At Southern Cross, Shin and Yuria look out over the city. Shin says this city is always beautiful to him, and no matter where you search in this world now, you will not find a city as great as this. He tells Yuria to look, as the sun shines only to warm this city. However, Yuria says the only thing she can see is the wasteland in the distance. Shin asks her why she turns her eyes away from what she is now -why can't see see that lovely dress, and the sparkle of those jewels?

Yuria tells him that he still can't see the blood that stains his hands. Shin senses someone nearby, and then asks Joker what is it. Joker says that Dante has returned. Shin goes off to see him, leaving Yuria alone.

A Miserable Era!
The Good Die So Young!!

Shin learns that Dante put down an uprising in one of his territories. Dante says the enemy called themselves a rebel army, but in reality they only assembled 50 farmers, so it wasn't much of a threat. Shin tells him and his followers well done, but now they've demonstrated their talent, there's another matter that must be addressed. Dante says it must be the man with seven scars. Shin tells Dante they once trained together in the art of the South Star holy fist, and he should be a match for the North Star divine fist. Dante says to leave it to him, so Joker throws a card that has a map on it. Joker explains Kenshiro is currently heading south.

Kenshiro's group and driving through a canyon, but Bat hits a rock and almost crashes the car. He says he's so hungry that he can't steer the car right. He asks Ken to do something, but Ken remains silent. Bat starts the car up again, and they continue on.

At the end of the canyon, they come across a small village, which is right next to a volcano. Bat thinks he's found an oasis here, but as they arrive at the village, they find that nobody is around. Lin thinks there must be someone somewhere, as they can see several haystacks in the fields. Suddenly, several villagers jump out, but Ken jumps out of the car and confronts them.

Before anyone can do anything, someone calls out to the villagers, and tells them to stop. Dr. Duran appears, and says Kenshiro can't be a bad person. He can see the look in Lin's eyes, and it shows him she trusts Kenshiro completely. A couple of innocent children would not be with a bad man. Bat says if Ken looks like a bad guy to them, there's something wrong with their eyes.

He gets out of the car, and says if they have any problems with them, they should kill him first. Duran says to forgive them, but the times they now live in demand it. They have to be on guard against strangers more than anything else. Kenshiro says there is no offense taken. Duran says when he first came here, he got treated the same way. Up on a cliff, Dante's group have arrived, and see Joker's info was correct. They wonder about attacking the place right now.

But one of them spots that Duran is there. Dante thinks this could be interesting, and decides they'll wait until nightfall. He and his group move out. Back in the village, Duran finds out about Kenshiro's journey, and says that whilst their village is in ruins, they should be able to give them shelter for the night. Just then, a young girl called Kanna runs up, and tells Duran that her father is sick again.

Duran rushes over to her home, where Duran uses a technique to make him breathe steadily again. He passes Kanna some herbs, and tells her the pain should go down once he takes them. Kanna thanks him, and he tells her not to worry, as her father will be fine. Meanwhile, at another village, Dante's group have entered a bar, killing any villages in the way.

As they start taking all the food and drink they want, another group of villagers storm in, and ask them what they did to deserve this. They can't let them wreck their village any more, but Dante's group just laugh at them. One of them tosses the villagers some food, but tells them they have to eat it like a dog. Dante tells them that as long as they're in this town, they have to do exactly what he says. That's the destiny of the weak in this day and age.

He makes a couple of quick swipes, which slice through one of the villager's heads, killing him instantly. The remaining villagers attempt to flee, but Dante's men throw out their boomerangs...

...which kill them all. Dante kisses a couple of them, and then laughs.

Back at Duran's village, Bat is trying to make some repairs on his car. He and Lin then see his popular Duran is with the kids. He starts juggling some stones, and sings them a song about a lost little ogre. He asks Lin to join them, and she does.

Later on that night, Duran finds two trespassers in his home. The two tell Duran it has been a while, and the ties they share with Lord Dante are supposed to be even stronger than blood ties. They just can't forgive Duran of his crime of running out on them. No matter where he runes, he'll never escape them. Duran asks for mercy, as he's no longer the man he once was. He's trying to repent for the sins he committed in the past, by helping the people here. They tell him Lord Dante has a very forgiving heart, but there is one condition: he must kill Kenshiro.

