Alchemists do not need self-cultivation

The soldier, Ai, collapsed the next moment with a bloody hole in his forehead.

"He's a soldier from Amestoris, kill him!"

"This child is an enemy soldier; we cannot let him go!"

"Kill them!"

Isaac didn't speak, as if he didn't see the soldier rushing towards him, and squatted down to gently close the soldier's eyes.

He stood up, glanced expressionlessly at the people rushing towards him, and slowly raised his hand...

Do you know what happens when your own air pressure is higher than the external air pressure?

"What are you saying... Ahhhhh!"

Boom!

Seconds later, all that remained were severed limbs and scattered internal organs.

Isaac carried the soldier's body back to the rear.

Rear military camp.

"Really? He's dead." Hughes said sadly, looking at the body that Isaac was carrying back, covered in blood. "He was a classmate of mine from the same military academy, a really nice guy."

“Hughes, I think it’s time for the war to end.” With that, Isaac walked towards the door.

"Hey!" Hughes tried to stop him, but Isaac had already walked away.

He walked to an open space and used the blood on his hands to smear a refining array on the ground.

A few minutes later, the blood-red transmutation circle was completed. Isaac clasped his hands together as if in prayer, and then slapped the transmutation circle.

磁—

A flurry of lightning flashed across the field, and a black sphere appeared on the ground.

"Hey! Isaac, what's wrong?" Hughes, looking worried, ran out to find Isaac, then saw the ball on the ground. "This is..."

“Hughes, we’re the only ones left in this area. Order a retreat,” Isaac said calmly.

"What are you saying..."

“This is the one I used up north,” Isaac interrupted Hughes’ question.

"!" Hughes looked at the comically shaped sphere on the ground with some horror.

"I understand!" Hughes's eyes hardened, and he shouted, "All squads, retreat now!!"

The army began its retreat. Isaac glanced at the group photo, then put it in his breast pocket.

……

Chapter Fifteen: Thermobaric Bomb

Several kilometers away,

"Hey! Hughes, why did you order a retreat?!" Roy asked Hughes, puzzled, from the high platform.

“Isaac’s angry,” Hughes said casually.

"what?"

“A natural disaster is coming,” Hughes said in a deep voice, taking a deep drag on his cigarette.

Then they witnessed a scene they would never forget for the rest of their lives.

boom!!!!

A deafening explosion erupted, sending a massive cloud of white smoke billowing into the air. The shockwave made those of them, several kilometers away, stagger. They looked in the direction of the explosion.

A massive crater... a sea of ​​fire...

There weren't any enemy soldiers' bodies among them, but they all understood...

Hundreds of people at the epicenter of the explosion have been vaporized, leaving no trace of their bodies.

The flames from the explosion grew larger and larger, instantly covering the surrounding land.

The Ishvalan soldiers, who were still celebrating the retreat of the Amestoris army, were instantly burned to ashes.

“It’s... hell!” Roy said, trembling, and Hughes dropped the cigarette from his mouth to the ground.

“Let’s go,” Isaac said from behind them.

“This area is dead.”

This thing is extremely cruel.

The earth was shrouded in clouds of white mist. After the explosion, the area was devoid of life. The bomb had burned up the oxygen in the air, turning large areas into oxygen-deprived zones. Many enemy soldiers lying in ambush watched themselves suffocate. Through the mist, one could see soldiers not at the epicenter clutching their throats, their faces contorted in agony, yet their bodies remained intact.

"Isaac...do you think this war is the right thing to do?" Roy looked down at the hellish scene before him and asked Isaac.

"It's clearly wrong. From the moment the army 'accidentally' killed a child, we've gone further and further down the wrong path. No matter how many enemy soldiers we kill, we're just war criminals, not heroes," Isaac said.

"Then why did you..." Roy wanted to question Isaac, but Hughes grabbed him.

At that moment, Isaac took out a group photo of soldiers from his pocket, glanced at it, and said, "Are you trying to escape?"

Roy fell silent.

"Or rather, preventing the war?"

"..." Roy gritted his teeth and remained silent.

“Hughes also had a girlfriend waiting for him after the war ended. The comrades who died in the photos also had their own families, and their parents were waiting for them to come back. Since war is inevitable, we should not be thinking about right and wrong, but about how to survive and win.”

Roy remained silent, but seemed to have figured something out.

“Even if you don’t want to play the bad guy, someone else will have to,” Isaac said as he turned and left.

"Wait..." Roy tried to call out to him, but Hughes stopped him.

