Advance East! Advance East! (4)

Upon hearing the Chairman's answer, the room fell into a brief silence, which was followed by an explosion of tension.

"Bastard! That bastard King Erus! I will personally bring him back and make him pay for what he has done! (Ogg)"

"This guy is truly reckless! Not only did he start a war without permission, violating the Continental Convention, but he even dared to openly arrest members of our Magic Council. He's utterly arrogant!" (Beluno)

"That's outrageous! (Yajima)"

"We must severely punish this madman! (Micahlo)"

"We must also expose his crimes, so that all of Ishgar may know of this man's sins! (Leizhi)"

After everyone had finished expressing their opinions, Chairman Crawford said, "Gentlemen, I understand your feelings, but we represent the entire Ishgar magical world, so we cannot act impulsively!"

"Chairman, are we just going to stand by and watch the murderer of Milligan go unpunished? (Leizhi)" (PS: The people Old Suo killed at the Philiers branch were actually Councilor Milligan and nine of his top henchmen, not the Chairman and the nine councilors.)

"Not only Ishu, but if we don't stop this guy, Leo will die at his hands too! (Ogg, the Leo stationed at the Milantes branch)"

"Chairman, this is an arrogant and ignorant fellow. If we don't stop him in time, we'll all become his prisoners or his victims!" (Micahlo)

Faced with the advice of radicals like Ogg, Yajima and Beluno, who usually preferred to downplay major issues and let minor ones go, did not stand up to refute it this time. Instead, they stood obediently in place, saying nothing. It wasn't that the two had changed their ways, but rather that King Erus was simply too outrageous!

With the hawks and doves reaching a consensus, Chairman Crawford had no choice but to back down.

"Given King Erus's heinous behavior and grave sins, I agree to send Restraining Force to arrest him!"

"Heh! We should have done this a long time ago! (Leizhi)"

"Alright! In that case, I'll lead the Third Restraint Force to capture this guy!" (Ogg)

Just as Ogg was about to leave, Crawford suddenly stopped him.

"Ogg, wait a minute!"

When Crawford stopped Ogg, everyone looked at him in confusion.

"Ogg, we need to capture that arrogant King Erus, but right now the most urgent task is to rescue Milantes, otherwise Leo's life will be in danger!" (Crawford)

Upon hearing the Chairman's words, everyone remembered that Milantes' life was still hanging by a thread!

"Yes! The Chairman is right. We have plenty of time to capture King Erus. Right now, we need to figure out how to rescue Leo and the others!" (Micahlo)

"In that case, I will lead the Fourth Restraint Force to rescue Milantes!" (Leizhi)

When the topic of the rescue mission came up, Beluno, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly spoke up, "The idea is good, but by the time you arrive with the Fourth Restraint Force, Leo will probably have already met up with Milligan!"

After Beluno's reminder, Leizhi and the others realized this tragic truth.

Just when everyone was at a loss, Crawford laughed and said, "Heh heh! Gentlemen, have you all forgotten about that thing?"

"Chairman, are you referring to the formation left over from four hundred years ago? (Yajima)"

"Yes! If we use that formation, we can reach Milantes instantly! (Ogg)"

"But the amount of Space Magic required to send the Fourth Restraint Force to Milantes through that formation is no small feat!" (Beluno)

"Hehe! There's no need for any concern about that, because just recently, we discovered some rhomboid Magic Crystal underground in Crocas that can be used to activate that formation. (Micahlo)"

"In that case, let's split up immediately. I'll go capture King Erus, Leizhi, you go rescue Leo. (Ogg)"

"Good! (Leizhi)"

Philiers, Royal Palace, Council Hall

Upon returning to the palace, Old Suo immediately sent someone to summon Diphiya and the others who had remained behind.

"Hey bro, why are you waking us up in the middle of the night instead of sleeping?"

Looking at the yawning Diphiya, Old Suo said with exasperation, "Sleep, sleep, sleep! All you do is sleep! If it weren't for my quick reflexes, you'd have your head chopped off and you wouldn't even know how you died!"

After the engineers failed to clear the Diphiya, everyone immediately realized that something big had happened, so they all perked up and listened carefully to His Majesty the King's instructions.

"You brat, what happened? Tell us all!" (Kaldiz)

After Kaldiz spoke, Old Suo So realized the purpose of his gathering everyone, so he began to tell them what had just happened, and Divine Constable Di escaped a disaster as a result.

