Alex took the back seat and let Atarra finish off the remnants of the opposition. In the meantime, he explored the area where they held the prisoners, which fortunately was far from the main battlefield. The constant internal conflicts among the Goblins had prevented them from using a tactic that was not uncommon—using hostages to defend their position.

Accompanied by several Gnolls, Alex finally found the sector, and what awaited him was a gruesome sight. The Gnolls in this settlement were in much worse condition than those in the exploitation. The majority were severely malnourished and plagued by diseases.

"Carefully search for the keys and free the prisoners. Keep in mind not to touch your face or mouth once you touch anything inside, and use cloths on your mouth and nose," Alex gave some minimal orders to try to prevent the spread of excessive diseases in their camp. He wasn't sure if these precautions would be effective, so he also ordered a group of Gnolls to prepare to go to the Resh settlement to fetch Zalika.

Slowly, the Gnolls began to release their brethren from their cages, and the situation gradually became ridiculous for Alex.

Just like there were three times the slave population compared to Goblins in the exploitation, here it seemed like much more. The Gnolls were packed like sardines, and if the situation of the first ones was bad, further back, Alex witnessed worse and worse situations. Generally, the women, children, and the elderly were in this area.

The scene was gruesome for Alex, witnessing the suffering of the weakest. It reached its peak when Alex saw the first reunion.

At one point, one of the soldiers who accompanied them ran towards a specific Gnoll and hugged her tightly. She didn't react immediately; many didn't react much to their releases, almost as if they had lost their souls. Their eyes were empty and devoid of all will.

However, when the first soldier was able to reunite with his wife and began to encourage her, saying over and over, "We are free," as if he wanted to hypnotize her, the words of the young man soon penetrated the woman's shell, and she stared directly into his eyes.

"Khar," she said with a raspy voice. "Khar, is it you?"

"It's me, my love. We've come to free you. We are free," assured the young Gnoll.

"Khar," the woman began to cry. "I'm so sorry, Khar. Our son, he, he," she mumbled, breaking down in tears.

"It's not your fault, my love," said the young Gnoll in pain, maintaining a firm embrace with his beloved.

The crying began to intensify, and the rest of the prisoners slowly seemed to emerge from their lethargy.

More and more reunions began to happen, fortunately, many didn't have such a tragic ending. Although in very bad situations, many children had managed to survive.

Many questions swirled in the minds of the prisoners, and they started asking them all at once, overwhelming the soldiers quickly.

Alex had to step forward, making gestures to calm the population and allowing some elders to speak on behalf of the rest.

"It's truly over; we must hurry to escape," an elderly Gnoll asked, and this was one of their concerns because almost no one in the cages was in a condition to flee, so they would simply be cannon fodder if they really went out in this state.

Many looked towards Alex, awaiting his response.

"No, the fight in this settlement continues, although it is entirely under control. Matriarch Atarra is finishing the job," Alex replied.

"What happened to the other Gnolls who left this settlement?" another elder asked.

"I don't know which group you specifically refer to. We rescued all those who worked in the exploitation for this settlement. For now, we have only managed to bring down this settlement, but our war continues, and soon we will march on the others," Alex answered.

"What will happen to us?" a woman asked unexpectedly.

"At this moment, there are two matriarchs under my command—Matriarch Atarra and Matriarch Atasha. You are free to join either of the two clans, or alternatively, you can join me," Alex replied. It was time to think about managing his own clan, so to speak, which would be organized in a more meritocratic way. He needed talented people to fulfill his personal needs. Although the power of the matriarchs was great, he couldn't use it for all his missions. He needed to train his own structures and units that not only had loyalty to him but also a greater attachment and trust in his institutions.

"We'll have to go and fight," a young Gnoll who incessantly stared at the Gnoll soldiers asked. They were almost the same age.

"Probably, but fighting is a privilege of the strongest. If you don't have the strength, mentality, and will necessary, then you probably can't fight," Alex replied.

"What do you mean?" the confused young one asked again.

Alex could see that there was no will in the boy's eyes, so he was direct in his response. "If you don't have the will to fight, to stand with your brothers, no one will force you. I won't force anyone who doesn't want to fight. As I said before, participating in the battle is a privilege that must be earned."

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The boy fell silent and stepped back.

Alex's response left his soldiers with great morale, and it had greatly raised their self-esteem. They were strong, and they had earned the right to fight.

Although many of the prisoners remained skeptical of Alex's words, thinking that it wouldn't be long before they were forced to serve as cannon fodder, there were a few who received the message. They needed to be strong if they wanted to fight alongside their brothers and rescue their loved ones. After all, there were still many Gnoll prisoners in other places, and many still had a small faith in reuniting with their families.

"What do we do now?" finally asked one of the elders.

"For now, you must leave this place and clean yourselves to prevent the spread of diseases. We will soon bring medicinal herbs from another settlement, and as soon as hostilities end, we will start repairing what we can since we will use this settlement," Alex replied. Although the issue of food was challenging for the moment, as he didn't expect so many prisoners, something could still be done about it, so they weren't in a critical situation in this regard.

