3) Encounter in the forest

As Aryan rode his horse while thinking about his plan, suddenly the sound of fighting entered his ears and he immediately snapped out of his thoughts, looking around vigilantly. 

* clang * * bang * 

After tying the horse to a peepal tree behind the bushes, Aryan pulled out his spear from behind his back and cautiously followed the battle sounds.

He gradually strayed away from the main road and entered the depths of the forest. And the closer he got to the battlefield, the more obvious the battle cries became. 

Around ten minutes later, Aryan finally came to a small clearing in the middle of the forest and silently witnessed the scene in front of him while hiding behind a tree. 

Two parties were confronting each other and a few dead bodies from both camps were also lying on the ground, signifying that a fierce exchange has taken place here. 

Among them, Aryan clearly recognized the uniform of the soldiers on the left side. They were the Royal guards of the Kalinga kingdom. And currently they were standing in a circular formation, protecting a beautiful lady in white royal clothes standing in the middle. 

Meanwhile their opponents were wearing black clothes and matching leather armour, with a mask conveniently covering their faces. From the looks of it, these black clothed guys clearly had the upper hand in the battle. It was only a matter of time before they breach the formation. 

"Hand over princess Bhanumati to us and I might just spare your pathetic lives. "

The guy standing on the front and welding a purple black bow , who was most likely their leader warned the Royal guards in an aloof tone. 

"Hmph, you think we are cowards? Remember one thing, the warriors of Kalinga fulfill their duty even at the cost of their own lives. You have to step over our dead bodies if you want to lay your hands on Princess Bhanumati. "

The leader of the Royal guards said proudly and tightened his hands around his shield and sword. 

"Hahaha, then you guys really are a bunch of fools. If you had the strength to back up this tradition then I would have really respected you guys. But now, hahaha. "

The archer laughed wildly. 

Seeing this princess Bhanumati finally couldn't control her anger and spoke angrily. 

"Don't think that I can't recognize you just because you have covered your face. I can never forget that abhorrent voice, Shubh Udrabhan. "

As soon as Bhanumati said this, the black clothed guy became a little nervous and anxiously denied her claim.

"What are you talking about? I am not Shubh Udrabhan. And why would the prince of Udra kingdom attack the princess of Kalinga in the first place? "

But all it did was further verify her guess. 

"When my father finds out about this, your Udra kingdom will pay it's price. So it's better if you peacefully end this matter and leave this place now. "

Bhanumati continued in a domineering tone, befitting of a princess.

"Hmph, so what if you know my true identity? As long as I kill everyone else present here, who will tell your father that I was the one who did it? On the contrary, if I leave here now I can't guarantee my safety and will be relentlessly chased down by your soldiers . "

After seeing that he could no longer hide it, Shubh simply stopped pretending and took off his mask, boldly showing his face. 

But this instantly made Bhanumati anxious. By doing this, Shubh has completely thrown away the option of retreat. 

Meanwhile, from this brief exchange, Aryan also roughly understood the cause and effect of the current situation. 

As it seems, Shubh Udrabhan, the third prince of Udra kingdom infiltrated the kingdom of Kalinga with his soldiers and ambushed in this forest, waiting for princess Bhanumati to fall in their trap. 

However it's unknown if this action of his was directed by someone else or he did it of his own accord. Because if anything happens to Princess Bhanumati then a full blown war between the Kindom of Kalinga and Udra kingdom is imminent. 

After weighing the pros and cons, Aryan finally made a decision and boldy stepped out from behind the tree, attracting the attention of both parties. 

"Who are you and what are you doing here ? "

Shubh asked with an ugly expression on his face. 

"Who me?"

Aryan paused slightly and subsequently thought about his plan, so he fabricated a fake identity for himself on the spot. 

"I'm Mahendra Bahubali, prince of the Maheshmati kingdom. As for what I'm doing here, well I was actually planning to visit the capital city Rajapura but I didn't expect to hear battle sounds coming from here. I followed the sounds out of curiosity and ended up here. "

Aryan patiently introduced himself. 

"Maheshmati kingdom? How come I have never heard of it? And you definitely don't look like a prince from your clothes. "

Shubh said dubiously and Bhanumati on the other side had the same thoughts going on in her mind. 

"It's only natural that you have not heard about the Maheshmati kingdom. Because it is located on the other side of the ocean. Even I myself came here accidentally after my ship suffered a seastorm and got lost in the ocean. "

Aryan said matter of factly. 

"Hmph, whoever you are, you have made the biggest mistake of your life by coming here. You should have obediently minded to your own business. But now that you have seen my face, I can only say sorry for you. "

Shubh said without any emotion. 

"Oh really? But somehow I highly doubt that. "

Aryan said with a smile and brandished his spear. 

Seeing him provocative look, Shubh got a little irritated but he felt a little apprehensive considering that the other party was also a prince like himself. And the spear in the opponent's hands also didn't look ordinary. He looked like a powerful warrior. 

Thus to test the water for him, Shubh hinted one of his soldiers to attack Aryan with his eyes. 

"You insolent fool, how dare you insult our prince ? You don't even have the qualifications to make him raise his weapons."

The soldier who got Shubh's hint reacted immediately and aggressively approached Aryan with his sword pointing at him. 

To be honest, while he looked all calm on the surface, this was also his first battle. So Aryan didn't dare to be careless and activated his ability. 

Almost at the same time, the spear started to glow with golden light and Aryan pointed his glowing spear at the approaching soldier. 

But nothing happened. 

"Huh? Hahaha, you were actually bluffing this whole time? And here I.... "

Just when the soldier started to laugh, the change happened.

* swish * * swish * * swish * * puchi *

A few wooden thorns emerged from the ground below his feet and pierced the soldier into a hedgehog in just a few seconds. It all happened so fast that no one even had the chance to react.