Chapter 1

Ever since the first Southern Lion, Duhan Olives, established this black fortress on the great wilderness between the Fertile Lands and the Wildwood, the towering walls and sturdy gates had steadfastly guarded the country. Its doors had opened for kings, for envoys from other orderly kingdoms, and for monks from the Theocracy, but today, it welcomed the most unique group of "visitors" in its history.

Black Raven Fortress was about to open its gates to a group of uncouth creatures from the wilderness—sub-races, magical beasts, savage beings in the eyes of humans, no different from beasts, were now guests that this glorious fortress had to welcome.

The battle on the wasteland had ended. Smoldering fire pits emitted thick smoke, and swirling dust scattered with the wind, enveloping the entire land in a shifting haze. The stench of blood lingered, an offensive odor that would likely persist until the next snowfall. Warriors from the beastmen tribes were clearing the corpses of their kin, while their leader was preparing to go to the human castle, for what the Head Wolf called a "groundbreaking diplomatic event."

Phillip stood on the city wall, watching the swarming mass of magical beasts below, moving about in disarray. But amid the chaos, a wide open space had been cleared. A dozen forest dire wolves led the way like pioneers, followed closely by two blue-gray giants wearing loincloths and carrying beast bone-adorned war flags. The war flags were scrawled with indecipherable tribal totems, and behind them was a large contingent consisting of magic apes, imp-demons, gnolls, and goblins. At the very center of the procession was an enormous Ancient Earth Dragon, the most eye-catching member of the entire group. The four-meter-tall, nearly ten-meter-long Earth Dragon was covered in rocky elemental armor, and the spikes along the edge of its armor indicated that this Earth Dragon was at least one hundred and seventy years old. The "Ancient" in Ancient Earth Dragon did not refer to its age, but rather the name of this particular Earth Dragon clan. Scholars believed that this type of Earth Dragon was the common ancestor of all Earth Dragon species and lizard sub-species in the wilderness, hence the name "Ancient." And an Earth Dragon of one hundred and seventy years old was already a terrifying behemoth of the wilderness: it meant that it had even survived a Chaos Tide, gaining many incredible powers in the baptism of primal magic.

But this fearsome wilderness behemoth was merely a mount.

Phillip saw that a stone seat had actually been installed on the back of the Earth Dragon, covered with animal hides and grass mats, and a figure wearing wolf skin, who looked like a human, was sitting on it. Due to the angle, he could not see the face of the person in wolf skin, but he could see a very obvious halo of light surrounding that person.

He certainly did not associate that figure with the legendary "Head Wolf." Any logically normal person would probably not expect the "Head Wolf" who commanded the beast tide to be a young girl. He only thought that it was an envoy sent by the Head Wolf, and probably a Saint Domain human: in the previous battle, he had personally seen a group of seemingly powerful human clerics in the beast tide. Although he did not know how this group of humans had mixed with the magical beasts, he guessed that these Saint Domain people were probably the reason why the beast tide had come to help humans.

Perhaps the magical beasts had chosen a group of Saint Domain people to serve as their ambassadors or translators, or perhaps this wave of beast tide was simply being pushed by the Saint Domain people behind the scenes—this was the guess of many ordinary soldiers on the city wall.

Phillip raised his head and continued to search for the three-headed wolf in the vast sea of magical beasts, but he did not know that the real Head Wolf had already entered the city right under his nose.

Lily sat on her throne—she liked this stone very much, so she simply had her subordinates polish it and install it on "Leviathan." Leviathan was the name she had given to the Earth Dragon under her butt, who seemed quite satisfied with it. Miss Head Wolf entered the city in such high spirits, leaving the wild forest and arriving in the territory of humans. She had a feeling of returning to heaven and earth.

Lily curiously looked around the Black Raven Fortress, which was full of exotic customs, while the black-armored knights who came out of the castle walked in front to lead this special "delegation." Ulysses, the commander of the Black Blade Legion, sent his most steadfast knight to welcome this team, while he himself took the staff to make all the preparations for the welcome in the Black Feather Square on the upper floor of the fortress.

Probably made all the preparations for the welcome.

Well, he himself didn't know if he was ready.

The great Duke Ulysses had never received such an "envoy" in his life. The usually dignified and steady Southern Lion also looked blank at this time. He had asked his staff and consultants about the customs of the sub-races more than once, and the answers he got were varied—making him wish he could throw those good-for-nothings who usually boasted but couldn't even make up a lie at a critical moment down the city wall.

