CHAPTER 26

When everyone in the army reached Castle Delbray, Ike saw wyvern riders Adrian and Ignas waiting for them in a nearby village. There, he saw the two wyvern soldiers talking with other soldiers wearing armor that represented the Daein army.

"General Petrine is… dead?!" asked Adrian.

"Yes." said the soldier. "Murdered by those filthy, dirty Crimean scumbags and their sub-human soldiers, that is!"

"I see…" Adrian said.

"What do we do now?" asked another soldier.

"Whelp…we uh….murder the army and the army's general now." said Adrian to the soldiers on horseback. "Ignas, you with me?" asked Adrian.

"Oh, uh, yes. I am with you." said Ignas.

"...I oughta behead you for not cooperating with this plan." said Adrian.

"Wh-wh-what?!" asked Ignas. "But you said that—"

"General Petrine is dead thanks to the Crimean Liberation Army and their filthy sub-human warriors from the beast laguz nation of Gallia and the hawk laguz nation of Phoenicis." said Adrian. "We as the faithful captains of the Daein Wyvern Corps will avenge the fearsome member of Daein's Four Riders here and now!"

"Damn!" said Oscar. "Aren't those the scumbags that sold laguz earlier?"

"They sure look like it!" said Kamaria. "I oughta have a word with those two scumbags myself about selling laguz into slavery and what their motives were."

"Kamaria, allow me to do that myself." Ike said. "But it is a good idea that we defeat those two people and see where those Crimean retainers of Elincia are."

"Good idea, Ike." said Lucia. "Elincia," spoke Lucia to Elincia, "I bet that Geoffrey would be happy to see you along with Bastian."

"I'm pretty sure that they will be happy too." said Elincia. "Tee hee hee!" she later laughed as she smiled.

"Heh." said Lucia. "You've got that right."

Meanwhile, with Geoffrey and Bastian, who were Elincia's other retainers, they were happy to hear that Elincia has returned to Crimea. However, Adrian and Ignas noticed them inside Delbray Castle and confronted them.

"Sorry to tell you this, but we don't know who you are." Geoffrey said. "We are simple…uh… mercenaries." he said with a lie. Adrian growled.

"Hmph." Ignas said. "You've got us that time." Ignas and Adrian later left.

"I'll check for more Daein troops." said Geoffrey after Ignas and Adrian left. "And I'll make sure we're not caught."

As Geoffrey went and checked for more troops, someone in bright white armor approached Geoffrey. It was a generic lance paladin for the Crimean Royal Knights, Geoffrey's service he commands. Rita was also with the paladin.

"General Tagio, Sir Geoffrey…" said the paladin.

"What happened?" asked Geoffrey.

"Look." said Rita. Geoffrey went and investigated what was going on.

"Yes!" said a Daein general. "General Tagio is pouring out blood now!"

"Literally?!" asked a soldier.

"Literally, yes." said the general.

"Now what shall we do?" asked a Daein Wyvern Knight. "Shall we cut off his arms and legs next and leave the body?"

"Or we can play football with the head!" said the soldier.

"Nonsense! Toss it in the river, rider on wyverns!" said the general.

"Yes, sir!" said the soldier.

"OH MY GOSH!" Kamaria exclaimed.

"General Tagio's gone…" Lucia said.

"Yeah." said Elincia. "Rest in Peace, General Tagio…" she said as she closed her eyes.

"Come on, everyone. Let's go meet Geoffrey." Ike said. Everyone later went to meet up with Geoffrey and reunite him with his older sister Lucia and the gracious Princess Elincia. But before they could do that, they had to meet face-to-face with Adrian and Ignas, who were pouring magic all over the land of Delbray.

"Here comes the army general right now." said a wyvern mage.

"...Very well." said Adrian. "I shall have a word with him. Ignas?"

"Yes, sir." said Ignas. Both of the wyvern mages descended to the ground.

"OK, Ike." said Adrian. "You killed Petrine, right?"

"I took Petrine's life away. So true indeed that she terrorized everyone in Crimea."

"Hmph." Ignas said. "I see that our other soldiers are fleeing. Very well, since you have caused this, we shall put you down!" he said as he casted Arcthunder.

"Not quite, Ignas." Ike said.

"Don't worry Ike." Soren said. "I, along with Samantha and Calill, have gotten this. Ladies, you ready?" asked Soren.

"Ready!" said Calill.

"I'm ready!" said Samantha. All casted wind magic and thunder magic at Adrian and Ignas. They died after smashing their heads on rocks below.

"That… got graphic." said Ike. Geoffrey noticed Ike and wanted to speak with him about Princess Elincia.

"Don't worry; we have the princess." Ike said to Geoffrey. "We will gladly present her to you."

"OK." Geoffrey said. When Ike went to present the princess, he saw a familiar face. It was the Black Knight, his father's killer, waiting for him at the bottom of the area. Ike wanted to confront him, but he had to do what was necessary first, which was delivering the princess to Geoffrey and her other retainers. Then, Ike went to confront the Black Knight.

"There you are, Black Knight!" Ike said. "Did you purposefully wait until the battle was over?"

"Hmph. You always were a smart child, boy." the Black Knight said. "I know how you are. Your father knew how you were.

"So, let's finish this contest once and for all!" Ike said. But Ike's attacks had no effect on the Black Knight. Not even a scratch was left. This was because his armor was blessed by the goddess herself. Only the sacred sword known as Ragnell could do the trick.

"Were you an idiot not to leave it in your father's final resting place?" asked Ike.

"No, I have it. But now is not the best time to use it." said Ike. "Until next time, then."

"Hmph." the Black Knight said. The Black Knight later left. Ike later left as well with the rest of the army. Their next location was the great but rocky Marhaut Mountain Range. Daein soldiers were already waiting for them there. However, Marcia, who was a member of the Crimean Army who met Ike over a year ago, was concerned about her friend Evelyn, the dark flier who was kidnapped by Daein Forces. She questioned herself about whether she was taken to Mad King Ashnard or not. She kept on questioning herself about Evelyn, but Ike told her that Evelyn was likely still out there. The battle later continued.