Chapter Summaries

After reincarnating as an Imperial Army officer in a game world destined for defeat, John Maslow decided to pursue retirement as his route to survival. At the Walden Front, he asserted his authority over his resentful subordinate Wendy Brown, then allowed her to make her report.

• John realized he had become a character in Fall of the Empire, serving the doomed Empire rather than the Allied Forces.
• He decided he needed to retire within ten years so he could survive the Empire’s eventual defeat as a civilian.
• Wendy Brown confronted John for leaving the squad without instructions during their seven hours at the temporary base.
• John reprimanded Wendy for entering without knocking and ordered her to leave and request permission to enter.
• Wendy returned after knocking, and John finally invited her to deliver her report.

John Maslow delayed his squad’s patrol because he hoped poor performance would help him retire, then ordered Wendy Brown to lead the mission at midnight and invented a strategic justification. Wendy accepted his explanation and encouragement, but John’s correction about his rank reignited her anger as she left to carry out the patrol.

• Wendy reminded John that the squad had been stationed in Elm Village for hours and had missed its patrol deadline.
• John realized that failing the mission could help him get transferred to logistics and eventually retire, then ordered Wendy to begin the patrol.
• John threatened Wendy for questioning his decision and claimed that a nighttime patrol could uncover intelligence to help the Empire.
• Wendy accepted John’s explanation and was moved by his speech about serving the Empire.
• John told Wendy to address him by his rank, and she left furious without apologizing.

Wendy’s rain patrol unexpectedly uncovered and destroyed an Allied Forces unit carrying explosives, turning John’s deliberately futile order into a major victory. Headquarters praised John and promised a promotion, while Wendy mistook his despair for a genius commander’s composure.

• Wendy’s squad spotted an Allied Forces unit and truck moving secretly behind Imperial lines during the storm.
• Wendy ordered her Mage Soldiers to open fire, killing thirty enemy soldiers before the Allied Forces captain surrendered.
• John relaxed at the temporary base, expecting his failed mission to damage his reputation and help him retire.
• Wendy reported the victory, the captured commander, and the seized explosives, and told John that headquarters had praised his plan and would promote him.
• Wendy interpreted John’s dismay as proof that he was focused on the larger battlefield, while John silently grieved over his coming promotion.

General Dormammu Filot learned that an Allied Forces squad had been targeting the Empire’s exposed supply routes and praised Warrant Officer John Maslow for uncovering the infiltrators. He decided to meet John and consider entrusting him with a risky mission that could shape the Battle of Walden.

• Colonel Jett Slaifute reported that interrogated Allied Forces prisoners had confirmed their squad’s mission was to intercept Imperial supply lines.
• Dormammu considered the Seventh Legion’s exposed flanks, supply crisis, and mounting threats, and suspected that powerful nobles might have helped leak the routes.
• Jett explained that John Maslow had changed patrol times and ordered a nighttime search, enabling Imperial forces to capture the Allied Forces squad.
• Dormammu praised John’s strategic insight and courage, calling him a genius, and rejected Jett’s suggestion to bring John under his command immediately.
• Dormammu ordered Jett to invite John to meet him and prepare him for a mission tied to the course of the Battle of Walden.

John Maslow tried to avoid recognition after his battlefield success, but General Dormammu praised him and granted his squad the credit he requested. Dormammu then assigned the 14th Mage Soldier Mobile Squad a deadly mission to test John's potential.

• John worried that the Allied Forces would target him after his actions made him an Empire's Hero.
• Wendy told John that General Dormammu wanted to see him.
• Dormammu offered John a reward, but John asked him to give the credit to the members of the 14th Mage Soldier Mobile Squad.
• Dormammu judged John to be a promising commander and awarded the merit to the entire squad.
• Dormammu assigned John's squad a special mission rated Deadly Class.

John accepted a mission to infiltrate Allied territory and destroy their Anti-Magic Devices, intending to defect once he reached the enemy. Believing John to be deeply loyal, Dormammu arranged for Jett and the Black Eagle Special Forces to secretly assist him.

