Within the confines of the ruined city, the battle for dominance between Max and the King had ended a while ago, and since then had taken a rather unexpected turn.

"Ok, now sit."

On Max's command, the Giant albino Behemoth crouched to the ground.

"Good, now roll over."

The Behemoth then rolled round in front of Max.

"Alright! Good boy!" Max praised as the Behemoth began to lick him like a dog would. "Hahaha, hey that tickles! Hahaha...."

Meanwhile, Melvin with Cerberus and the two men stood by, dumbfounded and confused.

"What's going on?" The large man asked.

"Hell if I know," Melvin replied, Cerberus letting out a small yelp.

Somehow, Max, the Dragon hybrid and singly the most destructive person Melvin has ever met, had tamed the king of the forest which according to the sameits was one of the most powerful and vicious monsters in the entire forest.

Not to say that the effort was easy. As usual for Max, the entire area was more ruined than it was to begin with, and both Max and the king had taken a lot of damage from each other. Max's body was covered in several cuts and contusions while the king had large scorches marks on its skin, several bad bruises and its left horn had been snapped off.

It was very difficult for Melvin to fathom how they went from an epic death battle to Max teaching it stupid dog tricks. Guess that's Max for you. Defying logic in so many ways.

"That kid sure is hardcore ta tame that monster."

"No kidden. Much as I don't wanna believe it, I can see why Faust lost to him."

The two men that had run with Melvin and Max spoke to each other. Melvin had almost forgotten that they were there, and about a half hour or so they were trying to kill each other.

"By the way.... Who are you guys?"

The two men looked a little hurt. "What'ya mean! We're the guys that were runnen with you!" the large man snapped.

"I know that you idiots!!" Melvin snapped back. "I'm asking who you are?"

"Oh, you mean our names." The slimmer man said. "Crap, we didn't introduce ourselves."

"Damn, that rule one for a fight." The larger man responded.

Melvin let out a loud sigh. "You know what, never mind. I'm not that interested."

"Uh uh, it's proper edicts to introduce ourselves to our enemy."

"That's what Faust taught us and he's never wrong." The slim man then introduced himself. "My name's Shay."

"And I'm May." The larger man said.

"And I said I wasn't that interested." Melvin groaned. The two stared at him, expecting him to follow through and introduce himself as well. Eventually, Melvin gave in with a sigh. "Melvin." He then pointed at Cerberus. "That's Cerberus." And finally at Max. "And the idiot over there's Max."

"What kinda lame intro was that?!" May yelled.

"Come on, this is an intro! Gotta put more oomph into it!" Shay added.

"Oh Shut up!! I couldn't care less what you idiots think!!"

Mercifully for Melvin, Max came up to the group with the king following.

"Pretty cool huh?" He asked with a grin. "It's like I got my own magical monster thing."

"They're called a familiar, and that thing’s not magical," Melvin stated matter-of-factly before touching on Max was saying. "Wait, you're not seriously keeping it?"

"Why not?" Max huffed, patting the king on the head. "Imagine how much help little Dug will be if he comes with us."

"All I can imagine is the kind of mayhem that thing will- Hold on, you named it?!"

"Sure I have. All people give names to your pets. That's like...you know, the rules."

"IT'S A MONSTER, NOT A DOG!!!"

"Don't talk about Dug like that! I don't call Cerberus a monster!"

"That's because he's a familiar! And that 'thing' nearly killed us!"

"You can't talk about Dug Like that!"

"I can talk however I want to 'it!'"

Their argument was cut off by a low grown nearby. The source was from Faust, who was just regaining consciousness.

"Bro!" Shay and May ran up to him.

"Wha-Where am I?" He groaned.

"Yo, Hair dew guy. You're final up." Max greeted with a large grin.

Faust strained up to look at Max with a generally surprised expression. "Y-You? What is this? And what in the blaze's is that thing?!"

"I call him Dug," Max answered.

"A monster called the King of the Forest," Melvin answered to him. "This idiot saved you from being eaten by it."

"At least call him by his name." Max huffed.

"I'm not calling it 'Dug!'" Melvin Snapped.

Faust slowly turned his head to the two men at his side. "Shay, May." He then looked towards his battered body. "What shame...."

"I healed you up a bit," Melvin told him unenthusiastically while pointing his thumb towards Max. "You can thank him for that."

Max stroked the back of his head while showing his teeth to him. "No need to thank me." He said.

Faust didn't really look grateful. "Thank you? Why did you save me?" he asked in a dissatisfied voice.

"Yeah, why did you save him?" Melvin asked, sounding just as dissatisfied.

"Whatya mean why? I couldn't just leave him there to die."

"You mean you took pity on him! don't you have any pride at all!" May snapped.

"Faust is a warrior though on through! Sparing his life is the worst kind of insult you could possibly give him!" Shay added.

"That's enough friends," Faust said to the two. "You said you couldn't let me die. I am an enemy, remember. I tried to kill you."

"So," Max shrugged, "that doesn't mean you're a bad person."

Faust let out a small chuckle. "I would beg to differ. I've done some quite wretched things, even bringing great shame on the Faust family name. Even falling to the life of a petty bandit. Dying here wouldn't even wash away the sins I have accumulated."

The two men, Shay and May then burst into tears.

"Oh bro!"

"Ya don't have’ta talk that way ‘bout yourself, it just ain't right!"

"Why are you crying?" Melvin asked the two.

"S-Shut up! We're not crying!"

"Y-Yeah! We just sweeten through our eyes!"

