Hello everyone, Astaroth here.

Unlike what you might expect, 'Goblinoid' is a term which encompasses a wide variety of Monsters. Classically, you might think of things like Goblins and Hobgoblins, but there are many more races which are attributed to the 'Goblinoid' category, including things like Orcs, Trolls and Ogres. Curiously enough, Kobolds are not Goblinoids, despite being cursed by Lady Gnome and sharing a similar figure to Goblins- perhaps the fur categorizes them differently?

"It's just as the scouts said..."

"These people are all stronger than the King..."

"I wonder why they've come here...?"

The group of Goblinoids in front of me, who seemed to have been picked for their intelligence, stirred as their mostly green, wretched faces gazed upon us. The group contained mostly the more intelligent Goblinoids, and I saw many Goblin Mages, some Goblin Elders and even some Trolls. Feeling slightly mischievous, I decided to single out the lone regular Goblin.

"You there. Goblin", I said, pointing a finger at him, then gesturing at the group around him. "Explain."

"Ah, uh, the King thought it would be rude not to welcome you, sir!", he shouted with an unexpected level of articulation.

"A King, is it?", I asked, an interested expression playing across my face. I was expecting a Monster King, but that didn't take away my curiosity.

"A King? Is that like you, Master?", asked Davna, who had taken on her humanoid form.

"In a way, I suppose it is", I said, "but it's not the same thing. Whereas I have the authority to rule over all Monsters and inherently not much more, a Monster King rules over only one species or perhaps a species group, but while under such a rule, the Monsters become several times more powerful, and in the case of less intelligent Monsters, often smarter as well. On that topic..." I turned to the Goblin, going through my knees a little to bring our lines of sight closer- an action which made its knees tremble in fear as it attempted to look at me, its eyes shaking. "You must spend a lot of time with the King, given you're far more intelligent than any other Goblin I've ever seen. Congratulations."

"That's, that's not true! If anything, the ones who spend the most time with him would be his Kobold harem...", he answered.

"Kobold... Harem...?", I asked, a disbelieving expression undoubtedly on my face as I called to mind a Kobold- small monsters, a similar stature to Goblins, but rather than green skin and a really ugly human face, a body covered with brown or white fur, paws for hands and feet and the face of a dog, complete with enhanced hearing and sense of smell- in a sense, humanoid dogs, hardly any smarter than Goblins either. After shaking my head to clear that mental image and muttering to myself "Well, everyone has their own preferences, I suppose...", I stood up to my full height and addressed the Goblin once again: "So, what's the purpose of this welcoming committee? If it's just to guide us to your King, just a single person would have sufficed, no?", prompting Charlotte and Tempest to silently nod behind me. Neither Davna, Navillus nor Lilith seemed interested enough to pay attention, however.

"That's, uh... To show you our sincerity and, and make you feel welcomed, I guess?", one of the Goblin Mages theorised, causing some nods and grunts of approval from the Goblinoids around it.

"Well, there's, there's that, and also, the King asked me to, to confirm your intentions, sir!", the Goblin shouted in what could be considered high spirits if one didn't know social cues.

"Confirm our intentions... is it?", I said, nodding to myself.

"The King is proactive, if nothing else", Charlotte admitted from behind me, her piercing gaze locked onto one specific Troll. I wasn't able to see the difference between this Troll and the rest, but something about it must've caught her attention.

"Then, allow me to explain", I said, theatrically making a grand gesture, spreading both arms out as I addressed the entire group. "You are currently facing hard times, being attacked by relentless, cruel Heroes from the east, yes? Then rejoice!" I raised my voice as I raised my right hand. "By the grace of the Goddess of Darkness, Lady Entropy, it has been decided that you shall be saved by Lord Astaroth, the Demon Master! My Demon Generals and I shall teach you how to defend yourself, and if the situation calls for it, we shall fight ourselves, too. As such, take us to your King, posthaste." I spotted several expressions of relief among the ugly faces of the Goblinoids as a Troll, a species of Goblinoid with long, lanky limbs and a relatively small body who stood almost at human height, walked up to me and gave a small bow.

"Then, allow me to-"

"No", I cut in, a vile, mischievous smile running across my face. "I want him to do it."

I pointed, of course, to the lone Goblin, who was now trembling so much it was as if he would cause his own head to fall off.

"You must be the King I've heard about", I said, leisurely standing around in the throne room as I addressed the green humanoid who was sitting on a throne, even more exaggeratedly decorated than mine, and who had a somewhat banged-up looking crown on his head. Honestly speaking, his face was quite handsome, and if he dressed appropriately, he could easily pass for a handsome prince, but his overly grandly decorated throne and the stupid amount of gold and gemstones on his clothing made him seem greedy instead. On his lap was situated a Kobold with white fur and black spots- it seemed to be a Dalmatian-type Kobold. It was affectionately rubbing its head on his chest.

"I am Sleehekt, Goblin Pharaoh, indeed", he responded, making a dignified expression as he looked at me with confident eyes. Again, he could easily pass for a determined ruler- if it weren't for the fact that ever since we entered the throne room, one of his hands had been situated on some location of the Kobold. One moment he was petting it on the head, the next he was scratching it under its chin and another he was gently rubbing its tail, but the fact he changed his ways of displaying affection did not restore his dignity. "Lord Astaroth, I heard you have come by Lady Entropy's grace to save us from our predicament. Truly, your assistance is appreciated", he said.

