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

Chapter 248 The Tragedy of the Silver Moon, Clash

"Wow!"

At 9:10 p.m., in the western waters of Crescent Strait, on the deck of a transport ship of the Blazing Sun Fleet, the continuous rain lashed against the hull, creating a series of sounds.

White searchlights swept back and forth across the deck and the surrounding sea, occasionally illuminating other warships that were also moving around.

On the control tower, the lookout watchman, with the help of the soldiers patrolling the deck, is using searchlights to monitor the surrounding sea area in real time, so as to spot enemy submarines or attack ships as soon as possible and report the situation.

However, unnoticed by the soldiers in the noisy yet tranquil night, six figures, blending seamlessly into the darkness, silently slipped away from the army's temporary shelter and infiltrated the cabin where the officers were below.

Then, after passing through layers of guards and silently eliminating the two soldiers on duty at the armory entrance.

The six Shadow Orcs, who had intended to enter the armory directly and complete the sabotage mission assigned by Commander Noah, were now lost in thought as they looked at the steel hatch in front of them, which they had flipped the switches in the correct order but still could not open.

"Captain's password is wrong, what do we do now? Should we evacuate?"

Realizing that things seemed to have changed, one of the shadow orcs couldn't help but whisper a question to the captain in charge of the operation.

"No, we can't retreat. The division commander gave a death order for this mission. We must destroy those damned weapons inside no matter what. Otherwise, the Drow clan will lose its future completely because of the Empire's defeat. We can't afford to take that risk!"

Captain Jamara shook his head, and at the same time, his blood-red eyes began to flicker uncertainly.

As if he had made a decision, he took a deep breath and, to the astonishment of his companions, dispelled his shadow spell and stepped to the hatch. At the same time, he forcibly interrupted the purification spell that had been required to run continuously since he came of age to suppress the 'demon blood' in his body.

And he allowed the so-called demonic blood to continue to rage and spread within his body.

"Clap!"

As a large amount of corrosive and violent magic tore his flesh apart, countless cracks appeared on his body in an instant, and a large amount of strange gray blood gushed out, instantly turning him into a blood-soaked figure.

"!"

Seeing Captain Jamara make this move, the Shadow Orcs seemed to understand something. They clenched their fists, but none of them spoke up to stop them. Instead, they stared with red eyes, filled with grief and awe, at this kin who was about to sacrifice himself for the future of the Drow Clan.

The enemy planned to use the corrosive effect of the demonic blood to melt the hatch of the ship, which was covered with a large number of enhanced rune arrays, and help their squad complete the sabotage order given by their commander in a way that would not alert the enemy.

"It's up to you now. You must complete the mission."

Looking at the silent team members, Jamara Drow, whose body was covered in a large amount of gray blood, whose swollen body had already torn the strips of cloth covering her body, and whose gray hair had grown out of nowhere, whose face was covered with a large number of centipede-like marks, making her look like the ugliest demon in hell, but whose eyes had changed from blood-red to silver-gray at some point.

At this moment, instead of shrinking back because of the physical pain, he showed an unprecedentedly joyful smile.

Immediately, under the respectful gazes of his subordinates, he followed the most devout ritual of the Drow clan, the 'Silver Moon's Lament,' as described by Commander Carrie, and placed his right thumb on his middle and ring fingers, then touched his index and little fingers to his eyelids.

He slashed his face, the blood streaming down his cheeks, leaving two lines of bloody tears, then grabbed the hatch in front of him and, without hesitation, unleashed the chaotic magic within his body, growling as he did so:
"For true glory, for the future of our people, for the flawless silver moon, Drow elves, charge!"

"puff!"

As the magic was completely detonated, Jamara's body, with its eyes wide open in fury, was instantly melted into a pool of eerie black blood by the terrifying curse.

A large amount of corrosive black blood mist was spread on the hatch.

Under this curse, which is the most deadly from thousands of years ago and which even the gods avoid.

In the blink of an eye, the special hatch, with its extremely high protective strength and capable of withstanding the full force of a super-level expert's attack, was completely melted off, revealing the neatly arranged army of a large number of unactivated Hellfire self-destructing puppets inside.

"drop!"

However, almost at the instant the hatch melted, as if some mechanism was triggered, two strange red lights suddenly appeared in the eyes of an ordinary stone statue that seemed unremarkable and was placed on the right side of the hatch.