In fact, not long ago, the envoy of the magical beast group had already come once when the battle had just ended—not those inexplicable words that the terrifying black dragon was lying on the tower, but a more formal dispatch of letters: a black forest night owl sent the Head Wolf's greetings and agreed on some matters for the Head Wolf to enter the city. However, the brief letter did not specify any specific etiquette process, so Duke Ulysses could only choose to arrange this meeting according to the way the human kingdom received foreign envoys.

"Sir, is it really appropriate to let those... sub-races enter the city like this?" A staff member said uneasily behind the Duke, "The fortress gate is wide open, and we don't know how many wild races are entrenched outside. This feeling is really like sharp teeth and claws in the throat..."

"What else can we do if we don't open the door?" Ulysses didn't even bother to look back at his staff, "They have the ability to open the door themselves. Look at that black dragon, that flame python, and those elemental lords—they don't even need us to open the door, they can directly pull the entire castle up from the ground."

"...This is really the darkest day for the Black Raven Fortress."

"Don't say such depressing words," Ulysses straightened his body. He had already seen the head of the huge Earth Dragon appearing at the end of the square slope. "They helped us repel the chaos. From this point of view, opening the gate at this moment is also a glorious act for the Black Raven Fortress."

As he spoke, the Head Wolf's personal guard had arrived at the square.

The orderly citizens of this world and the husky spirit from another world finally completed a historic meeting.

Duke Ulysses strained his neck and stood upright. Although the Ancient Earth Dragon in front of him was several times taller than him, he still stood here without flinching, maintaining the dignity of a kingdom's nobleman and soldier. His black armor and leather cloak made him look particularly heroic.

Then he saw the Ancient Earth Dragon slightly turn its body. A ball of light flickered on it, and then a girl in a wolf skin cloak jumped down from the rocky armor.

The girl stared at the Southern Guard with golden eyes.

"Are you the leader here?" Lily spoke first. The carefree she didn't feel that the atmosphere was a bit awkward for a moment. Seeing that the other party didn't speak, she took the initiative to break the silence.

Ulysses was still thinking about when the Head Wolf would appear. Hearing this, he immediately woke up and immediately took out a steady momentum: "I am the Governor-General of the Southern Territory of the Taros Kingdom, the contemporary patriarch of the Olives family, Grand Duke Ulysses Olives, the commander of the Black Blade Legion, and the general guarding the Black Raven Fortress—here to welcome the master of the magical beasts from the forests and mountains, the awe-inspiring Head Wolf."

"Oh, your name is so long, like the landlord's business card," Lily blinked in surprise, then pointed to herself, "I am the Head Wolf."

Ulysses: "...Huh?"

"I am the Head Wolf," Lily continued to point to herself, "By the way, how do you know about me? Logically speaking, this is the first time we have contacted you humans, right?"

It must be said that Ulysses is worthy of being the Governor-General of the Southern Territory. Although he was stunned by the truth of the "Head Wolf" in front of him, he still took over the conversation like a conditioned reflex: "The deeds of the Head Wolf and the beast group have spread throughout the kingdom. Our astrologers and secret masters knew as early as half a month ago that a new star was rising in the south. But we didn't expect the Head Wolf to be..."

Lily's eyes widened: "What's wrong with me?"

"Ahem, nothing, nothing," Ulysses coughed twice, "The Head Wolf is indeed as awe-inspiring as the rumors say. But I'm a little curious, are you...human?"

Lily's answer was particularly sincere: "I am not human."

Then, without waiting for the human general who talked a lot in front of him to continue asking questions, she waved her hand vigorously: "Hey, hey, don't say so much nonsense, I'm so hungry all the way—I should have asked Ol'Dusa to notify you to prepare the meal, right? When shall we eat?"

Ulysses' expression was a bit subtle, but he nodded immediately: "Of course, we have prepared according to the black dragon's instructions. But no one here knows what braised pork ribs are, so we can only do it in the way of mountain stew..."

Lily's eyes lit up when she heard about the stew: "Okay, okay, hurry up, hurry up!"

A moment later, the husky girl looked a little dazed at the three large iron pots steaming with fragrance in front of her.

"Meat is a good thing..." Miss Head Wolf felt for the first time in her life that she might not be able to finish a meal, "But it looks a bit too much... Why are there three pots?"

Ulysses and his staff looked around, and no one knew what to say.

Only one thought was spinning in the mind of the Governor-General of the Southern Territory: "...Who on earth did inquire that the Head Wolf has three heads?"