Path of the Holy King

Having escaped the Trisis Army, Lacid wanders the desert aimlessly until he runs into Kevin Hastings and Haya Belle, who followed him. While he's still reeling from news of the Alliance's defeat, Urdana catches up and attacks — and on the brink of being wiped out, the three are saved by the wandering swordsman Crow.

Meeting the legendary Crow face to face, Lacid, ashamed of his own weakness, asks to be trained so he can leave his frailty behind. In a hidden desert refuge, Crow tests his resolve once more; Lacid tells the others he'd rather stay and grow stronger than return to Pandragon immediately.

Crow starts him off against desert monsters, just to see if he has what it takes — and, sensing real talent, moves him into formal training. He teaches Lacid a technique for cutting down enemies lined up together, then warns him never to let his guard down against numbers, pushing him harder still. Eventually Crow passes down the secret art of Cold Blade: Snowflake Shadow Slash.

Having trained for so long only against monsters, Lacid is offered something new: a one-on-one duel with Crow himself. He doesn't back down, and the swordsmanship he shows earns a rare smile and open praise from his teacher.

For his final test, Crow takes him to the Desert Pyramid, where Lacid fights through to the Guardian using everything he's learned. Crow, satisfied, hands over the royal sword Barisada — and rather than accompany him further, tells Lacid he believes he can handle what's next on his own. Watching from hiding, Riona lets Crow know what the two of them already suspect: the Pandragon Alliance has been defeated by the Trisis Army.

Crow's training is in the martial art of the Pandragon royal house, and Lacid's progress over these barely-ten days is startling — from mediocre to a swordsman who could one day stand among the best. Crow teaches him specifically to fight opponents far stronger than himself, emphasising evasion over defence rather than brute resistance — implicitly a style designed for someone who will eventually face the Black Prince.

Now transformed, Lacid and his party set out for Pandragon — only to be confronted by Urdana and the Trisis forces who've been waiting for them, and the fight can't be avoided. Struggling against Urdana as a desert storm rises around them, the party is saved at the worst possible moment by the Ice Dragon Xavier, bonded to Lacid since Chapter 4, who drives off Urdana's forces and carries the whole party to Castle Pandragon.

In a parallel thread, G.S and his party — having barely escaped Bifrost — worry over what's become of the Pandragon Alliance's Trisis expedition, still not knowing how badly it's gone.

Back at Pandragon Castle, Draupnir Mond recognises Barisada — also the ignition key to the first-class Machina Arondite — and reveals the truth: the master who saved and rebuilt Lacid is his own long-lost brother, Ice Pandragon, the greatest Pandragon swordsman, who vanished at Gratias. The teacher was family all along.

The timid, overprotected boy of Chapter 1 walks out of the desert an excellent swordsman and the true heir of Pandragon's legacy. (This homecoming happens at Pandragon Castle rather than Dagal — Pandragon Castle was already reclaimed back in Chapters 13–14 by this point in the story.)