Disclaimer: I do not own Overlord, all credits to Kugane Maruyama.
Awareness Bringer: Glad to know the feeling's mutual, thank you for your continued support.
sohrabsadafi eco : Momon will definitely have a head-on encounter with both the churches and the adventurer's guild for his conduct. I hope you will enjoy how he will tear that worthless policy down.
Guest: Thank you!
ILikeGoodStories: Thanks bro! Your words mean a lot man, I appreciate it!
Guest: Thank you, I'm happy to know you are enjoying this project!
Guest: Thank you for your kind words.
Guest: That's quite interesting, I didn't know that Hamsuke was secretly a samurai in disguise. I should clarify that I was reading the Fansubs and I now respect them even more for their dedication to their craft. Thanks for telling me this piece of trivia.
g77471164: Thanks! I try to get out a chapter every week. I hope you also have a great day!
ShotoToshiro: I have plenty in the works, I hope you look forward to it!
Dustfan: Yes, her black beady eyes will certainly awe all those who see them.
Guest: Thank you!
onewaysmart: Seeing that people are looking forward to what's next really does make writing even more fun. Thank you for your support!
Dialogue Tags:
[Spell/Martial Art]
'Inner thoughts'
{Message}
Momon remains ever calm as he scans the treeline for movement. As the sounds of footsteps grew louder, all the people present tighten the grip on their various weapons, be it a sword or a humble pitchfork. The dark warrior was the only exception as he folds his arms across his chest.
The people standing behind him couldn't help but admire his heroic form. His large back served as a shield against any danger that faced them, and they respected the dark warrior all the more.
The sounds of footsteps finally come to stop as everyone present could see the numerous goblins and other creatures within the forest. Only two figures stepped out of the foliage and into the field that separated Carne Village and the forest of Tob.
All the humans present could not help but gasp in surprise at what approached them. A powerful looking magical beast with silver fur accompanied by an older naga, who despite his age, still maintained a strong presence.
Momon stared with interest at the beast with the silver fur. 'Isn't that a Djungarian Hamster? Though I've never seen one so massive."
Behind these two figures and within the foliage, the people of Re-Eztize could see the various figures of goblins, nagas, ogres and even a troll. They gulped at the sheer numbers of this group of demi-humans. If this was to turn into a battle, then it would certainly bring about many losses.
Momon appeared to be studying all the demi-humans before him and every one of them shivers under his gaze. They were all keenly aware that they stood before the gaze of an apex predator.
In reality, Momon was simply eyeing the demi-humans with curiosity. He was able to communicate with the humans of this world despite clearly speaking a different language. It was unknown if non-humans could speak the common tongue, but now was the time to find out.
"I think you've come close enough to speak."
Momon allowed his regal voice to carry his intentions. To his surprise, the naga replied.
The naga whose upper body was of an older man stops and bows his head in respect.
"We mean you no harm, humans. This old one is known as Ryraryus Spenia Ai Indarun. I am known as the Serpent of the West. The one beside me is known to you humans as the Wise King of the Forest.
The humans could not help but exclaim their surprise at the words spoken by the old naga. The Wise King of the Forest was a magical beast that lived in the southern part in forest of Tob. The villagers of Carne were aware that they lived near its territory, but they could never have imagined the day they would see its majestic form. The 'Serpent of the West' was a moniker they were not familiar with, but it was clearly a title that commanded great power.
Only one person was skeptical of the words spoken by the naga. 'Wise King of the Forest? Isn't that just an over-sized hamster? Still, their titles leave little to the imagination. Serpent of the West and Wise King of the Forest are certainly showy titles, but I wonder how much it actually holds up.'
Momon coughs to clear his non-existent throat.
"I am known as Momon, and these good people are the inhabitants of the village you see behind me. What business do you have here, naga?"
Ryraryus' face hardens as he begins to speak.
"Human, this old one bear grave news. A Gigant Basilisk herd as been spotted, and it laid waste to the village of these goblins. We suspect they will come after us in pursuit. We request aid in dealing with the creatures."
