"However, even in terms of raw strength and numbers, your world is too lacking. If the Great Devils truly wanted to invade your world without a care for the price, your world would be overrun with demons," Lord Narvim stated.

"The Gehenna Realm might just be a small part of Chaos, but it's still larger than your world countless times over. The number of demons the Great Devils could raise under their war banner would be staggering. Grim isn't enough to describe our situation."

"The only solutions this Lord can think of is to raise a dozen Rank 6 beings of our own or seek help from a Rank 7 being in a neighboring realm. However, either task is exceeding difficult to accomplish," Lord Narvim concluded with a sigh.

What should have been an enjoyable discussion took a depressive turn and filled the area with gloominess.

"Enough of that. Are there any other questions?" Lord Narvim asked, changing the topic.

Nevertheless, the dragon lord underestimated human curiosity.

If the dragon lord had to wait for Vaan's group to ask all their questions before he could ask them a question of his own, he would not get the chance.

"Then, we will ask one more question, Your Excellency." Vaan wryly smiled, feeling a little bad for the dragon lord.

After casting a glance at Astoria, Hester, and Aeliana, they quickly reached a tacit understanding and allowed him to ask the last question.

"Seeing how Ninth Peak has a building for human accommodation, it must be true that humans have visited your mountain before. And not just any human, but our kingdom's ruler, Her Majesty, Henrietta Rosegarden," Vaan mentioned before asking, "Can you tell us what agreements you've made with each other, Your Excellency?"

Astoria, Hester, and Aeliana immediately showed interest in the dragon lord's answer.

"That's a tricky question you've asked there, Vaan. Nevertheless, this Lord won't go back on his words. This Lord will answer you, but it will have to wait," Lord Narvim replied before mentioning, "It should be about time now. This Lord will be back shortly."

Shortly after saying that, the dragon lord rose to his feet, created a large tear in space, then disappeared inside.

Vaan and the others were suddenly left hanging as they had no choice but to wait for the dragon lord to return from his unfinished business.

Nevertheless, Vaan could guess where the dragon lord went; the dragon lord most likely went after the Fallen Witches that had escaped.

..

..

..

Principality of Dainsleif, Black Witch Society's headquarters

As Fallen Witches busied about the pocket realm with their assigned tasks, a spatial portal suddenly appeared in the middle of their headquarters.

Its sudden appearance immediately attracted nearby Fallen Witches, but no one expressed any surprise; they knew who was returning.

A few moments later, Claudette returned with Opalina.

"Did we need to take such a risk by making so many detours through the Holy Knight Empire, Claudette?" Opalina asked with a weary and sour mood.

"We can't be too careful, Opalina," Claudette stated with some fatigue before explaining, "After all, the True Dragons know how to lock down the spatial region in the Thousand Fog Mountains. Thus, we can expect them to have experts in Spatial Magic among them. We don't want them following us back to our headquarters."

"Claudette? Opalina? Why are there only the two of you? Where are the others?" the Witch Mother came to greet them.

"We were forced to abandon them, Witch Mother. I was barely able to escape with just Opalina." Claudette dropped to her knees and apologized for her incompetence, "Forgive me for being incapable, Witch Mother."

"Haiz, it seems your group met with unprecedented danger if you were forced to escape," the Witch Mother softly sighed and said, "It's good that you and Opalina made it back at least. Now, tell me what happened—No, never mind. It's too late for that."

"What do you.." Claudette didn't finish her question before she felt the spatial disturbance.

A few moments later, an especially large spatial tear appeared fifty yards away from their location before a huge red dragon emerged from it.

"T-True Dragon! It followed us back, dammit!" Opalina exclaimed as her face immediately paled with fear.

The red dragon before her was so much larger than the other red dragons she had seen during her brief stay on the ninth mountain!

historical

No doubt, it's also much stronger than the other red dragons!

"Impossible.. I made so many detours to ensure the dragons wouldn't be able to trace back to us.." Claudette uttered with disbelief.

Lord Narvim glanced at her dismissively, but she still felt suffocated by the towering pressure emanating from his body.

"Foolish black witch. It doesn't matter how many spatial portals you make. If you can't erase your tracks, this Lord will still find you," Lord Narvim coolly stated, shocking everyone present.

The dragon could speak their language!

"Now, this Lord will give you a choice. Will you and the black witch beside you follow this Lord back to Ninth Peak for judgment, or will you both choose to die here? Of course, if you choose the first option, this Lord still has to wipe everyone's memories," Lord Narvim listed his conditions.

"Unfortunately, I can't allow either of those choices to happen, Your Excellency," the Witch Mother firmly stated, stepping in front of Claudette and Opalina to protect them from the dragon lord.

Although she appeared calm, she still felt the pressure of facing a higher-rank being.

Lord Narvim gave her a single glance and immediately figured out her strength before expressing some surprise.

"It's not easy for a witch to reach the Pseudo-Transcendent rank. If you don't die, you are bound to become a Transcendent Witch," Lord Narvim casually mentioned before advising her to step down, "You don't want to do this."

"I don't. But you leave me with no other choice, Your Excellency," the Witch Mother argued with a grave look. "Both choices are unacceptable. Claudette is too important to our society's development. And why must you wipe our memories?"

"That's something you don't need to know," Lord Narvim stated indifferently before glancing around at the large gathering of Fallen Witches.

Although they were clearly scared, they were prepared to fight.

"This Lord gave you all a chance to live, but you chose to die instead," Lord Narvim sighed before his eyes glinted with coldness. "Remember, you all chose this."

"No. You did, Your Excellency," the Witch Mother coldly replied before stomping on the ground.

In the next instant, the entire pocket realm rumbled and glowed with dark light before black chains shot out of the ground and ceilings, binding the dragon lord's huge body in place.