Chapter sixteen: Fateful Night in Togenkyo, Part two

Inside the box garden, "How… How can we get out of here? By now, Keith is probably…" Shiro said to himself and touching the wall of the garden.

"Shiro, it's no good. There's no exit!" Lance said as he approached Shiro.

"Stats!" said Stats

"That can't be!" Shiro said as he lean on a rock as a group of men run across a bridge and Lance, Pidge, and Stats look on.

"You can become a sage doing that?" Pidge said.

"Well… Mastering Sagery requires physical strength, but I believe spiritual prowess is critical." Lance explaining

"You there… You don't seem to be from the region." a voice said, lies on his side near Lance's rock. He dressed in a grey trenchcoat and a blue skin covered his entire body.

"Hey, I know you!" Shiro said "You're with the rebels!"

"I used to, before I got captured by Tokajin!" He said.

"Mr. Rebel!" said Pidge.

"Ozar!" he correct her.

"Ozar, Aren't you going to train to become a sage?" said Shiro

"No… Once you master even a tiny bit of Sagery, you become fodder for the Tree of the Human-Faced Fruit." Ozar told them. "I saw him, Tōkajin talking to a old woman".

He remember that Tōkajin pours purple liquid from his gourd onto the soil under the Tree. " Are you sure if I keep doing this the tree will bear the Fruit of Longevity?"

"Yes, the fruit of longevity will appear to you!" said a certain woman who looks at the tree. "But in order to do that, it need lots and lots more souls of sages!"

"But… There aren't that many sages." he said.

"True, but with power you can train more sages!" she said as she open her pocket to reveal a certain shard. "This shard will give you enough power to destroy your enemies!"

Tōkajin reaches for the shard and takes the shard! "Don't worry, I'll bring you sage souls without fail." While this is going on, hiding behind a rock was Ozar, listening in to the conversation. He attempt to fired his gun at him.

"Who's there?! Another vanquished soldier?" he said, then turned to Ozar who start to run away. But Tōkajin jumps towards him, Crushing him in the exact way that he did to Keith and throwing Ozar into the box garden.

"Train hard, then come back!" He said as Ozar shrinks and disappears into the box.

"That's probably a quintessence Crystal Shard." Lance added. "

"Impossible Haggar!" Shiro said "It's slight, but I definitely sense the presence of the crystal."

"But what an awful sage!" Pidge said.

"I have heard that unless a people renounces the world and becomes a hermit, one cannot become a sage." Lance said.

"That's why these men cannot become sages". Ozar said.

"Poor people… They're training, only to end up as nourishment for the demon tree." asked Shiro.

"There has to be a way out of here, somehow...!" he thought.

Meanwhile back at the hallway, "Unh..., Hunk hang on," Keith said as he leaned against a wall. "Let me rest for a sec."

"Are you all right?" asked Hunk, but he got his answer when Keith coughed up a little blood. "I guess that's a no."

"Ugh...that Peach Man," Keith cursed. "Did more than just break my arm. When his fat gut smashed into me, he must've damaged some of my internal organs, too." He sighed as he looked up to the ceiling. "Just another reason why I don't need a butt snack human body..."

"...Keith..." Hunk said in concern.

"Please, Shiro...just stay hidden until I find you..." thought Keith. "Please!"

Little did he realize that Shiro wasn't about to heed his internal warning.

"I found the shards around here. Hah! So you're in my box garden?" Tōkajin said as he enters the room with the box garden.

Inside the box garden, Ozar revealed to the group his plan to Escape, "So the plan is jump over the wall!" he announced.

"That's your plan!" Pidge said, Sounding Unsure.

"I know it's not exactly ideal!" Ozar said "But is the only shot I have, There is no way I'm going to become food for Tōkajin!"

"There's gotta be a better way to escape" Shiro said, he then turned to the mountain up the box garden! "Actually I figured out out better way to escape!"

