Trespassing In The Fourth Kingdom

As I was surrounded by darkness, my fear gradually diminished. Suddenly, I heard that same horrible, frightening sound again. Just like in my other dreams, there was no one around except for the voice coming from the darkness.

"Ryuu, you're getting stronger. I can see your anger growing. But is this what you want?" the voice asked.

"What do you mean?" I replied.

"Your problem is gone now. By killing my student, the hunter, you saved the wolf lineage. You're too proud to join my army but eager enough to start your own wolf lineage," the voice said.

"I thought you knew what I wanted to do," I said.

"Oh yes, I do. But I knew the founder of the Wolf line. At this rate, your anger will surpass his. Maybe that's why Miron was happy when he died - his father's legacy would be fulfilled by building a stronger, angrier wolf line," the voice said.

"You weren't there," I said.

"It's not whether I was there or not. The earth has ears, Ryuu," the voice replied.

"Enough quibbling. If you think I'm afraid of you, you're wrong," I said.

"To me, fear is the only thing that equals respect. People were silent when the wolf clan was killed because they were afraid. If you try to be a hero in their eyes, you'll be forgotten - just like your father," the voice said.

Apparently, he had not only learned about our battle with Miron but had also managed to overhear our conversations. I knew this was coming and couldn't hide any longer. Miron's master continued to speak from the darkness.

"I can't see your heart, but your eyes are filled with rage - eyes that only want to kill," he said.

"You know nothing about us. I will come for you when I kill your epics," I replied.

After my words, a hand reached out from the darkness and a strong voice answered me.

"You may be strong, Ryuu, but you have no idea what awaits you," the voice said.

I woke up again, gasping for breath and trying to understand what had happened. Lezlie entered my room through the door.

"Ryuu, we're under attack. They're shooting," she said.

Lezlie and I found ourselves on the deck of the ship before we even knew what was happening. The flags were already ablaze and the ship was barely keeping afloat. Wedan approached me with a quick gait, his urgency palpable.

"The ship took a big hit from a cannon at the bottom. Supplies are falling, and they are firing so much that I can't hold it with my ice power," he explained.

Shou stood beside me, holding a burning arrow with one hand, not even bothering to look at it. After stopping the arrow, Shou spoke.

"Orcs, These guys know we're trespassing in the fourth kingdom," he said.

Hiroshi calmly dodged incoming attacks before joining us. "It seems they knew we were coming," he stated.

Mila, turned to Shou who was carrying the ring, and asked, "How long can you keep the ship in the air?"

"The ship has lost its magic. I can't do anything now," Shou replied grimly.

With those words, we began to fall uncontrollably toward an unknown place in the fourth kingdom.

When I finally opened my eyes, I found myself in an unfamiliar place. The ship had fallen too fast, and we had no chance to escape. I wasn't sure how long I had been unconscious, but I knew I wasn't badly injured. As I slowly lifted my head from the ground, I scanned my surroundings for any sign of the others.

What I saw was far from pleasant. Our ship was a flaming wreck behind me, spreading fire across the dry forest. Apparently, the gunpowder on the ship had ignited and exploded. I needed to find the others as soon as possible to make sure they were okay and leave before someone spotted the burning wreckage.

I didn't want to shout and attract attention, but I couldn't think of any other way to locate the others. So, I put my hands to my mouth and shouted at the top of my lungs, "Hiroshi, Lezlie, everyone, where are you?"

Keeping a safe distance from the burning ship, I searched for a while, but there was no one around. I knew I had to find them quickly before someone else did, but the forest was vast, and they could have landed anywhere.

As I was about to head into the woods, I heard footsteps behind me. Someone was shouting, "You stay right there."

I followed their instructions for now, unsure of what they could do. The people behind me continued to shout, demanding that I put my hands up and kneel down. I turned my head slightly, trying to get a glimpse of who I was dealing with. A few dozen orc soldiers were pointing their weapons at me, waiting for me to follow their orders. I was about to give them more than they expected.

"How big is this forest?" I asked calmly, ignoring their demands.

The Orcs repeated their instructions one more time;

"Didn't you hear? We told you to kneel."

I caught an orc's outstretched hand in one swift move, breaking his fingers with a firm grip. Using my power, I pulled him towards me, then hurled him towards the archer orc. With lightning speed, I dispatched the other archer orc with a single blow.

Realizing there were no more ranged enemies, I focused on beating each orc with close combat, striking them hard enough to keep them down for a long time. I lost myself in the smell of blood and the thrill of battle until a familiar voice called out my name.

"Ryuu, Ryuu, Ryuu..."

Regaining my senses, I turned to see Hiroshi and Lezlie looking at me with surprise and fear. I had never seen them look at me like that before.

I didn't know what to say, when I was going to talk, to sum up, the situation, Hiroshi thought it would be more logical to focus on the situation we were in, so he changed the subject and asked about my situation;

Hiroshi asked, "Ryuu, are you alright?"

I pulled myself together and approached them. "Yes, I'm fine. What about you?"

"We're fine, but we need to get out of here. There's a whole army coming," Hiroshi said.

"Good plan. What about the others?" I asked.

Lezlie paused before answering. "Shou, Wedan, and Rose are searching for Babu and Mila to the east of here."

"Before the army finds them, we need to find them first," I said. "Otherwise, we don't know what we're up against."

Our team was complete and strong, but we didn't know what kind of army we were facing. Moreover, this kingdom was dominated by the fourth epic and its orcs, making it impossible for any army to help us. It was best to retreat and escape before the enemy army arrived.

However, when we found the others, it was already too late. Nearly a hundred orcs had surrounded them, and they had taken Mila and Babu prisoner. Wedan, Shou, and Rose were waiting for an opportunity to attack, but the orcs had guns pointed at Babu and Mila's necks, ready to kill them at any moment. I had to act fast.

Throwing myself in front of them, "Don't shoot. Nobody needs to fight, please."

Babu spoke up, filled with agitation, "Ryuu, we're sorry. They caught us off guard, and we couldn't escape."

"It's all right, Babu. I'm just glad you're all right," I reassured him.

The organ general leading the orcs shouted out to us, "Surrender, or your fellow prisoners will die."

It was a huge risk to surrender, but I couldn't bear to see them die. Wedan and Shou were quick, but the archers surrounding us had already aimed their bows. It was impossible to take them all down at once, and their numbers were growing by the second. There was only one thing left to do.

"Very well, we surrender."