The Skies, the Sea, and the Woods

Rugudorull has set up the three treasures on a podium, the Sword of Sargus in the middle, and is demanding the spirit of Sargus to grant him his wish of achieving the Ultimate Power. Just as Ihrie predicted, Sargus refuses to grant him this, stating that Rugudorull's soul is lacking and unworthy of being granted his wishes, but the villain grows weary of being denied and silences the spirit's voice with a random fireball before venting his rage by destroying the podium.

Near Rugudorull's castle, the group are camping out in one of the many charred building husks that litter Rehbart, Fam and Lyle sharing the same room, of course. The prince cries out in his sleep, remembering once more what had happened to his kingdom, his people, and most importantly - his love, Meria. Fam tries to console him, though he's reduced to tears, wishing he could have been there to at least die alongside his true love. Fam doesn't approve of such pessimistic talk, but Lyle regains himself and vows revenge against Rugudorull for all that he has done to his land.
 

Ihrie and Galuff return to the main chamber where Rasha and Migel are staying, having been out looking for anything of worth to scavenge, but it was naught but ash and ruin as far as the eye could see. Even more unfortunate with it having once been a thriving trade centre, so says Galuff, though Ihrie interprets that as him preparing to go back to being a swindling old merchant. He's a reformed man now!

Fam enters and is queried on Lyle's condition, replying that he's not doing too great. Of course, them being back in the land he once partially ruled over, the guilt must be unbearable, the others say, though Rasha suggests that once they achieve the Ultimate Power, they can use it to help Lyle rebuild his kingdom and up him from prince to king! She also suggests that she act as his queen, being the one best qualified for the job, which Fam visually responds to in her usual manner.
 

They get themselves some rest, and after picking straws to decide who acts as watchman, Ihrie ends up with the laborious task. As she keeps the campfire steady, Fam apologises for having dragged her into the whole mess; with Lyle undergoing a lot of trauma and troubles, she just wanted to help the young prince, but Ihrie's got no beef with that and just tells her to get some shuteye.

With the rain stopped, they head out once more, their first destination being the church that Rugudorull presided over during his time as a priest, before becoming crazy murder-man. A church that was renowned throughout the continent, even! Gill's interest is aroused by a stone jutting from the floor bearing a bizarre symbol, which Rasha identifies as a magician's oath, which is embedding into the stone so it cannot be altered. A magically-saved memory, in a nutshell. She activates it, and the group are swept inside a glowing light.

Cautioning the others to keep their minds focussed or else they will be lost forever, a vision comes into view:  The mountainous region of Rehbart, with Rugudorull watching over yet another coffin being delivered to the vast graveyard. His gentle voice narrating, the former priest explains he was wrought with despair at how he had no power over the wilting nature of the kingdom, one that had been known throughout the land as prosperous and wonderful, now in dire decay.

Poverty, pollution and plague, he wanted to believe one mere man could change this nature, and through the power of magic, he discovered that this could be possible. However, magic was forbidden, but he could not rest with the fact that children slept in the dust, still starving and still needy. So, he broke the seal and acquired himself the forbidden magic, and was stricken with its wonder. With it, he could do anything! He could solve anything! He could--!

And that is where the oath ends, with imagery of death and turmoil.

It does stir up some memories in Ihrie, as the symbol upon that oath was the same one that was there when she was granted magic, meaning her magic and Rugudorull's magic are the same, explaining her competence commanding the sea serpents. She fears that, with that kind of magic, she could become just like Rugudorull, but Rasha reminds her that the user of the magic is also important, as the former priest's lust for power was so insanely strong that he was consumed by a demon. Yowza.
 

Fam notes that Rugudorull desired to help people, but "excessive sincerity can still lead to tragedy," especially when trying to use a spell they cannot control, claims Rasha. With the truth now known and aware of his noble intentions, Lyle still cannot forgive Rugudorull for the crimes against his kingdom, and desires to rough it alone from here on. Nobody stands for this, and convinces him to take them along, with magic being the only way to combat magic, not to mention they've made it this far, why back down now? Galuff just tags along because he doubts he could survive all alone out here.
 

And what better way to follow up a power-of-friendship moment with blowing up a portion of the castle gate? Immediately a group of puppets surrounds them, but using the magic she'd been taught, Fam summons a blast of wind to tear them apart and subsequently blast open the castle wall. Go destruction!

They make their way inside, fending off more of the animated puppets with blades and flung knives, but they don't take long to notice that Galuff's vanished! Of course, he's just following a staircase he assumes will lead to vast treasures, but it just goes to the armoury. It may not be gold, but it's treasure nevertheless!

The group proceed onward, puppets watching from the rafters and the throne room just through yet another door, but now Migel's gone missing and the door behind them is sealed! All of them dash back to call for him and enquire why he did such a moronic thing, but he just states that his sword, even if it has bested a thousand cavalrymen at once, it won't do squat to a magic-user like Rugudorull, and it's best suited to fending off the puppets back the way. He demands they head onward, and despite Rasha's reluctance to leave him, he tells her to just go on give the prince a hand.

And with that, he charges headfirst into the fray.

Marching onward to the throne room, they find Rugudorull seated upon the throne, his forehead against his palm and making no reaction to their presence. That is, until he tosses the three treasures towards them, needing them no more and stating that the Ultimate Power was little more than a game to to pass the time.

And to follow that up, he blows up the throne room.

Just as everyone is recovering in the open wreckage, he throws another blast of energy at them, but rather than finding themselves dead, the group discover that the Sword of Sargus protected them! It floats its way into Lyle's hand, and now he means business.

