Welcome to the team, General

"Give it to me," the marshal yelled, and in one leap was beside the man on the ground. He clamped his neck, almost cutting off the man's oxygen, and he shrank back. Tishow commanded, and Liam crouched down dutifully beside the man.

Taking his weakened hands in his own and touching his forehead, he closed his eyes. He was immediately sucked into a maelstrom of memories. Liam had seen Schwartz sneaking around with someone many times, but each time his face slipped away.

Exhausted, Liam tried both ways, but the mystery man seemed to be deliberately avoiding showing himself. Liam's back was covered in sticky, nasty sweat.

He was tense, but he couldn't find out anything. He watched the cityscape closely, hoping to recognize the city or at least the country, but he was once again trapped in an illusion where nothing was clear.

Just once he saw a large black car, out of which the man he wanted to emerge, but the brim of his hat hid his face.

Another time, he could see that he was wearing a military uniform. Along with Schwartz, he watched the military parade through the streets of the city. The strange hand gesture the soldiers were making seemed unfamiliar to the Head.

As he emerged from the confluence, he was exhausted. The general lifted the prisoner and, removing his bracelet, ordered the soldiers to take the man into custody. When everyone was gone, the general sat down beside Liam and, taking out a flask, he turned it over into the Head's mouth.

When the life-giving moisture touched his tongue, he grabbed the flask and drained it. The General looked softly at Liam. He was becoming more human in the absence of his subordinates, especially with him. Liam invariably made people feel at ease with him.

"Are you feeling better?" The general asked, supporting Liam under his back.

"Yes, thank you," Liam nodded, feeling uncomfortable in front of the General.

"Did you find out anything?" The general helped Liam to his feet.

"Almost nothing. There is a more cunning enemy behind this. With a stretch, I determined that he resides in the territory of Prussia, I think it's called Germany now?" Liam asked.

The general nodded.

"What else did you see?"

"A military parade, a lot of equipment or soldiers."

"Hmm," the general frowned, "is this madness going to happen again?"

Liam didn't understand anything, since he missed World War I while under the watchful eye of his uncle in the Aether.

"Schwartz said something else," Liam remembered.

"What?"

"He said that his master could easily get people to kill each other by staying away."

"Hmm," the General wondered," where do you think that bracelet came from?"

"The Overlord's library was looted. Our agents arrived too late. Schwartz said the man had a lot of artifacts like that," Liam finished.

"Damn that Overlord and his damn toys!" The general snapped, and in part, Liam agreed with him.

Such artifacts were not supposed to enter the human world. With them, the entire accepted order of the universe could be destroyed. As in the case of the bracelet, a prosperous world could be brought into disrepair in a short time and the lake of rebirth was lost to no one knows where.

Liam shuddered to think of the power they were facing. He decided that it was necessary to combine all efforts to prevent disaster.

Fortunately, the general was on his side. Except now he noticed a body on the ground. As he took a few steps, he froze in amazement.

"Is that Pitsu...?" he asked.

"Yeah, as you can see," Liam said in a huff, "the bastard took him hostage and then knocked him out."

"But what was he doing here? He's supposed to go on the offensive tomorrow."

"Well, promise not to lose your temper if I tell you."

"I'll think about it," said the general grimly, and kicked the marshal's body with his foot.

"Careful," Liam shielded Pitsu with his body, "don't be so rude."

"All right, I don't care," the general turned and walked away.

But five minutes later, stumbling, the best army doctor came running up to him.

That night, Liam, and his companions were finally able to eat and rest in peace. It was decided that the portal was to be destroyed.

Since Schwartz had been disarmed, everyone relaxed and waited for the next day. Marshall came to his senses and tried to stay out of the way so as not to attract attention.

The night passed relatively quietly, only the occasional screams of trapped creatures rang through the valley. The army had built a net of traps and booby traps around the camp.

This allowed the monsters to be disposed of automatically. In the morning, Liam took the marshal and his apprentices and set out for the cliff. No one followed them. Standing on the rock, Liam pondered.

"Why do you hesitate?" The marshal asked.

"I am thinking."

"What else is wrong?" The marshal rolled his eyes.

"He didn't get into this world, so he went farther down the Passage..." said Liam.

"And entered the world of the creatures, you mean?" Pitsu finished his thought.

Liam nodded. The Marshal raised his face to the sky, barely able to contain his irritation and annoyance. Looking at the Head, he asked:

"And you, of course, want to go there?"

The marshal's eyes grew cold.

The disciples watched Liam's lips in amazement, hoping he would say no. But the head nodded.

"God..." the marshal pleaded, "will you ever stop?"

"Zhu-Er suffered because of me, how can I forget about him?" Liam excused himself.

