THE MONSTER HERO

Chapter 2: Wolves and Goblins

When he finally came out of that immense underground cave, Izuku had thought that his new life would finally begin, but after spending hours and hours wandering around that forest, he was quickly losing hope. Not only had he missed the chance to have some form of relationship with the wolf pack and the goblins, but he had also lost himself in that sea of trees and bushes.

"I've seen this tree before...twice." sighed Izuku noticing the long cut he had made in the bark of a tree to try to mark the places where he had already passed "At this rate I will never be able to leave this forest..."

The only positive side of his wandering was that, after having suppressed his evil aura, he had been able to get close to some inferior monsters, managing to kill and absorb them; besides, the fact of killing monsters, which were ready to tear him to pieces as soon as they saw him, was becoming an increasingly easier thing for Izuku and the reincarnated slime was not sure if that was a good thing or bad.

Looking up at the sky, Izuku sighed again "The sky is getting darker...soon it will be night and I will not be able to see as well as before, although I could use the Ultrasonic Waves skill I acquired after absorbing that bat. Maybe I could use Magic Perception instead to see even in the dark..."

However, after another half hour of wandering, Izuku could distinctly hear something in the air, similar to the snarls of wolves or dogs. Deciding to go that way, the slime popped out of a bush, finding himself on the edge of a clearing that was full of bones. Paling a little at that sight, Izuku looked around and saw not far away a cave in front of which about one hundred silver-blue wolves were gathered, and one of them was standing on a rock, intent on watching the rest of the pack. That wolf looked more dangerous than the others and also had a scar on its right eye, besides it also looked more aggressive in Izuku's eyes.

'Prepare yourself! Tonight we will attack those goblins and exterminate their village! We will feast on their bodies and be one step closer to conquering the Jura Forest!'

Izuku raised both 'eyebrows' hearing those words uttered with so much anger and ferocity, wondering how it was possible that a simple monster could have so much negativity inside and above all it was able to use the |Telepathy| skill just like Acnologia. The wolf's words, however, had triggered a spark in Izuku's mind who had immediately recognized the name of the forest where they were: the Jura Forest, the huge Asian Dangerous Zone! This confirmed his theory, already ninety-nine percent confirmed, that he was still in his world and that it was closer to his home than he thought, but could he still define Japan as his home, being no longer a human?

When a shadow obscured his form, Izuku stopped muttering only to notice that now that menacing-looking wolf was now glaring right at him, and seemed even closer than before. That was strange. Izuku did not remember having acquired a skill that allowed him to zoom in with his sight.

'What is a pathetic slime doing in our turf?' growled the wolf narrowing its eyes while also showing the long fangs.

It took him several seconds to realize that while he was muttering he had attracted the attention of the wolves and now the alleged pack leader was right in front of him. Mentally swallowing, Izuku backed away slightly "Uh...n-nothing! I was j-just looking for a way o-o-out of this forest! Nothing m-more! I swear!"

The big wolf snarled again but before it could move, another wolf arrived, which had white spots on its body and a star-shaped one on its forehead, of a darker color than the rest of its fur. Stopping just behind the pack leader, the newcomer mentally spoke to him 'Father! It's the slime I was talking about!'

'This? It's just a simple slime and will serve as an appetizer for tonight!' the pack leader roared before leaping at Izuku with its jaws open to tear him to shreds, but as its teeth clenched on the gelatinous form of its presumed prey, a yelp of pain rose in the air, shocking all the other wolves. Shaking its head with blood pouring from the mouth, the wolf staggered back and, barely opening its mouth, everyone could see all the broken, bleeding fangs. With incredulous eyes, the wolves turned to Izuku only to see his small form covered with thick dark scales, where two or three fragments of teeth were still embedded.

"I don't r-really want to fight...really..." said Izuku turning his body into his slime form "S-So...can we leave this incident behind, please?"

'Damn you!' the wolf jumped again, but this time Izuku jumped as well, hanging from the branches of the trees with his thread "Can we sit down and discuss peacefully?!"

'I will never discuss with a pathetic low life like you!'

Izuku easily avoided the big wolf's claws, with the monster getting stuck in those sticky threads, but his mind couldn't help but rethink his life as a human and how Kacchan treated him every day, almost like the wolf was doing right now. Almost seething with anger, Izuku looked the wolf straight in the eye "This is a different world...but individuals like you are always present! You said you wanted to attack the goblins, didn't you?" for an instant, the image of those weak, frail and undernourished goblins came to mind "I will not let you attack them just to sate your thirst for power!"

It all happened automatically, but for just a moment, Izuku went back to when he wanted to be a hero to protect others with a smile on his face. Now that he had become a slime he could no longer be a hero among humans, but perhaps he could be one among monsters, and since there were probably no prisons for them, Izuku found himself using the only option available.

"Water Blade!"

With a neat cut, the pack leader was beheaded and its corpse fell to the ground with a thud, shocking the other wolves. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Izuku noticed that none of the other monsters were trying to attack him, indeed many of them looked scared. Hearing movement, Izuku turned to the wolf with the star on his forehead and saw him lower his muzzle towards the corpse of the other monster 'Father...'

"I...I'm sorry..." said Izuku catching their attention "I didn't want to...to kill y-your father..."

The young monster looked at him for a few seconds before looking at his father's corpse again 'In this forest it is killing or being killed. You simply defended yourself and it is not the first time that we have lost some of ours.'

Izuku was surprised by his words but thanked him anyway before expanding and devouring his former opponent's body so he could transform into a wolf himself.

[Direwolf species analyzed. Skills |Supreme Sense of Smell|, |Menace| and |Thought Communication| acquired.]

'Oh, so they are direwolves, not simply wolves.' thought Izuku before looking at the monster in front of him "U-Um...I guess that now you can...uh...d-do whatever you want! But please, d-don't attack the goblins or weak monsters just out of pleasure or desire!"

All direwolves sat down with their heads lowered 'We'll follow you, Master!'

"Oh good, you will follow me and..." Izuku blinked "What...?"

