The next time Graven opened his eyes, he was already lying on the ground beside his men.

And he was brokenhearted after finding out that half of his men were nowhere in sight around the area! ​​

Dammit!

The cursed King was serious when he told him that he's going to keep half of his men in the basement with him!

Shiit!

He was devastated beyond words!

Calder opened his eyes and looked at his comrades. His eyes landed on his master. "My Lord, where are the others?" he asked worriedly, even though he already had an idea what happened to them.

Graven released a deep sigh. "The King hold them as prisoners," he said in a withdrawn voice. "We will see them again soon!" he added to reassure himself.

Calder took a deep breath.

"Tell the men to get out of the castle right away before the King change his mind!" Graven ordered as he rose to his feet and walked towards the main entrance of the castle.

Calder stood up and faced his comrades. "Let's get out of this place at once!" he commanded.

Graven and his men walked towards the door, eager to leave the place!

Meanwhile... outside the castle.

Terros and the others were watching the entrance of the castle, looking for any signs of the men getting out.

They were not disappointed because they saw Graven exiting the door first, followed by the others.

This time, the happiness they felt was reduced to sadness after they noticed that half of the men were missing! Which only means one thing! They were held hostage by the King at his place beneath the ground!

Terros and the men rushed to Graven's side.

"What happened to the others, son?" Terros asked.

"The King was pissed after he learned that the five men got the cure, that is why he punished me by taking half of my men as prisoners!" Graven replied.

"That's bad!" Terros blurted out.

"Bad indeed!" Graven said and addressed his men. "Men, go back t the headquarters!" he commanded.

"Copy, my lord!" the men replied.

A few minutes later, the men disappeared from the place together with Calder.

Graven looked at Terros. "Let's go back to your place, Grandpa! I need a place to hang out for a few days," he said miserably.

"Okay, let's go home!" Terros said.

The men teleported back to the forest.

They landed in front of the bamboo house and climbed the stairs going to the balcony.

Graven settled on the wooden chair. "Damn! I'm so hungry!" he mumbled.

"Okay, stay here, son! I'll go to the kitchen to find something for you to eat," Terros said.

"I'll go with you, Grandpa!" Graven said.

The men entered the door and went to the kitchen. They found some leftover food on the table.

Terros handed Graven the spoon and fork.

Graven began eating ravenously.

A few minutes later.

Graven finished eating all the food in the serving dish. He smiled a bit and looked at his companion. "I'm done eating, Grandpa! I'm full! Thank you for the food!" he said.

"Good!" Terros put the glass of drinking water in front of Graven. "Drink the water, then afterward, tell me what happened," he said.

Graven obeyed and gulped the water in one go. "Done!" he said and put down the empty glass on the table. "Let's talk on the balcony! I need to inhale fresh air!" he said.

The men exited the house and went back to the balcony to have a serious talk.

"Tell me, what are the demands of the cursed King this time?" Terros inquired.

Graven released a deep sigh. "The King was puzzled and asked me why the five men were missing and unable to return to the castle. I told him a lie, explaining to him that the five men died in a battle between our enemy. He tried reading my mind, wanting to know if I'm telling the truth or not, but he failed to read my mind, so he read one of my men's minds and found out the truth. He got mad and wants me to bring to him the mastermind who created the cure. And to punish me for lying, he kept half of my men as prisoners!" he said in an agitated tone.

Terros eyes widened. "What-? Is the King out of his mind? He got so many demands! How dare him?!" he said indignantly. "He wants Laura and now the deity? And worst, he kept half of your men inside the basement as prisoners! He's getting on my nerves! He's getting too much!"

Graven released a deep sigh. "Things are not getting better for me, Grandpa. Things are going downhill for me this time," he said in a miserable tone.

