My System Just Exploded, And You Ask Me to Become a God?-Chapter 68 --A Sleepless Night

As dusk settled over the mountains, Joad called out to his brother Harvey, his senior Leit, and the completely dazed Ivy, urging them to descend the mountain and return to the villa.

On the way, a voice emerged from within Joad’s cauldron.

Half of a small head poked out, and Nicky let out a sarcastic sigh.

"Tsk tsk, what a spectacular performance. Using reverse psychology to lure those hot-blooded youths up the mountain, all just to make them share the backlash of mana residue during your Senior Leit’s breakthrough."

"And if that weren’t enough—His Highness the Crown Prince’s painstakingly cultivated network of supporters? Wiped out in a single blow, thanks to just a few words from you. You really don’t pull your punches, do you?"

Joad gave a dismissive snort.

"Oh please, you make me sound like a villain. Like I wanted to get involved in the mess of the Luminous Pearl Kingdom. They’re the ones who kept picking fights with me. I had no choice but to come up with ways to protect myself."

Nicky raised a skeptical eyebrow, clearly unconvinced.

"Protect yourself? This is your idea of self-preservation?"

"So putting them all in danger, making them scramble for their lives, that counts as self-preservation now?"

"You’re an archmage, for heaven’s sake. Can’t you show a shred of shame?"

Hearing that, Joad quickly fired back.

"Who said I don’t have shame? Of course I do."

"Oh yeah? How do you figure?"

"Well, if I really didn’t have shame—"

Joad grinned, extended a finger, and flicked Nicky squarely on the forehead.

"—do you think I’d let you hang around here like this? I would’ve already sold you for a handful of mana stones!"

Nicky seethed, grinding its tiny teeth, but it had no comeback.

All it could do was rub its sore forehead and grumble its way back into the cauldron.

A man with no shame was truly invincible.

Nicky felt like it had nothing left to say to Joad anymore.

Back on the mountain, the observers who had remained behind stood in heavy silence, exchanging glances.

Everything that had happened today was... hard to digest.

Vanessa, the heir of the Crimsonflame Marquis, was known as one of the top talents in the entire Luminous Pearl Kingdom.

Yet she had shown open friendliness to a mere trainee mage from the Kingdom of Ilan—Joad.

The observers turned their eyes to Max.

If they had doubted his earlier warnings, those doubts had now vanished.

After all, Vanessa’s attitude alone had proven Max’s words true.

But it wasn’t just Vanessa.

What concerned them just as much—perhaps even more—was the terrifying strength Leit had demonstrated.

Young mages reaching elite-level mana control weren’t unheard of.

But someone so young achieving level 7 mana affinity as an array mage? That was practically unheard of.

If Leit was already this terrifying now, what would happen after a few more years of growth?

What kind of storm would he become?

The observers’ expressions grew grave—even Max’s.

One after another, they left the mountain to report today’s events to their respective factions in full detail.

Tonight would be a sleepless one for the youths of the Luminous Pearl Kingdom.

Some were injured.

Some were mentally broken from sheer terror.

A few were so traumatized that they had developed a deep fear of array mages altogether.

And to make matters worse, after being physically and mentally wrecked by Joad... they now had to face the wrath and scolding of their families back home.

They were being blamed—harshly.

After all, Joad was no longer just some unknown figure.

He had Leit behind him. And now, he had also connected with Vanessa.

And with Leit’s overwhelming talent drawing the attention of figures from the Pyrothian Kingdom, his future there was essentially secured.

To provoke Joad now would be equivalent to challenging the entire Pyrothian Kingdom.

Their elders weren’t stupid.

Which was why they spared no effort tonight in harshly lecturing their rash, hot-headed juniors.

But while the Luminous Pearl youths were curled up in misery, the atmosphere back at the villa couldn’t have been more different.

Joad returned in high spirits.

He enjoyed a luxurious bath, attended by maids, then retreated to the lavish velvet bed he had picked out earlier that day, sprawling out with glee.

Not far away, Third Prince Baphomet stood on the villa balcony, sipping wine and enjoying the breeze.

He was feeling quite pleased with himself.

True, he hadn’t achieved his original goal at the Nova Banquet—which was to get closer to Vanessa.

But instead, he had unexpectedly gotten acquainted with Joad.

And with Joad’s help, he had successfully exposed and foiled his elder brother Belzebuth’s treasonous plan to use the Crimsonflame Marquis to manipulate the kingdom.

That alone was enough to keep Baphomet up all night with excitement, hence his retreat to the balcony to calm down.

"Hmm? Who are those two?"

Through the swirling surface of his wine glass, Baphomet spotted two figures sitting in the villa’s garden.

A closer look revealed them to be Leit and Harvey.

Joad’s two so-called mentors looked troubled, their brows furrowed in thought.

Harvey couldn’t help but marvel at how his little brother had managed to form a connection with the Crimsonflame Marquis’s heir.

That was something he never expected.

Leit, on the other hand, remained silent.

He was still deep in thought—trying to make sense of today’s bizarre turn of events.

He’d had suspicions before:

Just as he was about to begin his mana breakthrough, Joad had conveniently arrived with a bunch of Luminous Pearl youths in tow.

Publicly, it was to challenge him.

In reality, it was to draw the attention of the mana backlash away from him.

Was that really just a coincidence?

If it were merely bad timing—if Joad had annoyed those youths the way he usually annoyed everyone—then sure, maybe it just happened.

But why then?

Why not earlier or later?

Why exactly at the critical moment?

The whole thing stank of planning.

And if it wasn’t a coincidence... then had Joad orchestrated the entire thing?

The more Leit thought about it, the more disturbed he felt.

Back at the academy, Joad’s wide knowledge base could still be chalked up to reading a lot of books.

But this... this level of political foresight, this calculated manipulation of variables—this was not something one could learn just from reading.

And Joad, as far as Leit remembered, had always been lazy.

He hated socializing.

He avoided unnecessary interactions whenever possible.

So when did he become this savvy, this resourceful, this... dangerous?

Leit had no answers.

After thinking it over for a long while, Harvey saw that it was getting late and advised Leit to rest.

After all, Leit had just completed a breakthrough and was surely still physically drained.

Leit nodded and returned to his room.

But while peace returned to the villa, chaos erupted within the Luminous Pearl Kingdom.

After hearing the full accounts of their young heirs’ experiences, the nobles were furious.

One after another, they cursed Joad’s actions as heartless and cruel.

But oddly, none dared say it too loudly.

Because what shocked them more than Joad’s schemes—was Leit.

A young man with level 7 mana affinity?

That kind of monster would be fought over by every major power on the continent—even if his core mana was only at the trainee level.

But everyone knew the truth:

No matter how fiercely others competed, Leit would ultimately belong to the Pyrothian Kingdom.

That, by now, was a foregone conclusion.