"There are only very few individuals who we would fight against directly", I informed Sleehekt ahead of time. "The odds that one of these individuals will appear are rather high, but even then, we will only be fighting her."

"I see, I see", he said, nodding to himself. "Then, in what ways will you be assisting us, pray tell?"

"Despite having a large amount of Goblin Mages and higher Goblinoids, I see you have not established any kind of defenses", I said matter-of-factly. "There is no watch, there is no wall, there are only buildings that have been placed in close vicinity of each other. Like this, you're practically asking the Heroes to destroy the village, no?"

Sleehekt's brown eyes trembled as he realised the situation of his village, but he quickly gathered himself and leaned forward, prompting the Kobold to climb around him and hang onto his back. "Then, you will be teaching us these things?", he asked, ambition shining in his eyes.

"Those are the eyes a ruler should have: they are good eyes", Charlotte said, observing Sleehekt as she stood a few steps behind me. "As you have surmised, we will be teaching you and your subjects several things- but, in exchange, we will, of course, request rewards."

"Rewards, is it? Well, I suppose I can part with a few of my shinies for the sake of the village", he said, part of his original nature as a Goblin shining through. "What do you want in exchange for your services?"

"I do not need material wealth", Charlotte denied, "but instead, I would like to... 'have my way' with a few of your villagers." She licked her lips as she spoke, exposing her shiny, sharp, pearly white fangs as her mouth curled into a somewhat cruel smile.

"I would rather like for your Mages to share the results of their research with me", Tempest said, "though I somewhat doubt their research will be more advanced than that of the Demon Master's court."

"I don't particularly need any reward, I guess?~", said Davna as she tilted her head in wonder. "Ah, but I would like to spar with your strongest subject! That sounds like it'd be fun!"

"Navillus wants food! Navillus feels hungry", Navillus complained, having lost her humanoid form and now in the simple shape of a slime- essentially, like a giant drop of goo.

"If the Saint turns out to be the Saint we assume she is, then just gettin' to kill her is reward enough", Lilith said, "but otherwise, hm... Well, I haven't eaten any pure earth mana in a while, so I guess that could be pretty nice."

"Well, those can all be arranged without problems, I assure you", Sleehekt said, and he leaned forward slightly further, prompting me to approach with his hand. As I stepped forward, he started whispering: "And for you, Lord Astaroth, I'd even be prepared to part with one or two of my beauties." He gestured towards the Kobold on his back in such a way she wouldn't be able to see. "How about i-"

"Let me preface this with three facts, Sleehekt", I interrupted, and I held my right hand up, index finger extended. "First of all, I do not share your... 'interest' in Kobolds. Occasionally, I might think one is cute, but only to the extent of a pet dog." I extended my middle finger, too. "Second, I have no plans to start a harem, with Kobolds, Monsters, humans or whatever else. My heart belongs to a single girl, and to her alone- and similarly, I plan to make hers mine." I extended my ring finger. "And third, even if I decided to take one of your Kobolds as a pet, I have no intention to take one who is unwilling- that is unnecessary cruelty, so even if you do decide to give me one, find one who is willing to part with you. Forever." I turned around with a dramatic flutter of my cape and took a few steps before stopping. "Ah, and do get us an open space. I need to draw a magic circle so I can summon my subjects, after all." I once again continued walking, and the Demon Generals followed closely behind me.

I ignored the sounds of Monsters scrambling behind me as they attempted to find a suitable location.

Once we had left the throne room, Charlotte addressed me: "Master, I cannot help but ask, since your earlier words have roused my curiosity: who is this one, single girl your heart belongs to?" Her face did not contain traces of displeasure, mere innocent curiosity, and her words caused the other Demon Generals- excluding Navillus- to look my way as well with interested gazes. Charlotte's face distorted momentarily before returning to its initial state as she continued: "It couldn't be that new Half, Evyna, could it?"

"It is not Evyna." I denied her theory with a shake of my head as I stopped in my tracks. "It is a girl who has been by my side from the very start. A very gentle girl, too gentle for her own good, and very shy as well. I can't say who she is, or she would certainly have my head, but I will say this: you all are closer to her than you might imagine." A dark chuckle left my mouth as I described her, but it was not my feelings which caused it to sound as such, but rather my nature. Any Demon would have an easy time telling it was a chuckle of fondness, and my Demon Generals, too, noticed and acknowledged this fact.

"If she is able to make you talk like this, surely she is a splendid partner", Charlotte said with a small nod.

"Someone stronger than Master? I'd love to meet her!", Davna said while raising both hands up into the air.

"Meeting this person would surely be an interesting event", Tempest said, "but if she is this powerful, her power might be incomprehensible. That'd be troubling..."

"Mm... I guess it could be interestin'?", Lilith asked herself, slightly tilting her head.

Navillus simply squelched with indiscernible emotions.

An almost maniacal laughter resounded within a room of pure white known as a Godly Realm. Its owner, Goddess of Light, Luciel, watched through one of her remaining six attendants' eyes as her Heroes slaughtered Goblinoids of various sizes. As her laughter subsided, she continued watching with a crazed smile.

"Just a little bit further and there'll be the Goblin Village, I think? Once I find that, maybe I can finally get rid of that childish Gnome and take her power, and teach the others and the world how a Goddess should act! The people might as well bow down to me already! Are you watching, you fucking pushover?! If you won't make people worship you, I'll just make them worship me instead!"

The girl Luciel was addressing was not present and had no way to hear these words, but Luciel paid this fact no mind as the mad flame of ambition flared up in her eyes.