I Was Mistaken as a Great War Commander-Chapter 204

Orem’s breath stretched out slowly. freewёbnoνel.com

Judging that resisting would not be a wise choice, he parted his lips.

“...What orders do you want me to follow?”

“It’s simple. Use your radio to gather the squad members at the center of the laboratory.”

Only then did Orem understand what Daniel was intending.

‘He plans to eliminate the entire squad in one strike.’

Neural acceleration could grant overwhelming superiority for a brief moment, but it lacked endurance.

According to existing records, the maximum duration of neural acceleration ever observed was only 8.7 seconds.

Thus, Daniel was ordering the troops to cluster together in order to maximize the efficiency of his ability.

As Orem hesitated, unable to bring himself to betray his comrades, Daniel spoke quietly.

“Where’s your hometown?”

The sudden question caught him off guard, but Orem responded calmly.

“A small village called Elmeha on the eastern coast of the Kingdom of Edria.”

“Did you live with your family?”

“...Yes. I grew up with my father, a fisherman, and my mother, who ran a flower shop. I have two younger sisters.”

“I see. Your family must be worried about you.”

The revolver barrel that had been pressed to his neck dropped away.

“To return to your family, you’d best cooperate with me. Follow my orders, and I’ll keep my promise not to kill you.”

Rather than telling him to betray his comrades for his own life, Daniel’s words—‘do it for your family’—held more weight.

It was a line crafted to ease guilt, but Orem still hesitated.

“Even if I return alive, my family won’t be proud of me for betraying my comrades.”

“You think they’d be proud of your corpse instead?”

Orem fell silent.

After a short pause, a cold voice echoed from behind him.

“You’d better decide quickly. We’re not in a situation where I can afford to listen to your dithering.”

Daniel’s words weren’t a threat—they were the truth.

To die here for his comrades, or to betray them and return home to his family.

Weighing those two options, Orem, with trembling hands, picked up the radio.

Taking a deep breath, he glanced back at Daniel and pressed the transmit button.

“This is Squad Leader Orem. After the loss of one squad member, we’ve secured Daniel Steiner’s position, so...”

As he spoke, Orem came to a realization.

“All personnel, regroup at the center of the laboratory. Over.”

That the side of the scale holding his life weighed heavier than the one holding his comrades’.

****

The troops who heard Orem’s radio gathered at the center of the laboratory.

Relieved tension gave way to smiles of relief across their faces.

“Guess we freaked out over nothing. So much for Daniel Steiner—turns out he’s not much.”

“He’s still human like us. Even if he has neural acceleration, he can’t use it properly if he’s caught off guard.”

“Though... considering he managed to kill Sebilat even in that situation, he’s still impressive...”

The soldiers chatting amongst themselves suddenly fell silent.

Orem was walking out from the direction marked [Subject Area].

Behind Orem walked a man with his head lowered—presumably Daniel Steiner.

The soldiers erupted in cheers at the sight.

“Squad leader! You really did it!”

“Fuck yeah! We’re all getting medals! Look at that—we caught the Demon of the Empire!”

“Send the report in quick! Let them know we did—”

But their cheering didn’t last long.

They belatedly noticed Orem was unarmed.

“...Huh? Squad leader?”

Orem bit his lip and began to sob.

“I’m sorry.”

As he apologized, a grenade with its pin pulled was hurled toward the group of soldiers.

As the troops stared blankly at the grenade, someone shouted in panic.

“Down!”

But it was too late.

BOOM—!

An explosion erupted, a deafening blast ripping through the air.

As shrapnel from the grenade tore through the soldiers, screams echoed, and smoke and dust billowed thickly into the space.

“Ah—! Aaaaah...!”

Daniel shoved the despairing Orem aside, drew his revolver, and stepped forward.

The soldiers who had been lucky enough to be outside the grenade’s blast radius hurried to regain their senses and raised their rifles.

Even some of those caught in the blast, their limbs still intact, crawled out of the smoke, gripping their rifles.

‘Five survivors?’

Before they could pull their triggers, Daniel activated neural acceleration.

Mana condensed in his central nervous system made the world appear in slow motion.

Daniel raised his revolver and, one by one, aimed at their heads and pulled the trigger.

By the time the neural acceleration ceased and the world returned to its normal speed—

Bang—

Five bullets fired almost simultaneously, bursting open the heads of the soldiers.

The ones who hadn’t even had time to pull their triggers collapsed to the floor, spraying blood.

“...”

Daniel lowered the arm holding his revolver, believing it was over.

As the dust gradually settled, nine soldiers lay dead on the ground.

As the blood flowing from their bodies began to pool, Orem—standing behind—let out a dry heave.

Daniel, too, was startled by what he saw.

‘...One is missing.’

According to what he’d heard from Orem, a total of twelve personnel had entered the facility, including the commanding officer.

That meant there should be ten bodies here.

Realizing something was wrong, Daniel quickly moved.

Whizz—

At that moment, a bullet grazed past his ear.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Daniel ducked behind one of the laboratory’s pillars.

Looking to the side, he saw Orem freeze in terror, eyes fixed on someone.

“N-no! I didn’t betray the Allied Nations, I—!”

Unfortunately, he didn’t finish his sentence.

Bang!

With a gunshot, Orem’s head exploded.

‘So one really did survive.’

Apparently, someone hadn’t trusted Orem’s radio call and had hidden elsewhere on their own.

