Twenty-four hours ago.

Elva brought the body to the secret cave but failed to resurrect the body. She was wracking her brain on how to resurrect the guy?

She had already fed the revival elixir to the guy's mouth. The elixir is powerful enough to revive a person's life, especially if that person is not yet dead for 60 hours.

She does have another option... she can pour a few drops of the elixir of life into the guy's mouth! The elixir of life can not only bring back the dead but can also give immense power to anyone who drinks it. But what if after resurrecting him from death, he will become more powerful and do evil things? Especially if he is the cursed King!

She's hesitating to do it. The consequences might be something that she can't handle later on.

Then her eyes landed on the vase that the King was clutching with his hands earlier.

She picked up the vase from the ground and opened it. She noticed that it was filled with black liquid to the brim. Desperate, she poured the liquid into the guy's mouth and face.

She waited for a few minutes.

Nothing happens, the black liquid isn't moving, it looks like the liquid turned into a black jelly with no spirit whatsoever.

She's getting frustrated.

She waved her hand and silently recited a spell with her mouth, creating an invisible barrier, preventing anyone and anybody from entering and exiting the chamber where she imprisoned the unconscious guy.

She covered the chamber with a powerful spell that nothing and no one can leave and enter the place without her permission.

Then she finally left the cave.

A few hours later.

The guy's fingers move a little. Suddenly, he was breathing laboriously.

The liquid comes alive and finally entered the guy's mouth, nose, and ears until no more black liquid was left on the surface.

The guy's eyelids began to flutter. Slowly, his eyes opened wide. He sits upright from lying on the ground and roamed his eyes around the area.

He's no longer inside that cramp, stuffy and damp place beneath the castle!

Holy shiit! He's alive!

He laughed, roared, and beamed in jubilation!

He finally left the castle successfully!

The memory flashed back to his mind.

When he saw the leaves floating in the air inside the windowless and doorless room, he already knows that Graven is well prepared in coming back to save his men and the spirit of his brother aided by that powerful thousand-year-old deity!

He quickly covered the whole room with darkness, and the black liquid come to his aid, he set his plan in motion. Since the leaves are capable of saving Graven, he hides his body along with the vase in the secret room so that he will be the one who will be saved instead of Graven.

He wants to know how powerful the deity is! He was supposed to be dead the moment his body will leave the confinement of the castle. But here he is inside this chamber alive! The deity must have done something to revive him!

Those people he saw outside the castle looking at him while was lying on the ground dying...they must be the ones who brought him to this place which look like a cave to him!

The goddess found a way to make him alive!

Fantastic!

They resurrected him because he told them that he is the only one who knows where is Graven's body!

Stupid fools!

They would never find out the secret room where he kept Graven and the vase!

Now, it's time for him to escape this place! He stood up and bolted outside... but ended up ramming himself into an invisible barrier, pushing him back into the confined space.

Damn!

The whole place was protected by a powerful barrier!

He raised his hand about to destroy the invisible barrier, but surprisingly he can no longer wield his power! WTF!?

He lost his power!

Beneath the castle, he can still wield his power without any problem, but in this place, he is powerless! What's going on? He must still be under the power of the cursed!

No, this can't be!

He must escape this place!

He can't stay longer here!

Once he can escape this place, he will find Laura! Only her blood can restore everything that he lost!

Only her blood can fully resurrect him to his full potential!

He was reduced to an ordinary human now.

What a shame!

