throws open the door to his realm. The King of Kanbal and the King's Spears descended into the mountain with offerings. Additionally they battle each other and the strongest becomes the Dancer. The Dancer faces the strongest hyohlu warrior of the Mountain King in the ceremonial spear dance to gain the luisha that Kanbal needs to survive. Further details of the ceremony have been lost but it is known that the Mountain King had accepted the ceremony as an apology from the Kanbal king for trespassing deep into his domain out of greed. The Giving Ceremony has been delayed many years and Kanbal is in danger of starvation. Goaded by Yuguro, the inexperienced King Radalle planned to use the ritual to conquer the Mountain King and take all the luisha. Toto of the Herder People tells Balsa that such an act would end in failure since the hyohlu would react upon reading the Dancer's intents in their hearts. Hence, any attempt at treachery would ensure Kanbal's destruction and she must stop it. They recruit Kassa to their side and visit Chief Laloog of the Yonsa, the only one still alive who knows the truth of the Giving Ceremony. Balsa convinces him to break his vow of silence. Laloog drafts a letter revealing the truth of the Ceremony and begging the king to abandon the plan. Before leaving, Laloog tells them to read it at the very moment the ceremony begins. The Giving Ceremony begins in the ceremonial chamber and Yuguro defeats the others to become the Dancer. Balsa and Kassa emerge from hiding to read Laloog's letter and beg the king to abandon the plan as the hyohlu arrive. Yuguro convinces the king to dismiss them as illusions and Balsa defeats him as the truth of the Ceremony is revealed: The hyohlu are guardian spirits who are the previous ceremony's deceased human participants. The room is plunged into darkness and the strongest hyohlu appears: Jiguro Musa. Sensing Yuguro's ill intent, Jiguro is about to kill him when Balsa challenges her foster father to battle. After facing off against the grudges from the past generation of the King's Spears and letting go of her own grudges, she completes the ceremony as the Dancer upon letting Jiguro pierce her heart. With that, the ceremonial chamber's occupants are briefly transported to the spirit realm and meet the Mountain King; a gigantic spirit serpent