The East

Troll King's Cave

The cave was filled with loud cheerful roaring. Trolls were stomping the ground and beating their chests in uniform. They had formed a circle around two trolls that were facing each other. One was a troll with red hot skin and the other had the average dull grey skin. At the moment they were performing a ritual that their race usually did the night before any conflict. It was to determine the ranks the trolls were given for the conflict. The stronger the troll, the higher their ranking. The leader of the trolls was not exempted from this rule.

The grey skinned troll delivered a heavy punch to the red skinned troll's face. That punch would have been able to snap a tree in two, however it barely managed to faze that troll.

The troll king cracked its right fist and grinned at his second-in-command. He raised his arm and flexed all his muscles. Veins snaked out, showing just how serious his punch was.

"As always…. Ya punch like a… GOBLIN!!!"

He brought down his fist, slamming the grey troll into the ground.

"Oooouuuu!"

The audience yelled at the sight. As always, their leader exhibited strength far from their caliber.

"Any other challenger!?"

He asked the crowd, but no one stepped forward. They believed that there was no other troll that could handle him. They had a good reason too. This was the very creature that had managed to give the ogre tyrant a little bit of trouble in the past.

"Hahaha! Still can't beat ya, Zod!"

The troll who had been defeated praised the troll king.

"Hahaha! Whatcha' talkin' about? Ya punch was better than the last. Last time was like a babe's."

Zod extended his hand to the troll on the ground. The troll looked at his hand for a while, then accepted it.

"Then I guess I should be happy, but I'll beat ya."

"Haha! Sure. But let's finish off those crazy folks in the west who dared to go against boss."

"Ah yea! Let's give the boss their head just for the knack of it."

"Still, I wanna fight that creature. He knows that the boss' a tyrant an' still wants ta fight. He must crazy strong."

"Ya heard what them pigs been saying? Apparently it's a chicken leading them."

"Kuhahaha! Now I really wanna fight! Chicken sure will taste good afta a battle."

"WOOOHOOO!!!"

The trolls let out yells of happiness when they saw their two strongest warriors happily talking about the battle. It filled them with a sense of confidence. With those two at their front along with the ogre tyrant what could happen?

______________________________________________________________

Orc Village

Inside the Orc King's tent, there were four orcs. All of them were the Orc king's brothers. They were joyfully having a conversation over a cup of alcohol.

"Hahaha! And so when he grabbed her tail, she slapped him and then, Dulk said that he thought it was his pipe!" (First Brother)

"His pipe!?" (Second Brother)

"What kind of shitty excuse was that? Hahaha!" (Third Brother)

They looked at the big orc who had a slap mark on his cheek. He let out a smoke filled sigh.

"It's not my fault that she had such a nice ass."

He tried to defend himself.

"Hahaha! But couldn't you have come up with a better lie?" (Second Brother)

"You know at this rate, you won't be able to get married to her." (Third Brother)

"I know right? But lay off. You know Dulk has never been good with the ladies." (First Brother)

"Ah yes. The mighty Orc King spent most of his youth training to become strong." The orc king grabbed his oldest brother in a headlock and began to rub his head. "Yea, so he can bully his older brothers."

"Ah ah, calm down Dulk, you're going to grind my head to dust."

Dulk let go of his older brother, then took a sip of his alcohol.

"I plan on proposing to her after the fight."

"Oh?" (Second Brother)

"So you are moving forward? Congratulations." (Third Brother)

"I heard the West has a lot of beautiful flowers there. If you are planning on proposing to her, I'd suggest you take some from there." (First brother)

"Ah yes! Good idea older brother."

Dulk praised his older brother.

"You know, I heard the one leading the West is a chicken. A hen to top it off." (Second Brother)

"Yes, that is what I was told as well by the kobolds." (Dulk)

"In that case, why don't you catch the hen for her? You know how tasty chicken are. I'm sure she will love it." (First Brother)

"Magnificent! This is even more wonderful!" (Dulk)

"Aren't you forgetting the War Monger?" (Second brother)

"What about him?" (Dulk)

"Surely he would want this hen all to himself, no?" (Second brother)

"Indeed. Krull-sama is a very greedy person." (Third brother)

"Still, what can he do if you already caught the hen before he did?" (First brother)

"Ha? Indeed. I shall bring that hen and present it to the most beautiful orc." (Dulk)

"Indeed, I envy you brother. If only I hadn't rushed I wouldn't have ended up with the boar of a wife that I had." (Third brother)

"Haha! You always rushed things, you know."

