Thirteen sat cross-legged while leaning against Giga's soft underbelly. Several hours had passed since he discovered the location of the Shard of Origin, and he had been busy devising a strategy on how to secure it safely. While this was happening, Erica was sparring against the Troll Shamans, while Sherry and her Blade Panther, Mors, were sparring against one of the Troll Raiders. This Troll Raider was T6, and he was a Rank 4 Alpha Monster. T1, their group's leader, was a Rank 5 Sovereign. Even now, Erica and Sherry still couldn't believe that Zion commanded a Monster Army that could potentially tip the balance of the war in their favor. However, the teenage boy told them that they shouldn't rely on the monsters who were friendly with him. He made sure that the two girls and Ratatoskr completely understood that the existence of Giga, Blacky, Rocky, Hercules, and the other Monsters must remain a secret to other people. The White Ratman, Ratatoskr, was currently being trained by O1, who was a Rank 5 Sovereign. After drinking the Red Dragon's Blood, the Hero of the Ratmen mutated into a Rank 4 Alpha Monster. But, even with his current rank and even if he was a Hero, it was still impossible for Ratatoskr to face off against the Rank 8 Goblin Emperor. Had he not been picked up by Thirteen, he would have faced countless life-and-death battles spanning through a few years, allowing him to gain enough fighting experience and raise his rank to a higher level before facing off against the mortal enemy of his race. Since the Hero was still not ready to face the Goblin Emperor, Thirteen had no intention of letting Ratatoskr fight the "Boss Monster." 'I guess I have no choice but to use that method,' Thirteen thought. 'But it will take time to prepare.' The teenage boy was certain that the Goblin Emperor wouldn't fall for a distraction. Even if he were to raze half of the Goblin City, he believed that the Leader of the Goblins would still not budge from his throne and leave the Shard of Origin behind. 'Drastic times call for drastic measures,' Thirteen mused before shifting his gaze at the White Ratman, who was having a hard time defending against his sparring partner. Tiona, who was coiled up on Thirteen's neck, nudged his cheek, which made the teenage boy smile faintly. "If an opportunity presents itself, why not?" Thirteen assured his companion. "Just make sure to not do anything reckless." The black snake nodded in understanding. Meanwhile, somewhere in the territory of the Lizardmen… Drazzat clenched his teeth as he faced off against two Rank 5 Alpha Ratmen, who had pushed him to a corner. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮 "I'm going to kick you on the chest, so make sure to pretend like you're really hurt, okay?" the Ratman said in a volume that only Drazzat could hear. Drazzat roared, which was a sign that he would cooperate. Without another word, the Ratman unleashed a powerful kick on the Lizardman's chest, which sent him flying backward for several meters. The Goblin Shamans, who were monitoring the battle, nodded their heads in satisfaction after seeing that the Lizardmen were slowly getting pushed back by the Ratmen. The only thing that they were dissatisfied with was that no Lizardmen or Ratmen had died in this particular skirmish. Both sides were fighting intensely, but every time one of them got seriously injured, they would either retreat or one of their comrades would carry them away from the battlefield. After an hour of intense fighting, both sides retreated to nurse their injuries. "You stupid rats!" the Goblin Shaman shouted in anger. "It has been several days, and you've only managed to push them back for a mile?! What kind of madness is this?!" "Sir, as you can see, they are using a hit-and-run strategy against us," the Ratman Commander, who goes by the name Zekk, replied. "If we are not careful, what happened yesterday might happen again." The Goblin frowned after hearing the Ratman Commander's reply. Yesterday, two of the Goblin Shamans who were accompanying the Main Army of the Ratmen died due to an assassination attempt by the Lizardmen. Because of this, their camp was left with only two Goblin Shamans overseeing the frontlines of the battlefield. "If we move recklessly, there is a possibility that something might happen to you and your comrade, Sir. We can't risk it," Zekk stated. "If both of you were to die, the Goblin Emperor might get angry and hold us responsible." The Goblin Shaman clicked his tongue. "Fine. But make sure to kill as many of those lizards as you can next time!" The Goblin Shaman stormed off in anger, but he didn't go back to his quarters. He went to the make-shift infirmary of the Ratmen to check the injuries of the warriors. Although there were no deaths, almost all the warriors were seriously injured and needed several days before they could fight again on the front lines. The Goblin Shaman clicked his tongue in annoyance because it would have been better if the Ratmen had just died instead of wasting their time recuperating. Although the current state of the war seemed to move in a crawl, they were still able to make some gains, so the Goblins still reported it to their Emperor. But after