Soon after, in the Arus Palace Medical Room, Jin raced toward the medical area with great speed, only to find it already surrounded by guards. "What happened here?" Jin urgently asked one of the nearest guards. "Oh, it's Mr. Jin. We're not entirely sure yet, but there was indeed an explosion. However, we've never seen a bomb like this before," the guard replied. "Never seen before?" Jin continued to probe. "That's right. A regular bomb would cause a fire, but this one left no traces of burning. Also, the blast radius wasn't as large as typical explosives. And..." The guard suddenly fell silent. "And what?" Jin, sensing something was amiss in the guard's expression, pressed further. "Mr. Jin, please come with me." The guard gestured and led Jin into the devastated medical room. As they walked, Jin observed the surroundings. The medical room had three floors, with a basement below. The first floor was for the doctors, while the second and third were the patients' wards. The explosion had struck the second floor. After a careful inspection of the entire facility, Jin noticed something odd. While the second floor had been destroyed, the first and third floors had suffered minimal damage. The first floor's ceiling had partially collapsed, but beyond that, there were few signs of destruction. It was the very thing the guard had struggled to mention earlier that Jin now found perplexing—the second floor, where the explosion had occurred, had left all the patient rooms in ruins, with the patients inside undoubtedly lost, but the scene did not resemble the aftermath of a typical explosion. Instead, it appeared as though the area had been... disintegrated. All the furnishings seemed to have vanished as if decomposed. Jin found a half-destroyed table and cautiously approached it, crouching down to examine it more closely. "This doesn't look like the aftermath of a regular explosion," Jin murmured, touching the wreckage of the table. "Yes, it seems almost... magical," the guard remarked absently. "What? What did you say?" Jin's voice grew urgent. "I said... it seems like magic," the guard replied, confused. "Magic? Yes! It's magic!" Jin suddenly realized, and rushed out of the patient rooms on the second floor. ... A short while later, back in the medical room on the second floor, Jin had returned, this time bringing Lisa and Will with him. "Lisa, you're a mage. Have you ever seen anything like this before?" Jin asked, turning to Lisa, who was observing the area in silence. Lisa didn't immediately answer. She paced back and forth through the room, her expression grave, as though she had uncovered something profound. After a moment, she returned to Jin and Will, still looking deeply troubled. "What did you find?" Jin asked. "A magical explosion," Lisa replied somberly, her face ashen. "A magical explosion?" Will asked. "Yes, it's a highly destructive dark magic, but if not controlled properly, the caster themselves can be harmed," Lisa explained, her tone serious. "So, it must have been a very powerful mage," Jin concluded. "Exactly. To control the blast radius so precisely, it must have been a formidable dark mage," Lisa answered, her face pale with concern. After Lisa spoke, all four of them fell into a thoughtful silence. "Where's Merlin's body?" Jin suddenly asked the nearby guard. "Uh, it should be in the basement. I heard they were supposed to perform an autopsy on him today," the guard replied. "Let's go! To the basement! Quickly!" Jin exclaimed, as realization struck. The group quickly made their way to the basement. The basement of the medical room was essentially an operating room, designed for simple surgeries and necessary autopsies. It was kept frigid, as it stored bodies, with ice blocks brought in daily to maintain the temperature. "It's so cold," Will shivered as he entered the basement. "Where's Merlin's body?" Jin was the first to enter the storage area, but found it empty. "Missing?" Will followed him in. "Could it be that Merlin has come back to life?" the guard asked nervously. "No, no. He should be dead," Lisa immediately reassured. "Wait, there's something here," Jin said, spotting something small on the farthest bed. He rushed over to examine it. There, on the bed, lay a metallic object resembling a coin, with a six-pointed star etched on both sides. Jin picked it up and studied it closely. "Come over here," he called, his expression serious. "What do you think this is?" Jin held the object in front of Will and the others. "The design...?" Will immediately recognized the six-pointed star. It reminded him of a similar symbol he had seen back in Rem Town. "Will, do you know what this is?" Jin asked, concern in his voice. "Ah, yes. I saw something similar in Rem Town. People in purple robes and hoods were performing a ritual to summon something called 'Cthulhu.' I told Lisa about it too; she knows," Will explained. Jin turned to Lisa, whose face had turned an even deeper shade of pallor upon seeing the object in Jin's hand. Her expression was one of near-madness. "Lisa, what's wrong?" Jin asked, his voice urgent. "No... I didn't expect them to arrive so quickly," Lisa murmured, her face devoid of emotion. "Who? Who has come?" Jin pressed, his voice tinged with panic. "The Shadow Council," Lisa whispered, as if in a daze. "The Shadow Council?" Will asked. "The Shadow Council is a secret organization within the United Nations, with only four members, including the recently deceased Merlin. Ten years ago, it was the Shadow Council that easily dethroned King Sam II and transformed peace-loving mages into ruthless dark sorcerers," Lisa explained. "It seems they took Merlin," Jin concluded, after thinking for a moment. "Why blow up the medical room, though?" Will asked. "To give us a warning," Lisa said gravely. "Merlin was powerful, right?" Lisa paused, then asked. Jin and Will exchanged a glance but remained silent, nodding slightly in agreement. "If I told you that Merlin was the weakest member of the Shadow Council, how would you feel?" Lisa pressed. "The weakest?" Will seemed shocked. "Yes, and just as Will said, they seem to be trying to summon the ancient evil god, Cthulhu. If they succeed, the entire Roland continent will fall into the greatest crisis it has ever known," Lisa continued. "The ancient evil god Cthulhu?" Jin asked, bewildered. "Yes. Legend says it's a mysterious being exiled to Roland. It can manipulate the minds of other creatures. If released, it would control the minds of everyone on the continent. At that point, as Merlin warned, the entire world would descend into chaos," Lisa explained further. ... The following morning, in an inn in Arus City, Lisa had already packed her belongings. Her task was complete, and to avoid drawing further attention from the Shadow Council, she decided it was best to leave quickly. However, as she reached the door of the inn, she found Will and Jin waiting for her. "What's going on?" Lisa asked. "Come on, Lisa. Let's go destroy the Shadow Council," Will said confidently. "Ah, don't look at me. I was dragged into this by him," Jin muttered, lacking any confidence compared to Will. "Are you serious?" Lisa asked, skeptical. "Of course. Just like you said, if the Shadow Council succeeds, there will be nowhere safe for us to hide," Will replied. "Alright. Since you're so determined, I'll take you to a place," Lisa said, walking over and placing a hand on both of their shoulders. Suddenly, a flash of white light erupted from their bodies, and the three of them vanished in an instant.
