These were troubled times. The nuclear flames brought a new age, as strong leaders carved out their own territory and sparks flew as power clashed with power. Tears would fall as sparks fell, and those without power had no choice by to be oppressed or killed. One man strove to bring peace to this age. His name was Raoh. Raoh advanced down the path to his rule. Reina disobeyed Raoh to go scout the new country to the south, but was captured by one of Yuda's subordinates, Dagar. And Yuda smiled, stating that Meioh and the Holy Emperor would eventually stand in the way of Raoh's rule.

Fists Smashed in Hot Sand!

Soga, Reina and part of the Fist King's army wait at the edge of a cliff. Soga tells his sister that she'll follow the advance charge in like usual, but she says she'll lead the way. Soga tells her that the burns she got on her hands haven't fully healed yet, but Reina says she's not concerned. She's the captain of the Fist King's personal guard. She puts on her helmet and says she won't leave her men to die ever again. Soga wonders if she'll drench her twin blades in blood, for Raoh's sake.

Reina leads her forces down towards a village, which is under attack by a gang. The gang stop what they're doing and go to attack her, but she starts killing them all. She says that these men don't belong to Meioh's army, they're just mere bandits. She tells her men to kill them all.

The rest of the army arrive, and start taking the gang out. Soga thinks it's as Reina says, these guys are no different from bandits. He wonders what Meioh could be planning. Later on, they return to their castle, and Reina asks why they are having such a hard time with Meioh's army. Soga says it's because of guerilla warfare, Meioh's forces hide among the people, attack from behind, then hide once more.

Ryuga says a large army cannot easily change direction, which makes it difficult to cope. Sakuya says it's like a lion being frustrated by ants, but Raoh says they should destroy them all, it doesn't matter if ordinary civilians are there. Sakuya says that could be difficult, as Meioh rules a desert country. They need the aid of villagers to cross the desert, so if they kill them all, they'll have no means of crossing the desert. Soga points out where they've been taking the most casualties, and says there must be something here. Ryuga says he'll go, but Soga says he will, as he's used to this kind of thing.

He and a group of men cross the desert. They think they see a village ahead, and sure enough, it is. They decide to enter it.

The villager elder appears, and asks them what's wrong. Soga explains that they are traveling merchants, but they got lost in the sandstorm and ended up here. One of their party, Riga, has fallen ill, so he asks if they can help them. The elder says his village doesn't have much, but tells them they can rest here. He takes them into a home, and Soga asks him if they can do business in the village. The elder tells him to go ahead, but says this is a remote village, and everybody is interested in new goods and rumors about other countries.

Soga orders Dal to go north, Gumai to go south and Sagu to go east. He says he'll go west, and sets up a shop. He tries to get the villagers to buy a silk dress, promising that if someone dressed their wife in this, they're guaranteed to fall in love again. As he looks around, he doesn't see anything out of the ordinary in the village. But he feels that something is wrong.

Dal and another guy go to the blacksmith's, and see him working on a sword. But they also see that in a crate of weapons lies a sword with the Fist King's emblem on it!

They then hear someone behind them, and turn around just in time to get attacked. Elsewhere, Gumai is trying to sell some canned food when he sees a villager wearing a necklace, which has the Fist King emblem on it. He wants to know where he got this from, but he is then suddenly attacked.

Soga sees a woman suddenly shy away from them, so he runs up and says he's willing to buy anything. He knows she has something she doesn't want to sell, and decides to take a look. He pulls out a flag, revealing that it was one of the Fist King's.

They go to check on Riga, only to find that someone has murdered him. He decides to have all of the villagers rounded up, and soon the village's population is brought before him. He says he knows they're involved with Meioh's army, but the villager elder says that's not true.

Soga asks why a villager had this, and pulls out the flag. The elder says that was found in the desert, but Soga tells him to stop playing dumb. He says that someone killed Riga, and Dai and Gumai are now missing.

He wants the villagers to answer him, but they don't. He hears someone laughing, and asks who's there. He hears a voice, which says you have to use a forest to hide a tree. And you have to use people to hide a person. Soga asks who it is, and grabs the elder, but something then hits him hard.

SHITOTSU KETSU

(Finger Pierce Blood)

The voice tells Soga that he will only live for two more months. As Soga falls, the voice tells him that his lungs will eventually collapse, leaving him to die a painful death. Soga's men charge, but all get blasted back.

The voice tells Soga to take this message back to the Fist King, if he can: he is a fool to call himself king.

Soga is thrown out of the village, and another sandstorm picks up. He sees that the village has disappeared. He starts to make his way back, refusing to die in a place like this.

He looks up and sees the Big Dipper, and realizes that he can see the death omen star. He realizes that voice he heard wasn't lying, he really must have only two months to live. He tells Raoh to wait for him, as he'll live these two months for his sake.