'Our pack is now yours to command.' said the son of the former pack lead.

"WHAT!?" quickly shaking his head to ward off the shock, Izuku returned to his slime form "Why would you follow someone like me? I...I just killed your boss and I'm not even a real direwolf, I'm just a slime..."

'That doesn't matter to us, you're stronger than anything I've ever seen.' said the young wolf with a star on his forehead 'We'll happily follow your orders.'

"I see..." while not exactly sure of their decision, Izuku couldn't stop a strong feeling of pleasure from growing in his chest. True, now he was a monster and had already killed at least a dozen other monsters, but knowing that he was seen as a strong individual and being followed by others...it was a good feeling "Okay, t-then I won't stop you...uh...I didn't get your name?"

'Monsters don't have a name. Only the strongest ones have one.' said the young direwolf.

"Is that so? Well if you don't have a name it would be difficult for me to communicate with you so...I'll give a name to all of you!" said Izuku with a joyful voice, imagining surprised and happy faces, but what he saw were the shocked eyes of all the wolves that had surrounded him 'D-Did I say something wrong...?'

'Are you serious, Master? We sensed your great power today, but naming all of us could be a tiring task!'

"Uh...d-don't worry, I have a good imagination with names! Now please, form a single line and I'll give you a name!" said Izuku before jumping onto a rock 'I don't understand why they're so worried...it's just names after all.'

For the next thirty minutes, Izuku continued to give names to the various direwolves belonging to his pack, until he found himself in front of the last in line: the son of the previous pack leader. The little slime watched him for a few seconds before noticing in the distance some clouds loaded with rain and, in that moment, an idea struck him like lightning "Fang and storm...Ranga! Your name will be Ranga!"

'Thank you very much, Master!' the now named Ranga bowed in front of him 'But now...we still don't know your name.'

"Oh r-right, I have never introduced myself! My name is..." here is remained silent for a second before continuing with an happy tone of voice "My name is Midori Emperor! I'll be in your care!"

As if to welcome his words, all the direwolves howled at the full moon before surrounding him, sitting on the ground and wagging their tails as if they were dogs glad to have seen their master again after a long time.

Izuku sweat-dropped at that 'Well it seems like they're not the type to hold resentment towards me, better that way.' he then looked at Ranga "By the way, why did your father want to attack the goblin village? I met a small group of them today and they seemed tremendously weak and in poor condition..."

'Ah that...my father wanted to expand our territory and they were the area's weakest prey, left unprotected after the presence of the mighty dragon Acnologia disappeared from the forest.' said Ranga making Izuku flinch in surprise 'His aura was so powerful that my father never got too close, but now that it's gone I think other monsters will start moving too.'

'Which means...that it's my fault...' thought Izuku in a fit of panic 'If I hadn't ingested Acnologia, these wolves would never have tried to attack the goblins!' shaking a bit his body, Izuku asked "Is that the only reason?"

'My father also wanted to try to make us evolve. We direwolves do not need food to survive, but fighting and killing other creatures would allow us to evolve and become stronger.'

"I see...so all these bones..."

'Preys that we have haunted and killed to increase our strength, even though many of them have simply decomposed.'

"Is that so? In that case, I should clean up a bit." said Izuku before devouring all the bones present. Of course he received no abilities, being mere bones, but you never knew. After all when he was still a human he had read somewhere that bones could be used for medicines, stews and other things. When the last bone was ingested, Izuku returned to the wolves "Do any of you know where that goblin village is? Tomorrow morning I would like to go there and see if it is possible to find a way to live together, I would not want something dangerous to arrive due to the absence of Acnologia."

'I know the place, Master! I'll take you there personally!' said Ranga while wagging his tail.

"Thank you very much Ranga." Izuku nodded at him "Well, for now let's just retire for a good night's sleep. I'll set some steel and sticky threads around here, so as to catch anyone who tries to attack us."

Making sure that all direwolves were inside their lair, Izuku began to move to set the traps he had devised in the trees and bushes near the cave, but when he was about to reenter, he heard some far-off cries that were not very reassuring. The logical part of his mind told him that it was simply the nocturnal noises of a monster-infested forest but when a cry arose in the midst of those noises, he realized that it was not what he thought. Without even thinking about it, he transformed into a direwolf and sprinted in that direction, immediately managing to smell the blood in the air.

'Master!' looking behind he saw Ranga and five other direwolves following him 'We are you going?'

"Someone is in danger, we must help!" and after a brief run, the six of them reached the top of a big hill, from which they saw a dozen of goblins with bloodstained weapons dragging a female goblin by her dark silver hair. However, the thing that worried Izuku was the appearance of those goblins. While the ones he had met hours before looked almost like green-skinned children, the ones below, except for the female, had leaner and grotesque bodies, with long noses, large yellow eyes and a decidedly more hostile and evil aura.

"What the hell are those...? Observe."


Name

NONE

Race

Deranged Goblin

Skills

- Night Vision

- Supreme Sense of Smell

- Poison Resistance (Low)


'So those are goblins...? But that female is different...'


Name

NONE

Race

Goblin

Skills

- Night Vision


'I knew it! They are different races! But why is that? They are both goblins...'

[Answer. Although the magic essence helps to develop life on the planet, in some points its presence is so concentrated as to cause changes in life forms that come into contact with it, leading to a different growth with evident changes in behavior, making anyone more aggressive and wild. These life forms are labeled as 'Deranged' and possess a different skill set than their normal counterparts.]

"This explains a lot of things, but we can't leave that goblin alone. Ranga, I will stop those monsters from the front; as soon as they try to attack me, you all come up behind them and take down as many as you can."

'Understood Master!'

Quickly transforming into a bat, Izuku flew over the goblins and reverted to his slime form, landing in front of them. The small group stopped immediately at the sight of a slime rained down from the sky, but those in front quickly took up their weapons, ready to fight.

