After my unprofitable encounter with Renxing, I return to the village to rethink my strategy. Maybe I should have taken it easy. Or maybe I should have mentioned Ralkor. Or maybe I should have lied and said I'm a good dragon... Many maybes. What's done is done. Now it's time to look forward.

"Farat, you were right." I say out of blue.

"I was?" The orc asks, confused.

"Yes. This foul village needs to grow further and become a city. The largest city in the region."

The flying noodle told me to stay away from cities, but what if I create my own city? I bet he'll come after me, thinking I'm enslaving the people. And when he comes I'll be waiting for him with an army of goblins to hurl at him.

"I see that the encounter with the loong dragon has caused a change of heart in you."

"Don't mention that effeminate viper in my future city." I shout.

"Oh... Right… But what are the plans for the 'city'?"

"We need laborers and resources. So we'll do what all great nations have done to grow quickly."

"By attracting people with a fair quality of life?"

"No! By invading and conquering other territories. Vara!" I call for the elder goblin.

"Send scouts to all the villages in the region. Tell them that I, the Dragon Akalani, have claimed the Darog steppes as my territory. Those who do not submit will have their villages burned by my red flames."

"That seems a bit excessive..." Shaman Farat seems concerned. 

"Hmm. The tribal leaders who don't want their villages burned but still refuse to submit can come to me for a duel. The winner takes all." 

"But what if they decide to join forces and try to destroy this village?" Farat questions again. 

"Then I'll burn them all." I respond bluntly and then turn back to Vara. 

"Tell them they have until the next full moon to send their surrender representatives or challengers." 

After listening to the last few orders, Vara quickly starts gathering the scouts to forward the messages. The goblin scouts now ride dire-wolves called worgs and jackguars, a type of hare that resembles a leopard. In a few days, they will have visited all the tribes in the region.

 

§ § § § § §

 

In the following days, there was no response from the other goblinoid tribes of Darog. They likely spent the days leading up to the deadline of my ultimatum fortifying their villages or planning an invasion.

And when the full moon arrives, the answer finally comes: a small army of nearly a hundred goblinoids wielding stone spears, clubs, and bows. Goblins, hobgoblins, orcs, bugbears, and even trolls and ogres. Several goblinoid races from the steppes have joined forces... against me. It seems the game has switched from easy mode to hard mode quickly. Probably due to my poor choices. But I'm not a good strategist, so I need to compensate with brute force and raw power.

The small wall around the village should withstand the siege for some time. It was built with stone, as we have a problem with wood scarcity. Farat has also cast warding spells at various points on the wall to aid in its protection. It should give me enough time to wipe out a good bite of the invaders.

Not to mention that I don't think they will actually try to invade this village. Because if they were going to, they would already be trying. Instead, they're waiting at a reasonable distance from here. They want me to charge at them. There's no reason for them to fight the villagers here, after all, their goal is to kill me and not conquer the Gorkaki. They want to lure me out of my lair and away from my minions. Whatever! If these fools would rather die than build a city for me, then let them burn.

But what really concerns me is a second group camped on the opposite side of the goblinoid army. It is much smaller, but my gut tells me it's much more dangerous. The group consists of a female hobgoblin, two orcs, a female ogre, and half a dozen goblins and gremlins.

They don't even reach a dozen in total. But the issue is: all of them have horns.

 "I didn't know there were goblinoids with horns." I say to Farat as I watch the group approach our walls. 

"They are not just goblinoids. They are cambions." Farat responds. "Creatures touched by devils while still in their mothers' wombs. Cambions can be born from any race at any time, but I thought there were no more of them in this land after they invaded Hanami and formed the Oni Shogunate. Be careful, Akalani, they are dangerous." The orc shaman seems genuinely concerned. 

The female hobgoblin steps forward from the group. She has reddish skin like most hobgoblins, but also a pair of crimson horns. I fly out of the walls and land in front of her. 

"Greetings, Lord Redsky." The cambion hobgoblin bows and greets me in Draconian, to my surprise. 

