In the Cassiubia mountain range, the earth that had turned red from battle recovered some of its green by sunset. Their enemies’ sporadic attacks had suddenly stopped, and after a lull, the Cassiubia League confirmed that their enemies were backing away. That marked their success in defending their lands, and the mountain range was bustling with celebrations for the Demon Empire’s and the Sernitas’ retreat. They had beaten not only one, but two formidable forces that they usually would’ve struggled to deal with separately. They were overjoyed.

However, Chi-Hyun couldn’t celebrate the news. When Bael fought in the frontlines and the Sernitas ambushed them using the Demon Empire’s paths, it had been truly dangerous. It was thanks to the information that Chi-Woo unearthed that they were able to safely defend against the attacks. Their enemies didn’t back away even when they failed to accomplish their goal of capturing the final dragon, and the reason for that was obvious: their purpose was to tie down Chi-Hyun and the Cassiubia League’s main forces. With that alone, their enemies had reached a part of their other goals. And the fact that they were retreating now meant…

—Seems like the Demon Empire has finished their preparations to invade Shalyh.

A voice rang. It didn’t come from physical vocal cords, but materialized from thoughts. Chi-Hyun glanced below him and saw the great dark shadow cast by a dragon’s body.

—Thank you. I am alive thanks to you.

“…”

—If it wasn’t for you, I would’ve died.

The...