Once all topics had been discussed, the Chief of Cultural Matters was about to call the meeting to an end when the room suddenly shook.
"What is this?!"
"Is it an earthquake?!"
The room also served as an emergency shelter, so only a major impact on the city hall could cause such energetic vibrations. However, no one really thought that this shaking was due to a natural disaster. As soon as the shaking stopped, some of the chiefs and their deputies rushed outside the room to check on what was happening.
"My word!"
There was a one-way mirror outside the room that showed the city from a high vantage point, but at this time, everything was covered in smoke, with new explosions happening every minute. Despite there being no other clue, everyone had the same idea about who was behind it.
"They acted much faster than we thought."
"I told you we should have just attacked them."
"So what now?"
The situation was worsening in real time, so there was no chance for another meeting. There was no official leader among the Thirteen Chiefs, but at times like this, the meeting facilitator would normally take charge. Everyone looked at the Chief of Cultural Matters for directions, but he turned to the Chief of Internal Security.
"I believe this case would fall under your jurisdiction."
"Indeed. I would have preferred that we had more time, but it can't be helped. I'll direct my subordinates to subjugate the terrorists, but they likely won't be enough. Chief Broha, can you spare some of your men?"
The Chief of War, Broha, responded gleefully, "Of course. I've been dying for a chance to teach those rude bastards a lesson."
"Good. Let's leave for now; we can discuss further on the way."
As the Chiefs moved to stop the disaster unfolding in the city, Shui watched it from the roof of the inn he was staying in. The first explosions were caused by preset bombs and artifacts while the rest came from spells. The organisation behind this attack was a group of smugglers specialising in evolved beast eggs. This wasn't the first time they had made trouble in Garakil or other cities in the Merulla region, but they were particularly invested this time because of information that a direct descendent of one of the ruling subdragons was being born. Normal subdragon eggs already sold for a fortune, so it was almost hard to imagine how much money could be made from this deal.
To ensure that they could focus on getting the egg, the organisation decided to restrain Garakil's government. They would lose far too much if they tried to fight a head-on battle, so instead they attached explosives at several key locations, such as food stores, factories, and the residential district of the Alu clan. Even if their true intentions were discovered, the Thirteen Chiefs wouldn't be able to ignore their subsequent attacks on the city and its citizens.
Having been one of the first outsiders to learn of their plan, Shui had a good idea of how long they could maintain this chaos, so he didn't waste time heading to the Scaly Canyon entrance. There would likely be significant casualties as a result of this incident, but the Artisan Palace was quietly moving to minimise the damage and put the city's administration in its debt, so Shui didn't have any worries.
There would usually be a long line at the canyon entrance, but at this time there was a large number of guards. There was a detection array set up at the entrance checkpoint, but as he leaped over the guards faster than they could notice him, the array could only give a short signal not significant enough to catch the guards' attention.
The last gate leading to the canyon was closed, but there was nothing stopping him from simply jumping over the wall it was in. On the other side of the gate, there didn't seem to be much activity, but further into the canyon, Shui found a few groups quietly approaching dragon nests with unprotected eggs ready for the taking. Since all he needed to do was bring back an egg, Shui marked the groups that he found and then moved his focus to the main event.
In Scaly Canyon, there were five subdragons known as the rulers of the canyon or dragon kings. Of these five dragon kings, Mercum, the fire dragon king, was a red wyvern that was ten cales tall and thirty cales long. Marcum had been resting next to the egg from which its grandchild would be born when a group of measly humans attacked its settlement. Even against the other dragon kings, Mercum would often attack first and ask questions later, so naturally it wouldn't stand for the provocation of these arrogant humans.
There were three peak Masters among the humans, making them seemingly comparable to Mercum, who was a peak beast lord, but it didn't see that as a reason to be wary. All it meant was that they might be able to keep their lives for a little while longer. The other subdragons under Mercum's command were fighting back against the humans, and even if it didn't interfere, they would likely be able to push them back, but that would also come with unwanted casualties.
"Foul humans! Prepare to be burnt."
After a short charge, Mercum shot a breath of fire at the humans. They had kept their eyes on Mercum from the moment it appeared, but even then a significant portion of them were turned to ask by Mercum's fire breath.
"Hahaha!"
While the dragon king laughed at the fallen, it didn't notice that the energy from the dead became wisps that silently entered its body. The three peak Masters attacked Mercum, but it still killed other humans while dealing with them. Thinking that they would be in despair from their own helplessness, Mercum looked into the eyes of the three peak Masters, but only found disdain.
"Mere ants dare look at me like that. Ah!"
Mercum engulfed them with its fire breath, but surprisingly, the three were completely unharmed, and one of them managed to make a cut on its arm. Mercum angrily swept its hand at them and could feel the impact, but when it lifted its hand, Mercum found them still unharmed.
"Impossible!"
The dragon king exclaimed in disbelief, but reluctant to acknowledge that mere humans could resist its attacks so effortlessly, Mercum released an unrelenting assault.
"No!"
"Stop the dragon king!"
Mercum breathed fire and viciously wielded its claws and tail against anyone that confronted it, completely unaware that it was targeting its own race. Just as it believed, the peak Masters knew that they would be no match for the dragon king even if they worked together. Instead, their role was to attract its attention so that it didn't notice being hypnotised using the lives of the humans it had killed. Besides a few leaders, every human other than the peak Masters were planned sacrifices to trap Mercum, and the more it killed, the stronger the hypnosis. It would likely free itself given some time, but during its rampage there would be no dragon to stop these smugglers from getting their loot.