Third Food War (Final Chapter)

Chigengster Plains, Western Continent Faction

With the conclusion of the Battle of the North Camp, the fighting on Ishgar has come to a standstill, and relations between the two sides have eased again, at least on the surface. As for the truth behind the scenes... heh! Everything in this world is constantly changing; nothing stands still, especially not between two sides engaged in a life-or-death battle.

Under the cover of darkness, a small force quietly left one side of the camp and headed towards the North Camp.

"Kelsu, you'd better go back now, lest you attract attention!" (Goodpes)

"I understand, I'll be right back!" (Kelsu)

Upon receiving Kelsu's reply, Goodpes immediately turned around, preparing to leave. Just then, Kelsu, who was about to depart, caught up again and whispered cautiously, "Goodpes, you have too few men. Why not send more to ensure everything goes smoothly!"

"Kelsu, you know how important he is, and so do I! Otherwise, I wouldn't have personally escorted him. But we really can't send any more men. Otherwise, it will definitely attract the enemy's attention, and then our trump card will be ruined in our hands! I think you should hurry back to the camp to avoid exposing our whereabouts and causing the plan to fail!"

"Alright! I'll head back to camp now, but you all need to be extra careful on the way!"

"Don't worry, I will make sure he gets back to North Camp safely no matter what!"

After giving his instructions, Kelsu was still uneasy, but he could only obediently return to camp, carrying this unease with him. After all, he didn't want to ruin the top trump card he had painstakingly built because of his own actions. Meanwhile, Goodpes led his mysterious squad and disappeared silently into the night.

Above the sea

Unlike the tranquility of Ishgar, a fierce battle is currently raging here.

Because they had used too much force when dealing with the grain convoy, Kaldiz was unable to cast large-scale spells for a short period of time. Sordil's ghost Dragon Force alone was not enough to stop the enemy's advance, so they had no choice but to engage the enemy in close combat and fight to the death.

After a long and arduous march, the Western Continent Legion led by Shideweig was nearly wiped out, while the Ishgar Legion, having just fought a major battle, had not suffered significant losses, but the disparity in combat strength meant they could only fight to a draw. Thus, both sides were bogged down in a quagmire of battle, neither able to easily extricate themselves.

"Call out!"

"Bang!"

Suddenly, a sharp whooshing sound came from the sky behind the battlefield, followed by a brilliant firework blooming in the sky.

"The food supplies have been destroyed. Prepare to evacuate!"

Upon hearing Sordil's Mind Talk, Igneel and the others began directing their subordinates to prepare for a magical attack, in order to disengage from the battlefield.

Seeing Sordil and his men preparing a magical attack, and recalling the signal flare that had just exploded in the sky, Shideweig instantly guessed their intentions. He immediately ordered his men to press forward, intending to entangle Sordil and his group while awaiting Ishgar's reinforcements.

Upon seeing Shideweig's reaction, Sordil quickly contacted Kaldiz Mind Talk.

"Uncle Kaldiz, are you fully recovered?"

"Although I can't use Fusion Magic right now, I can still use Death Rhapsody to stop these guys!"

"Alright! In a moment, we'll unleash Death Rhapsody together to assist the army's retreat!"

"Clear!"

After speaking with Kaldiz, Sordil began explaining the retreat arrangements to Igneel and the others. (Previously, it was a one-on-one Mind Talk; now it's a group chat. I'm explaining this in advance to avoid any complaints.)

"Everyone, Uncle Kaldiz and I will use the Ghost Dragon Magic to hold off the enemy forces in a moment, and you should take the opportunity to retreat!"

"Brother Sordil, watch out!" (Igneel)

"Brother, take care of yourself! (Diphiya)"

"Watch out! (Grandiere)"

"Understood!" (by onlookers)

"Uncle Kaldiz, make your move!"

As the Mind Talk ended, Sordil and Kaldiz flew out of the queue.

"Dragon Slayer Secret Art Technique: Death Rhapsody - Soul Surge"

"Death Rhapsody: Soul Departure"

"Buzz!"

Two enormous gray-black Magic Array appeared before Sordil and his companion, simultaneously blocking the path between the two armies and completely separating them into two unconnected parts.

Just as Shideweig and the others were filled with doubt and uncertainty, the Magic Array released a dark light. Immediately afterwards, countless gray-black smoke billowed out from the Magic Array and attacked Shideweig and the others.

"Everyone, retreat immediately!"

Although Shideweig didn't know what the Black Mist was, he could sense a chilling, sinister aura emanating from it, so he immediately ordered his men to retreat. However, he underestimated the power and speed of the Black Mist's spread, and his vanguard was completely engulfed by Black Mist, plunging into the sea below.

