Clan head Azesdirth's prediction ended up manifesting faster than anticipated. It took merely an entire day before Felix started to exhibit signs of mental exhaustion.
Felix found no issues with his elemental capacity since he could easily fill it up with energy stones and Asna's help.
However, he couldn't do the same with his mind...After all, it took immense concentration to create the Railgun rings and also boost objects' speed.
Felix was boosting five bodies at each time with mere minutes of break in between to keep the distance unreachable by his chasers.
Doing this for more than twenty-four hours had taken a great toll on his mind and he felt like his concentration was falling apart.
'Guys, I can't do this any longer.' Felix came clean, 'I can either take a long break without using the Railgun rings for the next hours, or we can split up.'
Anastasia and his teammates nodded in understanding...Felix was simply telling them that he couldn't keep up with all three of them at once.
In other words, Chemmed and Tando had to split up from the team if they wanted to alleviate some of his fatigue.
As for taking hours without using his Railgun rings? That wasn't a good option since it would allow the green and black teams to catch up to them quickly.
'We will try to always catch up to you.' Tando said.
'You guys be careful too.' Princess Anastasia warned with a stern tone.
'You worry too much.' Chemmed smiled wryly, 'No one will bother wasting time on us.'
As much as they hate to admit it, they knew that their existence in this ceremony was to simply keep the team's identity intact.
It wouldn't make sense for the white clan to feel honored by winning the ceremony if four of their team members were from other clans.
After Chemmed and Tando left the team, Felix had a much easier time managing the Railgun rings.
With a mere one-hour break in between, he always gets back to tip-toe form, helping him extend the distance.
This carried on for the next three days, putting the two clans into utter despair.
'One day left and the distance is simply unbridgeable with that bastard's abuse of his ability!' Prince Arentis growled in anger.
'There is nothing much to be done. Even prince Domino is struggling.' Cursur sighed while flying by his side.
'I will be damned to let the ceremony end in this manner.'
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt'What do you suggest?'
'If we can't win fairly, then let's play dirty.' Prince Arentis said coldly, 'Follow me, we have work to do.'
Cursur could only oblige even when he had a bad feeling about his sinister plan.
...
Inside the ruins, Chemmed and Tando could be seen searching buildings carefully for bloodline treasures.
Since they were pretty much useless in the chase, they might as well help the team enlarge the bloodline treasures pool.
Unbeknownst to them, prince Arentis and Cursur had just entered the ruins for their sake only.
'They are on the western side underneath two destroyed rubble.' Clan head Azesdirth informed.
The moment he noticed his son's change of path, he knew exactly what he was up to. Instead of condemning him, he supported his decision.
In a few moments, prince Arentis and Cursur arrived at the two destroyed rubble.
With a single glance with their infrared vision, they spotted Chemmed and Tando, digging through the rocks.
'Break them.' Prince Arentis ordered coldly.
Cursur went inside the rubble for a few short seconds before explosions and destruction noises started to echo throughout the ruins.
It didn't take Cursur even a couple of minutes before he got out of the rubble with both Chemmed and Tando captured in his big giant black hands.
Their conditions were miserable. If they were conscious, they could have easily healed themselves back to top-notch.
Alas, the pain of their souls getting devoured was simply too much, forcing them to pass out.
When the viewers saw that they were leaving the ruins while having those two tied up, they guessed their motives immediately.
"He wouldn't dare." Clan head Kyrsun said frigidly as he eyed prince Arentis' father.
"Watch him." Clan head Azesdirth replied indifferently.
Without an ounce of hesitation, prince Arentis reached out to princess Anastasia and threatened, 'We have your teammates captured. You have two hours to meet us at the ruins and exchange for their lives. One minute late, and they will be headless.'
'Oh no!' Princess Anastasia's expression turned for the worst after hearing his damning message.
'Is there a problem?' Felix wondered.
'That shameless bastard Arentis is using Chemmed and Tando as hostages!'
'Huh? He can do that?' Felix was taken aback.
The last thing he expected to see in this ceremony was a hostage situation.
After all, they were royal dragons. In his eyes, their pride should make it impossible for them to even consider using such a cheap and dirty method!
He wasn't wrong in the slightest. The viewers were just as bewildered and pissed off as him...Especially, the spectating dragons.
"What a f*cking embrassement! A direct heir and dares to use such an insulting method."
"Are the green clan this desperate? How can they even hold their heads if they won in this manner?"
"Nothing like this has occurred before. It just has to happen when the entire universe is watching."
No one was pleased with prince Arentis' taunt. Even the green royal dragons had a very strong reaction against it since it directly affected their pride.
Unfortunately for them, prince Arentis was too deep in his insanity to bother with his pride or his clan's pride anymore.
He just didn't want the white clan to win...Specifically, Felix.
'What do we do?' Princess Anastasia asked with an agitated expression.
'Of course, we ignore it.' Felix said calmly, 'Chemmed and Tando understood the dangers and risks involved in the ceremony. If they got caught or killed, it will be on them.'
Felix wasn't close enough to Chemmed and Tando for him to care that much about their lives.
Throughout the past six days, they were useless and just here for numbers.
He refused to allow them to f*ck his hard work to secure the ceremony.
God knows he worked like a dog to carry this useless team for the sake of getting those ancestral scales.
Unfortunately, he wasn't the captain.
'I know what you are feeling, but I just can't allow those two to die under my leadership when I can save them.' Princess Anastasia smiled bitterly.
'We might lose the ceremony.' Felix frowned, 'Are you okay with that?'
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm'I'm not.' Princess Anastasia shook her head, 'But, I refuse to celebrate winning it if I had to sacrifice my teammates' lives for it.'
This was the difference between princess Anastasia and the other two captains.
She was too much of a softie. If it was prince Domino or prince Arentis, they wouldn't hesitate to curse the hostage holder and block him.
'As you command I guess.' Felix sighed with a frustrated look while turning around, changing his direction to the ruins.
When the viewers saw this, they didn't know if they should curse prince Arentis' even more or sympathize with the white clan team.
Only twenty-two hours left and they were rocking it. Alas, everything had to crush down when they least expected it.
...
In less than an hour, Felix and princess Anastasia had arrived at the ruins...It didn't take them long to locate prince Arentis and Cursur.
"I knew you would come." Prince Arentis smiled.
"And I never knew you will stoop this low." Princess Anastasia chided, "You think our Ancestor will be pleased by your shenanigans?"
"Yes." Prince Arentis said confidently, "I have done nothing wrong here, no matter how you try to spin it around."
"Is it my fault you chose two weaklings in your team?"
"Is it my fault you ditched them to further your victory chances?"
"Is it my fault that I have decided to be nice and allow you to rescue them?"
"I can kill them right now and no one will dare complain about it."
"I expect as much after my team got butchered by that bastard and no one said anything about it."
The more the viewers heard, the more reasonable it gets.
"Why do I feel like it's the white clan's fault?"
"Sure it is their fault. They ditched their teammates on a battlefield. They can't come back complaining when they get caught or killed."
"True."
Sure, he still used those two as hostages but he shouldn't be held responsible for it since the white clan team decided to separate from each other, knowing that those two would be sitting ducks.
Prince Arentis was in his full right to kill those two immediately as revenge against his dead teammates.
But, he decided to use them as a way to gain the ancestral wine jar...It was up to princess Anastasia to agree to save her teammates or not.
With a mere few sentences, prince Arentis changed the entire narrative, making him appear less of a villain and more of an executor of his rights!
'Well played, well played.' Felix eyed him coldly, knowing that nothing they said could help them win back the public view.