CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO “Ohh, he's waking up,” a voice said as they poured Patrick a bucket of water. Regaining consciousness, Patrick tried to get up but was tied to a chair. He looked up and saw a sketchy-looking man standing beside Xerxes. Patrick was surprised as he asked, “Xerxes, what are you doing here? I thought you were with the king?”With a mild chuckle, Xerxes placed his hand on Ian's head, bent it backward, and said, “This is where I want to be. Anyways, we'll start with questions.”The sketchy-looking man walked up to Patrick and asked, “How did you find this basement side of the palace? Who told you about it? Who are you working for?”Ian, who was perplexed by the question, kept telling them he knew nothing about what they were asking, and they kept torturing him. They broke his fingers one after the other as they asked and broke his toenails one by one also. As they went to get another piece of torture equipment, Dara said, “Notice: Do you wish to automatically heal

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR Patrick stared at the man while he struggled to find his words, but he needed no one to tell him at that time that there was trouble, and he couldn’t trust anyone, not even himself at that moment as his body seemed to be frozen still, and his hands began to tremble.“Are you okay, Sir?” Asked the first guy who was seated at the table with his companions, but Patrick was short of words.He looked at the three of them one after the other, and with a slight nod, he attempted to tell them that he was fine. Apparently, his words were not enough, and it became very obvious that they were waiting for him to speak.“I am fine, I was just not expecting to hear such terrible news. How did this happen?”“They said it was a young man who was invited to the palace. He led am attack on theEmperor and stabbed him with a dark blade after he had killed his royal guards.”“Yes, they said he is more powerful than even the greatest S-rankers in history, he is more powerful than Jard

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX Patrick hid behind one of the huge pillars in the corridor close to the diner where he ran out. He remained there silently, peeping from the little space between him and the way just to be certain that no one was around.“He certainly isn't going to give up anytime soon. I wonder why they think I killed the King,” he whispered in thought while he attempted to control his heartbeat, which suddenly became faster than usual as though it was racing to an unknown destination.He could hear the imperative utterances of Arch Tamer George from the moment he walked into the diner till he began to address the people in the hall before leaving with his soldiers.“A man poisoned the King, and we must find him! He must pay for his actions! While the Artist is still preparing a sketch of him, we would love to inform you of the need to report every form of suspicious movement, especially by any individual whom you think is suspicious. The individual responsible for this hideous a

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT The soldiers started to move toward Patrick with their eyes glaring at him while they sought means to free their General from his tight grip.Patrick took three steps backward, and then he looked around just to realize that the soldiers had encircled him.“I think you should tell your soldiers to calm down.” Patrick urged the General, pushing the dagger deeper into his skin in such a way that blood began to drop from the little cut he made.“Lower your weapons! Lower your weapons!” Arch Tamer George gestured to the soldiers, who obliged him after a few seconds of hesitation. They still stood where they were, waiting for the right opportunity to deal with the young man who was holding onto their superior.“What do you want? Do you want to poison the King’s son just like you poisoned him?”“I don’t know what you are talking about! I had no hand in whatever happened to the King!”“Lies! That’s a big lie! You poisoned the King, and you have been declared wanted!” Ar

CHAPTER THIRTY Arch Tamer George ignored the words that Patrick spoke and touched the injury on his neck with both hands to see how deep it was. His hands were soiled with his blood, and he growled, causing the soldiers to want to attack Ian. “Stop!” He lifted his hands at once, and they remained still while Patrick sighed heavily in relief as he thought of defending himself against their attacks. The General looked at Patrick for a while, and then he cleared his throat, holding onto his resolve to give him the benefit of the doubt. “We still have a duel to finish, and I really hope that you have a very good plan on how to prove yourself.” “Very well then. I look forward to that.” Ian’s response caused the General to look at him with a smirk even though he was glad that he accepted his challenge. “So tell me, what is your plan? How do you intend to prove that Xerxes did this?” Arch Tamer George asked a few seconds later while Patrick remained silent, thinking of the right resp