Under Shiro's plan, Pidge and Stats went to the mountain and places the last of three smoke bombs under a huge rock on a cliff.

"Okay! Shiro, we ready over here!" Pidge shouted

"All right." Shiro said as turn to Lance and Ozar "Lance, you ready!"

"I'm ready anytime." Lance said

"Are you sure this plan It's going to work!" Ozar said.

"I don't know but it's better than doing nothing!" Shiro said.

"Here we go!" Pidge said as she activate the smoke bombs which explodes and the huge rock start to roll down the cliff. "It worked! Lance!"

Right on cue, Lance activate his ice powers to catch the oncoming rock, causing it to roll faster.

"It's coming!" Shiro said as he pushes Ozar away from the oncoming rock as It crashes into the wall of the box and makes a hole in it.

"We did it! It worked!" Pidge said, excitedly but then, all of a sudden, the clouds above them began to swirl around, ominously.

"Stats!" Stats asked, nervously.

"A hand?!" Pidge questioned. "Could it be..."

With that, they ran toward the giant hand descending from the "sky"...aware of whom exactly it belonged to.

"That made me rather hungry..." Tōkajin said as he reached inside the box where the garden was hidden. "About 2 or 3 mortals should do, nicely."

"Wow, I can't believe that plan actually work!" Ozar said. "This is actually real?"

"Yeah it's real!" Lance said as Ozar pinches Lance's face. "Um.. Yes. Remember we did the pinching thing already?"

"Well, still, I couldn't let myself believe... Is it all true?" Ozar implied. "We're really escape this nightmare!"

But before they can do anything else, a giant hand reaches in and takes them, leaving Pidge and Stats alone.

"Let's see now," Tōkajin muttered as he looked through his secret garden, picking out any new victims he could devour. "Hmm...no, too skinny...too old...ugh...not that one...isn't there a decent one left?" He soon lifted his hand up...only to gasp silently before he grinned. "Well, what have we got here?"

In Tōkajin's hand, along with a bunch of other men and women...was Lance, Ozar, and Shiro!

"A strong man!" the Peach Man exclaimed while Shiro gasped in horror.

"So this is the sage, Tokajin?" he thought while Tōkajin tossed all the men and women, excluding Lance and Ozar out of his hand.

"I don't remember capturing you, scrumptious little one," he said, "but you'll do nicely! I can't believe how lucky I am...first, I capture a half-daemon and a daemon explorer, and now I have-"

"Wait!!" Shiro shouted. "What do you mean, you caught Keith and Hunk?!"

"Hmm?!" Tōkajin hummed in surprise. "You know those two morsels?!"

"If you hurt my friends," Shiro glared, "then I swear I'll never forgive you for this, you rotten Peach Man!!"

What neither Tōkajin nor Shiro realized was that Lance and Ozar had still managed to grab onto his sleeve.

"Wow, this man as a lot of charismatic" Ozar whispered.

"I suppose this is mild by his standards," said Lance.

"Heheheheheh!" Tōkajin chuckled. "You've got spunk, little man...but pipe down! Go to sleep for a while!!" He then tightened his fist, causing Shiro to scream as he felt the wind getting squeezed out of him...before he soon fell limp.

"Oh, no! Shiro!!" Lance cried.

"Shiro, wake up!!" shouted Ozar.

Tōkajin chuckled as he walked out of the room...unaware that two glowing red eyes were watching him through a crack in the wall.

Soon, Keith and Hunk were trying to walk down some stairs, the latter holding the former as a means of supporting him...when all of a sudden, Keith tensed up and stopped in his tracks, prompting to Hunk to do the same.

"What's the matter?" asked Hunk. "Is everything okay? Do you still hurt?"

"No...it's not that," Keith whispered. "Shiro...he's in trouble!"

"What?!" Hunk questioned. "How can you tell?!"

