Upon the explosion, I fell from the broken ground. A large piece of stone hit me on the head and I was slightly stunned. I didn't see the appendage approaching from the corner.

I involuntarily hit the appendage with my back and was knocked to the ground by its fragmentation. It was normal for me to faint briefly after taking such a blow.

When I opened my eyes again, I heard fighting sounds from every part of the palace. The intact palace we had entered was now unrecognizable.

Everything was almost shattered and there was a big hole in front of me that reached all floors of the palace.

My fainting caused a brief delay in our plan, but I still remembered my task: I was going to rescue Ronk while our guys distracted the enemy.

I hesitated at first, but since I was the best healer among us, I had to be the one to save Ronk. Using my wind power, I made my way through the holes and reached Ronk on the top floor. It seemed that everyone was so focussed on the battle that I made my way along the road without encountering any enemies.

After treating Ronk's minor wounds, I freed him from his chains. For some reason, Ronku's axe was still on his back despite his captivity.

I didn't have much time to think. I carried the unconscious Ronk on my shoulder and was about to leave when I remembered one last thing.

I had to throw the smoke bomb Hiroshi gave me down the hole. Its explosion would fill the palace with smoke and everyone would take it as a sign to flee.

I didn't know how they would do it or how fast, but I followed instructions and threw the smoke bomb below us. The palace filled with smoke and I left for our meeting point.

Our plan was elaborate. Everyone had a different escape route and if one of us was caught, it wouldn't be a problem for all of us. We took separate routes to avoid detection and met at a common point in the forest.

As the sun set, I arrived at the meeting point where only Ryuu was waiting. He was happy to see me and quickly came over.

"Babu, you made it! How is Ronk?" he asked.

After laying Ronk down in a safe place, I replied: "He's fine. He just needs some rest. But where are the others?"

Ryuu answered with a worried face: "I don't know. I've been waiting for hours but no one has come yet."

It was strange that they hadn't returned. Ryuu and I knew it could only mean one thing: and that was that they were in trouble.

We didn't know what to do. It was our first time in the fifth kingdom and we had no idea where our friends would be taken if they were captured.

Ryuu suggested we wait for Ronk to wake up. After a few hours, he opened his eyes and looked around. "Where am I? How did I get here? And what are you doing here, Ryuu?" he asked more than one question.

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Ryuu calmly replied: "Don't worry, Ronk. You're safe. We came to rescue you but encountered an unexpected problem."

"Problem?" Ronk asked.

"When we tried to rescue you, Lokash and four paladins tried to stop us. We managed to escape but the others may still be there."

"You made them fight The Four Scourges?" Ronk spoke with an expression of surprise rather than a question.

"The Four Scourges?" said Ryuu. Like me, he was hearing this nickname for the first time.

"They're disguised as paladins but are actually mutant elite soldiers of the fifth epic," explained Ronk.

"If I'd known something like this was gonna happen, I wouldn't have put them in this position. I just wanted to save you, Ronk. Because you taught me so much and I wanted to repay you."

Ronk was angry at first about what Ryuu had done, but then he understood how he felt. Ronk wasn't much of a talker, but he was happy about the sacrifice Ryuu had made for him. He looked at Ryuu as if he was an honored student, just like my master once looked at me. He spoke over Ryuu's words because he didn't want him to feel bad.

"We all make mistakes, Ryuu," Ronk said. "The important thing is that you recognize your mistake and try to correct it."

I backed up Ronk's words: "Yeah, Ryuu. Ronk is right and it's not your fault. Remember we all agreed to come here even if we knew we couldn't make it. We asked for it."

Ryuu put aside his regret and wanted to do something to save our friends.

"You're right," he said. "They're my friends and I'll do whatever I can for them. But we need to know what we're up against."

"Ryuu is right," I said. "We don't know their powers. There are three of us and who knows how many of them?"

We didn't know how long Ronk had been here but he spoke as if he had learned a lot.

"Everything in this kingdom depends on the fifth epic," he said. "The king, the people, the paladins, everything."

"How does this happen?" I asked.

"A long time ago, Yores made a pact with the lineage of destruction to defeat his father," Ronku explained. "No one knew what the lineage of destruction got until recently when we found out everything. After Yores took over, he gave part of his kingdom to the lineage of destruction in exchange for powers," he added. "After his great war, the piece of land he gave was separated from the other kingdoms and called the fifth kingdom. To prevent interference from other kings, the fifth epic used hypnosis to create a king. He made the people love the king and took over the kingdom."

Ryuu wanted to know more about what Ronk said so he asked: "What kind of magic is hypnosis?"

"It's not magic," Ronk replied. "The people here are asleep and whatever they're doing or saying isn't voluntary."

"So they're under control," Ryuu said.

"Exactly," Ronk confirmed.

"So what do we do about the enemies?" I asked.

"No descendants of the fifth epic, only he rules this kingdom. No alliances, no elite soldiers, only him in this kingdom. He can use the people of this kingdom as an army if he wants. But ordinary people don't affect us much, the real problem is the paladins. These paladin mutants are hard to stop," Ronk said.

"How can we defeat them? Do you have any idea?" Ryuu asked.

"I don't," Ronk admitted. "But I know someone who does."

"You mean Lokash,right?" Ryuu said.

"I know he seems like a bad guy but as a father, I can still feel the good in him," Ronk explained. "He's not a bad guy. He just needs reassurance. Years later, I found my son and I can't lose him again. I can't live with it."

It was hard to say if Lokash was a good person but Ryuu trusted Ronk with everything. And as they say, Lokash was the only one who could help us with the paladins. Otherwise, we had no information about the enemy.

Ryuu knew the task ahead was difficult but he still wanted to save our friends and was willing to put everything on the line to do so. He said to Ronk: "Help us, Ronk, and we'll help you."

Ronk held out his hand: "You may not be the man your father was but you're honorable enough to help me save my son. I'm honored to have you as my student, Ryuu. Your friends are just as honorable as you are."

Ryuu smiled and shook Ronk's hand: "I'm honored to be your student." and he replied.

It was nice of Ronk to praise us but we still didn't know where our friends were.

"Okay, but how do we find them?" I asked.

Ronk answered me as if he knew the answer to my question: "I know where they're taking them."