At first, Attilicia found this hard to believe. The Old Continent had been turned into a Scorched Earth a thousand years earlier amidst the War of the Five Armies—comprised of Elves, Dwarves, Humans, Beastmen, and Evil Dragons. Finally, the High Elves had detonated the well of Magic Power, causing the entire Old Continent to become a place with a broken Magical Net and rampant Mana Energy.
Since then, the Beastmen had completely vanished from Skanis on the Old Continent.
The Elves retreated to rebuild Dewensen in Granyel on the New Continent.
The Dwarves had since hidden themselves in The Dark Mountains to the east.
Human civilization was directly split into three parts. The ancient Kutaro nation to the south, which had already become a desert, was quite literally beaten into the earth, leaving only desolate ancient tombs, wandering Undead, and a few Blue Dragons disco-dancing on their graves.
The other part, which had stayed in the north to resist, had degenerated into a primitive society that ate raw flesh and drank blood, becoming Barbarians whom the Elves kept on the Old Continent.
Only the last fraction had also fled to Central Earth on the New Continent to redevelop, eventually linking with the Toriel deities, who were eager to expand their faith among the kingdoms of Central Earth.
Only the Chromatic Dragons, with their strangely potent survival capabilities, had managed to secure a foothold on the Old Continent—which, at last, hardly anyone coveted anymore—though their numbers had dwindled to a level comparable to those in Toriel.
It was precisely because of this complex history that Attilicia found the news he heard from Hiatt somewhat unbelievable.
After all, given the ravaged environment of Skanis on the Old Continent, even Chromatic Dragons had to be picky about where they settled.
Take, for example, the Katjana mountain range, Pafila's territory. Initially, when David had dragged those captured High Elves to the plains to start farming potatoes, the endeavor had nearly killed them.
He truly couldn't fathom what those Elves were thinking, wanting to return to Skanis to rebuild their empire.
Until a statement from Hiatt enlightened him:
"According to Nifadora's observational reports, it is uncertain whether it's due to fragments of the War God's Divine Realm falling there, but Skanis on the Old Continent has shown signs of rising and stabilizing Magic Power. More importantly, it seems that wheat can now be grown on the Barbarians' land."
Is that... really the case? Attilicia thought. While this should have been good news for the Dragons, it only made his expression grow graver.
He had once discussed with David how Elariya's plane was transitioning from a secondary material plane to a primary material plane due to the commencement of the War of the Gods.
Mana Tides.
These were Mana Tides caused by high-energy fragments.
But such an impact and change should have taken at least a thousand years.
Therefore, Attilicia could only think of one possibility. It must be that due to the war between the Chromatic Dragon Queen and the War God, the newly-appointed Magic Goddess following the Saintly Calamity has also begun to pay attention to Elariya and has started to repair Skanis's Magical Net. Only this could explain such an obvious change in the Old Continent's magical environment. And only this could explain why those High Elves are so eager to return to the Old Continent. They want to move all the Elves of Toriel there! Just like when they moved their entire clan into Toriel's primary material plane long ago. Even if it means residing under the Dragons' protection. Until, after enduring for four millennia, they backstab the Dragons with a Dragon Mad Lock, expelling them from the stage of history!
The subsequent rebellion instigated by the Spider Goddess Rose—no, by Elloxyn, the Elven Queen at that time—was merely the spark. It ignited internal contradictions among the Elves, and with five Crown Wars plus the schism of the Drow Elves, the Elves ultimately engineered their own downfall.
On Elariya, this newborn primary material plane, the High Elves once again saw the hope for their race to rise anew and dominate the plane.
After all, although Christoph was a legendary Red Dragon, the High Elves also had many legendary figures. Moreover, the Elves were masters of a particular art that could achieve such a blockade: the Magic Enigma Lock.
He immediately instructed Hiatt to convey a message: "Tell Nifadora to be wary of any actions from the Dewensen Elves. In the face of irresistible force, she may abandon Katjana and retreat towards The Dark Mountains."
"Yes," Hiatt replied.
This was his final decision.
But this time, he didn't pray to Pafila, nor did he choose to tell David.
He understood Pafila; with her nature, she probably wasn't concerned about that so-called territory. More importantly, she was currently deep within the War God's Divine Realm, far too preoccupied to pay attention to events in Elariya, the material world.
As for David, he would certainly care.
But what would it matter if David cared? By the time that child received this message upon reaching the next planet, at least a decade would have passed.
A decade later, whatever happened would already be set in stone.
And yet, he was powerless to change any of it.
He knew that even as a Silver Dragon, even if he were granted an audience by Tiamat, the Chromatic Dragon Queen herself—no, Tiamat would definitely not see him.
With the might of a Dragon God, she surely saw far beyond what he could.
How could she allow David to abandon his strategic plans for The Slaying King Star over the mere fate of Skanis?
It was precisely for this reason that he didn't want David to face the same agonizing dilemma he himself was currently experiencing.
Hiatt also brought news from Yevgeny regarding Mirillian, the Duke of Silver:
Due to Mirillian's political noncooperation and the legitimacy she held in the hearts of the Elariya Elves, Queen Arasya, seeking to prevent more High Elves from fleeing to Saeolus City, had directly ordered the Court Mages to construct a smooth, high wall along Saeolus's borders.
Compared to the Green Dragon Nifadora, who still had an escape route, Mirillian, the Duke of Silver—his dear friend who had supported his potion research for nearly a decade—was the one truly trapped and in dire straits. She was also the one most in need of external help.
Thinking of this, Attilicia looked up, closed his eyes, and took several deep breaths to calm his complex emotions before approaching a group of children fiddling with a 'Magic Ship' model.
They were his new students.
Only, they were different from all the children he had encountered before.
The learning process of mortals is typically progressive, step by step.
Their way of learning, however, emerged all at once in an awakening burst...
In the end, it led to him, the teacher, needing to consult his students about arcana.
He knew this was precisely the outcome of the 'awakening of the Seed of Memory' that David had once mentioned.
He squatted before a young lad named Oberon. He gently stroked the head of the boy, whose name was the same as that of a historical Great Arcanist from Neisser. He then picked up the Magic Ship model and moved it towards a clay sculpture of a Red Dragon positioned at the outermost edge of the model star system. Then he softly asked, "Oberon, can you help me catch up to him in thirty years?"
The child shook his head. "Teacher, you know we don't have a Mithril Energy Core."
Attilicia seemed to have anticipated this response. He then magically produced a model of a Silver Dragon and asked, "What if we used the Magic Engravings of the Red Robe Mages, along with your Magic Ship design?"
Oberon considered this. He took the Silver Dragon model from Attilicia's hand, integrated it onto the Magic Ship model, and, as the other students looked on with expressions of surprise or skepticism, propelled it towards the model of the 'sun'. Then, looking at Attilicia seriously, he said, "Then you must depart within ten years and fly in reverse towards the sun, using its gravity as a slingshot.
"Only then, theoretically, could you catch up to Lord David Uthos within this timeframe.
"But this trajectory is too close to the star. Any operational error would cause you to fall into the sun due to the Roche Limit.
"And even if you make no mistakes, a solar wind or a solar flare eruption could still erase you from the starry sky.
"Are you sure you want to do this?
"Teacher Attilicia."
Attilicia, however, simply smiled and patted their heads. "Then, I'm counting on all of you."