"Then, perhaps you were also talking about me?"
His emotionless voice rang out, sending a shiver down everyone's spine, only Orville remained calm.
"K-Kuuhh.. Ahh... " Nash tried to resist but it was futile. All his efforts will only result in him feeling even more pain.
/Gulp/
All other Generals gulped audibly.
'If he can do that to Nash, then the same goes for us!' All of them thought at the same time.
They knew they were never Ron's match. Forget about after he ascended to the Marshall Rank, even when he was at the General Rank, he was capable of defeating any of them easily.
It had to be remembered that Ron didn't become the leader of all the Generals after advancing to the Marshall rank, but after becoming a General rank.
There were many factors involved in him becoming the leader after the 'Stampede' that happened 6 six years back.
One was of course the backing he had in the form of two generals, Connor and Orville, supporting him. Another was the public support towards someone related to Frank and Emma but the most important factor was only one: strength.
At that time when Ron expressed his desire to become the leader, there was of course, opposition.
With two Generals backing him, the only opposition that can arise was from other Generals.
The other side had 4 generals with them. While two of them have now perished, the other two were Ryuto and Nataya.
Since the opposition had the majority in terms of votes, it was decided that Ron's request won't come to pass.
Since Ron's 'request' didn't come to pass, he had to go for other options.
And he chose the simplest and the most direct way for that. He declared in front of all the Generals openly,
'Since all of you had refused to comply with my 'request', let me rephrase myself. This is an order from the 'new leader'.'
He openly declared himself as the new leader in front of everyone.
And what happened next... well, it's pretty self explanatory.
The terms were rather simple. No killing was allowed and any lethal blow that can lead to one becoming a cripple or will make any General out of service for prolonged a period of time was not allowed.
The Generals were way too precious of a resource to let them die in internal conflicts.
The Generals that aren't participating and are on stand by had full authority to intervene do they catch any of the above rules getting broken.
To make sure no party will go back on their words, the match was held in front of the entire Central stronghold of the time.
The match was a 3 Vs 1, with all the Generals from the opposition coming together in hopes of crushing Ron quickly.
Ryuto didn't participate and chose to be on stand-by. There were two primary reasons for his choice.
The first reason was Sophie, who was his.... Well, a good 'friend' at that time and also a close aide to Ron's father, Frank. She didn't wanted Ryuto to go against his teacher's only son.
But even after Sophie tried to convince him, Ryuto had to have other considerations in his mind. The most primary of them being the young Ron.
He didn't doubt his strength but was unsure if such a young child should be allowed to lead humanity in these dire circumstances or not.
That's where the second reason came into play. His faith in Sir Orville and the late, Mam Emma.
He was sure that if Orville was letting this happen, then there had to have a reason behind this.
Other than that, there was also another factor due to which he refused to participate.
A newly advanced general like Ron was going against 3 generals from opposition, all of whom were rather experienced.
For Ryuto, this was shamelessnes of the nth degree.
But the opposition fears weren't unfounded either. He was the son of the fearful Emma Williams. They didn't wanted to take any chances and hence they proposed a 3 on one fight.
And surprisingly for Ryuto, Orville, Connor and Ron, all three of them agreed to it.
When he heard that, all the displeasure and doubts that he had immediately disappeared and what replaced it was sheer curiosity.
'Just what is it that they know and I don't.'
He would think to himself.
'Well, we will find out on the day of the duel.'
And just like that, the day of the duel arrived.
And what happened next was an eye opener for all of the people that watched the match on that day.
Ron's figure stood tall at 6 foot 1 inch as his emotionless eyes gazed at the three figures that lay sprawled on the ground in a sorry state, their bodies trembling from pain. Disbelief written all over their faces.
All of the public present just stared ahead blankly, their mouths agape as their brains tried to process what they had just witnessed.
Ron, uncaring of the commotion he had just caused, started walking back towards the stronghold.
The fight was one sided but he has still sustained some minor injuries here and there, so he needed to rest.
As he walked back, people will make way for him. The young boy they looked at with hope and expectations, they now gazed at him with fear in their eyes.
Ron didn't bother to stop for a second, heading straight towards the leaders quarter.
Suddenly, he paused for a bit and said without looking back.
"There will be a meeting of Generals tomorrow at this hour, be on time."
He ordered with the same impassive voice and walked off with the same sword that his mother used to use hanging on his waist.
All the Generals remembered that scene almost simultaneously. They were all present on that day to witness the spectacle.
Since then, no general has dared to challenge Ron's authority.
There wasn't any need to anyways.
Not only Ron had the strength, he has proven himself as an exemplary leader again and again.
Even now, the 'main topic' they had gathered to discuss was discovered by Ron. In the first place, Nataya reported the abnormalities to him because her own strength wasn't sufficient for the task.
Not to mention, their was actually a bit more to the above story that only a few here are aware of... But that's for another day.
Their thoughts drifted back to the current situation as they watched Nash trembling figure still on the ground.
'He can kill him just merely by his mana pressure.'
They thought inwardly. The 'mana pressure' they were talking about was the force a Ascendant can produce by radiating mana from their mana heart. The more higher ranked the individual, the higher the quality and amount they can radiate.
'But'
Some of the people like Sophie and Kenny, who hasn't seen Ron in action often, widened their eyes as they realised something.
'How come he's able to radiate it this accurately.....D-Dont tell me'
Usually, the radiation that come out of the Mana heart was always scattered within a 90 degree or so angle. It didn't travel in a pin point direction.
It's possible to give the pressure a direction if it's only a little bit, but that too will require a high control over mana. Only General or in some cases, Commander ranks were capable of doing it but Ron.....
The amount of pressure Ron was currently radiating was enough to render a General Rank helpless.
It's unknown how much mana a Marshall ranked individual has but they could sense it.... The amount of pressure Ron was currently applying on Nash....
It was by no means small.
And yet, he was able to direct it this easily.... They can only think of one possible reason....
'Has his control over mana reached such an absurd level.... '
Keep in mind that pressure is not a force applied using mana. It's just that, a radiation.
A radiation that came out of mana... as some call it, Mana radiation.
And Ron control over Mana has reached such a level that he can even control the radiations that mana produces.... and that to such staggering levels.
"hiss... " "Sigh... "
The ones who were watching it for the first time drew in a cold breath while others who already had an idea just sighed.
While others were thinking about Ron's ridiculous control over mana, something else was going on Nash's mind.
'So that's why he's the leader.... '
He thought while grinning.
Others who saw his grin just shook their heads, including Orville. They, just like for Kenny, were also all too used to Nash's behavior.
For what it is, Nash too wasn't a simple man either..... or a boy.
Ron frowned a little as he saw Nash grinning.
And in the next moment...
/BAM/
"Aaahhhh... "
Nash's figure who was on his knees up until now, smashed downed into the ground.
He raised his head a bit by using whatever strength he could muster...and the moment he did, his eyes met Ron's same impassive gaze.