"I will first describe the information we in Natterian have acquired, and you all can supplement and discuss at any time," Eucerolot declared, before retreating to his seat at the edge of the platform. A military officer wearing a light gray staff uniform came forward with a substantial collection of documents.

  "The first incident occurred in late summer of Gregorian year 3715, specifically August 30th. The Pillar Mountain Dragon Academy in Morey's capital observed territorial battles in the northern dragonlands," At his gesture toward the ceiling, the torchstone lamps illuminating the hall dimmed, and an imaging device projected a vivid scene onto the dome.

  A red dragon locked in mortal combat with a black dragon. The red one had gained decisive advantage, driving its foe to the brink of death. Just as victory seemed certain, a green female dragon joined the fray. Together, they turned the tide against the red dragon—until it unleashed a brutal counterattack, slaying both opponents in a fiery climax.

  "The victor in this footage is the reason for our gathering," the officer said gravely. "What you've seen is no reenactment but an objective recording."

  "According to our battle dragons in Natterian evaluation , the red dragon's combat capability is enough to match three of ours."

  The rigorously trained battle dragons were the ultimate weapons on the battlefield. They needed no supplies and could fight for extremely long periods with strong mobility. They could easily cut off the orcs' supply lines, carry out large-scale bombardment, thoroughly reconnoiter the enemy situation, and were outstanding strategic weapons - a single one could match two army corps.

  The staff officer closed the recording, and Eucerolot immediately began writing in his notebook.

  He continued, "Then afterwards, in April 13th of the Gregorian year 3716, this dragon raided Morey's capital. In just one morning, it annihilated three army corps and the Gryphon Squads, a total of about 20,000 combat units, plus the battle dragon Ulysses. It then immediately captured King Philip II and his entire family. That night, agents went to rescue them but only the current king escaped - all others perished in dragon breath. We have compiled all the details of these events."

  The staff began distributing piles of materials that could fill a small room. Each person had stacks of paper as tall as a person in front of them, containing all the details about the Battle of Pillar Mountain.

  The military officers from other countries, especially the Ryton Kingdom, immediately began meticulously reading through it page by page, rapidly analyzing the factors influencing the course of battle with their years of military training.

  The Morey side, however, remained expressionless and unmoved, as this data had been compiled by their own general staff and simply shared with Natterian. Since the military units mentioned had already been annihilated, there was no concern about leaks.

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  The staff officer's tone suddenly became serious and solemn: "The critical point is that recently, the red dragon has displayed terrifying deterrence power. It can actually fly raids at 1,000 km/h, destroying Oakland City in Morey and then pursuing fleeing forces all the way back to Pillar Mountain."

  "That's impossible!" the Ryton military officers shouted. "Nothing can achieve that kind of speed!"

  Their panic was justified - Pillar Mountain lay roughly that distance from Ryton's capital. This meant that if the red dragon wished, it could destroy Ryton's central command in just an hour.

  Karl exclaimed, "It's a fact! The distance between Oakenburg and Oakland is 270 km, but it arrived there just minutes after we received the warning! Factoring out the communication time, that's about an hour! During that time, it spent 40 minutes completely annihilating the remnants of our elite Gryphon forces!"

  This flight data was analyzed by Lace and others after they escaped through the Void Gate to Brugen City, and not long after they went to Natterian. The other nations' intelligence was still stuck at the red dragon occupying Oakenburg.

  In theory, with a strike radius of 1,000 km, coupled with the horrific sight of the mighty fortress Oakland instantly reduced to ruins and the formidable combat power displayed, the red dragon quickly left a deep impression on the leaders of various nations.

  The Chalaran representative spoke, "Most crucially, it harbors malice towards humans. Why doesn't it go cause trouble for the demi-humans and exiles on Strife Plain? Or strike at the orcs, its ancestral enemies? Instead it deliberately targets humans, clearly exhibiting an extreme bias against us."

  "It's called Raphael, according to the intelligence from Queen Lace. It also has the title 'Calamity Demon,'" the staff officer added.

  Everyone immediately committed this name and title to memory.

  "So what was its reason for attacking humans?" Snyder spoke up. "You in Morey strengthened your armed defenses to maintain internal stability. But I think a dragon that has just occupied new territory must inevitably feel insecure, hypersensitive to any surrounding threats. Might your actions have inadvertently triggered Raphael's inner defensive mechanisms?"

  "Absolutely not!" Karl stood up and slammed the table. "Strengthening our defenses was simply part of our predetermined military strategy. If that made the red dragon wary, then Ryton border Dragon Domain too - your nation's much stronger military-to-civilian ratio should have made it go after you instead!"

  "Silence! Do not dredge up feuds between kingdoms, just discuss this dragon itself!" Eucerolot began maintaining order.

  The Karuk representative, who had remained silent until now, finally spoke: "I think analyzing these reasons can wait for later. Our current urgent task is to solve this huge problem."

  "After all, it threatens the territorial security of four nations, and has already exhibited sudden attacks. We have reason to unite and jointly confront this issue."

  "I second that. It's better to move directly to the main topic now rather than dwell on the details," Fraser immediately expressed agreement.

  And so, the mutually hostile Karuk and Morey became allies at the conference, for they were both located west of the Modon River, facing the greatest threat of harm from the red dragon. Past grievances paled before such a potentially nation-destroying calamity.

  Ryton clearly still wanted to make an issue of the "reasons for the red dragon's attack" in order to pin the blame on Morey and demand reparations. There was no real prior conflict between them, but Ryton had long coveted Morey's naturally secure territory, and would likely have already launched an invasion if not for Natterian's presence.

  As Snyder was about to continue this topic, he noticed that Prince Eucerolot, followed by Chalaran, had also voiced approval of the proposal to move on.

  Outnumbered four-to-one, he had no choice but to drop the matter for now.