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

Chapter 264 Fiery Breath Destroys Stubborn Enemy, Dragon God's Trial Reveals True Feelings

"Serbia?!"

John stared in astonishment as Serbia slowly rose from the ground, turned to face him, and transformed into a half-dragon, a playful smile on her face.

My mind was filled with doubt and shock.

"Seeing me, are you surprised? But compared to your usual poker face, your expression now is quite interesting, I like it. Also..."

Serbia smiled and joked, then her deep red vertical pupils turned straight ahead to look at Nils, who had somehow regrouped his blood sacrifice magic and was trying to launch another attack while she was speaking. Her gentle gaze was instantly replaced by boundless coldness:

"You annoying little brat, don't you know that interrupting someone's reminiscing is extremely rude?"

"Buzz!"

With a light tap of Serbia's fingertips, hundreds of azure magic circles instantly appeared behind her in the next second.

Then countless crimson flames surged forth, instantly transforming into a raging flaming spear that, with an almost terrifying force, crashed head-on into the blood spikes shooting towards it!
"Whoosh whoosh!"

A piercing whistling sound accompanied by the howling wind exploded into dazzling bursts of light at the moment of impact, against the backdrop of a night ignited by firelight.

What followed was a deafening roar!

"Boom boom boom!"

A cloud of smoke formed by the shattering of a large amount of magic instantly covered the entire battlefield, but the next second, it was torn apart by a sudden gust of wind.

Then, in the instant a crimson flame burst open.

Immediately afterward, in Nils's constricted pupils, a sharp claw covered in dense dragon scales and looking particularly ferocious broke through in front of him in an instant.

And it rapidly magnified within his field of vision at an indescribable speed!
"Crack!"

A sound like a mirror shattering suddenly rang out on the battlefield, and immediately afterward, a figure was sent flying backward in a bent-over posture.

But in just a moment, the other person adjusted their body posture.

Then, without hesitation, he grabbed his left wrist with his right hand and simultaneously channeled the magic power within his body rapidly into his right palm.

In an instant, sixteen densely packed composite magic runes condensed in front of him, and he suddenly aimed them at the figure that was rapidly flapping its wings and slashing at him like a cannonball.

He immediately released it without hesitation.

Bloodline Echoes!
"Whoosh whoosh!"

In an instant, countless magic bullets composed of blood burst forth from Niels' palm, and like a long, outstretched serpent, they surrounded the oncoming Serbian.

"!"

As if sensing the intensity of the magical power contained in the attack, Servia tried to flap the wings on his back to change his position.

Just as she made a dodging motion, the numerous blood lines that had extended out split and expanded again in the next second, instantly transforming into a terrifying blood-red net that blocked any possibility of Serbia's evasion or escape.

And it covered the package at an astonishing speed.

Then, as Niels, with a cold expression, suddenly clenched his right hand, countless sharp blood spikes instantly spread out from the massive blood net towards Serbia's constricted vertical pupils!
And the instant it touched the dragon scales on her body, it created countless terrifying explosions!
"Boom boom boom!"

"despair!"

After delivering the decisive blow, Nils, who had fallen back to the ground due to gravity, first adjusted his breathing, which had become uncontrollably heavy due to the massive consumption of magic power.

He then turned his gaze to John, who was still in a daze in the distance, and made a diving motion.

Before he could even charge forward and kill the target of this operation, in the next second, to his disbelief, a blazing pillar of fire suddenly tore apart the deadly cage formed by his proud bloodline echo from the inside, and shot towards his location at an extremely fast speed!

"Crack!"

The terrifying flames almost instantly engulfed his body. When the flames subsided, his right hand was inexplicably charred, and his breathing became extremely rapid. Nils stared intently ahead.

The figure, whose body was inexplicably entwined with numerous ancient demonic runes and exuded an aura that made him tremble, now had its once unremarkable dragon scale mask fully covering its body. A ferocious dragon head, formed from bloodline power, extended outwards from its eye sockets, and the dragon horns on both sides of its forehead had become more ferocious and curled than ever before. At this moment, it was slowly walking towards him, wielding a long whip formed from pure super-level fire element.

