Does the Butterfly Effect Really Exist? (11)

In a sea area between the Western Continent, underwater

"Lord Sacred Dragon, we have just received a report that the target is heading this way and will enter the ambush zone in about three minutes."

"Okay! Dales, pass on my orders: attack immediately once the target enters the ambush zone! But remember, do your best to capture the enemy alive!"

"Sacred Dragon, rest assured, I will convey your orders immediately!"

Go!

After the captain of the guard left, the Sacred Dragon turned his head towards Yelibell.

"Yelibell, how is it?"

"Uncle Sacred Dragon, I just did a thorough reconnaissance and found no one else besides the target. So the enemy shouldn't have discovered our whereabouts yet, and our operation should be safe."

With the assurance of the listening radar and the reports from his subordinates, the huge weight that had been hanging over Sacred Dragon's heart finally lifted. Although it hadn't completely fallen to the ground yet, at least it was no longer in his throat and wouldn't suddenly jump out.

As everyone waited with a mix of tension, anticipation, and excitement, time slowly slipped away, and their anticipated goal began to gradually reveal itself.

As the enemy forces gradually became clearer, Sacred Dragon whispered, "Yelibell, use Mind Talk to tell everyone not to make any rash moves and to await my orders!"

"Clear!"

As the enemy drew closer, the Sacred Dragon Dragon's heart, which had just descended, rose again, this time at an even higher altitude! It was estimated that if the Sacred Dragon were to open its mouth now, its burning hot little heart could leap out of its body and breathe some fresh air.

As the enemy slowly moved into the ambush zone, Yelibell on the side also became nervous.

"Sacred Dragon Lord, the enemy has entered the ambush zone, attack!" (Yelibell Mind Talk)

"No! The time isn't right yet, let's wait a bit longer!"

After a moment of silence, Chief of Staff and Military Supervisor Yelibell once again made a suggestion to Commander-in-Chief Acnologia.

"Sacred Dragon, the enemy has already reached the center of the ambush zone. If we don't act soon, they'll be walking out!"

"Wait a little longer! The enemy's follow-up troops haven't entered the ambush zone yet; it's not time to make a move!"

With the supreme commander refusing to issue operational orders, Chief of Staff Yelibell could only suppress her inner anxiety and continue to wait patiently.

(I know! I know! You'll all criticize Yelibell for overreacting, saying she shouldn't be so impulsive, unlike a seasoned veteran! Yes! Yelibell has participated in many operations with Old Suo, Igneel, and others, but in those operations, she served as a scout and cipher officer, never personally commanding combat. This is arguably her first time commanding a battle, so some nervousness is understandable! Besides, this is a proper positional war, completely different from previous robberies and guerrilla warfare. Yelibell is a complete Little White, so it's even more normal for her to be so nervous that she has amnesia.)

Seeing the enemy advancing towards the edge of the ambush zone, Yelibell could no longer bear it and decided to make her third appeal to the Sacred Dragon. But before she could speak, the Sacred Dragon suddenly swam towards the surface of the sea and signaled an attack to the group.

"Roar!"

A resounding dragon roar carried by the sea breeze spread in all directions. At the same time, a milky-white Dragon Breath tore through space at an extremely fast speed and rushed towards the slowly moving group.

After regaining her senses, Yelibell immediately used Mind Talk to give the order to attack to everyone, and then she followed behind the Sacred Dragon and charged towards the enemy.

"Whoosh!"

A series of whooshing sounds rang out as beams of energy pierced the sea, heading towards the Western Continent members within the ambush zone.

Perhaps some past events have made the dragons of the Western Continent immune to the dangers in the sea, so after being besieged this time, both officers and soldiers remained calm, as if they had known all along that this would happen.

"Defensive formation!"

Facing the oncoming attack, Olibuk, positioned in the center of the formation, calmly gave the order. Immediately afterward, the dragons carrying the goods began to methodically change formation, and before long, the loose square formation transformed into a tight circular defensive array.

"Breath attack!"

"Whoosh!"

After the order to counterattack was given, the outermost dragons began to gather magic power, preparing to unleash their breath. After releasing their breath, the outermost dragons crouched down, at which point the dragons of the second line of defense behind them began to unleash their breath attacks, followed by the third line. Once the third line of defense had finished attacking, the dragons of the first line of defense would stand up and launch their breath attacks again.

Under this three-stage firing tactic, the breath surged like a tide, continuously hitting the Sacred Dragon and his men who were charging towards them.

Faced with the relentless attacks from the Western Continent, the soldiers of the Dragon Slayer Mage Corps, lacking practical combat experience, fell one after another like felled wheat, disappearing into the sea.

"Everyone scatter! First Brigade, organize a counterattack immediately! Second Brigade, continue the charge!"

