Gil had cleared every trial I set before him. Though a few unexpected things had happened along the way, I felt it had all culminated in the best possible outcome.
Even so, to think the idea of a monster nation had come from his own lips. It was probably just something he blurted out on the spur of the moment to satisfy Tetor for appearances' sake.
When it came to the Final Trial of persuading the two of them, the truly difficult one had not been Somni, but Tetor.
It wasn't as if I thought the words and attitude Somni showed me right before the trial were entirely fabricated; about half of it had likely been his genuine feelings. Taking that into account, Somni had ultimately left the decision up to Tetor.
And Tetor had stubbornly clung to making Gil king, strictly adhering to the promise he made to Gil's mother. Realizing that midway through, Gil had used his wits to turn the situation around.
Even if it was on the spur of the moment, he had declared it with his own mouth. I intended to make sure he took responsibility for those words to the very end.
Mm-hmm, a monster nation, is it? Not bad at all. Sounds rather entertaining.
"Kai, you have a terribly wicked look on your face right now."
Rose, standing beside me, spoke up with an exasperated look.
"Do I? Well, it is true that I am in quite a good mood."
In any case, we had secured the necessary manpower for the time being. Whether it was a country or a territory, as long as it was formally under the umbrella of the Holy Amelia Kingdom, the nominal pretense didn't matter much. We only needed to report to the government of the Holy Amelia Kingdom that it had become one of their territories.
Besides, Rose's ultimate goal was nation-building akin to a federal government. In that light, the concept of a monster nation wouldn't be all that out of place.
"By the way, are my brother and the others really going to be all right?"
Rose asked, casting her gaze down at Gil, Tetor, and Somni, who were still lying flat on the ground.
"Since the exact reason they collapsed is unclear, I can't say with absolute certainty, but they should be fine."
In truth, it was obvious from the notification I had received from the Subjugation Compendium earlier. It seemed Gil and the others had been forcibly registered as residents of the compendium in my possession.
This compendium had finally begun registering people while completely ignoring my will. Well, setting the cause aside, their collapse was likely a sort of recoil from the process; they would probably wake before long.
"If Kai says so, then I suppose it must be true..."
As Rose let out a sigh, seemingly unable to put her worries to rest, I turned back toward the monsters.
At that movement alone, every one of them stiffened in fright. It seemed they were completely on guard against me.
"Do not be so frightened. Though I suppose saying that is useless. How about this, then?"
Using the Ring of Phantom Shift on my right pinky finger, I transformed into the young beastman of the kobold tribe who had previously visited this city—Loup-Garou.
"Mr. Lou?! (Master Lou?!)"
The voices of every single monster in the plaza harmonized in perfect unison.
"Well, we already know each other, but do I need to introduce myself again?"
"No... somehow, I had a feeling it was you."
Kiji gave a reply that caught me off guard, his face looking thoroughly exhausted. Come to think of it, Kiji had been the first to make a proposal to me.
"I thought I had kept it well hidden, but wherever did you notice?"
"I didn't have any real proof. It's just that the supreme existence Gil spoke of overlapped so strongly with you in my mind."
To Kiji's response,
"A truly fine intuition. Or rather, it would be intolerable if genuine monsters of this caliber were popping up left and right in this world."
Asta, having teleported in behind us, chimed in on the conversation.
"Ain't that the truth? To those of us who know Master well, no matter what form he takes, there's no mistaking him."
When Zack, who had likewise teleported in, offered that troublesome remark with deep emotion,
"Aye, Lord Kai is the one and only absolute King in this world!"
"Our faith is singular and absolute!"
Oboro and Lucas raised their voices in rapid succession.
"Great One. We have confirmed the advance of Aldebaran's forces under the command of Forneus. They will reach this location shortly. What are your orders?"
Girimehkala asked for my instructions.
"F-Forneus?! You mean Lieutenant General of the Evil Army Forneus?!"
A red-haired female monster with white wings sprouting from her back sprang to her feet and shouted.
So this woman was the intruder from another faction whom Girimehkala and the others had reported earlier. She seemed to know a fair bit about the situation, so she probably wasn't entirely unrelated to what was going on. While slightly against my inclinations, I would have no choice but to ensure she couldn't leave this land for the time being.
More importantly, dealing with the current situation took precedence.
"Forneus is that ridiculously arrogant fish-headed small fry monster, right? To be sure, the monsters of this city wouldn't be able to handle him."
I did sense him to be slightly weak, so as far as monsters went, he was on the considerably better side. Even so, he was merely a small fry that an A-rank hunter could easily dispatch alone.