At the words of the older naga, the faces of the goblins darken while the humans shout in horror. 'A herd of Gigant Basilisks? Aren't they solitary creatures?' Was the prevailing thought that went through everyone's mind.
The beast with silver fur echoed the sentiment of her peer.
"Human-dono, what Ryraryus-dono speaks of is indeed correct. This one is the new master of the goblins, and we seeketh whatever aid thee can provide."
Momon takes in all the information he's heard and reflects on it.
"I see, though I see no reason as to why you would lie, how can we trust your words?"
"This old one understands your concerns human, bu-"
"Human! You question my master!?"
Ryraryus was interrupted by his troll minion who charged out of the forest in a fit of rage. The troll could not believe that his master would bow his head to a lowly human, and even worse, the troll had been intimidated by that human's gaze.
Trolls had powerful bodies that possessed strength that far surpasses mere ogres. Combined with the fact that also had the racial ability of regeneration meant that within the forest, only the three rulers of the forest could kill a troll single-handily. In all his life he had only been beaten by Ryraryus, his master. He could not allow a mere human to be above him.
"You idiot! Stand down! Human, please, we really do mean no harm."
The words of his master fell on deaf ears as rage overpowered his sense of reasoning. The troll raised his fists in the air as he ran towards the human who stood defiantly. He would take pleasure in crushing the puny human, but he was far too slow and weak to even get near the dark warrior.
"Enough."
Human and demi-human alike both flinch at the cold tone of the dark warrior. That once regal voice was now devoid of all warmth as it brought sense to even the enraged troll who stopped dead in his tracks.
Momon, confident that he had everyone's attention, thought of a way to force these demi-humans into submission. He took notice of the young goblin children in the forest and sought to limit his range of his aura.
[Despair Aura I - Fear]
Something akin to bloodlust, more intense, more frigid than ever seen before, exploded from the dark warrior. A gust of air, as frigid as the coldest of winter storms, blew into all the faces of all that were present. The very sky seemed to go dark as the rays of sunlight disappeared leaving behind nothing but a pure obsidian radiance.
Momon had only originally planned to only target the two rulers of the forest and the troll, but unbeknownst to him, he had unconsciously allowed his aura to slip out of his body.
The effects were immediate. The Beast of the South rolled over to her back and exposed her soft underbelly with tears in her eyes, whereas Ryraryus had coiled up in a futile attempt to hide himself away from the frigid aura emanating from the dark warrior.
The offending troll was no better. He was lying on the ground in a cradling position, quietly rocking his knees. It was a pathetic sight to behold of a demi-human, who in most eyes, was invincible.
The humans and demi-humans who, despite not being the targets of his aura, keenly felt their own mortality as they stared the hurricane of death who was known as Momon.
Gazef was no different. Despite being the strongest warrior in the Re-Eztize Kingdom, he keenly felt an overwhelming wave of bloodlust emanating from the man beside him. It felt like the hurricane of death was pushing him back. To even draw breath was an arduous task as he looked in stunned silence towards the form of Momon, who seemed even larger than his towering physique would suggest.
Moments that felt like hours eventually passed. Momon began to notice the fear spreading beyond his original range and quickly retracts his [Despair Aura]. The frigid gusts of air blowing from him, and the darkness that shrouded the sunlight, all disappeared as quickly as it had come to be.
Everyone felt a huge burden lifted off their chests. The goblin children who, a moment before had been cowed into silence, began to cry once again. Their mothers desperately hushed them in fear of offending the dark warrior.
Momon upon seeing that, was somewhat disappointed that he had allowed his aura to slip up. He would have to be more careful in the future. 'Yamaiko-san would be scolding me right now. A grown man scaring children? That leaves a bad taste in my mouth.'
"My apologies, I did not mean to scare you, little ones. That was unbecoming of me. I hope you can forgive me."
He bows his head in apology, and despite it being perfectly reasonable to do so, Momon was confused to hear everyone gasping at his actions.
The humans could not believe that their saviour would bow his head towards demi-humans, whereas the demi-humans could not believe that a being so much stronger than they, would ever lower their head.
Ryraryus having finally caught his breath, musters all of his courage to speak.