"Release her, and you can leave!" shouted Izuku, while trying to be as menacing as possible, not thinking about the fact that he looked like a green jelly and was still suppressing his evil aura. Predictably, the first of the goblins screamed brandishing a small hatchet and ran towards Izuku to hit him from above, but a blade of water cut its body in half at the waist, killing it instantly. Four other goblins began to fidget before attacking him all together but Izuku was quick to hit them with a series of water blades, killing them all, and before the others could react, Ranga and the other direwolves attacked the group from behind, managing to kill them all.

"That was fast. Good job Ranga!" said Izuku jumping toward them before stopping in front of the scared goblin, who was looking at him with a mix of shock and fear "Uh...I mean no harm, r-really! No need to be afraid! I'm not a bad slime!"

The little goblin started shaking but when Izuku began to think he had only made things worse, she threw herself on him, holding him in her arms and crying with no intention of stopping. Clearly feeling her emotions, Izuku spread his body slightly and with rudimentary arms he encircled her shoulders, massaging her back "Sssh...it's okay now. I'm here."

After several minutes, the goblin calmed down enough to be able to speak "T-Thank you...f-for saving me!"

"It wasn't a problem for me, I'm more than happy to help!" said Izuku after having absorbed the dead goblins' bodies, gaining their skills as well "I couldn't let those deranged goblins take you away. Did they kidnap you by any chance?"

She flinched at that but nodded anyway "I was searching for mushrooms with three other goblins from my village when we were ambushed...they...t-they are..."

Giving her little pats on the back, Izuku told her not to think about it "If you want, we can accompany you to your village. I was planning to go there in the morning anyway."

"Uh? Really? With...them?" said the female goblin looking at the direwolves who were laying on the ground around them.

"But of course! They are part pf my new pack after all, so you don't have to worry about them...um..." Izuku stared at her before forming an exclamation point over his head "Right, you don't have a name right? If you're okay with, I can give you one. O-Only if you want, of course."

"Y-You can give me a name?"

"Sure, I named all the direwolves here after all." nodded Izuku before thinking for a couple of minutes "I should say...Haruna! Do you like it?"

As with all the wolves he'd named, Izuku saw a sort of golden glow around the goblin for a moment, but she didn't seem to notice and nodded happily "Yes! Thank you very much!" and after helping her mount a wolf, Izuku jumped on top of Ranga and together they headed for the goblin village, save for four direwolves that Izuku had sent for the rest of the pack telling them to join him at the village as quickly as possible.

Fortunately they reached the village in about twenty minutes and upon their arrival they found some worried goblins who did not hesitate to sound the alarm as soon as they saw the two wolves approaching but, as soon as they had formed a rudimentary defensive line, they noticed Haruna and Izuku on the back of the direwolves. Jumping off, Haruna ran to them to hug two other female goblins, while some of the others approached Izuku and one wearing a red bandana recognized him right away "Ah! You're the slime that we saw in the forest!"

"Uh? Oh I remember you!" Izuku jumped in front of him "I'd like to say that I'm sorry about today...I was still learning about my body, it was not my intention to be threatening and scare you."

All the goblins who had recognized him immediately knelt down so as not to incur into the anger of the mighty being who stood before them "N-No, we are not worthy of apologies!"

"No no, it was my fault after all. Now, I accompanied here this young goblin after saving her from some deranged ones." explained Izuku shocking the goblins who looked between him and Haruna, who was trembling a little upon recalling the experience "I know it sounds sudden, but I would like to propose an alliance between you and the direwolves, of which I am currently in charge."

"Y-You? You are commanding those direwolves?" asked the bandana wearing goblin.

Izuku nodded "I...took care of the previous pack lead, so they are following me now and they are pretty strong!"

The goblins looked at each other before the goblin elected spokesman spoke again "I can't decide for everyone, but talking to the village elder might help." and with that, he gestured to Izuku to follow him toward a slightly bigger hut, made of sticks and straw like all the other huts in the village. As soon as he entered, Izuku immediately saw an elderly goblin covered in wrinkles with a wooden stick clutched in his hands.

"My son, who's this slime?" asked the elder with a trembling voice.

"Father, he's the mighty monster I told you about." said the goblin with the bandana "He saved one of us from a group of dark ones and proposes an alliance between us and the direwolves he commands."

The elder looked at Izuku with surprised eyes "Is that true, mighty one?"

"Yes, but you don't have to worry, I'm not a bad slime. I just want to help everyone!" said Izuku with a happy tone of voice, before asking "You talked about dark ones...?"

"Yes..." the elder sighed with sadness all over his face "They are like us, yet different. They are more cruel, bloodthirsty, without any morals and wicked...we have been fighting with them for several year now and recently Rigur, my eldest son, lost his life fighting against them."

'He must be talking about the Deranged goblins...' thought Izuku before asking "Wait...you said Rigur? Your son had a name?"

"Ah yes, years ago Lord Gelmud, an officer of a Demon Lord's army had stopped at our village and, noticing my son, had given him a name, saying that one day he could be very useful for his master's purposes." explained the elder recalling the event "But even with his evolution into a hobgoblin, those dark ones killed him without mercy..."

"These Deranged Goblins are a bigger problem than I imagined." noted Izuku before looking again at the elder "Which is way I'd like to propose a coexistence between you and the direwolves. Since they don't need food, there would be no need to divide the supplies either."

The old goblin lowered his head "My Lord, how could we even think of repaying such generosity? We goblins are weak and have nothing to offer..."

"Oh I don't want anything in return." the elder and his son looked at Izuku with shocked eyes "Like I said, I just want to help!"

"No no, the memory of my son prevents me from accepting such generosity without reciprocating." said the elder before bowing the head until it touched the ground "We'll be eternally loyal to you, my Lord!"

"B-But you don't have to!" said Izuku trying to prevent a repetition of what happened with the direwolves. What was the problem with those monsters? They all seemed more than happy to follow someone they just met!

"We must. Even if we're monsters, we've our own pride."

Izuku stared at the father-son duo before sighing "Okay...then I won't stop you..." he then created a long extension of slime, using it as an arm "I'll be in your care then, my name is Midori Emperor!"