Meanwhile, Migel is still kicking ass, but his sword isn't holding up so well, and in a heated duel with one of the puppet's blades, it's snapped in two! He soon becomes cornered, and all the persistence in the world couldn't save him from a predicament like this. That is until another sword lands before him, dropped off by none other than Galuff, carrying a crazy amount of weaponry! Migel thanks him for his hospitality (phrased as "you are one greedy bastard!"), and continues his onslaught of chopping things up.

Back to Rugudorull, he's gloating up a storm about the four warriors being unlikely to last long enough to be entertaining, and Rasha responds with a couple of thrown knives, that are merely evaporated before they can reach him. She resorts to another wind spell, but is struck unconscious before she can finish her summon, Rugudorull's spirits reigning supreme over hers. Fam tries to give it a shot herself...

But this is Ihrie's time to shine. Rasha worries that using magic will result in her being consumed by Rugudorull's power, but Ihrie cares not and merely tells Lyle to be ready with the sword, as Sargus' spirit protects them from another blast. As Lyle charges forward, Ihrie summons a spell that generates a clone of Rugudorull's spirits, the demon that is said to have consumed him, and this effectively ties up the priest's magical capabilities, giving Lyle the chance...

For an impaling strike!

He slices him once more, but Rugudorull regains his magic just in time to blast him away and destroy the clone spirit that had been hindering him. Thus, Ihrie's plan has gone a bit pear-shaped, but Lyle, even on his knees, vows to strike Rugudorull down for all that he has done to his people. "Your people?!" Rugudorull bellows, and rants and raves in madness at how he saw the truth - he saw the plight of Rehbart's people, their suffering and their pain. He wanted to save them, which is precisely why he took the magic in the first place, but it took him instead, stealing his body, his life, everything from him, effectively corrupting his very being.

Lyle is knocked down once more, and cries out for Sargus' power, but Rugudorull tells him that only those with goodness of heart could tap into its power, which he doubts any old royal brat could ever dream of doing. Fam falls to her knees in tears, being told by Lyle not to interfere with his war, and feels useless in this situation, and can't hear the spirits at all. Conveniently enough, her tears appear to summon the spirits back once more.

Lyle regains his footing, and running on pure persistence alone, tries to impale Rugudorull on his sword once more, but is knocked to the ground with another spell before being lifted aloft by the neck. Fam's connection with the spirits is regained just in time to tell them to save Lyle from certain death, as he too wishes within him for the power of Sargus to give him the strength to win this battle.

However, Sargus merely asks why he's wishing for the very same thing that drove Rugudorull mad; he needs the power within himself and no other force can give that to him. Just in time, Fam's magic repels Rugudorull, releasing his grip on Lyle and dropping him to the ground. Fam's spirits provide further assistance by taking the form of Lyle's memories and creating a spirit of Meria before him. Meria expresses faith in him, telling him to get up once more. Lyle obeys, using his sword to help himself back onto his feet...

And slices Meria in two.

Fam expresses fear for such a predicament, but commanding Sargus to give him the power once more, and gets a response this time, telling him to set aside his desires, anxieties, hatred and anger, and only then will he be granted the power. To do so is not the path many men travel, but is the lonely path kings take. He holds the sword up high, light shining through...

And Rugudorull...

...is no more.

The dawn sky wiping the sensation of dread from the former kingdom, Lyle looks upon the spirit of Meria, and having finally accomplished what he had set out to do for so long, says farewell to his lady love.

Sitting in a mess of puppet corpses, shattered armour and debris, Migel is reunited with Rasha, who apologises for having missed out on any treasure they could've gotten. "I've got one hell of an unreliable partner." Rasha couldn't agree more.

Outside, Fam enquires why Sargus didn't oblige to Rugudorull's wishes, and Lyle believes that his heart was not completely tainted with evil, that his desire to save the people and do good still resided somewhere within him; the spirit of Sargus only responds to hearts that are pure and determined, for good or bad intentions is not taken into account. Rugudorull's weakness in his heart was what ultimately destroyed him.

Lyle turns to the green pastures, proclaiming that he will rebuild his kingdom, no matter how long it takes. Fam is amused by this speech, noting that there's something different with Lyle now, like he's become a real prince, and laughs. However, she comments she should be happy, but she's crying inside.

The two exchange snuggles.

They know that it's time to depart, though, and Lyle is happy to have met Fam and her motley crew, thanking them for everything and believes that the two of them will meet again sometime. Pleased with this knowledge, Fam skips merrily into the distance...

As for Ihrie, it's back to the old life for her, it seems.

And indeed it is! Despite the epic not-making-sense-at-all rules of magic and powers and whatnot, the cast get over this pretty easily and get back into the old routine as shown during the credits montage.

Lyle sets about rebuilding the kingdom and discovering the survivors of the incident, so go him.

Galuff and Gill are still out and about looking for treasure. They do as well as they did before.

Rasha and Migel are still doing what they do best: Getting into comic mishaps and beating each other up.

And Ihrie still abuses Fam due to her bad cooking, but it's all in good fun!

Go go happy endings.

MAJORLY DIFFERENT DUB INTERPRETATION ALERT

The Japanese dialogue has Migel call Rasha "one hell of an unreliable partner," while the dub drops the "unreliable" adjective, and changing Rasha's reply to "so have I." IT CHANGES THE ENTIRE CONTEXT DOESN'T IT

Okay, I'm just listing this because so far this notes section has just been nothing but comments on the amount of nudity, so I may as well throw in something to fill dead air. Something that isn't just me whining "what's up with the last scene???" Plus, the line's justified by it maintaining the lip sync, so throwing five more syllables in there would mess it all up.