The gorge turned into a ghost town. None of the villagers made a sound, huddled in their stone homes, not even peeking out from their windows. As the clouds of ash approached the gorge's entrance toward Tung Village, Oscar heard the whimpers and squeamish cries coming from younger voices. Those cries were quickly quelled and silenced by hurried hushes.

"Everyone, be still and silent. Don't worry and wait for them to pass." An elderly man stepped out into the center of the gorge with two people by his side. He had a frail, skinny body, wearing a simple, loose robe draped down to his feet. He coughed as the two others, middle-aged men wearing similar clothes, helped him walk.

"Chief Suri. How have you been?" Old Yule nodded to the elder.

"Old Yule…Stay out of sight. I'll discuss matters with you later about these strangers you have brought. That goes for the rest of you. Don't bother our village." Chief Suri stared with his old wizened eyes, wheezing and choking through each word. Leaving a warning, Chief Suri focused on the entrance with a sigh.

"Here. The crevices up here are perfect for us to hide. Interfering won't do any good." Old Yule led Oscar and the others into a little grove within the gorge, perfect to look at the bottom without being seen.

Like an encroaching storm of calamity, the clouds of ash finally arrived at the entrance to Tung Village, stopping in place and dispersing away. Within the choking fumes were several rugged figures, men who wore cold, stern expressions, dressed in a mix match of clothing as if they wore anything they had and goggles. They rode atop a great beast of mighty girth and low height, encased in thick, red armor. Two horns protruded from its cheeks and curved toward the center.

They jumped down from the great beast one by one, staring and scoffing at their surroundings. One of them walked toward Chief Suri, who gulped and sweat profusely.

"Good redness today. Not too hot as yesterday." The man smacked his lips.

"Why have you come to our village, Taren? We have already given our tribute for this month." Chief Yule coughed and wheezed.

"I know…but situations change," The man, Taren, wandered around, gazing up at the houses.

Above, avoiding Taren's gaze, Oscar whispered, "Who are they?"

"Marauders," Quinn trembled. "They wander around, subjugate settlements and villages, taking away people and resources. Grandma always said to avoid doing anything to them."

"Why not?" Oscar asked.

"Quiet, you little brats," Old Yule scolded.

Down below, Taren chuckled and patted Chief Suri on the shoulder. In a single swoop, the old chief was forced to his knees. He lifted his goggles from his eyes, crouched by Chief Suri, and said, "I need them."

"We've given you the water you want every month and food. What else do you need?" Chief Suri waved his hand to stop his two companions from acting. There was no point in doing so. Oscar sensed Taren was a Middle Knight Exalt while Chief Suri was a Lower Elite Exalt. Thankfully, Old Yule told them to hide their Ein as much as possible, or else they would have been caught.

"You see, someone's making some trouble. No one knows who or why. But the Four Lords don't like it and suspect each other. Fighting has broken out in multiple locations. Soon, it will spread here. I need every able-bodied person from your village." Taren then turned and shouted, "That means all of you. Come out, and we will choose the worthy."

"No!" Chief Suri pleaded. "Our pact was not to harm our people."

"This isn't harming them. It's recruitment. Or what? Will you wait to see who wins? Because the choice is this. Don't comply, and sure, maybe out of the graciousness of my heart, we leave. Then what? If we lose, how will you know the next person will care for you as much as we have? And if we win, I come back and forcibly recruit or kill you anyway." Taren smacked his lips.

"Take a few of us. I'll go with my two assistants." Chief Suri tried to bargain.

"No. I need everyone." Taren shouted to his gang. "Find them and drag them out."

His gang was twenty men in total. Fifteen were various Elite Exalts, four were Lower Knight Exalts, and one was a Middle Knight Exalt like Taren. The Elite Exalts walked up the pathways and were about to drag out the people inside a stone house.

Not willing to let this happen, Oscar charged and jumped down. In a single punch, a light regular Ripple Shroud blew away the Elite Exalts, a fearsome shockwave that shook the gorge. Oscar kicked away several of the unconscious Elite Exalts back to the center. The others stared in shock and fear at his arrival.

"How about we discuss more?" Oscar tightened his stance, eyeing Taren and the other Middle Knight Exalt.

"Who are you?" Taren growled. Ein rose from his body, filling the gorge with a raging pressure. "Chief Suri, did you already make a deal with another gang?"

"No! This stranger came with a friend. I have no idea who he is." Chief Suri said.

"The old chief has nothing to do with this. I just wanted to interfere from my own accord." Oscar walked leisurely through the remaining Elite Exalts, still frozen in fear. He stopped right before Taren and the other man, who responded with a dangerous Ein.

