I, who was eager to retire, became an Imperial General.

Chapter 167 Heavy and Abnormal

John didn't stay at the victory celebration for long. After being surrounded by everyone and forced to drink a few beers, and after being publicly praised for everyone's contributions in the battle, he secretly slipped away from the crowd while everyone was having another drinking contest.

Afterwards, John went to the celebration site where Siegfried and his soldiers were, and after praising several soldiers who had performed bravely in the Battle of Iron Horse Mountain in a similar manner, John, who was slightly drunk, walked to the stern of the battleship Horst.

"Wow!"

The humid sea breeze blew against John's face, ruffling his loose hair. He leaned on the railing, his dark eyes gazing at the distant starry coastline.

Looking at the huge, gray-black puddle exposed to view by the lights of their own patrol team on the shore, it resembled an abyss.

Under the magnified effect of the magic eye, the scene clearly came into view, located at the edge of the Starry Coast.

The pile of corpses, which had been moved and piled up by their own soldiers and burned by dozens of fire mages for an entire afternoon, still looked like a small mountain.

At this moment, John fell silent.

Although John had foreseen this scene when he was preparing the plan, and in order to avoid being bothered by the real deaths, he left early during the post-war cleanup.

But after seeing the specific casualty figures for both the enemy and his own forces calculated by Lünebo, he clearly realized that...

Because of his orders, at least 50,000 people from both sides were completely buried on this battlefield.

It wasn't fifty people, nor five hundred, but fifty thousand.

A full fifty thousand!

"..."

Looking at the gray faces in my field of vision, at the flames that kept burning on the shore, at the bodies that twisted and twitched uncontrollably from the burning flames, and finally turned into blackened, shriveled corpses that could no longer be recognized.

John felt a sudden nausea in his stomach and instinctively lowered his eyes.

However, he did not stop the operation of the Demon Eye technique, but gritted his teeth and forced himself to stare at the scene.

He knew that his body was instinctively resisting the horrific scene.

But John knew he had to keep watching.

Only by getting used to this scene can he shed his naive ideas and fully integrate into this era.

Only by deeply understanding the cruelty and brutality of war can he be more cautious when making decisions.

Only by keeping this heavy feeling in his heart can he truly recognize the preciousness of peace and move forward steadfastly toward achieving this goal!
However, in order to achieve this, he will continue to create more such scenes in the future.

Despite the fact that he will be labeled a devil and executioner by countless people in the future.

But it will all be worth it!
As for whether he will fall into hell after death because of the excessive killing he has committed, that remains to be seen.

Let the gods judge such matters after I die.

"The opinions of the world are not important to me. Having come this far, I am destined to have no turning back before achieving true victory."

"Compared to feeling regret and self-blame for the cruelty of the killing, what I, as an Imperial commander, should be thinking about more is how to resolve this damned battle at a lower cost."

"Therefore, all I need is victory, and only victory!"

Even if it makes me a demon in everyone's eyes, even if it makes me someone that countless people want to kill.

But so what?
People always have to lose something in pursuit of their goals, as long as their original aspirations remain unchanged.

So, I am still the unparalleled commander who achieved the great harmony of the world—John Maslow!

In the game, being on the Allied side allows me to achieve this goal.

Even if we switch to the Empire faction now, the outcome will not change!
"Because I have seen all the paths of destiny, I am the most dazzling presence in this performance."

"Anything that tries to block my light will be crushed and obscured by me."

"And this is beyond doubt!"

John murmured to himself with a firm tone.

At the same time, almost the instant John had this idea.

A sound, imperceptible to ordinary people, as if shackles were breaking, inexplicably rang out from him.

The moonlight that had been falling from the sky and covering John's body was now expelled from his body by an inexplicable force, unable to touch him any further.

If a Grand-rank mage were to witness this scene, they would likely be so shocked by John's unusual behavior that they would fall to the ground on the spot.

In their understanding, only two types of beings can achieve the ability to isolate themselves from external objects.

The first type is the ether, which is described in the magic book as the source of all magic in the world.

Only under the influence of terrifying power from a higher dimension that does not belong to this world, will any matter in the world be suppressed by the other's status, thus making it impossible to touch the other even slightly.

As for the second type, it has already disappeared from the world, and it is also a group of goals that all extraordinary people have pursued throughout their lives.

However, although those targets each have different real names, they all share the same title in the world.

And that title is:
God!

"Crack!"

The imperceptible cracking of the shackles continued to emanate from John's body.

It was as if the power that had been bound within this body was slowly beginning to recover after John's will broke through that invisible cage.

However, because the growth rate was too slow and exceeded the range that ordinary people could perceive, this anomaly did not attract anyone's attention.

Even John didn't realize that something was wrong with him.

At this moment, looking at the infernal burning scene that unfolded before his eyes, the hesitation in John's eyes gradually dissipated, turning into an increasingly cold and resolute expression.

Only after the churning stomach completely subsided and the trembling hands had somehow calmed down.

He then took a deep breath, exhaling the gloom that had been weighing on his heart, and simultaneously suspending the operation of the Demon Eye spell.

However, just as he was about to turn around and head to the room Bob had arranged for him, wanting to check the map to prepare for the next steps, a clear, unmasked footstep approaching him rapidly reached his ears.

"Tap, tap!"

As John turned to look, he saw Leia, her beautiful silver hair gleaming in the moonlight, reflecting a captivating glow, walking briskly towards him.

"..."

Then, to John's slightly surprised look, it slowly stopped a short distance in front of him.

She didn't say a word, just stood there, staring intently at him with her emerald-like eyes.

