"Restrain them. Use the tough vines to tie their legs and arms."

Verc ordered after the battle had ended.

His voice cut smoothly through the residual smoke of the battlefield, carrying an absolute authority that his soldiers responded to instantly. The orcs and dark elves moved quickly among the fallen beastmen, pulling out thick bundles of the engineered vines to secure their captives.

They had no death in casualties, but some of the orcs sustained minor injuries—nothing serious though.

A few of the frontliners had shallow claw marks on their iron chestpieces or light bruises from the initial chaotic impact of the wolf-kin charge, but their heavy equipment had absorbed the worst of the aggression. They were already wiping the dirt from their skin, completely unbothered by the superficial scratches.

On the other hand, some of the wolf-kins unavoidably died during the battle; restraining them without killing them isn’t an easy task after all.

When furious predators launch themselves forward with full lethal intent in the dark, controlling the exact force of a counter-strike becomes incredibly complicated. Despite the best efforts of the vanguard to use non-lethal blunt force, the raw momentum of the clash led to fatal fractures and deep wounds for those who ran directly into the heavy steel axes.

A total of 32 wolf-kins had died, but other than that—the others were subdued alive, just with injuries. None of them went down without a fight, after all.

The survivors were systematically dragged into the center of the clearing, their limbs locking up from the lingering effects of the paralytic poison while the thick green vines were wrapped tightly around their torsos.

Anyway, Verc looked in front of him—and saw Lunar restrained with his arms on his back, both his legs are tied up too with thick vines.

The giant wolf-kin chief was kneeling in the dirt, the green cords wrapped so securely around his massive shoulders that even his immense physical strength couldn’t find a single point of leverage to snap them.

"..."

Lunar looked back at Verc.

His golden eyes were bloodshot, tracking the calm movements of the pale man who had effortlessly dismantled his entire pride within the span of a single hour.

The two of them were calm.

The frantic energy of the battle had completely evaporated from the immediate space, leaving nothing but the cold, quiet reality of victory and defeat between the two commanders.

"What are you going to do with us now?"

Lunar asked that.

He spat a small amount of dark blood onto the grass, his voice rough and gravelly as he directly addressed his conqueror. He was bracing himself for enslavement, execution, or systematic torture.

"Depends on you and your people."

Verc answered with a casual shrug.

He didn’t even bother to lower his gaze, looking around the quiet clearing with his hands comfortably resting on his sides.

"I plan to take you all under my wing. But if all of you are against it—"

Verc paused a second, then looking around—

"Then I have no choice but to get rid of all of you."

He finished with that. He said it so casually like he was just talking about what he had in lunch.

There wasn’t a single hint of malice or dramatic villainy in his tone, just a plain, matter-of-fact statement that made the ultimatum feel incredibly heavy.

"...!" 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

Lunar’s eyes widened hearing that.

A cold shiver ran down his spine as he analyzed the complete lack of emotion on Verc’s face.

He was thinking that the pale man really plans to exterminate them all if they reject his offer.

The chief genuinely believed that the pale youth would order his orcs to slide their axes across the throats of every man, woman, and child in the settlement without a second thought. Though, in reality—

’I guess I’ll just make them leave the [Cursed Forest]. Let the humans handle them.’

Verc was just thinking of exiling them from the forest.

He had absolutely zero interest in wasting his army’s energy on a pointless massacre. If the wolf-kins proved to be completely uncooperative, he would simply herd them past the western borders into human territory, letting the Empire of Ironcrest deal with a displaced pack of angry beastmen.

Anyway, just then--

"I will convince the others to go under you."

Lunar said that, not wanting to watch his tribe be exterminated.

He lowered his head slightly, his proud shoulders slumping as he chose the survival of his kin over the ancient pride of his bloodline.

"Huh? Sure."

Verc replied, not knowing what he was thinking.

He blinked once, slightly surprised by how quickly the giant chief had folded, but he wasn’t about to complain about a seamless integration.