"That's called crying."

As the two continued to bawl, Max approached Faust. "Your friends don't think that way." He then crouched to Faust's level and stuck out his fist. "And I think you're awesome." He said with a grin.

Faust simply looked at Max's fist before letting out another chuckle before returning the gesture with a fist bump. "You certainly are a strange one." He said to him with a smile.

"Ahem." Melvin coughed, getting their attention. "Hate to break up this.... whatever it is.... You seem to have forgotten the trouble we're in." He said to Max.

"Trouble?"

Melvin then took out the map and pointed to it.

"Oh yeah."

"And to top it off, we're all separated, again, thanks to that thing," Melvin pointed to the king. "And the two of us don't have a clue where this secret passage to Deadman's End is and the only three are probably heading there right now with the others."

"Well, we got a map. We'll just charge in and bust through to join them." Max said to him.

"Just the two of us? That's suicide even for you. And we were using the secret passage so we didn't have to fight our way in, Remember?"

"Secret passage? Shay asked.

"Yeah, some way into your base," Max replied.

"Don't tell them that!" Melvin snapped at him while hitting him with the map.

"You guys are seriously going there to rescue those geezers?" Shay asked.

Faust then steadily got up to his feet, stumbling at one point before being caught by May. "If I may, why are you so adamant on helping them?"

Max and Melvin looked back to him.

"The sameits. You seem to be going through a lot for their sake. I know very few who would be committed to protecting such an out of the way village as you are. I want to know why you are doing it."

"Ain't it obvious," Max said. "Cause they're our friends."

Faust looked very confused at Max's simple explanation.

"We kinda get dragged into these sort of things a lot." Melvin clarified. "But like he said, we're not gonna abandon them after they allowed us to stay in their village. We owe them that much."

"Even if that means crushing all you guys," Max added with enthusiasm.

"Hopefully it won't come to that," Melvin responded to Max's enthusiasm with an indifferent expression as the two turned to walk away.

"Why not? They’re the bad guys."

"With a lot of scary weapons and a decent number of mana users like this guy," Melvin pointed his thumb at Faust. "and the ones you fought yesterday."

"Those guys weren't that tough."

"But that guy was-"

"Hold it!" Faust called out to the two, stopping them. "I don't believe you've properly introduced yourself to me." He said to Max.

"Oh, I haven't."

"What difference does it make? Let's go." Melvin urged.

Max ignored Melvin. "Names Max Colt."

"I see." Faust nodded and placed a hand on his heart. "Sir Colt, you have defeated me in combat and spared my life. Honor dictates that I must pay back this debt I now owe to you."

"Eh... it's ok, really."

"No. I have dishonored the Faust family name too much already; I will not allow it to be strained even more. So, allow me to accompany you in your endeavor to protect the village."

"......... EH!?" Max and Melvin exclaimed together.

"Faust?" Shay and May looked just as shocked.

"This need not concern the two of you." Faust turned to face the two. "You have been good friends to me since I joined Celtic Hoard so I cannot ask you to betray the others-"

"Aw screw em!" Shay yelled. "We don't take orders from that bastard Dolton!"

"You're the only boss we'll ever follow bro!" May added. "If ya going to defend those squirts with the kid, then we’re comen with ya!"

"Shay... May..."

"Ok, I'm lost," Melvin said.

"Sounds like they wanna help us." Max pointed out to him.

"This just seems so random," Melvin complained with Cerberus letting out a yelp in agreement. "Sorry but, why do you two want to help us?" He asked the two men. "I can understand hair-dew guy's honor, but you two I'm not so convinced."

"Cause Fausts our bro," May said. "Cause we'll help him out."

"We don't have any love for Dolton or the others for that matter," Shay added, "Faust was really the only one who we would truly call a friend."

"......Ok, Still not totally convinced." Melvin said quietly.

"Ok, make sense, welcome aboard," Max said to them in a calm manner.

"S-seriously?!" Melvin shouted at Max.

"They say they wanted to help."

Melvin groaned and slapped his head with his hand, knowing full well that he won't be able to talk any sense into Max's thick, easygoing head. "Don't blame me when they decide to betray us." He said quietly to himself.

Faust approached and crouched down to Melvin's level. "Your caution is understandable, and I won't ask for your trust. But I give you my word that I will follow Sir Colt in his crusade to free the hostages Dolton has taken."

Melvin took a quick look to Cerberus to see what his reaction was. He had a good sense in sensing others' intentions. Seeing his calm attitude, he lightens his guard, but only slightly. ".....Fine." Melvin grudgingly said folding his arms. "But I've got my eye on you three."

Faust nodded and stood back up. "You know who and what we're going to be facing. You sure about accompanying me?" Faust turned to Shay and May.

The two bumped each other's fists while giving Faust a grin. "We got ya back Bro!" May said.

"Wanted to give that bastard Waze a beating," Shay said.

"Um.... So you know, we really want to avoid fighting all of them." Melvin said to them while taking out his map.

"Well keep that in mind young sir," Faust said to Melvin.

Melvin huffed and turned to open his map. "Ok, we have the map and no idea where the others are." He then traced his finger from his current position to where they needed to go, which was still quite a distance marked with various skulls indicating danger, and of course the prospect of being ambushed every step of the way. "Maybe stealthy isn't an option for us." He said reluctantly. He then turned to ask the three men behind him. "You guys wouldn't know a way into your base without being seen?"

Faust shook his head. "Unfortunately I haven't been in this forest long."

"And Dolton's ambushed the path we took to the village, so they'll see us comin," Shay added.