"Interesting. Where did a Middle Knight Exalt like you come from? Were you sent by one of the Four Lords? Or are you the one who's been causing an uproar over the Burning Valley?" Taren took out his armament from his back, a serrated cleaver. "Whatever it is, do you think you can get away after beating up my men?"

"I was thinking about killing them, but…." Oscar wondered why Old Yule would stay inactive despite her powers. Something was holding her back from fighting. He didn't know what it was, but he also couldn't ignore this blatant abuse. So, the compromise was to beat them down and figure it out later.

"Hmm," Taren stroked her chin.

Oscar raised his hands and grasped the serrated cleaver on its sides. Taren had tried to surprise him, but Oscar's Prinstyct had long foreseen this movement. Oscar held the cleaver tightly, not budging a single inch from Taren. The leader of the marauders tried desperately to free his weapon to no avail.

"I've also wanted to see how far I can go against other Exalts. You came at the right time." Oscar smiled.

Ein rampaged out of Taren, transformed into yellow flames, and formed several spears of condensed flames. These spears were similar to the ones Erik used, with one major difference, the concentration. The fires of Ein were so concentrated that no ember, spark, or excess was exhausted from the spears. They resembled more closely to overheated metal rods.

'Grade Three Spell.' Oscar tried to move his feet and found the earth had wrapped around him, encasing him to his knees, the handiwork of the other Middle Knight Exalt. Taren's laughter came with the onslaught of the blazing spears—quite a nice combination with great timing. Oscar saw the other move to attack from another angle to seal his fate.

Oscar felt no fear. Erden charged, melded with his anima, and molded his antlers into a bramble of metal. Despite the heat of Taren's spears and the power of a grade three spell, Erden's antlers stood firm, though melted in some parts. Erden stomped, destroying the earth beneath his mighty hooves, including the part trapping Oscar.

Freed from his bonds, Oscar spun, punched toward Taren, and kicked at the other. His arms and legs in the semi-mantle form with Edureisclad armoring their skin forced Taren and the other one away. Not letting up, Oscar and Erden split, finding their targets.

Oscar faced Taren down, dodging more of the grade-three blazing spears, feeling their intense heat near his skin. Within reach, Taren charged his cleaver with flames and summoned his anima, a bull with flames on his horns, tail, and feet, the powers of a grade-six Exolsia.

The bull breathed out hot steam and bent his body low. It rushed with flames kicking off from its feet, and the horns on top transformed into the same blazing spears. Oscar ignored the bull and chased after Taren, who circled him, leaving his back exposed to the bull. It was not because he thought the bull was weak but that his Erden was stronger.

A sapphire Erden flashed past Oscar, clashing antlers against horns, metal against fire, spears against spears. The difference was Erden wasn't an anima. He was a beast with the intelligence of a human. Erden sidestepped, deflected the bull's charge, and rammed his front hooves into its side, sending it rolling onto the ground and crashing to the gorge's walls.

At the same time, Oscar was covered by a cloud of soot, which clung to his body. Like being buried in the earth, Oscar felt his movements slowing down. Taren and the earth user fought with everything they had; all of their Ein focused on their weapons. Taren's cleaver burned like an inferno, and the earth user's mace anima, grade six, enlarged with a boulder formed on its tip.

A fine display of power and combination came from the two. Oscar smiled and used Ripple Shroud to break free from the encasing dust, blowing away the cloud of earth. Sweat flowed down his face as he grew redder from Taren's encroaching flames.

First, Oscar met the earth user's mace. The smooth boulder carried a large weight, capable of bringing many to their knees. Oscar's feet dug into the caving ground, digging further in. Oscar could only laugh and deflect the blow by swerving around its surface like a droplet of water tracing around a sphere. He could have destroyed it but wanted the powerful Reis within it.

The Reis built inside him combined with his Ein. Oscar spread his arms, one palm toward the earth user and the other toward Taren, who was still trying to reach him. Everything fell silent as the winds rushed out and back from the powerful calamity he unleashed upon them.

Two twenty percent of Eirin Omnireus blasted the earth user deeper into the earth and Taren up into the air. The inconvenient rubble pelted Oscar's face, and his back felt hot, the burning embers falling on him. Taren's shout of pain echoed across the gorge after the falling rubble encased his anima.

Seeing the earth user rendered unconscious on the floor and Taren fall with his bones cracking, Oscar wondered if they were too weak or if he had become too strong. The two were stronger Middle Knight Exalts, yet their combined powers were nothing to him and Erden. Perhaps, only a peak Middle Knight Exalt could show him his new limits.