After using Dominion’s power to bring the goblins under my control, I did the same with the orcs.
This must have been what they called “honest labor!” First, I had the goblins capture one orc (a bunch of goblins died for it, but getting the orc on my side was worth it), then I used Dominion on it. Then, with the orc added to my forces, I moved on to capture the next orc. It was just one orc against an orc and a group of goblins, so I was the clear winner. Now with two orcs under my command, I was able to capture two orcs at a time. From there, it was rinse and repeat until I had the entire village under my rule. There were some superior breeds among the orcs, which took a little more time to capture, but they eventually fell in line too. My forces were now even more formidable!
“Gya ha ha! I knew it—with this power, I’m gonna rule over all the creatures in the world!”
I got the orcsmiths—a superior breed of orc that were especially good with their hands—to make me a lavishly decorated throne that I could recline on. Orcsmiths were craftsmen, so they could also make weapons and armor. Having this many orcs and superior orcs already gathered in one place was truly a stroke of good fortune for me. With this, I can build an army of orcs and take Solasidore by storm! Heh heh heh!
As I was fantasizing—er, I mean, planning the future—an armored orc came up to me. “King Bareas, I have a report,” it rasped.
“Oh, it’s the orc general. What news?”
Some superior breeds of orcs understood human language and could even converse with humans, especially the ones who had human mothers. This orc general’s mother had also been a human, apparently. Once the town’s destroyed, I should grab the otherwise useless girls and use them to strengthen my orc army even more! Heh heh heh.
“The reaper of the forest, the Death Serpent, has been spotted.”
The Death Serpent?! Even I knew about that—a huge, venomous snake said to be the strongest creature in this whole forest! It was so large that it could swallow orcs whole, and if you ever laid eyes on it, you’d best prepare for death. The moment it bit into you, you were a goner. So they say, anyway.
“Is that so? Perfect—I’ll capture that thing alive!”
“Our army will suffer massive casualties against that creature as it stands. We will need to borrow your power, O King.”
“Seriously? You guys are useless without me, huh?” Honestly, how did they even manage before I showed up? At the same time, we’ll need all the forces we can get when we attack the town, so I can’t carelessly lose them here.
“All right, I guess there’s no helping it. I’ll put you all under my command and lead you to victory.”
“Ooh! Thank you, King Bareas! We are forever in your service!”
Heh heh. Naturally—I’m your king, after all!
And so, by using three of my orcs as meat shields, I successfully placed the Death Serpent under Dominion’s spell as well. It was a tough bridge to cross, for sure, but sacrificing three orcs to get the Death Serpent was unmistakably a good deal. While I was at it, I got a second one too, so now I had twin serpents!
“Phew! Men, today was a huge success! Tonight, we feast!”
“Er, King Bareas, we also need to have a burial for the orcs we lost in battle...”
“Huh? Oh, right, that. Yeah, do whatever you need to there.”
“Understood. Then, we plan to serve three attack boars as a feast to honor their noble sacrifice.”
“What? Don’t waste those boars on something like that. Serve the megafrogs instead.” Hmph, for orcs, they sure were spoiled. Those attack boars were my dinner!
“B-But King Bareas, we need to appropriately honor the resolute warriors who gave their lives in battle to—”
“Yeah, yeah, that’s enough outta you. Dominion!” I channeled mana into my ring. The troublesome orc general smelled the jewel’s fragrance and fell silent. Just for good measure, I gave him a command of my own. “Listen up. You’ll eat the megafrogs. Anyone who complains about it gets fed to the Death Serpents. Got it?”
“I...understand...”
Good.
Now then. As it currently stood, I not only had orcs, but Death Serpents under my command. But Death Serpents preyed on orcs, so the longer they were in my army, the more my forces would dwindle!
Oh, maybe they’ll eat goblins instead. If I get them to breed with the female attack boars, I’ll get more goblins, and in three days’ time the newborns will be able to fight. By the time we attack the city, I’ll have a surplus, and I can sacrifice a few of them to the serpents. Those snakes eat a lot, you know.
Was it finally time to stage our attack, then? The orcsmiths had made all the armor we needed—
“King Bareas, we have news.”
“Whoa! Orc assassins, I told you not to just appear in front of me all of a sudden like that!”
“Apologies, but we have information regarding your ‘Karina.’”
What?! Do tell! The orc assassins told me that an adventurer had been cutting down trees in the forest. She was with three other adventurers, had black hair, and one of them had called her “Karina,” so there could be no doubt.
“This info came from the goblins we dispatched to the forest’s outskirts as scouts,” the orc assassin said. He went on to say that the orc assassin who’d stayed to keep an eye on Karina had yet to return. Hm... Were her comrades super strong or something? Well, if they were going logging, they were probably lumberjacks, and therefore physically stronger than most.
“And if you guys came back, that means Karina headed back to town, right? Then that’s perfect timing! Men, it’s time to attack the city!”
“Hooray! At last!” the orc assassin said.
“That’s right. It’s getting harder and harder for me to resist feasting on the town’s delicacies. We’re taking Solasidore by storm!”
I had an army of goblins and orcs, as well as Death Serpents—reapers of the forest—on my side. That was more than enough force to urge the other monsters in the forest over to the town and attack!
It was a calamity so rare, it only naturally happened once every hundred years or so—a stampede. In other words, monsters going berserk and attacking human settlements. But with my power, I could make it happen whenever I wanted!
First, I’d wear down the city’s defenses with the grunt monsters, then move in and attack with the main force! It was a foolproof plan, one I’d been cooking up in my head ever since I’d first thought of attacking the city. A plan fit for one such as I, who had obtained the power of the divine! I’d mulled it over while patting the head of the cute, snot-nosed goblin. Conversing with him gave me some good ideas! Maybe it was because his face looked like a stupid pig’s?
Oh, wait. Before that, though, I needed to take measures to make sure they didn’t accidentally kill Karina in the process. “Send a separate unit to capture Karina alive, so I can make her mine!”
“Yes, King Bareas! Understood!”
Dominion was the power of the divine. All I had to do was shove the ring in her face to make sure the fragrance got in her nose, break her mind to where she’d never regain her sense of self, and turn her into my pet. While I was at it, I’d turn the rest of the town’s women into my pets as well! Unless they were ugly, of course, in which case I’d hand ’em over to the orcs. Oh, and while I’m at it, I ought to get that stuck-up proprietor at Shunrai to bow down to me and lick my feet! I’ll make that vixen rue the day she banned me from the premises!
“We attack immediately! It’s time to make Solasidore ours!” I declared. The monsters under my command all let out enthusiastic battle cries.
#Side: END