they mentioned that two of their comrades had died during a sneak attack by the Lizardmen, the Goblin Emperor told them that there were some unusual movements that were happening in their territory. After the Shamans had heard that several Goblin Camps had been destroyed by unknown assailants, who were believed to be Lizardmen Warriors, the Goblin Shamans became anxious. They knew that the Ratmen Army in the Fangisss Swamp had been annihilated down to the last Rat, and it had opened a breach in the Ratmen Army's defenses. But instead of being pincered from the front and the back, the Lizardmen only employed guerrilla warfare, which led the Shamans to believe that the Lizardmen, who were now attacking their home turf, came from the Varesti Tribe. Of course, this was far from the truth. Drazzat had managed to capture one of the Ratmen Scouts that were patrolling the area and passed his message to them. The Ratman Scout then reported to Zekk, and the Ratmen Commander went to meet with Drazzat in secret. The two Commanders then started to strategize a plan on how they could delay the war and minimize the casualties on both sides. Because of this, both armies only fought with the intention to seriously injure their opponent but not kill them. This was the only way they could think of to make it seem like they were fighting seriously while keeping the casualties as low as possible. It was a delicate balance that they had been maintaining for the past few weeks. So when Zekk overheard about the current situation of the Goblins in their territories, he immediately asked his Scout to go to the location where he could secretly pass a message to the Lizardmen. This was one of the methods that they used to communicate with each other, allowing them to share information. When Drazzat received Zekk's message, he was overjoyed because Zion had kept his word. He immediately shared this news with the other Great Chieftains of the Lizardmen, which raised a bit of their morale. "With this, we will be able to buy more time," Drazzat said with confidence. "We just need to hold on for a bit longer until Zion can steal the Shard of Origin. After that, we can finally end the war." "How could it be that easy?" the great Chieftain of the Mawano Tribe, Vasjirr, asked. "He is facing off against a Rank 8 Sovereign. Can that child really do what he promised to do?" "Whether he can or whether he can't, we can only wait," a Great Chieftain commented. "Frankly, I don't think the boy is capable of facing off against a Goblin Emperor. "Destroying a few goblin camps is already a feat worth being proud of. But I just don't see him winning against the Emperor." "He doesn't need to win against the Goblin Emperor," Drazzat stated. "His goal is to only steal the Shard of Origin. If we are lucky, then this war will end in a week or two." A profound silence descended upon the underground cavern where the Great Chieftains were having a meeting. "And what if it doesn't end in a week or two?" Vasjirr broke the silence. "What if he fails?" "He won't fail," Drazzat replied. "Where is this confidence of yours coming from?" one of the Great Chieftains asked. "As much as I want to end this war, there is no guarantee that this human boy who goes by the name Zion will succeed." "He is right," another Great Chieftain commented. "How about we set a deadline? Two weeks. After two weeks and this war is still ongoing, we need to come up with a strategy to either migrate to a different location or continue fighting." "Now that we know the reason behind this war, we can't afford to lose our warriors. Otherwise, anything we do will be meaningless," Vasjirr stated. "Even if we win against the Ratmen, the Goblins will just finish what they started. By then, we would no longer have enough fighting force to defend ourselves." "One mistake, and we can lose everything. But there is a way to prevent our people from annihilation. We can always retreat to the scattered islands far into the sea. "Our people have lived in those islands for generations, and it is the haven that has kept our race safe from harm. If the Ratmen are to pursue us there, we can just sink their ships before they can even reach our islands." Drazzat knew that the other Great Chieftains were only thinking of the survival of their people, so he didn't oppose their suggestion. "Very well." Drazzat nodded. "Two weeks. If after two weeks, we still haven't heard any news from Zion, then let us all migrate away from our current territories." All the Great Chieftains nodded in agreement and concluded their meeting. Drazzat sighed internally, but there was nothing else he could do. "Zion, I hope you know what you are doing," Drazzat muttered as he looked at the East, where the territories of the Goblins were located. "Because if you don't, we will have no choice but to leave you and the other humans to fend for yourselves." The Lizardman Commander shook his head helplessly before heading to his camp to talk to David. Since he was the current leader of the humans who were fighting this war alongside them, he needed to know the decisions of the Great Chieftains so that he and the rest of the humans could create a plan that would also ensure their survival.