A strong sense of apprehension flashed in his eyes.

"To be able to set up such a trap in such a short exchange, if I were an ordinary super-rank mage, I might already be dead from your attack."

Serbia's cold voice slowly rang out from the battlefield. At this moment, she had completely transformed into a dragon-human, and even her breath was constantly spewing out streaks of fire. She stared expressionlessly at the humans in front of her who were trying to provoke the majesty of the red dragon.

The voice was perfectly calm, yet it sent a chill down one's spine.
"Unfortunately, you chose the wrong opponent, and your foolish and self-righteous behavior has successfully angered me!"

"Wow!"

As Serbia suddenly raised the Chain of Karmic Fire in her right hand, a massive phantom of a red dragon suddenly appeared behind her.

With a powerful swing, she slowly opened her mouth and, the instant the chains of karmic fire were unleashed, unleashed a breath attack on the incredulous Nils!
"Buzz!"

The aurora borealis flashed by and disappeared in an instant.

The next second, a terrifying fan-shaped sea of ​​fire rushed forward at high speed.

It was as if hundreds of giant bombs had been detonated at the same time; the entire battlefield, apart from the dazzling crimson color, was now completely obscured.

All that remained was the deafening roar of the violent explosion!
"Boom boom boom!"

The massive inferno completely tore through the dark night sky, and thick black smoke billowed out along with the burning trees, quickly engulfing the entire battlefield.

When the smoke cleared, John was horrified to discover what had happened.

Under the full force of Serbia's attack, which was just unleashed by swinging the Chains of Inferno, the dense rainforest in front of the opponent has now transformed into a huge fan-shaped band of ash with a radius of at least two kilometers and an angle of 180 degrees, starting from the opponent!

The power of a single strike directly altered a small battlefield.

Is this the combat power possessed by a super-tier half-dragon?
“No, normally speaking, even if a red dragon mage of the super-rank level uses the thirty-six-fold combination spell, the fire-type super-rank magic called ‘Crimson Lotus Bloom,’ it cannot achieve such terrifying destructive power.” “Furthermore, using this super-rank magic requires a ten-minute incantation beforehand. No matter how thorough one’s understanding of magic is, at least one minute should be allowed for the construction of the magic rune array.”

"It's simply impossible to achieve that instantaneous speed!"

There is only one reason why it possesses such terrifying destructive power and can do so with such ease.

That is, the one who launched this attack is the future War Dragon God, Serbia Reinhardt!

Looking ahead, Serbia, who had somehow reverted to his dragon form and was walking towards him with an air of ease, stood with his back to the sea of ​​fire.

A strong sense of shock and complexity flashed across John's eyes.

"Tap, tap!"

……

"So, Serbia, you mean you arrived in Faoken on orders from Marshal Dormammu? And besides yourself, Major General Jet led a thousand elite mage soldiers and all members of the Black Hawk Special Forces to reinforce us?"

Ten minutes later, John, who was being carried on the back of the dragon-humanized Serbia and flying towards his own base under the flapping of Serbia's huge dragon wings, was immediately surprised after hearing the other party's description.

He truly hadn't expected that Dormammu would risk punishment by sending reinforcements to him after learning that he and Faoken were in danger.

While such support from his own side was truly heartwarming, John was more curious about something else than the kind old Dendormammu's unwavering support:

“I understand the logic, but the key question is, Serbia, when did you advance from a high-ranking mage to a super-ranking mage? What exactly did you go through?”

Feeling the powerful aura emanating from Serbia, John was immediately filled with doubt and confusion.

After all, when they were in Longyan Territory, Serbia himself seemed to have only recently become a high-ranking mage. It's only been two months since they last met, so how did he break through to become a super-ranking mage?

Moreover, according to the storyline, shouldn't the opponent's advancement to a super-ranked mage only happen three years later after he goes to Morno Continent to complete the Dragon God Trial alone, successfully obtains the right to inherit the Red Dragon Tribe Queen, and receives the magical gifts from the powerful chosen ones of past dynasties?

Could it be that the plot has taken another turn without my knowledge?

