Chapter 47: Oopsy
****Hiro
One Moment Prior.
The Orc screamed as my attack hit him, my acid splashing into his face with the red-skinned monster clawing at his face only to spread the ink around.
Within moments, the orc was nothing more than a puddle, the creature's innate regeneration unable to keep up with the rate of which my acid burnt through his flesh and bones.
“Congratulations. You have been selected to serve Lord Hiro. Please resist.” Slimey said before unleashing her true form, her body moving to collect the screaming monsters.
Ah…. Whoops.
Well… there goes that minion… heck! HECK! I WANTED HIM! HE WAS A SHINEY TYPE! A SHINEY! ARRRRRRRGH!!! WHY COULDN'T YOU HAVE A FOCUS SASH?!
Quacks… Well what was done was done, the bubbling acid on the ground gestating an odd kind of growth.
Concerning… very concerning… ehk! Gross.
Make sure none of them escape! But don't kill them! I ordered, Zorin blocking the cave entrance with her body.
Slimey slithered across the floor, a great blue tidal wave laughing as it swept up the terrified goblins.
“ME CAN'T SWIM! ME CAN’tgurgufjlidcjktea!” One goblin screamed, sinking into Slimey's body.
“Drowny No!!” Another goblin cried, calling out for its friend.
“DON'T WORRY! YOU'LL BE JOINING HIM TOO!” Slimey smiled, her body forming large teeth that chomped in taunt.
“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
I left Slimey and the spiders to the task of capturing the goblins, Slimey snatching them while the spiders rolled their screaming bodies into bundles as I kept quacking to observe the puddle.
Hmmm. This… may be a problem.
The puddle was settling down, hardening, forming into mold that began to grow at a quack pace.
Oddly, the mold was growing rapidly, too rapidly, feeding off of the fleshy remains of the orc and using it as a catalyst to grow.
Hrnnnnnn. Problem! Problem! Problem! AYAKA!
“Yes Lord Hiro?” Ayaka sent, her voice echoing in my mind over Slimey's deranged laughter.
Get over here. Now.
Suddenly the space around me began to distort, a bubbling of mana that wrapped around me like a tether.
Zorin stood beside me, the mino-croc scratching her back with a lazy look as she picked me up. A rare moment of unprompted action from the reptile woman.
Yes? Can I help you Zorin? I sent, the crocs-girl blinking at me.
“So…”
So?
“How are you going to fit the spider in here?” Zorin asked, holding me close so I could perceive her words and looking up at the low ceiling that her head almost touched.
Ah... Ah wait. Waitwaitwait!
ABORT! ABORT! ABORT!
The air shifted, a portal opening up above me with Ayak’s titanic claws peaking through
NO! GO BACK IN! GOBACK IN!
“RaaaHG!” Zorin let out, the bulky mass of Ayaka pushing down on her as what goblins that remained were crushed underneath the weight of the massive arachnid.
AH! IT’S TOO TIGHT! TOO TIGHT!
Ayaka and Zorin were smooshed into me, my rubber form squished against the cavern wall with my body letting out a low soft squeeeeeeeak.
Three hours… That's how long it took to bring Kabbybara and my other capruxas to dig us out.
But, we were free. Well, Zorin and I. Ayaka was busy licking up my black goo.
Great. My strongest monster is addicted to mold… in a way this worked out, seeing as everything else died nearly instantly to the black gunk Ayaka had unknowingly become a kind of waste disposal.
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Actually, when I thought about it, this mold could be the chief compound for a catastrophic disaster!
Hmm. I should probably go and trace every place I've fired my gunk at… if it was molding this quickly…
Putting that to the side, I collected the bundled up goblins which were about close to two hundred total. Two hundred sticky blighted goblins that reeked of death and decay.
Some were old, some were young, some had hair and others didn't. But one thing they had in common was that they were all gross.
Moving them into my expanded throne room, I took a moment to try and decide how exactly I wanted to play this.
With two hundred wiggling goblins stuck to the walls of my main chambers the plan had gone awfully awry.
Originally, I was just going to beat the goblin’s leader and have him make the others submit to me. And now, I had beaten the boss but the unexpected consequence was that… well… he was dead!
Great, guess I'll just try and CP3O this…
“Lord Hiro.”
I should get bigger quarters…
“Lord Hiro.”
Hm?
“Your subjects are ready.”
Ah yes. My two hundred captives.