Terros sighed heavily and patted Graven's shoulder, trying to comfort him. It pained him deeply, after seeing him looking like this, so down. It broke his heart. He was debating if he will inform Graven about Luke's disappearance. It will surely make him more worried and devastated more than ever before. He decided to tell Graven about what happened to his twin brother tonight. Maybe, Luke will suddenly return before his brother will know of his disappearance.

He hoped so!

Graven looked at the horizon above as if he was waiting for a miracle to happen that would put an end to all his worries and problems that he's experiencing right now.

Terros sighed. "Son, I think you need a good sleep. You already have dark circles in your eyes. Let's continue chatting after you wake up," he suggested.

"Good idea, Grandpa!" Graven said.

"Go to my room now and sleep as long as you want," Terros ordered.

Graven took a deep breath and left the balcony going towards the door.

Terros watched Graven entered the door and disappeared inside. Veronica was not in the house, maybe she's in the stream taking her bath.

He lay his body down on the bench and closed his eyes to rest.

A few minutes later.

Veronica arrived in the house after taking a bath in the stream. She found Grandpa sleeping on the seat alone. "He's already back. But where is Graven?" she asked.

She went inside the house and went to Grandpa's room. The door is not closed, she pushed it a little bit and saw Graven lying on the bed in a deep sleep. She closed the door quietly and went to her room.

A few minutes later.

She emerged from the room and went outside the house, going to the backyard to tend to her plants and flowers.

She was uprooting weeds in the garden when she heard a~thud sound~ as if someone had fallen into the floor. She stood up and went back to the house. When she climbed the stairs, she found Terros on the floor. She rushed to his side. "Grandpa, are you okay?" she asked worriedly and helped him to his feet.

"Yeah. It's not a big fall!" he said and rose to his feet quickly.

They sat on the bench.

"Is Graven aware of the missing spirit of his twin?" Veronica asked.

"No. I haven't told him about that problem yet. He already got lots of problems right now," he said.

"What problem?" she asked.

"The King kept half of his men inside the castle and released Graven and the rest. Then he also knew about the cure and because of that reason, he demanded that Graven will bring the person who created the cure to the castle together with Laura!" Terros revealed.

Veronica's eyes widened in shock, then her eyes went to slit. "Such an outrageous demand! That cursed King is getting crazier!" she said, gritting her teeth in anger.

"Indeed! He is putting Graven in emotional and mental torture each time! And I already hated him in every fiber of my whole being! I would love to destroy that King with my very own hands!" Terros said, his hands formed into a fist. A dangerous gleam appeared in his eyes.

Veronica saw the gleam flashing in Terro's eyes. "Grandpa, don't tell me that you are planning to go back to the castle and commit suicide just to put an end to that cursed King!" she said.

Terros took a deep breath. "Actually... I might. I was thinking about that idea," he admitted.

"But how are you going to do that? Once you are taken to the King's place in the basement, you will lose your power just like what happens to Graven and his men every time they're under the King's custody. Let me remind you that you won't stand a chance in killing the King, Grandpa! You will end up killing yourself in the process and you will only make Graven sadder than he already is. He will feel guilty that you died because of him! And worst, if you died and the King isn't, you already wasted your life for nothing!" Veronica ranted.

Terros shook his head and breathed deeply. "Alright, let's stop talking about the cursed King! He only makes my blood boil, I might die of heart attack!" he joked and grinned.

Veronica smiled. "Think a thousand times before you will go on a suicide mission, Grandpa!" she finally said.

"I know," Terros said. He rose to his feet. "I'm going inside the house and sleep there on the floor to makes sure I won't fell this time," he said and walked towards the door.

Veronica shook her head while she watched the old man entered the door and disappeared inside.

'Graven's problem keeps adding up! It's his misfortune in life to cross path with the cursed King!' she thought to herself.

She was wondering how will Graven find a solution to all his pressing problems? She feels that the King is getting more desperate in coming out of the castle and rule the world!

She descended the stairs and walked on the path leading to the back of the house to continue where she left off.