Melvin and Cerberus let out a sigh together. "So stealth really isn't an option." Melvin then turned to Cerberus. "Unless someone thinks of something we're gonna be fighting our way in."

"Hey," Max then called out to them with a wicked grin. "I just had an awesome idea!"

"We're so dead."

Rescue attempt gone wrong

"Rodger..." Gimdo found Rodger where he had been for the past few days, sitting outside his father's grave. "Rodger.... You know he's not coming back this time."

Rodger just sat there silently, not even turning to face his grandfather.

"I'm sorry. But you can't just sit here to mourn him. I know my son wouldn't want that."

There was still no response from Rodger. Gimdo sighed and was about to depart when Rodger finally spoke. "He never regretted this path. That's the kinda man my pa was."

Gimdo stopped to look at Rodger, who finally got to his feet

"'Never regret the decisions you make, and take each step forward and never backward.' That's what he always says and he was always right..." There was an obvious sadness in Rodger's voice. "When I'm older, I'm gonna go out and see this world my Pa loved so much."

****

Gimdo let out a sigh as he tried to make himself as comfortable as possible, not an easy feat when tied to a pole. His thoughts drifted to his grandson, the day his fire was lit. That was when he began to venture beyond the village walls more often, against the wishes of him and his wife.

To him, Rodger is beginning to become more like his father, and that was what worried him.

"Hey, Gimdo,"

Gimdo's thoughts were disrupted by his neighbor, Bush. He was almost startled by his friend's voice, tied to the other end of the pole.

"It's been a while since they left? You think they’re ok?" Brush asked.

"......I'm not that sure."

He knew that he was referring to the human guests that were coming to save them both. And according to what he picked up from Dolton's conversation, three sameits was accompanying them.

"Do you... Do you think it's Rodger?"

Gimdo let out a sigh. "There's no one else I can think of who would do something this reckless."

Bush let out a chuckle. "Don't you think you're being too hard on the boy? I mean, he is Graham's son after all."

"Of course I know that. All too well."

Bush remained silent as he thought of something to change the subject, realizing this was a sore topic. "If anything, I fear for my granddaughter just as much. I know she's also with the humans."

"And undoubtedly Fred will be accompanying them." Gimdo then chuckled to himself. "Welma's not going to be too pleased I image."

"Seems this generation is growing up so fast," Bush said in a solemn voice. "Wasn't too long ago when they small kids with dreams of adventure."

"I know. Now they are in the position to venture out into the world beyond." Gimdo responded in an equally sad voice.

"Gramps...."

Gimdo let out a small 'ha', "I can even hear his voice. I really must be getting old.

"Grampa..."

Bush nodded. "I know what you mean. I can even hear Dora's voice calling out."

"......I can hear it too?" Gimdo said as he looked up.

"Hey Gramps... over here."

Bush then started pivoting his head around. "... I.... I can also hear your grandson?"

There was a hushed voice that seemed to be calling out to the two men tied to the pole in the center of a deserted section of the enemy encampment. It was difficult to look around due to the injuries on the two, as well as the fact that they were tied up. However, Gimdo managed to locate the source and was shocked to say the least at who it was.

Popping out from a hole where the silver-haired woman had descended down a while ago was three heads that unmistakably belonged to Rodger, Dora and Fred.

"It... It can't be them, is it?" Bush was tied to the other end of the pole so he couldn't see behind him. "How could they have made it this far in without causing a commotion?"

"I think my idiot my Grandson has been here before," Gimdo responded in an exhausted manner.

Back in the hole, the three were popping up out of the hole in the ground, standing on Cliff who was clinging onto the rock face. The secret entrance to Deadman's End was a hole in the waterway with a short climb up.

"Hey!" Cliff called out in a hushed voice to the three standing on him as he held his position. "Is it clear?"

"I can see my gramps!" Rodger, who was standing on his head, replied eagerly, jumping up and almost caused Cliff to lose his grip, nearly dropping the other two.

"Grampa! I think I can see Granpa!" Dora then hopped off Cliff, followed by Fred.

Rodger was the first up to the pole, expecting some kind of praise from his Grandfather.

"What in the Goddesses name are you doing here?!" Gimdo snapped in a hushed voice.

"What’ya mean?!" Rodger shouted in a loud voice. "I'm here to save ya-"

Cliff then caught up with Fred and Dora and pushed down on Rodger's helmet. "We're in the middle of the enemy's camp, you idiot!" He hissed.

"Grandpa!" Dora whispered as she went round to Bush, startled by his wounds. "Oh my gosh,"

"Don't worry about us," Bush said, shaking his head. "You've gone through incredible danger to try and rescue us. You shouldn't have come."

"Let's get out of here first before you go into that," Cliff said to the two men as he undid the ropes that held the two.

"It's just you. Where are your friends?" Gimdo asked.

"Allisa's fighting off one of Celtic Hoard down in that tunnel. The others will catch us up once we're out of here." Cliff said quickly. "Don't worry. Those guys won't go down easy."

".... I see." Gimdo sighed as the ropes around him loosened. "I'm sorry I got you all involved in this."

"Don't worry about it." Cliff shrugged as he got back to his feet. "Knowing us, we would have gotten involved one way or the other."

"We helped ya know." Rodger pouted.

"You I'll deal with later," Gimdo said in a stern voice as he struggled to his feet.

