As the duel progressed, it became clear who the winner was going to be. Allen had countered every move Nathan had thrown at him. Even with the sword, Allen was being careful not to cause any lasting harm to Nathan. But on the other hand, Nathan had gone berserk. He had lost all semblance of common sense and was throwing every strike to critical injure Allen, if not kill him. 

This made everyone getting worried about him, including Arnold. He couldn't point it out earlier but it was clear that Nathan was behaving out of his character. Hell, even his fighting style had changed a bit. Arnold quietly used the probe skill on Nathan to check if everything was fine or not. 

__

NAME : Nathan Black

AGE: 32

LEVEL : 93

RANK : S

ROLE : Brawler

AFFINITY/ABILITIES :

• Ultra Tough Skin

• Aura Manipulation

• Thunderstruck

• Enhanced Sight

[expand to view 3 more]

HP : 5700/9000

Mana/Energy : 5430/5690

STRENGTH (STR) : 94

DEFENSE (DEF) : 105

STAMINA (STA) : 99

INTELLIGENCE (INT) : 88

AGILITY (AGI) : 78

ACCURACY (ACC) : 67

EVADE (EVD) : 57

CHARISMA (CHA) : 54

THREAT LEVEL : Nonexistent

PERSONALITY: Rogue, Faithful, Motivated and Malicious (The creature has imbued with this personality due to outside interference).

JOB: Family Member - 10% satisfied.

PHYSICAL and MENTAL HEALTH: An outside source has interfered with this human's mind. Unable to detect the reason for erratic behaviour. 

AFRAID OF: Getting lost, Betraying his family and Losing. (There's a huge conflict going on in his mind.) 

FITNESS LEVEL: 89% - Increasing.

MOTIVATION: A thirst for adventure and Peace

__

'What do you mean an outside interference?' Arnold asked the system to elaborate on the findings. 

[A Mindbender is influencing the actions of this homo sapien.]

'But he's an S ranked warrior. There won't be many capable people who could influence his mind. Especially after all the training, Nathaniel gave him to block someone out of his head.' Arnold got lost in his thoughts, completely forgetting about the duel, 'Even if someone was capable enough to do so, it'll be tough to find an important person like himself, alone. After all, he's always surrounded by guards. Unless someone influenced his security personnel and used the opportunity to infect Nathan as well. '

Arnold continued to think about the situation and the more he thought about it, the more it made sense... 

'How long has he been under the influence.'

[More than a month.]

'Around the time we were planning to raid the swamps then... Tsk, it was the perfect opportunity to do something like that as well.' Arnold sighed deeply.

He was disappointed in himself for not even trying to identify the cause for Nathan's erratic behaviour before. Previously, Arnold thought it was hard to catch Nathan off guard or alone to cast a spell on him. But now, he knew that it wasn't the case at all. The one manipulating Nathan didn't catch him alone, instead, they did it while hiding in the crowd. 

'It was the perfect time for someone to interfere with his mind as there were way too many people engaged in the operation... Damnit!' Anger surged within Arnold's body, 'But it wouldn't have been an easy task unless-"

[It was done by a Paladin or a Vassal]

"Something is wrong with Nathan..." Nina mumbled, "I mean, I've been thinking about it for a while but now it's evident. Nathan isn't being himself. He was always a bit standoffish but he would never go as far as hurting someone from the family just to get the seat of the head back."

Arnold heard her concerns, but she wasn't paying attention to what she said. He was busy scanning the crowd with his probe skill. Everyone was clear, except the ones who were supporting Nathan. All of them had the same line in their bio... *An outside source has interfered with this human's mind*.

And what was weirder that these people were 'infected' for more than a couple of months. 

'Just who the hell is this person.' Arnold shook his head before calling Natasha out from his domain. 

Everyone's eyes fell on the luscious beast standing next to Arnold like a faithful partner. The guys and girls were equally ogling at her beauty. Such was the influence of a succubus. Also, her thread-like clothing was doing a pretty bad job at concealing her. The next moment she went on her knees, her soul-tearing eyes were fixated on Arnold's feet.

However, once the initial shock dissipated, Nathan's supporters started questioning Arnold what was the reason to call his summon out in the middle of a duel? Everyone else was confused too, but Allen and Nathan were still going at it, unphased by the interruption. 

Arnold didn't reply to anyone, instead, he pointed at the ones who were supporting Nathan. People drew their weapons out, expecting Arnold to go berserk on them. However, as soon as Arnold pointed at the supporters, they began fainting one after another. 

"Arnold, what are you doing!" Nathaniel shrieked in before running up to Arnold. A few others did the same. 

Arnold raised his hands, signalling everyone to stop, before politely asking Nathaniel "Can you see inside that man's head?"

Arnold then pointed at the last of Nathan supporters. 

"What do you mean?" Nathaniel asked him once again. 

"Just answer me please." 

Nathaniel did what Arnold requested him to do, and tried to look through the man's brain. But just like what happened with Nathan. Nathaniel couldn't get inside their heads no matter how hard he tried. Another snapped his fingers and the man fell on the ground like the others. 

"Now try it once again." Arnold requested Nathaniel once again. 

"Arnold, it doesn't matter if the man's sleeping or not, if I can't access his mind once, I most probably won't be able to do it even while they're asleep."

"Please. Could you try it again for my sake?"

Nathaniel shook his head but proceeded with Arnold's request. To his surprise, this time he was able to get inside the man's head without any issue. It was a well-known fact among mind readers like Nathaniel, that if they aren't able to look into someone's mind while they are awake, they won't be able to get inside even if they are asleep or unconscious. 

"How... Is it even possible!?"

"Someone had been interfering with their minds." Arnold explained to the confused crowd, "I called out Natasha to confirm the fact and sever their link with the one controlling their minds."

"So that means-" Nina mumbled

"Someone has been controlling Nathan as well."