He went back to sit in the corner, feeling frustrated and irritated beyond words.

~~~0~~~

Back in the forest, at Terros's place.

Veronica and Terros were having a conversation while sipping coffee on the table.

"What do you think happened to that guy that Elva brought to the Windless Mountain?" asked Terros.

"If I'm not wrong, she is reviving that guy, or that guy is already dead, and she already disposed of the body somewhere..." answered Veronica.

"That guy is the King! I'm sure of that! When he mentioned that he knows where Graven is... he knows specifically where! I got to see that guy again, dead or alive!" Terros demanded.

Veronica sighed. "I'll go back to the Windless Mountain after I finished my coffee. I will ask Elva what happened to that guy, and I'll return here to tell you what I've found," she said.

"Okay, don't keep me waiting for long! I have to go back to the castle..." Terros said.

"What are you going to do there? The castle is already gone..."

"I want to know if there is some underground passage or chamber hidden in that castle. Maybe, Graven is trapped somewhere in the ground near that area. Just my hunch..." Terros spoke.

"Alright, don't go there alone. Bring some of Graven's men with you. Bring Calder or Horace," she suggested.

"I will!" Terros replied.

Veronica finished her coffee. "I will go now to the Windless Mountain. If I have a piece of good news, I'll return here tomorrow. Take care of yourself, Grandpa!" she said.

"Okay, give my regards to Elva," he said.

Veronica nods her head and left the kitchen going to her room to get something before teleporting to the Windless Mountain.

Terros exited the bamboo house and went to check the plants in the backyard.

He opened the clay jar containing stored water from the rain, it was kept under the banana tree. He used it to water the plants.

While he was performing his chores in the backyard, his mind was worrying about Graven!

Damn! He needs to find him asap! And what's he's doing right now? Watering plants while Graven is still missing?

He stopped what he's doing and went back to the house. He went to Veronica's room and knocked on the door. "Veronica, are you still there? I'm going to the headquarter and find Graven in the castle..." he said.

Nobody answered.

Veronica must have already teleported herself back to Windless Mountain!

Time for him to go!

He hoped that he will find some clues about Graven's whereabouts today!

A few minutes later, Terros disappeared from the bamboo house.

He reappeared in the headquarter a moment later.

Horace and Calder were having a discussion about Graven when Terros made his appearance.

"Grandpa! Good thing that you're here! We want to know what happened to Lord Graven? Where is he?" Horace asked.

Terros released a deep sigh and lowered himself on the chair. "I have no idea, son. The leaves saved the unconscious King thinking it was Graven. The King, before he loses consciousness, he told us that if we want to know where Graven is, we have to keep him alive..."

Horace and Calder looked at each other in shock and horror.

"T-then what h-happened to the King?" Horace asked.

"The goddess brought him back to Windless Mountain to resurrect him so that we will know where he hides Graven's body," Terros replied.

Calder took a deep breath. "At least there is hope that Lord Graven is still alive!"

Terros sighed heavily. "Only if the deity managed to resurrect the King, if she failed, then we will never know where the King hides Graven's body. And the big question - is he still alive until now?" he said gloomily.

"Grandpa, we can go back to the castle and investigate the whole place. Maybe there are some secret passages deep down there!" Calder suggested.

"Yes, that's what I'm also thinking... the exact reason why I'm here!" Terros said.

Calder stood up. "We will bring five men to the castle and check the whole perimeter of the castle. Maybe we can find an important clue..." he said and walked towards the door, to gather his men outside.

Horace looked at the old man. "Grandpa, what I'm going to do with the letters that Lord Graven had given me. He instructed me to give them to Laura, to his father, to Cooper, and to Luke, just in case he can not come back alive from the ruins of the castle. Shall I give them now to the recipient? I'm confused..." he said, pain mirrored in his eyes.

Terros shook his head and released a deep sigh. "No...not yet. We are still in the process of finding Graven. I refused to give up! I refused to believe that he's gone from this world already. He must be alive somewhere! And we must find him the soonest possible time!" he said confidently.

"I will go to the castle, Grandpa!" Horace said.

"No, son. Just stay here and return to your duties. I know that Graven left you a lot of responsibility on your shoulder, being his right man. All you need to do is focus your mind on the task that he had assigned you. Leave the rest to Calder and me. Don't worry if we already find Graven, Calder will inform you right away," Terros said.

Horace sighed heavily. "Okay, Grandpa. This time, I will listen to you," he said.

Terros patted Horace's shoulder. "We will go now," he said.

Calder returned to the room. "My men are ready, Grandpa!" he announced.

"Okay, we will teleport now to the castle," Terros said.

Calder and Grandpa exited the door.

Horace teleported himself back to the headquarter in South Pond Town.

~~~0~~~

Meanwhile...

Veronica arrived at the Windless Mountain.

She saw the deity relaxing on the balcony of the marble house. She rushed to her side. "Elva, what happened to the King?" she asked right away.

Elva looked at her. "He's dead! I failed to resurrect him," she replied in a defeated tone.