Alchemists do not need self-cultivation

Tap tap tap tap!

Amidst the hail of bullets, several soldiers beside Isaac fell in pools of blood. Five army groups were now completely surrounded by the enemy from the inside out.

The battle began in that instant.

"asshole!"

A massive bolt of lightning shot straight into the sky, the ground twisted and deformed incessantly, and thousands of sharp spikes instantly emerged, piercing through the enemy who had just rushed out from underground.

"Great plan! You bunch of bastards have completely enraged me!" Isaac's face was extremely gloomy as he pulled out the Philosopher's Stone, which had now grown to the size of two fists, from his pocket.

A red lightning bolt appeared, and the enemy soldiers, seeing it, assumed Isaac was about to do something big, and instantly everyone went on defense.

However, nothing happened.

What just happened?

"It seems like nothing's wrong."

"It startled me."

Just as they were feeling relieved, a soldier from Galdarik behind them suddenly shouted into his walkie-talkie, "Where are the rest? Why haven't they come out yet? We're running out of manpower."

However, no sound came from his walkie-talkie.

"What's going on?! Answer me!"

However, there was still no response.

What's going on? The soldier looked at Isaac, who was wielding a knife and slashing people, and noticed a crazed smile on his face.

That unsettling smile... he must have done something.

As Isaac faced the enemy, he laughed and said, "Don't even think about relying on reinforcements in the air-raid shelter. I just injected a lot of mustard gas into it."

Mustard gas is an extremely terrifying poisonous gas. Even a slight contact with the skin can cause poisoning, eventually leading to organ rot. Currently, the continent's technology is so advanced that there is no cure. It is an extremely cruel biological weapon.

Inside the air-raid shelter, the Gadari soldiers, who were preparing to go out one by one to meet the enemy, suddenly saw that the room was filled with brownish gas.

"Ah! My hand!!"

"My eyes! I can't see!"

……

The moment the gas was released, more than half of the soldiers in the air-raid shelter who hadn't yet come out were killed or wounded.

"Damn it! They actually used this method..." an enemy officer roared, "Kill this black-haired man, he's the Isaac we're looking for!"

Instantly, all the Gadalik soldiers, still engaged in combat, turned their guns on Isaac and began firing wildly.

"grass!"

Red lightning flashed around Isaac instantly, and several earthen walls rose up, blocking all the bullets.

Isaac realized that Galdarik's plan was aimed at him.

They felt that if they didn't eliminate him first, they would almost certainly lose the rest of the war.

And that was indeed the case. After receiving news of the death of Stephen the Bronze Alchemist, the Northeastern Alliance, led by Gaddarrick, began to panic. They had no state alchemists, but the others did, and the war could easily turn into a one-sided affair.

So after discussing it in a meeting, they decided to lure Isaac to Intans City, and then ambush him with a large number of troops to try to kill him.

By concealing the army and exposing what appeared to be a trap to Leiden Sheftrich, only Isaac, confident in his alchemy, would come to investigate.

They made the right bet; Isaac really came this time.

After the earthen wall rose, Isaac and Violet were enveloped inside.

After they were temporarily safe, Isaac looked at Violet beside him and sighed: "Although I have always tried to stop you from coming to the battlefield, it seems that there is really no other way this time."

After saying that, he handed the rifle to Violet: "There's only one thing you need to do: survive!"

Violet took the gun, paused for a moment, and then said, "Mr. Isaac, can you grant me a request?"

"You said."

"Live on!" Violet's eyes were more serious than ever before.

Isaac was stunned for a moment after hearing this, then laughed and said, "Okay, I promise you, we'll go back to Amestris together."

"Yes!"

Before long, the earthen wall began to give way, and during this time, Isaac forced his bulletproof helmet and body armor onto Violet.

“I don’t need these things. Put them on quickly, I’ll count to three and rush out,” Isaac said, putting on white gloves as well.

The gunfire outside was still deafening.

"three"

"two"

"One"

"go!"

Isaac dashed out instantly and snapped his fingers.

boom!

With a huge explosion, the Galdarik troops who were huddled together behind the bunker were instantly blown to pieces.