After two weeks of rigorous training, the military rule of obeying orders had been ingrained in the souls of these new recruits. Therefore, when the Sacred Dragon issued the order, these panicked guys all subconsciously began to act according to the instructions.

As time went on, these new recruits under the Sacred Dragon's command gradually adapted to the rhythm of the war, and their strength, which had been suppressed by panic, began to emerge. Coupled with the favorable conditions of the ambush and the assistance of the Sacred Dragon and two hundred other dragons who could be considered battle elites, the battle began to develop in the Sacred Dragon's favor.

Altana Mountain

"Is that the cave where the master lives?"

Following the direction Old Suo pointed out, a dark cave hidden behind a giant rock appeared before Tingmei's eyes.

"That's right! This is the cave where the 'master' lives. I came here this morning to report the news to him!"

After confirming his Old Friend's address, Old Suo once again transformed himself into a miniature doll and switched to Poison Dragon Mode. Then, he controlled his body to fly into Tingmei's hood.

"Once we're inside, I'll give you instructions Mind Talk. If you encounter any fatal danger, I'll take care of it for you, but everything else is up to you!"

"Thank you, Master!"

"Alright, enough talk, let's go in!"

"Yes!"

After speaking, Tingmei put on her hood, covering her face and Sordil, who was hiding inside, and then headed straight for the hidden cave halfway up the mountain.

As the battle progressed, Yelibell gradually sensed that something was amiss.

If, in the early stages of the ambush, the dragons of the Western Continent were caught off guard by the sudden attack and, coupled with a lack of information about the enemy, dared not break out rashly and were forced to adopt a passive defensive tactic, then that would be perfectly understandable. However, since they had already successfully disrupted their attack and launched a small-scale counter-offensive, why didn't they seize the opportunity to break out or launch a counter-offensive, instead continuing their strategy of holding their ground?

Even if the Dragon Slayer Magic gradually gained strength under the command of the Sacred Dragon, making them unable to fight back, surely they could still break through, right? But they didn't do that, and instead allowed themselves to be surrounded.

If the commander of this unit were an incompetent fool who didn't understand battle formations, this could be treated as a mistake. However, judging from the enemy's performance after the attack, their commander was definitely a highly capable veteran, and such a person would never make such a low-level error.

Therefore, there is only one explanation for the other party's extremely strange behavior: that they were acting as bait to attract our attention.

Thinking of this, Yelibell immediately broke free from her opponent and flew towards the outer edge of the battlefield.

"Chief Talib, the enemy has completely surrounded Olibuk and his men. Shouldn't we make our move?"

"Chief Montedoss, look closely. Although Lord Olibuk is surrounded, they have still reserved some strength that they haven't committed to the battle. If we appear now, they will definitely use this strength to hold us off and then retreat quickly. If things develop like this, our operation will become meaningless. What will we say to Kelsu and the others then?"

"Oh! Yes, yes, yes! Chief Talib is indeed very thoughtful; I was too hasty!"

"Hmph! Do you even need to tell me? If you were as cautious as me, you wouldn't have gotten beaten up like this!" (Talib's inner thoughts)

"Tch! What's with the attitude? Back when I was fighting to the death here, you were probably off somewhere flirting with some little dragon!" (Montedoss's inner thoughts)

Hearing the voice in her ear, Yelibell's heart sank instantly. After taking a minute to calm her racing heart, she immediately turned and flew towards the Sacred Dragon.

"Uncle Sacred Dragon, something terrible has happened! We've been outmaneuvered by the enemy!"

Upon receiving Yelibell's Mind Talk, the Sacred Dragon was taken aback. After a long pause, he asked, "Yelibell, what exactly happened? Don't rush, tell me slowly!"

"Uncle Sacred Dragon, there is another force from the Western Continent behind us. They are waiting for us to commit all our forces to the battle before launching a surprise attack on us."

"What? We have troops from the Western Continent behind us? How is that possible? Didn't you just say that there was no one around here except for the target?"

"I think they must have moved to the vicinity after we launched our attack, and I was so busy fighting that I didn't have time to scout the surroundings, which is why I didn't spot them beforehand!"

"Damn it! Yelibell, you immediately lead the Second Brigade to break through and seek reinforcements. I will lead the First Brigade to hold them off here."

"No! There are too many of them. The First Brigade alone can't hold them off. Let's break through together!"

"No! They don't know yet that we've discovered their plot, so you and the Second Brigade still have a chance to break out. But once we retreat as a group, they'll immediately realize the plan has been exposed and launch an attack ahead of schedule. Then none of us will be able to escape!"

"But..."

"There are no 'buts,' this is an order, execute it immediately!"

"Yes!"