...…

King Jesse would naturally be able to sense what was happening outside the castle. He also wanted to personally join the fight there so that he could pay these guys with the crime that they had committed.

But he refrained himself from doing so, because he only had a single job right now. And that was to protect his son and wife. And with that, he needed to refrain himself from doing anything else but to guard the door behind him until Evangeline was done curing them.

He needed to keep his head cool and wait for the right time to make his move – which was why he was doing some meditation to prevent himself losing his calm.

But something unexpected happened before the impending battle could even start outside. He sensed an intense killing intent coming from the room behind the door that he was guarding.

King Jesse's eyes suddenly turned wide when he sensed that. So, he immediately stood up from his sitting position before quickly opening the door behind him. And when he entered, he immediately saw Evangeline doing her best to keep Steve away from the three of them.

There was a huge diagonal wound on her back, indicating that she had gotten injured. And even though that wound was currently healing unbelievably fast, Evangeline was still getting a heavy toll on her mind and body by doing so.

Her hands were fully occupied with performing the meridian locking at the little prince earlier. And now that Steve suddenly backstabbed her, not only she needed to divide her mind to heal her wound, but she also needed to put some of her focus on the formation that set up around the queen to prevent it from collapsing.

On top of that, she also needed to put a Mental Energy Barrier around the three of them which was going to ward off Steve's attacks.

"Tsk! Such a huge waste of a great opportunity," Steve couldn't help but click his tongue for failing to kill Evangeline when he got a perfect chance to do so.

And before could even execute his next attack, he suddenly felt a powerful punch coming from his side.

Sensing that, he immediately raised his arms and crossed them together while gathering his Mental Energy around his body.

Bang!

Even though he did all of that for as fast as he could, he still failed to completely block the incoming punch. Not only it easily shattered the barrier that he built in an instant, but it also broke his arm after getting hit.

At the same time, he was also sent flying towards the wall of the room before colliding with it in a miserable fashion.

"What do you think you are doing, Steve!?" shouted the king while viciously staring at the direction where he sent Steve flying.

"Hehe… As expected of you King Jesse. Getting hit by your attacks directly is really not a good idea. You almost turned my bones into dust," said by Steve while walking out of the cloud of dust.

King Jesse suddenly frowned his eyebrows when he saw him. It was because he suddenly felt an unfamiliar aura mixed on Steve's original aura.

A moment later, Steve instantly healed his arms from being limp after receiving a direct hit from King Jesse.

The expression on King Jesse's face suddenly turned solemn the moment he saw that. And after a brief moment of silence, he suddenly asked. "Who are you?"

Hearing that, Steve suddenly looked at the king innocently before replying. "What are you talking about, your majesty? It is me, Steve; your trusted aide."

King Jesse's face became even more solemn the moment he heard that. And while releasing a very dangerous aura, he started asking for another time. "I am asking you. The one hiding inside Steve's body."

Steve scratched his cheek a little after being asked for the second time. He pursed his lips while thinking for a moment before clicking his tongue. "Tch! It took me quite a lot of effort to hide all of the traces that I left after taking over this guy's body – I even went to a lot of trouble just to let the original owner retain his own consciousness."

Then he shook his head a little before adding. "Yet you blew it all up after with just a single punch."

After that, he took a deep breath before smirking at King Jesse. "Anyways, who I am is not important. Are you sure that you are going to help her?" while pointing at Evangeline who was starting to sweat a lot.

Hearing that, King Jesse casted a sidelong glance at Evangeline before knitting his eyebrows even further. It was not that he didn't want to assist her. He just couldn't do anything at this point of time.

If he tried to aid her with her current state, he was just going to get on her way instead of helping her. She was currently in a special state of extreme focus. So, if a foreign energy tried to mix in with hers, then it was just going to give her more trouble than having some assistance.

Given that, King Jesse couldn't let her be disturb.

Then he turned his attention back to Steve while waving his hand to the side, casting another Mental Energy Barrier around the barrier that was built by Evangeline and isolating the three from what was happening outside.

He then took a deep breath before taking a battle stance. And with a serious look on his face, a very dangerous aura started to emit from his body.

Steve suddenly raised his eyebrows a little more before taking a battle stance of his own. At the same time, he suddenly started smirking before saying. "Are you sure about this, my 'king'? Can you really afford to fight me here? Are you not afraid to disturb her?"

But despite efforts of trying to further provoke King Jesse, the latter maintained his cool and just stared at him coldly. And when Steve saw that, he couldn't help but complained a little deep inside. "Tsk! This is why I don't want to deal with a fellow Mentalist who has a high level of attainment."

While his thoughts were slightly distracted, a fist suddenly appeared right in front of his face and was magnifying on his eyes with a great speed.

Swoosh!

Fortunately, Steve immediately regained himself and immediately leaned his body to the side, trying to avoid getting hit by it.

But while he was doing that, King Jesse suddenly opened his hands and turned his fist into a hand blade before swinging it in the direction where Steve's head was heading.

Seeing that, Steve quickly raised one of his arms for as fast as he could to deflect the incoming strike.

Pa!

And he was successful in changing its trajectory with that move.

But right after deflecting that swinging hand blade, another fist flew straight towards his face with an even greater speed.

Bang!

And this time, he was unable to neither block nor dodge due to how perfectly sync those movements were.

That punch actually broke his skull. Fortunately for him, he had a very strong healing ability that immediately repaired his broken skull almost instantly. And after that, he quickly started hopping away from King Jesse, trying to create some distance between the two of them.

But the king was closely chasing after him, making sure that Steve would not be able to get away from him. And due to his repeated assault, the latter was forced to be in a passive state.

But didn't last long when he realized that there was something wrong going on.

Despite how strong and powerful his attacks were, they still seemed to be ineffective against Steve. And even if the latter appeared to be struggling at defending his attacks on the surface, none of them could actually pose a real threat to Steve.

Realizing this, King Jesse immediately halted his strikes and quickly moved away from Steve while frowning his eyebrows.

Seeing that, Steve suddenly clicked his tongue before muttering. "Tsk! Still sharp as always. Moving away when I am about to throw my counter attack."

King Jesse stayed silent for a moment and continued to stare at Steve before saying with a heavy voice. "Now I remember. That technique is one of the forbidden Mentalism Techniques of our Kingdom and considered to be an evil art – the 'Fiend's Grip'."

He then took a brief pause before continuing with a solemn tone. "That means you are the 'Puppeteer' of 40 years ago, the traitor who deserted our kingdom in exchange for that power."

Hearing that, Steve suddenly started chuckling before saying. "Well, well. Now, this is quite a surprise. To think that there are still some people who remember this old man. And the king of the country on top of that, I can't help but feel honored."

When King Jesse got the confirmation, the expression on his face became even more heavier. A moment later, he asked with a cold tone. "What are you doing in this place? From what I learned, you vowed to never set foot on this land ever again after leaving."

But the Puppeteer refused to reply to him this time and said. "Are you sure you have time to chat right now? How about you try taking a look outside and see what kind of situation you are currently in."

King Jesse frowned his eyebrows after hearing that. But regardless of his confusion, he still casted some of his consciousness outside the castle to see what was happening on that side.

Not long after, his eyes suddenly turned wide at what he saw.

And seeing that look on his face, the Puppeteer suddenly started laughing loudly before saying. "Looks like the tides of this war are already against you. So, what are you going to do now-…"

He trailed his words for a few seconds before completing his words. "My 'King'?" while wearing an evil look on his face.

...