After several hours had passed since Karel left the cave.
Karel's son and his granddaughter remained inside the cave hiding from the pursuers so they would not find them or see them or sense their aura by mistake.
Elena's father heard and saw a massive explosion far from the cave.
So he knew that it was the right time for him and his daughter to escape the place immediately.
He looked at his daughter who was watching the explosion, afraid of it, and she looked at her father and said with a trembling voice:
"Dad… is Grandpa there?"
Elena pointed at the massive explosion.
When her father saw her fear and worry about her grandfather, he smiled at her and reassured her with a confident tone:
"Don't worry, my little one, your grandfather is fine. He is making the noise to draw the pursuers away from us. We must take advantage of the opportunity he created for us, right?"
Elena thought for a moment, then looked at her father and said:
"You're right, Dad… we should run away just like Grandpa said before."
But then she fell silent for a bit and said in a soft voice:
"Will Grandpa catch up with us quickly, Dad?"
The father looked at his daughter reassuringly and said:
"Don't worry about your grandfather, he has lots of tricks. Let's go, and your grandfather will catch up with us quickly."
Elena nodded and said:
"Yes… Grandpa will catch up with us."
She said that as if her soul longed to believe that her grandfather would catch up with them.
When her father saw her in that state, he sighed and carried her on his back and rushed off, warning her not to reveal any trace of aura so they wouldn't attract the pursuers.
After he had gotten a long distance away from the source of the explosion and the cave, he looked back and thought that his father's cursed arm could be the reason for this massive explosion.
A few hours before the explosion — Karel's point of view:
When he saw the knights charging toward him to capture him, he knew his only hope to escape this situation was Forn and her intense desire to know the truth.
So he shouted loudly and said:
"Forn! Don't you want to know where Zeus is?"
As soon as he said that, Forn shouted at the knights to stop, then said to Karel:
"Do you want to surrender, uncle?"
Karel laughed at her way of thinking and said:
"No, I want you to let me escape from here… and I will tell you where Zeus is."
Arman and Loran and the imperial knights were surprised by what was happening, so Arman spoke, directing his words to Forn:
"What is that traitor talking about, Princess?"
Forn looked at him and said:
"He knows the location of the criminal wanted on the continent… Zeus, since he was the one helping him carry out his orders."
Everyone looked at Forn, shocked by the new information, and Loran said in shock:
"So… he is the one who carried out all the crimes Zeus committed?!"
Everyone looked at Karel again, becoming more cautious; the person who had confused all races on the continent of Mira and managed to escape the search that happened back then was a dangerous enemy.
Forn spoke in a strange tone and said:
"Do you expect, uncle, that I will allow you to escape from my grasp if you tell me Zeus's location?"
Karel smiled and said:
"No, I don't expect that… but I want another chance to try my luck at escaping."
Everyone in the place looked at Karel in confusion, and Arman spoke, surprised:
"So you want us to let you leave… then search for you again?!"
Karel replied with a smile as he said:
"Yes, exactly. Let me escape, and if you catch me again do whatever you want with me.
And I think you have already activated a spell that disrupts teleportation magic, so don't worry about me escaping using magic."
Everyone looked at Karel like he was crazy; no one understood what was going on in his mind.
It was impossible for Karel to escape from two dukes and Princess Forn, not to mention a group of imperial knights.
Loran shouted angrily:
"Do you think, Karel, that you are going to fool us? You will not—"
Forn interrupted him and said:
"Fine… I will let you escape and we will catch you again, the important thing is… where is Zeus, uncle?"
When Karel heard her words and her extreme confidence in herself, he knew he had succeeded in his plan, so he said:
"And how can I trust that you won't betray our agreement if I tell you his location now?"
When Forn heard his words, her patience began to run out and she said in an annoyed tone:
"And what do you want then, uncle?"
Karel smiled and said:
"Let everyone stand in one place… and move a bit away from me, so I can escape without anyone stopping me."
Arman quickly intervened and said:
"Don't believe his words, Princess! He is a liar… he will never tell the truth!"
Loran agreed with him, saying:
"Yes, Princess, it's obvious he is deceiving us… he just wants to try his luck in escaping. Princess, don't believe him!"
Forn fell silent for a moment, then looked at Karel and said:
"Okay, uncle… I will carry out your request."
Arman and Loran shouted, wanting to convince her to change her decision, but she raised her hand and said in a decisive tone:
"Enough… I've already made my decision, don't argue with me about it."
When Arman and Loran heard her, they looked at each other and sighed, then stepped back a little, obeying Forn's orders.
The knights who surrounded Karel also withdrew and stood behind Princess Forn.
When Karel saw that, he smiled and said:
"Well done, my little one… you're still as I remember you."
And when he said that, Forn looked at him and said:
"I have fulfilled your request… now tell me where Zeus is, uncle."
Karel looked at her for a long time, then sighed and said:
"You must learn from what I am about to do to you now… Forn."
Forn listened to what Karel said and felt something strange was going to happen, but before she could take precautions, Karel grabbed his left arm and tore it off in front of everyone's eyes.
Everyone was shocked by what they saw and heard Karel's next words:
"Don't be too confident in yourself, Forn."
Then Karel threw his arm toward Forn and the others and ran in the opposite direction of the arm he had thrown.
No one knew what was happening, but Loran's warning snapped them out of their shock as he screamed:
"Be careful! It's an arm with a blood curse! Run immediately!"
As soon as Loran said that, the three—Forn, Arman, and Loran—hurried and used the jewels they had,
for the jewels they possessed were not affected by the isolation magic in the area.
But not everyone had such a valuable jewel.
Therefore, the only ones who managed to escape the curse inside Karel's arm were three people:
Forn, Arman, and Loran.
As for the rest of the knights… they were completely destroyed by the curse implanted in Karel's arm.
Karel, while running from the explosion, watched the knights' screams and wails, and he began smiling while holding the place of his missing arm, soaked in blood, saying inside:
"Ah, it's good that I replaced the arm I lost years ago in my fight with my brother with that arm."
When he thought about that, he laughed a lot as he heard the knights' screams behind him, and he thought that this was a lesson for Forn so she would not be arrogant again.
He had not expected that defeating Forn would be ridiculously easy; he had used that arm to give his son and granddaughter the chance to escape,
but he did not think that Forn could be so easily deceived.
And he thought to himself that he could survive if Forn and the others suffered severe injuries.