Last we left off, Kanba and Fiorayne had departed to the Citadel to face against one of the Three Lords; Garangolm. An arduous battle indeed, but the beast still fell to the blades of the Kamura Hunter and Knight of the Royal Order. Later discovering what drove the Garangolm's once peaceful behavior to sheer aggression thanks to Bahari's research, small flying parasites dubbed as Qurios. The mystery is slowly unraveling, but there are still more things to come.

Kanba, still a little flushed after his little romantic encounter by Fiorayne, left his room to his work by taking on key quests.

Chichae: Oh, hello Kanba! Why is your face slightly red? Are you sick? Do we need to have a doctor to take a look at you?

Kanba: Calm down, your highness. I'm not ill. But I'd rather not talk about it, it's kinda personal.

Chichae: Very well then, are you ready to continue hunting?

Kanba: That I am, let's see what we have.

Kanba takes on three separate key quests before returning to the Outpost, reporting to the Command Center.

Galleus: ...A Lunagaron has been spotted. We must deal with it at once.

Fiorayne: A Lunagaron?!

Kanba: The same beast we fought in the Shrine Ruins perhaps?

Bahari: Right on the zenny, Kanba. And guess what? The Qurios have been spotted there, too. Maybe it IS the Qurios that are causing the monsters to act this way.

Fiorayne: ...Bahari. Was it not Malzeno that we believed were the driving force behind all this chaos? Because the way you're talking now makes it sound as if the Qurios are the cause.

Bahari: All the Kingdom monsters have suddenly got more active, not just the Three Lords. Nothing like this has ever happened before. It's not like the Rampage, but it's still a great migration. But the Rampage was caused by Ibushi and Narwa, calamity-level Elder Dragons. Qurios are just insects by comparison. It's inconceivable that they alone could have this much influence. Right? So I'm still convinced that an Elder Dragon within the Kingdom is the root to all of this. It's gotta be Malzeno.

Fiorayne: Now that you mentioned it, Kanba and I spoke of this matter sometime earlier after he dealt with the Aurora Somnacanth.

Kanba: Narwa and Ibushi were the cause of the Rampage, no doubt about that. But I know that there's something more to this, it's not just Malzeno. If I were to do this smart, I don't think we should let our guard down, keep the shield raised.

Galleus: ...I would have to agree. We have found many surprises through Kanba's work. It's best if we stay vigilant for any abnormal changes in the environment.

Bahari: Well, I can't exactly ignore a man with previous experience. We'll check every now and again to see if there is any change in the environment or the monsters behavior.

Kanba: Good. Now, back to that Lunagaron.

Bahari: Right, same game plan as the Auroracanth, you distract the monster while I try to nab one of those little suckers.

Galleus: ...Fiorayne, Kanba. Take care of that Lunagaron. And yes, Bahari, get your... "suckers". All of you. Be careful.

Kanba: Yes, sir.

Fiorayne: Of course, Admiral. Kanba, I'll meet you at the Citadel.

Kanba: Just don't start the party without me.

Kanba and Fiorayne share a small chuckle before the pair leave the Command Center to make their way to the Citadel to face the Lunagaron.

The cutscene plays with the Lunagaron roaming the Citadel on a full moon night.

Pale moonlight, barely breaking through the clouds. A creature wanders restlessly through the darkness. Stepping firmly, never dropping it's pace. It's entire body honed to perfection. Finally, the clouds split apart and the moon reveals itself. Silver light illuminates the land and the mountains. It dances, it runs, it trembles with unbridled power. And with an entranced roar, it shows its true form.

Moonlight Nocturne: Lunagaron

Kanba arrives at the main camp outside the Citadel, Fiorayne awaiting his arrival.

Fiorayne: Good thing you arrived, just in time too. I heard the beast's howl echoing through the mountains.

Kanba: Let's not keep it waiting then.