As Daniel leaned against the wall, catching his breath, the sound of footsteps echoed.

“Daniel Steiner! So you bribed one of my subordinates and played dirty! Even in a corner, you still look for a way to survive—truly the mark of a great commander!”

The voice was relaxed.

“But wiping out one squad won’t create a path to survival. The assault unit will soon take the city and descend on this location.”

Hearing that, ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) Daniel opened his mouth.

“...Assault unit?”

“That’s right. His Excellency the Count has launched a large-scale assault using Etherlium. The stated reason is to reclaim Fenbark, but the real objective is to kill you here and bury the truth.”

“You’re quite confident. If you fail to kill me here, you won’t be able to bury anything.”

“Hmph. I thought you were clever, but clearly you don’t understand the situation. Even as we speak, the assault force is surrounding this place.”

A sneering laugh followed.

“Surely you don’t think you’ll escape through the encirclement? If you seriously believe that, I think you’re in for a disappointment.”

He wasn’t wrong.

If Count Khaledra had launched a major assault using Etherlium, it wouldn’t have been a half-measure.

No one had known the Allied Nations had stockpiled enough Etherlium for such an operation, so no countermeasures had been prepared—an undeniable failure.

As Daniel caught his breath, Hamelton continued speaking.

“By the way, how did you find out Lady Lucy was a former test subject? Coming here suggests you already knew a fair bit about her past.”

Possibly due to the aftereffects of neural acceleration, Daniel’s hands continued trembling.

Trying to buy time, Daniel answered the question.

“I knew from the beginning.”

“You knew from the beginning, huh. I don’t know how, but are you saying you stayed silent while knowing her background, just so you could use her?”

“Think whatever you want.”

Hearing Daniel’s reply, Hamelton chuckled as though amused.

“Ah, poor Lady Lucy! To be used like an object—by both the Empire and the Allied Nations! What a pitiful life...”

While Hamelton was still speaking, Daniel activated neural acceleration and stepped out from behind the pillar.

Judging from Hamelton’s calm demeanor even among the corpses, Daniel assumed he had extensive combat experience, and so he accelerated again to ensure he could neutralize him.

To steady his trembling hands, Daniel gripped his wrist and aimed at Hamelton.

Hamelton was also aiming at Daniel, but it didn’t matter.

The temporal advantage belonged to Daniel.

The problem was that the acceleration ended sooner than expected.

“...Thinking of something?”

Hamelton’s eyes trembled as Daniel appeared before him in the blink of an eye.

Although his aim was off, Daniel couldn’t afford to hesitate—he pulled the trigger.

The muzzle flared, and the bullet flew.

But due to the off-target aim, the bullet struck Hamelton’s pistol rather than his head.

Clang!

The impact sent Hamelton’s pistol flying backward.

In that moment, Hamelton snapped to his senses and kicked off the ground.

Thud!

The speed was almost inhuman.

In an instant, Hamelton closed the distance and grabbed Daniel, toppling his balance.

They fell to the ground nearly simultaneously, but Hamelton was the first to get back up.

Climbing atop Daniel, Hamelton pressed his knee into his chest.

Breathing heavily, he looked down at the now-restrained Daniel.

“This is surprising. I didn’t expect you to use neural acceleration twice in a row. That kind of stress on the body is no joke—what were you thinking?”

With his chest crushed, even breathing was difficult.

“Just...”

Even on the brink of death, the will in Daniel’s eyes didn’t waver.

“Because you... kept spewing bullshit...”

Hearing that, Hamelton’s expression turned cold.

“So you don’t want to die so easily, is that it?”

Hamelton raised his right hand to beat Daniel to death—but didn’t bring it down.

He’d heard someone running from the direction of the laboratory’s entrance.

Turning his head naturally, Hamelton saw Lucy Emilia in an Imperial military uniform.

Lucy, sprinting at full speed, pulled out her revolver the moment she saw Daniel and Hamelton.

Seeing her, Hamelton lowered his hand and smiled.

“Ah, Lady Lucy! Long time no see! Do you remember me?”

Panting, Lucy seemed momentarily surprised to recognize him.

“...Hamelton?”

“Yes, it’s me. His Excellency the Count specially sent me to bring you back. So how about you shoot this man and come with me to the Allied Nations? And if you’re feeling any guilt—don’t. There’s no need.”

Hamelton tugged at Daniel’s tie.

“This guy. He said he knew about your abilities from the beginning. Which means he—was trying to use y—Lady Lucy?”

Hamelton faltered.

Because Lucy wasn’t aiming at Daniel—she was aiming at him.

Before he could even ask why, Lucy pulled the trigger.

Bang!

The bullet pierced through Hamelton’s head.

His body swayed for a moment, then collapsed on top of Daniel with a thud.

After confirming Hamelton was dead, Lucy holstered her revolver and looked down at Daniel.

“...Are you alright, Brigadier General?”

Pushing Hamelton’s body aside, Daniel propped himself up with an arm and raised his upper body.

Looking up at Lucy, Daniel couldn’t help but smile.

Lucy was wearing the amber-inlaid necklace.

The very birthday gift Daniel had given her earlier today.

‘She said she’d repay the favor for remembering her birthday...’

He hadn’t expected that to be today.

“It suits you.”

Seeing Lucy look puzzled, Daniel—leaning against the pillar—chuckled softly.

“I meant the necklace.”