• Dormammu tasked John with leading an elite unit behind enemy lines to find and destroy the Allied Forces' Anti-Magic Devices.
• John realized the mission could give him a chance to defect, but delivered a passionate speech declaring loyalty to the Empire and accepted the assignment.
• Dormammu was moved by John's apparent devotion and ordered Colonel Jett to have the Black Eagle Special Forces support him in secret.
• Jett agreed to lead the Black Eagle Special Forces and pledged to bring John safely back, eager to see how his highly praised junior would handle the mission.

John gathered the veteran members of the 14th Squad and led them out on a mission he hoped would let them defect to the Allied Forces. An unseen Imperial unit secretly followed them after they took off.

• John returned to the staging area and told Wendy to assemble the 14th Squad for an operation that could change their fate.
• Wendy gathered the squad’s thirty veteran Mage Soldiers, including twenty-four demolition troops, four scouts, a communications soldier, and a medic.
• John reflected on Wendy’s superior combat abilities and decided survival would depend on using his brain.
• John ordered the 14th Squad to move out, and the soldiers flew from camp with him.
• A well-equipped unit secretly left camp and followed the 14th Squad.

John Maslow led the 14th Squad through a river valley toward coordinates marking a suspected Allied Forces Anti-Magic Device site while secretly planning to defect. He decided to separate Wendy and the other soldiers from himself so he could negotiate with the Allied Forces alone.

• Wendy questioned John about the squad's mission and slow flight, and he claimed they were moving slowly to conceal their infiltration.
• Wendy admired John's supposed tactical wisdom, while John worried that her loyalty to the Empire would make her resist defecting.
• John recalled that Dormammu had given him coordinates for a suspected Anti-Magic Device deployment site identified through extensive reconnaissance.
• John devised a plan to send Wendy and the squad elsewhere while he went alone to the Allied Forces' headquarters to negotiate his defection.
• A figure carrying documents entered the Allied Forces' Fifth Battle Group's temporary command post.

Allied Lieutenant General Roxy Sankaster reviewed intelligence that the Empire’s Black Eagle Special Forces were heading toward her planned ambush and ordered reinforcements as a precaution. She expected the Imperial unit to be destroyed, but worried that its commander, John Maslow, might disrupt her plan.

• Roxy woke after three hours of sleep and complained to Major Dillion about the war and her workload.
• Dillion brought intelligence that the White-Haired Demon General had sent John Maslow and the Black Eagle Special Forces toward the supposed Anti-Magic Device location.
• Roxy concluded that Dormammu had taken her bait and explained that the 3rd Legion’s Iron Wall special forces would ambush the Black Eagles using a Speed Interference Field.
• Concerned about John Maslow, Roxy ordered Dillion to ask Lieutenant General Morgan for two additional combat units.
• After Dillion left, Roxy imagined the Imperial general’s defeat and execution, and regretted losing a worthy opponent.

John Maslow convinced the 14th Squad that the Allied Forces’ visible Anti-Magic Devices were bait, then ordered Wendy Brown to search a distant hillside while he stayed behind. He secretly planned to contact the Allied Forces and switch sides, but his comrades believed his speech about sacrifice and left him with tearful admiration.

• Wendy Brown and four scouts confirmed that the Allied Forces’ trenches held exposed Anti-Magic Device Cores, and she urged John to attack.
• John claimed the devices might be illusions in a trap and persuaded the 14th Squad not to assault the trenches.
• John invented a nearby deployment site and gave Wendy temporary command to search a hillside five kilometers away.
• John told the squad he would remain behind to cover their withdrawal and deliver an impassioned speech about serving the Empire.
• Wendy saluted John and led the 14th Squad onward, vowing to make his sacrifice count.

John prepared to defect to the Allied Forces, unaware that Colonel Jett was watching and mistook his actions for a warning about an enemy trap. After Reno confirmed the trench concealed a thousand magical soldiers and a special device, Jett became convinced John was a tactical genius.