Kanba and Fiorayne begin searching the Citadel for the beast while collecting Endemic Life, soon they encounter the Lunagaron as it howls loudly.

Kanba: There you are, azure fiend!

Fiorayne: Time to finish what we started in the Shrine Ruins!

Both Hunter and Knight do battle with the icy Fanged Beast, throughout the fight the beast changes it's appearance through covering itself ice via thermoregulation, finally entering its rage state where it stands up and becomes more savage.

Kanba: Such savagery!

Fiorayne: Don't let up, keep fighting!

They continue fighting the beast and even shatter its ice armor a few times before the beast is finally slain.

Fiorayne: Well done, Fierce Flame.

Kanba: And thanks for your assistance, my lady.

Later on, a cart belonging to Bahari's research team was being brought in while Bahari himself was examining the corpse of the fallen Lunagaron.

Bahari: Wow, would you look at that...

Fiorayne: Hmph... Could you not have waited for our return at least?

Kanba: She's right, it's dangerous out here, even at night.

Bahari: It's not like I don't trust your skill or anything... It's just... I can't sit still and wait for you all day. I've gotta...

Fiorayne: I guess there's no stopping him now.

Kanba: Just let him run with it, we completed the mission, that's all that matters.

Fiorayne: I suppose you're right. It's all your's, Bahari.

Bahari just waves them off in response, but trouble was starting to brew as the Qurios start gathering from above.

Fiorayne: Bahari! Your tests will have to wait!

Bahari: What?! Why?!

Kanba: Do it later!

Kanba and Fiorayne run to the forefront of the gathering to defend the research team, before a silhouette overshadows them from above.

Fiorayne: Up there!

From above comes the third of the Three Lords, the vampire-esque Elder Dragon; Malzeno, as it touches down on the ground and roars at Kanba.

The Popo were panicking as they rushed to get the Lunagaron on the cart.

Bahari: Hey! Move!

Bahari tries to get them going as Malzeno menacingly approaches Kanba, but the Kamura Hunter just glares at the beast with fierce eyes before drawing his Longsword.

Kanba: You want some?! Come get some!

Malzeno rears up and roars at him before the two engage in battle, keeping it distracted while Bahari and his team try to get out of harm's way, even Fiorayne tries to help them by pushing the cart.

But there was a problem, the Qurios were leeching themselves onto the Lunagaron corpse, that in turn drawing Malzeno's attention as he flies over.

Kanba: Fiorayne!

Fiorayne hears Kanba's call and she gets battle ready as Malzeno tries to attack her while approaching the ground, but she expertly dodges him and steels herself.

Malzeno's three talon tail starts emitting some sort of red energy, but despite that, Fiorayne tries to fight the Elder Dragon, but with one thrust of the tail knocks her sword out of her hand.

Malzeno goes for another tail thrust but Kanba knocks Fiorayne out of the way, and in turn taking the hit for her, knocking him to the ground.

Fiorayne: Kanba!

Kanba: I-I'm okay! I can still fight!

He picks up his Longsword off the ground as Malzeno prowls the two before a roar sounds off in the sky, making Kanba, Fiorayne and Malzeno look upward to see Ruiner Nergigante flying above.

Kanba: Nergigante!

Ruiner Nergigante snarls and dives towards the vampire Elder Dragon, the two hunters and Malzeno quickly dodging the divebomb as the Eater of Elders picks himself up from the ground, Malzeno roars loudly at the prickly beast and Nergigante roars back.

Nergigante tries to do a paw slam but Malzeno jumps over it and tries to attack it from behind, but Nergigante slaps the beast away onto the ground with its wings, then Malzeno picks itself up and snarls at Nergigante before summoning back its Qurios and flying away to parts unknown, Nergigante roaring in response to its small victory.

Kanba: Nice job, big guy. We can handle the rest from here.

With that being said, Nergigante flies away to try and find Malzeno, and leaving the others in their safety.

Fiorayne: Kanba, are you all right?

