After circling in the sky for a while, seeing that the other party had no intention of attacking him or harming Dukar, he let the red dragon fly over.
Unexpectedly, as soon as the red dragon landed, Xiao Xun's hands glowed with blue light, and a giant bolt of lightning whipped the red dragon.
It was only due to Nigeriot's quick reflexes that he waved his magic wand and guided the attacking lightning elsewhere.
Dukar was stunned and shouted at Xiao Xun, "What are you doing? That's my teacher!"
Xiao Xun glared at him, "In our place, this is called not returning a courtesy when one is visited. Since your teacher wanted to test my abilities, how can I refuse the challenge?"
Dukar quickly ran to his teacher's side, "Teacher, please don't mind him. This is Duke Swain of Santi Roman, here to help us."
Nigeriya dismounted from the red dragon. His dragon was more than twice the size of Xiao Xun's twin-headed dragon, and it displayed its draconic pride without any restraint.
Xiao Xun, watching the Archmage walk over unhurriedly, said fearlessly, "You are the Archmage of the Scorching Moon Kingdom, the Red Dragon Knight."
Nigeriya's expression was impassive as he stared intently into Xiao Xun's eyes, "You're a Chaos-系的 magician!"
Xiao Xun spread his hands and shrugged, "Is that so strange?"
Nigeriya didn't answer this question but instead said, "This is not just a disaster for the Scorching Moon Kingdom, but a catastrophe for humanity. The only way to permanently resolve this world crisis is to kill the Four Demon Kings and completely seal the Demon God."
Xiao Xun snorted. He intensely disliked the elders of this world, who all acted as if they had profound insights and were superior to everyone else.
"What does this have to do with me? I'm only responsible for protecting Santi Roman. Winning is my ability, and if I lose, no one can blame me."
"When the nest is overturned, no egg remains intact..."
Xiao Xun was astonished. This old man could actually utter such philosophical words. He wasn't to be outdone, "The arrival of calamities is a cycle of destiny. If destiny favors humanity, naturally someone will save the world from its plight. If destiny does not favor humanity, all your efforts will be in vain."
The two conversed like they were playing a riddle for a long time until Xiao Xun's stomach rumbled, finally ending their pointless debate.
Xiao Xun took a step back and said to Dukar, "If your teacher is willing, have them go to Kache. If not, then I can't do anything." He then looked at Nigeriya again and raised his voice, "If I'm not mistaken, you must not even have the essential drinking water and food. The people are probably dwindling too. I truly don't know how you've managed to persevere until now."
Xiao Xun's words struck Nigeriya to the core. They had run out of food long ago, and everyone had started eating "rice meat." If no more supplies arrived, these people would all perish. Nigeriya went out under the cover of night to find food daily, but the killer locusts flew faster than red dragons and had a greater range. Everything edible within a hundred-mile radius had been consumed. What the killer locusts hadn't eaten was inedible even to humans.
Xiao Xun, along with the Twelve Star Emissaries, followed Nigeriya and Dukar into the bunker. Upon entering, they were met with a stench of decay and rot. What greeted their eyes was a living hell.
All the people who could still move were no different from the skeleton soldiers outside – skin and bones, with sunken eyes, clearly having gone without food for some time.
He figured that if he had arrived two days later, these people would have starved to death here.
They encountered no resistance on the way back. Xiao Xun instructed Aries to go ahead and prepare food for the survivors of the Scorching Moon Kingdom.
Xiao Xun went with the Twelve Star Emissaries to rescue people from the Scorching Moon Kingdom, leaving without informing anyone.
With their commander missing for two days, Delvana was both anxious and angry. She slammed her fist on the table and asked the Grand Legion Commander, who was a head taller than her, "It's been an eighth of my life's bad luck to be partnered with this hotheaded commander. Not a single day goes by without worrying. Did such a person truly defeat Banturadel's formidable Xuanjia Divine Soldiers and the Barbarian King Sain?"
The Grand Legion Commander wore a crestfallen face and didn't know what to say.
Xiao Xun returned only after dark. These people, who were as thin as skeletons from hunger, were much slower than him. Even then, it was only because he had told them that a banquet of wine and meat awaited them in Kache City, encouraging them to keep moving their legs with this hope.