"What?" I ask, confused, in Goblinoid.

"I see that you speak our language. That is quite fortuitous. It will help you rule these lands." 

Okay, I don't need Farat to tell me that this is really suspicious. But now there are enemies on all sides. I need to line them up so I can chew their heads off one at time.

"And who are you?" I ask, keeping my pose.

"My name is Kheldash. We heard your claim for these lands, and on behalf of our master, we have come to assist you." She speaks politely. 

"And where is this master of yours?" 

"Unfortunately, my lord is currently unavailable. But it is in his interest that you take control of these lands. So please, allow us to aid you." She speaks with her head still lowered. 

"Fine. Do you want to help me? Don't get in my way as I burn those rats to ashes." I speak as I prepare to take flight. 

"If I may say, it would be a waste to burn an entire army when you could seize control of it instead."

"Hmm... Tell me your idea, then." 

"Draw their attention while my group and I kill the leaders of each tribe. With the chain of command broken and a portion of the army succumbing to your flames, they should scatter or surrender easily. All you need to offer is mercy."

It sounds like a good plan. Let's see how far it goes.

"Very well. I'm initiating the attack now." The cambion hobgoblin nods as she watches me fly towards the goblinoid army.

 

§ § § § § §

 

I hear the sound of a horn as I approach. Promptly, I'm greeted by a hail of arrows. The archers will be my first targets. I fly towards a formation of shooters and unleash my cone of fiery breath. But to my surprise, many of them survive. They seem to be warded by some kind of fire-resistant magic.

The culprits soon reveal themselves: a group of witches, shamans, and occultists cast a barrage of ice spears and freezing winds upon me. I roar furiously. Screw the archers, I'm going to eat these casters. 

I start to rage.

I charge towards the first magician, but Kheldash steps in front of me and knocks him out. 

"Spellcasters are valuable. Try not to kill them, Lord Redsky." She advises me.

With that, I redirect my rage towards the archers while Kheldash's group takes care of the casters. Gradually, the fragile formation of the enemy army starts to crumble. When the last tribal leader dies, chaos ensues.

This time, I try to control myself and follow the cambion’s plan. I halt my rage and then shout: 

"Your former leaders are dead. Your spellcasters are gone. Surrender, and you will be spared. Fight, and you will turn to ashes."

A first group of goblins drops their weapons, crouches on the ground, and begins to scream, "Surrender, surrender." Upon seeing that those who surrender are spared when I fly over them, the other goblinoids start to follow suit.

Sixty of the nearly hundred goblinoids that made up this small army survived, including all the spellcasters and strategists.

"It ended faster than I expected. And with fewer deaths." I say as I land next to Kheldash. Meanwhile, the residents of my village step out of the walls to gather the weapons and armor from the defeated enemies.

"Now would be a good time for a speech, don't you think, Lord Redsky?" The hobgoblin speaks with a smile on her face. 

"I'm afraid I must agree with the cambion." Farat says with a hint of concern in his voice. He still harbors suspicions about Kheldash's group.  "You need to calm the hearts of the defeated, in order to unite all these people under your governance."

"Fine, fine. I will do it." I say as I take flight and clear my throat, preparing for a speech. My silhouette stands before the full moon.

"Tribes of Darog, you have lived in poverty and filth for far too long. For years, I have witnessed your misery. You are ignorant, uncultured, and malnourished. You wear rags and swing stone weapons at each other. Your strong perish in senseless battles, and your weak meet their end at the jaws of beasts. The gods have condemned you to a life of misfortune.

But no more.

I will build a prosperous kingdom, where you can live a less wretched life, or perhaps... a good one? The only thing I ask is that you serve me. A prosperous life in service to me is what I have to offer. The other option is death, whether by my flames or by the penalties that this world imposes upon you.

Choose wisely."

 

And on this night of the full moon, the foundation of the Kingdom of Darog and its capital, Gorkaki, was marked.