"Everyone, just now, I received a report from Silver Moon..."

Through Old Suo's detailed explanation, Kaldiz and the others finally understood what had just happened.

"You naughty boy, you mean the Magic Council might take advantage of Philiers' weakened forces and cause trouble here? (Sage Dragon)"

"While this possibility is slim, it can't be completely ruled out, which is why I called you all here to discuss a solution!" (Old Suo)

"Brother, what's there to discuss? We'll each guard a section. If those guys dare to come, we'll show them with our strength that Philiers isn't a place they can mess with!" (Diphiya)

"That's right! This is the best solution for the current situation!" (Mevajena)

After Mevajena finished speaking, Sage Dragon and Kaldiz nodded in agreement, indicating that they also agreed with this approach.

"Alright! Since everyone agrees that this is the right thing to do, let's divide up our respective defense zones!" (Old Suo)

Central Milantes, Haru City

"Yelibell, what happened? Why did you call us all here?" (Gilkunis)

Hearing the loud voice outside the door, Hadessta and the others inside shook their heads. In the end, Wattster, fearing that this idiot would cause some more trouble, went out, gagged him, and dragged him inside.

"Alright! Everyone's here, Yelibell, tell me what happened! (Hadessta)"

"No problem, I'll tell everyone the details right away. But before that, Aunt Wattster, please let go of Uncle Gilkunis, or he's going to die!" (Yelibell)

After Yelibell reminded them, everyone realized that Gilkunis, who had been captured by Wattster, had rolled his eyes!

"Holy crap! Is Gilkunis going to go there? (Woodman)"

"Impossible! That old lecher is incredibly tough; there's no way he'd just kick the bucket like that!" (Radel)

"Hey! Gilkunis, stop pretending to be asleep and get up!" (Wattster)

Seeing that Gilkunis hadn't opened his eyes yet, Wattster reached out and 'gently' patted his cheeks twice.

"Slap slap"

"Ouch! Who hit me? (Gilkunis)"

Hearing Gilkunis's loud, pained cry, the crowd shook their heads speechlessly and then walked away.

"Hey! If there's nothing else, get up quickly, Yelibell wants to explain the situation!" (Wattster)

Hearing the voice behind him, Gilkunis remembered the purpose of his visit. He quickly got up and walked toward the empty seat that had been left for him.

After Gilkunis took his place, Yelibell said, "Uncle, Aunt, the reason I sent someone to notify you to come over is because I just received an urgent message from my brother Sordil."

"Emergency notification? Could something have happened to Philiers? (Woodman)"

"You blockhead, don't interrupt, let Yelibell finish!" (Gilkunis)

After nodding to Gilkunis, Yelibell continued, "Sordil said they just seized a secret stronghold of the Magic Council, but by the time they stormed in, the message had already been sent out. Therefore, the Magic Council very likely to send someone to rescue Milantes."

"Heh! I thought something serious had happened, but it's just this! (Gilkunis)"

"Uncle Gilkunis, according to Sordil's brother, the Magic Council has learned the truth about the destruction of the Erus branch, the disappearance of the investigation team, and the annihilation of all magic guilds within Erus. Therefore, those who have come may not only Magic Council, but perhaps also from magic guilds across the land. (Yelibell)"

"Even if they all come together, the few of us will be fine, but our subordinates will be finished. Losing them means we've lost the foundation for unifying Ishgar, and then Sordil's brother's plan will fall through. So we can't afford to be careless!" (Yelibell)

Upon hearing Yelibell's words, Gilkunis realized the importance of the matter.

"So what should we do now? (Gilkunis)"

"Brother Sordil, let's speed up our attack and finish the battle before the Magic Council arrives! (Yelibell)"

"Alright! In that case, I'll order the troops to speed up their advance." (Gilkunis)

When they saw that Gilkunis was about to turn and leave, Hadessta and the others quickly stopped him.

"You old pervert, don't be so impulsive. Yelibell only said that the bad boy wanted us to do it, she didn't say we really had to do it, why are you in such a hurry!" (Hadessta)

"Exactly! Can't you just let people finish speaking?!" (Woodman)

Hearing their advice and with Wattster's outstretched hand, Gilkunis readily accepted the suggestion and returned to the conference table.

After dealing with Gilkunis, the AI asked, "Girl, tell me your plan, and let's see if it aligns with what I'm thinking!"

Yelibell nodded and then said, "Uncle, Aunt, my plan is like this, and then like this."