And such was their conversation. They were drunk so they weren't thinking correctly. Under normal circumstances, they would know how impossible it was to steal the kill from the ogre tyrant. Unfortunately, the Orc king was naïve and listened to them word for word. That nature of his was bad, but if it wasn't for that nature, he wouldn't have trained to the point of being able to beat all his older brothers. If it wasn't for that naïve nature, he wouldn't have trained to the point of beating every creature he came across. If it wasn't for that naïve nature, he wouldn't have grown to be so powerful he was called a king. This was Dulk. A naïve but earnest worker.

____________________________________________________________

Ogre Tyrant's fort

In a massive hall, there was a large table with two individuals sitting behind it. The table was set up with foods the ogre tyrant had requested for, ranging from fruits to animals of all sorts. Truly, one should always congratulate the chefs who tirelessly provide food for the ogre. Every day was a literal feast and tonight was worse. The princess Kori had ordered that they made extra so as to make her father happy.

The ogre tyrant looked at his daughter. Princess Kori, his first daughter, but second child and also one of his strongest warriors. So when one of strongest warriors wore a very scared expression on her face, this caused him to realize that she was about to tell him something that would probably anger him.

He ripped apart a cooked orc's leg and took a bite out of it.

"You know, I was surprised when I heard that you wanted to have dinner with me."

Kori said nothing to her father who just kept on eating his food. The ogre tyrant looked at his sweaty daughter. He could smell the fear she was giving off. If it was something he would be really angry about, he internally advised that she did not say it.

"You know, it's weird how you haven't had a single thing."

"O-oh, yes! You are right."

Kori was brought back to reality. She had been thinking of a way to break the news to her father. She had set up a feast filled with some of his favorite meals however she knew this was not enough. Once she told him of the news he would definitely blow a fuse and it wouldn't end well. Still, she had to say it eventually. If her brother were around, she would have left the task of informing the ogre tyrant to him, however he was busily training in the Demise Mountains at the moment.

"Where is your sister?"

The one he was referring to was his youngest child, Kala.

Kori almost choked on her food when he asked that question. It were almost as if he knew what she was about to say. However, he was just being curious because it was either he ate alone, or he ate with all of his children. Something must have happened to his daughter.

"Hmm?"

Although she looked quite nonchalant, she herself was feeling extremely frustrated at how stupid and dangerous the situation was.

"Come on. Out with it."

"She had a vision."

The ogre tyrant temporarily stopped eating his meal and eyed his daughter curiously, before resuming.

"Ah? What was it about?"

"She said that she saw you, getting crushed by a demon. So you shouldn't participate in this battle."

"… Come again?"

"Please do not go on with this war."

The large ogre kicked the table away then stomped towards his daughter. His every step created spider web cracks on the ground. When he got to his daughter, he flared his nostrils and brought himself to her eye level. Red beady eyes met shut eye lids. A wise decision for that moment.

"You would have me. The War Monger Krull. One of the five great Tyrants of Larm, back down from a fight, because of what? A stupid vision? Weird words that came out of a stupid girl's mouth? Where is Kara? I guess she needs some alone time with me. I shall show her what happened to the last person who told me such a thing."

Suddenly a memory flashed Kori's mind. A very horrible and terrifying night when she nothing more than a kid. The night her mother told Krull a vision he didn't like. That night would forever serve as a reminder to everyone that Krull wouldn't hesitate at even murdering his own family if he felt like it.

"She is currently studying in her room."

"Oh? Kuhahaha! Very well then, make sure she stays there. When I return victorious tomorrow, I shall have a little chat with her about her visions."

____________________________________________________________________

The West, Village of Ooo

The Leaders of all the goblin villages in the West had gathered in front of the village. Their members were all outside with them talking and partying like fools at a party. One wouldn't be able to tell that they were going to face a serious battle the next day.

Gorm took a gulp of his slime and looked up at the other leaders. A hob-goblin twice his size kept poking his cheek. This hob-goblin possessed blond-hair and wore a loin-cloth around his chest with a red tattoo over his left arm crossing to his chest. It was believed that those were the signs of a [Divinity] blessing him, but since he hadn't received a name, they couldn't confirm that.

"Oi, Gorm! Let's duel!"

"No."

"Come on, come on! It'll be fun!"