It instantly opened its mouth, rapidly gathering terrifying magical power towards the five intruders outside the hatch.

Clearly, Reginald had anticipated the possibility of his transport ships being attacked by Imperial forces and had devised a corresponding countermeasure, attempting to eliminate the infiltrators while protecting his most important landing craft.

However, even though Reginald anticipated the possibility of an attack, he never anticipated one thing.

That was the determination of this imperial force to complete its mission!
"For the glory of the Silver Moon!"

"charge!"

Seeing the terrifying magic about to strike, almost simultaneously, the five drow elves dispelled their shadow spells and, like their captain Gamanra, roared as they charged toward the unactivated self-destructing weapons in their field of vision.

Faced with five enemies from different directions, all determined to complete their mission to the death, even though this magical statue was endowed with power almost equivalent to that of a high-ranking mage.

In the end, it still failed to use its precise beam strike to kill all five soldiers. Instead, two of them managed to reach the suicide squad and embrace the specialized flame filled with a strange green energy liquid. With a roar, they sacrificed their lives to complete the final destruction command.

"Crack!"

Crystals shattered, flesh and blood burned, and a bizarre green flame swept across the entire armory in an instant. After spreading to the other self-destruct weapons, it caused an unprecedented explosion!
Furthermore, similar acts of sabotage by the Jamara squad and others were also occurring simultaneously on the other nineteen transport ships!
"boom!"

……

"The armory where the suicide puppet army is located has been attacked? And not just one, but a total of twenty transport ships have been attacked?"

In the captain's command room of the battleship Damister, Reginald was stunned as he listened to the report coming from the side, his eyes filled with disbelief.

However, upon receiving this news, his first reaction was that the intelligence was incorrect.

After all, the fact that the Hellfire Self-Destructing Puppet Legion participated in the Battle of Faoken was a top secret within the kingdom, and even including the developers of the research institute, there were probably fewer than a hundred people who knew the inside story.

Furthermore, without exception, these people were all high-ranking officials in the kingdom, and such confidential information should never have been known to the enemy.

Therefore, even if John Maslow really intended to send troops to attack the transport ship, the target would be the army troops on the transport ship and the ship itself.

Instead of targeting those hundred suicide bombers inside the central armory of the transport ship with such precision!

But whether it was the first mate with a grave expression, or Cassandra, the person in charge of testing the Hellfire Self-Destructing Puppet Legion, who looked dazed, or the strange magical fluctuations she sensed emanating from the twenty large transport ships behind her while using her full-force spell, she couldn't help but notice them.

At this moment, no matter how unwilling he was to believe it, Reginald clearly realized that this intelligence was indeed true.

Therefore, the opponent is suspected to possess the spell ability of fate detection, which can not only detect the general future, but also be so detailed that it can even find out the hidden units of one's own side.

"No, that's absolutely impossible!"

However, Reginald rejected the idea immediately after it had just been conceived.

After all, based on the forbidden information he knew about the divine era, even the apostle 'Prophet' who was favored by the most mysterious Lord of Fate, Ananke, could not observe such a detailed level of fate with the fate magic he possessed.

Moreover, this is an era where divine power has long since dissipated and all the gods have vanished.
Let alone the resurrection of the apostles and prophets, in the current complex and chaotic magical environment, even if the Lord of Fate, Ananke, were to personally appear, with his divine power, he probably wouldn't be able to make such a detailed prophecy.

If John Maslow could really predict things to this extent through magic, then what's the difference between him and a god?
"Therefore, the reason why the other side was able to launch such a precise destructive attack is that someone in the kingdom's high command has betrayed them, sided with the empire, and voluntarily sold out information about the Hellfire self-destructing puppet army!"

Yes, that must be it, otherwise there's no way to explain the enemy's precise destruction of the Hellfire weapons!

After figuring out the 'truth', a strong killing intent flashed in Reginald's eyes, but he quickly suppressed it.

While eliminating the traitors was indeed important, what mattered to him right now was to break through the enemy's damned defenses and completely kill that brat named John Maslow.

Otherwise, if this rising star of the Empire, whose command abilities and the effects of which are still unclear, were to escape this battlefield alive, then even if the Empire's magical soldiers lose their former effectiveness due to the development of the Kingdom's magical technology, then...

