No matter how ruthlessly and relentlessly Fengo pursued it, after being caught twice and stubbornly escaping both times, the Disguised Iron Dragon never let him catch its tail again.
After all, instead of their old practice of searching in small teams, most Mage Towers had chosen to operate in large groups led by an Eighth-Ring Archmage.
Sia Tower was displeased, but they could not force the Mages to go to their deaths.
The world of Mages was just that straightforward... even if I appreciated Goddess Bisozeya's contributions to the world, even if I was willing to follow you because of your power, none of that could be allowed to affect my own interests.
This had nothing to do with the world's survival. They were merely searching for a resource that would never fall into their own hands, yet the Mages were expected to risk their lives for it. Never mind that most Mages in this world leaned toward neutral evil—even Mages of good alignment could not do that!
As for whether anyone had guessed that this dragon might not affect the world but could affect Sia Tower's interests... Hill reckoned someone certainly had.
Even with their minds clouded by prolonged brainwashing, the Mage Towers had never readily thrown their lot in with Sia Tower.
That was merely their last resort when they had nowhere else to turn.
Although, in a sense, being considered a Mage's last resort already represented an exceptionally solid conviction, asking them to risk their lives for Sia Tower's interests at a time like this was utterly impossible.
That included the Black Mystery Tower.
If they excluded the few Mage Towers whose homes had been raided by necromancers, the Black Mystery Tower's losses could already be considered the greatest.
Thus, no one could object to their decision