CHAPTER 32
Zelgius and Ranulf's battle woke up a few of the senators of Begnion, plus a few of the soldiers that were attempting to get some sleep. After the awoken ones found out where the noise was coming from, one of the senators told everyone that Zelgius needed to wipe out the "sub-humans" quickly, as no one was able to get sleep due to all the battle noises.
"Do you peasants know I need my beauty sleep?" asked another senator. "I should have you all terminated from the army, you bastardous fools!" he yelled.
"Hush! Silence! Quiet!" a Begnion Druid yelled.
The senator went back inside his tent for some sleep.
"Little wretched snobby bastards." said the Begnion Druid.
Ike, Titania, Soren, and the rest of the Greil Mercenaries and their allies were all dropped off at the campsite by Tibarn's hawk laguz comrades. There, a supply camp was about to be destroyed, and all the horses of the troops were about to be let loose. However, Soren suggested that it was recommended to not hurt the senators, as trouble might spark up later on in the future even when the war was over.
"All right." said Ike.
"Then we better get fighting before the fog burns off." said Kamaria.
"Attack!" yelled Ike.
Everyone charged for the soldiers. Luckily for the senators, they were asleep. But it was guaranteed that the fighting would wake them up.
As the fighting lasted for more an hour, with Haar dealing a critical blow on a Thunder Sage, one of the senators came out of the tent.
"Hey!" yelled a mustached senator as Kamaria swooped and flew over him. "Watch where you are going!" he yelled.
"Sorry! Just protecting our continent!" yelled Kamaria.
"...Eesh…" said Kamaria's brother Kito.
Once all the soldiers were down about two hours later, Ike ordered all the supplies to be burned to ashes. As Haar, Shinon, and Kamaria lit matches, Kito was scratching two sticks together.
"Are you serious?" asked Shinon.
"Yeah, Kito." said Kamaria. "That's gonna take forever."
"Let's just burn the supplies up." said Shinon.
The matches were later thrown on the supplies. The burning of the supplies looked like a huge two feet bonfire according to Nephenee.
"It looks like something that would burn a lot of food on." said Ilyana.
"Come on, everyone." Ike said. "We have to get out of here before we end up getting burned ourselves."
Ranulf, on the other hand, was still fighting General Zelgius. However, Zelgius was finished fighting Ranulf. He was merely impressed that Ranulf held on for that long of time. Ranulf shifted back to his humanoid form, and Zelgius told him to pray to the goddess.
Hawk screeches were later heard. Zelgius didn't know exactly what was going on. Then, Tibarn came swooping down on him, grabbing his sword in the process. He then shifted back to his humanoid form.
"You know, you look kinda familiar." said Tibarn.
"Well, if it isn't the King of the Phoenicis Hawks." said Zelgius. "So tell me, why did you transform?" he asked. "Do you not wish to fight me?"
"Hmph." Tibarn grunted. "I wish I could fight you. Unfortunately, I really don't have the time right now." he said.
"I see." Zelgius said. "But what do you mean by that?" he asked.
A soldier of the Central Army then let Zelgius know that their camp was engulfed in flames. Needing him to take control of the situation, Zelgius quickly left Tibarn sights.
"I let him go. But! Shall he return, he should keep his sword drawn, and he should say his prayers to the goddess." Tibarn later said after Zelgius left.
He later went to check on Ranulf and let him know that thanks to Ike, the army was crossing the river safely. Ranulf then agreed to meet up with Skrimir.
After capturing Castle Seliora, the Laguz Alliance and their allies makes a vital improvement in their march to Sienne, the Begnion Empire's capital. With Begnion's loss at the Ribahn River, and the Central Army's force to retreat east to take refuge in Castle Gaddos, they still had to keep their morale: Honoring the great General Zelgius while the nobles glowed with indignation at their trounced defeat.
At Castle Gaddos, one senator asked why Zelgius retreated that quickly. The senator then ordered an all-out attack after asking the question. Zelgius answered, saying that the Laguz Alliance was inching closer after they successfully crossed the Ribahn River. He also mentioned that it would have been unwise to attack thee alliance head-on around that exact time. This only made the senator angrier at Zelgius, asking him if he was the senate himself. Zelgius showed no face other than a stern look.
"Listen to me, Zelgius!" yelled the senator. "The senate wants all those damned, filthy, dirty sub-human bastards roaming our lands exterminated! From this point on, I forbid you to retreat from any combat!" he hollered. "Do you understand?!" he asked in exclamation.
"Pardon my bluntness, but that sounds like madness to me." said Levail as he entered the occupied room.
"I understand, milord." said Zelgius with a strict, stern look upon his face. "I will continue fighting to end this fight." he proclaimed.
"Zelgius, wait!" yelled Levail as Zelgius was walking away. "That senator's orders are insane as it already sounds!" he yelled.
Zelgius kept on walking away.
"Zelgius! Zelgius? ZELGIUS!" yelled Levail.
"Levail, that's enough!" yelled Zelgius. "Now don't you dare make me repeat my bastardous self! The soldiers, I myself included, do not question the orders of the superiors." he said.
"Well, I was hoping you'd steer the military in the right direction of this war, Zelgius!" Levail hollered.
Zelgius walked away again.
"ZELGIUS!" yelled Levail again. Levail did nothing but sigh out.