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

Chapter 263 John's cunning shifts the blame, misfortune strikes again, and the dragon's roar saves the day.

"Who is it? Put your hands up!"

Twenty minutes later, in the outer patrol area of ​​the Allied forces, upon seeing figures appearing in the jungle ahead, an Allied soldier immediately raised his rifle on alert and then used his flashlight to shine it forward.

As light tore through the darkness, what came into his view was an orc soldier covered in blood, wearing a wolf bone mask and with his face wrapped in bandages.

The other man was holding a scimitar and riding a dire wolf that was blind in one eye. It seemed that he had just been through a fierce battle, and he could even clearly see the dire wolf's fangs that had broken off due to some external force.

Are these soldiers of the Bloodhowl Legion?

How did the other side end up in our patrol area?

Upon realizing that the visitor was from friendly forces, the soldier was immediately taken aback. However, before he could even consider the visitor's intentions, the visitor's voice reached his ears:

"%￥@&#!"

"?"

Upon hearing the completely unfamiliar language and realizing that the other party did not speak Victorian, the Allied patrolman immediately picked up his communication device and contacted his superior, informing him that a Bloodwolf clan orc had intruded into their patrol area.

Then he forced a smile and gestured with both his hands and mouth to the other person:

"You wait here. Our officer will be there shortly, understand?"

"@￥%@?"

"Sit down, you, sit down, understand?"

"#！￥%！"

"Hold!"

Seeing that after trying to communicate with the other party for a long time, all the other party was spouting a bunch of incomprehensible gibberish, and that the other party's tone was becoming increasingly agitated, even brandishing a scimitar as if threatening him, the patrolman also became somewhat angry.

But the thought that rashly taking action to subdue the other side might cause trouble for the troops, or even escalate into a diplomatic issue, was also a concern.

He knew he would be in deep trouble, so the patrolman suppressed his urge to attack and instead prayed that his superior would arrive soon.

"Tap, tap!"

About two or three minutes later, accompanied by a series of hurried footsteps, an officer dressed in the uniform of a captain from the Kingdom of Victoria led more than sixty soldiers over.

He first glanced at the relieved patrolmen, then turned his gaze to the 'wounded' Blood Wolf clan member ahead, and asked in broken orcish:

"May I ask if this esteemed member of the Blood Wolf Clan has been attacked? Do you require our assistance?"

"Hmm? You actually understand orc language? Very good, it seems you humans aren't as stupid as the rumors say."

Upon seeing someone speak orcish, the 'Bloodhowl Legion member' was initially surprised, but then arrogantly declared:

“However, the valiant Aruba has no need for the help of you lowly humans. I am here on the orders of Commander Nils to warn you lowly humans that this forest has just been designated as the hunting grounds of the great Blood Wolf Clan.”

"If you lowly humans know what's good for you, you'd better get out of our territory right now. This is not a place for you to set your sights on, understand?"

After saying this, as if afraid that the Allied captain would not understand his meaning, the Blood Howl soldier who called himself Aruba deliberately picked up the scimitar in his hand and made a throat-slitting gesture at the other party, and a sinister smile appeared on his bandaged face.

"!"

Upon hearing this, the lieutenant was taken aback at first, but then felt an unprecedented surge of anger.

However, considering that this matter could easily escalate into conflict if not handled properly, he suppressed his anger and forced a stiff smile:

"Your Excellency is joking. This woodland is the territory of the Darkmoon Clan. How could it become the hunting ground of the Blood Wolf Clan? Moreover, we are allies. Can't we sit down and talk things over? Why are you being so aggressive?"

"If this leads to a conflict between the Bloodhowl Legion and our Sunfire Legion, I don't think you, as a sergeant, can bear that responsibility."

After saying that, the captain felt that if the orc soldier had any sense, he wouldn't have talked back to him.

But he didn't expect that he had overestimated the orc's intelligence.

"Shut up, you lowly human! Aruba is following Commander Niels' orders. Who do you think you are to threaten the brave Aruba?"

'Aruba' sneered, then ignored the other man's ugly expression. He immediately raised his scimitar, pointing the blade at the captain's head, and then, with his head held high, said:

"Anyway, this forest has now become the hunting ground of the great Blood Wolf Clan. If you lowly humans still have any intelligence, get as far away from the valiant Aruba as possible and don't try to come near him."

"And do not even attempt to seize the glory that belongs to Commander Niels, or we, the valiant Blood Wolf warriors, will grant you an equal death!"

"Don't say you didn't predict what you said!"

After saying that, before the captain, whose face was ashen, could continue speaking, Aruba gave a disdainful snort and then drove the dire wolf, which seemed unusually agitated for some reason, back into the forest. Soon, it disappeared into the depths of the jungle before the eyes of the Allied patrol.

"Crench!"

"Damn hairy bastard, fuck!"

Intending to ask friendly forces if they had discovered anything unusual, the captain was instead inexplicably mocked. He immediately turned red in anger, his eyes widening to the extreme with rage, as if he wanted to punch the entire world to pieces.

