An Impostor

Yuuta turned around and stabbed the Holy Sword of Light and Truth on the ground. "You! Stay there!" He ordered, pointing a finger at King Faier.

After that, he grabbed the Black Grsrzy Scarf from his pockets and hissed at Aarkra. "What are you talking about? What do you mean the world of Lucid is at risk? Wouldn't it be better if I just get rid of him once and for all?"

"No! You can't do that!" Aarkra was becoming desperate. "That King Faier you're addressing, that's not the real king! I didn't want to surprise you and I just noticed a few seconds ago just when you were about to chop his head off or something."

"What do you mean he's not the real king? Why is everyone calling him King Faier then?" Yuuta was getting impatient. As for Miki and Yua, they were a bit concerned at how he was acting since he was talking to himself like a crazed man in an asylum. They wanted to interrupt him but his expression was too scary for comfort. That's why they just watched silently as Yuuta entered into a heated debate with Aarkra.

"It's true! I swear!" Aarkra said with such confidence that Yuuta couldn't doubt him. "These guys are fooled! They think they're following the King but he's just the prince of the Minths. These guys are young, they were probably deceived."

"Deceived? Why?"

"Think about it, not a lot of Minths know what the King looks like. And trust me when I said that I'm one of the blessed few that came in contact with the King. I was the head of our scout team after all. These guys are probably sent here in haste to get rid of me and my scouts. And now that they've gotten rid of me, they decided to proceed with the plan in conquering this planet with the Prince in the lead." Aarkra explained.

While this was happening, everyone present in the room didn't move an inch from where they were standing. They felt like Yuuta was an uncontrollable being and that provoking him would bid them no good. Even Miki and Yua were half scared out of their wits. They wondered what happened to Yuuta... was he possessed? Miki and Yua could only wonder.

"Fine fine," Yuuta broke the silence once again. "What do you want me to do then? Do you want me to peacefully leave this place after causing a ruckus?"

"No... it's just... argh! It's complicated! Can't you at least capture the Prince? At least when that happens, negotiations would be feasible." Aarkra pointed out. "You know, it's just like a game of kidnapper and ransom!"

"You and your antics. Fine. I'll do what I can. I agree with you as well. If what you said is true and that this is really the Prince, then I'd just endanger the whole world of Lucid." Yuuta once again closed his eyes to detect if Aarkra was lying but he could tell he wasn't— that or he's a very good liar to boot.

Making up his mind. Yuuta returned the sword to Miki. "Thanks for letting me use it." He said with an earnest smile on his face. "Now hang tight, we'll get out of here soon."

In that instant, Yuuta pushed Miki and Yua out of the Holy Seal as he condensed it. The Holy Seal, which was supposed to contain every Minths inside it, became smaller and smaller until the entire orb was packed with the Minths with no space to spare. Yuuta then raised the Black Grsrzy Scarf and waved it around.

As expected, just like what happened to Aarkra, everyone in the Holy Seal was absorbed in the Black Grsrzy Scarf. Yuuta could've sworn that he heard Aarkra scream an ear-piercing scream but he ignored it. For the time being, he had to bear being trapped with the others in the Scarf. And well, Yuuta knew that they can't touch each other while stuck in the scarf. So it's pretty much a win-win situation for both sides— Aarkra could watch them suffer while he remained safe, separated from each imprisoned Minths.

That's basically what transpired over the course of five seconds. In mere words, it sounded bizarre but it was an anticlimactic occasion. The cave then returned to normal, and what's left in the room was just the throne where the Prince used to sit. "To think that he's just a prince, he really made me believe he was the legitimate king of the Minths. Why didn't I detect his lies though? Was it because he believed in his heart that he really is the current king? Who knows."

After deactivating his skills, Yuuta went on to explore every nook and cranny of the cave room and he was right on the money. There were a few thousand garnets lying around just behind the throne. Yuuta supposed that it was probably the garnets they pillaged from unsuspecting people. Once he put everything in his inventory, he regrouped with Miki and Yua. "Let's get out of here." He said.

Turning around, Yuuta headed to the huge gate that led out of the room where they were in. Miki meekly followed. However, it was a different case for Yua— she just stood still in the middle of the room. "I'm not going anywhere." She said. "You told us that you'll explain everything soon after, Yuuta."

"We don't have time for this, we're running late on sche— "

"A man just died! He died right in front of us! Why didn't you help him? You had enough strength to defeat the Evil Spirit... but why did you let that guy die first?"

"That's right, Yuuta. To us, this may be a game but to Yua, this is her world. Mind explaining what happened back there? Both of us know that you have your reasons... but you did promise to tell us everything." Miki acquiesced as she calmly and gently told Yuuta off. To her, the dead guy didn't really matter since she doesn't know him... but deep inside, she knew that Yuuta just killed a man... or rather, let a man be killed.

"Yua... listen to this... " Yuuta pursed his lips in frustration. The more he thought about the atrocities that Aldunn had done, the more he thought that he deserved to be killed in such an inhuman way. "Remember what you told me about your tribe? The Issaz Tribe?"

She nodded. "Yes, why?"

"Do you really think it's the Evil Spirits who massacred your entire tribe? Isn't there another group that you left out in your story? Think about it."

Yua was confounded by the question. Her mouth hung wide open as she realized what Yuuta was getting at.

But just then, they heard a faint sound of a scream from deeper in the cave.