"The Purgatorial Tripod must be returned to the royal family. Odin, if you are smart enough, do not
make this more complicated. If you insist on going your way, then I will also be forced to deal with this
matter according to the law of the Shura Race!" the king said seriously. In the end, he could not let
anyone outside the royal family possess the Purgatorial Tripod.
"I already professed the very reason why I cannot hand the Purgatorial Tripod over. If you still want to
take it from me by force, then I'm afraid I will do my best to protect it with all my might," Rocky
answered with a straight face. Even if he ended up deliberately disobeying the order of the king, he
would never give Enoch the chance to steal the Purgatorial Tripod. After all, this would only cause a
large-scale disaster that would be irreversible.
After hearing Rocky's firm words, the whole palace was taken aback. No one expected Rocky to
blatantly refuse the king's order. This was indeed equivalent to disobeying the authority of the entire
royal family.
"Do you see it now, Your Majesty? This guy definitely has ill intentions!" Enoch immediately uttered,
adding fuel to the fire.
"Odin, does it have to reach to this extent?" Layla reminded Rocky. Of course, she did not want things
to become more chaotic. So, she tried to convince him not to do it this way.
"I know what I am doing. You don't have to get involved in this matter," Rocky told Layla in a serious
tone.
"I already gave you all the chances to make this easy for you. Guards, arrest Odin!" Seeing that Rocky
remained stubborn, the king eventually lost his patience and ordered the warriors at the Shura Realm
to seize Rocky.
"Your Majesty, please wait a moment!" Layla protested. Of course, she wouldn't just sit idly while they
did injustice towards Rocky, who had been a huge help for her.
"What is it? Do you intend to defend the crime of this man?" the king asked with a cold stare.
At this moment, all the royal members in the palace had their eyes fixed on the princess, waiting for
what she was going to say.
"I just think that even if you have Odin arrested, he will still not be willing to surrender the Purgatorial
Tripod. Are you going to kill him if he refuses to hand it over? In my opinion, this rash action will only
gain criticism and dissatisfaction from others," Layla answered resolutely.
"Huh? Criticism and dissatisfaction? Who will dare say that they are dissatisfied with me, the king?"
The king snorted coldly, raising his eyebrow.
"Your Majesty, if you are not aware, there are already many rumors spreading within the royal family
right now. The rumors say that you have a selfish motive for picking your successor. Previously, you
clearly said that whoever obtains Phillip's soul power and comes back first will become your successor.
But when Odin and I came back and handed it to you, you did not appoint either one of us as the next
ruler. If this information spreads out to the rest of the Shura Race, I'm afraid that it will not cause
anything good for you or the royal family." Layla voiced her concerns as she stared back at the king
with burning eyes.
"So, what exactly are you saying?" The king seemed to have a hint of what the princess meant, but he
wanted to hear it from her mouth.
"It is quite simple. Since Odin was the one who obtained Phillip's soul power, according to the rules that
you have set yourself, he should be the rightful successor. I will do my best to support his claim to the
throne!" Layla declared with an unwavering conviction.
Upon hearing this unexpected declaration, all of the royal members, including the king, were stunned.
No one expected that the princess would easily give up the competition and even publicly support
Rocky on becoming the king's successor.
Even Enoch's smug face instantly darkened. In fact, at the back of his mind, he knew this was a brilliant
move from Layla. If Rocky became the next ruler, she could still manipulate everything from behind the
scene since he was on her side. Moreover, they would have the chance to protect the Purgatorial
Tripod because Rocky did not need to hand it over anymore.
"Your Majesty, Odin is the Godly Genius of the Ghost Fief. If he is to become the next ruler, the Ghost
Fief and the Flower Fief will be at his back to support him to the fullest!" Although Gilbert was also
shocked at what the princess suddenly did, he immediately made up his mind and followed her
initiative. With this, Rocky already had the support of two fiefs if ever he became the next king.
Because of this unexpected turn of events, the hall was filled with chatter. With the influence of Layla,
as well as the power of the two fiefs, Rocky had a solid foundation to become the next king of the
Shura Race. Hence, they thought that even the king would have to think about this carefully.
"I already said that I still have some doubts about the candidates. I won't make a decision until I think
that it is the right time!" The king was also flabbergasted to see that Layla was willing to give the
competition up just so she could protect Rocky. However, even with all the arguments that she and
Gilbert offered, he could not just make Rocky his successor.
"When will be the right time, Your Majesty? You have already delayed the selection many times. In the
eyes of many people, you are only doing this because you are biased toward someone!" Layla frankly
stated, questioning the king in front of everyone.
"Are you telling me that I am being unfair?" the king answered angrily, offended by what Layla just said.
"I am simply stating what my eyes could see." There was no hint of fear on Layla's face at all. At this
point, she had no choice but to risk it all and fight for what she believed was for the best. Right now,
she deemed that the most important thing was to protect Rocky and the Purgatorial Tripod.
"If it wasn't for the sake of your mother, the former queen, I would have convicted you of rebelling
against the royal family! Layla, learn to conduct yourself better and don't deliberately get yourself into
trouble," the king warned sternly.
"Your Majesty, I just want to advise you not to neglect the opinion of the people. Everyone here knows
that Odin has obtained Phillip's soul power. I will just remind you that Odin is the Godly Genius whom
the deities has chosen to protect the tripod. If you make the guards arrest him, your action will go
against their will!" Layla strongly argued in a threatening tone.
"Humph! There isn't even enough evidence to back up that story. Why would I, the king, be afraid of a
mere Godly Genius?" At this point, the king had no more intention of listening to anything Layla said. In
his eyes, the royal family was the absolute authority and could not be challenged. Thus, he waved his
hands and ordered again, "Arrest that guy!"
Immediately after, the powerful warriors at the Shura Realm surrounded Rocky again and prepared to
capture him. Rocky's eyes turned cold. He knew that if he did not do something, it would be difficult for
him to escape the palace. However, if he did that, he would surely have a falling-out with the royal
family. It was too soon, and it might jeopardize his plans. Nonetheless, he was already in an
unfavorable position, so he had to act according to the situation and just alter his plan afterward.
But at this most critical moment, when the atmosphere in the hall reached the most chaotic point, a
Spiritual Emperor suddenly rushed into the hall and reported, "Your Majesty, Prince Zain has woken up!
He wants to talk with you alone."
This immediately changed the tide of the situation as if a bomb had been defused. The members of the
royal family looked at each other. The timing was indeed perfect for Zain to regain consciousness. With
this, the truth should be solved soon. The fact whether Rocky stole the Purgatorial Tripod or Enoch
colluded with the demonic race would be soon clarified.
"I will be there right away," the king immediately said. While he walked through the door of the hall, he
turned around and said, "No one is allowed to leave this hall, especially Odin! Wait for me to come
back." After saying that, he quickly left the hall and went to where Zain was.
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