Sigh. Treasury still not located, but I suppose it didn't matter too much, after all, a couple of hundred years had passed, whatever was left would probably still be there waiting for me.
Well, I've got eight hours to kill before my next pylon construction and rematch with mirror me. Time to be productive.
One by one, I had my skeletons bring me a bundled goblin, the terrified creature brought before my throne where Slimey, me, and Buttstalion were.
I reached out, my mind touching the goblin’s that was filled with panic.
Be not afraid. You will be cured. I sent, the monster going rigid at my intrusion.
What followed next was a series of screams, tears, and black ooze pouring out of the goblin with the spider silk it was wrapped in turning black.
Once cured, I had one of my armored goblins cut the silk binding the recently cured and allowed it to process its new body for a moment.
The goblin stood there, tears in its eyes before it bowed to me and began calling me “bosk!” which I assumed was goblin for boss.
Right. Over there to the left. I sent, the goblin fervently heeding my direction with a devotion point adding to my grand total.
Huh… great.
One by one, the blighted were cured, and with each goblin freed of their affliction I gained another fervent follower.
[Devotion: 345]
[Skill: Purify 7-> 8]
Devotion was great, but it didn't guarantee anything in way of loyalty or commitment to my cause.
Fortunately, I had those loyal to me. My own personal pseudo knight order in chitin armor that stood over the captives.
It also helped that I had a massive armored arachnid that was getting anxious without its queen who was still stuck in the goblin's home munching happily on mold.
Hmm. A Knight Order… now that I think bout it, it wouldn't be too bad to teach and have an order of soldiers versed in my tactics.
Twenty Goblins. Twenty potential commanders whose loyalty were certain. Two hundred goblins, ten goblins per commander. I could turn my trusted into sergeants, have them learn skills and techniques then teach them to the others. A method of training I employed on peasants called cascade training.
Train ten. Those ten trained ten. So on and so forth until you had an army of trained soldiers.
Of course… effectiveness varied as it continued to go on, but that's why repetitiveness played a huge factor in the level of soldiering.
Suddenly an image… a man in fatigues. A man who was… me?!
Barking orders, standing in a forest with knife in hand, my mouth moving as a crowd of people hung on every word I said.
Odd.
When was this?
I could see myself, a man wearing an insignia of a yellow bar pinned to my collar.
My eyes, they were tired. Done. The words coming out lies I told to delude these youth of various ages to fight.
I… was a soldier? No… I was something else. Doing something that wasn't… honorable despite the uniform I wore.
In fact. The uniform was just a disguise.
But what did it matter? Today was my last day in that humid jungle. The day I would go home. Collect my check, and start a new life.
The memory faded, images gone.
“Lord Hiro?” Slimey asked, stroking my head. “Is everything ok?”
Hm? What was I doing? Oh right!
Training. Training! I was planning on training my soldiers. Well, two hundred goblins with big mouths to feed and in need of housing, clothing, and arms.
Now they were my responsibility. Buttstalion was easy to feed as the unicorn fed on the remains of its former home, but as for the goblins… well… as carnivorous cannibals, eating one another wasn't unheard of, but I rather not have my army feeding on their own.
Then again. There were other goblins out there. Other dens not found that were asking to be turned into food.
A short term solution to a long term problem.
No. There were two hundred and fifty three mouths to feed.
I needed a more… apt solution. My brain told me to turn Ayaka into a spider meat producer, but that too didn't sit well…
Hrrrrrn. What do what do what do?
“My Lord. You are so cute when you're thinking.”
Huh? Sure. Right.
“What troubles you my Lord?”
Trying to figure out how to feed my new army.
“We could cut off the Lizard girl’s tail and feed it to them. She regenerates.”
Zorin's snapped towards the throne, the green-haired muscular crocotaurus clutching her tail with an angry look.
Yeah… no. We're monsters, not barbarians. We need a long term plan to feed everyone.
“Fine. Why not feed them manacysts?”
Huh?
“We are creatures born of mana. We can survive off mana alone if need be.”
Hmm. The upkeep would require a LOT more mana cultures… or, throwing enough monsters into the composters to produce feed.
Good work Slimey. I sent, the slime turning bright pink as I directed Gobledo and Gobledee to step forward.
The two armored goblins bent the knee, heads held low.
From this point, you two have been promoted as lieutenants.
“”Thank you, Lord!”” The two let out.
Good. You can repay your gratitude with service. Now... Listen closely.