He originally intended to shift the blame and severely reprimand the patrolman who had caused him trouble.

But after reviewing the orc soldier's words in his mind, he quickly realized something was wrong.

After all, according to intelligence, the Blood Howl Legion's main force of nearly 4 had just been killed by enemy traps not long ago.

The remaining seven thousand-plus troops were now annihilated along with John Maslow's forces under Marshal Reginald's full-scale artillery bombardment.

The enemy's entire legion now has at most two thousand men left, which can be described as a remnant of the remnant army.

At this point, shouldn't the enemy's primary objective be to withdraw from this battlefield as quickly as possible?

Unless the opposing commander has lost his mind, he would not choose to send soldiers to clash with his own allies.

Even if the other side is angry because their commander was killed by friendly fire, they would not provoke us at such a moment, much less send a sergeant to forcibly divide up territory.

The only explanation for their motive for doing this, after considering all factors, is probably just one possibility!
That is……

"John Maslow did not die in that shelling; he is still alive and happens to be in the surrounding jungle!"

"Furthermore, the enemy's troops must have suffered heavy losses, and the enemy himself may even be unconscious!"

Only in this way can we explain why the Bloodhowl Legion was willing to clash with us in order to force us to withdraw!

Because the other side wanted to claim all the credit for killing, or even capturing, John Maslow alive!

"!"

Upon realizing this, the Allied captain's pupils constricted to their limit, and at the same time, an unprecedented surge of joy welled up in his heart.

There was no other way; that was a feat achieved by capturing the enemy's commander-in-chief alive!

Although John Maslow was only a major, his performance on this battlefield was worthy of being classified as a marshal.

If he can kill or even capture him alive, then as the one who has made this contribution, he can use this to win several ranks after the war, and it is not impossible for him to even become a general!
"An opportunity! This is a tremendous opportunity! I absolutely cannot miss it, I absolutely cannot!"

Upon realizing what awaited him, the captain was so excited that he trembled all over.

He had already forgotten all the warnings from the orcs and the disputes over the invasion of troops. With nothing on his mind except for his glorious achievements in ascending to heaven, he immediately picked up the communication device, gathered all the soldiers under his command, and then marched in a mighty procession toward the woodland ahead.

However, the captain, blinded by joy, was unaware that just as he led his troops into the area where the Blood Howl Legion was located, preparing to seize the merit of killing the enemy's commander-in-chief...

Aruba, who had retreated to the jungle ahead of time, had already discarded the carcass of the dire wolf that had been controlled by a simple magic spell. He then disguised himself as an Allied soldier named Sisi in an instant by using an Allied uniform obtained from hunting Allied patrols.

They then approached the orc patrol that was conducting a search on the outskirts, and adopted a similar stance as before:
"Hey, you bunch of scum, listen up! This woodland is now the territory of our Blazing Sun Legion. If you know what's good for you, get out of here now, or don't blame us for being rude to you!"

"!"

...Under John's instigation, disguised as a double agent, the Bloodhowl Legion's patrol fell into his trap as expected. And when the patrol's lieutenant was repeatedly insulted by John, who called himself 'Stan,' with slang, he insulted the glory of his ancestors six times.

He immediately went berserk and ordered his troops to stop searching and gather to capture the Allied soldier who had trampled on the honor of his ancestors.

In the ensuing chase, John, who had planned this all along, successfully lured the troops into the presence of an Allied patrol that was sneaking in.

Taking advantage of the moment when the other side was enraged, they took the initiative to fire at the other side, successfully starting the battle.

At first, the Allied captain leading the troops wanted to inquire about the situation, but seeing his comrades fiercely attacking his own soldiers, coupled with the earlier taunts from the Aruba orc, he hesitated.

The Allied captain, already furious, immediately ordered his troops to open fire and wipe out these unruly long-haired beasts.

Both sides, fearing they might be outmatched, tacitly agreed to call for reinforcements, while exaggerating their own experiences to their superiors.

As more and more troops from surrounding areas poured in, the conflict evolved from a small-scale skirmish into a medium-sized battlefield.

However, just as both sides were locked in a fierce battle fueled by resentment and anger, unnoticed by everyone, a figure who had been fighting secretly withdrew from the battlefield and, without anyone noticing, sped northwards, quickly breaking through the long-vanished encirclement.

……

"I've said it before: those who only know how to use brute force but can't think are destined to not live long in this world. After all, wisdom is far more important than strength, isn't it? Hmph!"

Inside the jungle, John, having shed his disguise, looked at the battlefield in the distance behind him, where the sounds of fighting were coming from, and a smug, wicked smile appeared on his face.

At this moment, he could almost foresee the expressions on the faces of Niels, the current supreme commander of the Bloodhowl Special Forces, and Cassandra, the supreme commander of the Allied landing forces, when they arrived at the battlefield, frantically trying to stop this farce, and then learning the truth—their expressions were almost so angry they would vomit blood.

