"This is surprising. I thought that this was the end for sure, though it wasn't my intention to strike her. She covered him by herself," he backed away, unperturbed by the arrival of another mysterious person.

"I'll commend you, girl. That's something that not all leaders possess. The ability to risk your life for others. It almost caught me off guard. But don't think I'm finished."

"You'll be finished, in a few. I don't take kindly to those who try and hurt those that I treasure. Don't think I'll let you off easily," he said as he stood in front, staring at the man with focused eyes; his aura was that of a calm nature.

"Interesting. Who are you? I don't think you're normal from the others. Tell me, what's your name."

"That doesn't matter. As long as I'm standing, you'll never be able to get close to her. I'll make sure of that."

"Well, you don't look as imposing, but who knows. The youth can just be surprising sometimes. Just don't take this too badly. I've been ordered to defeat you all. Plus, I don't like people that terrorize the peace. I've got family and friends to protect myself, so I won't lose here."

"Terrorising peace? I think you've got it all wrong. That someone whose been a menace to the entire nation is that one and only rebel that you all call your lord. To us, it's him that's been causing all this. I don't think you've ever listened to the other side before choosing sides. From the places, I've been, I was more than convinced that he is the bad guy here."

"Well, we can point fingers, or we can fight it out. I can't be persuaded otherwise. And bad mouthing him won't do you any good. I can't tell if you're lying or telling the truth, so whatever comes out of this is final. Now, let's settle this already, why don't we?" he said, again gripping his sword with his two hands.

Laruse responded by attacking first, rushing the man, kicking the dust from under his boots and immediately locking blades with him, not giving the man any time to reply, astonishing him a great deal.

"You're a lot faster than you look! Who knew I'd find someone like you here?" he said, standing his ground; using his sword to shield himself; a small grin appearing on his face.

However, he did not allow himself to be on the defensive; shifting his weight forward, he bore down on Laruse with his large sword, then stomping on the ground with his right foot, forcing a swing to his right, overpowering Laruse as he could not rival the sudden raw strength he gave off.

He backed away, then clashing more and more with him, creating sparks and sounds of metal being destroyed with each passing second, exchanging fierce blows that shook one's being and body.

As time went by, the man's face looked as if he were enjoying the whole ordeal, while Laruse surprisingly was the same, not caring about what was happening around him, putting all his attention towards the fight.

"Man, I've never enjoyed fighting like this in a long while. You just keep surprising me more and more. And it looks like you're far from giving up," he said after backing away, wiping the sweat from his brow and catching his breath.

"You're not too bad yourself. But I won't prolong this. I've barely even started. I hope you're ready, cause this time I'm going to give it a bit more effort," Laruse smiled deviously, inhaling, then exhaling, becoming a blur in mere seconds, then appearing in front of the man within seconds, closing in on him with his blade near his neck.

"What?!" the man reacted on instinct; his upper body backing away as he used his sword to recklessly block Laruse's fierce attack, nearing the brink of falling and losing his balance.

"Damn, you're even better than I thought you'd be. This is a getting bad for me," he said, forced to experience the immense amount of pressure that Laruse was exerting with his relentless attacks, not allowing the general to even move or wind up his large and heavy blade for an offensive.

Then, in one fatal attack, Laruse poured all his strength into a powerful slash, disarming the man as his blade spun in the air, falling meters behind him with a loud clanking noise.

"Retreat, now. Who you think is fighting for the greater good isn't who he is. Some people need to look closer to find out the true mysteries of something that looks so simple. I won't harm you, or your men as long as you retreat peacefully. And I urge you to at least hear me out, for the sake of everyone else that's innocent and had been dragged into this whole mess," Laruse pointed his blade at the man's neck, holding everyone's voices as they were silent.

The man stared back at Laruse, trying to see if he truly says the truth.

*sigh* "Fine. I'll hear you out. But don't expect anything grand. I'm merely someone that follows orders. Who knows, they might even fire me when they find out that I retreated. But if what you say is real, then I guess I don't have much of a choice. I've got a family to protect, so that's enough of a motivation for me."

The general turned around, picking up his sword as he started walking away from them, approaching the focus of the war effort; a wide district that branched into many paths, and there far across was the gate.

But as he took a further step through to give the order to retreat, he was startled to see something gruesome; a sight of a large-scale massacre where two individuals stood with their backs to the each other, one golden haired young woman looking worn out and ragged as her clothes had been torn here and there; the other was a tall, built, fully-clad knight with a cape, wielding a beautiful, gleaming ornate spear that looked unbreakable, only covered in blood.

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"What the hell happened here?" he said in terror, unable to believe that the two in front of him had done it.

In the mess, he saw one of his allies; a female general that looked ragged as she held her sword, gathered up along with a few other soldiers trying to catch their breaths.

"General. We must retreat! Whoever these two are, they're not normal. They alone took out two platoons of our soldiers. One of them wields an extraordinary amount of magic, and the other is-is, unexplainable to say the least. His armor is impregnable. We've barely even been able to scratch it."

"Stand down. Don't worry, we've surrendered. Allow us to leave with those that are still alive or wounded. So call off your men. Come, general Marcia. We need to get back right away and tend to these men. There's some things I want to make sure of. For now, I'd say we lost this," he said, walking past the two individuals who had their guards up, still cautious of those around them.

