The lizardman audience hall was thick with moisture and tension. Beneath the flickering torchlight, the room stretched wide with carved coral columns and moss-covered walls, ancient and cold. The air was damp with the scent of stone and algae, but beneath that… fear. It clung to the soldiers flanking the walls, to the old Chieftain seated on a throne of bone and shell.
Gabiru stood beside him, saluting stiffly. Tension bled through every inch of his posture.
I stepped forward slowly, hands clasped behind me. Beside me stood Shuna and Shizu—one a calming presence of grace reminding me of an angel, the other quiet, watchful fire like a... well, moving on. Behind me, Benimaru, Souei, Hakuro, Mzcore, and Shion stood silent like looming blades in waiting.
"I'm grateful you agreed to see us, Chieftain," I said smoothly, my tone neutral, eyes locked onto the lizardman elder. "We've come to discuss a matter… of importance."
The Chieftain's eyes narrowed. "The Orcs."
I nodded. "They're not just moving anymore. They're marching, united under one banner. Too fast, too precise, too ruthless."
"They're desperate beasts," the Chieftain scoffed. "Hardly anything to be frightened of."
"They were," I agreed. "But not anymore."
The room shifted. Even the flickering of the torches seemed to lean closer.
I continued, voice steady and sharp, "The Orcs are being led. By an Orc lord. And more than that… something is feeding them power. An unnatural rate of evolution. Coordination. Growth."
Shizu tensed slightly beside me. I saw the faint furrow in her brow.
Benimaru's gaze sharpened. Souei's hand twitched by his side.
I let the pause linger—just long enough.
"I believe," I said softly, "that what we're dealing with… is a budding Demon Lord."
The words hung in the air like a curse.
Everyone—even my own allies—stilled.
Shizu turned her head to me, voice low. "Are you sure it's okay to tell them now?"
"No," I admitted. "But I don't know what else to say here."
The silence cracked.
"—Nonsense!"
The Chieftain rose to his feet, his tail slamming the ground. "That cannot be! A Demon Lord? From Orcs? Your words are madness!"
"Sit down," Mzcore growled, his voice quiet but seething as he stepped forward. "Watch your tone."
"I'll break his jaw if he keeps barking," Shion added with a smile far too sharp for comfort.
I sighed, raising a hand. Both stopped—but only barely. Shion's hand still rested on her hilt. Mzcore's eyes glowed faintly, silver light dancing in his pupils.
"You don't have to believe it," I said to the Chieftain, gaze locked onto his. "But you'd be a fool to ignore the possibility. This forest's balance is teetering, and if we wait for confirmation, it might already be too late."
The Chieftain sat back slowly, clearly shaken.
Then, without warning, a breeze rolled through the chamber—light, cool, and full of the scent of blooming grass. Vines slithered from the cracks in the ceiling as emerald light filtered in.
From it, she descended.
Treyni.
The Guardian of the Forest herself.
"My word should be enough," she said gently, her voice washing over the room like dew. "Akuma speaks with foresight. The forest trembles beneath the weight of something unnatural. The Orc Lord is real… and something far darker moves within him."
The Chieftain bowed immediately, his tail curling submissively.
"My people have watched the storm gather," Treyni said, her voice a calm ripple across the tense chamber. She stood at my side with a quiet kind of authority, her presence anchoring the room in stillness. "And I've been aiding Akuma from the shadows..."
She paused, her gaze drifting to the wary lizardmen soldiers, then to the old Chieftain. "His methods may be cold… but his heart is not. They are born not of cruelty, but necessity."
The Chieftain narrowed his eyes. "You vouch for him so easily? This tiefling?"
Treyni gave a small nod, her expression serene yet firm. "Yes. I believe he is the one this forest needs. While others waited, while you panicked and debated and hoarded what little strength you had left—he acted. And though his hands are stained in shadows… the outcomes always lead to light."
My lips curled into a smirk.
"Well," I started, clasping my hands behind my back, "I'd say I was flattered, but that'd be a lie."
Treyni's lips quirked. "It wasn't praise."
A small laugh escaped me.
I turned back to the Chieftain, locking eyes with him as my tone shifted into something sharper, colder. "When Veldora vanished, the balance of power in the forest shattered. I knew it wouldn't stay quiet for long. That something would come to fill the void."
I walked a few paces forward, hands still calmly folded, cloak dragging across the polished floor. "So I didn't wait. After I tamed the direwolves, I reached out to Treyni. I needed allies who understood what was coming. And she… she understood better than anyone."
The Chieftain was silent, eyes unreadable beneath the bone-like helm.
"There's no time to hesitate anymore," I said. "We form this alliance, and we survive. Or you stay proud, and die."
There was a beat of silence before the Chieftain slowly nodded. A reluctant, weathered gesture of surrender to inevitability.
"Very well," he said. "Then I—"
The heavy doors to the hall burst open with a deafening slam.
A young lizardwoman, soaked with mud and blood, stumbled inside—barely able to catch her breath.
"C-Chief! Brother—!" she cried, collapsing to one knee. "The Orcs… they've arrived!"
The silence that followed was thunderous.
I blinked once. My eye twitched.
"…Fuck."
This... wasn't in the schedule.
Shion's grin widened. "Finally."
Mzcore rolled his shoulders with a dark chuckle. "Let's see if they're smart enough to remember us."
Benimaru calmly drew his blade halfway from its sheath, eyes flicking to me for a command.
Even Shizu didn't say anything—just exhaled, slow and controlled, like a fuse had been lit.
I sighed, rubbing the bridge of my nose. "Of course... I should have expected this with my luck"
Then I looked up, the fire returning to my voice as my smirk reformed.
"Well then… shall we show them what kind of mistake they just made?"