His eyes narrowed. He went straight to his last resort, his most explosive move, the ultimate whip strike.
As if karma had finally caught up with him, it triggered Gail's passive, Retaliation. Gorman spat out a mouthful of blood and was sent flying eight hundred meters. He had beaten someone until he himself coughed up blood.
Gorman could not figure out what was going on with this guy.
At the same time, the thug suddenly shouted, "I remember now. He's the lunatic who picked a fight with General Hawk right there in the palace. But didn't he go to the Ancestor's Abyss? How is he still alive? And what is he doing here?"
Gorman put it together. "So that's who you are. I've heard of you. Silvara's kept man. Don't think you can fool me. You're just a lowly demon who climbed up on a woman's coattails."
But what caught everyone off guard was that Gorman was actually a major demon with two hearts. If he hadn't blurted it out himself, no one would have known. He even claimed to be the future leader of the entire demon race.
He stretched out his palm. Looked like he was suiting up too. His armor was clearly in a different league from the others. The A tier cloud frost armor.
Gail lay in the crater looking thoroughly unimpressed. "Stop posing and get on with it."
Gorman took a deep breath. A storm of energy converged into his right hand. This was his new combo form. Storm Surge Inferno.
The punches rang out one after another, followed by a massive explosion. Gorman's own armor shattered. He was completely spent again.
And right on cue, things went wrong for him. Retaliation triggered again, and kept triggering in a chain. The first hit took seven thousand HP. The second wiped out ten thousand. The third landed eight thousand four hundred, and Gorman's HP bottomed out, triggering his near death state.
The thug watched in terror, calling out for their general through a cracking voice.
Gorman crashed to the ground after being sent flying. He could not make sense of it. The one doing the hitting was the one nearly dying. The one taking the hits was perfectly fine. Even a genius detective would have been stumped.
Gorman was hanging on by a thread. Every bad thing he had ever done flashed through his mind. This was karma catching up to him.
At the same time, Gail slowly stood up. The ten minutes were up. Why was he still alive? Gorman really was useless. Why? Why am I still at full HP?
He turned to Gorman. "Is that everything you've got? Go on then. How do you want to die?"
Gail cracked his knuckles. "That's really all you had. What a disappointment."
"Yes. Yes. That's everything I had. I gave it all. I'm so sorry to have let you down. Brother — no, sir. Please don't hurt me. I'm begging you. Money, anything. Just name it."
Gail raised his boulder-sized fist. "What I want is for you to kill me."
Gorman broke down, crying like he had been holding it in for a lifetime. "Please stop messing with me. I'm not worthy. Who on earth are you?"
Just then, a voice came through. "Right general, sir."
The thug rushed to speak as well. "Please save the general. He's your own brother."
The one who had arrived was Maro himself. "He brought this on himself. Whether he lives or dies is General Gail's call, not mine. General Gail, this facility was personally established by the previous demon sovereign for weapons manufacturing. Any misunderstanding here is the result of my poor oversight. I sincerely apologize and will tighten management immediately."
This old man could lie through his teeth without so much as a flinch.
Gail couldn't care less. "Whatever you're running here is none of my business. I'm not interested in what happens to Gorman either."
He left Maro with nothing but a casual view of his back as he walked away. Pathetic. All that talk about the most powerful weapons. What a letdown.
Gorman, having narrowly kept his life, immediately dropped into a full bow, thanking his lucky stars.
Then Gail stopped in his tracks. "Actually, one thing. Gorman, you said I could have anything I wanted, right?"
Gail leaned right into his face. "Didn't you also mention you have two hearts?"
Gorman nearly had an accident on the spot, immediately trying to deny it. "I didn't. I never said that. Wait, what do you mean? You're really scaring me right now."
The scene cut to an operating room. A scream rang out. "Someone help me. I was wrong. I was really wrong. Please let me go."
No matter how much he struggled, the surgeon did not flinch. He called for the anesthesia and reassured Gorman. Removing one of two hearts was not fatal.
Gail and the kid waited quietly outside the door.
"If it weren't for you, my mom would have had no chance. Thank you."
Gail shrugged. It was nothing. Turns out that place could grant a wish after all. As for his own wish, who knew when that would ever come true.
His thoughts drifted back to Hana. How are you doing right now?
After Gail had gone, Maro let out a quiet breath. "He didn't find the energy core, did he?"
"Don't worry. The demon energy is perfectly preserved, the most powerful energy weapon in the Dusk Realm. We will protect it with our lives. It cannot fall into anyone else's hands. The human army is already on its way."
The scene shifted to a battlefield. "Rest period is over. Everyone get ready for battle."
Gail, this battle should have been yours to lead. But now only your body lies here. I miss you. Are you doing all right, wherever you are? It won't be long before we meet again.
The man lying there was Gail's former self, the warrior he used to be.
Just then, three men came at him at once. Gail didn't dodge at all. The blades rang against his shoulders with a sharp metallic clang. The frustration was unbearable.
"Did none of you eat today? Aim for my head. Useless, every single one of you. Is there no one who can actually kill me?"
Gail genuinely wanted to die.
Then his eyes snapped open. It had all been a dream. He felt a pang of disappointment. If only it were real.
Silvara's handmaiden was at his bedside. "General Gail, your highness has called an emergency military council. Please come to the hall."
Gail blinked in confusion. A military council?
In the council chamber, Gail sat in the second seat of authority. Directly across from him was Hawk.
Silvara said that according to scout reports, there had been a major shift in the human leadership. They appeared to be preparing to launch an early offensive. On top of that, the humans had deployed a warrior legion of over ten thousand. That was why everyone had been called together to discuss a response.
Silvara took this meeting very seriously. Soldiers stood guard at every entrance to the chamber.
The last time a war of this scale had broken out was ten years ago, and it had taken every resource the nation had to barely hold the humans off. Hawk said in the end, it was him and the demon sovereign who pulled off a surprise strike and took out the enemy's head, and that was the only reason the Dusk Realm survived. Back then, the humans had only sent five thousand troops. Yet now, while the demon military had barely advanced, the enemy was coming with twice that number.
His recommendation was to hold the defensive line, wear them down, and wait for an opening.
"Wynn, take an advance unit to the alliance and request reinforcements immediately."
Wynn accepted the order without hesitation.