"The pleasure is all ours, Lord Midori!"

Feeling again a warm sensation in his chest, Izuku mentally smiled at them before asking "By the way, do you have any injured people here?"

The elder goblin nodded before walking toward the exit "Yes, follow me please, Lord Midori." and in a few seconds, they found themselves inside another tent where half a dozen goblins covered in rudimentary bandages were lying on the ground "Two of them were injured in a fight with the direwolves, while the others were attacked by those Deranged, as you have called them, my Lord."

"I see...well, time to test something." and without wasting time, he swallowed a goblin under the shocked eyes of the few goblins present. After a few seconds, he spat out the goblin, now completely healed, and passed on to the others, managing to heal them in no time.

"I-Incredible! You are truly amazing Lord Midori, you also have the power to heal others!"

"Well...more or less." admitted Izuku with a small giggle. In all honesty he was not sure that this experiment would succeed, but luckily for him while wandering around the cave where he met Acnologia, he had absorbed a large amount of hipokute herbs which, mixed with the magic essence, had allowed Izuku to create an elixir, or healing potion at most. Therefore, by ingesting the wounded into his body, he could sprinkle them with that elixir and heal them properly.

"Now that we have taken care of the most pressing things..." Izuku turned around so as to look at the elder and the other goblins "I know it's late, but could you please call everyone outside? I'd like to make an announcement."

"Of course Lord Midori! I'll call everyone!" said the elder goblin before going out. In a matter of minutes, all the goblins and the direwolves, who had reached the village while Izuku was healing the wounded goblins, were standing in front of the green slime, currently sitting on a rock so that everyone could see him. For the first time since leaving Acnologia's cave, Izuku found himself really nervous. In front of him were more than a hundred and fifty individuals between direwolves and goblins, and he had never been comfortable speaking in front of a class of twenty students, let alone in front of such a crowd.

Taking a deep breath, he looked at them "Good evening everyone! For those who don't know me I am Midori Emperor; from now on, I will be the leader of this group and I will do all I can to protect and help you! Now, we are a lot and therefore I want the internal battles to be reduced to a minimum, so that we can survive even more easily! Since it would be difficult to deal with so many unnamed monsters, I will give one to each of you and-!"

"WHAT!?"

Izuku winced a bit at that outburst, looking at the shocked faces of the goblins, except for Haruna and the direwolves since they had already a name.

The elder goblin looked at him with a worried face "My Lord, is that wise? Naming so many monsters at once..."

"Don't worry, it's not a big deal. I've already given a name to the direwolves and to Haruna." said Izuku pointing at the female goblin who blushed a little after feeling all the stares of her fellow goblins "Hence, form a line and you'll receive a name!" and as with the direwolves, the various goblins formed a line to be given a name. There were around seventy goblins in the village and Izuku was aware that he would finish quickly, however when he got to the last of the goblins, named Gobta, he suddenly felt weaker and in a matter of seconds, everything went black.

'What is this?! I can't tell what's going on around me! Great Sage, what's happening?!'

[Answer. Your remaining magic essence has dropped below a certain point putting you into an automatic 'sleep mode'. Your estimated time for full recovery is three days.]

'But I was just giving them names...I had no idea that something that simple would drain my stash of magic essence. Now I understand why they were all so surprised by my intentions, also after giving a name to Ranga and the rest of the direwolves I did not rest, in fact I also fought against the Deranged goblins, treated the wounded in the village and gave a name to all the goblins...' thought Izuku while making a memo to be more careful next time 'But still...three days for a full recovery? I guess everything will be fine now that the goblins and direwolves have formed an alliance, although...I wonder what's going on in Japan. I don't even know how long it's been since my death. Have they already found my body? How did my mother react? Kacchan?'

Izuku sighed heavily, having no way to answer those questions for now. He then decided to devote himself to something he knew how to do well and that is to analyze what he had available 'Great Sage, could you show me a complete list of all my skills?'

[Processing...]


Name

Midori Emperor

Race

Slime

Skills

- Absorb and Dissolve

- Bloodsucking

- Body Armor

- Explosion Attack Resistance (High)

- Great Sage

- Heat Sensing

- Hydraulic Propulsion

- Magic Perception

- Menace

- Night Vision

- Observe

- Paralyzing Breath

- Poison Mist Breath

- Poison Resistance (Low)

- Predator

- Second Chance

- Self-Regeneration

- Sticky Steel Thread

- Supreme Sense of Smell

- Thought Communication

- Ultrasonic Waves

- Water Blade


'To think that I have all these skills at my disposal...' thought Izuku before realizing that skills like |Great Sage| and |Predator| were actually a group of skills, while |Absorb and Dissolve| was actually a lesser version of |Predator| but still useful. So, Izuku spent three whole days analyzing those skills, thinking about possible tactics to use in combat, while sensing the hay and grass pillow on which it had been placed and, from time to time, caresses combined with cloths to clean his body.

Izuku smile at that 'I don't even think there's a need to clean a slime's body, but I'm glad they're taking care of me.' and out of the blue, he found himself inside a hut 'Oh I'm back!'

"Lord Midori! You're awake!"

Hearing the voice behind him, Izuku quickly turned in that way "Oh yes, thank yoouuuUHHH!?"

Izuku was shocked to see the girl who had just spoken to him, not so much because she was pretty cute, but because she was definitely bigger than a goblin and he was sure there weren't any goblins that tall when he named them all. Still, her face had something familiar...

"H-Haruna...?"

She smiled at him, even if it looked like a forced smile, before nodding while moving toward the exit "I'm going to get elder Rigurd right away!" and with that, she left him alone.

'I-Incredible...that was Haruna? Could it be that she has evolved during these three days?'

"Ah Lord Midori! It's good to see you awake!" shouted a deep male voice catching his attention and when Izuku looked in that direction, he almost lost his cool.

'He probably has as much muscle as All Might!'

"We were really worried for you Lord Midori! Now that you're awake, everyone will be happy!" said Rigurd, the former old-looking-goblin but then Izuku noticed the light discomfort in his voice.

