Recaps

John tried to avoid both the Empire’s war and its rewards, but his schemes were repeatedly mistaken for brilliant service and earned him command of a new force. The arc leaves him preparing to lead a dangerous operation near Bahamut Town with Laiya as his deputy, while Sellviya considers finding a new ally.

• John decided to survive the Empire’s eventual defeat by retiring, but Wendy confronted him over leaving the squad without orders and he sent her to begin their overdue patrol.
• Wendy’s squad ambushed an Allied Forces unit, and Dormammu praised John for the victory before assigning him a deadly mission to destroy the enemy’s Anti-Magic Devices.
• John tried to send Wendy and the 14th Squad away so he could defect, but Jett mistook John’s gestures for warnings and the Black Eagle Special Forces attacked the Allied trench.
• John approached Colonel Bolt to surrender, but Jett’s forces attacked during their meeting and destroyed the Anti-Magic Device outpost, leaving Bolt defeated and Jett convinced John had planned the operation.
• Dormammu used the victory to launch an assault that drove back three Allied Forces legions, then appointed John commander of an Independent Combat Force and assigned him to govern Bahamut Town.
• John learned that Laiya Binote would serve as his deputy commander and worried about keeping her alive, but he welcomed her after discovering her combat experience.
• Wendy gathered the 14th Squad for the suppression mission, while Sellviya read about the Allied defeat and received an invitation from Baron Hardman’s envoy.

John led Imperial troops toward Bahamut Town while navigating an assassination plot, investigating a merchant caravan, and confronting the suffering of Stone Village. Wendy captured an Allied Forces major, and John began interrogating him as a man resembling Baron Myka arrived.

• Sellviya killed Pino’s guards, then agreed to Myka Hartman’s plan to assassinate John Maslow in exchange for becoming his daughter.
• John split his forces and sent Laiya toward Bahamut Town as bait, while he traveled with Wendy and detained Dick Hardman’s caravan.
• John questioned Dick about his business and discovered that he was an Allied Forces ally, though Dick believed he had escaped suspicion.
• John met Stone Village chief Ernest, learned about the villagers’ heavy taxes and poverty, and wrote a reform proposal criticizing the noble system.
• Siegfried Fafner told Wendy that Allied Forces troops had plundered Stone Village and led her squad to their hiding place, where they captured Major Will Hoffman.
• John refused Siegfried’s request to enlist, fearing that Duke Mosesiris would exploit him and derail John’s plans for a quiet life.
• John began questioning Will about the Allied Forces’ gold, and a chestnut-haired soldier entered with a man who closely resembled Baron Myka.

John turned Will into an Imperial spy, captured Sellviya, and took Bahamut Town after exposing Baron Myka’s treachery. As the Empire’s leaders maneuvered over military power, John ended the arc by offering the captive Sellviya information about Mephisto Dragon.

• Will agreed to serve the Empire as a spy after John promised to send agents to rescue his family, and Hawk’s New Maslow Quotations shook Will’s inherited beliefs.
• Laiya attacked Baron Myka’s guards near Bahamut Town, forcing Myka to retreat and attempt to arrange an assassination disguised as surrender negotiations.
• Laiya recognized Sellviya in disguise, wounded her with Severance of All Things, and took the half-dragon alive as a prisoner.
• Emperor William secured approval for a Third Air Force Army, while Prime Minister Wolf arranged John’s promotion and a future operation at Fauken Bay.
• John arrested Baron Myka and seized Bahamut Town, while Dick confronted his father and demanded that he take his own life for House Hartman’s future.
• Wendy exposed Captain Baronov as the Allied Forces’ spy and told John that the captured Sellviya had awakened.
• John stopped Laiya from further harming Sellviya and offered to tell her where Mephisto Dragon was.

John won Sellviya’s reluctant cooperation and began rebuilding Bahamut Town through jobs, land reform, and trials for its corrupt rulers. The arc ended with Dormammu sending John to Fauken Bay, where he accepted command of one thousand Mage Soldiers for a perilous campaign.

• John told Sellviya he wanted her to witness a struggle over whether commoners or nobles would prevail, then shared his dream of a world without discrimination, class oppression, or war.
• John received a promotion to major and command of the 13th Battalion, then sent Siegfried to speak with Bahamut Town’s residents and confront the oppression of House Hartman.
• John recruited Glenn from the Unity Society to help revive Bahamut Town, planned land reform and job-creating projects, and kept Sellviya as a special prisoner who could assist with the work.
• John’s recruitment drive gained momentum as residents saw the wages and benefits, and Sellviya helped John and Glenn manage the swelling workload.
• John put Myka Hartman and other corrupt officials on trial, and the crowd watched as the guilty were executed and Myka was beheaded.
• Conrad Slavert delivered orders transferring John and his troops to Fauken Bay, while Dormammu angrily explained that the War Affairs Department had made the decision.
• John accepted the Fauken Bay mission and requested eight hundred Mage Soldiers, so Dormammu assigned him one thousand and challenged him to win the campaign.