The Noctrelle druid who called herself Liliana seemed caught in some kind of confusion, muttering words that were incomprehensible.

  Draven paid no attention to her and instead focused back on the massive giant python before him.

  The python was as thick as a fuel drum and over ten meters long. Even with Draven's storage ring, it was impossible to contain something so enormous. Reluctantly, he decided to cut the snake into sections to store separately.

  Draven tried lifting the python's body and found that he could still drag it. The snake's body was heavy and slimy, making the dragging laborious, but he gritted his teeth and slowly headed toward the village.

  At that moment, a red glow flashed across his chest—Ragnar appeared.

  Draven pointed to the python's corpse. Ragnar stared at the broken snake head for a few seconds, then bit onto the severed part and dragged the heavy body toward the village.

  Draven quietly called out a few times, but the little girl Liliana showed no response. Her expression was vacant, as if lost in some mental fog.

  Draven frowned, stepped forward, and roughly grabbed Liliana, hoisting her onto his shoulders without ceremony.

  Liliana did not struggle; she seemed to have lost all resistance to being carried away.

  She just lay there on Draven's shoulder with empty eyes, occasionally muttering low whispers that sounded like talking to herself.

  They reached the riverside, where Ragnar finally put down the heavy python carcass.

  Dragging it all the way here had been exhausting; making Ragnar carry it across the river by biting it was inhumane. Draven approached and patted Ragnar's head in gratitude.

  Not far off, Alaric was carrying soil dug from under the foundations in woven baskets with a few slightly older children.

  Suddenly, he saw Draven carrying a little girl toward the village and immediately felt a pang of alarm.

  Alaric's face went pale, and the soil and basket in his hands fell to the ground.

  Panicked, he ran toward the big house, shouting in his mind, "What did he do to that little girl? He's a fraud! A liar!"

  Alaric's footsteps were swift, and his fear and unease nearly overwhelmed his reason. He wanted to tell his sister Viola immediately.

  Viola happened to come out of the big house and was grabbed anxiously by Alaric. She saw the little girl on Draven's shoulder and a flicker of painful shadow passed in her eyes, but she quickly masked it and restored a calm smile as she approached Draven.

  Draven brusquely set Liliana down on the ground, leaving a simple instruction: "Watch her." Then he strode into the big house.

  Soon after, he brought out the Eyebrow-Patterned King Serpent from the snake den.

  As he walked out of the big house toward the village outskirts, Draven explained to Viola, "This is the new beast I caught. Seems a bit dumb."

  Viola was momentarily stunned. Her gaze flickered between the petite, short-haired, cute girl before her and the snake in Draven's hand—it was hard to connect these two images.

  Alaric was even more furious. His eyes widened, and his heart pounded wildly: "A beast? You actually call her a beast?"

  Draven had no mood to argue with the siblings. He knew the giant python was still on the other side of the river, and he needed to drag that monstrous body back quickly.

  Meanwhile, the atmosphere in the serpent tribe's territory was entirely different.

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  They had gathered in the chieftain's great hall. Red Serpent glared furiously at the weak Green Serpent, his face full of anger and disappointment.

  Red Serpent hadn't expected that after repeatedly warning Green Serpent, he would still disobey orders and invade the Black Wolf's territory.

  What shocked him even more was that the Black Wolf chieftain had actually slain their tribe's guardian beast—the giant python! A rare and precious guardian beast passed down through generations.

  Green Serpent's body was already covered in wounds, his face pale and breathing heavily. He clearly hadn't recovered from the harsh reprimand from the chieftain.

  Red Serpent's first reaction was not revenge, but to fiercely scold Green Serpent—his punishment was evidently much harsher than any sympathy.

  Green Serpent weakly tried to defend himself in a low, powerless voice, attempting to shift responsibility to the Black Wolf chieftain Draven. He claimed the other side was brutal and unreasonable, gave no explanation, and directly killed the guardian beast python and severely injured him.

  "We absolutely cannot let him succeed so easily!" Black Serpent said darkly, his voice filled with vengeful determination.