"N-No, It must be we who are to apologize, human. Pl-please don't lower your head! One of your power should not have to lower himself before us!"
Momon raises his head confused, but complies with the words of the old naga.
"I see. Then let us continue our discussion before we were rudely interrupted."
He eyes the fetal position of the troll with some interest before dismissing him from his thoughts for good.
"You there," Momon turns to face the beast who was on her back. "You said you were the new master of these goblins, did you not? Tell me what you know."
The beast with silver coat speaks with tears in her eyes.
"Th-this one submits to thee, Mi'lord! This one swears allegiance and to swear upon telling only the truth. If it pleases you, Mi'lord, please grant this humble one a name!"
Momon ponders the intricacies of having a pet, he had never owned one in the past, but this hamster was quite cute, even accounting for its weird speech pattern. He vaguely recalled that this hamster was known as the 'Wise King of the Forest.' Surely, such a creature would provide him with valuable information, and if it became his subordinate, then his reputation would also improve.
Only problem was Momon had terrible naming sense, and while he was quietly thinking of a name, both the human and non-human onlookers alike, all looked at Momon with awe as they thought that he was carefully considering the offer from the fabled beast of legend.
"I accept your offer. You will be known as Hamsuke from now on. Serve me faithfully and you shall be rewarded."
Momon smiles at the thought that he had a renowned beast under his rule.
"I thank thee, Mi'lord! And this one shall strive to meet your expectations! The words of Ryraryus-dono can be trusted, Mi'lord!"
Ryraryus seeing the opportunity decides to step in.
"This old one also submits to your will, human. Please, I beg of your forgiveness. We did not wish for events to go about in this fashion. Gigant Basilisks are creatures that only Hamsuke-dono and I are capable of fighting, and we are now faced with a dozen of the creatures. We, as inhabitants of the forest, do not have a chance in fending off this threat alone. That is why we seek your aid, human. We also have reason to suspect that a basilisk far stronger than what is commonly known leads this herd. After all, how else would these creatures ever get along? As I have said before, the basilisk have destroyed the former home of these goblins. We suspect their pursuit would come soon."
A single goblin child with determination in his eyes steps forward, out of the forest. He walks nervously but with purpose. As he gets near the two monsters of legend, he bows his head towards the towering dark warrior.
"M-My lord, my humble name is Agu. I am now the chief of the remaining goblins of the Gigu tribe. We were at the service of the Beast of the South, now known as Hamsuke, your servant. I fear to be presumptuous, but that makes us, by extension, your servants as well. I swear my loyalty to your will, and to never deceive you."
Momon eyes the young goblin child with fascination. It would certainly be no easy task to speak up, especially in this situation and towards the figure that had cowed their leaders into submission.
'First Enri, and now this Agu, hm? The young ones in this world are certainly surprising in their abilities and courage.'
"You may continue to speak, young Agu. In respect to the courage you have shown just now."
"I thank you, My lord. Our scouts spotted a single basilisk near our village. Seeing this, my father ordered me to evacuate with the women and children of our tribe. Most of my warriors and ogres stayed behind with my father and three older brothers. I…"
Tears begin to threaten the eyes of Agu as he continues to speak.
"Our village, our home… it's now all gone."
Momon pities the young goblin. 'So young, yet handed with such great responsibility. He lost so much, but still carries on for the sake of his tribe. Perhaps Yamaiko-san was right, talented children really are a treasure.'
Momon turns to address the two figures who walked up to him.
"Gazef-dono, Village Chief-dono, what do you make of this?"
Gazef has a grim face as he considers the threat may befall all of Re-Eztize.
"After seeing their earnest reactions, I believe that their words can be trusted, Momon-dono. I propose we move towards E-Rantel as soon as we can. The news of this herd needs to spread throughout all the Kingdom. We have only two adamantite teams in all the Kingdom and I doubt that even they could handle this threat by themselves. To send those two teams in by themselves would be suicide."
The Village Chief nods with agreement to Gazef's sentiment.
