Azuno's Fist

After coming to shore, Hachiman, Mezir, Brass, and the surviving deckhands set up camp in the woods for the night. They awake the next morning to find a curious, giant-like creature observing them. The creature, saying he belongs to the rare and mythical race of firbolgs, introduces himself as Aryed and claims to be a guide of the local area. Not wanting to get lost on the massive island, the party cautiously accepts his overtures of friendship.

Meanwhile, the samurai carrying Taigus, Tingle, and Roach are ambushed along the road and slaughtered by several oni. Tingle manages to worm his way to safety, but Roach and Taigus are taken by the bluish brutes. Several minutes later, Hachiman and Aryed's group stumble upon the carnage of this small battle, finding Tingle in a tree and learning from a wounded samurai that the oni went north, to the volcano known as Azuno's Fist. Tingle informs Hachiman that their friends were captured by the oni. Wasting no time, the party of survivors head northward.

Following the oni's tracks, they arrive at a cave within the volcano, where they see several iron cages hanging above a lake of magma. Roach and Taigus are in two of them. The party catches the oni off guard, killing them and releasing their friends. In two of the other cages, however, are a soldier of the shogun named Kyoji and an orochi pureblood named Vesh-kel. Both claim they are the spymaster of their respective nations, but both also begin urging the party to kill the other in exchange for wealth and recognition. After speaking with Kyoji and Vesh-kel, Hachiman learns that his uncle, the shogun's greatest ally, was the one who had him experimented on and exiled. Making the final call, he chooses to have Kyoji thrown into the magma lake. Vesh-kel thanks the party for making the seemingly "right" choice.

They leave the cave and Taigus tells the others that he had a feverish vision of Nimrya. She was in danger and called out for his help. Unable to determine if this was merely a dream or a portent of something much grimmer, he decides to travel back to the mainland and find Nimrya. Mezir and the rest of the crew offer to travel with him. As a parting gift, Mezir gives Roach his dagger. Seeing promise in the four remaining party members - Aryed, Tingle, Hachiman, and Roach - Vesh-kel leads them to the hidden orochi capital of Sketh, where he intends to have them meet with the Emperor. Along the way, Hachiman buries Azak-si's ashes in the middle of the jungle, but she later appears to him, smiling.