Realizing that Hui, the leader of the wolf race, had been shot dead by Gideon, all the wolf-men in the area surrendered. They refused to keep fighting—their Alpha had been defeated.
Gideon gave the order to regroup his team. Luke and the others approached, obedient to Gideon's command as their team captain.
"All stations. Return to the base!"
"Copy, Captain!"
Bian was still there, still staring at Gideon sharply, overwhelmed by his decision to kill Hui. He had no idea what made Gideon do it, nor did he understand why Hui had chosen to fight him in the first place.
One thing's for sure—Hui never showed that kind of beast transformation to anyone unless he saw them as a serious threat.
To Hui, Gideon and his team were powerful enemies—ones the wolves couldn't defeat easily.
Lena arrived and saw the many corpses of the wolf-men they had taken down. Not a single one was still alive or even clinging to life. Each of them had been shot—not just once, but with multiple bullets.
"Lena, treat the wounded wolves."
"Lyra, help Lena by calming down the rest of the villagers."
"Luke, help me restrain the ones who surrendered. Don't hurt them," Gideon instructed clearly.
"Understood, Captain."
Lena, Luke, and Lyra quickly followed through with their orders. Lena grabbed a medkit and began treating the injured wolf-men.
She needed to perform bullet removal procedures to prevent bleeding and infections caused by the projectiles.
Lyra stood and began gathering the villagers, starting with the women and children. They were angry, of course. But they also wanted answers—why had Gideon killed their people, and why had he made sure Hui was dead?
This was where Lyra's role became crucial. She worked to mediate the conflict between Gideon's team and the wolf race. She didn't want the situation to escalate into open hostility.
Luke stood beside Gideon. Gideon leaned on him slightly, arms crossed, looking ahead. Around eight wolf-men knelt on the ground, their hands placed behind their heads in a clear sign of surrender.
"What should we do with them?" Luke asked.
"We hear what they have to say. Then we decide."
Luke nodded. Following Gideon's direct orders, he began questioning each one of the wolves—asking what caused the rebellion, who orchestrated it, and what the goal had been.
Thanks to his trained eye and background in psychological observation, Gideon could tell when someone was lying and when they were telling the truth. He watched closely. One of the easiest tells: avoiding eye contact.
Out of the eight wolf-men who surrendered, three told the truth. The rest lied. But Gideon didn't care. As long as some of them were honest, their testimonies would be treated as facts.
"Release those three. Detain the rest," Gideon said firmly. Luke nodded and got to work.
While they confessed, Bian and his two friends stood by, listening. The three of them were shocked to learn that people of their own race had plotted to kill the man who had saved their village.
"I can't believe they did this…"
Bian turned, noticing how badly Gideon was hurt. He was still coughing up blood, clearly suffering from serious internal injuries from his battle with Hui.
But Gideon held on, waiting until Lena was done treating the others. She was busy—her gloved hands stained red from the wolves' blood.
Many of the wolf-men had muscular bodies, and the bullets were lodged deep within their tough flesh, making extraction difficult for Lena.
"Do you need anything?" Bian asked, uncertain.
"Hui is dead. The forest wolf village has no leader. You need to choose a new one soon."
"Choose a new leader? That's impossible," Bian replied.
"Why?" Gideon asked.
The wolf race didn't choose their leaders the way humans did. Humans used democracy—the people voted. But in the wolf village, things were very different.
They chose their leader through battle.
That's right. They had to fight. And whoever won the fight would be recognized as the new leader by the entire village.
Sure, there were still plenty of strong men in the wolf village. Most had not rebelled. They were young, fast, and capable.
But none of them dared to put themselves forward as leader. It was because of their nature—the instinctual dominance of the alpha, and the deep-rooted loyalty that came with it.
Only someone who had defeated the previous Alpha could claim leadership. Then, a challenger would step forward from the villagers. If no one challenged the new Alpha within a day, the position would be official.
"Because none of them want to fight you," Bian answered.
"Them?" Gideon asked.
He turned—and saw a group of wolf-men gathering in front of him and Luke. But they didn't attack or resist. What they did next was far more shocking.
"W-What are they doing?" Luke asked.
"No idea."
Gideon watched as all the wolf-men around him knelt with their heads bowed, paying their respects like loyal knights. Not just them—Bian, the women, and even the children followed suit.
He had killed Hui. His strength had far surpassed Hui's. That was why no one dared to challenge him.
"You are now the new leader of the forest wolf village, Lord Gideon," Bian said solemnly.
Gideon was speechless. They had chosen a new leader solely based on power. Luke chuckled, shaking his head in disbelief.
"Guess what, Alpha Gideon," Luke teased.
Lyra walked over, laughing and smiling at Gideon's new title. Lena didn't even glance up—she was still laser-focused on treating the wounded former rebels.
Gideon had no choice. If the people of the forest wolf village had made their decision, then he wasn't going to waste the opportunity.
With his power and leadership, he could finally begin his true mission: uniting all the mythological races.
"Very well. I accept your coronation," Gideon replied.
WOOOF!
The wolves howled together that night—so loud that the echo reached all the way to the Kitsune village. Gideon couldn't join in, but he clapped his hands in response.
"What's your decision, Lord Gideon?" Bian asked.
"Call all the leaders of the mythological races on the southern coast. I want to speak with them"