"Arrogant!" shouted Poncokusumo. He felt the young man’s words demeaned his dignity as the deputy leader of the Blood Sword Sect."Being arrogant toward someone like you is no problem, elder!" Arya replied. The young man then launched another strike just as fast, but every one of his attacks was easily deflected by Poncokusumo.Again and again Arya launched attacks with different variations, but once more Poncokusumo broke through them. In fact, more than twice Poncokusumo’s blows had landed on his body, though not too heavily."He can read every one of my attacks!" Arya muttered in his heart, puzzled. According to what he sensed, Poncokusumo should still be several levels below him. Yet the reality was the opposite—his martial skills seemed to fall below Poncokusumo’s.Arya could not believe what he was feeling. He launched another rapid strike, but the result was the same.Poncokusumo himself felt strange about the progress he had gained. It was as if he received an injection of str

The battle erupted again, swift and fierce. The field where they fought was no longer flat. Countless pits, both small and wide, had formed from the violent clashes of energy between them.Arya kept thinking of how to defeat his opponent, who wielded such a strange spell. So far, he had managed to sever his enemy’s neck six times, and yet, each time, the bizarre phenomenon occurred—the head and neck fused back together as if nothing had happened.The young man was nearly driven to frustration by such unnatural occurrences. All of his efforts seemed utterly useless. The Rawarontek spell used by his opponent seemed to have no weakness at all.“Damn it… Could Hydra know the weakness of the Rawarontek spell? But didn’t he say he wouldn’t appear unless I called for him?” Questions kept spinning in Arya’s mind.He had already cut Poncokusumo’s body into pieces—legs, arms, stomach, even his neck. Yet Poncokusumo’s body kept merging back together, as if there had never been any injury.Arya l

Arya lifted his face to look at the official who had just spoken. From what he heard, it seemed there was something that could be a clue for him to heal Rengga.“Wait, Uncle… You just said that his condition hasn’t improved. Does that mean Rengga’s condition is getting worse?” Arya asked curiously.“No, Prince.” The official shook his head. “From the first time I examined him, his condition has not changed at all until just before you arrived.”“His pulse is that weak?” Arya furrowed his brows.“Yes, Prince… His signs of life are so faint. If Commander Rengga were just an ordinary man like me, he would have been dead since last night.”“Now I understand. Rengga’s physical condition is actually fine. That means I must find a way to enter his mind.” Arya muttered softly, though those inside the tent could still hear him.The official frowned. Something unbelievable had just been said by the youngest son of King Dharmalaksana. How could Prince Jayalaksana possibly enter another man’s min

Inside the tent, Ki Panji Anom appeared to be in serious discussion with King Ayodya and King Karnakemala. The three of them were startled when a man suddenly entered and immediately knelt before them.From the uniform the man wore, Ki Panji Anom instantly recognized him as a member of the Blood Sword Sect. What puzzled him, however, was that within the army under his command, there were no members of Elder Ki Ageng Kolo Pati’s sect. He himself had divided the Blood Sword Sect into two groups—half following Nyi Langkir, and the other half joining the forces led by Arya and his niece, Ratnasari.This led him to suspect that if this man was here, it had to be for something urgent. To confirm his suspicion, Ki Panji Anom asked an opening question.“What is the reason for your arrival here?”“Forgive me, Elder, Your Majesty… I have very important news to deliver. The forces led by Elder Nyi Langkir and Elder Poncokusumo have been defeated.” The Blood Sword Sect member bowed his head in fe

King Damarjaya gazed upon his five thousand soldiers, who so far remained loyal to him. Their faces showed a fierce determination to defend their sovereignty.Although the Sastrajingga Kingdom was not directly their homeland, in terms of territory, the Purareksa Kingdom was a small realm under the dominion of Sastrajingga.Purareksa’s integration into the Sastrajingga Kingdom more than a decade ago was not the result of war, but of King Dharmalaksana’s clever political maneuvering.Before joining Sastrajingga’s rule, Purareksa had suffered years of severe famine—something King Damarjaya had failed to anticipate. The royal officials also did not foresee the coming food shortage, forcing Purareksa’s ruler to seek aid from King Dharmalaksana.In truth, the famine had struck Sastrajingga and other kingdoms as well, but they were far better prepared. King Dharmalaksana, long before the crisis, had already established vast granaries to store harvests in preparation for the hard times. Each