Chasing Demon's words were on point.
It was clear that the copying technique was extremely powerful but that it also expended large quantities of Credits or other items containing "Breath" to work.
Reproducing the might of a rank 5 magical beasts wasn't a cheap task, it was clear that the reserves of the underground organizations would be drained in a prolonged war.
Yet, as long as those reserves existed, the Coral archipelago was virtually unbreachable.
Also, the only way to deplete those reserves was to force the activation of the copying technique, meaning that the armies from the continent would have to fight a seemingly endless tide of magical beasts in the meantime.
The underground organizations wouldn't have a chance to defend the islands for much time if the three big countries decided to keep working together but the archipelago wasn't exactly their main focus.
The situation on the continent was tense, the Empire continued to expand while the Papral and Utra nation did their best to secure the borders of their areas of influence, a battle between them was bound to happen at some point and the trigger for that war might as well be the losses suffered while they fought against the beasts created with the copying technique.
After all, the Coral archipelago wasn't as valuable as the entirety of a big nation, the resources acc.u.mulated in thousands of years during their domain were simply too many to be neglected.
Conquering the archipelago wasn't worth exposing a flaw in their defense, the generous offers from before were just a way to quickly stop the battles and save as many assets as possible without losing the connection with the islands.
Yet, Chasing Demon knew the power of the underground organizations too well.
Without considering the copying technique, the assets that the continent would have to sacrifice to take the archipelago back would still be too many.
He was a rank 6 existence after all, how many heroic cultivators would die by his hands before the threat of the Hive would be extinguished?
When adding the other heroic assets and the copying technique, the war for the archipelago became simply not worth its cost in the eyes of the three big nations of the continent.
"What does Chasing Demon propose as a solution then?"
Gray Fury asked, he was representing the strongest nation in the continent, his status didn't allow him to appear weak in front of the other envoys.
"Leave. Get out and don't come back."
Chasing Demon's words resounded in the silence of the underground area, it took a while for the heroic cultivators from the continent to fully accept the meaning behind his words.
Angry and irritated expressions appeared on their faces but they didn't dare to be disrespectful in front of him, even their joint power wouldn't be able to stop the offensive of a rank 6 existence.
"C-could you explain yourself better?"
It took all of Anthea's concentration to suppress her anger and speak politely, that wasn't the right time to let her emotions take over her.
Chasing Demon seemed not to care at all about the situation, it was as if he was playing a game where he had nothing to lose.
He took his time, a jug appeared which floated in the air and autonomously filled the cup in his hands.
Then he took a few sips before putting the jug away and finally deign his guests of an answer.
"You have two choices."
He stretched the index and middle finger of his hand to give more importance to his words.
"You can abandon the archipelago. I can guarantee that all the cultivators belonging to your countries will be able to safely leave the internal islands, I will keep some of the resources in those islands of course and even become your trading partner for the exchange of valuable resources. Yet, the Coral archipelago would become an independent nation ruled by the Hive from that moment on."
Chasing Demon lowered one of his fingers, leaving only his index stretched in front of the other heroic cultivators.
"Or we can keep fighting. The war will continue until one of you betrays the others and starts a battle on the continent. You will then put a hold on the campaign on the islands and focus on the continent to stabilize the situation there, leaving the control of the archipelago still in my hands."
He lowered his index when he finished explaining those options, then, he stretched his hand in a welcoming gesture before speaking again.
"The choice is yours, I know that the Hive will keep the archipelago either way, it's just a matter of how many resources will be wasted at this point."
His speech ended, leaving the three heroic cultivators from the continent speechless.
The choices that Chasing Demon had given them were simply outside of what they could decide, they had to contact the continent before answering.
Chasing Demon was aware of that, he waved his hand as a sign that they could go and contact their superiors, he kept drinking his wine as his guests stood up and went in separate areas to use their communication methods.
Chasing Demon knew that as soon as one big nation decided to abandon the archipelago, the other two would be forced to follow its example.
After all, they couldn't endure the expenses of a war while one of their enemies continued to grow, they couldn't expose such a fatal flaw.
It took almost an entire day before the meeting ended.
Noah and the other cultivators on what had been the battlefields were silently waiting for the orders of their heroic assets.
The soldiers from the continent didn't dare to go back on their sh.i.p.s, they warily waited on the shore, hoping to never see those giant tentacles again.
Then, Chasing Demon with the three envoys appeared in the air at the center of the archipelago.
"All the citizens of the Empire must pack their things and near the peripheral islands, the Shandal Empire is officially abandoning any claim over the archipelago."
"Cultivators of the Papral nation, leave for the peripheral islands, you are going home."
"The section of the Royal academy on the Coral archipelago will be dismantled today. Gather all the valuable researches and materials and go on the peripheral islands, you have been relocated."
The words spoken by the three heroic cultivators from the continent resounded throughout the entirety of the archipelago.
What could be heard after them were the cheers of the cultivators belonging to the underground organizations.