Piles of human bodies surround him, and crows are everywhere feasting on the human bodies; one of the crows pulls an eyeball and swallows it. He begins to look down at his hands which are made of steel with streaks of blood visible on his palms.
Presently, Ash and James halt in front of a large dark brown gate. Before he does anything, James steps forward and pushes the gate.
The gate opens apart, and a huge cave room with chandeliers hanging on the ceiling as they move gently.
"The bastard has returned," a man with a burning body landed on the ground.
"What do you mean?" Ash stepped forward.
Ash stops moving after James raises his hand. James' eyes are filled with determination, and he inhales deeply.
"What do you mean?" the burning man pointed his finger at James, "Ask that bastard if you wish to know."
The grey-skinned humans around them are watching them while Ash's gaze is filled with confusion.
"What does he mean, James?" Ash turned around to face James.
James looks down and he remembers an old buried memory that keeps resurfacing. In that memory, he's younger and his skin is made of steel.
"I was once a member of the syndicate that you are chasing," James said with his eyes looking directly into Ash's eyes.
James keeps seeing the memories, and he sees himself murdering humans. He tears their abdomen apart; blood flows out of the screaming human as James pulls out their flesh with his steel hands.
He continues to speak, "I always killed humans even if they are innocent because I–!"
"Enough!" Ash's eyes glowed, "I took you under my wings! Trained you, and accepted you."
"Go on! Kill each other!" the burning man said while smiling widely.
"Captain Ash... let me explain further," James told Ash.
Even after James pleaded, Ash's eyes are filled with anger as they glow. Ash appears beside James, and whispers, "I don't care about your reason... I hate those who betray someone who cared for them."
Ash punches James right on his face while yelling, "YOU MANIPULATING BASTARD!"
James hits the ground, and he stands up but Ash, his eyes are filled with anger, and he knows he can't forgive James.
"Just stay where you are... I'll take you under my custody after I rescue Felicia." Ash shifted his gaze back at the burning man.
Meanwhile, back in the forest. Nicholas keeps cutting every spiky vine coming at him with his spear. He jumps away from the strike of the next vine, and he hides behind a tree.
"Have you lost your fighting will?" Strief spoke, his voice filling the forest.
"I thought you would be the one to entertain me but you're more like a coward." Strief looked around him.
Nicholas looks behind him, and the tree turns out to be Strief. Nicholas raises his arms to shield himself but Strief strikes his abdomen with one swing of his flute.
The impact sends Nicholas rolling on the ground, away from Strief.
Nicholas touches the ground and pushes himself back to his feet but he sways slightly. He clenches his fists and releases a cry of anger.
Nicholas shouts, "I remember! I have to commit to my own words!"
He inhales deeply, forgetting about his longing for Nelly or everything in his past. His eyes narrow as determination fills his gaze.
"Hey, horsie!" Nicholas chuckled, "I'll halt my whining and beat you to a pulp like ground meat."
A sudden exhalation occurs from Strief's nose. He twirls his flute between his fingers until he swings it downwards; becoming a long thick brown flute with a white circle wrapping around at both ends.
Strief disappears with one step and appears beside Nicholas in the blink of an eye. Nicholas moves his eyes toward him while covering his right fist with twirling wind.
Their battle goes on, and Strief is sent crashing towards multiple trees by the punch thrown by Nicholas.
Strief bites his flute and plays harmonically tunes. Multiple vines race towards Nicholas but all of them get torn in half with one swing of Nicholas' spear.
Nicholas smirks at the next vines coming closer to him, and says confidently. "Come on! I don't care how many you will use to strike me!"
"Too much confidence can lead to overdose or downfall." Strief landed on his feet.
A young woman appears in front of Nicholas, and the vines pierce her upper body except for her face whose eyes are locked at Nicholas.
"Nelly?" Nicholas spoke those first words with shock in his eyes.
"Why did you abandon me? I thought we were friends, and friends don't leave each other," Nelly said as tears flowed from her eyes.
Half of her face inflates as veins appear on it, and half of her face transforms into Juan's face, the long-time roommate of Nicholas.
