The three of them were now trapped. They had a chance to fight off these four monsters lower on the mountain, but the memory of their last encounter had gotten the best of them. They ran from them, many times, until they'd gotten to the very top of the mountain. Now, they were only faced with one choice. They were trapped, and they had to fight them. Not only did they have to fight them, but they also had to fight a much larger Eagle monster at the same time. They were outnumbered, 5 to 3, and were ensnared. They would have to fight and hope they could get out of this in one piece.

The situation was dire from the very beginning. The 'mother' eagle called out to the smaller ones, and they all rushed at the three heroes, clawing at them. Hitoshi and Sei defended themselves with their swords, but were hit hard enough that they were forced to the ground. Tarou, not being fast enough, got his robes torn and he was tossed towards the mother eagle, whom clawed as him, tearing them in the back and sending him tumbling down the stairs. He yelped as he slowly came to a stop and looked back up at the scene. He got an angry look on his face as his eyes began to glow with a fiery rage.

Forcing himself up, losing the sleeves of his robes, he slowly began to hold his position, watching the four eagles circling in the sky, just above both Hitoshi and Sei. Sei had tried to run down to where Tarou was at, but one of the eagles dove down and threw him back to where Hitoshi was as soon as he'd begun to move. He wanted to attack them to get down there, but they were too fast. If they moved, they would be attacked. If they stood still, however, they probably would still get attacked. Tarou didn't like this and began to feel an inner-power surging from within him.

He gripped his staff tightly, the shape slowly morphing. The wooden staff with a hook-shaped tip to it started to glow an eerie blue color. He began to channel all of his energy into it and the tip changed, now looking like a skull with glowing, black eyes, as deep as an abyss of dark energy. Tarou's robes were blowing as a Catalyst appeared below him. Staring forward, the eerie glow coming through his entire body, he screamed up to Tarou and Sei, telling them not to move. The two looked at him and got as low as they could, Sei remembering a high-level spell that took nearly all of a person's energy to cast. It was called Catastrophe.

Raising his staff into the air, Tarou beckoned the heavens to give him strength. A light ball of energy flew from the staff as he called out the spell's name... “CATASTROPHE!” His two friends were blinded by the ball of light as it soared into where the four eagles were flying. Gathering energy, as if harnessing the sun itself, an immense explosion occurred above Hitoshi and Sei. Their ears rang from the explosion and they heard several terror-stricken caws from above. Once the sound-torture was over, they heard Tarou screaming from below. “It's stunned! Quickly, finish it off!”

Opening their eyes, they saw feathers and talons raining from the sky, all aflame. The four eagles that had been soaring above them were now in several hundred pieces, Tarou's spell having completely obliterated them. Turning towards the mother eagle, they saw it was twitching, laying on the ground. It's wings were on fire and it was badly hurt. The two looked at each other and nodded. Now was the time, if there ever was one, to finish this job. While Tarou was limping back towards the crystal, Hitoshi and Sei pulled themselves up and jumped at the oversized bird.

Showing off countless Double Slashes, and Weapon Tosses, Hitoshi and Sei beat the bird to a pulp until it tried to take off, only for it's wings to fail and fall down the side of the mountain, too injured to go on. The two swordsmen were breathing heavily as Tarou returned, rejuvenated by the Crystal. The three of them, together, walked forward, coming to the top of the mountain, to see if what these monsters had been guarding was the person they were looking for. Taking a good look around, they saw no one nearby at all. As their armor was practically falling off, they approached three chests, opening them to reveal three pieces of armor, exactly what they needed.

Hitoshi fitted himself in a lightweight set of armor, in the design of the Elven Sets that they'd learned about at the Academy. Tarou threw on a long, white robe to replace his shredded ones, and Sei had what looked like some sort of Chained Camouflage armor. Depositing their torn clothes and armor, they looked towards the bridge down at the fork, hoping that the person they were looking for was on the other spire of the mountain, and not another trap, like the one they'd just fought their way through. The last thing they needed right now was more tough fighting.

Making their way back down, they stopped at the Crystal so Hitoshi and Sei could gain back their own strength. As they crossed the long, wooden bridge, they were assaulted by two more Dire Eagles, though Hitoshi and Sei were quick to react, easily taking them both down before they even got close to them. Continuing on, they saw a set of stairs, much like the ones that had led them to the three treasure chests of armor. As they reached the top, they saw what looked like a person in long, purple robes. Their back was turned to them as they approached. They had jet-black hair and a pointed, purple hat, almost like what you'd see out of a tradition 'witch' story.

As they approached them, they turned around, a surprised look on her face...