"As expected of our Supreme Great One..."
At my casual mutter, Girimehkala and those of his faction clasped their hands together and began praying with tears streaming down their faces.
"Even a lieutenant general of the Evil Army is no more than a winged insect to the Great One. How terrifying, how terrifying."
When Ladon, the leader of the dragons, rubbed his heads together and voiced such a bizarre remark, the rest of the Subjugation Compendium and its merry band started spouting similar lines, working themselves into a frenzy.
Even so, the phrase 'Evil Army' kept coming from their mouths. It seemed they had some sort of history with them. They were probably affiliated with that Easy Dungeon or something.
Well, perhaps the weakest dungeons had some kind of exchange going on. At any rate, while the Evil Army was a grandiose name, I had seen Forneus and his subordinates invading this land with my own eyes.
According to my standards for monster strength—'just plain weak,' 'slightly weak,' 'very weak,' 'hopelessly weak,' and 'weak as a winged insect'—Forneus could only be classified as the second-best tier: 'slightly weak.'
Of course, it was still merely 'slightly weak,' which meant he was undeniably weak. In short, a small fry.
What was even more surprising was that the Demon King Aldebaran was far below that. The strength I sensed from him was comparable only to a winged insect.
One possibility was that he was an exceptionally feeble, bottom-tier member of the demon race among demon kings, and out of fear of being eradicated by humans, he had tried to summon some so-called otherworldly god. Or perhaps he was just an impostor calling himself Demon King Aldebaran.
In any case, he was far too weak to wage war against humans. I suspected he had no choice but to rely on outside power. Well, while I couldn't help feeling a bit of sympathy that the reinforcements actually summoned were such insignificant small-fry monsters, considering what they had done to this land, I had no intention of showing them any mercy.
"Now then, what should we do?"
I could handle it myself, but that would bring things to an end far too quickly.
"Great One, we too share a bit of history with Forneus. Would you permit us to handle this?"
At Girimehkala's sudden petition,
"I don't mind. Do as you please."
I granted permission immediately.
"We are unworthy of such grace!"
As Girimehkala and his followers fell to their knees,
"Hey, Girimehkala Faction! Don't you dare jump the gun on us!"
"That's right! The nerve of you, trying to hog all the praise for yourselves—we won't let you get away with that!"
A barrage of protests came flooding in one after another.
"Do not worry. I will have the rest of you work to your hearts' content as well."
Indeed. Opponents of this level could be exterminated without any real danger, making it an excellent opportunity for my subordinates' combat training.
"Understood!"
"However, losing to small-fry monsters of that caliber is out of the question, and I will not permit you to struggle, either. Crush them with overwhelming force. Ah, and leave the last two who seem to be the bosses to me just in case; do not lay a hand on them."
The battle maniacs of the Subjugation Compendium leaped with wild joy at my command.
"Master, please let us join the battle as well."
Turning around at the voice, I saw three figures kneeling—Gil, Tetor, and Somni. It seemed they had finally come to.
Though this was strictly based on his own admission, Gil was so green that he had tasted defeat even against that insignificant demon race member, Aldebaran. If anyone could put up a fight, it would be Tetor and Somni, but...
"Hmm. I've only given them the bare minimum of training so far. Do you think they'll manage?"
I checked with Nemea, who was standing nearby. After all, I had a tendency to be rather insensitive to differences in strength among the Human Race. It was better to trust Nemea's judgment.
"Master's bare minimum is considered severe asceticism by the general public."
Ignoring Asta's pointless and entirely baseless retort, I prompted Nemea for an answer.
"They have not been given lenient training these past six months. Furthermore, their power and skill seem to have increased dramatically through His Excellency's power. They should have no trouble against the likes of a lieutenant colonel of the Evil Army."
He gave his affirmation with absolute confidence.
"Very well. I leave that small fry Demon King and the sea bream- and blowfish-headed monsters to you three."
"We will surely live up to your expectations!"
Nodding deeply at Gil's declaration,
"Now then, this is a threat too trivial to call a war, but no matter how weak, an enemy is an enemy. Overrun and slaughter them completely!"
The moment I spread my arms and shouted, a roar like an earthquake echoed throughout the New City of Ket Nya.
With a battle cry that resembled the mere pastime of a monster, history was about to change. The army of evil, once proclaimed the worst in existence, would vanish from this world in gruesome, merciless fashion. This was perhaps the exact moment the world truly recognized the sheer malice and danger of the most terrifying monster in existence.