• John sent 14th Squad away, hid his Imperial uniform, and marked a tree as he prepared to approach the Allied Forces.
• Colonel Jett watched John and suspected he was betraying the Empire, but paused when John appeared to salute him.
• John bid farewell to the Empire, then got bird droppings on his hand while heading toward the trench.
• Jett interpreted John's gestures as a warning and ordered Reno to scout the trench with his sensing spell formation.
• Reno found at least a thousand magical soldiers and a special device hidden in the trench, confirming it was an ambush.
• Jett feared John Maslow after concluding he had foreseen the trap and warned the Black Eagle Special Forces.

John headed toward the Allied trenches, planning to switch sides and surrender the 14th Squad to his future colleagues. Colonel Jett misread John's outburst as tactical signals and awaited a better plan, while John remained unaware of his assumptions.

• John cursed the bird that had defecated on his head and gestured angrily toward the trees.
• Colonel Jett interpreted John's gestures as intelligence about enemy and anti-air units and believed John had devised a plan involving a surprise attack.
• Jett worried that a direct assault would expose his elite assassination unit to the enemy's unknown magical device, but hoped John would find another way.
• John sneezed, blamed his bad luck on coincidence, and set off toward the trenches after hiding the gold.
• John looked forward to joining the Allied side and planned to have his future colleagues surround the 14th Squad so they would surrender.

John approached the Allied Forces trench to defect, while Colonel Jett misread John's marks as a brilliant plan and prepared a covert attack. John presented himself to Colonel Bolter as a persecuted Imperial officer whose defection had saved the Allied Forces, then waited for Bolter to offer him terms.

• Colonel Jett interpreted John's marks on a tree as instructions to infiltrate the Allied trench and destroy its magecraft equipment, then sent the Black Eagle Squad ahead and followed John under the Phantom Spell Formation.
• John identified himself to an Allied patrol as Warrant Officer John Maslow and demanded to speak with the outpost commander, unnerving the soldiers with his confident manner.
• The patrol captain reported John's arrival, and John waited tensely as the patrol soldiers kept their weapons trained on him.
• Colonel Bolter Master arrived with a special forces unit and demanded that John explain why he had come to the enemy trench.
• John claimed the Empire had framed him and that he had defected to save his soldiers, warning Bolter that the Allied Forces had narrowly escaped a Mage Soldiers' bombardment.
• John withheld any explicit request for terms and waited for Bolter to invite him to join the Allied Forces.

John Maslow pretended to defect to the Allied Forces, presenting himself as a principled commander who had saved thirty Mage Soldiers from a suicidal mission. Bolt believed the opportunity could transform his career and invited John and his subordinates to the camp, while planning to learn the secret of cultivating Mage Soldiers.

• Bolt questioned whether John had come to surrender, and John claimed the Empire’s corrupt leaders had driven him to change sides.
• John gave a stirring account of why he had supposedly rejected the Empire, though he privately admitted he had invented the story to improve his value as a defector.
• Bolt checked the reports and concluded there were no hidden Mage Soldiers preparing an attack, so he began to believe John was genuine.
• Bolt grew excited at the prospect of gaining thirty Imperial Mage Soldiers and learning their cultivation methods, but decided to question John before offering him benefits.
• Bolt warmly welcomed John and asked him to accompany him to the camp with his thirty subordinates.

John Maslow’s attempted defection turned into a surprise Imperial assault, leaving him trapped between the Allied Forces and Colonel Jett’s troops. As Jett fought Bolt, the Empire destroyed the Allied Forces’ Anti-Magic Device outpost, and Bolt realized his forces were doomed.

• John agreed with Colonel Bolt, but more than a hundred magical explosions tore through the Allied trenches as Black Eagle Special Forces attacked.
• Bolt accused John of betraying him, and Colonel Jett appeared and claimed John’s supposed defection had been part of an Imperial plan.
• Jett shielded himself and John from Bolt’s soldiers, then attacked them with magic while Bolt revealed his armor and charged into battle.
• Jett realized the expected 14th Squad had not arrived, while Bolt relied on reinforcements from the nearby Anti-Magic Device outpost.
• Thirty crimson Imperial magic formations struck and destroyed the outpost, and Bolt cried out as he recognized his defeat.

