Kouga takes Kaoru and Gonza on a picnic near the tower that catches Kaoru's attention. Kouga reveals that the tower has a special importance, as it is the traditional place where he and all the previous Garos have inherited their title. The tower is also the place where all the past holders of the title of Garo are laid to rest after they have died. After Kouga enters the tower to be cleansed of the evil qi accumulated from his battles he sends Gonza home and has a walk with Kaoru, unaware that an evil is hunting him. During a warm talk with Kaoru, they come before the statue of a sphinx-like creature which Kouga says was modeled after a Horror. Suddenly time freezes and Kouga is confronted by a mysterious Horror who demands he fight him or he will kill the frozen Kaoru. The Horror tells Kouga that not only did he alter the flow of time, but that while they're in the altered reality, the time limit of Kouga's Makai armor would not be in effect. Kouga dons the Garo armor and first battles a clone of the Horror before facing the actual one in an arena. With assistance from the spirit of the first Garo Kouga learns his foe is actually Zazi, an accumulation of the revenge-driven spirits of the many Horrors that the Golden Knight destroyed. Realising that Zazi was using the statue as a gate, he slices part of its face off to negate Zazi's existence and restore the proper flow of time. Under the statue's face, Kouga and Kaoru notice ancient Makai writing that Zaruba translates to say "When the protector finds a light worth protecting, an ordeal will begin", implying his fight with Zazi was a test brought on by his attachment to Kaoru.