Felmer stood in shock and looked at the general. He had seen something he had never imagined. For him, Deris was there, and in the next moment, his head was on the ground. And the general was smiling.
The remaining ten Morl Riders threw their swords and surrendered. They were scared by the presence of General Irfika.
"Good…" The general said as the Morl Riders surrendered.
The general wrote something on a paper and whistled. A red orb appeared, and his eagle emerged from it. He handed the scroll and flew it away.
"I have so many questions!" Felmer said.
"Me too…" Melfer added.
"Same…" Flexin followed.
"Relax…I will answer them all."
"Firstly, why did you steal my fight?" Felmer asked. "And how are you here?"
"That's two questions," The general exhaled. "Because you couldn't fight him."
"What?" Felmer was more shocked.
"The spy organisation of Cerfis keeps track of every soldier working outside the country through magical maps. We detected an intense magical presence near you. So General Ednita sent me here. The monster was modified by man. But Deris was experienced. He had gained immense power through that jewel."
Melfer walked towards Deris's corpse and took out the jewel. He approached Felmer and handed it to him.
Felmer took out the badge and placed the jewel in the upper slot. Red veins emerged and spread around the jewel.
"Why that slot?" Elna asked as she stood beside Felmer and stared at the badge.
"I felt the magical waves pulling it to that slot," Felmer replied.
"Now, what was with that teleportation and that kill?" Melfer asked.
"Those are all my abilities. The red orb, the time stop, and the realm of the devil." The general replied, sheathing his sword. "I have plenty of others. I am not telling that.
"And the title?" Flexin asked now.
"Can you stop with the continuous question?" The general's eyes twitched.
The three brothers stared at him. He had no choice but to answer those questions.
"The title was given to me when I was 23. At 22, I made a deal with the devil and made it my slave. I sold him half of my soul." The general replied with a straight face.
"You did what?" Felmer's shock increased.
"Sold him half of my soul." The general repeated. "How I did that is a long and personal story. And I am not telling that."
The three brothers looked at him in amazement. They were totally unaware of his abilities. But Elna and Captain Irnik weren't shocked. They already knew.
"You guys know all of it?" Felmer asked Elna and Irnik.
They nodded in response. "He told us to keep it a secret. All senior officers in the government and the military know about this."
"You will do the same and keep it a secret. No need to announce it to the public." The general said in a serious tone.
"Get your horses. We are heading straight to Cerfis." The general said. "There are matters you need to tend to," He said to Felmer. "And…There is one more thing. The Badge of Ascension gives you the direct right to the throne."
Felmer's muscles tightened. Wallace didn't tell him about that. And he knew what it meant. Either Raftin gives him the throne peacefully, or there will be civil war.
The general grabbed a horse of the riders and walked up to the squad. Soon, they bought their horses from the forest and joined the general.
"What about them?" Melfer asked about the prisoners.
"I had sent a message to the Hormisian border guards." The general said, and then his eagle appeared again. "They will be coming by now."
"We are going on horses? Can't we just teleport?" Flexin asked.
"I am not wasting my magic on a five-day journey. The matters are important but not that urgent."
"Five days?" Melfer asked.
"Yes…Five days. You guys stopped at numerous locations. Hence, it took you longer. And we won't be stopping."
"What?" Felxin asked. "No stop?"
The general said nothing. They knew he wasn't going to budge.
As they waited, 12 Hormisian soldiers arrived. They arrested the Morl Riders and looked at the general. He nodded in response, and then they left for Cerfis.