"However, barring any unforeseen circumstances, it will be at least two hours before that scene appears, and by then I'll probably be long gone, right?"

Although it's a pity we can't witness the two super-powerful beings being driven almost mad by our own anger, as long as we can successfully evacuate and bring this blood core back to the Empire...

Then everything is acceptable.

Thinking of this, John nodded in satisfaction. Then, just as he crossed the valley in the forest and was about to continue towards the main force,

The next second, the hairs on his body suddenly stood on end, and his brain frantically sent him warning signals.

At the same time, a blood-red color began to rapidly magnify in his field of vision.

And in his constricted pupils, a trace of blood thorn was reflected.

"!"

"Whoosh!"

"Boom!"

A sharp, piercing sound followed by a muffled explosion, as if a shell had struck a rock wall, resounded from the center of the field.

A large amount of rubble instantly shattered and flew in all directions, and a large amount of dust mist, mixed with blood mist that smelled of fish and contained a strange corrosive power, spread out in an instant.

But soon, with the figure standing outside the valley exit at some unknown time raising its hand to summon him back, it quickly gathered towards him and condensed into a blood ball about the size of a peanut at his fingertips.

"I thought that as a commander, you wouldn't be very good at combat, but now it seems that you are stronger than I expected."

Looking ahead, he saw the Imperial Major, who had somehow dodged his full-force attack and was now scrambling to his feet.

Niels couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, his heart filled with surprise.

But he quickly put that emotion behind him and instead tapped his fingertips, manipulating the blood orb formed by the fingertip blood sacrifice spell to float behind him.

Then he crossed his arms and looked with great interest at the imperial commander in front of him, a man whose name he had only heard of but never seen, who had created several legends on this battlefield. His eyes were full of amusement and mockery.

"Of course, it's only a few. In fact, with your intelligence, you should have understood the moment you saw me that you had no chance of survival, shouldn't you, John Maslow?"

"!"

John expressionlessly wiped the bloodstains from the attack on his face, his eyes fixed on the person blocking his way, emanating a chilling aura of pressure.

At this moment, with its massive three-meter-tall body, it looked down at Nils with disdain, as if a giant were staring at an ant.

My heart was filled with bitterness and helplessness.

He never expected that Niels would already be displaying such strategic talent at this point.

Even before obtaining specific intelligence, they had already laid an ambush on him near his chosen evacuation point.

If it weren't for his body giving him an early warning, allowing him to instinctively cast twenty speed-enhancing spells on his body in an instant and desperately try to dodge to the side...

Therefore, given Niels's attack, it's highly unlikely that he only suffered minor scratches; he would have been pierced through the forehead by the blood spike and died on the spot!
However, they had clearly selected a total of sixteen evacuation routes in advance, and only chose this route to carry out the evacuation for the sake of safety and security.

How did Niels determine that he would begin his evacuation from here?
What the hell is going on?

Could it be that my bad luck has struck again?
At this moment, John's mind was in complete turmoil, and he had exhausted his last bit of magic power from dodging.

Because of the depletion of magic power, he felt dizzy and uncontrollably, and his whole body became somewhat unsteady. He barely managed to stay upright only by sheer willpower.

Do you have any last words?

Seeing John, who looked like a candle flickering in the wind, Nils did not show any negligence. Instead, he raised his hand and used all his strength to maximize the power of the blood sacrifice spell.

"Buzz!"

As a terrifying crimson magical wind reappeared from Nils's body, thousands of blood orbs resembling rubies instantly condensed behind him in the next second.

Each of these blood spheres contains enough magical power to instantly blast a heavy armored vehicle apart.

Clearly, they had no intention of leaving John any way out!

Looking at Nils, who was unleashing his full power, John, who was seeing stars uncontrollably, could only manage a numb, bitter smile on his face, and could do nothing else.

Despite his eyes being filled with resentment and anger.

Despite being unwilling to believe that I would fall in such a flawed way.

Although I have never longed for such unprecedented power as I do now.

But whether it's the overwhelming despair in my heart or the fact that my body is struggling to even lift a finger.

All of this is silently proving to him with facts.

His path may have been forced to end here.

"Not even a last word? You're so pathetic."

Niels sighed softly, but then unleashed the full power of the Blood Sacrifice spell without hesitation.

"Whoosh whoosh!"

The crimson magic bullets, accompanied by a piercing whistle, tore through space in an instant like a torrential downpour, rushing towards John in the blink of an eye.

At that moment, time seemed to stand still, and a large number of scenes from all the experiences John had gone through during his time travel kept appearing and replaying before his eyes.

However, just as John closed his eyes to prepare for death, the next second, a series of muffled explosions erupted from in front of him.

The expected pain did not come.

Just as he was wondering why he hadn't felt pain during his death.

Before John could even open his eyes to see, a familiar female voice, yet filled with amusement, suddenly reached his ears:

"It's only been two months, and you've already fallen so low you're practically standing there waiting to die? You really are the kind of guy who becomes utterly useless once you're separated from your subordinates, John Maslow~"

……

(End of this chapter)