Fred and Dora were at the other side, helping Bush up. Both men were badly beaten up, so much so that it seemed they couldn't stand on their own. However, Cliff had a bigger concern. They were deep within the enemy base, and yet there was no one around, not a single member of Celtic Hoard standing guard anywhere. It was also unnaturally quiet for their current position.

Ok... This is way too easy. Cliff thought as he looked around for any sign of life.

Fred, parting from the injured Bush, noticed Cliff's unease. "Wh-Whats wrong?"

Cliff shook his head as he continued to survey the area. "I just get this feeling we've walked right into a trap."

"That's cause you have."

A voice startled Cliff and the sameits. Cliff immediately turned to the source of the voice with his guard fully up. Coming into view was a long, scrawny looking man with spiky blond hair and shades. The mere sight of the man struck terror into the sameits, with the exception of Rodger who looked at him with contempt.

"You work for Celtic Hoard?" Cliff asked the man.

"I suppose you could say that." The man pushed up his shades. "But it's more than that, they work for me."

"I see. So you must be Dolton?"

"That's me," Dolton responded with a wave. "And you're one of those people defending that little village." He then looked towards the three Sameits. "And you must be their guides. Heard they were a bunch of kids, but I honestly wasn’t expecting toddlers."

"Who ya callen 'toddler?' I'll have ya know I'm a real man! More so than you'll ever be!" Rodger Blurted out.

"Please shut up." Cliff pleaded to Rodger while rubbing his temples.

Dolton regarded Rodger while pushing his shades up. "You know kid, you remind me of a guy I really hate." He then looked back to Cliff. "You know, to make it this far in this backwater hell means that you're quite strong. And I hate to see such talent go to waste defending such worthless bits of trash. So I'm giving you a choice; Join me, or die with them."

Cliff smirked at Dolton. "Join you or die huh? To be honest, I can't decide which is worse."

Dolton chuckled. "Smart mouth. Really will be a shame to put someone like you in the ground."

"Big talk!" Rodger shouted, pointing his finger at Dolton. "In case you haven't noticed, there's four of us and only one of you!"

Dolton then raised his left hand and clicked. All around, all members of Celtic Hoard along with several walkers and the giant machines surrounded the intruders, baring all their weapons on them.

"You just had to say it," Cliff muttered.

Dolton looked round at his army that had gathered and let out another smirk. "Did you really think I didn't know about the underground water way? When I learned that you guys were accompanied by guides, I figured the way you'd come was through there which conveniently lands you close enough to our hostages to rescue them and slip out without us knowing."

Dolton then pointed at one of the large machines. On his single, the machine fired a cannon at the hole where the party had emerged.

He cut off our escape. Cliff thought, looking at the smoke rising from the hole and then back to Dolton. He's a lot more resourceful than I thought.

Dolton then spoke to Cliff. "Unfortunately, my offer was a one-time deal. If you want to die with these midgets, then by all means."

Cliff swept his eyes over the overwhelming force surrounding him and the Sameits, who looked scared by the overwhelming numbers around them.

There doesn't seem to be any way out, but there's no way I can fight them all off on my own. If Max and Yuki were here we'd stand a much better chance.

No matter what Cliff thought of, it seemed hopeless. There were only two people who could possibly help them in a time like this and of all the moments they were both absent.

Well, only one thing to do.

Cliff chuckled to himself, just loud enough for the men of Celtic Hoard to hear. "You sure you want to do this?" Cliff asked Dolton. "After all, I don't think you've forgotten what we did to you guys yesterday."

The men of Celtic Hoard began to look a bit more hesitant.

"And I can promise you, Gai Tsukiyo is on his way here along with the rest of us, and the longer you keep us here, the closer he gets."

There was then a noticeable reaction. Ok, looks like my bluff is working.

Dolton however, didn't look convinced. "Is that really the best you can do?" He said with another smirk while pushing his shades up. "You guys really stick out on the walls of that village of midgets. Along with you, there were four others," He then raised four fingers, "the black-haired kid that yelled at us," one finger lowered, "that blond and red-haired girl," he lowered two more fingers, "and then that swordsman." he then put his hands away. "That bastard did a real number on my army, that much I'll admit. But during his rampage, that swordsman of yours leaped down from the walls and attacked him. So I would hardly call you acquainted with that man."

Crap! He saw through it. Cliff swore in his head.

"And like I said, you guys are tough and would likely cause a problem for me in the long run. So if they're coming here then I can crush you all in one fell swoop."

On their leader's words, the members of Celtic Hoard regained their composure, stinging by for their leader to give them the order to crush their opponents.

Cliff clicked his tongue in frustration at his current predicament. "Well, it was a long shot."

"Oh well, guess there's one thing to do," Rodger said enthusiastically, swinging his hammer around and taking his place next to Cliff.

"Sorry to disappoint you kid, but it's gonna take us a miracle to get out of this."

"BOSS!!!" Just then, one of Celtic Hoard's members shoved his way through the others before collapsing before Dolton while he caught his breath.

"What? You're spoiling the mood." Dolton snapped at the man.

"I got a report from the guys outside! There's a giant monster heading this way!"

"You mean just one? I think they can deal with just one monster."

"But... but boss....." The man shot back to his feet. "It's just ignoring them! And no matter what they throw at it, it just won't stop! They also say some kids riding it."

"What?"

****

"Alright! Charge!"

"S-Sir Colt. I must object to this!"

"Worst. Plan. EVERRRR!!!!!!"

The members of Celtic Hoard outside the main base could do nothing but dive out of the way as a massive albino behemoth smashed through their stockade. Everyone turned in shock at the sudden emergence of this terrible beast.

