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

Chapter 236 Madness and Despair

My life is over!

Seeing the ice sword suddenly aimed at his heart, John had only one thought left in his mind.

However, before he could continue thinking, his already weakened body reacted before his brain could.

In an instant, countless densely packed spell circuits began to rapidly emerge from his eyes, and then quickly spread to all parts of his body, attempting to use magic to activate the spell and neutralize this potentially fatal attack.

However, before the spell circuits mastered by John's body could activate spontaneously, another force hidden within him took action ahead of time.

"Buzz!"

With a tremor imperceptible to humans, the world seemed to freeze in time.

A large amount of pitch-black, flame-like smoke began to form out of thin air from behind John's head, boiling and then quickly condensing into a finger with a wrinkled surface, as strong as an eagle's claw, but upon closer inspection, it looked like a withered tree branch.

Then, without anyone noticing, the eerie finger passed through John's body like a phantom, finally reaching the ice sword that was about to pierce John's heart.

Then, gently lift the blade upwards in an arc with your fingertips.

"laugh!"

After completing this action, as if violating some taboo, the strange finger began to rapidly steam and twist, while continuously releasing large amounts of black mist.

As if its very essence had been punished by some force, after a tremor, it quickly dissipated into countless wisps of black smoke, which then swiftly retreated toward John's face.

Strangely, however, the seemingly disordered black smoke surged back into John's face in an instant.

But in that fleeting moment, a fraction of a trillionth of a second, it vaguely transformed into an exquisitely beautiful human face.

And a subtle, indescribable curve played at the corners of his lips, lingering briefly on the center of John's forehead as he re-entered John's body.

Then, it disappeared completely as the spell circuit re-converged.

At the same time, time, which had been frozen, seemed to have been completely freed from its constraints, and the world's breath began to re-enter the ears of everyone who had not noticed it at all.

"Hey!"

The sound of ice crystals shattering and flesh being torn apart echoed inside the tree stump. Blood-red mist rapidly spread around as the spell faded, but was quickly dispersed by a sudden surge of magical wind.

"..."

Inside the massive hollow tree stump, looking at the space in front of him—which contained nothing but a large number of broken, blood-red ice crystals and no severed limbs—Orion, who had been teleported here via a spatial anchor point to confirm John Maslow's death, had a grim expression on his face.

I even felt a little incredulous.

As the creator, he was well aware of the power of the ninth-ring high-level water magic he had just unleashed, called 'Icebound Sword,' to ensure the killing of his rival, John Maslow.

Although this sword strike appears to be a regular assassination attempt using spatial anchors to strike across space.

However, the complexity of the spell pattern outlined within the Ice Sword is more than twice as complex as the existing spell circuit patterns commonly found in water magic.

Its power far surpasses that of higher-level magic, if Orion were given enough magic power and time to strengthen it instead of it being temporarily condensed and sketched.

The power of the Ice Sword could even reach the level of ordinary super-tier magic.

Logically speaking, given its speed, power, and the exquisite precision of the attack, even a mage below the Super Rank, or even a Super Rank mage, could potentially die instantly from the Ice Sword's attack if the mage is careless!
In other words, before the spell was cast, John Maslow, who was inside the tree stump, was already a corpse in Orion's eyes.

"But why? How was he able to dodge the attack of the Ice Sword?"

Despite being a weak mage below the rank of high-level, he not only avoided being frozen into an ice sculpture and shattered to death by the Ice Sword, but also managed to escape while injured.
This is completely contrary to my understanding of the theory of the extraordinary world!

"So, just as the Ice Sword was about to kill John Maslow, a powerful figure intervened without even him noticing?"

"Or did the magical artifacts John Maslow possess, meant to save his life, come into play?"

Orion's expression shifted between light and dark, his azure eyes fixed on the exposed underground passage on the ground beneath the tree stump, a fierce glint flashing in them.

After witnessing John Maslow's strategic abilities during the battle at Faoken, and seeing the kind of interested look that Roxie had never received before, Roxie was deeply impressed.

No matter how much he tried to deceive himself, Orion was acutely aware that John Maslow had become an obstacle between him and Roxie.

If they were to let the other party leave this time, then both the other party's monstrous command ability and their strategic style, which was completely different from their own yet had a natural affinity with Roxie, would be a significant advantage.

Given Roxie's arrogant nature, sooner or later, he would become John Maslow's prisoner after his defeat.

And it was tamed by the other party into a loyal dog that could be ordered around at will!

Just imagining that scene in his mind was enough to drive Orion to the brink of madness:

"Therefore, we absolutely cannot let this damned imperial monster leave alive; we must find a way to kill him!"

Right here, today!
I must kill John Maslow, no matter what!

Orion's eyes flashed with a fierce light, but just as he was about to defy orders and jump into the tunnel, follow the surging underground water below, find John Maslow, and kill him completely, he was about to...

The next second, as if sensing something, his body paused for a moment, and then he suddenly raised his head to look at the distant sea.

The moment Orion saw what was happening in his field of vision, his pupils constricted to their absolute limit:

It was a massive tsunami that was at least forty meters high and several thousand meters wide.

Its surging momentum, the moment it appears and gazes upon you, makes you feel as if your liver and gallbladder are about to burst.

The blue seawater was covered with large amounts of white foam, as well as tiny, almost rice-like grains of water.

But upon closer inspection, you'll discover that these 'black dots' are actually ships nearly 100 meters long!

What made Orion's hands and feet go cold the most was that the height of the waves formed by this terrifying tsunami was still rising continuously.

Therefore, John Maslow's real killer move was not, as Roxie predicted, a fire attack using a magic-suppressing field.

The opponent's real trump card is this massive tsunami created by some unknown method.

Using the remaining power of the ocean to completely engulf and crush our own forces?