Hughes walked over and patted Isaac on the shoulder, saying, "I know what you're going to do, but don't carry it all alone. We're the adults; you're just a kid, don't take on too much."

“No matter what others think, you are a hero to those of us who can go back and reunite with our families.” Hughes then added with a smile, “Thank you so much, I’m only alive because of you. Remember to come to my wedding when I get back!”

"Don't say things like 'go back to your hometown to get married' on the battlefield." Isaac smiled and left.

During this period, the name "natural disaster" spread throughout all war zones.

a few days later.

Isaac went to the President's temporary command post.

The President personally commanded the battle, and a temporary command post was set up at the battlefield to facilitate the issuance of orders.

"Hello! Lieutenant Colonel Isaac!" Along the way, every soldier who saw Isaac saluted the 14-year-old boy.

The previous explosion had made the name of the Calamity Alchemist resound throughout the military, and his rank was directly promoted from major to lieutenant colonel.

"I need to see the boss. Please inform him," Isaac said to one of the soldiers.

"Yes, sir!" the soldier said, and ran into the President's command center. A moment later, the soldier came out and said to Isaac, "The President invites you in."

Nodding, Isaac went inside.

Upon entering, they found the one-eyed president holding a meeting with a group of generals, a large sand table on the table. These generals were all major generals or even lieutenant generals. Seeing Isaac enter, the president smiled and said, "Oh! Lieutenant Colonel Isaac, we were just talking about you. What brings you here?"

Isaac casually found a chair and sat down, ignoring the disapproving generals present, and said to the president, "Boss, I am very dissatisfied with this war."

"presumptuous!"

"Lieutenant Colonel Isaac, mind your place!"

Do you even know who you're talking to?!

Several generals present expressed their dissatisfaction with Isaac's rudeness, condemning him in unison. The Führer, however, gestured for them to calm down. He turned to Isaac and said, "Lieutenant Colonel Isaac, do you have any questions about this operation? Do you think my targeting of the Ishvalans has made you pity them?"

“I will not pity anyone, but I feel that continuing this war will result in too many unnecessary losses for our army,” Isaac said in a deep voice.

"Oh? So what are your plans? To remake that terrifying bomb you made last time? I remember... you called it a 'thermobaric bomb,' right?"

"I can't mass-produce that kind of thing, after all, refining and preparing the raw materials is very troublesome, but I can make a weaker version." He glanced at the President and continued, "This operation is in their homeland, and the geographical location is very disadvantageous for us. A direct confrontation would result in too many losses, so I propose..."

Isaac walked over to them and drew a straight line on the sand table with his finger, from the command post all the way to the center of Ishval, their main base.

"I propose that we use alchemists to dig tunnels underground and bury a large amount of explosives under their home base. Then we can order a retreat, detonate the explosives once we reach the area, and wipe them out in one fell swoop."

The president was silent for a moment, then asked the generals, "What do you think of the lieutenant colonel's proposal?"

"I think it's okay."

"This method will work."

Although they were not satisfied with the child's attitude, they all seemed to think it was a good method.

“This is outright massacre,” a major general said in a low voice.

"That's right, it's a massacre, an annihilation campaign! Annihilation without leaving a single one alive! We don't want surrender! We want complete victory!" Isaac shouted.

All the generals present gasped. If they had said those words, it wouldn't have been a big deal, but for a 14-year-old to say them felt... inexplicably terrifying.

clap clap clap!

The president then clapped his hands. "Well said, Lieutenant Colonel Isaac. Then let's do as you say."

In short, the operation was approved.

"Then you will lead this operation. You can name any alchemists you want to bring or how many people you need, and I can assign them to you."

"I only need one person, the Crimson Alchemist—Zolf J. Kimblee."

Chapter Sixteen: There's a certain attraction between awesome people.

Zolf J. Kimblee, the Crimson Alchemist.

He is an elegant, eccentric state alchemist who enjoys turning people into bombs. He is an extremely cruel and dangerous individual, and many in the military dislike him.

"It's an honor that the renowned 'Calamity' has invited me," Kimblee said as he approached Isaac.

Upon closer inspection, this person does indeed have a rather elegant demeanor, but his whole being exudes an aura of madness.

"I won't go into too much detail. Dig a hole, hide the mine, and then boom, that's all. When it's time to get to work, we'll get to work." He said, starting to prepare some materials for the work.

"Don't be so cold~ I really admire Lieutenant Colonel Isaac and have always wanted to meet him," Kimberly said with a smile. "That thing you created called a 'thermal burst bomb' is absolutely gorgeous. The dazzling explosion combined with the enemy's suffocating screams is simply irresistible."

"..."