The fight between Gaileo and Ma Chong had now turned into a repetitive series of Ma Chong striking, Gaileo then shifting around the strike as if he was made of water, and then landing a vicious counter strike. Gaileo had clearly taken the upper hand in the fight.
"How is he moving like that? It must be his ability. It must give him the ability to change his body into a liquid or something." Ma Chong thought as Gaileo was landing yet another solid strike. "But his strikes still have a solid impact, so he must solidify after he dodged my attacks so he can hit me."
Ma Chong launched a barrage of attacks in order to avoid Gaileo's counter strikes. However, even while his body seemed to be shifting like water to avoid Ma Chong's strikes he still smashed Ma Chong's face with a powerful counter attack.
"How did you land that strike? I thought your body wasn't solidified again yet." Ma Chong said.
"Huh? What do you mean? Isn't it only natural for a person's fists to be solid?" Gaileo asked, somewhat confused.
"What? Was that strange movement earlier not his special ability? Wait, has he not been using his special ability? This might be more troublesome than I expected." Ma Chong thought.
"No I've been using my special ability." Gaileo said as if he could read Ma Chong's mind. "My ability is called Absolute Kenpo, it's an ability that enhances my martial arts techniques. That's basically it." Gaileo responded.
"That movement is just a martial arts technique? That's extremely impressive, but if that's all his special ability does then that means I don't have to worry about him getting any stronger." Ma Chong thought as he was now certain of his victory. As soon as he relaxed for a second, Gaileo punched his fist through his chest.
"Did you relax because you thought that you didn't have to worry about me getting any stronger?" Gaileo asked as he removed his hand and Ma Chong dropped to the ground with blood pouring out of his chest. "What a disappointing way for this fight to end." He said as he looked down at his defeated opponent.
Ma Chong's consciousness completely faded to black, but he ended up regaining consciousness at some point later on after the city had been full retaken by Gaileo's forces.
"What's going on? Shouldn't I be dead?" Ma Chong thought to himself. When he looked around he saw that his would had been treated, but also that he had been tied up and was surrounded by Gaileo's men. He noticed that Gaileo himself was sitting in front of him.
"You're finally awake Ma Chong, good. Now we can finally get to business." Gaileo said. "I took care not to kill you with that last strike."
"But, why?"
"Because you are strong, and a talented commander. Based solely on tactics, you should have been the victor in our battle. I only won by using brute force. It would be a complete waste for you to die here. I could make use of your considerable talent, join my retinue." Gaileo said as he extended his hand.
"Ha! How could I ever join you? Death is far preferable than becoming the lap dog for the Empire, for the very same people who ruthlessly slaughtered my people. Do me a favor and just get it over with already." Ma Chong said as he stuck his neck out.
"You're wrong!" Gaileo declared. "You wouldn't be working for the people who slaughtered your people. You'd be working for me. What happened in Thundara was a tragedy, and I would never allow such a thing to occur in my Empire. You have my word that I will investigate who was responsible for such barbarous actions, and I will personally see the they receive retribution tenfold of what was seen in your homeland. So, will you help me Ma Chong? Will you help me build an Empire where terrible tragedies like this never occur?" He said as he extended a hand towards him one more time.
Ma Chong could see the sincerity in Gaileo's eyes as he spoke. This wasn't merely lip service to try to win him over to his side. All the same, he could not bring himself to ever work under an Imperial banner regardless of the circumstances.
"If only you were the one in charge during the war ten years ago. Maybe we wouldn't even be here right now." Ma Chong said with a slight smile. "I appreciate your offer, but I'm afraid I will still have to refuse. I could never betray my people and fight under your banner, so once again, I humbly request death." He said as he closed his eyes and resolved himself for what would inevitably happen next.
Gaileo let out a disappointed sigh, and put his face in his hand. "I find that quite disappointing, but then again that loyalty and resolve are what make you so valuable as an ally. I suppose there's nothing more I can say to convince you. It seems execution is the only option that remains for you Ma Chong. It truly is a shame." He said as he stood up and started walking towards Ma Chong.
"Wait boss, we can't execute him here right? Wouldn't the Imperial Court want to get their hands on him? They'd probably want to have public execution for him, so they can humiliate him and dissuade anyone else from trying to rebel." Benji said.
"That's not very beautiful." Shion mused as he twirled a rise between his fingers.
"No, it's not Shion." Gaileo said as he motioned for one of his men to hand him his spear. He then thrust the spear through Ma Chong's chest.
Ma Chong seemed to smile as his body dropped to the ground again, and in his final breath he said words that sounded quite like, "Thank you."
"You there!" Gaileo shouted at some of the soliders that they had captured.
"Y-Yes sir?" They nervously replied.
"Take his body and give him a proper burial. Do it far from the city and tell no one where you've buried him." He ordered.
"Umm? What should we do after that?" The confused soldier asked as they were being cut loose.
"Are you stupid or something? After you bury him I want you to get lost. The whole point of not using my own men to bury the body is so they can't be questioned about the whereabouts later. If you finally understand then get going already!" Gaileo snapped.
The freed prisoners did as Gaileo instructed and to this day no one other than the men who dug the grave knew its location.
Back in the city, Gaileo was visibly irritated while the rest of his men celebrated their victory.
"What's the matter Captain? You still seem a bit nettled." Shion said as he took a seat next to him and handed him a drink.
"I wanted Ma Chong to join us." He said as he grabbed the cup that Shion offered him. "The Imperial Court wanted to humiliate Ma Chong and display his corpse. Ma Chong wanted to die. We were the ones that won but he's the only one who got what he wanted. It makes me wonder who really won this battle in the end."