November 6, 2005
4th Battle, 1st round, ice field stage, Alviss vs. Mr. Hook. The "Shadow battle" has augmented his prowess to an extent to be marvelled at; without using any of his ÄRM Alviss gradually disposes of Mr. Hook's ÄRMs, and for this defacement the Bishop meets with death sentence at the hand of his team leader, the deranged Knight Rapunzel.
4th Battle, 2nd round, ice field stage, Jack vs. Korekkio and it is the wits of the former that earn him his victory, while condemning the latter to the late Mr. Hook's fate. 4th Battle, 3rd round, ice field stage, Dorothy defeats the Bishop Avrute with such swiftness that it spares him no time to counterattack, much less to salvage a chance for his life in the game of Janken with Rapunzel.
4th Battle, 4th round, ice field stage, Nanashi vs. Aqua. Although his thunder mastery overwhelmingly dominates her aquatic monsters, again it is his gentleman instincts that prevail; being witness to the fates of her unfortunate teammates, Nanashi deliberately pulls the fight a draw. However Rapunzel and her brother Girom are not blind, and even winning the rock-paper-scissor match, they still impale the little girl dead, much to Nanashi's horror. Ginta, full of rage, jumps in and attacks Girom for what he did.
4th Battle, 5th round, ice field stage, Ginta vs. Girom rematch. Aqua's death has begetted a bout of wrath from Ginta, stripping him of reason and sensibility, thence his synchronization and strength drop considerably. Ginta's impending defeat warrants Babbo's forcible convincing, and eventually with Babbo v.5 Cushion Jelly conceived and realized, the Ginta vs. Giromu vendetta ends with Giromu's loss.
4th Battle, 6th round, ice field stage, Dorothy vs. Rapunzel. Engaging the Knight with self-confidence envisioning opponent understatement, the witch pays dearly with several wounds, one counts vital and turns to the impertinent doll Guardian Crazy Quilt for helps, which finally ensures her victory.
With authoritative clues about "the woman whom she must kill’’ obtained after the fight with Rapunzel, Dorothy goes back to Kaldea with team MÄR escorting her. They learn of the truth behind one of the more shrouded characters at the top of the Chess Pieces’ echelon, its Queen – Dorothy's exiled older sister Diana, Snow's stepmother empress of MÄR-Heaven's majestic kingdom Lestava thereat.
Perceiving team MÄR's on-goings, Diana unleashes her most powerful knight piece Phantom and a brigade of Rooks onto her disowned homeland. In the field of a sabotaged Kaldea, Phantom's ÄRM virtu and Ginta's clash (unofficially) for the first time, as do their ideals. The former conclude with Phantom's prowess outclassing Ginta's, whereas the latter reach a stage of stalemate from which Phantom retreats with ease, leaving Ginta brooding over the reason behind Phantom's undoings.
Tensions after the Kaldea's incident soon break into tranquil intervals, but are not without trouble as each pursues his/her thoughts, and Ginta in particular is approached by his scheduled 5th Battle's opponent, the child-loving Knight Ash.
5th Battle, 1st round, desert field stage, Snow the benign princess loses her benignancy against the contemptuous manners of Emokis, the more graceless one of three lvl. 1 Bishops. However she soon finds out to confront a first class Bishop rage is not one reliable stimulation, and the worsening situation invites the introduction of her new Guardian, Undine.
5th Battle, 2nd round, desert field stage, Alviss against the 2nd of lvl.1 Bishops, Hamelin the piper. In quite a contradiction to Snow's round, Alviss emerges from the fight victorious with others dubious as to the identity of his new Guardian.
5th Battle, 3rd round, desert field stage, Jack's again to attest to his manhood by battling the sadomasochist seasoned female Knight Candice. The resolution and his new Guardian Mehitos, however, only makes it as far as end the battle in a tie.
5th Battle, 4th round, desert field stage, Ginta vs. Ash. As the combatant selection for this duel conflicts with the Knight's moral code of excluding children from his prey list, it is Ginta to be graced by the victory parade.
5th Battle, 5th round, desert field stage, Nanashi's round with his predetermined opponent the Knight Galian turns into a fated rendez-vous with the mysterious silhouette from his past. Nanashi's old Luberia times unfold with a noteworthy blank thread of memory that stores his true identity.
Galian's reason for resignation from Luberia and his confession fuel Nanashi's wrath at his betrayal and induces his summoning of the leviathan eel Guardian Gymnote, overpowering Galian.
From inside the perilous Training Gate Ian surfaces, this time with power equivalent to Knight class. Under Phantom's command, he challenges Rapunzel for her Knighthood and officially claims it after incinerating the butcher madwoman in front of Girom's eyes. Meanwhile, Edward and Babbo think that Dorothy and Snow will fight over Ginta at the next banquet.
Right on the first off-stage day MÄR enjoy their break, some hoodlums capture Belle for her fairy power and flee. However their getaway don't go that smoothly, for an enraged Alviss is not one to sit back watching others grab his best friend... or tolerate this deed leniently.
Following the instructions of an ÄRM dealer, Dorothy, Jack and Ginta accompany a young scout named Chibo on an expedition into the desert for ÄRM hunt. Unknown to the foursome, that ÄRM dealer is about as guileful as he's resourceful, and is currently plotting something sinister to treat their adventure.
As the Knights continue bidding their time, Alan again sends his apprentice teammates into the training dimension, unaware of the Chess’ outlawed Zonnen's move of protest against Phantom's War Games. Their first target is the Ginta & Jack dimension, the duo Mars-Mercury as assailants, and the fight ends with goddess of victory smiles on MÄR's side for their valiancy.
2nd target: Nanashi & Alviss dimension, Zonnen assailants: Venus & Jupiter. Nanashi and Alviss must learn to work together to beat them.
3rd target: Dorothy & Snow dimension, Zonnen assailants: the Pluto – Uranus – Neptune. Even with all their mustered power, the three siblings can’t outmatch the princess and the witch united, and are eventually clobbered.
4th target: Alan (outside the Training dimensions), Zonnen assailant: the captain Saturn. Accumulating the magic power of those Gate trainees onto his own (at the moment largely diminished under the distortion of Saturn's Darkness ÄRM), Alan breaks free from his tight spot, and reverses the curses upon Saturn.
All the members of Team MAR take on Phantom together, each reminisced of their respective reasons to fight in the war. However, before any can deal the final blow, Ginta wakes up and it turns out to be a dream.