At Cassandra, Raoh visits Toki. Toki says he can smell blood, and asks Raoh if he's killed another person. Raoh asks him about an assassination technique which allows the practitioner to kill without revealing himself. Toki gives him the name of a style: kokuzan ongyo ken (black mountain secret form fist). Raoh says if this technique is passed down, he can't ignore it. Toki says this art was lost long ago, so he knows nothing of it. Raoh walks off.

Later on, he, Reina, Ryuga and part of the army leave the castle. Sakuya says whilst they've gone, Soga has been left here to defend, but she thinks he's now practically useless. She thinks now would be the time to take the Fist King's castle, and asks if the person there agrees. A man jumps down and says that was what he expected of her, being able to detect his presence. Sakuya asks who sent him, and he presents the crest of the Holy Emperor.

Raoh's group arrive at where the village is supposed to be. Reina says that according to Soga's report, it may be camouflaged in some way. Raoh says this is just a clever deception. He uses his North Star iron palm wave technique...

...to reveal where the village is. He and his forces then invade, but Ryuga asks what's going on here. Reina says the place is deserted.

They then come under fire by hundreds of flaming arrows. Meioh's forces have arrived, and one soldier says they've got the Fist King completely surrounded. He says they'll burn them down along with the village, and has some catapults loaded.

Reina says they're surrounded, and asks Raoh what they should do. Raoh says they can only break through, and charges forward. Some of the army follow him, but get slaughtered when the catapults are fired. Raoh makes it to where they are, and trashes one of them.

Reina gets her horse to jump over a projectile, whilst Ryuga uses his technique to destroy it. He says that they've made a path, and tells everyone to charge in with everything they've got. The Fist King's forces start fighting Meioh's army.

Ryuga takes down several men, and says anyone who opposes the Fist King should consider themselves dead. But he then sees several villagers just standing around, doing nothing. He asks why they aren't doing anything, but a voice tells him he'll end up dead. Ryuga look around but can't see who said it. But he then gets hit by an unseen force.

As he collapses, someone steps out of the crowd. The man says you have to use a forest to hide a tree, and use other people to hide a person. He then tries to attack Raoh, but Raoh narrowly avoids it.

The man gets up and says that's what he should have expected from the eldest North Star disciple, Raoh -he was able to see through his black mountain secret form fist. The man says that hiding in a crowd while ruling from behind the scenes is the key to his style. He introduces himself, saying that his name is Gaiya, and he is the one who will become the true ruler of this world. Raoh realizes that Gaiya must be the one who is controlling Meioh's army.

Gaiya says that Meioh is under his spell, and will do as he commands until he dies. Raoh says his fist will be the one to rule the heavens, not Gaiya's. Now that Gaiya has proved his only skill is to hide in a crowd, he will lose. Gaiya says he shows himself when he knows he's already won. As far as he's concerned, calling himself king would create needless enemies and waste needless energy, which would be an unnecessary waste of time. He thinks Raoh is one of those idiots.

He says a king is merely an image conjured to satisfy one's own pride. He then vanishes, seemingly disappearing into the battle nearby. Raoh can hear his voice, which says that calling yourself a king isn't what matters. What matters is having absolute control. Raoh's right hand man, Ryuga, and his strategist, Soga, were each taken out with one blow before he could even reveal himself. The heavens shall belong to him, Gaiya, the man who can even fool the Gods! He tells the Fist King to have a taste for himself:

KOKUZAN ONGYO KEN OUGI: METTEN HAJO

(Black Mountain Secret Form Fist Secret Technique: Ruin Heaven Destruction)

Gaiya dives down towards Raoh from behind, but before he can get to him, he gets blasted away. Raoh asks him if he thought he, a person who only knows how to hide behind others, could touch him? Raoh has unleashed his fighting spiritual energy, and he says that he calls himself a king because he has absolute rule with the fists which the heavens have granted to him. His absolute rule shall bring order to this world, and the name of the Fist King will thunder across it!

Raoh hits Gaiya with a barrage of punches, killing him and sending his body splattering to the ground. He says using his fists on Gaiya was a waste.

Meioh's army see what has happened to Gaiya, and run away. Raoh orders for any survivors to be slaughtered, as a soldier asks about what they'll do with Meioh himself. Raoh says to ignore Meioh, as he's just worthless trash without Gaiya. He says that they'll now advance into the Holy Emperor's territory. Reina then brings the injured Ryuga over. Raoh tells him he's disappointed him, and Ryuga apologizes for that.

But he says that more importantly, he's seen the black mountain secret form fist used before -by Sakuya! She used it to kill Jadam. Meanwhile, Sakuya has hone to meet the Holy Emperor. She tells Lord Souther that she has come as requested.

Sakuya kneels before the Holy Emperor, Souther. She was the other practitioner of the Black Mountain Shadow Fist. What does Sakuya plan? Will Raoh succeed with his rule?


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The Holy Emperor Cometh!