"By the Goddess...." Gimdo muttered in utter shock. "It's the King of the Forest."

"Oh Crap! It's that thing!" Cliff shouted. "I thought you said it doesn't leave that city?"

"It shouldn't," Rodger replied with less bravado than he had when speaking to Dolton. "I don't know why it's here either."

"Y-You think, that boy's ok?" Dora asked, referring to Max.

They soon got their answer when one of the large walkers broke away from the force surrounding the 6 to face the king.

"Alright. Time to show this freak what Magitek can do." The pilot said to himself. As he aimed the cannon, someone jumped onto the machine. A firestorm then smashed through the entire mech, blowing it to pieces.

The men of Celtic Hoard stood by with their jaws dropped. Suddenly, one of the men looked to the sky. "Huh? What's that?"

Above was a figure with his hands ablaze, yelling as he threw the fire down towards the men below, causing a massive explosion that blasted away many of the men below.

Through the confusion, the figure landed through the smoke with a large grin on his face. The king stood behind and roared, fighting the men before it and blasting away the rest of the smoke revealing the figure, Max.

"All right bastards," He said as he fired up his fists and slammed them together. "Who's next?"

Rampage of Monsters

"Wh-Who is that kid?"

"He even human?"

Various members of Celtic Hoard muttered at the sudden appearance of both the monster and the kid with increasable flame powers.

"Tch.... Who the hell is that?" Dolton asked.

"That kid...."

Dolton looked to Gil standing next to him. His teeth were clenched while he gripped his ruby spear hard.

"Yeah, I recognize him," Waze said, pulling out his guns. "He was the guy who destroyed Apa." He then grinned as a wave of excitement came over him as he put one of his guns to his lips. "I've been wanten to see what he can do."

He took a step forward but was suddenly stopped as Gil swung his spear out before him. "He's mine." He growled.

****

"Outta the way."

A large man in a gas mask pushed himself through the crowd gathered around Max.

"See ya like ta play with fire kid." He said, bringing forth a large flamethrower, aiming the nozzle at him. "Let me give some more." The weapon loosed a raging torrent of flames, which quickly engulfed Max. The men laughed as the flames obscured Max completely. However, this laughter didn't last long as they noticed the flames beginning to act strangely.

"Thanks, but I prefer my own."

The flames then moved upwards, revealing an unscathed Max, a large fireball formed of the gathered flames from the flamethrower.

"WHAT THE!!!"

"So you can have this back!" Max threw the flames towards the man, blasting them away in a massive explosion.

"What's with this kid?"

"Who cares? Just kill that son of a bitch!"

Several other members of Celtic Hoard began to charge at Max before a giant paw swatted them away. The king stood in the way and let out a tremendous roar, frightening the other men.

"Atta boy Dug!" Max praised the king, giving it a thumbs up.

The King grunted as it lunged forwards and caught a small walker in its massive jaws before throwing it aside.

Another man then approached Max, towering over him while twirling a massive War hammer in his hands. "I know you. You're that kid that wasted our base the other day," he said to him.

"And..... Who are you?" Max asked.

"Names Yomura, and I got a bone ta pick with you and that other guy that attacked us, and not to mention the guy that sent me flying." He then heaved his massive hammer above his head.

But before he could swing down, two other War hammers slammed into his face. The massive war hammer fell out of Yomura's hands as he toppled back like a timbered tree.

Standing by his broken body was Shay and May, standing before their former comrades as they looked in confusion. "You two? What the hell are you doing? We're on the same side!"

Several Riflemen then took aim at Max and the two, however, spiked quills were launched paralyzed all of them. "What the?!"

"Earth Grave!"

Someone then plunged a fist with a knuckle duster into the ground, sending a crescent wave of destruction, sweeping other members of Celtic Hoard away.

More of Celtic Hoard began to surround the new attackers with a great sense of unease.

"Hey, ain't that,"

"Yeah, that's Faust."

"You Bastard! Forgot whose side your on!"

Faust withdrew his fist from the Ground as Radagast floated beside him. "This boy spared my life, and for that, I owe him a life debt."

Shay and May grinned as they took positions beside Faust. "Faust's the only one we'll follow," Shay said.

"Screw Dolton! Ya mess with him and this kid, ya mess with both've us!" May added.

The three then looked at Max, giving him thumbs up.

"Alright." Max nodded while fairing up his hands. "Let's waste these bastards for good!"

Meanwhile, through the confusion, Melvin and Cerberus had made the way to the bewildered group by the pole, watching the chaos with their jaws dropped.

"H-Hey.... What the hecks going on?" Cliff asked, wondering about Max's new allies.

"Take your guess. I'm completely stumped." Melvin answered.

"Weren't those the guys we fought in Berkwara?" Dora asked.

"And that's th-the King of the Forest," Fred added.

"That guy's awesome." Rodger breathed in reverence.

"Not the words I'd use." Cliff sighed.

Back in the battle, Max and his allies were about to attack when something blasted past the members of Celtic Hoard, Faust, Shay and May, and struck Max hard enough to send him backward several feet, crashing into a nearby rock.

"Ow, that hurt," Max muttered as he freed himself from the rock. There was an incision on his chest, close to his X shaped scar, fortunately not deep enough to be of danger

"Quite tough skin. Gáe Bolg would easily pierce through anything even if they were in full body armor." Gil approached Max, twirling his spear in his hands, fixing Max with a death gaze. "Not that I'd expect anything less, you damn monster."