As soon as he entered the command post, he noticed Delvana standing there with a dark expression. She ignored him, her expression like that of a newlywed bride whose husband had returned home stealthily in the middle of the night.
He knew it was Delvana's turn to cause trouble, and she had been gearing up to have an argument with him.
However, he didn't care much. He thought, "Why is this girl acting like a petty resentful wife? I appointed her as deputy commander, but I didn't ask her to be my wife."
Xiao Xun made small talk, "Sister Na, why aren't you asleep yet?"
Delvana's face was stern. "Nonsense, what time is it to sleep? Besides, the commander is missing, how could I sleep?"
Xiao Xun said, "Huh? Didn't Aries tell you? That kid is getting more and more unruly. Before I left, I specifically told Aries to inform you. That kid must have forgotten. I'll have to criticize him severely later. He dares to forget what he was told. He really doesn't take our Sister Na seriously..."
Delvana interrupted him impolitely, "Enough of this idle talk. Where have you been?"
Xiao Xun said with a fawning smile, "I've been stuck in this wretched place for so long, my bones have gone soft. I went out to stretch my limbs and accidentally wandered into the Scorching Moon Kingdom.
What I discovered there was incredible: a large number of natural disaster legions were besieging the survivors of the Scorching Moon Kingdom. Acting on a spirit of helpfulness, I just happened to rescue them.
As you know, these people haven't eaten for many days. From a distance, they looked like the skeleton soldiers of the natural disaster legions. It's already remarkable that they could walk back through mountains and rivers."
Then he changed the subject, "Actually, this is mainly your fault. You see, I got lost here in unfamiliar territory, and you didn't even come out to look for me."
Delvana was so angered that she chuckled. "You really are shameless. You're nothing like the legendary peerless strategist known for his brilliant tactics. Before I could even scold you, you're trying to shift the blame. Fine, I won't say anything more about it. As the saying goes, repeat something three times and it loses its flavor.
I've said the same thing more than three times, and I'm tired of it myself. I'll say it one last time: you should always stay with your troops and not act alone. It's difficult for me to manage your people..."
Xiao Xun took out the large red maple leaf. He had originally intended to give it to Empress Celeres.
At this moment, he quickly used the red leaf to try and shut Delvana up, "Stop talking, I can recite what you're going to say next. Sister Na, look how much I think of you. I saw this leaf on the way and thought it was very beautiful, so I brought it back for you."
Delvana's anger had not subsided. She brushed it away with her hand, "Don't try that. You want to shut me up with this? I still have something to say..."
Xiao Xun became somewhat annoyed, "I know, I know. From now on, if I go out again, I'll ask for leave from you, the deputy commander, okay? I tried to do a good deed, but it was taken for a donkey's liver and lungs. Take it or leave it, I'm not giving it to you anymore."
He turned to leave.
"Stop! Put down the leaf. I've been worried sick for two days, you should give me some spiritual compensation." Delvana said indignantly, extending her hand.
Xiao Xun's face broke into a wide smile, and he placed the maple leaf in her hand, "That's more like it! I'll personally cook a few dishes for you later, and we'll have a good drink together."
Delvana looked at the red maple leaf, a smile involuntarily appearing on her face. Finally, she tucked it into her chest and kept it.
After finally appeasing Delvana, he went outside and saw the thousands of refugees in the plaza gathered around the fire, eating communal meals.
Even Archmage Nigeriya, without exception, set aside his pride as a Red Dragon Knight and ate with them. He was too hungry, and he prioritized his own dragon with any food.
Now, the red dragon Mayateo and the twin-headed dragon Borjagard were confined together and had a good feast.
Borjagard was stunned by Mayateo's eating habits. He said, "Brother, how many meals have you missed? Or is this how you always eat?"
After swallowing the meat, Mayateo burped and looked at Borjagard, "Little brother, to be honest, I haven't had a full meal in a month."
Jad said proudly, "The master you follow is not good! You can't even get a full meal. Do you know that my master's entire lunch provisions were eaten by mice, and by the afternoon, the granaries were full?"
Mayateo was enraged, "You are not allowed to speak about my master like that! Do you know how powerful he is? Do you know how much his people adore him?"
Bor was displeased, "What does that have to do with me? I just know that following him, you can't even get a meal. If it weren't for my master, you'd still be starving."
Mayateo pointed at Borjagard, "You're looking for death..."