"I-Is something wrong, Rigurd?"

Without warning, Rigurd fell to his knees and banged his head against the ground "I'm terribly sorry! I have failed you, Lord Midori!"

Izuku looked at him confused, but felt a strange sensation, as if he had goosebumps "What do you mean, Rigurd? What happened?"

The now muscular elder didn't meet his gaze "Please...follow me..."

The two left the tent and the first thing Izuku saw was a huge wolf with a horn on its forehead. It didn't take him five seconds to recognize Ranga, who was wagging his tail so hard it created a strong current of air. All around them, the various goblins had grown at least a meter and had more human-like bodies, with some who were still small, mixed with direwolves who had grown like Ranga but were still small compared to him, albeit slightly. However, what accumulated all of them was that look of sadness and shame, as if they had deeply disappointed him and did not have the courage to tell him.

Just when Izuku was about to become a single bundle of nerves and ask for something, Rigurd stopped at the edge of the village and the little slime saw them: twenty-two mounds of earth, still fresh given the color of the ground, placed in two rows of eleven.

Izuku stared at them in silence for several minutes "W-What...?"

"During these days, while you were resting, we went looking for food. After becoming hobgoblins, we needed more nourishment and so we went a little further than our usual gathering and hunting grounds..." Rigurd began to clench his fists so hard that blood dripped onto the ground "Three groups went out, both hobgoblins and direwolves, but one group did not return, so we went to look for them...and waiting for us we only found blood, mutilated bodies and one of ours dying..."

An overwhelming feeling of anguish seized Izuku, having already understood what had happened but in his heart he hoped to be wrong about everything.

"Goblulu...one of the youngest, told us that a large group of Deranged goblins attacked and slaughtered them...there were hobgoblins and shamans among their ranks. They also took away Goblina and Gobte, two females who always knew where to find ripe fruit..." Rigurd fell to his knees, bowing his head "I'm truly sorry, Lord Midori...you gave us a name and we only brought shame to yours while you rested..."

The green slime remained silent, intent on observing the graves of those who had died while he could do nothing. His mind, most likely thanks to Great Sage, reminded him of the faces of the three goblins named by the village chief; he couldn't say he was on good terms with them but it was his goal of him to get to know them all well, and now twenty-two of them were dead.

Because of him.

'I named them...I caused their evolution. If they hadn't evolved they wouldn't have had to go for food...and they wouldn't have been attacked...' thought Izuku before focusing on something else, anything "You said...that Goblina and Gobte were taken away?"

Rigurd nodded grimly "Yes...for some strange reason the Deranged ones are only males...and to keep their numbers high they...they capture females of other species."

Horror and fear took hold of Izuku. If those monsters were going to rape...he couldn't allow it!

"RANGA!"

"Yes Master!" the huge horned wolf appeared at his side.

"You are with me! Rigurd, take all the weapons you have, form a big team of hobgoblins and direwolves and join me! Ranga's companions will be able to smell us!" said Izuku before jumping on Ranga's back "In what area were the others attacked?"

"Ah! To the south, near the river, there are a lot of rocks and it's easy to fish there." Rigurd pointed in a certain direction and Izuku wasted no time before telling Ranga to run at full speed. The slime had to admit that Ranga must have been as fast as a car by now if not faster, because in a few minutes they found themselves on the banks of a river where there were still large patches of dried blood.

"This is the point...Ranga, can you smell anything?" asked Izuku. Having absorbed his father, he knew that Ranga also possessed the |Supreme Sense of Smell| skill, but since he had now evolved, his sense of smell was probably even more sensitive. As the big wolf sniffed the air, Izuku found himself gazing at his status to watch the changes and was pleasantly surprised to see how Ranga had evolved.


Name

Ranga

Race

Tempest Wolf

Skills

- Lightning

- Menace

- Natural Elements Resistance (Medium)

- Size Manipulation

- Supreme Sense of Smell

- Thought Communication

- Wind Manipulation


'He's really strong now...Great Sage, can I learn his skills without swallowing him at all?'

[Answer. Yes, it is possible. To use skills belonging to others, it is necessary to analyze them. It is not mandatory to kill and/or absorb them.]

Izuku nodded in satisfaction before flinching at Ranga's sudden movement. Apparently his wolf had smelled some tracks and was following them as fast as possible. They remained in motion for about twenty minutes before arriving in the thick of the bush about fifty meters from a cave, where Izuku immediately saw a Deranged goblin stationed at the entrance with a rudimentary spear in his hand and only a piece of fabric around his waist.

'They also have the skillSupreme Sense of Smell...therefore Ranga cannot get too close or he will be spotted. Also, even if I can turn myself into one of them, it might immediately understand that I don't belong in their nest...' thought Izuku before connecting his mind to that of Ranga 'Since I'm a slime, I don't smell of my own. I'm gonna get close to take down the guard and then you can get close okay? If you hear our allies coming, join them and tell them to wait for my signal.'

Ranga nodded 'Understood Master!'

Jumping off Ranga, Izuku moved quickly to get behind the enemy using the rock face to move above him but when it came time to attack he stopped. He could have easily killed him with a Water Blade, but this was a perfect chance to see if he could absorb someone even while alive and not just dead, so he launched himself on top of the Deranged goblin while increasing his mass and, before the monster could scream, he was completely engulfed by the green slime. The creature struggled for a few seconds, but in the end nothing could against Izuku's strength, who was able to absorb his opponent definitively.

'Okay, so far so good.' thought Izuku while taking a deep breath in order to calm himself 'Now I should call Ranga but...if I became a goblin I could go inside undisturbed. Ranga can you hear me?'

'Yes Master!'

'I'm going inside alone. Don't go in unless I tell you or you hear battle noise, understand?'

He could almost see Ranga's unfavorable face, but the wolf gave his consent anyway and waited in the bushes, while Izuku assumed the form of a Deranged goblin and, after taking the spear in his hand, entered the cave. However, after a few steps, he avoided a stone that someone had thrown at him. They had already found out!?