Kanba: I'm fine. I've taken harder hits from other Elder Dragons. This isn't any different.

Kanba hands Fiorayne her sword, the female knight taking it and putting back in it's sheath, the others returning to Elgado.

Galleus: Bahari. Report...

Bahari: Well, besides almost getting ripped to shreds and/or eaten by Malzeno and getting saved by some porcupine of an Elder Dragon, we're... Okay.

Kanba: That other Elder Dragon was Ruiner Nergigante, the Eater of Elders. It essentially eats other Elder Dragons.

Fiorayne: The Elder in Kanba's village mentioned that Nergigante helped Kanba bring an end to the Rampage.

Bahari: Right, so I guess we got an Elder Dragon on our side technically. Speaking of Kanba, are you okay? You didn't get too hurt, did you?

Kanba: I'm fine, Bahari. Just a small flesh wound. As I've told Fiorayne, I've taken bigger hits from different Elder Dragons. Hardly even hurts anymore. I'm still fit to keep fighting.

Galleus: Hmph... Good. Glad to see you two came back safe. Let us get to the point. Malzeno's finally graced the scene. It must be eliminated immediately. We WILL put an end to this.

Bahari: Hold it, Admiral. I'm not on board with taking down Malzeno. Not yet, at least.

Galleus: ...The Qurio?

Bahari: Yeah. The whole situation, it started with monsters from our Kingdom pushing into new territory. And their ultra-aggressive behavior started to influence other monsters. And then those monsters became aggressive, too. We still don't know the exact cause, but it's starting to look like it's coming from those Qurio bites. And now we've got Malzeno thrown into the mix, one thing's pretty obvious. Do the honors, Fio.

Fiorayne: Malzeno has been using these Qurios to drive other monsters into this hyper-aggressive state. Why? We don't know yet. But at least there's a clear link between the hyper-aggressive monsters, Malzeno, and the Qurios. And all thanks to you, Kanba. We'd never get this far without your help.

Kanba: It's the least I can do for a land in need. And I don't need to remind you lot that I don't want this affecting my home either.

Galleus: ...Bahari. There's no record of the Qurios being seen with Malzeno.

Bahari: I hear ya. It's seems like there's a new link, but there's still a lot we don't know. Why is Malzeno using the Qurio? How does it even benefit from the whole situation?

Kanba: What ever the case may be, we will find the answers to these questions eventually. But going after Malzeno now would just result in slaughter.

Galleus: All right, we'll drop the search for Malzeno for the time being. Kanba and Fiorayne, continue your assignments. Bahari, get your answers. Easier said than done, but I put my trust in you to find a way. Now get to work.

With that, Kanba heads to his room to try and dress and clean his flesh wound to prevent any infection from affecting his body before he hears a knocking on the door.

Kanba: Come in.

He responds to whoever was knocking and they come in, being Fiorayne once again.

Kanba: Oh, hey Fiorayne. Just trying to clean this up so I don't get an infection or anything. You can never be too careful.

Fiorayne: Allow me to assist you.

Fiorayne helps clean and dress Kanba's wound, Kanba breathing a small sigh of relief.

Kanba: That feels better, thank you.

Fiorayne: And thank you for saving me, again. It's only fair if I repay the favor by doing this. Besides, you've helped us so much that it would be a disaster if you fell ill while hunting.

Kanba: I appreciate the consideration.

The two stare at each other for a moment before they slowly connect their lips together, kissing for a moment, Fiorayne holding his shoulders and Kanba placing a hand on her cheek as they continue before they part ways to catch their breath. Fiorayne even nuzzled his hand and holds it in hers.

Fiorayne: You're very important to us, and me, Fierce Flame of Kamura~

Kanba: And you're important to me as well, Dame Fiorayne~

They kiss again before Fiorayne leaves his quarters, Kanba putting on his Mizutsune armor before exiting the room as well. The warrior taking a deep breath and out, holding a shining smile on his face.

