The Eyebrow-Patterned King Serpent lazily flicked its thick, stubby tail, moving with a calm grace—as if swallowing a full-grown magic bull moments ago was just a casual, everyday task.

  But Draven wasn't nearly as composed. He stood in place, his breathing ragged, chest heaving violently. Although the capture of the bull had seemed quick and efficient on the surface, he knew all too well that it had drained most of his bloodline power.

  Especially that final strike—he had thrown everything he had into slamming his wolf claw into the back of the bull's skull. Had that blow failed, he would likely be the one lying on the ground, unable to move.

  There was no time to rest. The chaos caused by the rampaging bull had made too much noise; this area was far from secure. Draven quickly composed himself, gave the Eyebrow-Patterned King Serpent a pat on the head to signal it to follow, then raised his arm and gave a light wave, summoning the Ghost-faced Owl to trail behind. The trio promptly withdrew from the battlefield, heading back toward Draven's territory.

  Less than ten minutes after they left, a patrol squad of rhino-men arrived. The group consisted of seven warriors, all clad in heavy armor and wielding long-handled war hammers.

  They had detected fluctuations of magic while patrolling the edge of the hills, and the appearance of the Short-Horned Magic Bulls had long since caught their attention.

  "Damn it, why did two Short-Horned Magic Bulls suddenly show up here?" the lead rhino-man muttered, frowning at the marks left on the ground. His voice was deep and raspy, his eyes full of caution.

  Initially, they had planned to drive the bulls away, but the oppressive surge of magic from the hillside had made them hesitate. It wasn't until the area fell silent again that they mustered the courage to come investigate.

  What they found left them speechless: a large patch of grass flattened, two deep craters in the ground—obvious signs of where the bulls had fallen. But there were no corpses, no remnants of battle—only disturbed soil and trampled grass.

  The lead rhino-man knelt down and touched one of the ground fissures, his expression growing even paler.

  "Someone took them down," he muttered, eyes clouded with unease."And did it in a very short amount of time."

  He knew how strong the Short-Horned Magic Bulls were. Their tribe had once tried to hunt one, only to retreat in defeat—and they had lost two warriors in the process. But now, two bulls had vanished without a trace?

  He quickly made a hand signal, ordering a swift retreat."Let's go. Report this immediately! Someone powerful is on these hills—someone at least peak Leader-class."

  Meanwhile, Draven was riding atop his Nightmare Horse, humming a cheerful tune, clearly in excellent spirits.

  He couldn't help but daydream about the future of Black Flag Territory. With those two bulls, the village's defenses, transportation capacity, and even food production would all rise to a whole new level.

  "If only I had a spare contract slot," he muttered with a click of his tongue."But they're all full."

  Contract scrolls? He'd heard of them, of course—but in these remote God-War Hills, such items were as rare as divine relics. Without the option to bind the beasts by contract, the only solution was to contain them.

  "But even containment won't be easy," Draven mused, rubbing his chin.

  With their massive size and natural seismic abilities, a few stomps from the bulls could easily flatten half the village. Black Flag Territory's foundation couldn't handle that.

  "If it comes to it, I might have to take drastic measures," he muttered under his breath."Sever the tendons in their legs—or maybe just hack off their hooves. That ought to keep them in line."

  But even as the thought emerged, he hesitated.

  These bulls weren't just wild beasts—they were genuine Leader-level combatants. Letting that kind of power go to waste would be a shame. The more he thought about it, the more he felt he should try to tame them and put their strength to good use.

  So when he returned to Village No. 2, he didn't immediately order the Eyebrow-Patterned King Serpent to spit the bulls out. Instead, he summoned his core team for a meeting. Sitting at the head of the table, legs casually crossed, he recounted the entire incident from beginning to end.

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  "That's the situation," he concluded with a shrug."Now I'm asking—any ideas how we can handle them?"

  Titus frowned, scratching his messy hair. A battle junkie with little knowledge of magic beasts, he was stumped.

  It was Sylvia who spoke up first. She flipped through her well-worn mushroom catalog, then looked up with a serious expression."I know of a type of mushroom that releases a special scent when mature. When magic beasts inhale it, they fall into a deep sleep. If we feed it to them regularly, theoretically, they shouldn't cause trouble."

  She frowned, her voice softening.

  Draven raised an eyebrow."Sounds good. Why the frown?"

  Sylvia sighed."They were only brought here… and now we're talking about drugging them into submission. Even if they are magic beasts, I think this method is a little too cruel."

  Fortunately, that pure and kind-hearted elven girl had no idea that the werewolf chieftain had once seriously considered chopping off the minotaurs' hooves. If she had heard that, who knows what kind of expression she would've made?