"It's you..." Max said while he grasped his bleeding wound. "Uh.... You that guy on that robot."

Gil lunged towards Max with Gáe Bolg, who immediately dodged out of the way as the spear shattered what was left of the rock. "Close enough." He then withdrew his spear and began swinging wildly at Max, who was forced to continually dodge the coming blows.

"H-Hey, Cut it out!"

"What's wrong? Where's all that gusto ya had monster!" Gil ceased his attack and pulled his spear back before lunging at Max.

Max sidestepped to the right as the spear passed by and embedded itself in the ground. He then fired up his fist and lunged at Gil's exposed left flank. However, Gil immediately dodged by lunging forwards towards his embedded spear and allowed Max to simply pass by while he swung around and kicked him in the back of the head. As Max turned back, Gil had freed his spear and struck down on Max's chest, giving off a satisfied smirk as the ruby spear pierced through his flesh and left a shallow cut.

"?!" Max retreated and felt the wound on his chest. It was small but was bleeding. His skin was usually so hard that a normal cut from a blade and even a bullet wasn't enough to pierce through.

"You look confused. Not used ta being cut?" Gil mocked as he twirled his spear. "Like I Said Gáe Bolg can pierce through anything. That tough skin of yours is no exception."

"Gil!" Faust ran up behind Gil, putting his fists up.

"I'll take care of you later you gutless traitor," Gil said coldly to him before aiming his spear directly at Max. "Once I've run this freak through!"

He then launched himself towards Max, jabbing his spear at the speed of a machine gun towards Max. not fast enough to dodge, Max raised his arms while he took the various blows, which left small cuts across his skin while he was pushed back. Gil remained where he was while he grasped his spear with both hands. At the blade swirled a ruby mist that engulfed the tip.

"Come on! Put up more of a fight! I want this to be at least a bit entertaining!"

Suddenly, a large shadow engulfed Gil. Looming over him was the King, lunging one of its massive paws to squash his prey.

"Tch, you're in my way ya dam mutt!" Gil growled as he adjusted the aim of his spear.

"DUG STOP!!!!"

"Gáe Blog: SKYWARD SKEWER!!!"

A ruby light shot from the spear and ran right through the left side of the king's torso, shooting a large exit wound out of its back.

"DUGGG!!!!!"

The king withdrew back as a founten of blood ran from its jaws, collapsing on its left side. Faust, Shay, and May stared in shock. Same for the people by the pole, shocked by seeing the most powerful monster in Sterland Forest brought to its knees after one strike.

The king, however, refused to give up. Despite the gaping hole in its left side, it still tried to stand. It's only thought was to the boy who had tamed him. It didn't know his reasons, but these people around him were his enemies, and he had an obligation to fight his enemies.

"Still kicking?" Gil said as he aimed his spear at the king as it continued to struggle. "Tough bastard, I'll give you that." He then lunged forwards, aiming to pierce through the beast's head to kill it once and for all.

Suddenly, just before the spear hit its mark, Max launched forwards and kicked the spear off its intended target, glaring at Gil, who backed off immediately.

"Wow! That surprised me." Gil smirked as he aimed his spear at Max.

However, Max wasn't paying any attention to him. Instead, he was facing the King, patting it on the head as it settled back down to the ground.

"Thanks for getting us here. Get some rest ok." Max said with a tender smile.

Gil clicked his tough in annoyance. "What you care about it? It's just some feeken monster." He then smirked. "Or is it cause he's your own kin? Monsters do seem to get along with each other. It's only more proof that you're not human. Those 'friends' of yours must also see that, or there just two delusional to see you for what you really are."

Max took his hand from the king, took a step forward towards Gil, clenched his right arm causing his muscles to bulge.

"Oh, ya wanna finish this." Gil resumed his stance as the ruby mist returned to his spear. "Fine, I'm gonna use my trump card for this." This was Gáe Bolg's most powerful ability, an attack that will pierce the heart of anyone and anything, no matter what. If this works on him, then it'll work on the white armored Salamander!

Gil then put his weight on his left leg as he prepared to dash towards his prey, like a cheater ready to pounce on his unsuspecting prey.

Max just stood there with his right arm still raised.

"Time to die." He then loosens the tension on his leg. "Gáe Bolg:" he then launched himself towards Max at supersonic speed, thrusting his spear out "Impaling Barbed Death!"

"RAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

Just as Gil's spear made contact, Max moved out of the way, allowing the spear to scrape past his right side before punching downwards on Gil's face and slamming him to the ground. The impact was hard enough to crack the entire ground, even forming a crater around Gil's broken body.

The blow shattered most of Gil's teeth, his jaw was shattered beyond repair and Max's fist had even left an impression on where he hit. His spear lost the ruby glow as he lessened his grip as his consciousness began to fade. Wha.... Did I..... Lose?

Max resumed his original stance and turned to face the stunned and frightened crowd with a look of anger. "Ok.... Which one of you bastards is next?!"

Time to run!

"H-He won! Right?"

Cliff, Melvin, Cerberus and the Samiet trio saw Max clobber one of Celtic Hoard's leaders with a spear. The feet before them amazed Gimdo and Bush. They hadn't seen their guests in action yet, and were nonetheless impressed by the sheer strength possessed by Max, not only by his fighting and powers but also the fact that he had seemed to tame the legendary 'King of the Forest.'

I'm glad these humans aren't our enemy. If this boy's that powerful, then his friends must be just as skilled. Gimdo thought to himself.

"Alright! I think that's one of their bosses!" Rodger said cheering with his hands up in the air.