Soon enough he starts talking to the residents of Elgado to receive more subquests and starts completing more key quests and filling in the sub requests. But things would turn dire very soon as Kanba was talking to Sir Jae for a moment in front of Chichae.

Kanba: So if anything, if you start running short on supplies while out hunting, make sure to consider a tactical retreat and resupply at camp. Understand?

Sir Jae: Got it, thanks for the tip.

Kanba: Happy to assist.

Sir Jae leaves him be as Kanba went to talk to Chichae before he starts stumbling a little bit, his vision becoming wavy and fuzzy, he even holds the spot where he was injured, even Sir Jae returns to see if he was okay.

Chichae: Kanba? Are you okay?!

Kanba: I'm fine... The research team is back... I need to go...

As Kanba tries to walk away, he suddenly collapses onto his hands and knees, Jae holds him in his arms as he passes out.

Chichae: Kanba!

Sir Jae: Someone get some help!!

Fiorayne, Bahari and Galleus rushes over to check the situation.

Galleus: What has happened?!

Sir Jae: I don't know, sir! He was fine a moment ago, but then he started stumbling and before he collapsed! Now he's unconscious!

Fiorayne: Admiral, what should we do?!

Galleus: ...I will send a message for Kamura's assistance. In the meantime, put Kanba in medical and get to the bottom of his illness.

Sir Jae: Yes, sir!

Galleus writes a message and attaches it to Kanba's Cohoot and sends it to Kamura Village. Some time passes before Kanba's Cohoot reaches the village and lands on Fugen's arm, the Elder retrieving the message before sending it away before reading it.

Fugen: Jeez, Squirt. Got yourself in quite a pickle, didn't you?

Later in the Gathering Hub...

Utsushi: What?! Ace is sick?! That can't be true!

Hojo: Kanba is vigilant in hunting and self-care! There's no way he would've allowed this to happen!

Fugen: Unfortunately, seems like the Squirt didn't even know himself until it was too late. And they're gonna need some help if they wanna continue this investigation.

Hinoa: Then who are you going to send?

Minoto: No other hunters here are as skilled as he is.

Fugen: And that's why I've decided... To send the three of you to Elgado!

Minoto: U-Us?!

Utsushi: Are you sure we're the right pick for the job?

Fugen: You guys have worked with Kanba for the duration of the Rampage, there's no-one I could've picked better for this.

Hojo: If there's anyone who's going to give Elgado a fighting chance, it would be the three of you!

Utsushi: Of course, we'll do it. For the Ace!

Hinoa: For Kanba!

Minoto: As much as I dislike the outdoors, I can't standby and do nothing! I'm in!

Hojo: Excellent! Now hop to it-to it! Elgado will be counting on you to fill in Kanba's shoes!

With the situation clear to them, Utsushi, Hinoa and Minoto set out to Elgado Outpost to assist while Kanba is being treated. Upon their arrival, Hinoa and Minoto are bewildered by the wonders of the outpost.

Utsushi: Welcome to Elgado, ladies. First time I was here I wanted to tell Ace about some new Switch Skills. But now we're here for him, let's not disappoint.

Hinoa & Minoto: Right.

They head to the Command Center to find Galleus and Bahari waiting.

Bahari: About time you guys got here. I thought Kanba was gonna kick the bucket by the time you got here.

Utsushi: Well we're here now, and we're ready to help however we can.

Minoto: What's Kanba's condition for the moment?

Galleus: We're doing everything we can to keep him stable. And speaking of the topic, Bahari, was this due to the wound Malzeno inflicted on him?

Bahari: Well, not so much the wound itself, but what's inside. Poison to be specific.

Galleus: If he's not responding to treatment, then it's no ordinary poison.

Hinoa: What?

Utsushi: What kind of poison is he dealing with?