"I just know it!" Keith exclaimed. "I might not have my powers, right now, but I can sense he's in danger!" He then growled, which sounded a bit low, even for a human. "Damn that Peach Man...if he's doing anything to him, I swear I'll-"

Mew!

"Hey, guys!"

Keith and Hunk gasped before they turned to see none other than Kiaion, who was slinking out of a hole in the wall just begin enough for him to squeeze through and with Pidge and Stats on his fur.

"Kiaion!" Hunk exclaimed as the nekomata jumped into his arms and purred. "Thank goodness you're safe."

"Hey, don't forget about us!" Pidge said as she and Stats got off Kiaion's fur. "We when escape without Shiro's help!"

"Pidge, do you know where Shiro is?!" Hunk asked.

"I do but you aren't going to like it!" Pidge Answered, then Kiaion mewled before he jumped down from Hunk's arms, then in a burst of flames, he turned into her larger form before he looked to Keith and Hunk, gesturing them both to climb on his back, which they soon did.

"Hang on, Shiro !!" Keith called out. "I'm coming!!!"

"Shh~!" Hunk shushed. "Not so loud! Do you want Tōkajin to hear us?!"

"Oh, right," Keith muttered. "Sorry."

The first thing Shiro noticed when he started to wake up was that he had this sensation that he was floating. The second thing he noticed was that he was surrounded by this peculiar smell. It smelled a bit like alcohol and it was a bit warm.

...Wait a minute...

"AAH!!" Shiro gasped as he sat up...and to his shock, he found that he was sitting naked in a pool of green water "What's going on?! Where are my clothes?! What am I doing in here?!!"

As she looked around, he saw Tōkajin's animal servants pouring jugs of sake into the tub...and that's not all. They were stoking a fire in a stone oven, grinding up herbs, and sharpening knives...and in the corner, Shiro gasped as he saw a bucket of old skulls and bones!

"Oh, my god...those are Tōkajin's victims!" he thought. "And if I don't find a way out of here, I'm next!!"

Just as she was about to try and climb out of the tub, two monkeys dressed in chef's outfit and brandishing butcher's knives stood in her path.

"Uh...nice monkeys...?" Shiro asked, sheepishly while the monkeys advanced, menacingly...but then...

RAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWRR!!!

The door suddenly burst open, revealing Kiaion as he came leaping in, his fangs bare for all to see. The animals screeched as they ran for their lives while the nekomata ferociously at any within his sight. Soon, the animals had all fled the kitchen while Kiaion growled after them, a final warning to stay away before he turned to Shiro, who smiled in relief.

"Am I glad to see you, Kiaion!" he exclaimed.

"Shiro!" a familiar voice called out.

"Keith?!" Shiro asked as he turned around, just as Keith came bursting in and Hunk, Pidge, and Stats rushed in afterwards...but the moment Keith's eyes fell on Shiro, he felt his body go rigid...and his face grew hot as a blush appeared on his face. At first, Shiro just stood there, seeming oblivious...until he remembered that he was standing in a tub of sake without his clothes on. he shrieked as he quickly turned around, covering his private parts with her arms while Keith turned and plopped down on the floor on his rump.

"Well...that was...something," Pidge said, trying to get over the initial shock.

"He's alive!" thought Keith.

At that moment, Shiro came out of the tub and walked up to Keith, who had his back turned to his, more than likely to spare his dignity. It was then that he got a good look at him. Blood had stained his clothes and was also dripping out of his mouth. His feet looked like they had been burned, as well. Come to think of it, when he looked at Hunk, he saw that his foot looked a bit burned, too. That's when he also noticed Keith's right arm in its sling.

"What happened to you two?" asked Shiro.

"I got off easy compared to Keith," said Hunk. "When Tōkajin attacked us, he pushed me out of the way and got his arm broken."

Then Keith stands and suddenly collapses on the ground. "Keith!" Shiro whispered, worriedly as he runs and kneels next to Keith.

"Oh, Keith! He's a mortal right now, yet he tried to do so much." Shiro told Hunk as he hugs Keith.

