Gaileo had just cut Great General Mutembo in two. His men were in shock, they'd never expected to see their leader face defeat. Most of them scattered to the wind, but a few of them stayed to try to avenge their former commander.
"Let's get him men! If we work together we can take him down!" A soldier said. "And maybe we can get a reward from an enemy nation for his head." He thought.
Before the Mutembo soldiers could charge Gaileo, more Imperial troops came charging through the woods.
"Stop right there!" A voice shouted.
It was Shion leading the Gaileo Army. I'll cut down any man who makes a move towards the Deputy General!" He shouted. Gaileo's soldiers surrounded Mutembo's and secured the situation.
Meanwhile, Gaileo himself was still caught up in the battle frenzy that he was in when he fought with Mutembo. He was in a state that he was poised to attack anything that crossed his path.
"How sad it is to see my brother in such a state. Though I suppose he brought it on himself." A voice said.
Upon hearing this voice, Gaileo was ready to direct his furious bloodlust at this new potential adversary. However, suddenly his instincts told him to hold his bloodlust.
"For some reason, I get the feeling. I get the feeling that if I direct even the slightest hint of bloodlust at him then I'm dead. He'd kill me in an instant." Gaileo thought as he snapped out of his frenzy. "As much as I try to avoid admitting it, Tenjin and the other Great Generals are all way stronger than me. I pick fights with them because I know deep down that they wouldn't kill me, but this guy is different."
"A wise decision to cease your bloodlust. While I do think that your actions were justified, if I was subjected to even an ounce of bloodlust from the man who killed my brother I don't think I could hold myself back from killing you." The man said.
"Who are you?" Gaileo asked.
"He's General Jengo. He's the younger brother of Great General Mutembo." Great General Tenjin said as he arrived as well.
"Old man Tenjin, what's going on here?" Gaileo asked.
"This is probably something that should be discussed back in the Imperial Court. Don't you agree Jengo?" He replied.
"Yes, I suppose that would be for the best." Jengo replied.
After everything, the Galean Campaign was still a success as they managed to take all the territory they had set out to take. The officers all went to the Imperial Palace to report the results of the campaign, but the most important discussion arose around the topic of Great General Mutembo's demise.
"A- A Great General actually died? How could this be possible? One of the court officials asked.
"All of you leave us." The Emperor ordered the court officials. After they all left the Emperor resumed the conversation. "So you finally killed that trash Mutembo eh? It's about time." He said.
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Gaileo asked completely blindsided by the Emperor's comment.
"That Mutembo was a degenerate and a cruel man, but I kept him around as sort of a red herring so to speak. I thought he'd make a good test for one of you boys so I kept him around no matter how atrocious his actions were."
"So… you're saying that you kept him around just so I could have a fight against him? Just so I could prove my strength?" Gaileo asked. "For something like that!" Gaileo shouted while his fists were trembling in rage. "For something like that, you let him kill hundreds of thousands? He buried half a million people alive in Thundara! How could you let him do that?"
The Emperor was completely disinterested in Gaileo's impassioned remarks. "It's not my fault. You should have caught on to him sooner. So this is all your fault."
At the Emperor's words Gaileo dropped his head. He wondered if in some way the Emperor was right. What if it really was his fault for not stopping Mutembo sooner. Maybe it really was his fault his home town was set on fire and ransacked.
Suddenly a hand was placed on his shoulder. "It wasn't your fault." General Jengo said as he made his way in front of the Emperor. "The fault is yours Emperor Hongwu!" He shouted accusatorially. "If you had just let me put my brother in prison all those years ago, then none of those people would have to have died. Including my brother. I will never forget or forgive you for this."
"Hahahaha! That's fine. I'm not interested in your forgiveness. What I'm interested in is results, and you bring in some of the best out of all our officers. So I think it's time for you to finally take what rightfully belongs to you." The Emperor said while pulling out a small pendant with the Shukure clan crest of black raven wings on it.
"This is yours, along with your brother's position. The job always rightfully belonged to you anyway." The Emperor said.
"Very well, I'll work hard for the Empire, but NOT For you." Jengo said definitively.
"What's going on?" Gaileo whispered to Tenjin, unsure of what they were talking about.
"Hohoho, to put it simply, Jengo is strong and brilliant and a noble warrior. He's basically exactly like the rumors about Mutembo said he was, but only he's the real deal. Now, he's taking his brother's spot as one of the Seven Great Generals." Tenjin replied.