Compared to her usual calm, Leia's expression at this moment, besides being at ease, was more puzzled, as if she was troubled by something, and her silver eyebrows were furrowed.

"What a coincidence, Leia, you're here for some fresh air too? Why don't you stay at the party a little longer?" John was a little puzzled when he saw Leia, who seemed to be lost in thought for no apparent reason, but he didn't think much of it and greeted her with a smile.

He wasn't surprised that Leia was able to find her place so easily.

After all, as the holder of the All Things Stripping Technique, the other party's perception ability far surpasses that of others, so it is normal that they can easily lock onto his location.

"I don't like crowded places."

Leia shook her head and replied with a single sentence.

But her emerald eyes remained fixed on John, sensing the feedback from the spell and feeling the familiar aura emanating from him. Instead of diminishing, Leia's doubts grew stronger.

Because after discovering that John had left the party, she followed him to protect his safety, while trying to keep her footsteps quiet so that John wouldn't notice.

They planned to use this method to secretly protect the other party's safety.

But just now, Leia, who had been constantly using her spell perception, discovered that the aura belonging to John, which she should have been able to sense at all times, had suddenly disappeared.

Although this state only lasted for a moment, it still caught Leia's attention.

This situation, which she had never encountered before, truly puzzled and confused her.

It could even be described as shocking.

After all, under normal circumstances, there is only one way to circumvent the perception of the "All Things Stripping" technique.

That means the opponent must be stronger than the spellcaster.

It wasn't that Leia underestimated John's combat abilities. After all, due to the commander training program at the Imperial First Military Academy, John's fellow students focused more on command skills than actual combat.

However, since the opponent was able to graduate as the top student and received the Iron Wreath award, their combat strength is at least above average.

The problem is that although Leia is currently only a high-ranking mage, her magical power far exceeds that of a typical high-ranking mage.

Even ordinary super-ranked mages cannot easily escape her perception.

Therefore, logically speaking, no matter how talented John is, the situation just now should not have occurred.

So, is this the effect of Major John's unique technique?

Leia's brows gradually relaxed as she thought about John's identity. However, after some thought, she still decided to remind the mysterious Major John not to easily conceal his aura.

This could easily cause her to lose her senses and mistakenly believe that the other party has been attacked, thus causing some unnecessary trouble.

But upon seeing John's face, Leia was taken aback, and immediately asked instinctively:
"John, are you okay?"

"Huh? I'm fine, why do you say that?"

John looked puzzled, then smiled at the other person and said:

"Ah, maybe you were given too much to drink, so your complexion might look a little pale. But that's normal. You'll be fine after a good night's sleep, Leia. Don't worry."

"..."

Leia didn't speak. She looked at John, who was smiling broadly in front of her. Although his smile was exactly the same as usual, for some reason, when they made eye contact, she felt a strange unease.

Yet, she could always sense a suffocating heaviness and oppression in the other person's eyes, which shone like stars.

This was different from the John Maslow she remembered, who always exuded confidence and made her want to smile whenever they made eye contact.

So, is John lying to himself?

Realizing this, Leia couldn't help but purse her lips, feeling somewhat puzzled and confused.

In the past, Leia would have definitely asked the other person directly why they did that.

After all, she has always preferred to speak her mind directly and dislikes beating around the bush.

But since meeting Wendy, she has learned a lot of common sense from her and has gradually realized that...

Not all lies in this world are malicious.

So, John must have had his reasons for deceiving himself this time, right?

But what kind of predicament would make John show such an attitude?

Looking at John's heavy gaze, Leia felt inexplicably sad and immediately began to think quickly in her mind.

She first recalled the time before her side set off from Walden to Faoken.

At the time, Major General Jet secretly told her that once they arrived in Faoken, they would need to be wary not only of the Allied forces, but also of news about their own army units.

Then he recalled the power grab that John had recently initiated.

This is combined with John's current 'troubled' expression.

So, after using her extraordinary intellect to think, Leia's mind quickly came up with the 'answer':
John is troubled by his upcoming supply mission to Madfang City!
If we had to pinpoint a target, then the root of it would be Dolan Beyat, the current supreme commander of the Independent 3rd Division!
And from this, we can infer that:

Dolan Beyate = Allied Forces (X)

Dolan Beattie = The root of John's headaches (√)
I see, I understand now!
So, if John could just kill Dolan Bayat cleanly and efficiently and frame the Allies, he wouldn't be so troubled and would be back to his usual cheerful self, right?

I can't believe I didn't realize this beforehand; I'm really too stupid.

But it's not too late now. After all, Lieutenant Wendy had told me that as long as I admit my mistakes in time and correct them, I will still be a qualified Maslow's advocate!
Therefore, making amends by doing good deeds is sufficient.

Once I get rid of Dolan Beatrice, who's been giving John a headache, John will definitely get better!

Having grasped the root of the problem, Leia suddenly understood, and then immediately spoke to John with a resolute expression:

"Major John, I know what to do!"

?

What do you know?
John was completely baffled by Leia's inexplicable words.

John was about to ask what the other person meant when he was interrupted by a signal notification from his earpiece, followed by Wendy's serious voice.

Upon hearing the contents, John's pupils constricted to their lowest point, his heart filled with disbelief:

"Battalion Commander John, just now, we received an urgent telegram from the front-line army."

"The 4th Army Division, located on the Kokobia front, was completely routed ten minutes ago under the Allied attack."

"The outer perimeter of the Kokobia rainforest has been completely lost!"

"!"

……

(End of this chapter)