"Ahem!"

Shiro, Hunk, Pidge, Kiaion, and Stats turned to the corner...or rather, who was sitting in Shiro's clothes. To their surprise, it was Lance and Ozar.

"We're here, too!" Lance exclaimed.

"Lance! Ozar!" Pidge said. "I wondered what happened to you guys?!"

"Yeah, we're sorry we had to disappear on you like that!" Lance said.

"Did you shrink too?!" asked Keith.

"Yeah, we did!" Lance said. "We were lucky enough to get noticed!" He then looked at Shiro, who blushed a bit as he tried to covered himself in the best he could.

"Um. Shiro? here!" Lance said as he tried to give Shiro's clothes.

"Thanks." Shiro said.

"Come on, let's get out of here," Hunk said as they all headed out...but then, they heard the sound of a creaking door, causing them to look back and see Tōkajin enter the kitchen using the backdoor. However, he hardly looked human, now. His body looked as if it were made entirely of stone!

"Where do you think you're going...with MY fertilizer?!" Tōkajin questioned.

"...Uh-oh...!" Ozar squeaked.

Keith, Shiro, and the others could not believe what they were seeing. Tōkajin's body had taken on a dramatic change. Where there once was human flesh was now replaced by a body made up of stone...and inside his navel was Shiro's fragments of quintessence crystal.

"What's happened to him?!" Shiro questioned, clutching his clothes to his bare chest.

"It must be the power of the jewel fragment!" Pidge exclaimed. "It's hardened his skin!"

"Stats!" Stats cried as he hid inside Kiaion's fur.

"Heheheheh..." Tōkajin chuckled. "With this body of mine, no weapon could ever pierce through me!" He soon leaped up into the air! "I'LL CRUSH YOU ALL FLAT!!!"

"RUN FOR IT!!!" Keith yelled, just as the rotund Peach Man came crashing down toward them. Luckily, they managed to rush down the stairs without any further harm.

"We have to get out of here!" Shiro cried as he putting on his clothes.

"Where should we go?!" asked Ozar.

"I think I know a way out!" Pidge answered as she hurried on ahead of the others. "Quick! Follow me!"

"What about the fragment?!" Keith questioned as he glanced back to where Tōkajin was. "We're just gonna leave it back there?!"

"Really, we don't have a choice!" Shiro argued. "It's too dangerous for you to try to fight, Keith!"

"He's right!" Hunk agreed. "Until morning, when your powers come back, we'll just have to escape and think of a strategy!"

Keith only growled in irritation. He hated taking the coward's way out, but they were right. In his human body, he was useless. He'd have no chance against Tōkajin, especially with how his body had turned to stone.

Soon, the group made it what looked like a balcony on the cliffside...but there was just one problem: there was a sheer drop down below, and the window was way too small for Kiaion to squeeze through in his transformed state. Not only that, but it was still pitch dark outside and it didn't look like the sun was going to be rising anytime soon.

To put it simply, they were trapped.

"We can't jump… Can we?" Lance said as he took a peek below from atop Kiaion's head.

"This is your idea of an escape route, Shiro?" asked Keith, incredulously.

"Well, I thought maybe we could all jump on Kiaion's back and he could fly us out of here," said Shiro.

"Now what are we gonna do?!" asked Pidge.

"We might have to find a different way out," Ozar suggested. "Let's just hope Tōkajin doesn't catch up to us before we do!"

"Ugh..." Keith groaned as he put his hand to his face, then held up one finger. "I have an idea-"

"No way!!" Shiro shouted.

"I didn't even say it, yet!!" Keith argued.

"You're gonna say that we should leave you behind, aren't you?!" Shiro questioned. "Well, I'm not having it, buster! We're all getting out of here, together, got it?!"

Keith and Hunk both blinked at Shiro in surprise...but then...

"Is someone there?"