In a moment's notice, he gathered his men, arranging them and retreating beyond the city in an orderly formation, taking care of the wounded along the way.

"How's he doing?"

"Well, and it's thanks to you that he is still here. I'm grateful as well, Laruse."

Ophelia sat on the ground inside a tent where Cedric slept peacefully, having been bandaged and healed from his threatening injury.

"I saw how you tried to save him. That was courageous of you, but that's was awfully reckless. I'm glad that I got there in time."

"I had to. Cedric is someone very dear to me. And I knew somehow that you would come through, like you always had for me. And it seems that what I thought was correct. I apologize for the trouble."

"Don't worry about it. It's all said and done anyway, so there's no need for regrets, it'll only bring you down more than you already are."

"Yes, it seems that you're right. But I can't help but feel regret for being caught up in something that cost us the lives of many. It's my fault and responsibility, yet I don't know how to atone. I can clearly see that I'm not suitable for this. I'm simply not capable enough," she cast her eyes down, lamenting on the sight of her allies falling before her.

Laruse had been told the gist of what had happened by their subordinates; having thought about things a bit, he decided to confront her, and see what he could do, knowing that she will surely be demoralized about how things went down.

"So does that mean you're stepping down and giving up?"

"I-I don't know. I need someone to help me. I can't do this alone anymore. I've been failing everyone, and that's the reason as to why there's nothing being gained from this whole organization. I'm a failure. Don't you think so too?"

"Do you want me to be honest with you?"

"... Yes, please, for my own sake," she looked at him as her last bastion of hope, slowly tearing up.

"From what I've heard, you are. There, is that enough to make you give up?"

"Yes, but I can't, and I do not know why? Please, Laruse, help me. I know that you can get us all out of this rough, just like how you defeated the general. You can do so many things that I can't."

"Hmm, fine. Give me your organization. I'll lead it myself. There's no need for you anymore, so you can rest easy knowing that all the trouble you've accumulated has now been passed on to me. Though many trusted you, many will grow to hate you because of your weak will. Are you fine with all that?" he said bluntly with a stern and adamant expression, making her shudder as he suddenly changed; not seeing that side of him she knows of.

"That's... how cruel. Do you really think that?"

"I lie a lot, and that's because of necessity. But, I don't see one here, so that's all truth. So, are you going to hand it over or not? You can still continue to lead it. The final say will be from you alone."

"Do you really think that I should step down? Please, Laruse. lead me to where I should go. I can't think of anything else to go with."

"Hmm, still indecisive, huh? It's either you lack motivation, or you're too scared to motivate yourself. Nothing'll happen at this rate. I'm leaving. This entire nation of alliances is finished, so there's no need for me to be here. Might as well travel the continent, maybe be even the rest of the world," he turned to leave the tent, not even saying his farewell.

she stood in the heat of the moment, running towards him on impulse, clutching is sleeve, begging for him not to leave.

"Wait! Please, don't leave!"

"Then decide. There's not much time till then, but will you wait for that to happen? You've seen it here; how desperate they're getting in trying to erase the rebellion. It'll only be a matter of time till more of those that you care for die. Will you wait for that, or act?"

She became silent, shuddering as she drew her words out, like it was a thorn in her heart.

"Please, lead the organization. I beg of you, ease everyone's weariness. They do not deserve such torment for something such as a reckless pursuit of peace.

"Good. Then stay here and take care of Cedric. I'll handle everything from now on," he turned around and embraced her with both arms, calming the trembling maiden.

"You won't leave?"

"I won't, not until I finish what I came here for. So until then, nothing new will happen, only a change of pace. Leave this to me."

Meanwhile on the paths leading from the city of Kausten; the retreating army rested on the side, setting down their wounded and recovering their fatigue after having to leave without much preparation.

Many were demoralized, and in many ways; two of which could be attributed to their loss, and second, was their casualties against a powerful mage, and an impregnable iron-clad knight.

"Still down about the loss, general Marcia? I don't blame you. I based it all on my own defeat, so blame me if you have to. I'll take the responisbility here, for everyone," Oliver came up to his fellow general resting by a tree, looking at the exhausted soldiers around him.

"We underestimated them. We should have taken them more seriously, though I don't think we could have ever accounted for something such as a strong mage and knight to be present. But, how did you lose? I have not the slightest idea of how strong you are, but your confidence striked me that you've never lost a battle before in your life."

"Thanks. Glad to know someone thinks I'm competent. Well, I've lost, and it made me grow into who I am. But, you're right. I don't know how I lost too. Maybe I'm getting too old, or maybe... could it be because of what we're fighting for? Hmm, I'm getting too philosophical for my own good."

"What we fought for? What do you mean by that? Does it have something to do with how we lost?"

"That's one way to put it bluntly. Well, let me tell you. It might make more sense with you than me."

Thus, he began explaining everything that he was told during the battle.

"Is that so?. Although, I cannot see what benefit it brings us to trust them. These are just blind truths, don't you think so?"

"Who knows. That's why I backed off. He spoke as if he were telling the truth desperately. So something felt off. I wanted to find out myself. After all, I don't want anything bad to happen to my family if something really is happening. They'll come first."

"If you say so. I wonder what will become of us when we return."

"Ah... Damn, you're right. Maybe they'll cut my pay again. Man, and I thought being a general was an easy job."