My System Just Exploded, And You Ask Me to Become a God?-Chapter 57 --If Only There Were Popcorn

The moment that voice rang out, everyone turned their heads in unison, only to see a young man in a crisp military uniform stride confidently into the side hall.

Upon seeing this figure, Clark’s seething fury vanished without a trace. In fact, he quickly stepped aside to clear a path for the newcomer. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

"Who is that?" Joad was about to ask when Ivy, visibly tense, whispered to him in haste.

"You don’t know? That’s the third prince of the Luminous Pearl Kingdom—Baphomet!"

"Ba...phomet?" Joad repeated the name slowly, his expression shifting to one of baffled amusement as he stared at the prince.

Baphomet approached and gave Joad a relaxed, casual smile.

"Well, I for one enjoy working with Ilan folks like you. Straightforward types are far easier to deal with."

"Are you serious?"

Joad looked at him skeptically, his tone filled with disbelief.

Baphomet ran a hand through his hair, as if ready to say more—

But at that very moment, another voice rang out from the entrance.

All the gathered youths turned once again toward the sound.

"Dear heavens, is that... Prince Belzebuth?!"

"I can’t believe even the first prince is attending the Nova Banquet! What an honor for us all!"

Joad was growing numb.

Was this some kind of royal family reunion? Did the princes of the Luminous Pearl Kingdom make it a point to always show up in groups, just so none of them had to attend alone?

As he thought this, Belzebuth strode toward them—but unlike Baphomet, he didn’t come over to exchange pleasantries with Joad. Instead, he turned and stood directly beside Clark.

The message was clear: he was here to back him up.

Prince Belzebuth placed one hand on his hip and looked at Joad with sharp disapproval.

"I won’t deny the candor of you Ilan Royal Academy folk," he said sternly, "but you ought to be more mindful of your surroundings. This is a royal banquet in the Luminous Pearl Kingdom, not your backyard!"

Then his gaze shifted toward Baphomet.

"And you—don’t assume that just because my younger brother appears to side with you, you have free rein to act recklessly in our kingdom!"

When he finished speaking, the room fell into an even deeper hush.

Gasps echoed around them like ripples in water.

Everyone knew, even without a drop of intelligence, that a major drama was about to unfold.

If only they had popcorn. That was the only thing missing from this theater.

Faced with the first prince’s open rebuke, Joad didn’t respond immediately. He just frowned and glanced at Baphomet.

The third prince merely raised his hands in surrender and said helplessly,

"Before you start drawing the wrong conclusions, let me clarify—my dear elder brother doesn’t just hate you or me specifically. He hates all of us equally."

"What? Aren’t you two brothers?"

Joad asked in confusion, reacting like any normal person would.

Even among royalty, showing such blatant hostility in public was rather extreme, wasn’t it?

Baphomet gave a bitter smile and explained,

"To tell you the truth, my brother Belzebuth used to idolize the legendary mage god Ilan when he was young. Recently, he found out that Ilan Royal Academy had obtained some manuscripts left behind by the mage god himself."

"He wanted to borrow them and study them in-depth back here in the Luminous Pearl Kingdom..."

"But for some reason, your academy refused his request. He thought he might not have shown enough sincerity, so he doubled the value of his gifts."

"Unfortunately, those gifts all returned to him the very next day."

"He felt deeply humiliated—and from that moment on, he began to harbor a grudge against everyone associated with Ilan Royal Academy."

"Wait a sec..."

Joad raised his hand and interrupted, asking a rather practical question.

"If he wanted to read the Ilan Manuscript so badly, why not just visit our academy himself instead of trying so hard to borrow it?"

Baphomet shot a meaningful glance at his brother, then said with a sneer,

"Because my brother suspects that the manuscripts might contain descriptions of some large-scale, destructive root-level magic."

"With those kinds of spells, he believes he could threaten our father the king and seize true political power for himself."

"And me?" He shrugged. "I’m just a tiny bit smarter than the rest of our siblings. That alone was enough to earn his equal hatred."

Joad stared at Baphomet, dumbfounded.

Not just him—even Ivy, Clark, and many others nearby were struck silent.

Moments later, someone in the crowd muttered nervously,

"Hey... are we really supposed to be hearing this kind of national secret? Are they going to silence us afterward?"

"By the Goddess of Magic... This isn’t a Nova Banquet—it’s a trap! I once heard travelers from the Eastern Continent talk about something called a ’Feast of Doom.’ This has to be it!"

"We’re nothing but fattened pigs, about to be slaughtered!"

Yet Baphomet appeared completely unfazed.

He shrugged again, carefree as ever.

"Relax, relax. This is all just speculation—at best, it’s nothing more than one of my brother’s hypothetical schemes. He hasn’t actually done anything yet."

"And if he does go through with it?"

"Then I expect you’ll all call me a great prophet."

Joad chuckled.

This third prince might come off as easygoing and unserious, but in truth, he was using public opinion as a shield.

By voicing Belzebuth’s scheme so openly, he’d turned it into common knowledge—meaning that if Belzebuth ever tried to act on it, there’d be resistance at every turn.

After all, now everyone knew exactly what he was up to.

"Interesting. Quick thinking, kid," Joad said with a relaxed smile, even going so far as to pat the prince on the shoulder.

Baphomet blinked and gave Joad a strange look.

He found Joad fascinating—not just because of his straightforward nature and sharp tongue, but also because he treated the prince with no excessive reverence.

No bowing, no flattery. No forced politeness.

This Nova Banquet might actually turn out to be worthwhile.

That thought had barely crossed Baphomet’s mind when a furious voice snapped him out of it.

"Ba! Nque! T! What in the world did you just say?!"

It was Belzebuth.

His body trembled with rage, and his expression had turned so dark it looked like ink could drip from it.

The third prince grinned and replied,

"I said it was only a hypothetical. If you’re so mad about it, then don’t do what I predicted."

Joad quickly pulled Ivy over and took a seat by the wall, looking thrilled.

This was rare. Royals publicly tearing into each other? He’d never seen anything like it.

He was seriously starting to regret that no one had thought to serve popcorn at this banquet.

Meanwhile, Prince Belzebuth gave a disdainful snort and said,

"All of that is nonsense. Slander and fabrication! And why are you dragging me into it?"

"Let’s focus on the matter at hand!" he barked, turning back to Joad.

"This Ilan student failed to prepare a proper gift for the Crimsonflame Marquis’s heir. That alone is a grave offense."

"I merely wish to teach him a small lesson on behalf of Her Excellency the Marquis."

"Besides, if the Marquis were to learn of this insult herself, the consequences would likely be far more severe!"

"What’s more..."

His voice dropped slightly as he leaned in.

"I did some checking before I came. This boy never even received a formal invitation. That means there’s a good chance—he snuck in!"