Salute To The General

The dust gradually settled, revealing the land upon which the Hall of Heroes once stood.

Originally magnificent, the structure had partially collapsed. Only half of the hall stubbornly remained, its precarious walls impervious to the howling wind.

There were countless ancestral tablets of the five Reclusive Families on the shrine in front of the ruined building.

Nathan and Theron stood face to face less than ten feet apart before the ancestral tablets.

The crowd stared in petrified silence at Nathan and Theron, who were both completely motionless.

Cheryl leaned toward Colin next to her. "Who won?" she whispered,

Colin was about to say that he did not know when his sharp eyes noticed that Nathan's dagger-wielding hand was empty. Theron, who stood across from Nathan, was holding half of the mahogany sword in his hand.

It must have been Theron's weapon that we heard crack during the battle!

Colin was overjoyed by the discovery. "The old man's weapon has been broken, if I am not mistaken, the general must have won!" he whispered excitedly.

Svend was about to retort when something unexpected happened.

knee, supporting himself with his broken sword in his right hand. "Master Theron!" Svend cried as he gestured to

enough to see that he appeared much older than he was before the commencement of the battle. Raising his head, he met Nathan's eyes with a bitter smile. "The title of God of War bestowed upon you is well deserved," he proclaimed in a hoarse voice. "I am certain that nobody in the world

Theron personally

turned pale in an instant. The

fare much better

Five Reclusive Families on the shrines next to

stunned, Theron's face contorted with grief-stricken shame. "A thousand years of the prestige of the Reclusive Families have fallen by my hands," he

of the four Reclusive Families fell to their knees at the sudden collapse of the ancestral tablets which they construed as a bad

tablets that had

did not fall by your hand," Nathan said imperiously as he surveyed Theron and the others on their knees. "Even if you are

the others gaped

a custom for the ancestors of the Reclusive Families to adhere

put

rescuing

in seclusion in the mountains to cultivate peacefully. Such heroic

clan turned cold. "But look at you now," he added with a look of disgust. "Would your ancestors be proud of the people you have become? Aside from the