Van Riel's capital, White City.
Liberty Hall.
This was the political hub of the Country of Fire and also the heart of the country. But now, the people walking in the palace were all worried. Some of them were hugging a large pile of documents and jogging through the corridors, while others were whispering to each other. The air was filled with a dense and uneasy atmosphere.
Even in the corridors, one could vaguely hear the arguments in the parliament.
"This is simply a nightmare!!"
A parliament member slammed the table so hard that his hand turned red, but he didn't notice it.
"50,000 troops! 50,000 troops! There are less than 30 survivors! How are we going to answer to our people? General Duke?! Tell me, what the hell is going on?! 50,000 troops were annihilated just to annihilate a group of demonic beasts? Am I really dreaming? Or are you dreaming? "
Not only him, but most of the parliament members also had ashen expressions. It wasn't only because the 50,000 troops were annihilated, but also because there were many descendants of nobles among the 50,000 troops.
After all, the Country of Fire valued seniority and achievements, and there weren't many wars in the continent at this time. Thus, in order to freeload for merits, many clans sent their children to this army to freeload for merits, so that they could add a thick and colorful stroke to their resumes.
After all, it was rare to develop a piece of unexplored land, which was why the Country of Fire was able to send out 50,000 troops. It was because everyone hoped to get a share of the loot. Furthermore, annihilating the demonic beasts didn't seem dangerous, so many families sent their future stars or successors.
But they didn't expect the entire army to be annihilated! Only less than 30 people survived. Most of them were Mages, and a few of them were cowardly nobles who wore teleportation tools before they left.
As for the rest, they lost their lives!
Facing the parliament member's question, General Duke didn't look too good. After all, he was the one who proposed to annihilate the hive and occupy the unexplored land. Now that such a huge incident happened, someone had to take the blame. The families who lost their descendants wouldn't let him off, and the citizens who lost their children and husbands would tear him into pieces.
That was 50,000 troops!
Ever since the establishment of the Country of Fire, there had never been a case where an entire army was completely annihilated!
"This is not all my fault!!"
General Duke didn't intend to sit still. If he didn't say anything, perhaps the parliament would directly send him to the military court. Needless to say, the result would definitely be him being dragged out and hung to appease the public's anger. However, he was not willing to take the blame!!
"This decision was made by the parliament, and all the parliament members have read the frontline report in detail. At that time, we never discovered that these magical beasts had the ability to burrow into the ground, and we didn't know that there were many of them!"
"Isn't this an intelligence gathering error?"
"Of course not! We have sent scouts into the depths to collect information, but we can be sure that we have never found any similar characteristics of these monsters! The only explanation is … they're hiding their abilities! "
"Hiding my abilities?"
Hearing General Duke's explanation, the other councilman laughed out of anger.
"So, General Duke, what you're trying to say is that those magical beasts have the same intelligence as us humans, and they're purposely acting weak to lure us deep into their territory so that they can annihilate us in one fell swoop?"
"Isn't it?"
General Duke threw caution to the wind.
"The frontline soldiers have fought these monsters so many times, but they've never discovered that they have the ability to burrow into the ground. What does this mean? It means that these monsters have very high intelligence and collective combat ability! They're deliberately luring us into a false sense of security! If we discover any of them have such an ability in battle, we'll be on high alert! "
"Then if it's as you said, if they really have intelligence, why would they risk their lives to die?"
Another councilor raised his question, and General Duke gritted his teeth.
"I suspect that these monsters have a ruler. As long as the ruler gives an order, they'll complete any mission …. In fact, if we consider these monsters as humans, then what we've encountered is a perfect ambush!!"
Although General Duke tried his best to defend himself, the councilmen present showed disapproving expressions. This was a common problem among humans. They were prone to judge things from appearances. If the Zerg looked like a human, they might think that the other party was as intelligent as they were, but for a species like the Zerg that looked like.... well, they would never think that the other party was as intelligent as they were.
That's absolutely impossible! They're just monsters! Magical beasts! At best, they're just slightly more cunning!!
They're definitely not on the same level as us humans!!
"Alright, this isn't the time to talk about this."
Seeing that the meeting was about to turn into a quarrel, the Chairman picked up the hammer in his hand and knocked on the table.
"Our next most important question is, how are we going to deal with those magical beasts? According to the scout's report, there are hundreds of thousands of magical beasts occupying the northern border of the undeveloped land. If they rush into Flamril, how are we going to stop them? "
"…."
Hearing this, everyone's expression turned solemn. Hundreds of thousands of magical beasts! When they saw the image of the border through the magic crystal, they all sucked in a breath of cold air. Because there was only the Country of Fire on this continent, there were no other countries bordering it. Therefore, the Country of Fire basically didn't build any defensive facilities at the borders. At most, they built some city walls in a few cities.
But if these hundreds of thousands of magical beasts penetrated deep into the Nation of Fire, they would be finished!
Where did these damned magical beasts come from?!
"There's another very important question."
The Chairman didn't seem to want to let them have an easy time. He half-closed his eyes and stared at them coldly.
"Regarding that lord …. How are we going to report it?"
"…."
Hearing this, many of the councilors' expressions changed drastically. They looked at each other and were speechless for a moment.
After the "Dragon Slayer" Kara was killed by Hecate, the Nation of Fire's reputation plummeted. More importantly, the Nation of Fire had lost their guardian, which was a very dangerous signal. In the past, because of Kara's existence, the Nation of Fire was considered stable internally. But now that Kara was dead, some of the internal forces naturally began to stir.
Under such circumstances, the Nation of Fire had no choice but to spend a huge sum of money to contact the Red Dragon tribe and obtain the support of the new genius of the Red Dragon tribe. According to the Nation of Fire's thinking, with a Red Dragon in charge, they should be able to sleep soundly. Besides, even if someone had designs on this Red Dragon, it would be equivalent to fighting against the entire Red Dragon tribe. Under such circumstances, even the enemy would not dare to act rashly for fear of harming the Red Dragon.
But who would have thought that the Crimson Dragon would be killed in the first battle where it was supposed to flaunt its might and show off its strength!
This was going to be troublesome!
How were they going to explain this to the Red Dragon tribe? Could it be that the Red Dragon was killed by a group of magical beasts?
What a joke! If they dared to say that, they had to be willing to believe it!
Besides, even if they took a hundred steps back, after the Red Dragon tribe annihilated the magical beasts, they would definitely turn around and cause trouble for the Nation of Fire!
That was why the death of the Red Dragon's son had been kept under wraps by the parliament. Now it seemed like …. They would hide it for as long as they could.
"I have an idea!!"
At this moment, one of the young councilors seemed to have thought of something. His eyes lit up and he stood up. He pressed his hands on the table and looked around at the crowd.
"Everyone, this undeveloped land used to be a land of chaos, and those monsters were magical beasts from the land of chaos, am I right?"
"This …. That's right. So?"
Hearing the young councilor say something that everyone already knew, everyone was a little confused. They had no idea what was going on. Looking at everyone's doubtful expression, the young parliament member revealed a faint smile.
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