*****

After everything was settled in the clearing, Verc called everyone—he made the others raid the tribe and take whatever useful—food and all.

Pwyll, Bernia, and the dark elves began a thorough search of the primitive structures, checking the interiors of the leather tents and the small wooden storage sheds scattered around the perimeter.

But the wolf-kins doesn’t really have much with them—just a bunch of monster meat.

The bulk of their gathered inventory consisted of half-eaten carcasses, raw hides, and large piles of smoked meat hanging from wooden rafters.

They have very little possessions because they have no interest on them.

They didn’t collect gold coins, fine silks, or human artifacts, viewing such things as useless clutter that offered no practical value to a hunting pack.

They even barely have weapons.

Aside from a few crude clubs reinforced with monster teeth and some basic stone-tipped spears used by the younger hunters, the entire tribe relied completely on their natural claws and fangs to secure victory in their conflicts.

Anyway, after looting the tribe—

The useful portions of the meat were packed into leather sacks, while the rest of the camp was organized into a temporary holding area for the night.

Verc ordered everyone rest for the day.

"The march back will be slow with this many prisoners. Get some sleep while you can."

Verc announced, gesturing toward the surrounding space.

They would be resting in the clearing until the sun rises again.

The warriors collapsed onto the patches of grass near the outer fires, their bodies finally relaxing after the intense burst of combat.

He said to schedule guards throughout the night.

"We need a reliable rotation to ensure none of the bound targets try to chew through their restraints in the dark."

He noted, looking toward his commanders.

And for this role—the orc family heads volunteered.

Jagan, Pol, Don, and Epona stepped forward together, their massive frames casting long shadows across the dirt as they adjusted their iron weapons.

"We will handle the watch, Lord Verc. Our eyes are sharp enough to catch any movement in this basin."

Groo stated on behalf of his senior captains.

Verc allowed them, because their strength is trustworthy on keeping an eye to the wolf-kins.

He knew that if any of the paralyzed hunters managed to break free from the engineered vines, a single strike from an orc family head would be more than enough to put them right back onto the dirt.

And just like that...

The camp settled into a quiet, tense rhythm, the low crackling of the bonfires the only continuous sound beneath the deep canopy.

... ... ...

... ... ...

... ... ...

*****

The night passed.

The silver light of the moon slowly drifted across the sky, casting long, changing shadows through the branches as the hours rolled by.

Verc spent the whole night finding anything useful from the wolf-kins; but there was really nothing.

He had personally walked through the chief’s larger tent, checking the corners for any unique herbs, magical stones, or regional maps that might help him understand the deeper sections of the forest, but the space was entirely bare.

So he just gave up and trained until a new day arrived.

He found a flat stone near the edge of the hill, sitting cross-legged to focus on his internal mana circulation, guiding the dense energy through his core to refine his output until the first hints of dawn began to break over the eastern ridge.

Anyway, the next day—they immediately started marching back the village.

The gray morning light revealed a tired but highly disciplined column of soldiers packing up their gear and organizing the large group of captives.

All the prisoners are in the middle of their formation.

The surviving wolf-kins, their hands still bound securely behind their backs, were placed under the direct supervision of the orc vanguard and the gnoll crossbowmen, preventing any sudden attempts at a mass breakout. Lunar walked at the front of the captive line, his expression somber as he guided his people in compliance with their new master’s direction.

And as they were traveling back—

The long line of armored figures and beastmen moved slowly through the dense game trails, their boots crunching against the wet leaves.

Verc rode at the absolute front on Bong, his posture relaxed as he let the horse navigate the familiar path.

"Hmm...?"

He looked toward the north, his crimson eyes narrowing slightly as his mind began to process the layout of his territorial maps.

Verc was already thinking of what tribe to attack next.

The successful capture of the western pack had proved that his military system was fully functional, and he had no intention of slowing down his momentum until the entire forest belonged to his kingdom.