Perhaps from the earlier commotion, the little fox girl in Draven's arms softly hummed and slowly opened her eyes. Her gaze was still a bit hazy, as if she hadn't quite realized what had happened.

  Noticing her awakening, Draven immediately stopped walking and ordered the group to rest on the spot. He bent down carefully and set the little fox girl gently on the ground.

  The moment her feet touched the earth, she flinched as if pricked, instinctively scanning her surroundings with a rapidly sharpening expression of alertness.

  Her eyes darted around, searching for her clan.

  When she saw most of her kin huddled together, faces streaked with tears and snot, trembling in fear, her expression instantly changed.

  She let out a sharp cry, wrenching free from Draven's grasp, and stumbled toward her people.

  She threw herself into their arms, entwining with the small fox cubs, softly sobbing. At that moment, her shoulders shook uncontrollably.

  Draven stood by, watching with a faint, relaxed smile curling the corner of his mouth. He casually told everyone to prepare lunch but was already calculating in his mind: "Why haven't they caught up yet? They're too slow."

  They were moving with a group of children and slaves, so naturally they weren't fast. But this was the territory of the ape tribe; they were familiar with these paths and should have been faster.

  Still, Draven was not worried. It wasn't that he underestimated the ape tribe, but he knew very well that a hundred-strong group—filled with elders, children, and the injured—could never quickly escape the ape tribe's control.

  If so, it was better to stop and wait for them to catch up. That way, the initiative remained with them.

  Besides, Garruk and the troll guards were with him. All of them served under the succubus; if a fight broke out, the enemy wouldn't dare act recklessly.

  And even if the apes did want to fight, they would have to think twice about the forces here. Draven and Garruk were both leaders of their kind, but their full strength wasn't even on display yet—Ragnar's bonded beast hadn't entered the fray.

  Just as he was thinking this, intermittent sharp ape cries came from the distant woods, piercing and urgent, quickly gathering into a deafening roar.

  The little fox cubs shivered in fear, immediately huddling behind Viola. The little fox girl's face instantly turned pale as she nervously looked toward Draven.

  Their eyes met in midair. The man's gaze was calm, firm, carrying a composed confidence.

  The little fox girl seemed scorched and hurriedly lowered her head, heart racing—but oddly felt reassured. She had never felt this way before.

  She sneakily glanced up again at that tall figure. Draven strode forward without hesitation or fear.

  The ape tribe had caught up.

  Draven wasn't going to sit back and wait to be slaughtered. He quickly ordered Rurik and the others to protect the fox clan in the center of the group, while the slaves were mobilized to form a temporary defensive line.

  He himself planted his long axe and took position at the front of the formation, looking composed as if not on a battlefield but awaiting a scheduled meeting.

  Several troll guards followed closely behind, Garruk in the center commanding the men into a standard defensive formation. They stood like a wall—silent, stern, and immovable.

  Soon, the ape tribe burst out of the woods. Agile and nimble, they leapt closer but halted in unison several meters away.

  Leading them was an exceptionally burly ape, with shoulders as broad as a mountain, a neck thick as a tree trunk, wielding a gleaming iron club as thick as a large tree.

  He cautiously sized up Draven and Garruk, his eyes a mixture of surprise and suspicion.

  Before he could speak, Garruk stepped forward, spear angled, and shouted in a deep voice:

  "Stand down! Before you stand the troll guards of Selene City! To attack here is to challenge the Lord!"

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  Draven was momentarily stunned, a smile twitching at the corner of his mouth. When had Garruk learned to say such noble words fit for human knights?

  Still, he knew such words wouldn't mean much to the apes.

  Sure enough, the ape leader looked annoyed, as if provoked. With a roar, he slammed his iron club onto the ground.

  The heavy impact echoed deeply, shaking the earth slightly. He bared sharp fangs and pointed the club: "Hand over the foxes! This land is ours!"

  The apes behind him shouted in unison, their voices rough and fiery.

  At that moment, Draven's eyes gleamed. Someone stepping forward was just what he needed.

  Smiling, he glanced at Garruk and deliberately said, "Garruk, he doesn't seem to take you seriously at all!"

  No sooner had he spoken, Garruk's aura surged violently and his expression darkened completely.

  Draven stepped back quickly, shouting for the group to spread out and make room for the upcoming fight.

  The next second, Garruk roared and swung his spear fiercely, charging straight at the ape leader!

  A spear and a pitch-black heavy club— the battle between the troll and the ape-man erupted almost instantly.

  The clash of weapons in the air, the metallic ringing intertwined with the bone-cracking impact, thundered throughout the camp.