The marshal lowered his head. His arm was still hanging from the sling. Today was the first time in two days he had had a proper breakfast, and he slept not on the damp ground but at least on a mat in the tent. No insects were climbing on him, no nasty little critters trying to bite him. And he liked it, damn it!

He wanted to go back to his usual satiated, pampered life and take a break. But the restless Liam kept challenging him. An offer he could not refuse, inviting him on a perilous journey to the other side of the universe, from which there was a high probability of not returning. Marshall sat down on the rock, his feet propped up.

"I hate you!" He grumbled.

"You always say that," said Liam, knowing he had almost talked his friend into this adventure, "but where would I be without you?"

After a few minutes of grievous reflection.

"Let the children go home," the man grumbled grudgingly.

"Mentor! We..." the apprentices jumped up to Liam, "may we come with you!"

"Not this time," he put his hands on their shoulders, "remember that you have parents and friends who worry. And there is also a difficult situation at the Academy right now, and they need your help there. Also, you must tell everyone what happened and stay alert."

The students obediently bowed their heads.

"Go and do not shame your Master."

"Yes, Master," they answered.

"If you are not going to destroy the portal, then inform the General," Pitsu said, sitting on the ground with a feeling of utter despair.

"Yeah, right, I'll be right there," Liam looked under his feet and down the cliff.

"Wait, I think he's coming towards us himself," Pitsu said, gazing into the distance.

Liam turned back and mentally prepared for the meeting.

"What's the hitch?" Tishow thundered.

The marshal suddenly laughed.

"I was worried about nothing," Pitsu said, "You explain your genius plan to him," he pointed to the menacing-looking man climbing the cliff.

Liam swallowed and tried to keep his composure.

"I said, what is it?" Tishow approached the marshal, then turned to Liam, "What's wrong?"

"My applause," still sitting on the ground, the marshal gritted his teeth, "the General is as shrewd as ever. What's wrong, the Head?"

"Shut up, you buffoon," Tishow snarled at the marshal and turned back to Liam, "is there a problem?"

"I want to save my dragon," Liam pursed his lips, "I put Zhu-Er in danger by saving my apprentice."

The general looked intently at Liam.

"What apprentice?"

"The one," the marshal was still laughing, and the general looked at him sternly.

"I'm sorry, it's nervous, I'm a little tired," Pitsu waved his hand and rose from the ground.

"What's the matter with him?" Tishow was talking about Cal.

Liam hesitated. A marshal, eager to talk, came to his aid.

"The time you almost killed them all, someone used the Transfer Technique on Cal, and it didn't end well. Now he's lying unconscious, and we were looking for some grass at the bottom of the rebirth lake, but it isn't a goddamn lake no more, it's a portal. All those things came ashore, and Zhu-Er was grabbed, and here we were."

"We followed him down the passageway and ended up on this planet. We found the people and ferried them through the portal to the Academy.

The general listened without interrupting.

"What do you intend to do now?" He asked when Liam stopped talking.

"I want to go to where the creatures came from. I think Zhu-Er is there, and I have to save him.

"Pure madness," the general summed up, not thinking it was rude.

"I know, but what would you do if that happened to Azinoth?"

"Ahem," the general replied.

"Oh, come on," the Marshal exclaimed incredulously, "you all love your animals, carried them around since they were eggs, and then almost breastfed them with milk."

"I'll kill him now," the general motioned toward the pissed-off Pitsu. Liam stopped him, touching his chest with a soft gesture.

"Never mind that, tell me, what would you do in my place?"

The general remained silent and pursed his lips. His cold, impenetrable gaze expressed nothing. The icy eyes terrified his subordinates, and in them was his overwhelming all and sundry aura.

But those tricks didn't work on Liam. The man had long ago hacked into Tishow's defenses and tramped into his soul unhindered, seeking whatever he wanted.

The general himself didn't understand how it happened that this puppy had such power over him, but he was amused by his bravery and naivety. Right now, the thoughts in the general's head were actively circling over a plan to save Liam from likely death at that edge of the portal.

In his mind, he estimated that he would leave his soldiers guarding the cliff and temporarily set up camp there.

"I see you've made up your mind," the Marshal said in a serious tone, "are you with us?"

"Sometimes you can be quite normal," did not miss the opportunity to tease him Tishow, and confirmed his guess.

"What do you mean the General is with us?" A confused Liam interjected.

"I don't want your death on my conscience, I hope we're not taking the children?" He nodded at the whispered students.

"They'll go back to the Academy."

"Good idea," the General said as he left the cliff, "wait here!"

"This is getting interesting," the marshal said, sitting down again on the rock, "sit down, no truth in your feet," he called to Liam.

"Let's all sit down and discuss the plan then," suggested Liam.

But everyone knew that the plan "to "go to who knows where, to hell and maybe save Zhu-Er" wasn't a plan at all, but a stupid epitaph on their future graves.