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

Chapter 191 Shock
I am not a member of the Splinter family?
Or was it the Binot family from the Empire?

Her real name is Anna Binot?

Upon hearing this, Anna froze on the spot, but quickly dismissed the absurd claim, turning her icy gaze to Serbia and rebuking him:

"That's impossible, because I clearly remember my childhood. You must be lying!"

Believe it or not, after all, I have no reason to lie to you, do I?

Serbia shrugged indifferently; in fact, she had already anticipated this scenario when she opened her mouth.

After all, since the Allied forces were able to abduct a descendant of the Binot family without anyone noticing and even successfully get her into a military academy, even a fool would know that the person nominally responsible for raising her but actually monitoring her growth must have brainwashed Anna from a young age.

It would be a miracle if she could break through the Kingdom of Loran's twenty-year-long brainwashing of Anna with just a few words.

The reason she said that was to plant a seed of doubt in the other person's mind beforehand.

All that remains is for the two remaining monsters of the Binott family to meet on the battlefield and clash, and the seed of doubt will take root and propel Anna toward the truth.

At that time, Serbia is quite looking forward to seeing how Anna, who has come to understand her true bloodline, will act under the deception of 'lies', given the almost foolishly pure and righteous character she previously displayed.

Of course, most importantly, what she wanted to see was what kind of expression Leia, that wooden-like girl, would make when she saw Anna on the battlefield, who looked and used spells almost identical to that idiotic and violent woman.

Although it's hard to imagine, it's sure to be very exciting!

Hmm, it's already making me quite impatient!

"However, for now, we should run away first, otherwise it will be troublesome if we are caught by them."

After all, the Allied high command was already aware of his betrayal during the 'assassination' operation in Bahamut.

If I were captured by this Loran Kingdom squad, whose mission I have no idea what, I'd be lucky to be hanged right afterward.

Serbia was calculating in her mind, and before Anna, who was lost in thought, could react, she kicked a boulder next to her at the other person. While the other person was dodging, Serbia quickly distanced herself from him and stood on the top of the ruins in the distance.

After glancing at the three figures rushing towards the church ruins in the distance, she gracefully curtsied to the shocked and furious Anna, and said in a playful tone:

“I have said my piece, Anna Binot. If you want to know the truth about your origins, then go to the Empire or the battlefield at a time when you have the chance.”

"You will get the real answers during the process of visiting or questioning the prisoners."

"Well then, goodbye, you little rascal who looks just as ugly as your sister~"

Serbia gave a slight bow, then, ignoring Anna's annoyed gaze, she smiled and snapped her fingers.

"Whoosh whoosh!"

The next second, with superb magical control skills, a large number of air blades formed around Serbia in an instant.

It then swiftly bombarded the surrounding ruins, tearing them to shreds and creating a thick cloud of smoke that instantly covered the entire battlefield.

"Wait! You, explain yourself properly!"

The billowing smoke obscured Anna's vision, but after she used her magic to blow away all the smoke and dust, Serbia was nowhere to be seen on the desolate battlefield.

Anna was immediately filled with unprecedented regret, but besides this feeling of regret, what filled her heart more was doubt.

In fact, Anna had noticed long ago that the members of her family seemed a bit strange.

Although everyone else had the same silver hair as her, when she was little, out of curiosity, she would sneak out to the corridor at night to look at the moon instead of going to sleep as her father had asked. She noticed that when the moonlight shone on her hair, it would reflect a wonderful light.

However, the rest of the family members did not seem to have this characteristic.

Later, after learning from his father that he was the only person in the Splinter family to have inherited the family's Equality of All Things technique, he realized that he was the only one in the family to have inherited it.

Anna attributed the strange occurrence to the Equality of All Things spell and didn't think about it further.

But after hearing Serbia's words today, even though her father's teachings had long placed her family second only to justice in her heart, an absurd thought began to uncontrollably arise in her mind:

Could it be that what they said is true?

"No, impossible, absolutely impossible! How could I, a warrior of the Kingdom of Loran, actually be a descendant of an evil empire? That's impossible!"

But if it's false, why would the other party tell such a flimsy lie?
Moreover, the other party also provided a completely feasible testing method.

Is it a trap? Or is it real?

Suddenly, Anna felt a strange pain in her head, as if some undetectable force was lurking deep within her brain.

As if sensing her thoughts at that moment, it began to silently spread according to the established spell circuit.

Here it comes again, this damn headache. It's been bothering me ever since I turned 16.

But clearly, before setting off, she had already received medical treatment at her father's arrangement.

Logically speaking, the disease shouldn't have developed so quickly.