They say that Kenshiro won't suspect him. Duran doesn't want to have to kill again, but they tell him he has no choice. One of them throws him a bag, and says it has gunpowder inside it -use it wisely. As the two leave, they warn him that if he doesn't do it, they'll destroy this village. They'll kill him, along with the others.

Duran thinks he can't do it, and thinks about some of the terrible things he did as one of Dante's men. He goes over to the place Kenshiro was given, but overhears Bat and Lin talking about him. Bat thinks he's an idiot, as he treats sick people for free! If he knew how to run his business, he could be raking in the money. Lin says that's not true, Duran is a nice man. Bat thinks he may be nice, but he still says he's a fool. As Lin continues to argue back, Duran has listened to every word they've said.

Someone then calls out to Duran, and he turns around to find Kanna staring at him. She asks him what is he doing, and he says nothing. He asks her what she's doing out at this hour, and asks if her father is sick again. She says he isn't, but he told her to bring him this. She passes him some food, so he tells her he'll share it with her. She then asks him if he'll stay in this village forever, to which Duran says he will.

Kanna tells him the reason she asks was because, when she grows up, she wants to be his wife. She then runs off, and as Duran watches her, he hears some activity at the volcano. He looks up at it and sees it's not erupting, but a lot of smoke is coming out of it.

The next morning, Duran asks Kenshiro to come with him to collect some special herbs. Kenshiro tells Bat to continue working on the car, whilst he and Duran move out. Nearby, Dante's group see that Kenshiro still lives, so it appears Duran has made his decision.

Kenshiro and Duran arrive at the edge of the volcano. Kenshiro asks where the herbs are, and Duran points them out -but they're in a difficult place to get to. Part of the ground Duran is standing on crumbles away, causing him to fall.

Kenshiro catches him and tells him to hang on. Duran discreetly drops a fuse down into the lava, which lights up...

...and leads back to the bag of gunpowder. Dante's group see a large explosion, and head up to have a look. They find Duran, and Dante congratulates him on what he's done.

But they then see that Kenshiro didn't die. Dante's group decide to put him out of his misery, and push some larger boulders down towards him. Kenshiro avoids them, whilst making his way back up.

He leaps out of the volcano, and asks Duran what's the meaning of this. Before Duran can respond, Kanna runs over, and says that he father is sick again. But one of Dante's men grabs her, and holds her hostage.

Dante says that was some nice timing, and tells Kenshiro to jump back into the volcano. Duran rushes forward and shoves the guy holding Kanna out of the way. But the moment he does, two of Dante's men throw boomerangs into his back, and Dante finishes him off with one last attack. He calls Duran pathetic.

As Kanna cries over Duran's body, Kenshiro rips his jacket and shirt off, and tells Dante's group that they're dead. They throw their boomerangs at him, but he kicks them back...

...and they end up hitting them, instead. Kenshiro quickly hits some pressure points, and says that was the Hokuto hishou zan (North Star four direction slash). One of them says he didn't do anything to them, but he tel sthem don't they realize yet? They're already dead. The four guys then explode.

Dante says the North Star divine fist is impressive, but in the end, it's no match for the South Star holy fist. He starts to attack Kenshiro, and seems to land a couple of hits. He announces the name of his fighting style: Nanto hyakuzan ken (South Star hundred slash fist).

He goes to strike again, but Kenshiro parries both of his moves, and then crushes one of his fists. He tells Dante that it's no use, there's nobody in the world who's stronger than him. Kenshiro starts striking his pressure points rapidly...

...and as Dante takes every hit, he finds that he can't stop his legs. He starts to walk towards the volcano, as Kenshiro says he struck the pressure point known as gu-soku. Dante continues to march, and as he gets to the edge, his chest explodes, as does his back.

As he falls into the volcano, his head explodes. Later on, Duran has been buried. Lin asks why he had to die, and Kenshiro tells her that Duran sacrificed himself to save him and Kanna. He tells her to say a prayer for him.

NEXT EPISODE PREVIEW

As the devil's knell rings in the darkness, even good people are tainted by its eerie sound! Will even Lin's soul be stolen away? Next time, on Fist of the North Star: "Count to 3! You're the One Who'll Die!!"

Kenshiro: I can't hear the cries of these villains.