The next morning, in Master Harkin's training room.
With nowhere else to go, Will and his companions spent the night huddled together in Master Harkin's training room.
Master Harkin slowly opened his eyes, only to find that King Sam II was no longer in the room. Panic immediately set in, and for a brief moment, he thought it might have all been a dream.
Just as Master Harkin was about to call out, he heard King Sam II coughing outside the room, which immediately reassured him.
"Your Majesty, you're up early," Master Harkin said as he walked out of the room and addressed King Sam II.
"Hmph, I've slept for ten years. I don't wish to continue sleeping," King Sam II replied with a bitter smile.
"Your Majesty, what are your plans moving forward?" Master Harkin asked, his expression grave.
"Moving forward..."
"Hmm?"
"I wish to overthrow the Shadow Council and reclaim our kingdom, but at the moment, I am powerless," King Sam II confessed.
"Your Majesty, no matter what you wish to do, I will assist you," Master Harkin vowed.
"Hah! Master Harkin, no need to call me 'Your Majesty' anymore. I am no longer a king, at least not for now."
"In my heart, you will always be the King of the United Nations," Master Harkin replied solemnly.
"Alright then. At least until we reclaim the United Nations, you can drop the 'Your Majesty.' Just call me Sam. Otherwise, it will draw too much attention. After all, I was once your student. From now on, you can call me 'Master Sam,'" King Sam II said with a wink.
"Very well, Your Majesty," Master Harkin said with a light chuckle, clearly in a better mood now that King Sam II had regained his vitality.
"Now then, Your Majesty—no, Sam—do you have any plans?" Master Harkin asked again.
"Not at the moment. But even if I had a plan, we are sorely lacking in manpower."
"But we have five of us, don't we?" Master Harkin interjected.
"Just the five of us? Can we really defeat the Shadow Council? Do you remember Cole? Our magic had no effect on him. And besides, do these youngsters even wish to help us?" King Sam II said as he pointed to Will and the others, who had silently been standing by the door.
"They are all incredibly righteous youths, and two of them have Roland blood in their veins," Master Harkin replied.
"I know. You told me while I was unconscious. One is an ancient sage, and the other is the Red Dragon," King Sam II said.
"Yes. With their assistance, I believe we can try. Besides, Cole's trusted aides are no longer with him."
"Hmm. What you say makes sense. Now, it's just Marcus and Cole left," King Sam II replied.
"Then what are we waiting for?" Will suddenly strode forward and declared loudly to King Sam II.
"Young man, do not rush. This is not something that can be accomplished through sheer impulse," King Sam II answered seriously.
"How will we know unless we try?" Will asked, a hint of defiance in his voice.
"This is not something that can be 'tried' just like that. When you two fought Arno together, you nearly lost your lives," King Sam II replied sternly.
At those words, Will fell silent. As King Sam II had pointed out, during their battle with Arno, both he and Jin had narrowly escaped death. If luck hadn't been on their side, they might well have already passed on to the other side.
"So, what should we do now?" Jin asked.
"First, I must make it clear that five of us are nowhere near enough. Even though our opponents are only two, we need more allies," King Sam II stated.
"Do we need so many people to deal with just two?" Will asked, confused.
"Marcus is a master of dark magic. Like Merlin, he can summon demons and the undead from hell. So, although it appears we are fighting only two, in reality, we are facing a massive army," King Sam II explained gravely.
"The king is right. I also told you before—Marcus was the first to delve deeply into dark magic. His power is formidable," Master Harkin added.
"And then there's that enigmatic man, Cole. We know nothing about him. We don't even know when he joined the United Nations, or how he ended up working with Marcus," King Sam II continued.
"When did he form the Shadow Council, what are their goals, and why does our magic have no effect on him? These are all mysteries," Master Harkin said.
"Forget about it. As long as we find him, defeat him, and make him tell us everything, we'll have our answers," Will said confidently.
Will's words immediately relaxed the furrowed brows of both King Sam II and Master Harkin.
"Alright, kid. You've got a lot of confidence. But first, we need to find some allies, and we must be careful not to let anyone discover us. Otherwise, it'll all be over," King Sam II said with a wry smile.
"I see," Will nodded, then paused to think.
"Let's head to the Arus Empire. We helped them drive off Merlin before; I'm sure they'll assist us," Jin suggested.
"Will they really help us? After all, the United Nations once attacked them," Master Harkin remarked.
"We can at least try," Jin replied.
"Alright. Let's give it a shot. How do we get there?" King Sam II asked, smiling.
"We're in the East. If we head north, we'll reach it," Jin said, pointing in the northern direction.
...
Meanwhile, in the Shadow Council Hall of the United Nations.
"Cole, we haven't heard from Arno in a whole day," Marcus said, his voice laced with concern as he addressed Cole, who was seated on the throne.
"This is unlike Arno," Cole replied slowly.
"Could it be?" Marcus wondered aloud.
"Let me see," Cole said, reaching into his clothing and pulling out a glowing green stone.
"Arno, Arno!" Cole muttered, holding the stone in front of him. To his surprise, the stone began to glow with green light as if it had understood his command. A powerful green beam shot out from the stone, and soon, Arno's spirit appeared before Cole.
"So, you're truly dead," Cole remarked, his expression emotionless as he gazed at Arno's ethereal form.
"Master Cole," Arno's spirit bowed respectfully.
"Who killed you?" Cole asked sternly.
"It was King Sam II," Arno's spirit replied.
"What?" Both Cole and Marcus exclaimed in unison.
"Yes, King Sam II has awakened," Arno's spirit said seriously.