After rushing out, Violet picked up her gun, aimed it at the lone enemy, and pulled the trigger.

boom!boom!

Every shot was a hit; all the enemies who had survived the explosion and were preparing to launch a sneak attack were struck between the eyebrows by Violet.

Isaac then picked up the radio from a friendly soldier's corpse and shouted, "All troops, listen up! Break through to the southern position! Repeat, break through to the south!"

Throwing away the radio, Isaac looked at the corpses scattered all around him and let out a long sigh.

How long has it been since I've felt this pathetic? Three years? Or five years?

Without much thought, Isaac continued south. His ability to sense 'qi' allowed him to instantly spot enemies hiding behind cover and then blow them up. Violet also took care of any lone enemies she encountered.

The two became extremely coordinated during this encounter.

"Good, I can see the troops behind us." Isaac saw the friendly forces fighting against Gadalik in the rear and hurried over.

But then, he suddenly sensed a person's 'qi'.

Turning her head, she saw a soldier from Caldaric, his face covered in blood, aiming a grenade launcher at Violet.

Isaac snapped his fingers to blow the soldier to pieces, but pulled the trigger just before the soldier died.

The grenade flew out, and in a moment of desperation, Isaac lunged at Violet.

"Ai..."

boom!

Before Violet could even call out Isaac's name, Isaac tackled her to the ground, and the ensuing explosion sent them both flying.

"Mr. Isaac! Are you alright!" Violet saw Isaac on top of her and reached out to shake him, but suddenly realized that her hands were covered in blood.

"Mr. Isaac...your foot..."

Chapter Ninety-Eight: Awakening

“Mr. Isaac… your foot…” Violet pointed somewhat helplessly at Isaac’s calf.

It was blown to pieces by the grenade just now, and it was full of shrapnel.

"Ah, it seems it's unusable now." Isaac looked at his calf, which had been blown apart by the explosion, with unusual calm. "There's not much time left for treatment."

As he spoke, he drew the knife from his waist and slashed down.

Stab it!

A huge spray of blood erupted as Isaac severed the rotting lower leg, the intense pain causing him to wince slightly.

A flash of blue lightning streaked across the wound, the bleeding had stopped, and a temporary prosthetic leg was strapped to Isaac's leg for support.

Picking up his fallen leg, Isaac said, "Keep going! We're not in the safe zone yet."

"Yes!" Violet suppressed her sadness and helped Isaac walk forward.

Because so many enemy troops suddenly appeared, they were unable to cope for a while, but they still followed Isaac's orders and moved south.

Once we leave Intans, we'll be in a safe zone.

Isaac was also heading south, constantly destroying the pursuers along the way, but their numbers were still too great. In addition, Isaac's injured foot prevented him from moving too quickly.

"These sons of bitches seem determined to kill me," Isaac laughed, though his smile was unusually sinister.

"Very good! It's been a long time since anyone has pushed me to this point. I have to give you a big gift!" He said, raising the Philosopher's Stone in his hand.

Red lightning shot straight into the sky, and the surrounding mountains began to tremble.

"what happened?"

Why is the surrounding area shaking so violently?

"An earthquake?"

At that moment, an enemy soldier pointed up the mountain and shouted, "It's a mudslide! Run!"

However, this disaster was unavoidable. Intans was a mountainous region, and the massive mudslide instantly engulfed Isaac's entire army behind him.

The two continued walking in the intended direction for the brief moment they were submerged.

“Mr. Isaac, we’ll be in the safe zone soon!” Violet said, but then she noticed something was wrong with Isaac and turned around to be startled.

Isaac's face was completely pale, and his eyes were starting to glaze over.

“Mr. Isaac! You…”

"It's nothing, I probably just lost too much blood earlier..." Isaac said weakly, as if he was about to collapse at any moment.

Isaac's condition is dire due to frequent use of alchemy while suffering from severe blood loss.

"I'm sorry, it's all because of me..." Violet said, remembering that Isaac had been hit by a grenade while protecting her, and a wave of grief washed over her, tears welling up in her eyes.

This was the first time Violet felt like crying.

"Don't cry!" Isaac suddenly placed his hand on Violet's head.