Keith, Shiro, and the others turn around to the source of the voice only to gasp upon seeing what appeared to be old man's head, sticking out of a flower blossom!

"Did you escape from the box garden?" said the old man.

"Who are you, old man?" Shiro said.

"It's been far too long since I've heard the voices of other people," said the old man. "I'm ashamed to admit it…I was Tōkajin's teacher.

"Teacher...does that mean you're the real ancient master?!" Lance inquired.

"You stupid plant!" Keith barked as he grabbed the old man by the stalk.

"Keith, wait a minute!!" cried Hunk as he tried to hold him back.

"Don't hurt him!" Shiro shouted.

"Why you! Why'd you make a guy like him a sage?!" Keith shouted.

"Ah, but young one," said the old master. "I didn't make him a sage. It was the Tree of Human-Faced Fruit."

"Tree of Human-Faced Fruit?" Shiro asked.

"It was about a month ago…" the old man said as he remembers a much skinnier Tōkajin lie on his side under the tree.

"Oh boy… I can't stand this training day in and day out! Isn't there some way I can become a sage right away?" said Tōkajin as he notices a Quintessence crystal fragment on the ground in front of him "What's this?" he then picks up the fragment. "Hah! Nothing to eat."

Just in as he throws the fragment behind him. It strikes a certain witch. "Oh, a quintessence crystal Shard! Thank you!"

"Who said that?!" Tōkajin asked.

"I did...I'm Haggar!" she said. "You there… Do you wish for a sage's power?"

"Yes!" Tōkajin answered as he nods slightly.

"Then eat the fruit of the Human-Faced Fruit Tree." Haggar said.

With that, Tōkajin plucks a fruit from the Human-Faced Fruit Tree.

"Eat! Then you shall possess the art of Sagery!" said Haggar as Tōkajin bites into the fruit hungrily. "Yes! Swallow the seed, too! And you shall have power…a sage's power!"

"However… When one eats the Human-Faced Fruit, you become a slave to the Tree of Human-Faced Fruit. Then Tokajin obeyed the order to turn me into fertilizer for the tree so that it would bear the Fruit of Longevity." said the old master.

"But Master Sage, why are you in that condition?" Lance questioned.

"Just the fruit isn't enough for longevity. The fruit must be soaked and made into a potion. And only I know the process." answered the old master.

But then, CRASH!! Tōkajin came bursting into the room, smashing the door down to the floor!

"STATSSS!" Stats shrieked as Pidge held him close to her side.

"Stay close to me, Keith," he said while Hunk held up his gun, preparing to attack at a moment's notice.

"Well, well...aren't you all the clever things?" asked Tōkajin with a toothy smile. "Got all the way up here, did you?"

Shiro glanced down at Tōkajin's navel, where he saw the glow of the crystal fragment.

"The power of the shards is increasing!" Shiro through.

"Tokajin is no longer human. Please slay him." said the old man.

"Yes, I'm no longer human! Humans are covered with mud and work, then grow old, then die! My ma and pa both lived and died like that! I refuse to live such a weak, senseless life!" asked Tōkajin. "That's why I apprenticed myself to that ridiculous, so-called 'hermit master'!"

The old man said nothing, but only looked away in shame.

"You're not strong at all! You sacrifice others, just so you can have longevity! No way you're strong!" Shiro shouted.

"Shut up! I'm strong! That's why I'll take advantage of the weak! Don't you even understand that?!" Tōkajin said With a wave of staff, he sent huge thorny vines at the group, forcing them to scatter. Of course, they didn't have much room to go anywhere, and it wasn't long before Hunk and Kiaion were pinned to the wall, the former dropping his gun on the floor!

"AGH!!" Hunk yelled as he struggled to get himself free, only for the thorns to pierce his skin. "Ugh...I can't...get out!!"

RAAAAAAAWR!! Kiaion roared, also struggling to get free.

"Hunk! Kiaion!" cried Shiro as he ran to help, but he didn't see more vines headed his way!

