Benji continued his sprint out of the Fire Kingdom as he overhead a certain bridge collapsing from behind. Then, as he left the outskirts, he finally met up with the rest of the Loyalist Army stationed at the borderline of the Grasslands.

"Sir, I spotted a friendly," a guard said as he looked through his telescope. "He looks like he's wounded too."

"Get a medic and bring him in," another guard ordered.

A small group of knights escorted Benji moments later. Soon, he was lying down in one of the hospital tents with a bandage cloth wrapped around his left shoulder. His mind was numb from all the emotional pain he experienced. The young soldier looked back from his memories at a time when his older sibling would always watch over him and their mother. Then, his memories recalled his brother's last moments. He silently cried to himself as the patients around him were either sedated or groaning in pain.

After a while, Flame Princess and the rest of her friends decided to check on him. They were all anxious, especially Flame Princess to learn about Finn and Hartsock's whereabouts.

The young knight only expressed a fresh set of tears when he told everyone the events that happened on the bridge, "That's all I know. Finn and Hartsock were last seen on the bridge, fighting Ramirez. Then, I heard it collapse sometime later after I crossed." His lips trembled, "I-I'm sorry, y-your majesty."

The monarch's heart was devastated upon hearing such news. But from that moment, she kept her composure, "You've done all you could. Rest, Benji and I'm sorry about your brother."

He nodded his head as he wiped his eyes.

Flame Princess briskly walked on her way back to her personal quarters. She ignored all the faces that exchanged glances at her. Nobody was clueless, they knew something bothered her tremendously and didn't dare to stand in her way. Once she arrived at her tent, FP collapsed on the bed, crying hysterically.

"It's all my fault," she said to herself. "I should have stayed behind, why didn't I?"

"Because Finn wanted to make sure you were safe to guide your people," her conscious countered.

"Darn that noble heart of his! You know what, I should have killed my father back when he escaped the second time from prison. But, I was gutless," she said bitterly.

"You were not gutless, you did what was right at the time so that you wouldn't lose your morality. You did it so you could prove to everyone, especially your father that you were not evil."

"Maybe I should have sacrificed my morality from that instant. Thousands of lives would have been saved, the Breakfast and Slime Kingdoms wouldn't be endangered, Benji wouldn't have lost his brother, and... Finn would still be right with me."

"NO! You're wrong, Flame Princess. If you compromised yourself, you would have spiraled into a darker future. Sure, you could be right about those things, but at what cost? By doing so, you could have put your entire civilization and other kingdoms at risk. No one would want to negotiate with your people and they could have waged war. Worse, you'll be lost in your judgement. You may not even care anymore about making the wrong choices and you'll become the one person you've come to hate: your father."

"But, Finn would have at least still been alive. He could help me change from my ways from that instant, work something out."

"You can't count on that entirely. Finn only showed you the way. He could go up to certain lengths to try and change you back. However, it is ultimately up to yourself if you choose to be who you are."

Flame Princess's sobbing began to subside. Then she said to herself, "You're right, I won't abandon my character and let his efforts be in vain. Now, what should I do?"

Her conscious replied, "The rest of the main force will arrive here in a couple of hours and your father's forces will fortify themselves in the meantime. Grieve now if you must, but when backup arrives, be strong for your people. They'll need you now more than ever."

She nodded to herself, "Alright." Then, her sobbing stopped completely and she bowed her head.

Everyone in the Phoenix Brigade knew Ramirez was always angry, but this time it was different. He was infuriated with the fact his duel with Finn was interrupted from his own comrades. During his fight, he realized Finn proved himself to be a worthy opponent. Few people have managed to hold their ground for a long time against the legendary soldier and the human was no exception.

As the silent warrior looked back at his thoughts, his squad members of the Crimson Gauntlet presented him a dozen men. They were the crew members of the artillery units who were responsible for interrupting Ramirez's fight. He glared at his former comrades ominously with his arms crossed. Everyone knew, including the prisoners, that interfering with a duel was capital punishment.

"Ramirez, we're really sorry! We didn't know that you were on the bridge," one soldier pleaded

The superior vaporized him with a plasma blast from his right hand.

Another pleaded, "Please sir, you have to understand. It was an accident!"

He was also vaporized.

One by one each crew member was met with the same execution. The leader satisfied his blood lust as he continued to ignore the men begging. Finally, one member of the crew remained. It was the officer who was in charge of the deceased company. His eyes were wide with fear and his knees shook tremendously. This only aggravated Ramirez even more because he expected the officer to be the bravest and die with dignity.

Suddenly, Ramirez lowered his hand. It seemed like he wanted the officer to live in torment with his mistakes. But, that wasn't the case as he approached him moments later and began to choke him with one hand.

The officer was lifted off the ground gasping for breath. As his eyes met Ramirez's, he noticed the eyes changed to a fiery purple. Then, a split second later, the officer's body was hanging limp.

Ramirez wasn't done, however. As soon as he dropped the body, he began to raise his right hand in the air wide open to charge his energy. Once he summoned enough, he formed his right hand into a fist and punched downwards at the corpse. A bright purple light blinded the men watching the execution temporarily. Once the act was over, the men noticed that the only trace that remained from the officer was just his helmet. However, that was also destroyed as Ramirez crushed it with his foot effortlessly as he walked away.

His eyes returned to their normal red color and the purple flames engulfing his body dissipated. He felt a slight relief that he unleashed his wrath on those responsible. Still though, he was disappointed with himself that his duel with Finn would be forever left unsettled. The large audience immediately cleared a path for him as he returned to the palace with his squad following him.

"Alright, people. Show's over. Get back to work," one officer ordered.