Super Righteous Player
Chapter 876 - 413: Am I Beheaded?

Chapter 876: Chapter 413: Am I Beheaded?

"But the premise of all this is," Victor said, "Prince Philip is truly dead."

"Exactly."

Annan nodded.

And if Philip were feigning death, then the situation would be completely different.

Whether Philip was truly dead or feigning death, his political career was already dead—the public would never accept a person "who had died once" to lead them, which is even less acceptable than accepting a puppet king.

Because they could not even confirm if this person "is the king or an imposter."

Ordinary people would not be aware of Spells and Great Calamity Curios.

They would be even less aware of how backwards the civilization of the people of Aesirland was before the Elves arrived on the continent... They could only vaguely know that "this continent was once ruled by the Elves."

But they certainly would not know that it was after the collapse of the great barrier and the fall of the imperial city that today’s five great nations came into existence.

In Noah and the United Kingdoms, the version they heard was, "After the collapse of the great barrier, the Elves lost the power to dominate the continent. Humans, treated as slaves, rose up under the leadership of heroes and defeated the Elven Emperor."

They used this narrative to explain why, in human settlements, one could barely see Elves who once dominated the continent, nor see buildings and art pieces in Elven style.

In the Winter Principality and The Holy Nation, because of their closer relationship with the True God and more devout people, the story was somewhat closer to the truth—only somewhat. They believed that the Elves had committed great sins, hence the twelve True Gods joined forces to sink the Elven capital into the sea.

The only difference lay in the portrayal, words, and... parts of the True Gods worshipped in these two countries’ versions of the myth.

This version was quite close to the truth, but clearly, it was also made up by people sent by the rulers at that time.

The version from below ground was even closer to a different facet of the truth—they believed that the Elves had developed technology that could traverse worlds, so they moved their entire nation along with the continent away.

—It was because of the absence of the Elves’ protection that the eternal unified barrier broke, becoming the current individual barrier that required the burning of the True Gods’ power to sustain. This could explain why the great barrier broke.

In a sense, this version was closer to the truth. Combined with The Holy Nation’s version, it was basically seventy percent of the fact.

From Noah’s people’s perspective, they accepted the rule of the Noah King because they were "descendants of the heroes." Their status a long time ago was very low; it was King Noah who saved them and through a great deal, asked the Silver Baron to reconstruct the barrier.

Thus they obtained freedom, land, and clean air to breathe. And the king’s rule over them could be considered enlightened compared to the Elves’ "almost slavelike" attitude toward them.

For this reason, Noah’s people placed extra emphasis on the king’s "bloodline." That is to say—they claimed that King Noah was the hero who saved them and the brave one who made a pact with the Silver Baron, thus he could establish the kingdom and rule over them—or to put it more officially, "Let his descendants protect these people forever."

—What would they be if it were someone completely unrelated to King Noah?

Therefore, as soon as news of Philip being assassinated spread, whether he was truly dead or feigning death, he could only be considered dead.

In the Kingdom of Noah where Transcendents were merely legends, people couldn’t accept the "too fantastical" notion of "coming back to life." Even if Philip claimed to be "the Prince Philip who had not yet died," it would be seen as an offense.

"And he obviously intends to ascend to the throne."

Annan analyzed, "So even if he is faking his death this time... I don’t think it’s a plan he devised himself."

"But if it’s against his will, taking his head while still keeping him alive, the difficulty of such an act increases significantly."

Victor also said in a low voice, "The key is, Philip is a mortal, not a Transcendent... otherwise, it would be much easier."

At this time, Maria also got out of bed and inquired what had happened.

Annan relayed the unexpected news to her.

Maria was actually indifferent to it—in fact, she seemed somewhat pleased.

Because she always felt that Philip’s smile was too affable, even disgusting to look at. Like melting toffee... sickeningly sweet and sticky, causing a physical sense of revulsion.

And while he recounted this, "the Opener" Jacob also came over.

"...Wait a moment, Your Majesty."

Jacob furrowed his brows and put forward a suggestion, "I must say... I think you all are making that ritual sound more complicated than it is."

"Are you referring to that ’Unknown Head Preservation Ritual’ that allows one to survive even after decapitation?"

Annan retorted sarcastically, "You know how to perform this spell?"

"I indeed can do it."

Jacob replied with great certainty, "It’s not difficult."

As soon as he said this, all eyes around them focused on him.

Maria reminded him, "But Philip is just an ordinary person.

"As a mere mortal, his soul isn’t fully formed; once he dies, there’s no bringing him back to life. Unlike silver-rank Transcendents who are resolute in spirit, even if their heads are chopped off or their hearts are pierced, they can still continue to live for a while..."

"And even for silver-rank Transcendents, a severe trauma to the brain could still cause instant death."

Annan added.

He remembered how Defu "I’m up, one arrow, and he’s down" ruthlessly took out "Molding Jude." Known for his defensive capabilities in the Molding School, Jude didn’t even get to cast a spell before Defu took him down with a direct shot.

"No, not chopped off."

Jacob quickly clarified, "If it were truly about decapitating a mortal’s head and then preserving it to keep it alive... That level of ritual would probably require a cleric of the Pope’s caliber to pull it off, I would think."

"...Not chopped off?"

"Correct, from the very beginning, Prince Philip’s head wasn’t taken by force."

Jacob asserted with certainty, "It was stolen.

"This is a ritual of the god of Lost and Returned, ’Pilferer’, a very niche one."

- Pilferer. Also known as "Thousand-Handed God," he is a False God.

Annan had heard this name.

He is the patron of righteous thieves and divines, and if one inadvertently loses something important, they can also pray for its return.

A fair number of his followers are "golden hands," who also control significant channels for fencing stolen goods - the "Return Houses." If Pilferer’s followers steal something, they sell it to, or hand it over to, a Return House.

And if the owner urgently needs to recover their lost item, they would either have to pay money or owe a favor. The only upside is that if the item is stolen again or truly lost, the Return House would retrieve it for the owner free of charge, not fleecing them to death.

One item, one price.

But the reason they aren’t considered Evil Gods is that they also take on commissions from those who have lost something.

For instance, if someone’s possession is taken... If the Return House agrees to take up their cause, they will help them steal it back. The only and greatest constraint "Pilferer" places on them is "not allowed to sell someone’s possessions to others."

They can only hold it themselves, sell it back to the owner, or to the "original owner." But they can’t sell it to someone completely unrelated to the object.

"——Based on my experience, Prince Philip’s head has been ’stolen’."

Jacob was quite sure, "His head was taken away directly by Divine Arts, not preserved after being chopped off.

"Of course, this also means..."

"...Someone has issued a mission, with ’Philip’s head’ as the specified lost item?"

Even Annan was somewhat puzzled.

Could Philip’s head... not belong to him anymore?