"Momon-sama, Gazef-sama. I, along with all the villagers of Carne, will go along with any and decisions you make. After you have done so much for us, there is no reason for any of us to doubt you or your intentions. We place ourselves in your most capable hands."
The village chief bows his head as he speaks without any sort of hesitation. There were chorus of agreement from the villagers who believed the same.
But even so, there were some slight discord among the villagers. A single hunter speaks up.
"M-my lord, I am but a humble hunter, but I don't see a reason in providing aid to these demi-humans. It is true we share a common home of this forest, but we have no love for their kind, nor they for ours. Though I do not wish their destruction, we simply have nothing to gain by helping them."
There were some hesitant agreements to his words among the villagers, while the Village Chief looked horrified that one of his own would speak up against their saviour. He was about to shout at the hunter before Momon put his hand up to stop him.
"It is fine, Village Chief-dono. Allow the man to say his piece. His words do carry some truth to them. Human and demi-human relations are not ones that are commonly found, I take it?"
Reluctantly, the Village Chief agrees with the statement.
"That is true. Though we interact very little with the inhabitants with the forest, sometimes adventurers do come here to hunt them."
Momon takes all that in with interest.
"I see, I see…"
Momon goes quiet for a second as if deep in thought. The villagers of Carne look towards him in interest. What could their saviour be thinking about?
A few moments later, they got their answer.
Momon clears his throat and begins to speak. He allows his voice to carry out his intentions.
"Citizens of Carne, these goblins faced a situation where they lost not only their homes, but their families as well. They may be goblins and you humans, but that does not take away the common suffering that you both have shared. You know how close you were to having your lives taken away from a second thought. Will you sit by and watch another suffer the same fate? Or, will you reach out your hand to aid them?"
Momon's heroic speech resonates within all the hearts of all those who were present. Both human and demi-human could do nothing but stare in awe at the overwhelming presence of the dark hero. He was truly a being that transcended the common man.
The villagers had some semblance of goodwill to look ashamed of what they had previous thought of the demi-humans. Had it not been for Momon, then it would have been very likely that their homes and lives would have been taken away from them, just as the goblins had suffered.
Satisfied that he had gotten his message across, Momon turns to address the two men beside him.
"Gazef-dono, Village Chief-dono, I will take heed of your words as you are citizens of this country. But will you really leave these fellows to their fate?"
"Momon-sama," The village chief is the first to speak up with pity in his eyes. "I see with my own eyes the pain and loss in every goblin child's eyes and I cannot, with a good will, turn away from them at this time. Please, I know this is shameless of me to beg, but please help these inhabitants of the forest."
Gazef smiles warmly at the words of the village chief. "Momon-dono, I agree with the Village Chief. The threat that these basilisks pose is no small amount. If we were attacked unawares, then I am sure that the extinction of this country would not be far off." Gazef's face hardens as he thinks of that future playing out.
Momon takes in all the words of concern from everyone present. The demi-humans look on with uncertainty as their fate hung in the hands of the humans that they rarely interacted with.
"Gazef-dono, I believe you said that E-Rantel is the largest city closest to here?"
Gazef nods in response.
"Yes, that is so. I believe we should head there as soon as we can. We can contact the adventurer's guild there for assistance in this matter."
"That sounds like a plan," Momon turns from Gazef to address the villagers of Carne. "My good people, please take what belongings you have and any provisions you can carry. We must act with most urgency."
All the inhabitants of Carne were energized by their dark hero's words and quickly began to pack all their belongings that they could take with them. They wasted little time as they knew that time was of the essence.
It took only an hour for all the citizens to pack up their personal possessions, and to have all the wagons within the village put to use. The young goblin children and their mothers rode in the wagons, fast asleep despite how uncomfortable it was. That was a testament to the trials they had endured, and even the most conservative of the villagers could not help but pity the young goblins.
Momon had not spent his time idling, for he had sent his wraiths out to investigate the so-called herd, before then healing any of the goblins who were injured.
The captured operatives of the Slane Theocracy were brought out to the village entrance, and they watched with silent horror and fascination at the scene of demi-humans working together with humans, and what shocked them the most was the fact that the man who had defeated them was now healing demi-humans with his magic.
