"Who is it!? Which one of you dared interrupt my execution! Speak up! Or your death will be even worse than the girl's!" The supreme general roared, his eyes coldly panning over the sweating, nervous crowd only for another sound to come out of it.

"I did sir!"

As soon as those words were uttered, their attention shifted towards one man in the crowd, wearing a blue suit with the engraving of a glowing raven, a serious look in his stern, blue bearded face as he looked up at the supreme general with no fear, a blue-haired girl to his side that at first glance, looked like an adult with what seemed like hints of tears running down her eyes.

"Mason?! You of all people?! Why would you object?! You had just saved everyone You witnessed first hand the horror and destruction of the battlefield and how due to this family, the shalkers gained abilities! I know you hated the Reids even before any of this happened too! I thought you would be happy to see this!?"

The general's eyes grew wide seeing who it was that had interrupted him, suddenly taking a different tone.

"You're right! I was happy to see the others die! But this girl is completely innocent! She was the only sensible person out of that crazy family and had even befriended my daughter! She was a victim! A victim of the cruellest fate imaginable! Brutally tortured by her family and shunned away like nothing but a pile of trash! She was framed by her sister and parents to be thought of as a demon child and ended up being their punching bag! I'm sure many of the servants can testify! And now, you're going to kill her like she was one of them?! That's simply despicable!"

The entire crowd could not help but gasp all at once hearing Mason's words, either because they could not believe his tone or because the truth about that girl who was about to be executed was a complete shocking mystery to them prior.

"Mason, I know you mean well, but the decision is final. I won't make any exceptions just because you were my old student! I'm sorry but it must be done,"

"I Agree with Mason! Leave the girl alone and let her live!"

To everyone's surprise, another voice came out to the defence of the chained-up girl, who seemed to not be listening as she stared blankly at the ground crying pure, crimson blood.

"Joseph!?"

Even Mason himself was shocked to see Joseph come to his defence, last he saw him he was still beyond depressed, unable to talk to anyone after the death of his only son.

"Supreme General! My only son died in that battle! He died proudly serving this planet and his people! But he did not simply just die! He died saving that girl down there! He sacrificed his own life to save her! I believe that they were both lovers And I am 100% certain that my son is a good judge of character! If you decide to kill this girl right now! It would be like spitting on my son's face, grave and entire legacy! He would have died for nothing! Throw me in jail! Execute me too! But as long as I am breathing! This girl will not die in such a way!"

The supreme general's brain felt like it was about to explode, both of his students, who had just risked their lives fighting against a shalker whose abilities were unlike anything seen before, and they, of all people, part of the few that actually had a valid argument for the girl's survival, wanted to defend her

However, the rules were the rules and something that he had to obey

"I'm sorry you two, but this is for the greater good To set an example. Maybe she is not guilty, but she simply got caught in the crossfire of her family's doing. This is simply how life is... Just like you said, she is a victim of cruel fate"

The supreme general spoke, putting his index and thumb together as he looked down at the sorry girl's figure below him, Joseph's lightning aura crackling all around him, almost as if he was ready to fight the supreme general himself, everyone around him instinctively taking a step back, not saying a word.

"WAIT! I will use my wish!"

The crowd gasped once more, in complete shock unable to move a single inch as they knew exactly what those words meant, their vision now fixated to Mason once again as he continued speaking

"I will use my wish to free this girl from her death and adopt her as one of my own!"

Everyone's eyes grew even wider as they could not believe their own ears, even general Ryker who was standing towards the top of the stands looked down at Mason unable to believe he would go as far as to do that

"Mason! Are you certain about this?! You're really going this far just for this little girl? You are a war hero of the highest echelon! You earned that wish reward with your own blood sweat and tears to save everyone in the last war! You could wish for almost anything! ANYTHING! And you wish to free this sorry little girl with no will to live!?"

The supreme general's hand that was in preparation to kill was now simply to his side, as he tried his best to snap some sense into his former student.

"Father"

Mason suddenly heard a female's voice from under him, looking down only to see the face of disbelief of his own daughter which made his face soften up as he rubbed her on the head, his resolve now stronger than ever.

"Yes supreme general! I, Mason Griffith herby use my wish to free Abby Reid from her unjust execution! And adopt her as my own daughter!"

Mason spoke his words, standing in a position, straight as an arrow, his right hand over his heart as he looked up at the supreme general with dead serious eyes.

"Very well! I, supreme general Cade Walker, herby grant your wish! Abby Reid will now be free! And adopted into the Griffith family! And, as an extra reward! After all of the belongings of the Reids have been carefully examined, they will all also become your property!"

He took a small pause, looking at Mason's satisfied face, and at Joseph calming down, his aura no more as he too looked at Mason with a mellow smile.

"Guards! Release that girl and escort her to the stands where she will meet her new stepfather and stepsister!"

The supreme general ordered with a wave of his hand, leading to all the shackles around Abby being dropped, showing the immense redness around her arms from how much her bindings had been tightened due to her previous squirming, the muzzle around her mouth also dropping to the ground.

Abby remained completely still and silent, almost like she had no idea what was going on as she continued blankly staring at the ground which greatly surprised the guards as she was acting nothing like she had been acting only a few minutes prior.

So, the guards were forced to pick her up by force, making her stand up on her two feet as she was safely escorted out of the arena, her eyes gray almost like they were completely devoid of life, seemingly oblivious to all the looks of malice looking at her from the stands above like she was a cursed child, like she did not deserve another puff of air.

Mason took a deep breath, happy that it was now all over. He did not plan to go as far to save that girl. In fact, he did not even plan to save her at all. However, after seeing the sad, depressed look on his daughter's face, his heart simply could not take it and he felt like if he did not accept her request this one time to save the only girlfriend she ever had Something that Mason was ecstatic to see himself as his daughter had been completely isolated from people only a few months prior, he would regret it for the rest of his life.

"Thank you so much for that dad I love you so much"

He looked down to see Jayden tightly hugging him, unable to see her face.

"You're welcome Jayden You're welcome"

He hugged her back, rubbing her hair before he was immediately interrupted by a voice above, the supreme general speaking once more.

"Now that the executions are over! Let us move onto the next event! The award ceremony!"

The crowd clapped all at once, as if their moods had completely shifted from the sadness of a few minutes ago.

"First things first! On behalf of me and the rest of the military! We would like to issue an apology to 1 man! Wronged by everyone! A man of high intelligence! Able to analyze and quickly find the facts when no one else could! He spoke the truth the entire time but nobody believed him! A strong man full of vigour! He was a major role in our victory over the shalkers 2 days ago! I would like to please call up General Ryker Evans to the stand to receive his award! Or should I now say, High General Ryker Evans!"

The supreme general spoke with great pride, holding a golden medal and badge on his right arm, a clap from all the spectators as Ryker jumped from his previous position, soaring in the air before he landed directly beside Supreme Gernal Cade, with a bright smile as he turned to address the crowd.

"My fellow people in arms! I truly feel honoured beyond my wildest dreams to be where I am today! I truly don't deserve such an hon"

*************************************

"General! I don't care about the specifics of your speech! What else happened after! Is Abby safe!? Did Jayden, Mason, and Joseph also get an Award!? Did Hikari get an award? DID I GET AN AWARD?!"

Moby yelled in panic. Usually, Moby would have been happy to see his name getting out there since it fell on good terms with his future plans of starting a guild. But now that he knew that there was a universal bounty on his head, he began to greatly reconsider

"GENERAL! DID I GET AN AWARD TOO!? ANSWER ME!!"