  Draven, on the other hand, gave Sylvia's suggestion some serious thought. His eyes lit up. As crude as the method sounded, it was actually quite feasible.

  Use mushroom potions to keep the demon bulls asleep and feed them at regular intervals. When they were about to wake, hit them with another dose of mushroom. On and on the cycle would go—either sleeping or eating, nothing in between.

  The key was mixing the mushrooms into the grass. The bulls wouldn't even notice; they'd eat the grass, ingest the drug, and drift right back into sleep. Eat, sleep, eat again—a perfect loop.

  "Perfect!" Draven slapped his thigh and laughed with delight.

  This plan was certainly gentler than his original idea of cutting tendons and breaking legs. At least it didn't look as bloody on the surface.

  Still, the downside remained: he couldn't actually harness the bulls' power this way. If they were always asleep, they couldn't fight. Keeping two top-tier battle beasts that couldn't be used in combat felt like a waste.

  Then Viola suddenly put forward a new idea:"Actually, Sylvia could try to get some contract scrolls from the humans."

  She wasn't wrong. In human mage markets, those things were common—you could buy them at any ordinary magic guild. But in the demi-human world, they were extremely rare. Demi-humans lacked scrollcraft skills and no one really dealt in them.

  But Draven immediately shook his head.

  "No." His response was firm and decisive."That's way too much trouble. Who knows how long the team sent to deliver scrolls would take to get back? Am I supposed to let the Eyebrow-Patterned King Serpent spend its days vomiting and swallowing the bulls over and over?"

  All just for two demon bulls. What if Sylvia got caught by her kin and dragged back home? Losing Sylvia would be a terrible trade.

  Draven never did business at a loss. In his mind, the math was clear: a contract scroll cost just a few gold coins, but Sylvia—now she was a treasure in his domain.

  An elf, a mage, a scholar of bestiaries, skilled in alchemy and mushroom cultivation—swapping such talent for a demon bull? Not worth it. So he used his veto power and shot down Viola's proposal without hesitation.

  Everyone looked at each other. Then, as if by silent agreement, they all turned their eyes to Liliana, who hadn't spoken yet.

  The young druid sat quietly, frowning slightly. Then she softly offered,"Maybe… I could try to communicate with the demon bull?"

  The room fell silent for a moment, then all eyes locked onto her.

  Liliana instantly regretted speaking. The girl nervously hunched her shoulders and hurried to explain,"I just mean… I could try, okay? Just try. It might not work at all!"

  Draven was suddenly intrigued. He hadn't even considered that possibility, and now he was elated. He jumped up from his seat, strode over to Liliana in three quick steps, and sat down beside her like a child who had just found a hidden treasure.

  Grinning, he reached out and rubbed the small curved horns on her head—symbols of her wood elf bloodline. They were warm and slightly springy to the touch.

  "Good girl, Liliana," he said, beaming."Tell me—how exactly do you plan to communicate?"

  Liliana's face turned crimson, and she nearly melted into Draven's arms. In a hushed voice, she said:

  "I'm a druid. I carry nature's blood in me. Half of my blood is wood elf, which gives me a natural affinity with the living things of the world. In theory, as long as it's a creature that exists naturally in this world, I can attempt to connect through spiritual communication…"

  "It's just that… I'm not strong enough yet. So it might be difficult."

  But Draven didn't hesitate at all. He knew Liliana was telling the truth. Not everything in this world had to be solved with brute force. Sometimes, a spiritual bond was more powerful than a dozen fists.

  "All right, let's try it," he declared, standing up and sealing the decision.

  The group left the meeting room and headed toward the training grounds. On the way, Draven ordered the slaves to clear the field and drove out the young ones who were practicing battle drills.

  Then he turned to the Eyebrow-Patterned King Serpent and said in a low voice,"Spit one of the demon bulls out. Be gentle. Don't break it."

  The serpent opened its mouth and slowly regurgitated the short-horned demon bull it had swallowed.

  It was the female. She was slimy all over, coated in gastric fluids and mucus, and lay limp on the ground—unconscious but breathing strongly. Her occasional twitches showed her tenacious vitality.

  Draven didn't dare let his guard down. He pulled a blood-red spear from his storage ring and stepped to the front, shielding Viola and the others behind him. They stood silently, waiting for the bull to awaken.

  Behind them, Liliana swallowed nervously. Her palms were slick with sweat, and her breath came fast. She looked at the demon bull, then at Draven, and finally took a deep breath and stepped forward.

  Draven was about to stop her, but before he could react, the little girl turned back and smiled at him.

  Then she slowly knelt down on the ground, closed her eyes, and chanted a string of ancient Elvish words. As her incantation ended, a glow flashed across her entire body—and in the next instant, she transformed into a massive brown bear.