Scar, Winry, Yoki, Dr. Marcoh, Mei (with Xiao-Mei), Jerso, and Zampano continue on their way to the mines. When Winry trips, Mei discovers a box with several sticks that Marcoh recognizes as dynamite. After examining one, Yoki assures them that the sticks of dynamite are too soaked to explode. Scar urges them to hurry before someone catches up. At Fort Briggs, Major Miles orders the men he has with him to get ready, and also gives orders to take out Kimblee and the remaining men he has when they get an opening, while they keep it a secret from the soldiers who have recently arrived. from central command. Realizing what this means, Ed can’t bring himself to simply kill them and instead suggests that Kimblee not use his alchemy and interrogate him after being captured. However, Miles says they wouldn’t be able to get Kimblee to talk anyway, and he’s too dangerous to keep alive. Ed then explains the Chimeras he brought and how they are forced to side with him, but Miles rules it out on a “maybe”. Ed doesn’t want to kill these Chimeras, compared to the late Lt. General Raven, they had no choice. Miles reminds him of Briggs’ Law that if they’re careless, they’re dead, and that it would put his friends’ lives at risk, before leaving the room saying they’ll stick to the plan.
In the hallway, Miles responds to his men’s comments that while Ed is still a kid, he’s naive to think he doesn’t have to kill anyone, much like they believed before their experience taught them otherwise. Miles admits that the Elric brothers chose the harder path and is jealous that they are able to. Downstairs, the group takes a break to translate notes. After Scar translates two words that refer to “immortality” and “gold”, Mei realizes that since Scar’s brother was interested in Xing alcahestry, it refers to “perfect person” and “golden person”. Marcoh realizes that it is said that “a perfect person is a golden person”. Mei reveals that she is descended from a Western Sage who dedicated her country to the Alcahestra because of her golden hair and eyes, which Winry claims is a lot like Ed and Al. Yoki then returns to tell them that he found the exit. Since the snow is too deep, Mei will have to ride on Zampano’s shoulders while Jerso explains that the two will lead them to trample through the deep snow. As they travel, Winry hears a voice, which she realizes is Al’s when she notices the heel of his armor, and she and Mei dig him out. After Al admits to going around the mountain to catch up with them, he delivers the bad news, Central troops occupy Briggs with Major General Armstrong, who has been summoned to Central HQ. As the group talk about where to head to hide, Scar suggests the nearby town of Asbec, where some of his people are hiding, and leads the way.
Winry worries that Kimblee will become suspicious if Al is gone too long, but Al mentions that Ed is covering it up. While Miles prepares the squads for the search parties, Ed sits with a dummy he made from Al’s armor, and inside is one of Brigg’s men masquerading as Al. While walking through Baschool, when one of Miles’ men mentions that Kimblee is on his way to a mine shaft with only the two chimeras he has because he can’t trust Briggs’ soldiers, Miles realizes that he may have been caught and gives the order to divert them by setting sniper positions. At the entrance, Kimblee orders Darius and Heinkel to look for clues to confirm his suspicions. Above him, the Briggs snipers are in position and mention to Miles that they have a clear shot, but they quickly find they can’t fire as Ed has gone to confront Kimblee himself. When Kimblee tries to talk to Kimblee about using Briggs’ troops, Kimblee reveals that he picked up on Scar’s group possibly retreating to the mines and that not only were the Briggs’ troops trying to delay him, but they were probably setting up snipers. Ed distracts him. Kimblee knew all of this thanks to his sense of bloodlust, something he picked up from the Ishval Civil War. Before the snipers can fire on Miles’ order, Kimblee uses his alchemy on the snow to create a fog that blocks the snipers’ view. Ed tries to stop Kimblee on his way to the mines, but Darius and Heinkel in their chimera forms stop Ed.
When Kimblee finds the tracks and follows them, Ed finds that he has poor visibility due to the fog Kimblee created and is at a disadvantage while the Chimeras with their keen animal senses are able to track him as the Heinkel grabs Ed. Ed frees himself by using his automatic sword on Heinkel’s arm, but Darius attacks from behind. Miles catches up, but Ed urges him and his men not to enter this poor visibility, as he accidentally trips over a ledge. Finding the dynamite just as the two Chimeras catch up to them, when Ed’s bluff about using the dynamite backfires, they both realize too late that Ed is actually converting low-temperature ammonia. The gas renders them unconscious due to their keen sense of smell, and Ed catches up with Kimblee. Ed admits that he intends to interrogate Kimblee as he prepares for battle. Kimblee admits that he has no time for fooling around, but Ed kicks away his Philosopher’s Stone to prevent him from using it, then slashes the palm of Kimblee’s right hand to prevent him from using his alchemy. However, Kimblee reveals that he has another Philosopher’s Stone in his mouth and mentions that Ed’s decision not to kill is his weakness and will be the reason for his defeat as the situation on the battlefield is much different. Kimblee creates a giant explosion and buries Ed and his Chimera in the remains of the lookout tower.
When Ed wakes up, he finds Darius and Heinkel trapped in the rubble, as they are both angered by Kimblee’s betrayal. As Ed begins to black out, he realizes that a sharp metal beam has penetrated the side of his body and is now bleeding profusely. At Scar’s group location, Al also collapses and feels his soul being pulled out of his hollow body again as both Mei and Winry fear for him and call for him to get up. Hearing Winry’s voice, Ed doesn’t want to let her cry and uses alchemy to remove the beam and free Darius and Heinkel before he passes out. Darius and Heinkel are surprised by this act of kindness, but Ed needs them to remove the rest of the beam from his body before he dies. The two agree to do it even if Ed loses a lot of blood, but Ed admits that he will quickly close the wound with alchemy before he loses too much blood. Ed reveals to them that he learned a little about medical alchemy while researching human transmutation, though Darius worries that some of his internal organs may have also been damaged, which cannot be repaired without the Philosopher’s Stone. Ed then says that his plan is to sacrifice some of his life force, even if it means shortening his own lifespan.
As Heinkel begins the painful process of removing the beam while he is in excruciating pain, Ed remembers that from that day on he became a soul-based Philosopher’s Stone. As he goes through the same painful moment of sacrificing his life force, he quickly transmutes into a wound when the beam is out of his body before passing out. Ed then wakes up seconds later to confirm to Darius and Heinkel that he is still alive, but also confirms to them that all he did was stop the bleeding and he is not yet fully healed. Despite Heinkel’s advice to find a doctor, Ed claims there is no time as he has to catch up with Kimblee before the others are put in danger, but passes out again. As Heinkel notes that Ed has no chance in his current state, he notices and picks up the Philosopher’s Stone that Ed knocked off Kimblee earlier. Agreeing that Kimblee will not forgive this betrayal, they decide to become free men and take the injured Ed to the doctor as they leave the mine with Ed on the Heinkel’s back.