"You! Go outside! It's your turn!" shouted another Deranged one pointing at the exit.

"U-Uh...I'm thirsty!" replied Izuku out of the blue "And bored!"

The other goblin growled menacingly "Don't care!" then looked at the deep part of the tunnel "Bah do as you want! The Boss will kill you, not me!" and walked away muttering "I want my turn with those females!"

"Females...?" repeated Izuku, catching his attention.

The Deranged goblin grinned with his ugly face "Yes! Two female hobgoblins! They have such nice bodies! Soon the Boss and his guards will take them to the main chamber and the party will begin!"

Izuku unconsciously began to hold the spear he had stolen and the other goblin seemed to notice, but upon seeing Izuku's furious look, he misinterpreted it all "Ah I see! You wanted to go first! Sorry but your job is to guard the nest! You may have a turn with them tonight, when they will be completely broken!" and after tossing an arm around Izuku's neck, he began to laugh like a madman.

Izuku did not react immediately, but slowly, very slowly, he turned to the other goblin, who looked at him amused.

Silence followed that little movement, then Izuku opened his mouth.

Skill |Poison Mist Breath| activated.

The Deranged goblin couldn't even scream in pain, as the poisonous mist melted his face and throat in a few moments. The creature fell to the ground squirming for a few seconds before perishing from his injuries. Izuku looked at him with hatred before absorbing that corpse too, so as to hide the traces of his attack, and after having absorbed it completely, he began to run towards the innermost part of the cave. Fortunately for him, there was only a main tunnel and a few side tunnels, and being transformed into a goblin, he could make the most of his developed nose. However, a major problem appeared in front of him in the form of Deranged hobgoblin who, despite being as big as Rigurd, had a more monstrous and malignant appearance.

The huge monster watched him silently, and when Izuku was ready to use the drinking excuse again, the hobgoblin raised his huge wooden club to hit him but Izuku dodged the blow at the last second.

"What are you?" growled the monster "You're not one of our own!"

'Was it the smell? The posture? I don't know how, but he can understand that I am an impostor.' Izuku wondered before attacking the new opponent with his poisonous mist, but the hobgoblin avoided it and approached with speed unthinkable for one of his size. This time Izuku could not avoid the side blow and was thrown against the rock face, exploding like a water balloon.

The hobgoblin grinned, thinking he had won, but then he saw that green mass come together to form a small green slime. Before he could react, Izuku fired several Water Blades which managed to wound the enemy, but without killing him.

'I've killed several armored monsters in the cave of Acnologia, but this one looks more resilient!'

Avoiding another attack, Izuku tried to immobilize him with his threads, but the hobgoblin managed to avoid them all and threw himself on the slime. Deciding to try a new attack, Izuku used one of his early skills, that is |Hydraulic Propulsion| to hurl a powerful jet of water that threw the hobgoblin against the other wall, causing him to spit blood and saliva.

[Skill |Water Cannon| acquired.] said Great Sage before adding[By combining the skills |Water Cannon|, |Water Blade| and |Hydraulic Propulsion|, the extra skill |Water Manipulation| has been acquired.]

'That's convenient. Now, to end this fight!' Izuku leapt forward and used his threads again, managing to pin the large monster against the wall, before decapitating it with a Water Blade. Sighing, the slime immediately began to absorb the corpse hoping to be able to use that huge body quickly, so as to arouse less suspicion inside the cave.

[Deranged hobgoblins species analyzed. Skills |Steel Strength| and |Strengthen Body| acquired.]

'Ah so he also had these skills available, that's why he was so tough.' thought Izuku before assuming the appearance of the Deranged hobgoblin. Taking the wooden club in hand, the transformed slime started to advance as Ranga came up behind him.

"Master, I heard battle sounds and ran to you! The others shouldn't be too far away." said the wolf, having already recognized his master by the particular presence typical of Izuku.

The transformed slime nodded before running towards the inner cave area as planned but when he found himself in front of two Deranged goblins popped out of nowhere, he didn't even try to communicate with them due to Ranga's presence and, holding the club with both hands, he delivered a powerful side blow. Both goblins became two red spots on the tunnel wall and Izuku had to stop for a second, having just killed two creatures in cold blood. This was no different than what he had done since he was reborn as a slime, but this was the first time he had killed a monster while he had the appearance of something vaguely human.

'If I ever meet humans...will I have the courage to face them...?'

Shaking his head, Izuku pushed those thoughts out of his mind. Now he didn't have time to think about certain things, he had to hurry up and save the two kidnapped hobgoblins, so he resumed running with Ranga at his side until they reached a large room adorned with several braziers, where six Deranged hobgoblins and at least thirty Deranged goblins were gathered, but Izuku had eyes for something else.

Towards the other side of the large chamber were Goblina and Gobte, tied to two large wooden poles, both naked and with large bruises and cuts on their bodies. They were both shivering and crying as an oddly dressed goblin touched them with his wooden staff, laughing every time they flinched.

Some of the nearby goblins noticed him and soon the whole room had turned to Izuku and Ranga but while the various goblins were unsure or disinterested in his presence, the hobgoblins immediately realized that something was wrong. Goblina and Gobte, however, immediately recognized Ranga and their gazes unconsciously rested on the Deranged hobgoblin at his side, letting a faint light of hope light up in their eyes.

Izuku raised his wooden club, pointing it at the two females "Release them. Now."

The various goblins stared at him in surprise as the hobgoblins began to approach them brandishing their weapons but, without giving them time to prepare further, Izuku raised his other arm and hurled a series of Water Blades at his enemies, killing a dozen in a few seconds. Ranga, for his part, jumped high before creating a tornado from his horn that hit a large number of enemies, cutting them to shreds. Within seconds, only the hobgoblins and the strangely dressed goblin were left.

"What are you waiting for!? Kill them!" shouted the goblin and Izuku used that moment to look at him and his skills.


