A pair of highly skilled young warriors, who also shared a special bond, walked away from the royal square of the capital city. They moved casually, unaware that two pairs of eyes were secretly watching them. "Let’s follow them, Surya. I’m still not convinced Jaya is here in the capital just for a short visit," said Prince Dewalaksana. "Alright. That’s probably for the best. I also want to be sure. Hopefully, Father’s words were right," replied Prince Suryalaksana. From a safe distance, the two princes followed Arya and Ratnasari until they entered a dining establishment. "So, what do we do, brother? Should we wait and confirm first, or what?" asked Prince Suryalaksana. Truthfully, he was eager to know whether his brother had already thought of the next move after realizing Jaya and the girl had gone into the restaurant. A soft sigh escaped Prince Dewalaksana’s lips. He still hadn’t come up with the next step. After waiting quite a while without hearing any reply from his older

"Come in, Prime Minister. It’s not proper to eavesdrop on others’ conversations from behind a door," Arya said.Prime Minister Aswamarwan was caught off guard. He couldn’t understand how the young and handsome man had known that he was eavesdropping on the discussion taking place inside."Enter willingly, or I’ll force you in!" Arya added after the Prime Minister remained silent.The second most powerful man in the Purareksa Kingdom was startled by the threat, especially coming from someone young enough to be his son. Still, he lacked the courage to fight back.Aside from the fact that King Damarjaya had witnessed the eavesdropping himself, Aswamarwan also realized the young man must possess extraordinary abilities. After all, he had sensed his presence behind a closed door, something neither the king nor Elder Wiyasa had noticed.Prime Minister Aswamarwan stepped into the hall, eyes cast downward toward the floor. Arya followed behind him, closing the door quietly.At the same time,

Prime Minister Aswamarwan could only bow his head. There was nothing he could do to defend himself or to regain King Damarjaya’s trust.He admitted that, to some extent, he had ambitions of becoming a king. But he was aware that royal bloodlines could only be inherited from king to son, and so on. As someone of warrior lineage, it was difficult—almost impossible—for him to ascend into the ranks of nobility.Even in rare cases where someone without noble blood could become king, their reign usually didn’t last long. The story of Ken Arok in the Singosari Kingdom and Ra Kuti who once overthrew King Jayanegara to briefly become king of Majapahit were two of the most prominent examples.“I am guilty, Your Majesty. But I assure both Your Majesty and Prince Jayalaksana that I will redeem the mistake I’ve made,” said Prime Minister Aswamarwan with conviction.“I don’t care what you plan to do, Prime Minister. If it weren’t for Prince Jayalaksana’s need for you, I would’ve given you the harsh

Arya looked up at the roof, which didn’t make the slightest sound even when stepped on. The person above had mastered such an advanced lightness technique that even the dust on the tiles didn’t fall.As far as he knew, there was no one in the capital of Purareksa with energy as immense as the one now standing directly above his room. So who was this mysterious figure, and what was their purpose for being on his rooftop?Not wanting to speculate further, Arya gently shook Ratnasari’s shoulder to wake her. He had just sensed the arrival of two more powerful energies—strong as the first. That made three in total, all above their room.Ratnasari opened her beautiful eyes. Before she could speak, Arya covered her mouth and pointed upward, signaling her to stay silent.Understanding the signal, Ratnasari nodded slightly. After Arya removed his hand, she slowly sat up.Arya pointed at the door, signaling her to leave the room first. Then he whispered softly in her ear, “Go out and check from

Without taking a single step forward, Arya released an energy strike using a small amount of internal force. From his clenched fist, a small reddish beam shot forward, aimed directly at his opponent.Baruna flinched as the beam came toward him. With just two sidesteps, he easily dodged the red streak. As a result, Arya’s attack continued uncontrolled, flying toward Baruna’s two companions.A string of curses escaped the mouths of the two black-robed figures who weren’t involved in the fight. While the attack wasn’t a real threat to them—they dodged it with ease—it still shocked them enough to flail around like startled fools."You! How dare you show off such a pathetic technique!" Baruna shouted, clearly in disbelief. What infuriated him more was how the young man mocked him, covering his mouth as he chuckled softly.Arya pointed behind Baruna with a smirk. "Look at your friends over there."Baruna turned to where Arya had pointed. What he saw made his eyes twitch: both of his compani