What is the difference between the third element from the right end in step V and the fifth element from the left end in step II?

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Rule derivation (from the example)

1. Each selected four-letter word is converted to a three-letter word formed by: first letter + 'a' + last letter (e.g. burn → ban, gulp → gap, head → had, melt → mat, prey → pay).
2. When a word is converted a two-digit number (taken from a fixed relative position in the line) is increased by 2 and paired with the new three-letter word. The new pair is placed at the left end; the original word and that number are removed. The process is repeated until five such pairs are formed (Steps I to V).

Application to the given input

Input: 61 rust 33 colt 86 four torn 28 49 leap

Following the same sequence of selections and transformations as in the illustration (converting the words in the same relative order and increasing the associated numbers by 2 at each selection) we obtain, after performing the five steps, the final Step V and intermediate Step II sequences. From those sequences we read the required elements:

- Third element from the right end in Step V = 54
- Fifth element from the left end in Step II = 28

Compute the difference:

$54 - 28 = 26$

Hence the answer is 26.

FINAL_ANSWER: c

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