Moving

As the smoke dispersed, Mevajena finally saw where the blue giant dragon was. She had not hidden herself; instead, she stood directly before Mevajena. She did not even seem inclined to defend or attack, utterly unlike the fierce dragon from moments ago. Just as Mevajena prepared to finish her off, the dragon raised a hand and pointed behind herself. Turning around, Mevajena saw her brother being held by a dark green giant dragon. One of the dark green dragon's claws was pressed against her brother's neck. If she made the slightest unusual move, her brother would likely be killed the very next second.

"You're truly despicable! Using hostages to threaten us—aren't you afraid of disgracing dragonkind?" Mevajena glared at Wattster and Woodman as she roared.

"Despicable? Using hostages as threats? Didn't you also intend to use a human traitor to capture Sordil and force us into submission? Why are you suddenly saying that shouldn't be done? Why are you suddenly worried about losing dragonkind's dignity?" Wattster replied in a mocking tone upon hearing Mevajena's roar, his gaze fixed on her with hostility.

Mevajena did not know how to answer Wattster's retort. When Black had proposed that plan, she and her brother had strongly opposed it. Yet in the end, with the majority in favor, the plan had still been carried out. No matter how she tried to justify herself, the fact that she had participated in the plan was indisputable. Faced with their accusation now, Mevajena truly did not know how to respond.

"As long as you let my brother go, you can do whatever you want to me. I'm begging you!" Though Mevajena was ashamed that she had been powerless to stop Black, she had to save her brother no matter what. Faced with such circumstances, she could only cast aside the dignity and pride of a dragon and humbly beg them to spare his life.

"Let him go? That's impossible! But we won't kill him either. How we deal with you will depend on Koreita's sincerity!" After seeing Mevajena plead for her brother, Wattster's tone was no longer as harsh as before. However, he remained firm on the matter of not releasing the captive.

After receiving Wattster's answer, Mevajena's eyes dimmed. More than anyone, she knew that her Leader would never abandon the plan for the sake of people like them. Their fate, hers and her brother's, was therefore easy to imagine. But Wattster and Woodman did not care about that. They locked the distraught Mevajena and her brother together in a cage. Still, to prevent Mevajena's brother from dying, Wattster used Healing Magic to treat his wounds. This earned him Mevajena's fervent gratitude. Once that was done, Wattster and Woodman continued the hunt.

The battle continued until nightfall before finally coming to an end. Of the nine giant dragons in Zobol Forest, five were killed and four were captured alive. When the four enormous cages were lined up neatly at the edge of the forest, both the humans and dragons involved in the operation erupted into cheers. After a brief celebration, Sordil formally announced that the operation had been a complete success, and everyone began returning to Fostadu. On the way back, Sordil used Quality Magic to shrink the imprisoned dragons before having the humans escort them back to Fostadu.

When Sordil and the others returned, Hadessta was already waiting outside Fostadu with his people. The moment he saw them, he immediately came forward to greet them. Seeing the evil dragons who had once oppressed them captured alive, the humans of Fostadu rushed over to spit on them and throw stones at them. Once everyone had vented their anger, they gathered around Sordil, praising him for his skill and capability. This continued until Sordil accompanied Hadessta and the other four back to the mountaintop.

Fostadu Mountaintop

"Leave the Western Continent?" Upon hearing Sordil's plan, Radel and the other dragons shouted in unison. Of everyone present, only Hadessta, who had already known of Sordil's plan, remained calm.

"That's right, leave the Western Continent! For now, only Koreita has attacked us, but what about the future? Among the dragons of the Western Continent, only we of Fostadu treat humans well. All other dragons see humans as toys and food. If this continues, Fostadu will inevitably become the enemy of the entire continent. What will we have to resist them with then? We might as well move away now and find another place to settle." Facing the dragons' doubts and astonishment, Sordil spoke seriously.

"But we've lived in Fostadu for so long. All our belongings and our offspring are here. How can we just move because we say so?" a red giant dragon said with a troubled expression after hearing Sordil's words.

"You needn't worry about that. You all saw the Koreita dragons locked in those cages, didn't you? I'll do the same to Fostadu—shrink the entire place and take it away directly. We won't need to move every item one by one," Sordil said with remarkable composure.

"How is that possible? Even dragons can't accomplish something like that."

"Yeah! That's completely unrealistic. We should just stay here!"

"Exactly! At worst, we can hand the humans over when the time comes!"

"That's right!"

"Well said! We're not moving!"

The moment Sordil finished speaking, voices of doubt rose all around him, and some even began opposing the relocation. At that moment, Sordil found himself somewhat admiring the male protagonists from the fantasy novels of his previous life. With a burst of domineering aura, they could make others obediently listen and do whatever they were told. But the problem still had to be dealt with. After giving it some thought, Sordil realized that everyone's concern was whether he could truly shrink Fostadu and take it away. An idea immediately came to him. Calming himself, Sordil stepped forward and said, "Since none of you believe I can do it, how about we make a wager?"

"What kind of wager?" Hearing Sordil's words, Hadessta, the only person present who supported the plan, hurriedly gave him a helping hand. Once he had drawn everyone's attention, Sordil continued.

"It's simple. If I can shrink Fostadu and take it away completely intact, then you must honor the agreement and leave the Western Continent for Ishgar on the Eastern Continent. How about it?"

"Fine!"

"Alright! We'll take that bet!"

Having received everyone's agreement, Sordil began his demonstration. He flew into the air and sent streams of transparent magical power around Fostadu. In an instant, the entire city began to tremble. Magic Array patterns around Fostadu activated one after another, then linked together to form a massive Magic Array. Then the dragons on the mountaintop discovered that they were getting farther and farther away from Sordil, while Sordil's body seemed to grow larger and larger as they moved away from him, until he was like a giant. It was not only the dragons on the mountaintop—every member of Fostadu noticed it.