Bahari: See the thing is, when I first examined him, there was no sign of it... But when I examined him again later, I found a substance almost identical to the one I extracted from the Qurio's fangs. The very same substance that's making the monsters go berserk. THIS is the root cause of this whole disaster. And that raises a question, doesn't it ladies and gentlemen? Why did I find Qurio poison in a wound inflicted by Malzeno? To keep it short and simple, Malzeno's body is coursing with Qurio juice. But for some reason, it doesn't make Mal crazy. It only makes it stronger. And that gives the Qurio more to feed on. They're parasites, living off Malzeno. It's a win-win. In other words, it's a symbiosis. Malzeno and the Qurio are both using each other.

Utsushi: Woah, that's gnarly.

Bahari: That being said, in the monsters we've analyzed up to now, the Qurio poison was absorbed in the blood, so it was impossible to detect. But in a human, it didn't fully mix up. So when I examined Kanba's wound, I picked it up. And now we've gotten our answer. The timing of the effects on Kanba kicking in more or less coincides with that of the monsters that were bitten... So I am sure of my deduction! The thing that really bothers me is that I didn't notice any of this sooner...

Galleus: Yes, rather unfortunate. Though I don't exactly blame him for his selflessness. But... The responsibility ultimately lies with me, for not picking up on this anomaly and letting things get this far...

Utsushi: Hey, I feel responsible for the Ace, too. I was the one who trained him after all.

Galleus: ...Likewise.

Minoto: But here's another question, how do we neutralize the poison?

Bahari: Thankfully, I know someone who can help. There's this Wyverian doctor, Tadori. Years ago, when Malzeno destroyed the Kingdom, a terrible plauge followed. Doctor Tadori was able to make a treatment that saved countless lives. Now he just mostly spends his time in the field. And he travels around so much that no-one really knows where to find him. However, he does have one friend from Kamura, the merchant Kagero... Maybe Kagero knows where to find Doctor Tadori?

Utsushi: If it'll help Kanba recover any faster, then we may as well give it a shot.

Hinoa: I will return to Kamura to speak with Kagero about Doctor Tadori. I'll be back as soon as I can.

Hinoa leaves to go speak with Kagero in Kamura Village, meanwhile Utsushi and Minoto visit Kanba's room in Medical, but they find Fiorayne in a chair next to the bed Kanba was laying in.

Utsushi: Hey, are we interrupting anything?

Fiorayne: Oh... No, of course not. Come in.

Utsushi and Minoto approaches the bed, Utsushi getting a better look at Fiorayne's face and he's able to tell that she was crying for quite a while.

Utsushi: Hey, are you okay? You look like you were crying for hours.

Fiorayne: I just... He protected me once in the Shrine Ruins against a Lunagaron, and he protected me again from Malzeno... But I fear for his health... *Sniff* He's helped us so much and it's heartbreaking to see him like this, and it scares me to think that he may perish trying to protect what he's held so dear to him...

Utsushi: Hey, I get it. He's my pupil, and it hurts us too when we heard of his condition when the Admiral sent that message, and seeing him like this hurts even more.

Kanba: *Groans* Who's there...?

Utsushi: Hey there, Ace. It's your master, Minoto's here too.

Minoto: Hey, Kanba. We're sorry that you're in this condition.

Kanba: It's fine... It was a worthwhile sacrifice... Where's Hinoa...?

Utsushi: She's heading back to Kamura to talk to Kagero. We're working on a way to try and heal you.

Kanba: Oh, that's nice... Make it quick please...? I don't know if I can hang on any longer...

Utsushi: Just keep hanging on, Ace. We'll do everything we can to have you better in no time.

Kanba: Gnarly- *Coughs and groans*

Utsushi: *Places a hand on Fiorayne's shoulder* We trust you to keep an eye on him. Understand?

Fiorayne: Crystal clear.

Utsushi and Minoto leaves Fiorayne and Kanba alone in the room, now getting down to business.

(To be continued...)