After speaking, Prince Bimalaksana moved away from his eldest brother. He feared becoming the sudden target of his sibling’s anger—an anger that could erupt without warning. Prince Dewalaksana’s quick temper and readiness to use his hands had just been proven when he slapped Prime Minister Aswamarwan. “You…!” Prince Dewalaksana pointed at Prince Bimalaksana, his glare full of fury. “You snake, Bima! I never thought you would betray me too!” he shouted. “You’re the mastermind behind all this, Brother. If you hadn’t threatened me and Surya, we would never have helped you. You threatened to report us to Father about the incident where Jaya fell from the cliff—when in fact, you were the one who originally planned to kill him.” Prince Bimalaksana quickly covered his mouth with his hand. He had let his tongue slip, exposing the wicked deed committed against their youngest brother. “Watch your words, Bima!” Prince Dewalaksana barked. Arya himself was deeply shocked to hear the tru

The handsome young man stared far ahead. Moments ago, he had caught sight of more than five black shadows leaping from one tree to another. Strangely, however, he could not sense any energy other than that of the people behind him. One of the chief soldiers quickly approached Arya, who had slowed his horse’s pace until he was about fifteen meters ahead of the group. “What happened, Prince?” Arya glanced briefly, then turned his gaze forward again. The five black figures he had just seen were no longer in sight. “It’s nothing. Perhaps I was mistaken,” he replied. Though he was certain of what he had seen, he didn’t want to make assumptions before those figures revealed themselves. Inside the carriage, King Damarjaya and Ratnasari were puzzled by the sudden halt in their journey. Elder Wiyasa, on the other hand, sat with his eyes closed, as though sleeping or meditating. For someone of Elder Wiyasa’s caliber, he could clear his mind under any circumstances, even inside a m

King Damarjaya, accompanied by Elder Wiyasa and Ratnasari, stepped down from the horse-drawn carriage. Arya, who had been following behind, also leapt down from his horse. The four of them then walked toward the entrance of the hall and stopped right in front of King Ayodya."Welcome, King Damarjaya. At last, you and your entourage have arrived at my palace," King Ayodya said with a beaming smile. He felt a slight sense of curiosity seeing the ruler of Purareksa Kingdom arrive with three other people."If I may ask, who are the three of them, King Damarjaya?" he inquired further."This is Elder Wiyasa, my personal advisor who has been with me for over twenty years. And these two are his disciples," replied King Damarjaya, introducing the three."I have long heard of your name, Elder. I did not expect that we would finally meet in person." King Ayodya smiled faintly and gave a small nod."My respects, Your Majesty." Elder Wiyasa bowed in salute.Arya’s first impression upon meeting Kin

Arya was slightly surprised. But he soon realized he had been lured out of the capital and was now in the middle of a forest. His smile widened suddenly, for this was something he often did himself—choosing to fight away from populated areas so as not to cause damage or harm others—and now, it was being done to him."So, you still have some kindness left, not challenging me to fight in the capital. That way, no civilians will get hurt," he said, giving a thumbs-up."Hahaha… You’re mistaken, young man. We never cared about the lives of others, least of all the people of Swarnabumi’s capital. We lured you out for another purpose—one far more important," replied one of the four masked figures in black.Arya gave a wry smile. His assumption had been entirely wrong. These four masked men were nothing like what he had imagined."You are bound to become an obstacle to our plans. That’s why we lured you here—to kill you without causing chaos in the palace!""And why are you so sure you’ll be

Relieved breaths escaped from the seven figures who were now far enough from Arya. They were fortunate to have narrowly avoided the invisible attack their opponent had unleashed.“Lucky for us we managed to avoid that heat wave in time,” said one of them, shaking his head in disbelief at the young man’s frightening abilities.“You’re right. So what should we do now? Even our most trusted weapons can’t pierce the shield that young man is using,” another replied.The masked leader in black was deep in thought, wracking his brain. He knew there was no way they could win against someone whose strength clearly surpassed all seven of them combined.To fight now would only bring disaster upon themselves. Yet the person they were waiting for still hadn’t arrived to assist them.“There’s no other choice. The Elder hasn’t shown up to help us. Are you ready to fight him to the last drop of blood?”The other six were startled by the question. On one hand, none of them wanted to die. On the other,