"Seems so," Melvin said with a sigh. "Looks like he's got things under control."

"Yeah." Cliff nodded, knowing what Melvin had in mind. He then turned to the two old men. "Ok, you guys can still walk right?"

"W-We should be fine," Bush said.

"Ok. Let's get outta here." Cliff looked to Dora and Fred. "Stay with them, ok?"

Both nodded.

"Wh-Wait! We're running?!" Rodger objected. "But we got'em on the ropes!"

"We're here to save your grandpa, remember. He's our first priority." Cliff said to him before looking at him with a smile. "It's what a 'man' does right, Never goes back on his word?" he reminded Rodger of what Allisa had told him in the waterway.

"You better promise me you'll get your grampa and Bush out of here."

"....?" Rodger looked back to Dora and Fred, who both smiled and nodded in agreement to what Cliff said. "Yeah, Your right!" Rodger spoke up with a large grin.

"Are you sure about this?" Gimdo asked Cliff and Melvin. "You have already risked a great deal for us already."

"Don't worry about it," Melvin said with a smile. "That idiot can hold off just about anything." Cerberus let out two yelps of agreement.

"Alright, let's get outta here before they decide to come for us instead."

Cliff and Melvin took point, trying to lead the sameits to slip out in the opposite direction to the chaos unfolding. After making ten steps, however, a large object slammed into the ground before them. While the amount of dust had obscured the view from what had landed, there was the unmistakable silhouette of some large beast before them.

"Who said you can leave?" A deep voice boomed within the dust. Eventually, it settled, leaving the officer Broco the cow-headed beast, towering over even Cliff, the largest of the 7.

"What... The.... Hell?" Cliff immediately shifted to his guard.

"A-A Taurus?" Melvin timidly muttered as he brought out his wand.

"You mean this Minotaur thing?"

"You didn't honestly think I would allow you just up and leave did you?"

Dolton then came up behind them, flanked by his two other officers, Waze, the gun-wielding wizard, and Ingrid, the secretary looking woman and bringing up the rear were three others armed with guns.

"Is that guy Dolton?" Melvin asked Cliff.

"Yeah, that's him," Cliff responded gritting his teeth in frustration at the situation he now faced.

"Dolton!" Gimdo freed himself from Fred who was supporting him before bowing his head to Dolton. "Please spare these people. I will offer my life in exchange for there's."

"Gramps!"

Unexpectedly, Dolton then started to Cackled so hard that one could question his sanity.

"Oh Gimbo, you do crack me up." He said after he finished. "Seriously though, you honestly think I'll just let them walk away after all this." He then extended his arm out to the main battle. "You know I'm a man who likes what he paid for. And if someone takes something from me, then I make sure they compensate me in full one way or the other." He then pushed his shades up as veins popped across his forehead. "There was only one time before all this were even killing the one who wronged me wasn't enough. But this.... oh this...."

His gaze turned deadly. "I DON'T THINK THIS CAN BE PAID BACK EVEN IF YOU ALL HAD A THOUSAND LIVES!!!!"

"Looks like he's snapped." Melvin pointed out.

Waze grinned as he took out his two revolvers from his holster. "Guess negotiations are over, huh?" He said to Ingrid.

"That's sexual harassment."

"Can't you lighten up for once?"

There was then some muffled grunting coming behind them.

"Huh?" Waze was about to look behind when Ingrid shoved him out of the way while sending a roundhouse kick; the bladed high heels intercepting a dagger aimed at Dolton. As she recovered, the attacker somersaulted back to three dead bodies while keeping her blades drawn.

"Nel!"

"Miss Nel!"

"Took your time."

The group said their relief as Dolton turned to face Nel, growing more and more angry by the second. "Another one huh? You guys keep coming one after another, and it's really starting to piss me off."

"Actually, I was here before they arrived," Nel said, relaxing her stance.

"Huh? You were here before us?" Cliff asked.

Nel nodded. "I had to take care of something first."

"Take care of what?"

On cue, the entire area was rocketed by a titanic explosion, which erupted a few miles away from the group, forming into a large mushroom cloud and blasting several people away by the shockwave, almost blowing away the Samiets too.

"What the?!" Cliff exclaimed as he put his arms over his head. Melvin alongside him was trying hard to stand but ended up toppling over just as the blast began to die down.

Dolton stood with his jaw dropped in disbelief, as he realized that the explosion had occurred round about the same place where he kept all his Magitek weapons.

Nel, who hadn't turned around, casually pointed her dagger towards the explosion. "That."

****

(15 minutes earlier- 6 minutes before Cliff's group arrived.)

"Can't believe I'm stuck on guard duty." The guard complained as he stood by with his rifle slung. "It's not like any one's gonna actually be stupid enough to-"

Before he could finish, a pair of arms quickly wrapped themselves around his neck, and with one swift move, cracked his neck. Nel carefully lowered her victim down to the ground so he doesn't make a sound that could alert any other guards. "What do we have here?"

The passage she took came out in a large cavern, which was loaded with various weapons, including the Magitek walkers that were being assembled, or repaired, and dominating the space was a large round device at the very center. If all this was here, then she must have reached Deadmans End. Her thoughts, however, were on the massive amount of firepower this bandit group seemed to possess. It was enough to equip a small army.

This isn't right. Why would a bandit possibly need these much weapons? It's like he's preparing for war. She thought.

Although the mission was to save the captive Gimdo and Bush, She couldn't in her right mind allow them to be armed to the teeth.