Juan is the same man who cooked meals for him, cared for him, and grew up with him in an orphanage.
Seeing his face causes tears to form in Nicholas' eyes, and they fall gently to his chin.
Juan stares at Nicholas, and those eyes that he has are colorless as the shock in Nicholas' face reflects on them.
"You promised that we would not leave each other... why? I thought we were brothers."
"I-I didn't, I have to do this to save the people from harm, Juan!"
"Am I not one of those people who are in danger during those times, Nicholas?"
"No! What do you mean?"
"I was so sad because of the misery that you caused that made me sad. You won't understand because you didn't care for me, selfish brat!" Juan continued to look at him in his eyes with anger written on his face.
Nelly and Juan nod their joined heads while telling him. "Selfish! Selfish! Selfish!"
They raise their hands and swing them toward Nicholas. He faces their strike with his hands lowered, and he closes his eyes.
"I deserve this."
Nicholas opens his eyes, and his eyes widen. A woman is standing in front of him with her back facing him.
Her eyes are green, her hair has the same color but is fixed in braids. She moves her eyes to her shoulder, and Nicholas sees her green eyes staring at him.
He seems to be in a trance as he can't speak, and his eyes sparkle. The woman in front of him turns her eyes in front of her, and her hands are holding onto a spear which is battling against a long flute.
"Don't blame yourself or anything," the woman spoke, "Don't believe in the illusion that this coward is using against you."
"You bastard! I almost have his head!" Strief's patience wore out.
"Sorry, but this boy is part of the guardians, and I pleaded with the Bishops to let him join, so, I can't let him die!" Her green eyes glowed.
Nicholas blinks after hearing those words, and he shakes his head. "H-Hey! I only joined your group temporarily!"
She swings her spear with such speed and strength, pushing Strief away from her. She swings her spear and points it at Strief. "So, step back. Let my comrade rescue what needs to be rescued."
Strief stomps his feet repeatedly and bites on his flute. Veins appear on his forehead, and he begins playing tunes that cause both Nicholas and the mysterious woman to flinch.
"That's it!" Nicholas inhaled deeply, his chest inflating.
Nicholas releases a large wind pressure from his mouth, and it pushes the trees away from the ground. Strief's eyes widen as his flute slips from his hands, and he thrusts his hands toward it; trying to catch it.
"No! No! No!" Strief yelled.
The pressure carries him away from the ground. The woman watches Nicholas, and he raises his hands and swings them in different directions.
"Is he manipulating the wind?" Her eyes sparkled.
"ENOUGH WITH THE UGLY TUNES" Nicholas turned the gust of wind into a tornado.
He steps forward and sends Strief flying back to the mountain. Nicholas bends his upper body downward while taking fast breaths.
"That was tiring!" Nicholas wiped the back of his hand against his forehead.
The light blue in his eyes fades, returning to the color of his brown eyes. His eyes widen and he thrusts his palm repeatedly.
"What happened to Gale?" Nicholas asked in confusion.
"What? You can't use wind?" Apo spoke through their mental connection.
"If Gale is in trouble, it affects my wind control!" Nicholas replied through his link with Apo.
He closes his hand as he makes a choice. He inhales deeply and his fists begin to turn red as flames cover his entire fists.
Nicholas told Apo. "I have to use my control in fire to find Gale!"
In the fire dominion, Apo stands up from the lava. He inhales deeply while mustering his strength.
"In that case, I will lend a hand!" Apo's fur burst into flames as he let out a roar that shook the entire terrain throughout the dominion.
The woman's eyes widen the longer she stares at Nicholas. His body is straight in posture, his hands are lowered on his sides, and his hair begins to rise.
A red aura hugs his entire form, and his eyes open. "I'll take the flames that my body can take or I'll take more!"
"Don't be arrogant, boy!" Apo held his fists together, "Let's find that parrot!"
The woman speaks, "I'm Elesia, by the way. I'm looking for–!"
Nicholas starts to run forward while clenching his teeth as Elesia is blinking repeatedly while her hand is raised for an attempt to wave at him.