After leaving Elwood's hometown, the pair meet up with Gamma's long-time partner C.T. Smith, another wanted powder hunter. Smith has infiltrated the ranks of Ash Daughter, a gang which has found a Ring of the Dead. The three challenge the gang's leader, Ranewater Calder, and Gamma slays Calder using his mastery of the fictional sword art "karin zanjutsu", a martial art which grants its users pyrokinesis. Elwood, Gamma, and Smith thereby gain a second Ring of the Dead, concluding the first arc and volume of the series.