John Maslow himself will become the most important scourge preventing the kingdom from becoming great!

therefore……

"John Maslow, I must kill you here, no matter what!"

"at all costs!"

Looking at the Crescent Strait, which had become faintly visible thanks to their advance, Reginald waved his hand without hesitation and said:

"Pass on my order: command the destroyers to immediately rendezvous with the transport ships, receive the Bloodhowl Legion forces, and then proceed to the battlefield immediately after receiving them. The rest of the fleet, along with the Damister, shall continue at full speed. Target: Black Rock Beach, without fail!"

"Yes, Marshal!"

"Wow!"

……

"At this point, the sabotage mission should have been successful, right?"

Behind the Blackrock Beach decoy front, in a temporary camp, almost immediately after the Shadow Orc forces completed the destruction of the self-destruct weapons, John, who was listening to intelligence reports from the northern Aiken Sea and making final plans for the coastal defense battle, suddenly stopped pacing.

Turning his gaze towards the direction outside the tent, through the night sky washed by the torrential rain, it seemed as if he had crossed space. At this moment, he could even vaguely glimpse the scene of the enemy's transport ships being swallowed by eerie green flames on the sea and eventually sinking completely.

As if to confirm his judgment, the moment this thought inexplicably crossed his mind, Wendy, wearing a black raincoat, walked in through the rain and excitedly brought him some expected good news:
"Report to the commander: Just three minutes ago, Colonel Galil used a secret messenger worm to transmit the latest intelligence. Our spies have completed the mission of destroying the enemy's suicide weapons and, at the cost of 120 Ironblood-level soldiers, successfully destroyed 20 enemy heavy armored transport ships used to absorb shore artillery fire!"

"Our intelligence division and the Blood Howl Legion have been taken over by enemy destroyers and are ready to launch the next assassination operation at any time. Please give your instructions!"

"……very good!"

Upon hearing this answer, John did not show any happiness on his face; instead, he frowned slightly.

Although he proposed the plan to destroy the self-destructing puppet army and successfully carried it out, the process seemed a little too smooth to him.

Furthermore, judging from Galil's report on his own casualties, this sabotage operation was clearly not going particularly smoothly, and instead encountered unprecedented obstacles.

Otherwise, given the Ironblood-level Shadow Orcs' ability to conceal their presence and their assassination skills, they should have been able to easily retreat after completing their mission, instead of suffering so many casualties.

After all, a Shadow Orc who can be rated as Ironblood-level must have at least the strength of a mid-level mage.

Even if they were facing only elite Allied soldiers, there would be no situation where everyone would be killed in battle.

"So, the enemy has pre-positioned traps in the armory that are powerful enough to instantly kill a high-ranking mage? Or perhaps a line of fire?"

It seems that's the case. Reginald probably anticipated that he would send people to raid the transport ship, so he took protective measures in advance in the armory to ensure that the self-destruct weapons would not be detonated by the aftershocks.

Given the other side's cautious nature, it's likely that they've deployed numerous special defensive measures not only on transport ships but also in key areas of their offensive warships to comprehensively counter any potential attacks.

If we were to deduce this from the opposite perspective, given the enemy's tactics, the number of Hellfire self-destructing puppet legions carried on those twenty destroyed transport ships would likely not represent the entirety of the enemy's forces, but rather only about half, or at most two-thirds.

In other words, the enemy still has at least a thousand suicide bombers left.

"Although we couldn't completely annihilate them, these weapons are no longer a deadly threat to our side. With the help of telepathy, we can eliminate them all in the first instance during the landing interception battle. So, it can be considered a stroke of luck amidst misfortune!"

John, having roughly grasped the situation, rubbed his slightly throbbing temples. However, he did not issue a new assassination mission to Galil. Instead, he asked Wendy to put away the map for him and then turned to look at the northeastern sea.

A barely perceptible hint of worry flashed in his eyes.

But in the end, he said nothing. After a sigh, he silently put on his raincoat and, escorted by Wendy and the guards waiting outside the tent, flew towards the rear front.

He is currently in a predicament and is even unable to protect himself completely.

Instead of worrying about whether the naval battle will go smoothly, what I, as the commander, should be doing is minimizing our own losses and effectively delaying the enemy until our reinforcements arrive.

"Whoosh!"

……

(End of this chapter)