"SHIRO, WATCH OUT!!!" Keith yelled as he grabbed him from behind, only to scream in pain as the thorns sliced into his back!

"Oh, no!!" Shiro cried in horror as blood spilled from his backside. "Keith, are you okay?!"

"Ugh...you idiot...!" Keith groaned. "Don't you know to never turn your back on a dark daemon?!"

"The Tree of Human-Faced Fruit made me strong. And since I got the quintessence crystals Shards, I've become invincible! And I'll have eternal life! And turn weaklings like you into fertilizer." He glanced over at the old master.

"You're…!" Shiro argued. "You're nothing but a filthy cannibal!!!"

"Stop it, Shiro," Keith spoke up as he tried to stand. "Trying to talk sense into him...won't do you any good...!"

"Keith!" Hunk exclaimed.

"Keith, don't move!" Shiro cried. "You're bleeding!"

"He wouldn't understand your logic. I'm a half-daemon. I know only too well how weak mortals are… And I understand his desire to be strong! However…I'm still disgusted by you!" Keith said.

"Bah!" Tōkajin scoffed. "You're going to lecture me about being weak?! Your arm is broken and you're bleeding out of your back!!"

Upon the Peach Man's statement, Keith stumbled, dizzily, feeling the loss of blood beginning to take effect.

"I ain't got…" Keith said as he picks up and throws the pot at Tōkajin. "Any words for you!" Tōkajin blocks the pot with his arm but the pot shatters, seize this chance, Keith sprints towards Tōkajin, reaching out a hand towards his belly.

"I have to hurry!" he thought. "If I can just get the jewel shard out before he's completely absorbed its power, I just might have a chance!"

Just before he could reach for it, however...WHACK!! He was suddenly slammed in the side by Tōkajin's fist, causing him to crash into a pot full of human fruits and dripping with fluids.

"Keith!" Shiro and Hunk cried in alarm.

"Ugh...urrrgh...!" Keith groaned as he sat up, then looked at the elixir around him.

"...Quickly, boy," said the old master. "Drink that elixir."

"Wha...?" Keith muttered.

"That is the shame of the elixir of youth and longevity that Tōkajin has distilled," said the old master. "However...it possesses the power to at least heal your injuries. If you wish to be saved, you must hurry and drink it!"

"What?!" Hunk questioned.

"But...that means...!" Shiro whispered.

"Heheheh..." Tōkajin chuckled. "I actually second that. It'll be more fun for me if you could actually fight back!"

"Forget it! The Human-Faced Fruit Tree takes humans as fertilizer! Who'd drink this disgusting stuff?" Keith scoffed as he staggered to his feet, glaring at the Peach Man.

"Keith...!" Shiro whispered while he and Sango stared in awe.

"Half-daemon, you'll regret not drinking the potion." Tōkajin glared.

"No matter what he says...his heart is still human...!" Shiro thought

"So, half-demon," said Tōkajin. "Are you and your friends ready to die? It's the fate you've chosen for yourself, you know! You'd rather die than drink an elixir made from human fruit!"

"Pah!" Inuyasha scoffed. "Who the hell said anything about me dying?! I only meant that I didn't wanna drink your slop. I don't need it..." He then lunged at Tōkajin. "TO DEFEAT YOU!!!"

"Oh, yeah?!" Tōkajin questioned before he summoned more thorny vines at Keith. "Show me, then!!"

Keith grunted as he tried to shield himself, but got his left arm sliced!

"Keith!!" Shiro cried as Keith grabbed Tōkajin's staff, though he struggled with just his one good arm.

"Without his powers, Keith doesn't have the strength to push him back!!" Pidge shouted. "Lance, use your ice power!!"

"I wish I could but the only good making up are sculptures, tiny sculptures!" Lance argued.

"Wait, hang on!" Hunk shouted as he tried to cut through the vines with his assassin Gauntlets. "I'm coming to help!!"