"No."

"Brother! We worked our butts off training these guys into what they are now! A little bit of fun wouldn't hurt now, would it? At least a duel for the last!"

"Don't say such pessimistic things."

"P… pessimisk… wha-?"

"It means don't say bad things."

The oldest goblin amongst them said. She was clothed in what one would call rags and leaned on a staff with magic crystals on them. Her gray hair and wrinkly skin served to show how much more experience she had compared to the rest. She was the leader of the Tak village and the hob-goblin she corrected was the violent leader of the Krav Village.

"What? But it's true."

He argued.

"Still, you shouldn't be saying bad things. They might actually come to pass one day."

Another hob-goblin said. He was the youngest out of all the leaders, with no distinct features. Maybe his shaggy green hair could be a distinct feature, but that was common amongst High-land Hob-goblins. So that applied on to the forest. He was the leader of the Zamp village.

"Hehehe… my money senses say we shall reap a huge gain from this battle."

A skinny hob-goblin with practically no meat on his body said. He possessed about three hair strands and had sunken eyes. His ears were abnormally pointy and he wore a coat made of Spiker Pork fur. He was licking a rusty blade that was laced with dangerous poison on it while he made this statement. He was the leader of Stamp.

Oda cringed at the sight and tried to retreat behind Gorm.

"You still haven't stopped clinging onto him, little one? So all my hard training did nothing to stop this problem of yours?"

"Keep to yourself you wench. You tried to kill me several times."

Oda remarked.

"I do admit that my methods were excessive, but now you are stronger than a lot of the food you hunt."

"The Wicked Witch's Ass I am! I almost died to a damned fire deer the other day!"

"Huh? Why would you hunt a fire deer?"

The old goblina asked.

"Gorm, Gorm! Let's fight!"

The Krav leader bellowed.

"Aren't you tired of licking poison all day?"

The Zamp leader asked.

"Eh? My money senses say that doing this will benefit me one day."

The Stamp leader responded.

"Hey, hey. This isn't supposed to be a violent night, ok? Let us just enjoy the peace that Hinotori-sama has graced us with tonight. I mean, when was the last time we could simply just meet up and throw a party like this? What? Six years?"

They all kept quiet after Gorm spoke.

"Hehe, you seem to have a lot of respect for this bird, Gorm."

"Of course. She spoke the language Master Dorm taught me. She may not seem like much, but I have reason to suspect that she is a fire bird."

"Bull!"

"No way."

"Are you insane?"

"Interesting! Interesting! Tell me more! My money senses are raging now! Kekekekeke!"

Each leader with their own reaction. Gorm took the initiative to explain to them his theory. That night, two goblins ran away from the party. They really didn't like each other, but they seemed to have the same goal.

***

As I finally realized the sort of predicament I was in, I began to cry.

'It's impossible! No hope whatsoever! I wanna run away!'

Ulva patted me on the head to console me and I could only look at her face.

"It… will be fine."

She said in a shy, cute voice. This girl was just adorable, but she simply didn't understand what kind of situation I just dived headfirst into.

'You're adorable, but a kid like you wouldn't really understand my problem.'

"It's big sis after all."

She said something I didn't expect or want to hear. How would one just tell an animal that they were their sibling? And even more problematic…

'You see what I mean?! Everyone thinks I'm a woman! Why?! I didn't even say anything!'

"I- I do not understand. I-Is it b-because I am calling you… big sister?"

She was blushing and her eyes became bigger. Those ruby red eyes bore into me almost pleadingly. I wanted to tell her to stop, but those eyes were too strong. I simply couldn't win against them. And to be honest, if I was female now, there was nothing I could do about it. I was stuck that way.

'Uwaaaaaaaa! Ulva-chan, do you wanna call me b-b-b-b-b-b… Do you wanna call me "Big Sister"?!'

For a moment, she froze but she just replied to my question with a bright smile, showing her bright teeth and fangs.

'I really can't win against you.'

I fluffed her head with my wing. My antenna twitched and I admitted my defeat. I sighed and looked out. It was late, so I would have to find meat for Ulva.

'Huh, how's it like being a dhampyr?'

The question just slipped out of my mouth like that. She tilted her head almost like she were confused. She was probably just hungry for food.

'Then again I haven't really interacted with you much, have I? Wait! How do you walk in daytime? Or do dhampyrs in this world have a sort of immunity to those things? Heh, whatever. I can investigate later. I'll go get you dinner, kay?'

