Panic at the Palace

Emperor Yamato sighed as he recalled the events reported to him by his men. He sat on the ground properly and looked at Lance in the eyes.

"The kids were corrupted by the darkness of Malice," the emperor said. "They were just helpless kids, but then they were… taken."

"Taken?" Lance asked. He started to lower his swords down after being satisfied with the answers given to him.

"Taken and then corrupter in the depths of the Abyss," Emperor Yamato said. "Our kingdoms had studied about the Abyss and the Afterlife long before the West even existed. We have been existing long before the Age of the Five Kings."

"And if you knew all that, how come you couldn't prepare for such tragedy?" Lance asked. "The crown princes were taken and then you were taken over by the darkness. You had all the information in the world– hoarded in your drawers yet us who had only known about it for a couple of years prevented that same darkness."