Kiaion growled as he tried to pull himself out, as well. Since he was a daemon, his skin and fur were a bit tougher than most felines, but the thorns did leave the nekomata with a few cuts. As for Shiro, he stood by, watching in horror as Tōkajin begin to easily overpower Keith, who struggled to stand up against his weight and his knees buckled beneath him.

"At this rate, Keith will lose!' he thought. "There has to be something I can do!!"

"Shiro, look!" Ozar called as he pointed to something in the corner of the room. "Look over there! my gun!"

Shiro gasped as he spotted the very weapon that the rebel spoke of.

"Thanks, Ozar!" Shiro exclaimed as he ran to grab it. Meanwhile, Hunk and Kiaion had finally managed to free themselves from the thorny vines, the former grabbing his minigun as she jumped onto the latter's back. However, Tōkajin turned around while holding Keith by his neck. Then, with a wicked grin, he swung him at them like a club, causing him to crash into them.

"Ugh!!" Hunk and Keith cried as they fell to the floor along with Kiaion.

"Is that really the best you can do?" asked Tōkajin, mockingly as he approached them. "Was all that just bluster?!"

"Damn you...!" Inuyasha cursed as he tried to stand up. Kiaion growled as he got to his feet, then charged at Tōkajin, who smirked as he waved his staff, which sprayed some strange powder. Kiaion suddenly found himself frozen in his tracks, then growled as he suddenly began to stagger. Before long, he shrunk down to her regular size, mewling weakly.

"Kiaion!" Hunk cried.

"Ugh...Lance...I feel dizzy...!" Pidge groaned as she held her head.

"...Stats..." Stats groaned.

"It must be some sort of poison dust...!" Lance groaned as he covered his mouth with his sleeve. "My body feels numb...!"

"Hang on, you guys!" Shiro called as he grabbed the gun. "I'll be right there!"

"Wait, child," said the old master, causing Shiro to glance at him. "Waste not your effort. That monster cannot be defeated by a mere gun."

"Even so, I have to help!" Shiro argued. "I can't just let my friends die!" he then turned around while he notched the gun. "Hey, Tokajin! Over here!!"

"Huh?" Tōkajin muttered.

"Shiro, what are you doing?!" asked Keith.

Shiro grunted as he prepared to fire the gun...and as he did, the old master's eyes seemed to widen slightly...for he could see some sort of white glow around the gun.

"The glow of exorcism…around the gun! Just who is this man!" he thought.

But then, BOOM!! Just as Shiro was about to fire, the gun suddenly broke apart!

"Oh, no!" Shiro cried in horror. "What happened?!"

"Shiro!!" Keith shouted as reaches out and breaks a thorn from Tōkajin's whip.

"Sorry about that," Tōkajin apologized with a derogating tone. "I'm afraid I've never been good at taking care of my things. What's the point of having weapons when you're pretty invulnerable, am I right?"

Shiro gasped silently as he backed away.

"Now, you be a good boy and go back to the pickling tub," said Tōkajin. "I'll deal with you once I've finished off your friends, here."

Keith growled as he glared at Tōkajin. There was no way he was going to let him hurt Shiro, again. If he did nothing, now, then he and the others would be doomed...and he'd be damned if he let that happen!

"Hey, Tōkajin!!" Keith shouted, causing Tōkajin to turn around...only to get stabbed in his left eye by the thorn! "Don't get…too cocky!"

"AAAAAAGH!!" Tōkajin screamed as he stumbled backward, holding his now bleeding orbit.

"Hunk, hurry!!" Keith called, prompting the Explorer to grab his minigun and fired at Tōkajin.

"Take THIS!!!" he yelled as he fired up, only for Tōkajin to grab the weapon and then toss him aside! "AGH!!"

"You damn weaklings...!" Tōkajin growled as he grabbed Hunk by the throat and lifted him up. "You think you can overpower ME?!!"

"Ugh...guuuuh...!" Hunk gagged.

