The old king put down the letter and said slowly.

"I, Alfred Graves,"

"Hereby declare to all lords of this nation."

"Assemble your forces, we are going to war."

Upon hearing the old king's words, and after recovering from the shock, the guard beside him nodded solemnly.

Even though the old king had managed to unify the entire continent, most city states had yet to recover from the previous great war. As such, the guard's surprise was to be expected.

However, after giving it some more thought, the guard soon understood. The shrewd old king was truly above the common rank and file like the guard.

Even without external factors slowing down the nation's recovery, it would still take over decades for the continent to return to its former glory prior to the great war of the past.

By then, would the old king still be alive?

Even if lil' Tess were to inherit the throne and succeed the old king as the queen of the continent, would her father, who would then be in the Heavens, rest easy?

No, of course not! So long as the danger capable of wiping out the heroes remained, the old king could not rest, even in death!

Therefore, the ensuing battle against the unknown dragon would not only serve to resolve the crisis plaguing Longsong Alley, the copper mine of the nation; it would also serve to hasten the nation's recovery to its former glory!

The body of a dragon was like a giant treasure trove, after all!

As long as they could defeat the Ancient Dragon that rivaled Agatha in strength, the rewards they would reap would be astronomical!

Moreover, should the humans manage to defeat an Ancient Dragon by banding together, the dragon race's opinion towards the human race would likely increase. Hopefully, it would cause dragons to think twice before sieging any of the human settlements.

Additionally, as a show of respect to the old king, Little Tess would likely gain the unanimous support of the lords of the nation to succeed her father as the ruler of the nation.

The guard could not help but be extremely excited upon this line of thought.

He was happy that he had managed to grasp the old king's thought process, even if it was only slightly.

He hurriedly ran out of the door with the intention of informing the ministers and the lords of the king's decision.

...

In less than three days, the old king, Alfred Graves' decision to launch a crusade against an unknown dragon in the north had spread throughout the nation.

As expected, the country had gone into an uproar.

Some agreed with the king's decision. The faction was mostly composed of those who were previously victims of dragons. They no longer wanted to live in fear of dragons, and had they possessed the necessary strength in the first place, they would have already launched their own crusade against dragons.

"I support His Majesty's decision. So long as the mystery dragon in the north remains, our country will never experience true peace!"

"Everyone, do you still wish to be oppressed by the dragons? Do you want to continue living under the fear of the dragons? Do you want to remain cowardly for the rest of your lives?"

However, there were also those who opposed the old king. This faction composed of those who had lost family, power, money, or other precious belongings in the previous great war. They had no desire to lose anything else.

"If you want to die, then die alone! Don't bring us along!"

"War will bring no benefit to us. Only death and destruction awaits us should His Majesty proceed with this plan!"

"I have already lost my children and husband in the previous war. It's easy for those of you who avoided any losses to agree to this plan! How heartless!"

"Should this crusade take place, the taxes that we'll have to pay would undoubtedly increase! Our harvest is decreasing every year, and we're facing a nationwide food shortage! Where on earth will we obtain the resources for this crusade?!"

Despite the complaints, the lords of the nation had obediently complied with the old king's decision, and they had provided the old king with the resources required for his campaign.

After all, the continent had already been unified. Dragons aside, the king's authority was second to none. 

Should the old king's ire be stoked, it would not be an understatement to say that million of corpses would ensue.

Alfred Graves' anger was not something they took lightly.

As such, the preparation of the grand crusade against the mighty and mysterious dragon of the north was in full swing!

While all this was happening, Max was slumbering peacefully in his cave. He was completely oblivious to the events taking place in the human world.

...

The next day.

By the time Max had woken up, the sun was already hanging high above his head.

After stretching his muscles and bones, Max felt that the muscles and veins in his body had once again strengthened.

'As expected, reincarnating into a dragon comes with many perks. All it takes to grow stronger is a simple sleep.'

"System, show me my current stats."

"Ding!"

"Loading stats interface."

[ True Name: Max Agatha Hill Alexander ]

[ Race: Red Dragon (Lawful Evil) ]

[ Current Rank: Hatchling ]

[ Age: 1]

[ Maximum Lifespan: 12,000 (Ancient Dragon) ]

[ Attack: 31 (Normal Red Dragon Hatchling15) ]

[ Spell Strength: 505 (Normal Red Dragon Hatchling 25) ]

[ Defense: 21 (Normal Red Dragon Hatchling 10) ]

[ Speed: 30 (Normal Red Dragon Hatchling 13) ]

[ Spells: Lightning Arrow, Lightning Arrow Rain, Thunderstorm, Lightning Paralysis, Thunderclap, Light Affinity, Lightning Immunity, Thunderous Divine Retribution, Ten Million Volts of Thunder... ]

[ Abilities: Bite, Claw Strike, Stomp, Tail Swipe ]

[ Breath: Lightning, Strong Acid ]

[ Remarks: Should any other Dragon Hatchling possess the same stats as you, this world would undoubtedly be ruled by the dragons. ]

'As expected, I've become stronger.'

Although his improvement was not as great as devouring the Black Dragon or Tahir, it was still decent.

Max was not greedy. He was very satisfied with his speed of growth.

However, Max's attention was quickly pulled away from the interface. A sad series of wails had grabbed his attention.

Max turned around and spotted his sister, Mia. She seemed to be having a nightmare. Tears rolled down the corner of her eyes, and she seemed to be choking on her tears. It was truly a pitiful sight.

Max sighed helplessly.

It seemed that the departure of their mother, Agatha, had dealt a great blow to Mia. 

Max was not as cold and heartless as Agatha. He was an existence who had transmigrated, after all. Although his personality had begun to subtly change towards that of a dragon, as his only remaining family member, Max cherished her greatly.

He needed to pull Mia out of her depression.