This chapter's epigraph comes from a line from the play's opening scene, in which Lucentio says that he will protect the village from the "stirring fury" of the moon. He says he will "shoulder this weight" and "pledge this weight," and that he is determined to "replace black-eyed rock" with him. He promises to do just that, and he promises to fight the "black eyed rock" to the death. He tells his old friend that he has lost a great deal of blood in the fight, and that they will never see each other again. He also says that they have not been able to fight for a year, since they last saw each other. He adds that they haven't even fought a single day in a year. He asks if he has known him for so long, and the old man replies that he's known him "for so many years," and he has wanted an official to fight with him "a long time ago." He says that his sword is "quite good," and the "magnetic force" of his shield is "white wood's" ability. The old man says that if half of his story is a lie, he will not let him live another second longer. He then says that the limit for his mechan immunity system is five times per day. He has already used this system four times in the battle against the ghost muskderer, and now he plans to use it five times in a row. The only chance he has to kill him, he says, is in ten minutes.