"Hunk!!" Shiro cried.

"Please, Boy...you must stop him...!"

Shiro gasped as he glanced over at the old master, again.

"Please slay Tokajin… This is my way of making amends." he urged...and not long after, he began to wither and shrivel. However, to Shiro's surprise...he had turned into a sword!

"The Old Sage… He squeezed out his last ounce of power!" he whispered as he carefully picked up the sword. "...Thank you..."

"I'll deal with you first," said Tōkajin as he began to squeeze on Hunk's throat. "How about I snap your neck?!"

"Unh...uuuuughh...!!" Hunk gasped as he felt his neck being constricted, the air in his lungs slowly being pushed out. Knowing that time was of the essence, Shiro had no time to think. He stood in attack mode...As he was preparing to attack...he saw the familiar glow of the Quintessence crystal fragment, even though Tōkajin's back was turned to him.

"There's the glow of the quintessence crystal...if I can just hit that...!"

Soon, Shiro launch himself at Tōkajin which left behind a streak of pure, sparkling white light, which caused the dust that shrouded Kiaion, Lance, Ozar, Pidge, and Stats to disappear and allow them to regain their senses. "fifth from: Gemini" Shiro shouted and then, Tōkajin yelled as he felt something pierce through his back...and that's when the quintessence crystal fragments came out of his bellybutton!

"Huh?" Keith muttered. "The quintessence crystal Shards!"

In his shock, Tōkajin dropped Hunk on the floor, causing him to gasp and cough as he rubbed his neck. As for Shiro, he gasped at the Sword began to disintegrate until it was nothing more than dust in his hands. However, a looming shadow soon cast over her, causing Shiro to look up, only to shriek in terror as he saw Tōkajin's towering form, though now his body was beginning to return to human flesh!

"You man! How dare you!" the enraged Tōkajin roared. "I'LL KILL YOU FOR THIS!!!"

"Shiro!!" Hunk yelled.

"Shiro, Get Down!!!" Keith shouted as he ran at Tōkajin. Shiro ducked down, just as he had been told...and Keith tackled into the Peach Man from behind, sending them both tumbling out of the room and off the mountain!

"Keith!!" Shiro cried as he and Hunk hurried to look outside. "Keith!!!"

"...Shiro..!" Keith thought as he and Tōkajin plummeted.

"See what you've done, now, weakling?!" Tōkajin questioned. "Now you're gonna die!!"

"...Maybe so..." Keith admitted. "But it doesn't matter...at least Shiro's safe..."

"Keithhhh!!!" Shiro screamed as he saw Keith and Tōkajin disappear beneath the mist.

An orb appears on The tree down below, where it travels down its roots as two thorny roots pop out of the rock face and grab Keith and Tōkajin.

"Ohh! Human-Faced Fruit Tree! You're rescuing me!" Tōkajin questioned

"No! The tree don't want to lose precious nourishment! and personally neither do I" a voice said or rather Haggar's voice said.

"W-What…?!" Tōkajin said as the root twines around him and covers him completely, turned into a bulbous thing with roots for body.

"Now I've attained it! Both the tree and a Sage, My power is exponential! Now then, half-daemon…become one with me!" said Haggar as they covers Keith with more roots but the sun rises over the valley.

"Damn… Daybreak at last!" Keith thought.

"I never thought I'd get a half-demon as well! Everything will go as planned now!" Haggar said.

"No way!" Keith said as he slashes through the roots with his dagger and his hair and eyes turn back to their regular color. "Prepare to die, Tokajin! Or should I say… Tree of the Human-Faced Fruit or Haggar?!"

"Just try, half-daemon!" Haggar said as she swings more roots at Keith.

"Take this! blades of Blood" Keith said as does a blades of blood which completely annihilates Tōkajin. The Sacred Jewel fragments fall out and Keith catches it. He lands on a ledge.

"Awright!" Keith said as he looks at the fragments.