*Slap*
A loud ring could be heard, before the prince fell to the ground, a large red palm to the side of his face.
"Are you fucking kidding me?! Do you understand the seriousness of what's going on here? Take your jokes somewhere else, you idiot!"
"W—Why? B—but it's not—"
"Enough of your bulshit!" The king yelledm, his face red, before taking a deep breath and looking back at me. The prince was still on the ground, nursing his swollen face and trembling. "I apologize for my son's and subject's behaviors. I will lay down any punishment you may seem fit."
'If I do nothing, the prince's reputation is gonna be ruined...' I thought, realizing the king was lowkey telling me to execute the two...
At that moment, as I was about to speak, my eyes met with Bleart's. This was our chance.
Instead of saying anything, I made the order inside my head. The king's brow furrowed, as he saw Bleart stand up and walk to my left side, without either of us saying a single word. After a few seconds of this absolute tension, the uniform sound of steps could be heard coming from the dungeon entrance. This was no longer just a conversation, but rather, a display of might.
Using the remaining DP of the dungeon, and calling forth all but the essential goblins, including the ones that I had sent to help carry the now awake Mihara, a large procession of goblins slowly poured from the dungeon rooms and corridors into the last stretch of cave behind me. Granted, they were nowhere near the sheer amount of those the King had brought, but I could capitalize on the Prince's words, while also giving him a helping hand. The King's men's hands went straight to their weapons, as they got riled up in fear of the unknown. I could see the fear in the prince's eyes, and the surprise in the King's. What tipped the tides in my favor, though, was how I positioned the Goblins. First, making the intruders doubt their vision, came the Hobgoblins. All mages and druids. While I had only around 20 of them, it was already enough to get them tense. Then, my mages formed a half circle around me, before kneeling. Not that far, following them, came the rest of the Dark Goblins. They weren't powerful, but were many enough.
"The Dark Ones..." I could hear slipping from the prince's lips. While I didn't know why he said that, I knew there was something up. Whether it was a good thing, though, was yet to be seen.
And, as my small division (since I couldn't call them an army), lined up behind the Hobgoblins and lowered themselves, the mass of goblins around me started changing. At first, I couldn't have known what was happening, but soon enough, a high enough number of them had knelt, making gaps into the crowd that surrounded us.
"Why?!" The king paused, almost desperate, looking around like a madman "Why did the Dark Race submit to you?!" he asked.
"Huh?" I was confused, are Dark Goblins an entirely different race? It was then that things started clicking and falling into place. It had worked. "Because I am their creator, why else?" I held myself back from smirking. This had worked so well I was honestly surprised. The King's eyes widened, as he too fell into his knees, and so did the rest of the goblins, following their king. For some of the higher ranked Goblins, this was a surprise, but most of them had already accepted.
"I apologize..." the king slurred out, "I didn't know Who I was facing. I beg you for mercy, please spare enough of us to let our lineage continue..."
Oi, oi! The heck are you talking about? Is there a thing about weaker goblin groups being massacred by stronger ones?
"Why would I?" I said, trying to probe them.
"We underestimated you, enough to bring war on your doorstep..." the startled king responded, confused.
"Why would I care about that, though?" I said. I mean... better try it, right? More information, more power.
"Because... the lives... the time."
"You see..." I cleared my throat, making my voice louder, and clear for all goblins to hear. "Time I do not value, for I am Immortal. Rather, I can slow time to a crawl if I so wish. So, you committed no such sin as "wasting" my time. Lives, I also value, but not like you, for I can create them. And, in the end, only yours would be wasted while fighting me." Tension grew as the goblins' shoulders drooped, waiting for a word for punishment. Some even went as far as putting their daggers ahead of themselves, in a position that closely remembered Harakiri.
"In the end, since both are worthless and you caused me no harm, I also consider there was no foul in your actions. You shall all live."
...
...
...
Why are they crying?! The fuck?! Even the Higher ranked ones are crying. Oh shit, did I go too far.
"Ahem."
Yup, I got their attention once again.
"My name is Gunther. I am the God of Phi, and this dungeon's Core and Master."