So, what's going on?

Did that half-dragon ambush him without him noticing?
Feeling the excruciating pain in her mind, Anna's face gradually contorted, and she instinctively clutched her head tightly with both hands.

At this moment, she was being eroded by that strange force that seemed to be drilling into her brain.

Anna realized that this headache was much stronger than any of her previous attacks!

It was as if they wanted to completely smash her head!
No, we have to find a way to save ourselves!
Anna tried to endure the pain and picked up the communication device to call her mentor, Erwin, for help.

Before she could even touch the communication device on her waist, her vision began to blur uncontrollably, and she heard a series of illusory voices that seemed to be shouting in her ears.

The sounds were dense and numerous, like the chirping of cicadas, and were exceptionally sharp and mournful.

It was like the mournful howl of a wild beast, shot in the heart, before its death.

It makes it almost impossible for people to think.

"thump!"

Anna collapsed to her knees, beads of sweat the size of peas forming on her skin that quickly soaked her clothes.

But no matter how hard she gritted her teeth and endured it, the strange pain in her mind not only did not stop, but became even more intense.

It was as if the conflict would not stop until Anna was completely killed.

Even Anna, who is known for her gentle nature, couldn't help but feel anger, a feeling she hadn't experienced in a long time.

An inexplicable impulse welled up within him, and he instinctively swung his right hand, which had somehow manifested silver-white circuitry, and slammed it into his head, which was filled with piercing auditory hallucinations. At the same time, he roared angrily:
"Shut up! Get out of my head!"

"Crack!"

As the silvery-white mist carrying the power of stripping crashed into Anna's head, the expected scene of Anna's head being blown apart by the stripping power did not occur.

Just a second before the silvery mist was about to touch Anna's skin, as if sensing a certain target, a large amount of stripping power began to spread rapidly and disappeared into Anna's head as if in a dream.

The next second, with the influx of the stripping force, it seemed as if it had been hit by an unprecedented shock.

An invisible cracking sound suddenly rang out from Anna's body.

Immediately afterwards, this spell, which had been deliberately implanted into Anna's mind to bind her spirit, was used.

At this moment, it seemed as if the will inherited from the bloodline of the ancient miracle finally noticed it. Under the spread of the silvery mist, it began to be uncontrollably covered and devoured, losing its original aggressiveness.

Almost instantly, the excruciating pain in Anna's mind completely subsided, and the noise in her ears disappeared as well. It was as if the excruciating pain had never happened, but was merely a hallucination.

"Snapped!"

Anna's right hand, whose power of stripping away had dissipated at some point, then slapped her cheek, making a crisp sound.

However, feeling the unusually peaceful sensation in her ears and the burning pain on her face, Anna froze in place.

It took him a long time to come to his senses.

Ignoring the slap mark on her face, she stared blankly at her palm.

After finally realizing the extent of the danger she had just committed, even she couldn't help but feel a wave of fear.

But after the initial fear subsided, she was overwhelmed with intense shock and confusion.

She was certain that the act of using the Equality of All Things to strike her head was not of her own volition.

In comparison, it was more as if something had taken control of her body at that moment.

And he manipulated her to carry out this action.

And the force was so great that her mouth is now bleeding.

So, what exactly is this...?

Anna knelt on the spot, her eyes filled with confusion, until she heard hurried footsteps ahead, which finally brought her back to her senses.

“Anna Sprint, you did a great job this time, buying enough time for the reinforcements, and also…”

The newcomers were none other than Erwin and his companions, who had rushed over in a hurry. Upon seeing the ruins of the church, he immediately narrowed his eyes, feeling a sense of surprise.

After all, judging from the current state of the battle's aftermath, it looked like two elite-level high-ranking mages were fighting.

Even from the residual magical energy, Erwin could deduce that the enemy seemed to have mastered a unique type of pseudo-space magic.

With such magical power and terrifying ground-destroying capabilities, even a veteran high-ranking mage would likely find this unidentified enemy quite troublesome.

And Anna was just a mid-level mage, yet she managed to survive against her opponent?

It's just incredible.

All I can say is, he truly deserves to be the genius personally appointed captain by General Olko.

It's absolutely terrifying.

Erwin slowly gathered his thoughts and turned to look at Anna, who had stood up at some point and appeared somewhat silent.

Upon noticing the handprint on the other person's face, he first raised an eyebrow in surprise, but instead of asking about the strange injury, he inquired about the more crucial question:
Do you remember the enemy's characteristics?

"...I'm sorry, Instructor Erwin, the opponent was wearing a cloak, and I didn't get a clear look at their appearance during the battle."

