Time passed by very swiftly, with Yara, Ruby and their teams disposing of the dragias.

In this battle, only about 2% of them surrendered.

The rest preferred to die and reunited with Dragmus.

Of course, those who did surrender, did so thinking that his excellency would rescue them.

They might've lost this battle, but with how powerful their temple was, it was impossible for Baymard to win against them.

Today's defeat was only because these Baymardians had been hiding their strength all along.

Coupled with the mysterious beasts around, they felt that losing was indeed somewhat expected.

In thinking that, their egos weren't all that hurt.

At least, even if they were captured, they could also gather information for his excellency while staying here.

They didn't believe that they, who were trained and skilled from birth, would lose to this newly established empire filled with former slaves.

Of course, all dragias didn't know who their mothers were.

They just knew that there were women kept in a massive estate that birthed dragias out like crazy.

And when a dragia was born, they would be taken to several other estates with different caretakers who did their chores for them, while they trained and got educated with dragia men who brainwashed them.

Again, when they turned 13, they were officially allowed to enter the bases or do undercover missions.

From birth, they only knew that Dragmus was their almighty.

Well, their situation was indeed not their fault as that's just the way they had been brought up.

They didn't know how else to live and thought the rest of the world were either sinners, idiots and lower species who needed to be brought to death since they weren't Dragmus followers.

Again, when a kidnapped woman reached 26~30 (menopause in this era) or was already at that age, the woman wouldn't be a baby-making factory. 

She would be taken to one of the caregiver estates and would never be allowed to leave the estate till the day she died.

These women were strictly watched, as there were guards everywhere in every room, even watching them sleep.

They had no room to say or plot their escape.

Some did try but died the moment the words were uttered out of their mouths.

The hidden guards always acted quick.

Of course while in these estates, just to be sure that these women couldn't get pregnant anymore, their wombs would be made baren from the potions they drank.

For sure, these dragia children also used them for pleasure.

They would all gather in one room and do all sorts of crazy things to these women.

They were taught to always suppress them even when intimate by beating them up and showing their best strength.

If any woman died, then oh well... More always came in.

So why bother about the dead ones?

Of course, by the time these women reached 40, 98% were killed by these dragia children, while the rest were allowed to live and train any new caregivers.

That was the circle of life for these women.

From the age of 4, all dragias made their first kill.

They also tortured and learned all sorts of pain-inflicting techniques too.

At times, they would let these women run wild and begin hunting them for sports.

Even if these women wanted to retaliate, it would be impossible since hidden guards watched vigilantly and would take care of them fast.

In short, the whole thing was one big mess.

They knelt and surrendered, thinking that they would still have a chance to properly serve Dragmus in the fixture by entering the enemy's den and sabotaging things while collecting info.

"We surrender for Dragmus!"

"We surrender for Dragmus!"

"We surrender for Dragmus!"

[Marines]:... Okay?

The marines who were buffing them up and disarming them, had black lines on their faces.

They couldn't help rolling their eyes speechlessly.

Was it too much to just admit defeat honestly?

They made it sound like they had lost due to some fluke or something.

Yara frowned while looking at the marines approaching them.

"Found them?"

"No, General. Their leaders are still missing."

"Cleaning crew is on their way. In the meantime, we'll keep looking for them.

There's nowhere else they can go. So they should still be hiding somewhere on board."

"Yes, General!"

With that, Yara and her team searched the entire place clean.

Where could they be?

.

~Shwah! Shwah! Shwah!~~

Floating below the ships were a few massive barrels, moving to the rhythm of the waves.

Some of the barrels were filled with black powder, while others seemed to be filled with something else.

Within the barrels, Linvor, Jimosen and a few of their most trusted men tried to steady themselves while floating away.

Unlike the rest, Linvor and a few of his men had heard and seen these things from a few pirates who tried to escape his grasp.

Barrels naturally floated. But there was a technique one had to use to steer within and flee.

So earlier on, he quickly informed Jimosen and a few on what they should do before entering barrels and making some of their men 'accidentally' knock them overboard.

The deck was filled with rows and rocks of black powdered filled barrels.

So in the heat of panic and chaos, they could 'accidentally' push a few down, no?

Those who sacrificed to let them escape, quickly rallied a few more to surrender.

There was a flame of hope in their hearts that the other dragias would come for them.

Presently, the rainy Fall season was coming to an end, and at this time, the water waves were harsh.

So all the barrels were quickly floating away.

Typically, with the speed at which they got dispersed, many ships would just let it be.

Many times, people would try to grab what was next to next.

After all, it was impossible for paddling ships to swim in all directions to gather everything... especially in this sort of windy violent weather.

And after this battle, they figured that the Baymardians would try to leave here as fast as possible so as not to get any more attention for fear that Dragia backup might be close by.

That's why they assumed that the Baymardians would let these Barrels wander off.

Looking at how far they went, they couldn't help smiling within their barrels.

Now, they were free!