Name

NONE

Race

Deranged Shaman Goblin

Skills

- Magic Essence Control

- Fireball

- Magic Perception

- Night Vision

- Supreme Sense of Smell

- Poison Resistance (Low)


'So he can use magic, which means I need to take him out first!' thought Izuku before avoiding two slashes from his enemies by returning to his original form, using |Hydraulic Propulsion| to hurl himself toward the shaman who raised his free hand toward him, firing a fireball at the slime but, much to his shock, it expanded enough to engulf the attack within itself.

[Magic |Fireball| successfully analyzed. It is possible to reproduce it.]

'Thank you Great Sage, but he's too close to Goblina and Gobte, hence I'll just use this!'

With a powerful Water Blade, he cut the shaman right in half before jumping on him and absorbing his body in a blink. Ignoring Great Sage's voice telling him about the acquisition of the |Magic Essence Control| skill, Izuku hastened to cut the ropes holding the two hobgoblins locked and then turned to Ranga, only to see him take down the last Deranged hobgoblin with a well-placed lightning bolt.

'He's really strong...'

"Lord Midori!" before he could react, the two hobgoblins just saved hugged him with all their strength, and luckily Izuku was too focused on their well-being to notice their assets literally pressed against his body.

"We were so scared...they attacked so quickly and we couldn't do anything!" cried Goblina with her long dark silver hair falling all over his form.

"It's okay, you don't have to worry anymore. Why?" Izuku couldn't help himself from taking a page out of All Might's book "Because I'm here."

The two girls continued to cry for a few minutes as Izuku stood there, using his |Sticky Steel Thread| skill to create rudimentary clothes, putting viscosity to a minimum, before healing them with the elixir inside his body. When they finally calmed down, a mighty "Lord Midori!" was heard from the bottom of the cave and Rigurd, along with others, came running, some of them with bloodstained weapons clutched in their hands.

"Lord Midori, are you okay!?"

"Yes Rigurd, I'm okay. We were able to save them." said Izuku with a calm voice as the two girls were hugged by others, feeling more than happy to have helped them "Did you run into any problems coming here?"

"Just a group of goblins who have had the misfortune to receive all our anger. My son stayed outside the cave with some of our people to protect the entrance." explained Rigurd while kneeling in front of Izuku who merely nodded and jumped onto his shoulder.

"That's good but...it's strange..." said Izuku looking at the dead goblins "Even with the surprise effect, it seems strange to me that they managed to win against the village members."

"T-That..." Rigurd and Izuku looked at Gobte, who had short purple-silver hair, with a fringe to cover her left eye "That's because a shaman came here yesterday while...while they were..." after shaking her head for a moment, she continued "That shaman spoke to the one you killed, Lord Midori, and said the king wanted more soldiers; many of the hobgoblins and goblins of this nest left in the night."

"I see..." this wasn't good. Not good at all if there was a king "Rigurd, do you know anything about a King among goblins?"

The huge hobgoblin nodded "Yes, but it's from a long time ago, before the advent of the Ten Demon Lords. When a goblin got very strong, with or without evolution, he could become the goblin king...but I've never seen any alive."

"And now there may be a king of the Deranged ones..." whispered Izuku, already thinking about all the possibilities with such an enemy against them. After all with a simple messenger he had taken a good chunk of soldiers out of that nest and who knows how many there were out there. Was the king that strong? How many goblins did he have under his command? What was his intention? Did he want to conquer that Dangerous Zone too, now that Acnologia was no longer present?

"U-Um...Lord Midori...?"

"Uh?" Izuku looked at them and saw their curios faces. Ah, he was mumbling again. Blushing a little, he jumped down "S-Sorry, it's an old habit of mine..."

"You don't need to apologize, Lord Midori!" all of them bowed to him "We are the ones who are terribly sorry for interrupting you!"

Izuku hastened to tell them to raise their head. In his heart he doubted he would ever get used to such reverence, but he couldn't deny it was nice not to be bullied or laughed at for once. After quickly absorbing the bodies of their enemies, Izuku jumped on Ranga's back to be able to go home with everyone else, but Gobte stopped him.

"Lord Midori...there's something you must see." she said after exchanging a quick look with Goblina who immediately understood the problem. Deciding to follow the girl, Izuku told the others to go ahead before going with Gobte into a back room covered only by a large ruined sheet and, when the hobgoblin pulled it away for him, Izuku felt his heart stop.

In this room there were only piles of rotten straw, crude chains on the wall, and a single little body covered in bruises and cuts. She was a goblin, Izuku was sure, but even with his high senses, he could barely hear her breath. Approaching slowly, he managed to notice a strange round red tattoo on his right shoulder, even though it was marred by dried blood on his skin.

"She's from the Red Sun village...it was a small village in the south...we had been able to trade food with them in some situations." explained Gobte with a sad voice, kneeling at the goblin's side with the little being not even reacting to her presence "We had heard that they were attacked and wiped out by humans...but now we know what happened."

Izuku stared at the little goblin, speechless. She was shaking and was tremendously thin as well as weak. Her breathing was very weak and irregular. Reaching out a small slime tentacle, he touched her hand but she didn't react, just staring at him with her lifeless eyes.

"I can help you..."

They were empty words, he was sure of it. Even without Great Sage's help, Izuku knew that even with his elixir he couldn't help her, at least not mentally. When he was still human, he had read about some women who had experienced rape and violence, and many of those women never recovered. He couldn't help her...

"I...I can help...don't w-worry..."

"...ll m..."

"Uh...? I'm s-sorry, I didn't hear you..." said Izuku getting closer to her.

"Kill...me...ple...ase..." whispered the dying goblin still looking at him "I...want...to see...my...fam...ily..."

Izuku couldn't answer her. How could he? He had never found himself in similar situations, he had never thought that he would have to face moments like this. A hero maybe could have handled the situation better, All Might would have done it for sure...but All Might wasn't there with them. It was just them: Izuku, Gobte and that poor goblin who had suffered a fate worse than death.

"I...I see..." Izuku's voice was trembling, and yet he couldn't stop himself "A-Are you sure...? About this...?"

She only nodded slowly once, as her breathing was getting weaker.

