"You... I'm the one who should be asking you that question..."
A white armored knight replied to the young knight as they continue to stare at each other intensely.
"Hey, isn't the four heroes supposed to be a secret?"
"Huh?"
The other white-armored knight's interjection made the atmosphere around them even more intense.
To Riko and his squad, the four heroes are supposed to be a rumor made by some crazy woman in the capital city of Kruule. A rumor that was declared by the Hari of Kruule to be a topic of discussion that should no longer be discussed. Riko and the others do not know anything about it being a secret.
"So you guys know about the four heroes, then?"
"Huh?"
"Where are they?"
"What do you mean where are they? They're just a rumor, they don't exist."
Agario's response left the Malayas confused. Because to them, the four heroes aren't just a rumor.
"The four heroes were summoned by the queen of Reilaea kingdom—Reyna Amaya."
"What?!"
"Reyna Amaya summoned them? Why?"
As the young knight asked himself those questions, the Malayas pull out their swords and takes a battle stance against Agario's squad. In response to that, Agario, Karlo, Cardo, Magdalo, and Riko's father unsheathed their swords. Roberto pulls out his dagger, while Marlo readies himself to hurl the Malayas with his earth magic.
"There's only one reason why you know the four heroes, it's because they are here in Kruule. And if they are here, then so are the missing Malayas."
"Are you an idiot or what? There are no four heroes here! Let alone the missing Malayas you're looking for!"
"Stop lying! If you continue to hide the four heroes and the missing Malayas, we will consider this an act of betrayal! An act of war against Reilaea!"
"What did you say?!"
The Malayas stated that they do not want to resolve the issue with violence as the kingdom of Kruule has been a great trading partner with Reilaea for years. And more than that, they are not the enemy they wanted to fight against.
However, because Riko and the others only know about the four heroes as nothing but a mere rumor, the situation isn't getting better.
"So, are we fighting or not?" Roberto who's rearing to engage with his daggers asks the commander. "I can get to the ones from behind in an instant."
The Malayas standing from behind their group locked their gaze on Roberto.
"We know you, you're an assassin."
"We are not afraid of you."
"No!" Agario interjected between Roberto and the Malayas. "There's no need to fight! There's no reason to cause bloodshed this early in the morning."
Agario orders his men to lower their weapons, to which they obeyed one after another.
"We can talk," Agario told the Malayas as he, too, lowers his weapon. "What do you say? Let's talk without our swords pointing at each other, shall we? We'll tell you everything that we know."
The Malayas look at one another as they decide whether to take Agario's words or not. Soon after that, the Malaya who's standing in front of the others looks back at Agario.
"All right." The white armored knight puts his sword back to its sheath. "Let's talk."
Soon after that, he urged his fellow Malayas to lower their weapons, to which they did right away.
"Now then, tell us everything you know about them—The missing Malayas and the four he–"
Thud! Thud! Thud!
"Huh?"
Dash!
"Wha–!"
Pierce!
The Malayas and Agario's squad had agreed to talk things out. They managed to avoid conflict as well as to paint the ground with blood. And most importantly, they're about to learn whether the four heroes are indeed real or just a rumor.
But then, a man in black armor came out of nowhere. And without Agario's squad or the Malayas being able to react in time, the man dashes and pierced one of the white armored knight's head with his long sword.
"The..."
"...High commander!"
"Kill them!"
The fellow's deep voice resonated as he pulls out his long sword. The Malayas and Agario's squad wordlessly watch the white armored knight's lifeless body with a hole in his head fall to the ground.
Right then, one of the Malayas dashes forth and clashes sword with the high commander.
"Kill them, or I will kill all of you and your families!"
As they get threatened by the high commander's remark, Agario's squad was forced to engage the Malayas. And then, a bloody battle took place.
The Malayas are on the same level as the black-armored knights in terms of skill and strength. The only thing that led to them retreating and being badly wounded is that they did not come to Kruule ready to fight. That, and they were caught off guard by the high commander who killed one of them in the blink of an eye, leading to them being frozen in place.
The Malayas tried to retreat, realizing that they cannot win the battle today. But the high commander wouldn't let that happen. The high commander orders Agario's squad to chase the white armored knights and kill every single one of them no matter what.
Forced to obey the high commander's orders, Agario, Riko, and the others chased the Malayas down until they reached the Forest of No Return. As the chase goes on inside the forest, Riko and the others eventually have the Malayas to a corner.
"Wait, please."
Agario and the others stopped from pushing the Malayas to the very corner of a cliff.
"We surrender!" One of the Malayas pleaded. "We don't want to fight."
"Me, too," Agario replied. "But we have to. Because if we don't, we all die. So it's you, or us."
Agario and the others close in on the Malayas who can no longer fight back. Riko, with the sword in his hand, approaches one of them. He raised his sword into the air and closed his eyes before swinging his blade down to the Malaya's head.
Graaaaahh!!
"What?!"
"It's the ruler of the forest!"
However, before the tip of his blade touches the white armored knight's head, the Guardian Snake arrived, sending terror down their spine.
With Agario's squad left frozen in absolute terror, the Malayas used the chance to escape. While they managed to avoid death at the hands of the black-armored knights, Riko's father and Karlo met their end in the Guardian Snake's mouth.
***
"Hey, Riko? Riko! Hey!"
The young knight jolted as he returned to his senses.
"I'm sorry, I guess I was spacing out."
"I almost thought your soul suddenly came out of your body."
Riko let out a chuckle, following Lyrica's remark.
"Where are we again? Oh well, let's start again from the beginning, shall we?"
"Sure."