Some time passes, and the healers manage to get Elsa to vomit up most of Gandal’s god stone. They also give her an antidote, so now all they can do is wait and pray she survives.
Orha heads outside to update Kai on Elsa’s condition, but what he sees nearly makes his jaw hit the ground—apes bowing at Kai’s feet. He asks what’s going on, but Kai is just as clueless.
One ape speaks up, introducing himself as Torud, and begs Kai once again to hear their request. Still confused, Kai listens as Orha urges him to let the ape explain. Torud reveals that the ape lands have been corrupted, leaving their water and food unusable. With no resources left, they’re doomed to starve. The one responsible is none other than the evil god Moloch.
The moment Kai hears that name, the Valley God’s voice explodes inside his head, demanding he destroy Moloch at all costs. The pressure drops Kai to his knees for a moment, but he recovers quickly and turns to the apes with fury.
He reminds them that moments ago, they were attacking Lag and nearly killing everyone he loves. Now they want his help? One of Torud’s subordinates shouts back that Kai has killed plenty of their kind too, and if he refuses, they’ll just attack Lag again. Bad move. Threatening the guy whose home you just tried to burn is not top-tier negotiation strategy.
Kai snaps, warning that if the apes ever attack Lag again, he’ll personally wipe out every last one of them. Torud panics, shoving his subordinate into an apology, but the ape insists they only attacked because their land was unlivable.
Kai doesn’t care. He storms off into the tent where Elsa lies. Orha follows, explaining that the treatment is done, but her survival depends on her life force. He asks whether Kai will hear the apes’ petition, but Kai refuses—if not for them, Elsa wouldn’t be in this mess.
Orha understands, but reminds Kai that the apes made their request under ancient custom. As the Arbitration God—also called the God of Kanaya and the Valley God—Kai can’t just ignore it. After all, every race worships him now, whether he likes it or not.
The role of the Arbitration God is to stay impartial, protecting all tribes and keeping the balance of the world. To Kai, that sounds less like a duty and more like being handed the job of “save the world, good luck!” But that’s exactly what Orha means. The Arbitration God is far more powerful than the scattered Land Gods, and Kai has inherited this destiny whether he likes it or not.
Needing a breather, Kai heads out for fresh air—only to find the apes still waiting around like awkward guests at a party that’s already over. He ignores them and wanders down into the valley, where he sits by the Valley God’s gravestone. Still struggling to process everything, Kai asks why such immense power was given to someone like him. Unsurprisingly, the gravestone doesn’t answer.
Frustrated, he tries testing his powers on a pair of flowers at the base of the grave, but Alue quickly interrupts—scolding him for bullying innocent plants. Realizing he’s being a bit dramatic, Kai gives up and leaves, leaving Alue confused by his unusual behavior.
Back at the top of the valley, Orha is chatting casually with the apes and even compliments them on their surprisingly fluent human speech. Just then, Kai returns, brushing past the apes to tell Orha he’s heading back to Lag. One of Torud’s subordinates demands to know if this means he’s rejecting their request, but Kai snaps that he’s still thinking. For now, he needs to return to Lag before people start worrying. Since Elsa is still too weak to travel, he asks Orha to care for her.
Once Kai runs off, Torud asks if Kai will actually help them. Orha admits he can’t say for sure—but he’s confident Kai isn’t the type to ignore his duties forever. Eventually, Kai makes it back to Lag, where everyone is relieved to see him safe.
When the soldiers ask what happened, Kai lies and says he couldn’t track down Gandal. He obviously can’t admit he killed the inspector or fed his god stone to Elsa, so he lets everyone believe Gandal escaped with her. Manso, seeing how shaken Kai is, tells him to get some rest. But before that, Kai asks to meet Vegin.
Up in Vegin’s office, Kai warns that the apes will likely attack again soon. Everyone is stunned—they assumed the battle was over. But if another attack is coming, they need to prepare. Before dismissing him, Vegin praises Kai’s performance in the last battle and says he looks forward to seeing what he accomplishes next.
Outside the palace, Elsa’s sister Lilisa rushes to Kai, demanding to know where her sister is. Since he can’t explain the truth, he lets her believe Elsa is gone—earning her anger and blame. Soon after, Jose approaches Kai, saying she’s beginning to wonder if the Land Gods are intentionally stirring up battles to weed out the weak. Looking at the pile of harvested ape corpses, she also wonders if the apes had loved ones too.
That’s when Orha shows up, asking if Kai is the one who killed that pile of apes. He admits Kai is impressive, but is annoyed by how gloomy he looks. Jealous of the attention Kai is getting, Orha claims he could’ve done the same if he hadn’t been cursed. In frustration, he starts stabbing a dead ape—something even the soldiers find disturbing. Kai grabs his arm to stop him, but Orha shoves him to the ground, pointing a sword at him and warning not to get cocky, since he won’t always be Lag’s star fighter.
Kai brushes it off, saying he doesn’t care about fame—he just wants fewer deaths, and stopping the apes entirely would be better. Orha scoffs, saying humans and demi-humans have been at war for generations, and nothing will ever change. But Kai refuses to accept that fate. Determined, he returns to Vegin’s office and requests permission to investigate ape territory. Suspicious of Kai’s urgency, Vegin still trusts him enough to approve.
Before departing, Manso gifts Kai a new spear to replace his broken one. Jose also offers him her knife, insisting he take it, even when Kai hesitates to accept such a valuable gift.
She gives Kai a charm, telling him it’s for good luck and to use it without hesitation if he’s ever in danger. He thanks her, but as he leaves the village, he wonders if he’ll ever see Jose again. He doesn’t know if he can really defeat the evil god, but he’s already made up his mind—so all he can do is try his best.
Meanwhile, in the desert, a few Corors are secretly taking care of Gandal’s body so no one discovers what Kai did. Back at the Core village, Kai accepts the apes’ request but makes them promise not to attack Lag while he’s gone. The apes swear they won’t, so Kai agrees to go with them.
Before leaving, Portic warns him that there’s still deep hatred between apes and humans, so traveling as he is now would be dangerous. To help, he gives Kai some traditional Corors clothing—basically an “ape disguise kit.” Any ape who sees him will think he’s one of them.
Kai also visits Elsa’s tent one last time. She’s unconscious, but he tells her that her sister is worried and hopes she’ll be better when he returns. After stepping outside, he’s handed the massive axe of the fallen orc guardian Aduracan. The thing looks hilariously oversized for him, but to everyone’s shock, Kai swings it around like it’s nothing. He keeps it, of course.
Kai and the apes then set off for the ape homeland. Meanwhile, in the human capital, the nobles are busy partying. When they hear that Lag is under attack by apes, they shrug it off—since it’s just a small village, its destruction doesn’t affect their comfy lives. After all, they’ve been letting small villages like Lag perish for ages while they sip wine and pretend to be “strategists.”
Finally, Kai arrives in ape territory. The place is covered in a thick, ominous black fog. As they pass through, he sees the corpses of fallen apes. His guide explains these were victims of Diabo, the evil god. Curious, Kai asks Portic for details. Portic hasn’t met Diabo, but he shares the legend: this god has appeared many times, spreading chaos. The last time, it took the previous Arbitration God to seal him away. Thanks to Diabo’s curse, the land is barren—no crops, no fish, nothing.
Eventually, Torud leads Kai to a massive tree at the center of the village. Inside waits the ape chief, Abridor. Kai steels himself and enters, unsure of what awaits.
