Deep within the hills, a cavern lay unexpectedly vast and tall, far from cramped.
Torches, soaked in animal fat, blazed brightly from recesses in the cavern walls, illuminating the space.
Fires of dry grass mixed with animal dung from the plains also provided light for the wide, accessible underground lair.
Even so, some sections of the cavern remained dim.
A slender Gnoll scout hurried through the shadowy passages, past Gnolls and Trolls crowded around the fires, through caverns housing numerous Dragon beasts, and then past rooms specially prepared for the Gnoll Spellcasters, finally reaching a grand grotto.
This grotto was exceptionally spacious and tall, large enough to easily accommodate even a True Dragon.
Over a dozen wide, long passages connected to it, and the grotto's walls and dome were adorned with murals painted with the blood of various wild beasts and strange, colorful pigments.
The murals depicted a towering Gnoll, clad in exquisite scale armor and wielding an adamantine three-headed flail, battling various monsters.
Among these, a massive Minotaur demon with a golden mane, brandishing a long-handled heavy blade, appeared most frequently.
This was Yeenoghu, the Jackal Tribe's revered patron deity.
It was rumored that Yeenoghu was a Lord of the Abyss, possessing immense power, and was considered the ancestor and guardian of all Gnolls in the world.
However, most Gnolls, while revering Yeenoghu, did not consider him a god, but rather a powerful Gnoll warrior and ancestor.
Some arrogant Gnolls even aimed to defeat Yeenoghu.
The golden-maned, long-handled heavy-bladed Minotaur demon, depicted opposing Yeenoghu, was Yeenoghu's adversary and sworn enemy, Baphomet, the Minotaur King.
This virile, cruel, and ferocious Minotaur King was also a rumored Lord from the Abyss, bearing renowned titles such as "Horned Demon or Lord of Horns" and "Lord of Beasts."
He was worshipped by evil Forest Rangers and Barbarians, and was the patron god of Minotaurs.
He harbored hatred for the Jackal King and all Gnolls, killing every Gnoll he encountered.
Beneath the grand dome mural, a Gnoll sat dozing on a wide stone chair.
Among the Gnoll race, even the strongest Gnoll Barbarians typically stood only about two and a half meters tall, but this Gnoll measured over three meters, nearly four.
His blood-colored mane flowed smoothly behind his head, and his grayish-red snout, unlike most Gnolls, was free of drool.
His grayish-red fur was exceptionally clean, lacking the distinct putrid odor found on other Gnolls; he was a clean and powerful Gnoll.
This Gnoll called himself Yug.
From birth, he was stronger than other Gnoll cubs, becoming the leader of that generation of newborn Gnolls, and thus possessed great ambition from a young age.
Upon reaching adulthood, he single-handedly hunted and killed an Achillesaurus, rumored to have dragon blood, earning the support of the vast majority of the Jackal Tribe.
This alarmed the previous Gnoll leader, but Yug openly challenged the prime-aged leader at a Gnoll assembly, easily killing the former leader with his bare hands, and thus became the leader of the Jackal Tribe.
Under his leadership, the Gnolls moved to these hills, which were originally the lair of the Achillesaurus he had killed.
With a stable lair, the Gnolls no longer had to wander like wild dogs on the plains.
With ample food supplies, the Jackal Tribe rapidly expanded from a tribe of only two hundred members to a large tribe of over a thousand members today.
They not only had many Gnoll Spellcaster but also enslaved many other races, such as Trolls, Orcs, Hobgoblins, and Werebears.
They also captured and tamed many True Dragon beasts and ferocious species, as well as many animals and beasts from the plains.
The Jackal Tribe, under his development, had now become the ruler of this region.
Therefore, the Gnoll scout dared not speak loudly, stopping at the grotto passage entrance, where two strong Gnoll Barbarians stood guard.
Each passage was guarded by two Gnoll Barbarians, protecting the king of this tribe.
At the whispered report of the Jackal Barbarian guard, Yug opened his eyes.
Even under the blazing light of countless torches in the grotto, this Gnoll's blood-red eyes still glowed with their unique radiance.
"What happened?" Yug's rough, hoarse voice echoed in the grotto.
"Leader, the hunting party just sent a distress signal.
They must have encountered an irresistible danger.
We can't hear their voices anymore; perhaps they've all been killed," the Gnoll scout knelt on the ground, utterly humble before Yug's powerful aura.
"What?
Hundreds of powerful Gnolls went out and encountered an irresistible danger?
What kind of enemy did they meet?"
Yug's hyena-like face showed displeasure as he frowned.
In Yug's impression, there was no creature on the plains of the area ruled by the Gnolls that could resist the strength of his warriors, and he had been very restrained.
He had not encroached upon the territories of those ferocious species near the Dragon Clan Territory.
These Gnolls did not yet know that the territories of those ferocious beasts had been occupied by a True Dragon's subordinates, and the True Dragon never risked flying out of his territory, so Yug was unaware of the current situation.
"Unclear, but some time ago, scouts discovered Centaur appearing in groups nearby.
It's possible these Centaur clashed with our hunting party," the Gnoll scout replied, lowering his head.
"Centaur?" Yug mused.
In his impression, while Centaur were all powerful warriors, for them to pose a danger to his Gnoll Barbarians, there must be a great number of them, forming a powerful Centaur Tribe.
"Go gather the warriors and the Gnoll Spellcaster in the tribe, arm them, and bring the True Dragon beasts.
I want to see what power these Centaur possess, daring to offend the Jackal Tribe's territory!"
Yug stood up, his tall body draped in blood-red fur, and a three-headed flail gleamed to the left of his stone throne.
Agitated sounds erupted from every corner of the grotto.
Countless Gnolls grabbed their weapons and assembled, then rushed out of their lair in groups, waiting for their leader on the plains.
Those Gnoll Spellcaster with purple manes, who held special status in the Jackal Tribe, also waited quietly outside the cavern.
Clearly, Yug's status among the Gnolls was supreme, possessing absolute authority.
Yug was the last to step out of the cavern, his towering figure mounted on a Dragon beast.
This Dragon beast, over six meters long with coarse fur and bone-plate claws on its hind toes resembling huge scythes, was shaped like a dinosaur.
This was an Achillesaurus, rumored to possess dragon blood and to be a ferocious predator of the plains, a powerful creature at the top of the ordinary food chain.
But this Dragon beast, possessing immense power, had been tamed by Yug to become a war beast and pet, illustrating the power this Gnoll wielded.
Yug brandished his heavy three-headed flail and shouted, "Attack! Follow me and kill those invaders who dare to violate the Jackal Tribe's territory!
Drink their blood to your fill, and adorn our lair with their bones!"