The First Magic World War

Charles did not care about everyone's mixed emotions and exclaimed loudly, "To celebrate Lord Black Dragon's joining, let us hold a banquet!"

Black Dragon quickly adapted to his role and said, "Qiudelo's strength is not less than mine, not too difficult to deal with, but Amesphida is too strong, he is a 23rd Order Lionheart Berserker!"

"Even among the Five Great Empires, each Empire has only two or three people who can match him!"

"The five of us together, I'm afraid, are no match for Amesphida."

"His nickname is King of Ten Thousand Lions! He also possesses the Special Ability to command tens of thousands of the Beast Tribe's army as if directing his own limbs."

"If it were not for his excessive bloodlust and brutal ruthlessness, suppressing all Beastman races other than the Lion Tribe, he would be almost a perfect commander."

"Regrettably, the Eternal and Illusory Dragons have granted us a powerful commander, but not a perfect leader." Find your next read at My Virtual Library Empire

"Head of the Meclen family! Now is not the time to celebrate."

Only then did Charles realize that Black Dragon's role was not that of a strong Sacred Order fighter but that of a strategist, a military advisor like Zhang Liang, Zhuge Liang, and Liu Bowen.

He was greatly surprised, but he also found Black Dragon's self-assigned role quite interesting, and thought Black Dragon's advice was correct and should be adopted.

Charles immediately agreed amiably, saying, "Mr. Black Dragon's words are very true!"

"However, our previous plan was!"

"We have Tumishen and twenty thousand of the Beast Tribe's army. Even if discovered by the Orc camps, they won't think we are a human army."

"The Fars Empire instructed me to drive the Beastmen over the Red Dragon Strait, but my Westwind Knights simply cannot achieve this. The four knighthood squads that initially set out with us had retreated halfway, so I no longer intend to follow the Fars Empire's orders, but I do intend to take with me those Beastmen who do not eat humans."

Black Dragon had already heard about Charles's philosophy from Tumishen; then, squinting as if casually, he asked, "What is your view on humans eating Beastmen, compared to eating wild beasts?"

Charles, not noticing that Black Dragon had dropped the respectful title of Head of the Meclen family and switched to a less polite 'you,' still stated resolutely, "What distinguishes humans from wild beasts are intelligence and civilization!"

"Humans should not harm Beastmen, let alone eat them, just as Beastmen should not eat humans."

"It is not heaven's decree, it is the moral duty that intelligent races with advanced civilizations must uphold."

"Beastmen are also human, but wild beasts are not; they possess neither intelligence nor civilization..."

"I advocate being kind to animals, plants, and even some forms of life, but I do not believe in equality between the knowledgeable and the ignorant, nor do I believe that civilization and barbarism can coexist peacefully."

"Lord Black Dragon, the world is not perfect, only the order that keeps the world running exists."

"We just try to make this order as painless as possible."

"What even gods cannot do, we cannot achieve either; if we can do better than the present, we have already justified our lifelong learning."

This was not the wisdom of Charles, but the essence of Earth's civilization.

Deeply moved by what he heard, Black Dragon quietly reverted to the respectful title, saying, "Head of the Meclen family, I am willing to risk all my abilities for you."

"Since we do not wish to start a war, matters have become simpler. In fact, Agon has already taken away most of the non-carnivorous ones, and I can take care of luring out the rest..."

The Black Dragon elaborately presented a plan, which greatly impressed Charles.

The non-carnivorous ones are an anomaly among the Beast Tribe. The Black Dragon planned to propose to Emissfida that since the Beastmen's camp is short of food, they should kill all these non-carnivorous ones to serve as military provisions. He would volunteer to lead these Beastmen out of the camp, but of course, he would not slaughter them. Instead, he would hand them over to Charles.

Emissfida would surely be furious!

The First to Sixth Orders are considered Low Order, Seventh to Twelfth Orders are Intermediate, and Thirteenth to Eighteenth Orders are High Order!

By the same classification standard, the Nineteenth to Twenty-fourth Orders are the Sacred Order!

Therefore, the strength within the Sacred Order can vary greatly.

Emissfida is a Twenty-third Order Lionheart Berserker, only a step away from the Sanctuary Peak. Not even Golden Ram Herolf, Tumishen, Black Dragon, Sabastine, and Mama Karen joining forces would be his match.

Though Emissfida, the King of Ten Thousand Lions, is mighty, he is not invincible and even among the Beastmen, he has rivals.

The Black Dragon planned to divert the trouble towards the Minotaur Samson, fabricating that this Beastmen Sacred Order, whose strength was even above Emissfida's, had stolen the batch of "food."

This plan was relatively simple, but each step was full of details. If anyone else were to execute it, there would likely be too many flaws, but in the hands of the Black Dragon, it seemed effortless.

Charles agreed to the plan and the entire Westwind Knighthood began to move immediately. Unbeknownst to many, this knighthood, having transitioned from the Patrolling Army, had become a truly powerful force, even ranking among the top ten within the Fars Empire's knighthood.

With powerful Sacred Orders, dozens of Transcendents, a vast number of warriors, and secure rear bases—not just one, but multiple—they also garnered support from the residents of the territories of Behemoth Duchy and South Serif. Moreover, they could receive naval support at any moment.

Unless it was a major campaign like Ferlanden, the Westwind Knighthood could even independently hold their own in some less critical battles.

Charles did ponder whether the Black Dragon might pretend to surrender and then betray them to Emissfida upon his return.

Thus, he also made preparations just in case things went awry. They would escape through Dubrovnic's passage and destroy the Labyrinth.

After leaving, the Black Dragon returned in about three or four days with several thousand Beastmen. He did not stop in Dubrovnic, indicating he needed to go back and appease Emissfida, otherwise, his disappearance alone would surely raise suspicions.

Although Charles was reluctant to let go of such a valuable Sacred Order family Guardian, he could only allow the Black Dragon to leave.

These thousands of Beastmen, Charles unusually did not screen for non-carnivores and sent them all to Cappadocia.

Non-carnivores are extremely rare among the Beastmen still in the southern part of the continent. After Agon had taken a group away, how could there still be so many left in the Beastmen's major encampment on the southern coast of the Continent?

However, when Charles saw that at least half of the group were lizardmen, he made a decision. Having attracted a Sacred Order family Guardian, he must also accept the accompanying troubles.

If the water is too clear, there are no fish; if people are too scrutinizing, there are no disciples!

What Charles needed was the future.

Just after he had sent off this batch of Beastmen, Charles received news that the Empire had finally sent a second knighthood.