"Retreat! Retreat!"

Faced with this situation, Shideweig no longer cared about Sordil and the others, but focused on directing the soldiers to retreat in order to avoid the annihilation of his entire army.

"Uncle, let's go!"

"Good!"

Chigengster Plains, Ishgar's Camp

"Buzz!"

Suddenly, a tremor came from the previously silent tent, and then the tent fabric began to move without any wind.

"Huh? Why is the tent shaking like this?"

"Someone must have come through the Teleportation Array. I'll go in and check the situation. You go and inform Sage Dragon quickly."

"Good!"

After discussing their plans, the two dragons guarding the camp set off to complete their respective tasks.

Just as the dragon, who was investigating the situation, stepped into the tent, a burst of intense Silver-White Light emanated from inside, followed by a hearty laugh that exploded in his ears.

"Hahaha! I, Igneel, am back!"

"Brother Igneel, I suggest you wait until you're outside the tent before you laugh, otherwise, I'm afraid you won't escape a beating from Brother Metalicana later!"

Hearing Sordil's suggestion and drawing on his own experience using teleportation Teleportation Array, Igneel quickly guessed his predicament. However, out of caution (can I say he did it on purpose?), the Fire Dragon King lightly tapped the 'ground' with his foot. (Lightly? You're overthinking it!)

"Igneel, have you stepped on it enough? (Igneel's aim is too good; he stepped right on the other person's mouth, so the sound is distorted.)"

After confirming the look in Sordil's eyes and identifying the voice (that of the victim dragon), Igneel jumped up and disappeared from the tent at the speed of light, leaving only a hypocritical apology floating in the air.

"Brother Metalicana, I'm so sorry!"

"Bang!"

"Thump!"

Before Metalicana could get up and go to confront Igneel, a crashing sound came from outside the tent, followed by the sound of a heavy object hitting the ground.

"Who's the blind fool who dared to bump into me?"

Two equally loud and boisterous voices rang out outside the tent, then disappeared simultaneously, and both remained silent for an equal amount of time.

As the commander-in-chief of Ishgar, Sordil knew every member of his camp well enough that when the sound came from outside, he guessed who was making the noise and what was happening. Sure enough, a moment later, the person he had imagined returned to the camp with the fugitive Igneel.

Upon seeing Sordil, Sage Dragon lost all interest in arguing with Igneel about the 'car accident' that had just occurred outside the tent.

"You little rascals, you're finally back! I was afraid I'd go crazy if I didn't see you again!"

Seeing the extremely excited Sage Dragon, Sordil's heart skipped a beat, because apart from facing an insurmountable problem, Lord Sage Dragon had never been so excited to see him.

Since he couldn't avoid this hurdle anyway, he might as well not try to avoid it! So, the young master took the initiative and asked Sage Dragon about the situation.

"Uncle, did those guys on the other side do something after we left?"

Seeing an opportunity to back down, the Sage Dragon, who was struggling with how to start the conversation, immediately seized the chance and recounted everything that had happened in Ishgar after Sordil and the others left.

"In other words, the enemy used the North Camp as bait to lure the First and Second Divisions out of the camp, and then used the same trick to attack the First Division, and also captured more than 400 people, including Xizhalansa."

"That's right, that's how it is! Currently, Xizhalansa and the others are being held in a camp outside the North Camp, guarded by the Evil Dragon of the Western Continent who are besieging the North Camp. By the way, brat, how's it going on your side? Did you manage to seize any grain?"

Before Sordil could answer the Sage Dragon's question, the troublemaking dragon king Igneel said, "With a few of us on the job, robbing some grain will be a piece of cake!"

"Oh? In that case, brat, hurry up and take out the grain so we can use it to exchange for Xizhalansa and the others."

"Uncle Sage Dragon, although we managed to seize the grain, we were unable to bring it back!"

"What... what's going on?"

So, Sordil had no choice but to recount the whole story of the grain robbery. Of course, he glossed over his miscalculation with a single sentence, without going into detail.

"Luckily, you brought back some things from the Western Continent, otherwise we really wouldn't have anything to exchange with them!"

"Uncle Sage Dragon, you're mistaken. I have no intention of making any exchange with the Evil Dragon of the Western Continent!"

"Huh? But..."

"Uncle Sage Dragon, now that we've returned, we have the troops to go to North Camp to reinforce the battle. Why should we seek peace with them?"

As Dragunov's Sage Dragon, Belserion could not possibly fail to understand the implication of Sordil's words, and a cunning smile appeared on his face.