Those Who Dance Through the Depths of Hell

Panic sweeps the Kushan capital as trolls pour into its streets and send the population fleeing. Knocked over in the crush, Isidro is pulled to open ground by Puck, who names the creatures trolls from their od matching ones the group met before. Azan turns up styling himself the Black Mustache Knight, and after a comic exchange in which Isidro talks of setting off alone and Azan offers to travel with him, the boy waves the awed onlookers to safety.

Inside the palace, Daiba struggles to calm the maddened war beasts while Rakshas taunts him and the frightened noblemen look on. Silat presses the sorcerer to use his craft to reach the whole city, and Daiba, stung into it by an appeal to his pride, begins a laborious chant that lifts his body aloft. He broadcasts a message to Kushans and outsiders alike, though Molda recognizes the telepathic voice as Silat's, warning that the Falcon of Light is attacking and rousing the Kushan warrior spirit. Outside, Farnese raises the protection of the Four Kings of the World around the palace, and the defenders watch trolls dissolve against the luminous barrier as Roderick explains it.

As trolls keep spawning inside the castle, the tapasa and a newly arrived Serpico cut them down with the sylph sword, and citizens fight the astral creatures throughout the city. With Daiba's beasts finally under control, Silat renews his duel with Rakshas and shatters the apostle's second mask, only for Rakshas to melt into the shadows and flee. Realizing where he is bound, the Bakiraka gives chase too late: leaving a trail of slain guards, Rakshas makes for the dark cell where Guts lies, and as the Brand of Sacrifice bleeds, the Black Swordsman opens one eye while the exile's shadow draws near.