In the middle of Grimhowl Tribe’s weekly meeting, composed of Hagen, his sons, and the Elders, the door of the conference room opened.

"The Great Shaman has arrived!" one of Hagen’s subordinates reported.

"Good!" Hagen looked very pleased to hear that his right-hand man had finally returned. "Show him in."

"Yes!" The subordinate bowed and quickly withdrew.

A moment later, the door once again opened. But, this time, the one who stepped into the room was none other than Gundar.

""We greet the Great Shaman!""

Hagen’s sons, as well as the elders, all stood up and made the gesture of greeting.

Gundar gave them a brief nod before shifting his attention toward Hagen.

"Did I come in at the wrong time?" Gundar asked.

"No, your timing is just right," Hagen replied. "We’ve just been discussing the weekly report on our dealings with the neighboring tribes."

Gundar nodded before scanning the faces of everyone in the room. After seeing that every important official in the Grimhowl Tribe was all present, he decided to share with them the story of his stay at Grimjaw Mountain.

"A few days from now, news will spread throughout the Borderlands," Gundar stated. "It’s about the events that transpired after the representatives of the Warclaw Tribe, the Darkmane Tribe, and the Grimfang Tribe arrived at the Aslan Tribe’s domain."

Everyone in the room gave the great shaman their undivided attention. Since he decided to take the initiative to give them a report, this meant that what he had to say was very important.

"Something unexpected happened during the negotiation between the Darkmane Tribe and the Aslan Tribe," Gundar added.

"Leone Frontera had demanded a ransom of four wagons filled with iron ores. However, Troy only sent one. He probably thought he was already giving the Chieftain of the Aslan Tribe enough face with it. To make matters worse, he sent his eldest son, Cain, to be the representative of the Darkmane Tribe."

He paused for a bit to make sure that everyone truly understood what he said just now. After that, he continued his story.

"Cain went there with the intention of humiliating Leone in front of the gathered tribes to show the superiority of the Darkmane Tribe. But, that was where he made a mistake. Not only did he act arrogantly, but he also thought that he could use his father’s reputation to scare Leone."

Gundar then approached the table to pour himself a glass of water. After quenching his thirst, he told everyone what happened next.

"However, Leone didn’t care and ordered Ulric to slap him for not adhering to his demands."

At this, Hagen, Marcus, Elias, and the Elders looked at Gundar in disbelief.

"H-He asked Ulric to slap Cain?" Elias asked in disbelief. "He actually asked him to slap one of the heirs of the Darkmane Tribe?"

"Yes," Gundar replied, feeling a bit of pride after remembering that scene. "Of course, the warriors of the Darkmane Tribe that escorted their Young Lord didn’t sit still and surrounded their Master to protect him.

"Yet, Leone still didn’t care and ordered all of his warriors to mobilize. He even told them that if they didn’t lower their weapons at the count of ten, his warriors would go for the kill. He even mentioned that, except for Cain, his warriors were free to kill anyone else. And just as he stated, he began counting.

"The atmosphere back then was very tense. The guest tribes thought that Leone was bluffing. However, he wasn’t. Just as soon as he finished counting up to nine, Cain was no longer able to take it and ordered his men to drop their weapons."

The great shaman now had everyone’s undivided attention. All of them were still thinking that Leone was bluffing.

Gundar could tell what everyone was thinking, but he didn’t care. Instead, he continued to narrate the events that happened next.

"After the warriors of the Darkmane Tribe dropped their weapons, they were ordered to move to the side, away from their Young Lord. However, one of those warriors took that opportunity to crouch down and pick up his weapon to launch a sneak attack on Ulric.

"Because of that, he died as soon as his hand touched his sword. His head was pierced by an arrow, killing him instantly.

"After realizing that Leone wasn’t bluffing, the warriors of the Darkmane Tribe finally obeyed Leone’s orders and left their Young Lord alone. It was then that Ulric started slapping Cain.

"Leone declared that it was the price he had to pay for his arrogance. He then asked Cain to apologize for belittling the Aslan Tribe. And when the Young Lord of the Darkmane Tribe hesitated, Leone ordered Ulric to slap him again. Cain relented after that."

Someone in the room took a deep breath. Gundar’s story was so compelling that some of them even forgot how to breathe due to the tension.

"He’s crazy!" Elias shook his head. "The Darkmane Tribe will not accept this insult."

"Is he perhaps inciting war, knowing that he is allied with us?!" one of the Elders scoffed in anger.

"He must have thought that since the Grimhowl Tribe is backing him, he could just do whatever he pleases!"

"Such arrogance!"

"Courting death!"

"Great Chieftain! We should immediately dissolve our alliance with the Aslan Tribe!"

"That’s right! They don’t deserve our protection!"

"I agree!"

"I second this motion!"

Hagen glanced at his retainers before shifting his attention back to his right-hand man.

Gundar let them voice out their opinions for a while before he raised his hand to silence them.

"The reason I arrived early is to inform everyone that a war between the Darkmane Tribe and the Aslan Tribe might start after a month or two," Gundar said. "You don’t have to worry. We will not be providing the Aslan Tribe with any form of assistance. If someone comes here to ask if we will move to defend them, the only answer that we will give is NO."

At his declaration, the Elders cheered. They thought that Gundar had finally opened his eyes and decided to break the alliance between the Aslan Tribe and the Grimhowl Tribe because he was disillusioned with Leone’s arrogance.

However, they were wrong.

Very wrong.

"Do you know why I said we don’t need to help when the Darkmane Tribe goes to war with the Aslan Tribe?" Gundar asked, his voice sounding extremely serious. "It’s because the Aslan Tribe doesn’t treat us as their allies. Leone knows that our chieftain only reluctantly accepted the alliance because I was the one who initiated it.

"He knows the Grimhowl Tribe will not move unless there are benefits. Leone understands this much. Even so, he still defied the Darkmane Tribe, knowing that it would lead to war."

Hagen didn’t say anything. It was true that he felt reluctant in accepting the alliance. He also couldn’t refute that alliances were made because there should be some benefit for both sides.

Right now, he couldn’t see any benefits in allying himself with the Aslan Tribe.

"Great Uncle, why would he do such a thing?" Elias asked. "Why would he do something so reckless?"

"It’s because Leone is built differently," Gundar replied, looking at Elias with a disgruntled look on his face. "You and your brother have similarities with Leone. All three of you are born privileged in a family that stands above others.

"However, that is where the similarities end. Compared to Leone, both of you pale in comparison. He is younger than the two of you, yet he can see farther than both of you combined."

Elias looked hurt, while Marcus didn’t hide his displeasure. They could see that their Great Uncle was looking at them in dissatisfaction, as if they didn’t get full marks in a written test that had been handed to them.

"I don’t believe I pale in comparison to this Leone Frontera," Marcus replied firmly. "Compared to me, he is nothing!"

After hearing his reply, Gundar suddenly laughed out loud.

A laugh filled with contempt. It was as if he had heard the most ignorant and most audacious declaration in the world.

When his laughter ended, he glared at Marcus, which made the latter subconsciously shrink back because Gundar’s stare was so fierce that, for a moment, he thought that a monster was about to rip his head off his body.