I fluffed her black hair with my wings once again and walked past her, leaving Diane's tree. Her creepy gaze from the corner was giving me chills. Eerily enough, I walked out only to be met by golden eyes approaching me. They belonged to two goblins.

"Hinotori-sama!"

Both of them screamed, but before they could touch me I shot a ball of fire to make them stay back.

'What's with these two goblins? What do you want? To eat me? But, why do you call me 'sama'? You guys shouldn't even know what that is.'

"Huh? You don't remember me?"

One of the goblins asked while pointing to his ugly face.

"Ha! Of course she does not. Who would remember a weakling like you?"

The other one wore a smug grin on his face.

'I don't know you either.'

"Ah."

The goblin looked shocked.

"Ah? Hinotori-sama likes to joke a lot! It is me. It is I! The goblin you went hunting with. Remember?"

The other one said.

'Goblin I went hunting with? Oh, I remember a group of goblins who tried to get the jump on me. I ended up killing one of them in one slash. Hehehe… Weaklings.'

"Ah yes. I knew you would."

He looked pleased with himself even though I just called him weak.

'Then this guy was a part of the team then?'

"No, he was the one who attacked you that day."

'The person who attacked me? Ah! I remember you. You tried to kill me back then, but Oda saved you and Minerva killed you.'

"Haha! Sorry about that Hinotori-sama. I was just being foolish at the time."

'But why are you calling me 'Hinotori-sama'? None of you should even know that.'

"Y-you are The Tyrant's friend and deserve respect! Gorm said it is how to show respect to you!"

He was averting his eyes from mine as if he were some girl.

'What the hell!? Dude, don't do that. Also, what kind of shitty reason is that?'

"H-Hinotori-sama! Please may we ask something of you?"

The two goblins interrupted my conversation and bowed before me.

'Why does this feel so nostalgic? What is it?'

"Tomorrow we plan on proving our worth in battle, so please…."

'Please what? Ah, I don't have time for this! Fine, whatever you want.'

Completely ignoring those two, I flapped my wings for lift off then I felt something latch on to my talons when I got higher. I knew who it was as soon I heard that annoying voice.

"Oi! Chicken!"

'Ugh… Bug face. You still aren't dead?'

"Bastard."

She silently cursed me, but I heard her. She climbed the thread she had latched on to me and jumped on my back. She felt a little bit heavier than I remembered, but I simply fixed that with [Size Manipulation]. Did the strength stat really affect everything that much.

"Oi chicken. You haven't told me where you are going."

'Hmm? Oh right. I'm going to the rat men's underground cave. Where are you coming from?'

"Hmm, doing rounds and delivering orders to my kids. Why are you going to the rat cave? You got some stuff you're transferring?"

'No, not really. Just need to deliver my final orders or something like that.'

"Huh? Seriously? You're no fun."

'Shut it, Bug face!'

"What'd ya say, you stupid chicken?"

'Eight eyes!'

"Lunch!"

And like that we continued our usual banter while I flew through the sky. We got to the rat man's underground cave and things were as busy as usual. A rat man who noticed us, directed us towards their leader. When we got there, I was stunned to see that he was there with some giant rat, almost as big as the giant spider from the bee hive.

Apparently, that thing was the grandmother/mother of all the rat men. She had been around and was a king in her species, which just proved how weak the rat men actually were seeing as she wasn't battle oriented. Or maybe it was just her that was weak.

"Lady Hinotori! Why have you come here?"

'Um… I needed you to build something for me. Maybe I came at the wrong time?'

"Oh no, no. This is ok. I have nothing doing to be honest."

I looked at his grandmother whose existence he just dismissed and shrugged. I sent a message to him and he was a bit confused after hearing it.

"S-sure, but why do you need this?"

'Hmm? If I don't have all of this we will definitely die tomorrow.'

I didn't feel like explaining so I was sure just saying this alone would scare him enough to do it. I could tell it worked because I saw his eyes opening in shock. I then relayed my idea to him and his eye bulged out of their sockets.

"This… this… it is simply too stupid to actually work. Are you sure?"

'Well I don't appreciate you calling it stupid, but yes, I am certain that it will work. It's gotta or else we will die.'

He sighed and just scratched his head. He muttered something about giving up on life and walking away.

"Hey chicken? What are you planning?"

The spider asked.

'Heh, something stupid.'