Outside the castle, the Storm Knights and the three Disciples of the Sage were puzzled by what was happening.
As soon as their Master rushed to save the Pontiff and instructed the Storm Knights to make preparations, he suddenly stopped moving the moment he used his movement technique to grab the Pontiff.
Indeed, Sage Merlin was standing dazed in front of the Pontiff!
The Pontiff had already stood up and was simply staring at the Sage as he was observing a specimen!
"Why is Master not doing anything?"
"This is confusing... I think they're fighting through their minds. It's probably some kind of Divinity at work… It's out of our league."
"That's possible... The Ice Spirits are still fighting. So, it means that Master is still fighting through other means. There's still hope!"
The three disciples commented as they tried to understand the situation.
But they did not know that Sage Merlin was under hypnosis all along!