We get a flashback into Oscar’s childhood, and honestly—by anime standards—he had it pretty good. He spent his days studying under the village blacksmith, who treated him well. His dad never pulled the classic anime move of “going out to buy milk and never coming back,” and his mom wasn’t suffering from some incurable illness. That alone basically makes his backstory legendary.
Of course, Oscar was born with bright-colored hair and fire magic, which screams main character energy, so you already know he wasn’t going to escape character development forever.
A little later, Oscar and the blacksmith finish a batch of swords, all of which turn out great. Oscar beams with pride. Just then, his father passes by and asks the blacksmith how things are going. The blacksmith sings nothing but praise, saying the forging process has become way more efficient thanks to Oscar’s precise control of the furnace heat. As a reward, the blacksmith hands him a gift: a lightweight sword, specially forged so a child could use it. Perfect as a practice weapon—basically the kiddie menu version of a real blade.
A few days later, the villagers go out hunting. After pelting a wild boar with what feels like a dozen quivers’ worth of arrows, it finally drops. Everyone cheers, giving Oscar credit for landing a few solid hits—even though it’s his first real hunt. That night, the whole village throws a feast. Spirits are high… but anime law dictates that happiness is never allowed to last long.
Sure enough, word spreads that bandits have been lurking around for days. Their numbers? About 50. For a village this size, that’s less “manageable skirmish” and more “oh no, we’re screwed.” They briefly consider fleeing, but with nowhere to go, their only real option is to stay and fight.
The following night, every able-bodied villager arms up at the walls. Soon enough, the bandits surround them. One unlucky bandit strolls up to peek inside, only to immediately eat an arrow in the back courtesy of the villagers on the wall. The fight is officially on.
Arrows rain down as the villagers do their best to hold the line, but the bandit leader orders his men to storm the walls. Oscar’s dad realizes things are about to get ugly and tells him to hide in a house with his mom. He promises to hold off the bandits as long as possible.
But then the bandit captain shows up, moving like prime Thorfinn from Vinland Saga. He’s darting through trees, dodging arrows like he’s Neo in The Matrix, then casually leaps over the wall with a ten-foot vertical. In one smooth move, he cuts down an archer. Everyone watching knows exactly what this means: the game is pretty much over.
The bandit captain eventually forces open the gate after mowing down everyone on the wall, letting his bandits flood into the village like it’s Black Friday at Walmart. During the chaos, the captain personally kicks open the door where Oscar and his mother are hiding. His mom bravely tries to protect him, but the captain casually snatches her spear and slashes her across the neck without a shred of hesitation—right in front of poor Oscar.
Oscar is stunned, then absolutely furious. He launches a fire blast at the captain. At first, you wonder why he didn’t do this earlier. But once you see the captain casually swat away the flames like a mosquito, you realize Oscar’s fire magic is basically just a human-sized lighter right now.
Desperate, Oscar charges in and somehow manages to stab the captain, which is impressive… until he immediately gets stomped into the dirt. Technically, that’s a “hit,” but calling it a win is generous. The bandit captain praises his trick, then says Oscar’s luck has run out. Just before the finishing blow, though, Oscar’s dad bursts in like the ultimate anime dad. He checks if Oscar is okay, but then notices his wife’s lifeless body on the ground. That’s enough to trigger instant rage mode, and he charges at the captain.
Unfortunately, dad isn’t even in the same league as the captain—Buscona (the captain) literally toys with him. To add insult to injury, Buscona taunts him into stepping outside, where he is instantly shot full of arrows and stabbed through the chest. Oscar is forced to watch both his parents die in front of him. Talk about trauma speedrun.
One of the bandits then rushes over to tell Buscona they need to leave because a pack of wolves is headed their way. Buscona would love to finish Oscar off, but he doesn’t have time. So, he just leaves the kid behind with nothing but grief and emotional damage.
Moments later, the blacksmith finds Oscar. (And yes, we’re just going to pretend that random background woman isn’t still chilling there doing absolutely nothing—ma’am, please evacuate or at least look stressed!) The blacksmith urges Oscar to leave before the wolves arrive, but Oscar, broken and hopeless, says he doesn’t see a point in living without his parents. The blacksmith insists he has to survive, because his parents would have wanted him to. They’re running out of time, so he drags Oscar along.
When they step outside, a pack of wolves is already waiting. The blacksmith tells Oscar to run for the river while he holds them off. Oscar doesn’t want to abandon him, but he has no choice. He runs while the blacksmith takes on the wolves like a legend. And while he’s holding his own, we all know his survival chances are sitting at a nice, round zero.
Oscar runs into the forest, chased by two wolves, and is forced to leap into the river to escape. He nearly drowns but manages to survive—barely.
A few days later, Oscar wakes up in a cozy bed in a neighboring village. The village chief, Luke Ruska, explains that they found him drifting in the river and nursed him back to health. He tells Oscar that he must have gone through something terrible, which is the understatement of the century.
So, Luke tells Oscar he’s free to stay in the village for as long as he’d like. A little while later, he shares an old legend about a child with red hair. Apparently, red hair is said to be a blessing from the fire god—a divine way of saying, “Congrats, you’re destined for plot relevance!” That means Oscar might one day become a great fire mage.
Of course, great power comes with great… homework. Since Oscar will be living here, Luke tells him he has to attend school. Oscar doesn’t mind; in fact, he’s eager. He wants to learn everything he can so he can become strong enough to protect the people he cares about.
