The General

Atlas POV

I threw the young captain behind the man shouting. It would seem that they were brothers. The man ran over to the dead body and held onto him. He started crying.

"Russel!!! Russel!!!"

The soldiers all reacted to the man crying for his brother. There were three others that seemed strong as well. They also looked uncomfortable. Good, after seeing the injured soldiers return, the dead captain and the man in agony, it should be easier to get them to leave.

I slowly float down and let out my [Death's Aura]. As I do this, everyone around stops and watches me, waiting for me to do something. Before I could speak, I felt a sudden deadly aura from the crying man. I looked over at him. He had stood up. His back was turned to me but I could sense his anger. I could sense his blood thirst.

'Everyone! Get ready!'

Right as I gave the order, the man disappeared and reappeared right in front of me. I was taken a back. It would seem that his speed was just as fast as mine.

As the man reached out, four figures appeared around him, forcing him to stop. These four figures were my partners. I had asked Ceto, Uri, Juno and Genesis to come along with me just in case I needed the back up.

"Shit. Spirits that returned to their origins… Sage…"

The man looks at me as he spoke those words. It looks like he realized what he must do. He slowly raised his hand in the air, showing that he would do no harm. I could see a bead of sweat come down his face. Once the man had his hands all the way up, I was ready to ask him some question but I stopped.

I suddenly hear a sword getting unsheathed from behind me. I tried moving away but my body wouldn't listen. A strong aura was holding me down.

"General!!"

I couldn't see who was behind me but I heard what the soldiers around were saying.

The general.

I could feel a sword poking the back of my neck.

"Easy there. Release my colonel and I'll release you. No one has to die here."

Usually, after a bit of probing, I could sense how strong and capable a person could be. Of course this time around it fails me. I couldn't sense this general at all! He gave off no aura until the lost moment.

I signal for Ceto and the others to let the man go. The moment they do, I no longer felt the sword on my neck. The man gave me a dirty look but he backed away. He stood next to his soldiers.

A moment later, a man suddenly appeared in front of me. I figured that he must be the general.

The man was older. Maybe 40 to 50 years old. He looked Japanese. The craziest thing was that he had on armor that was very similar to what a samurai would have worn. On his left side, he had two swords. A longer sword and a shorter one.

"Please to meet you Sage. Could you tell me what seems to be the problem? Why did you attack my men?"

The man showed no emotions on his face. He seemed calm and collected unlike everyone else around.

"Your men has killed many elves. Since you called me Sage then I assume you know my role. I kindly asked for your men to leave but instead I was attacked. I was only defending myself."

I answered back and waited to see what his response was. The old man gave a knowing nod. He then looks at me right in the eyes and says,

"I see. I apologize on behalf of my men. It would seem that there was a misunderstanding. We are from the Eastern Continent. We usually do military drills around here and it would seem that some went out further than they should."

The old man suddenly bowed before me. I was a little surprised. The soldiers and colonel also seemed surprised.

"Please raise your head."

As the old man raised his head, I had to ask him.

"Could you explain to me why you are here though? This small town is home to a few elves and it also belongs to the Elf Kingdom. I don't sense any elves around here."

I let out a bit of my [Death's Aura].

"Did something happen to them?"

The people around us all took a step back. They were all nervous and scared. The only person that didn't move was the samurai.

"The town seemed abandoned. So we decided to use this town to conducted drills. I didn't realize that we had crossed the border."

'Tch. Bullshit.'

While I was following the fleeing soldiers, I could see all the dead elves that they had slaughtered on the way. As I entered this town, I could see some elves being chained up. It was obvious what was happening but I had harden my heart and pretend I didn't know.

"Is that so? Well I must thank you then. Please, leave it to me. As the Sage, it is my duty to protect these people. I will make sure to fully investigate their whereabouts."

The old man nods in agreement.

"Very well. We leave it to you Sage."

He then turns to his soldiers.

"Move out! Our work here is done!"

The man that was about to attack me began to protest.

"Sir! This isn't what was suppose to happen! We must-."

The samurai smacked him across the face, knocking him down. The old man then pulled him back up onto his feet.

"You will follow my orders."

I could still sense no aura from him but the man was sweating and had a fearful look on him. He just nods and the old man let's him go.

I watch as all of them begin to leave. My four spirits walk up to me.

"Why did you let them go sir??!"

Ceto came running up to me and complained. The others just sighed and shook their heads.

"I had to. You saw how powerful that general was. Just him alone, would be a struggle for the five of us. There was also thousands of soldiers. Even if they are weak, there's still thousands of them. It would not end well for us."

I couldn't help but sigh. It really did feel like I was letting them off easy but I had no choice.

"Still, I'm surprised that the general left without much complaint. Come on, let's gather all the elves."

"But sir what about-."

"Don't worry Ceto. I already gave the order."

She just nods and quietly follows behind with the others.

-

"General! Why are we leaving?!? You know what the emperor said! We were suppose to conquer the elves!"

The man yelling was James, the colonel who just lost his brother. The general turned to look at him and smacked him again.

"Listen boy. That Sage alone would give you a hard time. The other colonels are still new. They aren't as strong. Imagine if his spirits joined too! Even if I fought all five of them I wouldn't be sure that I survived! We are lucky that we get to leave with ours heads."

James was shocked to hear the general say that he was unsure about a fight. The general was one of the strongest in the East.

As the walked off some soldiers followed, while others were trying to drag their elf prizes with them.

"Move it bitch! We need to go!"

James watched as his comrades struggled.

"General, shouldn't we help them??"

"Just leave them James. They're dead anyways."

"What do you mean?"

Before the general could answer him, a symphony of screams echoed throughout the army. James turned back to look at the fat man that had offered one of his elves to him.

The fat man was dead, his head had been removed from his body. He wasn't the only one, some were burnt while others seemed to have suffocated.

"General.. explain…"

"Keep moving I said!!," the general screamed at James. He then gave another order to his men.

"Do not take any of the elves! You will die just like the others!"

And just like that, the general continued on, no longer caring about the soldiers now that he warned them. James and the other colonels follow behind. They were all ready to leave.

The soldiers all left as quickly as they could too. They all swiftly moved, paying no attention to their dead comrades.

As the general left, he had his own thoughts after seeing the Sage.

"That boy seemed just like her…"

He let out a sad sigh.

"It's good that war was avoided. How will I explain this to the emperor though…"