According to chivalry, Anna should have told the truth, but this time, inexplicably, she told the first lie of her life.

Anna's heart began to pound uncontrollably, and her cheeks burned uncontrollably. But in order not to be noticed, Anna lowered her head before her expression changed, letting her beautiful silver hair cover her face. Luckily, Erwin did not notice anything amiss.

"That's it..."

Seeing Anna hanging her head in silence, Erwin assumed that she was feeling humiliated by her defeat and therefore did not dare to look up at him, so he didn't think much of it.

Instead, she offered a token word of comfort:

“Anna Splinter, you don’t need to worry about this defeat. After all, if I’m not mistaken, the enemy you faced this time was a high-ranking mage.”

"Moreover, the other party is most likely an inheritor of a unique spell, otherwise, this church would not have become like this in such a short time."

"To have survived for so long against an enemy who is a class higher than you and also an inheritor of a unique spell, you have done an excellent job this time."

"Moreover, you are a core member of the Special Operations Department personally selected by General Olko. Both His Majesty Lonnus and Her Majesty Queen Victoria have very high expectations for you, so you don't need to be upset about a temporary defeat."

"After you complete the training with the other members and pass General Olko's test, I believe that with the experience gained on the battlefield, you will soon be able to transcend the mid-level mage rank, and may even reach the super-rank."

"At that time, with the power of your Splinter family's magic, you can easily kill enemies like those you face today with a wave of your hand!"

"..."

Anna didn't respond, but lowered her head even further. She was very nervous, afraid that her unusual behavior, stemming from lying for the first time in her life, would be noticed by others.

Fortunately, after offering Anna a few words of comfort, Erwin's attention was drawn to the foul-smelling underground passage. He immediately forgot about how Anna had survived and strode forward.

Seeing this, the other two followed.

However, unlike the other green-haired girl, before following in Erwin's footsteps, Royce gave Anna a meaningful glance.

It was as if they were not staring at a human being, but examining an object, trying to determine if it was damaged.

After a barely perceptible pause, seemingly unaware of anything amiss, Reus adjusted his glasses and then calmly followed Erwin.

"..."

Hearing the footsteps ahead, Anna took a few deep breaths and managed to calm herself down, suppressing the doubts in her heart. She then went with the three to the underground passage. After the four of them, led by Erwin and carrying portable magic lamps, went up the stairs covered with dark brown bloodstains and reached the bottom, the scene that came into view made all of them change their expressions drastically.

It was a scene resembling a slaughterhouse, except that what was hanging on the iron hooks were not livestock, but human beings.

Furthermore, most of them have lost their original bodies, replaced by numerous twisted tentacles or animal limbs and heads.

What terrified everyone the most, and could even be described as sending chills down their spines, was...

These 'humans,' whose torsos or heads had been replaced, seemed not to be dead at this moment. Instead, they struggled weakly, stretching out their arms or tentacles from the iron hooks and looking at the four people in the field with almost pleading eyes.

Hopefully, those who have found their kind will be able to help them escape this hell.

"vomit!"

Among them was a small girl with green hair named Mariana Giles. Upon seeing this horrific sight, she immediately began to vomit uncontrollably, and tears of fear streamed down her face.

"!"

Even Erwin, a warrior who had witnessed countless deaths, couldn't help but look grim upon seeing this horrifying scene.

But after a quick glance at the pitiful test subjects, he did not destroy the hellish place immediately. Instead, he walked straight toward the blood-stained workbench in the distance.

He then picked up the pile of notebooks that looked like experimental logs and began to flip through them rapidly. As he flipped through them, his expression became increasingly solemn. When he saw a photo of a special experimental subject labeled as number 1875 in Imperial language, Erwin was suddenly stunned.

Then, as if remembering something, he quickly took out a photo of the target of the mission from his bag and compared it with the figure in the photo in his notebook.

The photograph in his hand showed a woman wearing a light blue robe representing a high-ranking mage of the Mystra Academy, her eyes wrapped in white bandages, with a voluptuous figure, yet even looking at the photograph sent chills down one's spine.

The notebook records the story of a girl with an innocent smile on her face. Even in photos where she can't make any movements, her enthusiasm and vitality radiating from within are undeniable, making her seem like a little angel.

Even though their temperaments were almost opposite, after seeing their names, which differed only in their family surnames, Erwin instantly realized that the two photos clearly depicted the same person.

"The genius sorcerer of Mistra Academy, the 'Ghost Painter' who single-handedly commands an army—Celestin Novak!"

……

(End of this chapter)