When Logan finally regained his consciousness, he found himself weakened and bound by shackles. He could feel his strength being sapped, making it impossible for him to break free.

After a quick observation, he noticed two squirrels munching on nuts, looking at him with amusement.

They were none other than Blitz’s left and right-hand men—errr, squirrels, which Leone named Chip and Dale.

*Squeak!*

Chip asked its friend to look for either their boss Blitz or Leone and tell them that the prisoner was now awake.

Dale nodded and hurried off to report the news, while its friend stayed put to watch over the still bound Orc.

Logan was too busy pondering how to break free from his bindings to care about what the squirrels were doing.

However, no matter what he did, he couldn’t muster any strength to free himself. Since that was the case, he decided to preserve his strength and pivoted into recalling how the enemies had captured him.

He was certain that his plan was perfect—scale the fortress at night and hold Leone hostage.

He hadn’t expected to be discovered midway. From that point onward, things started to turn out of his favor.

No matter how he looked at it, his plan was flawless. He made sure no one could notice his infiltration, so he didn’t understand what had gone wrong.

After a process of elimination, only one possibility remained.

’They knew I was coming,’ Logan thought. ’And they knew exactly what I was going to do.’

That was the only explanation. Otherwise, how could they possibly capture him without any elaborate plans?

’It seems that I underestimated them too much.’ Logan sighed.

He understood that the current him could be easily killed by the humans, and he wouldn’t even have the chance to lift a finger to stop it.

A few minutes later, he heard the sounds of footsteps. The Orc Champion looked at the young man, whom he had challenged to a duel not long ago.

The prison door was opened, and soon, Leone entered with his vassals.

He gazed at the Orc Champion, who was glaring back at him.

"Let me introduce myself once again," Leone said. "My name is Leone Frontera, and I am the King of Aslan Soleil. I also go by the title of the Great Chieftain of the Aslan Tribe. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Logan of the Ravage Tribe."

Logan scoffed. "Spare me the pleasantries. Since you have captured me, it means that you don’t plan to kill me just yet. What do you want in exchange for my freedom?" 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

"I like dealing with smart Orcs," Leone replied. "I only wish for one thing—an alliance between the Ravage Tribe and the Aslan Tribe."

"An alliance?" Logan frowned.

"Yes." Leone nodded. "An alliance. I was serious about letting you claim the north of the forest as your territory while I remain here in the south. We will mind our own business and only assist each other in times of need."

"That’s all?" Logan thought that Leone would ask the Ravage Tribe to become his subordinates.

Yet, the young man only wished to form an alliance, allowing each tribe to thrive in their own territories.

"Yes, that’s all," Leone stated.

"And if I refuse?" Logan sneered.

"Then I will have no choice but to kill you and capture the Orc Warlord. He’ll receive the same conditions I offered you." Leone shrugged. "Without you, your underlings are easy targets. We can annihilate your entire tribe without too much effort on our part."

"You’re bluffing," Logan replied.

"Am I?" Leone smirked. "Don’t think that I won’t dare do what I said just now. I already have blood in my hands. Speaking of which, let me tell you something funny. Before you and your tribe even arrived here at Grimjaw Mountain, we were already preparing to fight a war against a high-ranking barbarian tribe.

"Their warriors exceed ten thousand. Compared to that, do you think we will have any trouble annihilating a thousand Orcs?"

This wasn’t the first time Logan had come face to face with humans.

Clashes between the barbarians and the Orcs happened everyday in the Borderlands. Because of this, Logan had known how to read the body language of humans.

After hearing what the young man had to say, Logan instinctively knew that Leone wasn’t lying.

If he really didn’t agree to his condition, then he and his tribe would be annihilated.

Remembering the warriors and beasts that had fought against him a few days ago, the Orc Champion confirmed that the human’s threat was something that he had to take seriously.

A moment later, a chuckle escaped Logan’s lips.

"What’s funny?" Kael, who stood behind Leone, asked. "Do you think we can’t do what our Great Chieftain has mentioned a while ago?"

Logan shook his head. "I just find the situation rather ironic. We fled the western lands to move here, thinking this will be a safe place for our tribe to rebuild our roots. We thought we escaped a calamity, only to find ourselves facing another threat. How laughable."

The Orc Champion noticed there were three Kobolds inside the prison cell, all of them looking at him with solemn gazes.

One of them was Maximus, while the other two were Caius and Titus. They had come to witness what the Orc Champion had to say.

Caius and Titus hated the Orcs since they had driven them away from their homes. Many Kobolds had died just so the rest could escape through their underground tunnels.

Now that they had sought asylum with the Aslan Tribe, they planned to repay their kindness by assisting them in digging an underground network that would pass through the Grimjaw Mountain Range.

Titus wanted nothing more than to stab the Orc Champion with its spear to avenge its brethren. However, it understood that it was not his place to judge Logan because the one who subdued him was Leone.

As for their own thoughts about the Aslan Tribe and the Ravage Tribe forming an alliance, they could only watch from the side. They simply had no say on the matter.

Caius and Titus exchanged a glance.

The two Kobolds hated the Orcs more than anyone else in the room. Many of their kin had died because of them, after all.

Yet, despite that hatred, neither of them spoke.

That was because deep inside their hearts, they understood one painful truth.

If Leone could truly unite the tribes of Grimjaw Mountain, then perhaps the Kobolds would finally live long enough to see a peaceful tomorrow.