It's highly likely that the other party even anticipated this situation, just so that he could experience the humiliation of being able to kill the other party but having to give up.
"John Maslow, you damned imperial bastard!!!"

Orion roared furiously, his eyes bloodshot, staring intently ahead at the underground tunnel that seemed so close yet so far away.

After a brief twitch of his face, he gritted his teeth in anger, then turned around without hesitation and used the Phase Teleportation spell to re-teleport himself back into the main force.

"So, Orion, your prisoner-taking plan failed?"

Looking at Orian who returned empty-handed, a hint of disappointment flashed in Roxie's eyes.

Although she had anticipated this situation, it wasn't until it actually happened before her eyes that she realized, feeling an overwhelming sense of loss welling up inside her. She realized that her desire to capture John Maslow had reached an unprecedented level.

This is completely unlike my usual style!

Roxie tugged at her blonde hair in frustration. Just as she took a deep breath, preparing to ask Orion about the details of the surprise attack, his words left her frozen in place:
"General, just now, I observed an approaching tsunami, estimated to be at least forty meters high, and this height is still increasing as the tsunami moves forward. If it successfully reaches its destination, this tsunami will be enough to engulf the entire Cangyuan Ancient Forest. Under the impact of that height, everything on this battlefield will be doomed!"

"!"

Meeting Roxie's astonished gaze, Orion took a deep breath, then added bitterly:
"Therefore, I think we should probably evacuate immediately, General!"

"..."

Upon hearing the news, Roxie fell silent, but before she could even ponder how John Maslow had accomplished this miraculous tsunami strike, she was still pondering how he had managed to do so.

The next second, the tremors from space and the ground attracted everyone's attention.

At the same time, a terrifying mushroom cloud thousands of meters high in the distance, located on the main battlefield, came into everyone's view the moment they subconsciously looked up.

"Wow!"

The massive impact of the swamp explosion generated a fierce wind that, even from tens of kilometers away, still made it impossible for people to open their eyes after it reached the battlefield.

After the wind died down, all the soldiers looked blankly toward the direction of the mushroom cloud.

But looking at the mushroom cloud, Roxie clearly realized that at this moment, his main force had probably been completely wiped out.

Even if he immediately had Orion use a teleportation spell to reach the vicinity of Stargazing City, it would have no strategic significance other than relying on a sneak attack to wipe out some ordinary enemy troops and gain meager merits.

Even the monster stronger than himself had foreseen this situation. If he went rashly, he might even be caught off guard and fail if he didn't activate the Spirit Heart Technique.

Moreover, after the recent series of battles and the failed surprise attack, Orion's magic power is probably insufficient to move all his troops out of the battlefield that is about to be swallowed by the tsunami.

In other words.

She lost.

The defeat was utter and complete.

Moreover, he lost to the same person three times in a row!
However, as Roxie truly acknowledged her defeat in her heart, her expression shifted, and then she suddenly burst into laughter, which grew louder and louder:

"Haha, hahaha!"

"..."

Seeing their commander inexplicably bursting into laughter, seemingly driven to madness, the soldiers, who were about to be abandoned as cannon fodder due to Orion's insufficient magic power, looked at each other in bewilderment.

However, unlike the others, Roxie suddenly burst into laughter, seemingly mad, but in reality, his inner joy and excitement were almost impossible to conceal.

Orion, however, was acutely aware of the unbridgeable distance between himself and Roxie.

And with this truly decisive move left by John Maslow, it has become even more distant.

After all, only those of the same kind will be interested in each other.

Even though he, as a mage, had already reached the level of transcendence.

But at the commander level, he always had an insurmountable gap with Roxie.

He had originally thought that with the passage of time and his own silent efforts, sooner or later he would be able to gain Roxie's pity by appealing to her sense of guilt towards him.

And to fulfill my long-cherished dream.

But ever since John Maslow appeared, his plans, which should have unfolded perfectly, have begun to deviate from their course because of the other man's presence.

So much so that he is about to completely lose Roxie!

"No, I won't let that happen."

“I will kill John Maslow and cut off that absurd possibility!”

Even if it comes to the point of no return.

Orion wouldn't mind walking into the scene he least wanted to see.

"I will not let anyone take you away from me, nor will I let you escape my sight."

"Even if it means dragging you down into the eternal abyss of death, I wouldn't hesitate!"

"Because, the only person in this world who truly loves your extraordinary soul is me, Orion Frost!"

"Roxie, you will be mine, and you will always belong to me!"

Watching Roxie's retreating figure, Orion's gaze flickered for a moment before he slowly lowered his head, hiding his dark eyes in the shadows of his hair.

"rustle."

……

"Wow!"

Ten minutes later, John, who was struggling to hold his breath and manipulate magic to create airflow to surface, was swept away by the surging underground water to the sea. His face was extremely pale.

Before this, he had never imagined that as a player, when he actually used his command abilities to engage in battle, he would make three consecutive mistakes in one day, and all of them were about the same person.

Although he also found it strange that Orion's ice sword magic suddenly went astray at the end, he was no longer in the mood to think about what had happened.

Because at this moment, due to the ice spikes piercing and freezing his left arm, he had completely lost sensation in his left arm.

This disrupted his original plan to successfully surface after being swept into the sea by groundwater, using the force of his hands to propel himself to the surface.

Forced to use only one hand to create magical winds, he tried to float from the sea to the surface using the thrust.

But the excruciating pain in his left arm, the difficulty in precisely controlling the angle of thrust with one hand, and the increasing oxygen depletion led John, who was struggling to survive, to gradually discover a despairing truth.

That is.

He was about to become a legendary commander, John Maslow.

It seems it is about to be completely buried in this sea due to suffocation.

"Gulu!"

……

(End of this chapter)