  Red Serpent suppressed the anger burning in his chest, closed his eyes, and gently shook his head. His voice was clearly weary and resigned.

  "Now is not the time to cause trouble. We must act carefully," he said, his tone serious. "As long as that lord is still around..."

  He didn't finish his sentence, but all the serpents present understood his meaning. No one interrupted or objected.

  Black Serpent's eyes flashed with unwillingness. He looked coldly at Green Serpent, as if blaming him for being incompetent and not vigilant enough.

  Nearby, White Serpent, wearing a purple veil, furrowed her brow slightly. Though she had no eyebrows, her worried expression was unmistakably clear—anyone could tell how anxious she was inside.

  None of this was known to Draven yet. He had no idea the serpent tribe had chosen to endure and remain inactive for the time being.

  In fact, before killing that enormous giant python, Draven had already prepared himself for the serpent tribe's retaliation. He had a premonition that sooner or later, they would come knocking.

  That was exactly why he hurried to drag the giant python back to the village.

  Draven handed the python's corpse to the Eyebrow-Patterned King Serpent, ordering it to swallow the body but not digest it. This way, the corpse wouldn't rot and could be used whenever needed.

  He also instructed Ghost-faced Owl to keep a close watch on any activity in the north and be ready to fight at a moment's notice.

  For the next few days, Draven decided not to leave the village, focusing entirely on monitoring the serpent tribe's movements.

  "Even if they come, I'm not afraid!" Draven thought to himself. Having an additional beast companion gave him much more confidence than before.

  He glanced at Liliana, who was crying her heart out in Viola's arms, and suddenly felt uneasy.

  Why did he suddenly feel less confident? What was going on?

  Draven grabbed Liliana by the back of her collar and pulled her out of Viola's embrace. That position had been his from the very beginning.

  Facing the little girl with a tear-streaked, red face and utter heartbreak, Draven felt a headache coming on but forced himself to ask, "Tell me, what happened?"

  "What exactly are you?" he pressed on. "What kind of tribe is this Noctrelle?"

  Liliana glared at him stubbornly, unwilling to submit. But when Draven made a gesture as if to hit her, she finally lowered her head and yielded.

  She spoke haltingly about her origins: Noctrelle were hybrids of humans and demons, and she herself was a hybrid of Noctrelle and elves.

  She had lost her parents since childhood and knew nothing of her past.

  She was adopted and raised by a great druid.

  "My teacher went to the far north," Liliana sobbed. "The teacher said I was too weak and couldn't come along. I had to quickly learn the druid's second form."

  "I chose the snake form... but then..." Her voice choked as she trembled, "I encountered that giant python..."

  Through her fragmented, tearful, trembling narration, Draven roughly understood what had happened.

  It was basically the story of a little girl who left home, accidentally ran into danger, and was saved by him.

  But what about the contract?

  Draven's face darkened, and with a stern look, he asked, "Explain clearly—what exactly is this contract?"

  As soon as he asked, Liliana burst into tears, tears streaming down her cheeks.

  She didn't understand why the wolf leader considered her a beast contract.

  In her understanding, a beast contract could never be broken.

  That meant if Liliana became a great druid in the future, she would be bound to serve the wolf leader as a beast for life!

  Viola nearby seemed to understand the situation. She softly reproached Draven before pulling the tear-streaked girl into her arms and comforting her gently.

  Draven looked at the chest soaked with tears and couldn't help but twist his mouth, thinking, "It's almost salty now."

  He glanced at Alaric, who was smiling strangely and inexplicably joining the scene, and his anger flared. "What are you looking at?"

  "Ayla, Alaric is checking out another girl!" Draven said casually. Alaric looked as if bitten by a snake and immediately sprinted off toward Ayla.

  After chasing Alaric away, Draven ignored the still-crying Liliana.

  He walked to the fire pit, closed his eyes, and began to ponder.

  He was very curious about what abilities and changes would come from forming a contract with a druid.