"I...I...I'm sorry I couldn't save you..." cried Izuku before covering the entire body of the goblin, absorbing her inside him to make her stop suffering. After completing the absorption, he stood still without saying anything, until Gobte picked him up and hugged him.

"It's not your fault, Lord Midori...her village was attacked over two weeks ago...you weren't here..."

Izuku didn't answer, he didn't have the strength to do it. He felt even more tired than when he collapsed after naming all the goblins, but it was a different fatigue and one he was used to; a weariness that he had felt every day when he was still human, and he was forced to suffer the oppression of Kacchan and everyone else.

Without saying anything else, Gobte walked towards the exit where he found the others waiting for them and, judging by their expressions, Goblina had told them about the poor goblin of the Red Sun village. None of them congratulated Izuku, none of them cheered on that day's victory; all returned to the village in silence, where the two rescued hobgoblins were able to hug their loved ones again.

While the village was gathered outside to feast together, Izuku was inside the village chief's hut, thinking about what had happened.

'This is a different world...even if it is the Earth, here in the Dangerous Zone there are completely different rules...' he looked at the ceiling 'There are no heroes and villains here...there are no prisons to contain the most dangerous monsters, at least not here in the forest. Even if I could reproduce the magic that had imprisoned Acnologia, I couldn't use it on all monsters that follow their instincts...'

The law of the strongest. That was the only law that the monsters of that place followed. As long as Acnologia had remained in that cave, his presence had scared the other lesser monsters, allowing the goblins to survive, but now that Izuku had absorbed the dragon to free him, chaos would surely have reached those lands. Izuku wondered if the humans, with their satellites and Quirks, were monitoring the situation as Acnologia was notoriously recognized as a living apocalypse.

'Now that he's not here anymore...I have to protect them. I caused all this and I have to answer for my mistakes. If there are no heroes here, I will become one for them.' thought Izuku with newfound resoluteness "A monster hero."

"Monster hero...?" Izuku quickly turned just to see Gobte and Haruna looking at him with curios eyes "What is that?"

"Sorry, I was talking alone..." said Izuku moving toward them "Could you please tell Rigurd to get everyone together? I have to make an announcement."

A few minutes later, Izuku found himself in front of that mass of hobgoblins and tempest wolves, that only then had he discovered that they had all evolved as a species thanks to the name he had given to Ranga. All of them, who had decided to follow him, looked at him waiting to know what he would say.

"First of all, I want to apologize...for not being there when those monsters attacked some of you. We managed to save Gobte and Goblina, but we lost twenty-two members of this village...I disappointed you."

"That's not true, Lord Midori!" shouted Rigurd with everyone nodding at his words "You have done so much for us, you have given us a way to survive and you have given us a name! If anything, we are the ones who let you down!"

"If I had listened to you, I wouldn't have passed out three days ago, Rigurd, so let me take my blame." said Izuku trying not to lose his resolve. He was not at all used to such fidelity "However I am going to change. I am new to this world, but I have understood so many things in such a short time and my desire to help all those in need does not change! I want to make this a place where monsters don't have to be afraid of being attacked and killed at any moment..."

Looking at the monsters gathered before him, he couldn't help but smile mentally.

"Days ago, direwolves and goblins were enemies, and now here you are...hobgoblins and tempest wolves together, as allies. I want this thing to expand to other monsters as well!" his voice then became much more serious "However I know that this cannot be applied to all monsters, such as the Deranged goblins..."

In those few moments in which he had pretended to be a Deranged goblin, he had fully understood that that race of monsters had only rotten and evil thoughts, not at all suitable for a society. They were the equivalent of murderers and rapists in the human world, but while those elements were imprisoned among humans, in the Dangerous Zone there was only one way to fix the problem.

"I want to ensure that this village and the others no longer have to suffer the oppression of those creatures...and for this I need your help, but if you would not give it to me I would understand it perfectly."

"Lord Midori!" at the same time, all the hobgoblins and tempest wolves bowed their heads as Rigurd was their voice "We have sworn to return your kindness with eternal loyalty, we will follow you to the end of the world!"

"Thank you...thank you..." he wanted to cry, he really wanted to. Those were monsters, yet they had shown him more humanity than humans themselves when he was still Izuku Midoriya, yet he was about to drag them with him into something hideous. It was the only option; even after consulting with Great Sage, there was no alternative if he really wanted that village to live in peace.

"Then, go to sleep and rest as much as you can. Tomorrow we will begin our training to become even stronger and make the Deranged goblins completely cease to be a threat to us and others." Izuku declared loudly "To make this happen...there is only one option."

Under the surprised eyes of his allies, Izuku began to transform; not into a whole monster, but into something else. Thanks to |Parallel Operation| and |Hasten Thought|, which were parts of Great Sage, Izuku was able to acquire a new skill called |Universal Shapeshift|.

Rigurd and Ranga were both big and above all tall, but they too had to raise their heads when Izuku finished the transformation, and the end result was nothing short of breathtaking.

"We are going to war."

TO BE CONTINUED...


Here's the new chapter! Hope you enjoy it!

Little note: the Deranged goblins and hobgoblins are based on the goblins and hobgoblins from Goblin Slayer! I wanted these types of monster, so I added them! Now to end the notes, the complete list of Izuku/Midori skill set!

Name

Midori Emperor

Race

Slime

Skills

- Absorb and Dissolve

- Bloodsucking

- Body Armor

- Explosion Attack Resistance (High)

- Fireball

- Great Sage

- Heat Sensing

- Hydraulic Propulsion

- Magic Essence Control

- Magic Perception

- Menace

- Night Vision

- Observe

- Paralyzing Breath

- Poison Mist Breath

- Poison Resistance (Low)

- Predator

- Second Chance

- Self-Regeneration

- Steel Strength

- Sticky Steel Thread

- Strengthen Body

- Supreme Sense of Smell

- Thought Communication

- Ultrasonic Waves

- Universal Shapeshift

- Water Blade

- Water Cannon

- Water Manipulation