John Maslow’s side destroyed the Allied Forces’ Anti-Magic Device deployment site, but Colonel Jett mistook the accidental success for John’s elaborate strategy. Bolt retreated with the Iron Wall Unit, while Jett promised John a promotion and an audience with the Emperor, leaving John convinced his misfortune had only worsened.

• A chain of explosions at the Anti-Magic Device site sent a devastating shockwave across the battlefield, and Colonel Jett protected John with a magic barrier.
• Colonel Jett praised John for supposedly arranging the Mage Squad’s infiltration and the destruction of the Allied device, while John struggled to understand what had happened.
• Bolt’s adjutant reported that the Anti-Magic Device defensive line had collapsed and an enemy Mage Soldier squad was approaching, so Bolt ordered a retreat.
• Bolt mistook John’s innocent expression for a calculated trap and fled with the Iron Wall Unit after Colonel Jett attacked him.
• Colonel Jett promised to report John’s supposed heroism to General Dormammu, predicting a promotion and an audience with the Emperor, while John walked away in dismay.

After Warrant Officer John destroyed the Allied Forces' Anti-Magic Device, Dormammu ordered an all-out assault to seize Walden's Lake of Magic Power. As John returned to the base, Dormammu wrote to Duke Ostan about the talented officer and anticipated the young man’s rise.

• A report informed Dormammu that Warrant Officer John had destroyed the Allied Forces' Anti-Magic Device and was returning by the original route.
• Dormammu ordered the Empire's forces to capture Walden's Lake of Magic Power within three hours.
• More than a thousand Mage Soldiers launched an assault, and fierce artillery fire erupted across the battlefield.
• Dormammu wrote to Duke Ostan, describing the Empire's opportunity for victory and recommending an outstanding officer for a future post.
• Dormammu saw the returning John Maslow surrounded by cheering people and welcomed the rise of the Empire's new star.

After the Seventh Air Force seized the Walden Region, John woke from the celebration and met Wendy practicing at the shooting range. Wendy resolved to become strong enough to protect and follow John, but a summons from General Dormammu interrupted their conversation.

• The Seventh Air Force routed three Allied Forces legions and celebrated its victory, leaving John to wake at noon with a hangover among the drunken officers.
• John wandered through the outpost, brooding over his failed plans to retire or change sides.
• John found Wendy hitting the bullseye with all six shots from her revolver and praised her marksmanship.
• Wendy explained that she practiced daily and privately blamed herself for being unable to protect John during the previous day's mission.
• A guard informed John that General Dormammu had ordered him to report to the command post for a meeting.

John attended a command meeting where Dormammu publicly showed him favor, then listened as Major Kode reported the Empire’s gains and losses in the Walden Region. When the officers struggled with postwar arrangements, Dormammu mistook John’s bored expression for interest and asked him to take on the task.

• John reported to Dormammu, who invited him to sit beside him at the command table.
• Major Kode reported that the Mage Soldiers had driven back three Allied Forces legions, captured towns and villages, and taken about two thousand prisoners, while suffering 876 deaths and 466 injuries.
• John grew bored during the report and thought about what the mess hall might serve for dinner.
• Dormammu and the senior officers struggled to decide how to handle postwar arrangements in the Walden Region.
• Dormammu noticed John’s calm expression, assumed he was interested in the task, and asked him about it.

John improvised a speech on postwar governance and impressed General Dormammu, who assigned him command of a 720-man force to govern Bahamut Town. John realized the mission could put him against Selvia Reinhart, and although Colonel Jett first raised a concern that seemed likely to get him out of it, Jett claimed he had found a way to make John accept the mission legitimately.

• John delivered a speech about military discipline and governing the Walden Region, earning Dormammu’s applause and praise.
• Dormammu appointed John commander of an Independent Combat Force of 720 soldiers and assigned him to govern Bahamut Town.
• John recognized Bahamut Town as the place where Selvia Reinhart and the protagonist’s party were located and tried to refuse the mission.
• Colonel Jett argued that John’s rank did not permit him to command so many soldiers, prompting Dormammu to reconsider the appointment.
• Jett said he had devised a way for John to accept the mission legitimately, leaving John horrified by the apparent setup.