"Sir, the group you were looking for has been found," suddenly a soldier approached Alex to inform him.

"Thank you, take me to them," Alex replied, excusing himself to the elders and temporarily stepping away.

There was a group of people he needed to see.

Alex walked among a crowd of steel crates and barracks where the few soldiers they had brought with them were working hard to free the captives and maintain order.

Finally, he reached a special area where the Goblins had kept a different type of prisoners. Although malnourished, they didn't seem to have been used for forced labor.

Upon reaching the bars, Alex was instantly seen, leaving the dwarves stunned in their position. However, something that also stunned Alex happened.

"A human! You've come to rescue us!" asked a small, innocent voice.

Alex stared intently at the voice, which belonged to a small human child of no more than 8 years.

"Indeed," Alex replied, still incredulous.

"Hurray! The Golden Pig Trading Company is saved!" the child began to shout, attracting the attention of everyone around.

While the child did little celebratory dances, both sides stood staring at each other in amazement.

"Ahem," one of the dwarves pretended to cough to snap both sides out of their stupor.

"Ah, yes, soldiers, free these prisoners," commanded Alex.

Gradually, the dwarves from this specific cell were released while Alex frowned at the small human.

"My brother adopted him as a newborn; someone left him on his doorstep," a voice told him quietly, not to be heard by the child. "My name is Bromir, by the way."

"A pleasure to meet you, Bromir. My name is Alex, and I lead the Gnolls in this offensive."

Bromir looked at Alex from head to toe, examining him inquisitively, and then asked, "Leading as if you're helping them know what they need to do?"

"No, more like leading by sitting next to the matriarchs and giving them my orders and objectives," Alex replied.

The answer surprised Bromir, who stared into the human's eyes, looking for any sign of deception.

"I see. It's then a remarkable coincidence that we meet," concluded the dwarf.

"The truth is, it's not. I was looking for you among the prisoners," Alex replied.

"Why?" the confused dwarf asked.

"Because I need to trade with the outside. Who better than a trading company with its own routes for such a thing?" Alex replied.

When he mentioned the topic of routes, the dwarf couldn't help but instantly become defensive.

"See, sir, I appreciate our rescue very much, but the matter of our routes," the dwarf began but was intimidated by the sudden presence of armed Gnolls near Alex.

"I don't plan to rob you of your routes. I have my own ways of traveling through the forest. I just need to know if you have the ability to transport goods to and from this area and to what extent your influence extends," Alex responded.

"You want to open trade routes to this area? Permanent ones?" the dwarf asked incredulously.

"Of course, wasn't that what you were doing here in the first place?" Alex asked.

"Not really, no," said the dwarf.

"That wasn't what you were doing?" Alex asked confused.

"There were many other objectives by the Dwarven collectives. Although we are not part of them, we have lived in Nikrin, the southern free city, for a long time, so we decided to venture out to try to get a piece of that pie," the dwarf replied.

"And now you have that opportunity. Anyway, leave it for now. Join me later in the communal house to discuss a possible partnership," Alex concluded.

He left his soldiers organizing the release of all the prisoners. He had to see what Atarra was doing.

Soon, he would regret it.

On the way, Alex noticed that the small settlement had great opportunities to grow. It had been unusually planned large, with wide, though dirt, streets, and the walls covered a large area, so it could be rearranged to accommodate a large number of people. In addition, there were significant infrastructures that could store food and other necessary supplies for their campaigns.

Although most of the "houses" were actually tents, there were a few more solid and durable structures, distributed in various parts. Alex imagined that they must be recreation places like taverns or where more important people stayed. In his mind, he began to outline a remodeling. He would need a central square to place trade and public affairs; generally, the town hall and temples could also be here. In time, guilds would also settle, but that had to happen naturally, and Alex couldn't plan it.

Half-absorbed in his future machinations, Alex finally arrived where the fight was. The smell of burned and ashes was still everywhere, but it was undeniable that the fight had already ended.

He saw many Gnolls transporting the captured Goblins to a focal point. Alex followed slowly.

Upon arrival, he noticed at a glance what Atarra intended.

"Do you really plan to perform a ritual on them?" Alex asked.

"It's either them or my people, boy, and I choose my people," Atarra replied without giving him a single glance and without interrupting her ritual preparation.

"But they have no chance of harming your people," Alex countered.

"But they have the chance to appease the curse on my people. They will be sacrificed to Hel, and it will give us more time. They would die anyway; I would never allow my enemy to walk through the door so easily," the matriarch replied.

Alex needed to leave the place; he knew that what followed next wouldn't be pleasant to watch. However, he also knew that this was another consequence of his actions. He had chosen his allies, and therefore, he also owned a small piece of this. So, he decided to stay and witness what would happen next.

The show didn't last long, but it was quite impactful.

The Gnolls finished gathering all the Goblins inside a large ritual circle, while Atarra finished her ritual in her personal circle.

A great wave of shadows rose to engulf the Goblins.

The screams and lamentations intensified for a few brief seconds.

Then, nothing.

Nothing remained where there had once been a large concentration of living beings.

Even the earth itself seemed to have died in that place.