"It's a bit complicated to explain in detail, but in general, you just need to know that I successfully completed a challenge and got something that was rightfully mine."

"As for advancing to the level of a transcendent mage, it's just the least significant reward among the many gains from that challenge. You'll gradually learn about the other rewards once we reach the Imperial forces' headquarters. I hope you won't be too surprised then, heh~"

Serbia explained, feigning nonchalance.

But in reality, she still feels lingering fear when she thinks back on her experience in the Dragon God Trial.

After all, she had successfully overwhelmed the previous trials of courage and strength with the help of her own power and the magic soldiers.

But in the subsequent Trials of Wisdom and Nightmare Trials...

She almost died inside.

Especially the Nightmare Trial, in addition to having her memories blocked and reliving the torture she suffered as an imperial experimental subject, when she finally broke through the laboratory illusion, thinking she had finally escaped and obtained the glory of becoming the new queen of the Red Dragon and Sea Dragon tribes, and led the army to complete the mission to aid John Maslow.

She even managed to marry him after returning to the empire, only to be stabbed in the chest with a dagger by this damned bastard on their wedding night.

At first, she was incredulous and angry, but when she saw the ferocious expression on John Maslow's face in the illusion, she suddenly realized that she seemed to still be in the nightmare trial.

So, despite the heartache, he crushed the illusion's head without hesitation, successfully waking up just as the nightmare was about to engulf him, and then carried out the final counterattack.

Then, relying on sheer willpower, he forced his nearly exhausted body to reach the throne, a place that had remained unreached for almost eight hundred years.

And under the gaze of the statue of Tiamat, the Mother of Dragons, he sat upon it and received magical gifts from kings throughout the ages.

The hardships, struggles, and near-madness of the entire experience are known only to Serbia himself.

Fortunately, she finally pulled through and got everything she wanted. She also managed to find and save a certain bastard who was completely unaware of what was going on.

"Although everything seems to be going in a good direction, why do I still feel inexplicably angry?"

Serbia muttered to himself, and subconsciously recalled the scene in the illusion where John betrayed him on their wedding night, even stabbing him in the chest with a dagger.

Although she knew that the scene was just an illusion, the feeling of heartbreak, the anger and sorrow of being betrayed by the person she admired, still lingered in her heart.

It even made her feel inexplicably irritable.

Even though she knew John hadn't done anything, and that it was all the Nightmare Trial's doing.

But recalling that scene still made her feel a surge of anger.

Thinking of this, she immediately glanced at John, who was lying on top of her, poking at the protruding joints at the base of her dragon wings like a curious child, her voice full of annoyance:
"Hey John Maslow, what have you been groping me about all this time? Did you even ask for my permission before you started touching me? Can you just lie still? If you touch me again, I'll throw you down here, you damn bastard!"

"Ah, I'm sorry. I was just a little curious about your dragon wings. By the way, if I touch them, will you feel it immediately? If my actions just now caused you any trouble, then I sincerely apologize. I'm sorry, Serbia."

Listening to John's remorseful apology and feeling his warm breath on her ear.

Serbia's resentment vanished instantly, and she turned her burning cheeks away, but her voice became somewhat unnatural:

"There's no need for you to apologize to me for something so trivial. Just don't touch it without my permission. After all, it's your first time touching a dragon wing, so it's understandable that you're curious..."

"So, are your dragon wings a physical entity? Or are they simply made of magic? If they are made of magic, then they should be similar to a cuticle, right?"

Upon hearing this, John was immediately filled with unprecedented curiosity. He then reached out and poked Serbia's flapping wing membranes again. His eyes no longer held desire for beautiful flesh; only an unprecedented burning desire for scientific research remained. He was completely unaware that Serbia's face beneath him had long since turned as black as the bottom of a pot. He even tentatively asked her:

"Um, Serbia, could you perhaps provide me with some samples of dragon wings later? That way, I can have someone analyze their composition after I return to the capital. If we can create similar wings to equip magic soldiers, their reliance on magic packs will likely decrease significantly..."

"John Maslow!!!"

……

(End of this chapter)