"While I'm here, guess I should do something about all this." Her attention went to the large device in the center, which looked a lot like a bomb. Walking up to it, she saw a control panel nearby, with the name 'Ragnarok' written above. "This could work."

****

Dolton's eyes widened at Nel's short story. The Ragnarok bomb?! She.... She used it to destroy my weapons?!

"Anyway, I take it you’re Dolton?" Nel asked, pointing her dagger forwards. "You weren't exactly what I had in mind."

Ingrid then launched herself at Nel again, sweeping another kick towards Nel's neck. As Nel Blocked with her dagger, Ingrid lifted herself up and swung her other leg towards her, which Nel responded by parrying with her short blade while freeing her dagger, stabbing towards Ingrid's supposedly exposed side. However, as Ingrid twirled in the air, she drew out a switchblade from her sleeves and parried the strike while backfilling backward.

"Quite nimble," Nel said with a slight mock in her voice. "Wouldn't take someone dressed like that for a fighter."

"Your skills are certainly no joke," Ingrid said as she drew another switchblade. She then charged again, sending high kicks at Nel along with several strikes with her switchblades. Nel dodged and parried before jumping back before using Quickstep to rush her opponent, who managed to match her speed and parried her own blade strikes.

"Wow, that secretary ladies keeping up with Nel," Melvin said.

"We probably shouldn't stick around any longer," Cliff said. "Ok we-"

As he turned round to the Samiets, he saw Broco launching at them, while they weren't looking, aiming at Rodger and Gimdo with one of his massive fists. "LOOK OUT!!"

Both only just turned round to see the danger they were in. The creature's fist made impact, launching what he'd hit several feet away, leaving a line of dust as the force scared the land.

"CHIEF!!!!!"

"RODGER!!!!!"

Bush, Dora and Fred had retreated when they say the danger unlike the two that were hit, or so it seemed.

"Huh?" Rodger slowly stood back up with the injured Gimdo resting by him, and his friends standing beside him with looks of relief and confusion.

"H-How did you get there?" Fred asked Rodger.

"That's what I want'ta know."

Broco saw that his intended targets had been thrown out of harm's way. As for what he had hit, he saw the dust beginning to settle, revealing Cliff, standing tall with his arms in a guard position.

Literally milliseconds before Broco's attack had hit, Cliff had managed to close the distance and threw the two out of the way before taking the hit. This human's faster than he looks. And if he took that hit head-on, he must be quite strong indeed. Broco thought. On average his race far outclassed a human on raw strength alone. So for a human, even a clearly bulky one, to be able to withstand a blow meant they would be quite a challenge.

"It's not nice to aim for those who can't fight back," Cliff said as he lowered his arms. "But I am talking to a bandit after all."

Broco's cow-like face then started to change into what could be called a grin. "I do have some honor. My people desire battle above all else, but humans and Cait Sith don't seem to last very long against me." He then raised one of his fists, showing off a scar across his knuckles, the wound given to him by Gai the other day. "To face two humans who have the strength to stand against me so close together is quite rare. Not that I'm complaining."

Cliff kept a straight face as he began to take steps towards his opponent. "Go." He instructed the sameits. "We'll hold them off."

He then charged forwards, swinging a right hook at Broco, who punched back. Small shockwaves were generated as both intercepted blows from the other.

"What strength," Bush said with amazement.

"Ok, let's get outta here," Dora announced.

Fred nodded as he helped up Bush along with Dora.

"Rodger!" Dora said in a firm voice.

"Don't worry, I know." Rodger shrugged off while he supported his grandfather.

"You are going to be in a lot of trouble when we get back," Gimdo said to him.

"Yeah, yeah."

"Forget about me!" Waze called out aiming his left revolver to the sky with a large grin on his face. "Gun Magic: Hornet Shot!" He then fired out five shots of glowing green energy that swerved around and descended on the sameits before a cartwheel of flames intercepted them before they hit their mark. "Oh ho. What have we here?"

Before the sameits was Cerberus in his battle form, giving out a loud growl as he stood his ground.

"You heard Cliff! Get going!" Melvin took his side by Cerberus, holding out his opponent, allowing the sameits to Run.

"A Wizard huh?" Waze said, interested in Cerberus. "That's some familiar you got there. As a fellow wizard, I gotta give ya credit for it."

"You're a Wizard?"

"Don't say it like that," Waze said casually. "Didn't ya folks ever tell ya to respect your elders?"

Melvin scowled. "I find it hard to respect someone who uses magic to kill others."

"Ehhh fair enough," Waze responded while scratching his head with his right revolver. "Killen kids ain't really my style, but since the boss is likely pissed that you guys have practically destroyed his toys, I may as well take you out." He then grinned at Melvin while swooshing his guns out before him. "Sorry kid, but time to show ya how the grown-ups play."

****

"Why... Why is this happening? WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!!!!"

Dolton yelled furiously as he watched the chaos unfold. There was some of the intruders, as well as three traitors wreaking havoc with a majority of his men with a large monster, one of his officers is down while the remaining were battling the other intruders who seem to be on equal footing, and to top it all off, all his Magitek weapons have literally gone up in smoke.

Damn it! All those years! All that time preparing for this moment! All of it's gone to shit in the space of a few minutes!

Out of the corner of his eye, she spotted his prisoners escaping with the child Sameits.

He then snapped his fingers at two members of Celtic Hoard that just passed by. "You two with me!" he snapped as he walked in pursuit of the escaping Samiets. I'll be paid back in full for this, one way or the other!