Fast-forward six years, and Oscar’s dream is on fire—literally. Everything he cares about is burning before his eyes. He rushes into the manor to help, but inside he finds Buscona standing over Luke’s lifeless body. Fueled by rage, Oscar draws his sword to avenge his adoptive father. Thanks to years of sword training, he actually manages to slash Buscona across the face. Cue epic anime moment!
Unfortunately, it ends just as fast. Buscona immediately facepalms him like he’s swatting a fly and drives a sword straight through Oscar’s chest. Oscar collapses, flashing back to the night his real family was killed. It’s the same nightmare, just with extra trauma DLC. Somehow, he survives—but his hair turns white from the stress. From that moment on, the only thing he can think about is revenge.
Back in the present, before the current attack even began, the Lord of Whitash called Abel into his office for a private chat. To keep things extra hush-hush, the Lord activates a soundproofing device, ensuring no sound can go in or out. Abel thinks it’s a bit overkill—like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut—but shrugs it off.
The Lord explains he’s thinking about starting a training course for beginner adventurers in Whitash, similar to the ones in Lon. Abel lights up at the idea; he’s a big fan of adventurer training programs. After all, teaching rookies “How Not to Die 101” has skyrocketed survival rates. The Lord suggests sending Whitash’s future instructors to Lon for a crash course in proper training methods. Abel thinks it’s a brilliant plan.
But here’s the thing: if all the Lord wanted to discuss was a training course, why the heavy-duty soundproofing? It’s almost like he doesn’t want Abel hearing the chaos erupting outside, so he can’t rush in to help. Suspicious much?
Meanwhile, out in the city, Oscar and his group are eating dinner at a food stall. Well, they are—Oscar refuses to eat a bite. He insists on staying in peak condition, just in case he needs to swoop in and save Fiona. Because nothing says “I’m ready for battle” like fighting on an empty stomach.
Kind of dumb for Oscar to be all the way out here if he’s so worried about Fiona being in danger. But the others brush it off, saying there’s no reason to be concerned—after all, the party venue is protected by a powerful wind barrier.
I mean, it’s not like some mysterious group could have secretly disabled the barrier and started massacring everyone at the event, right? Oh wait—that’s exactly what’s happening. The garden is engulfed in flames as nobles are slaughtered left and right.
Fiona manages to survive the initial blast, but she’s rattled, unsure who would dare launch such an attack. Then it hits her—her brother Conrad must have been caught in the blast. She frantically searches until she finds him buried under rubble, injured but alive. She throws up a shield and begins healing him with magic.
Halfway through, Conrad regains consciousness. Though still battered, he tells her to stop healing for now. He appreciates her efforts, but they’re both in immediate danger, and she should conserve her magic. He insists he can move on his own now—classic “I’m fine, it’s just a scratch” energy.
All around them, nobles are being slaughtered with terrifying efficiency. Conrad notices that no one has escaped to call for help, which means the attackers must have locked the entire place down. He asks Fiona if there’s any way to contact Oscar and the others. She hesitates—they do have a distress signal, but firing it might reveal their position. Conrad says it’s a risk they have to take, because backup is their only hope.
So, Fiona raises her hand and launches a magical flare into the sky. Oscar and his group immediately recognize it as a distress signal and sprint toward the party to save her. Meanwhile, Rio sees it too… and just assumes it’s a random firework show. (Good job, Rio.)
Fiona feels certain that Oscar is on his way, and Conrad is reassured as well—once Oscar arrives, things should be fine. Until then, though, they have to survive. Conrad steels himself, asks Fiona if she’s ready, and as assassins rush toward them, he uses Earth magic to impale them from below. Fiona follows up with a burst of fire magic, burning the last attacker to ash.
But before they can catch their breath, they hear someone chanting. The sound is eerie, echoing, but the caster is nowhere in sight. Conrad quickly tells Fiona to raise a sanctuary shield. Moments later, a devastating Bullet Rain spell crashes down. Her shield barely holds against the storm of magic, but the hidden caster immediately starts preparing another incantation.
This time, Conrad hears a mix of Earth and Fire magic, but he can’t pinpoint what’s coming—or how to defend. Then Fiona notices the ground beneath Conrad’s feet glowing red. She realizes, a split second too late, exactly what’s about to happen.
So, Fiona sees the glowing ground beneath Conrad’s feet and, without hesitating, shoves him out of the way. Unfortunately, this heroic move costs her dearly—Oscar arrives just in time to witness her body being blasted off the cliff and sent flying.
Cue the trauma montage. Oscar flashes back to every moment he’s lost someone dear to him. But this time, he refuses to let Fiona join the “tragic backstory club.” Fueled by determination (and maybe a little protagonist rage), he dashes down the mountain in pursuit.
Meanwhile, at the bottom of the cliff, Amon, Nils, and Ito are chilling by the water, minding their own business. Suddenly, they see Fiona falling out of the sky. Nils rushes forward to catch her, and I swear the physics engine glitched—because there’s no way an E-rank like him should be pulling off a Superman save from that height without shattering every bone in his body. But hey, anime logic.
Moments later, two assassins appear, intent on finishing Fiona off. Against all odds (and the entire concept of power scaling), the boys actually manage to take them down despite all being E-rank. Plot armor was clearly on sale that day.
Just then, Oscar arrives on the scene. But from his perspective, all he sees is a group of suspicious-looking strangers hovering over Princess Fiona’s unconscious body. Naturally, his first instinct? Barbecue them.