  Draven stood at the edge of the battlefield, his gaze burning hot, as if watching a high-level performance.

  A faint smile curled at the corner of his mouth, but inside he was quite serious. He could tell these were two true warriors.

  This was no street brawl or a scuffle between slaves. This was a genuine contest of strength.

  Two beast-like warriors, each nearly three meters tall, wielded heavy weapons relentlessly, each strike seeming capable of shaking the ground.

  Draven narrowed his eyes to observe carefully: both were clearly leaders of their kind and had reached mid-level power.

  Though they belonged to different races, they were evenly matched in strength.

  The demihuman races vary greatly, each clan possessing unique bloodline talents. For example, Garruk was unleashing the trolls' most proud berserk ability to the fullest.

  His blood boiled within him, muscles bulged, and every vein seemed to tremble. His strength was greatly enhanced in this state, while pain and fatigue were heavily suppressed.

  But the ape-men were no pushovers. As Garruk charged forward, the ape-man leader let out a furious roar, his muscles inflating like they were filled with air, his skin beneath the fur thickened and hardened like steel.

  His body entered a strengthened state as well, one of the ape-men's bloodline instincts.

  Still, even in this enhanced form, he could not suppress Garruk's assault.

  Each strike from his black club was powerful, but Garruk's spear was agile and swift, slicing through the air with a rush of wind and lightning speed—far from the slow, heavy weapon one would expect to dominate.

  Draven's eyes grew brighter. The two giants clashed, each collision stirring dust, each movement shaking the ground.

  The fight between spear and club was like two landslides colliding.

  He even began to wonder if he himself could defeat either of these two if he met them in battle.

  But just as he was fully engrossed in this magnificent showdown, the battle was suddenly interrupted.

  A slender figure appeared at the edge of the battlefield like a black phantom, silently, almost as if she had materialized out of thin air.

  A sharp crack of a whip tore through the air— the purple long whip precisely landed between Garruk and the ape-man leader.

  The air seemed to be torn apart as the fierce gust forced the two giant warriors to step back simultaneously, gripping their weapons tightly and eyeing the newcomer warily.

  "Stop!" The voice was clear yet authoritative, leaving no room for argument. "Garruk, why are you fighting our ape-men?"

  Garruk's eyes first showed suspicion, then his whole body relaxed as he recognized the woman.

  "Juliana, it's you."

  His tone became respectful as he sheathed his spear, struck his chest with a fist, and gave a standard demihuman military salute.

  Draven raised an eyebrow, his expression complex. He recognized her — a member of the succubus clan.

  Only when her exquisite and alluring face became clear to him did Draven realize the truth: this woman was none other than Juliana, the succubus rumored to have married into the ape-men clan.

  Though the succubus clan was small in number, they wielded firm control over this border region through beauty, intelligence, and strong manipulative abilities.

  To expand their influence, they had long been forming marriage alliances with major demihuman races.

  Using their bodies to gain status was a method they repeatedly found effective.

  Draven glanced at the petite and delicate Juliana, then at the ape-man leader, covered in wild fur and bulging muscles, and couldn't help but feel a strange thought arise.

  This combination actually worked — it was impressive.

  But he quickly put aside his teasing thoughts. The succubus's appearance clearly influenced the situation.

  Garruk was a direct retainer of the succubus family, so seeing Juliana naturally made him withdraw, which was bad news for the werewolf clan.

  Draven stepped forward with a gentle but firm smile, trying to clarify the situation with a clear stance.

  "Juliana, Chief Garruk was only ordered to escort our Black Wolf clan to our territory. If the ape-men hadn't blocked us without cause, we wouldn't have acted hastily."

  He spoke slowly and deliberately, expressing his position while trying to absolve Garruk.

  Garruk looked at him gratefully and nodded.

  But just then, the ape-man leader roared furiously, "Juliana, don't believe his lies! They stole our prey, the werewolves attacked first!"

  He raised his heavy black club threateningly, ready to continue the fight.

  Juliana gently raised her arm, her voice soft but resolute:

  "Henrik, don't be rash. I will find out what really happened."

  At that moment, Henrik seemed suppressed by an invisible force; though his anger remained, he dared not strike again and stood still, his face full of unwillingness.

  Draven's lips curled into a smile once more. This ape-man leader seemed to be henpecked. He chuckled inwardly but gained more respect for Juliana's methods.

  The succubus clan, indeed, were masters of charm and tactics. In a conflict on the verge of spiraling out of control, a single word and a single glance could calm two beastly leaders.