Fief already lost its
Godly Genius. As of now, it really was a weak fief. Hence, he thought that he should not have a falling-
out with Gilbert and the Ghost Fief just because of this. Right now, Gilbert was clearly on Layla's side.
Therefore, it would not be a good look for him if he blatantly made enemies this soon.
"Briggs, I'm afraid that Gilbert is just being reasonable. We cannot refute the fact that he was able to
take back the Blood Fief with his own efforts. If you are not satisfied with this, you can only take it back
by force!" Zain was a sly person himself. On the surface, he seemed to be mediating the dispute
between Briggs and Gilbert, but he was actually provoking Briggs and the remainder of the Blood Fief
to send their troops out to retake their fief from the Ghost Fief's control.
"Prince Zain is right. But I think you will need someone's help. If you want, I am willing to lend you a
hand. At this point, it won't be fair if you take on the Ghost Fief with just the remainder of the Blood
Fief's forces. Don't worry, this is not a cheap trick. I won't make a fuss even if the Blood Fief and the
Ghost Fief tried to attack my fief before," the leader of the Primitive Fief butted in. Based on what Zain
said to Briggs, it was clear that he was trying to win Briggs and the Blood Fief over to his side. And
since the Primitive Fief supported Zain, its leader wanted to do everything that could give the prince the
advantage.
If more fiefs came over to Zain's side, his chances of winning the selection would steadily increase. If
that happened, the fiefs who supported the next leader would have the advantage in the competition
among the Godly Geniuses.
Thus, right now, the leader of the Primitive Fief had all the reasons to offer his help to the Blood Fief.
At the same time, he was also trying to intimidate Gilbert, thinking that if the Primitive Fief backed the
Blood Fief, the Ghost Fief would eventually return the Blood Fief without them resorting to violence.
"Since when did you become so meddlesome? You want to do it this way? Then, I will not just sit idly
and watch this," Flora eventually chimed in and also spoke in a serious tone.
Seeing the sudden development, the other leaders could just watch on the sidelines, thinking that this
was rather fun and advantageous for them.
Currently, the nine fiefs were divided into three big groups. The Primitive Fief and the Ghost Fief
already had their respective allies. Hence, in terms of the competition among the Godly Geniuses, they
were still in a stalemate. At the same time, all of the other fiefs remained neutral, but it didn't mean that
they didn't have their own plans.
Right now, it was obvious that the other fiefs wanted the Primitive Fief and the Ghost Fief to suffer
severe losses, which in turn would give them the advantage.
Of course, Gilbert and the leader of the Primitive Fief also knew what the other leaders were thinking.
Therefore, even if they wanted to, they could not start a large-scale battle. After all, the time was not
yet ripe. Just a single fatal flaw could cost them their chance to win in the end.
Then, just as the leader of the Primitive Fief heard that Flora suddenly chimed in, his eyes instantly
turned cold. Now that the Ghost Fief and the Flower Fief had solidified their alliance, going against one
of them meant that he should also deal with the other one.
"Leaders, please calm down. Why don't you listen to me first?" At this time, Layla also got in the middle
of the leaders' squabble.
Seeing this, the fief leaders and ministers also paid attention.
"Can't you see what's really happening here? This is all a part of the human army's plot. If you make a
sudden move against the fellow members of the Shura Race, you will just give them what they want!
Remember everything that happened. The only reason why the human army suddenly broke into the
territory of the Shura Race is that they wanted to prevent Zain from successfully invading the territory of
the human race. If the fiefs start fighting against each other in this kind of situation, the human army will
have more chances of winning against us!" Layla analyzed the situation in a calm voice. "In the first
place, if Zain did not dispatch the troops of the Shura Race to attack the territory of the human race,
then the Blood Fief would not end up like this."
"What do you want to say, Layla? Are you saying that I am to blame for all of this?" Zain asked coldly.
His face darkened, knowing that Layla was deliberately making his image look bad in front of everyone
present.
"Don't be angry at me. I did not say anything wrong. I'm just preventing further problems to arise than
fanning the flames," Layla replied with a sweet and gentle smile.
Zain's face twitched even more. He could not retort since he knew that the princess was right. If it
weren't for his ambition to conquer the territory of the human race, the human army would not resort to
invading the Blood Fief.
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