One of the Rank 5 Alpha Ratman, who went by the name Badarr, glared at one of his subordinates for failing to locate the intruders who raided their camp during the night.
"Incompetent fool!" Badarr shouted. "You had one job, and you can't even do it right!"
The Ratman didn't dare to raise his head and quietly accepted the one-sided beating it was receiving from its Commander.
After a few punches and kicks, the other Rank 5 Alpha Ratman stepped in to stop Badarr from killing his subordinate.
"There's no point venting your anger at him," another Ratmen Commander, who went by the name Kesari, stated. "My men also didn't find any trace of our enemies last night. It was as if their tracks disappeared all of a sudden."
Badarr clicked his tongue in annoyance before shouting at his subordinate to scram, which the latter obeyed in a hurry.
"We should attack those Lizards now!" Badarr shouted. "I'm sure they are using this distraction to prevent us from finishing them off completely. The longer we delay, the more disadvantageous it will be for us."
"I agree," Kesari replied. "We should end this battle today before they get a breather."
The two Ratmen Commanders weren't stupid.
They knew the reason why they were attacked last night, and they both decided to not play into the hands of their enemies.
Unfortunately, before they could even ask their subordinates to prepare for battle, a Ratman entered their cave in a hurry.
"Sir! We have a problem!" the Ratman reported.
"What is it?" Badarr asked in annoyance. "Can't you see we're busy here?!"
"Sir! It's burning!" the Ratman answered. "The forest is burning!"
"What are you talking about?" Badarr, who was about to ask further questions, suddenly smelled something burning.
The two Commander of the Ratmen Clan glanced at each other before running out of the cave.
A minute later, they immediately saw the black smoke rising into the sky.
"Have they gone mad?!" Badarr couldn't help but exclaim when he saw the black smoke that was getting thicker with every passing second.
"This is bad," Kesari said solemnly. "The wind is blowing in our direction, which means that the fire will spread toward us."
With the forest in front of them and the swamp behind them, he understood that they had no choice but to retreat. Staying where they were would be suicide.
The fire was spreading at a very fast rate, and from what he could tell, it was just a matter of time before it reached their camp.
"Everyone, prepare to leave!" Kesari shouted. "We are abandoning this camp!"
"That will also be difficult for them. Any wild animal in the forest will flee after seeing the fire. Unless they are proficient in fishing, they have no choice but to find a place where they can hunt for food before they could continue their campaign."
After hearing Thirteen's explanation, Sherry, Sean, and Heidi finally understood why he chose this strategy to force the Ratmen to retreat.
Because of this, the two members of the Cygni Faction decided that they would not antagonize Zion no matter what.
Not only was he a good Commanding Officer, but he was also very ruthless to his enemies.
The two couldn't even fathom how they would fare if someone like Zion became their enemy.
"There is nothing left to do here," Thirteen stated. "Let's go back to the Lizardmen Camp and get some proper rest. The Ratmen will be back after three days, so let's rest until then."
After spending some time with him, the small team of Wanderers knew that listening to him was for their own good.
As Sean and Heidi mounted their Avatars, they gave the burning forest behind them one last glance before following the Blade Panther that was heading back to Lizardmen Camp.
"Zion, I have a question," Sean asked as his Wolf ran side by side with the Blade Panther. "Can the Lizardmen win this war?"
"I don't know," Thirteen replied. "But one thing is for certain."
"And that is?"
"If Drazzat doesn't cooperate with me, we will leave their camp. I don't plan on dying because of their stupid pride."
Thirteen understood that Lizardmen were proud creatures. However, that didn't mean that he would let them dictate what he did with his life.
If they want to cooperate with him, then good.
If not, then they could just die for all he cared.
Although there was a tracking spell on the markings placed on the foreheads of the Wanderers, the Varesti Tribe would no longer have the manpower to hunt them down once Drazzat's forces were annihilated.
If the other Lizardmen Tribes dared to trouble them, then Zion wouldn't mind eating Lizard meat for a period of time.
With Gwenn, as well as his Monster Army, accompanying him on his journey, it would be easy for him to sabotage both sides if he wished for it.
The only reason he didn't want to resort to such tactics was because he wanted to train the Wanderers who were currently on his team.
If his guess was right, he would need all of them to gain sufficient strength before they reached the Wenpolis Stronghold, which was the destination of their First Chain Quest.
After experiencing the Chain Quests during his Trial, he understood that the mission would only get progressively harder.
This was especially true for the last quest, which he believed would be the stage where he would have to face another mission with difficulty that might equal or even surpass the other missions he had in the past.