Guiding the trio deeper into the damp subterranean tunnels, King Karui stopped before a dead-end stone wall covered in thick river moss. Drawing a small, rusted iron dagger from his rags, the elderly monarch pressed the blade against his palm and smeared a drop of royal blood onto an obscured runic line.
HUMMM...
The solid masonry dissolved silently, revealing a swirling, pale-blue portal anchored within the wall. "Step inside," Karui rasped, ushering them through. "It is the only place in the realm beyond the puppet network's sensory range."
Stepping through the spatial threshold, Hegemon stood genuinely surprised. Expecting a crude, mud-caked hideout, he instead found a spacious, surprisingly well-furnished underground safehouse. Arcane lanterns bathed the room in warm golden light, casting shadows over oak bookcases, a fully stocked medical station, soft leather armchairs, and stacks of preserved rations—a hidden sanctuary built directly into a isolated spatial pocket.
"You have maintained quite the operational base while exiled," Hegemon remarked, his dark eyes taking in every exit and tactical vantage point.
"A fallen king must always keep a contingency plan," Karui replied quietly, tossing his staff aside and pulling a clean wool cloak over his frail shoulders. "And thankfully, I am not fighting this shadow war alone."
From a quiet corner of the hideout, a low, groaning voice rasped from a heavy wooden bed draped in thick blankets. "Karui... did you bring more noisy strays into my sanctuary?"
Lying on the bed was a tall, heavily bandaged man with long raven hair and sharp, pale features Orobos. His chest was wrapped tightly in spell-inscribed linen, saturated with faint, dark-green healing salves. Despite his weakened, bedridden state, an intense, suffocating pressure lingered in the air around him.
Kenji, curious as always, walked over to inspect a small bedside table. Spotting a small, neatly folded hand towel embroidered with a cute, pink cartoon rabbit, the Hero picked it up to wipe the sewer grime from his face.
The moment Kenji touched it, Orobos's sharp, pitch black eyes snapped toward him.
The room instantly dropped ten degrees. Orobos glared at Kenji with an expression of pure, unadulterated, unblinking death a dark, silent glare so terrifyingly intense that even the Holy Sword at Kenji's hip gave a faint, nervous vibration.
Kenji froze mid-motion, holding the rabbit towel awkwardly in the air. Sweat dripped down his neck as he cleared his throat loudly.
"Ah... lovely design," Kenji said quickly, dropping the towel back onto the table as if it were coated in poison. "Right! No opinions on the towel! Let's... let's stick strictly to political business!"
Hegemon let out a quiet sigh, rubbing his temples, while Lily merely blinked at the comical tension. Karui pulled up a heavy wooden chair to the center table, motioning for Hegemon, Lily, and Kenji to gather round.
"Now then," Karui spoke, his expression turning grave as he unrolled a detailed blueprint of the royal citadel. "Let us discuss how we are going to reclaim my kingdom."