One person in particular had been quiet, far too quiet. Nigun who the previous day before had been in a state of panic, now looked to be at total peace. It was certainly an eerie sight for his men, but they pushed that aside for now.
Gazef walked up to Momon who had just finished the wounds of a young goblin child who finally smiled when his legs no longer hurt from their trek through the forest. Momon waved the young child off before standing up.
Momon takes a deep breath as he takes a look around him. The wagons were nearly all full of supplies or the resting forms of children, and within the village it can be seen that demi-humans were putting their superior physical strength to good use as they were helping some villagers load up the few remaining wagons.
Due to both species working together, it was not long before everyone stood ready to go near the village entrance. Gazef was making last minute check ups on his men and their captives whereas Momon was speaking to the two former rulers of the forest along with the Village Chief, who looked a little out of place among the beings of legend.
Once all preparations were finally done, Momon clears his throat to address the crowd of beings gathered.
"Humans and demi-humans, though you differ in many ways, you also share a lot of similarities. You are neighbours who are now united in a single goal, to survive what threatens your home. Be they your fellow humans," Momon gestures to the ashamed operatives, "Or of a herd of creatures that view us as little more than food. Take heart, for we are not abandoning your homes! One day we will reclaim them and you shall live without fear of losing it!"
His words were met with heartfelt cheers of all the beings that heard it.
They were all energized by his words, and they all began their way south, through the flat plains that separated them and E-Rantel.
…
The many winding alleyways of E-Rantel glowed a faint orange under the evening sun. The main roads of the city were bustling with activity at this time. Children were returning home from their school, men were returning home after a long day's work, and women who were in a hurry to complete their shopping.
In many alleyways it was the same story, all except for one particular alleyway. It was completely desolate, and devoid of all people except for one person.
A cloaked figure danced through the alleyway, with the agility and grace that would only be fitting for a cat.
Though the cloak shadowed their face, it was not hard to make out the voluptuous body that hid underneath the cloak. The cloaked woman easily made her way through the winding and empty alleyways that made up the city's western district, near where the graveyards were located.
It was not long before she reached his destination. She was greeted by yet another cloaked figure, a man, judging from their build. He stood waiting at a dead-end staring intently at his surroundings.
The woman approached without a sound, and it was only after she was right in front of him did the man finally notice her presence. In truth, he was aware of her shenanigans, but grew tired of it. The female greets the man before handing him a scroll.
"Hiya~ They're speeding up their operations, so I could use a hand~"
Not even the hood could hide the savage grin on her face, but the man merely nods and accepts the scroll offered to him.
"Understood. I will relay your request immediately."
The woman was seemingly a little disappointed at his lack of reaction, but shrugs it off.
"Yeah, yeah. You do that. But you better be quick, or this city is done for~"
The man merely grunts, ignoring the taunt of the woman.
"You have the list of what you can expect to see, now go make sure that it gets to those sticks-in-the-mud, okaaay~"
The man only nods in response to her words, showing that he understood.
After speaking her piece, the woman turns around nimbly like a dancer and disappears down the path she came. The man sighs in relief after noticing her presence dissipate. She was a valuable source of information, and a very talented individual. The only issue was her problematic personality.
She had left her former unit because she was a poor fit for a disciplined squad. Not to mention her thirst for human suffering far outweighed her sense of justice in defending mankind.
The man reflects on his assignment and ponders retirement. Dealing with that former Black Scripture member was definitely above his pay grade.
He unravels the scroll handed to him and his face drops as he reads the contents.
"A death spiral...? No, it couldn't be."
He nearly drops the scroll as he backs away in horror in what he had just read. After taking a moment to muster his courage, he finally readies to depart from the city of E-Rantel with only one goal on his mind; to make sure the Cardinals know of what is to come of this city.
Both human and non-human alike walk the unfamiliar path of nonaggression. Can they put their differences aside, and work towards a common goal, or will their efforts be in vain? What awaits the Fortress City of E-Rantel, total chaos, or is it their salvation?
Thank you for reading! As always, please feel free to leave your questions, comments or concerns.