44 Subduing Hobgoblins

 As Alros walked deeper, he started to feel more and more excited. With the purge occurring in the outskirts of Lunos Forest, there is no powerful monsters near him, which is a good thing as he doubt he can match them early on.

 It is also a double-edge sword, as when he become strong enough, he was not able to get more powerful monsters to serve him. And heading deeper is a no go for the moment, as he lack knowledge of the creatures and dangerous places in the depth of the forest.

 So, with a much safer option, he choose it, planning to find more powerful monsters even if he unlikely to find a lot of them, as the forest is merely adjacent to the real Mana Zone.

 As he head deeper, he used the Skill Mana Sense to detect any powerful mana source. Unfortunately, most are just slimes and goblins, monsters he had abundance of, and he was not planning to add more of them yet.

 He told himself to be patient. After all, there bound to be more powerful monsters as he head deeper, right?

-x-

 "Where are the powerful monsters?" he lamented. He had spent almost two hours walking and yet did not find any monsters worth subduing.

 He thought of subduing more goblins, or maybe even creating more slimes variant but he pushed it away. He wanted to find better options to his current monsters roster. After all, he cannot just depend on goblins and slimes to be his main force.

 While both are useful and manage to become a strong enough monsters to even challenge a regular human after mutation, having stronger monsters is needed as he face stronger nations.

 After all, Astor Kingdom is a Tier 2 Nation. He did not know how many tiers there are but he believe the limit should be 5 or above. And if he ever face those nations in the future, he need more than cannon fodder.

 As he thought of it, he heard the sound of people running. He quickly hide himself using Stealth and head towards the sound, before spotting the source, a group of adventurers running away.

 "Run faster! Or the hobgoblins will manage to catch us!" Alros' eyes lit up at the words. Hobgoblins can be called the evolution of goblins. He had spend a the daylight before by spending it in the library, so he had read of the monsters.

 Trading their agility and speed, hobgoblins are stocky and big monsters, looked more like a fat human in term of shape and size. They are harder to kill, as their thicker skin make it harder to kill them, and they are strong enough to wield weapon that can kill a man with a swing.

 He watched as the adventurers began to reach a certain spot. He spot 3 adventurers, an all women party. He licked his lips. He could not forgo such spoils, could he.

 He quickly undo his illusion, returning to his demon look. He quickly blocked their path, summoning his Demonic Goblins and Demonic Wolves to stop them.

 The adventurers stopped, their fearful look turned worse as they pale at the sight of him. The leading adventurer merely stared at him, gripping her sword tightly as she uttered, "D-de-demon," 

 He gave her a devillish smile before snapping his fingers, his monsters quickly head towards the hobgoblins. He merely walked towards them, causing them to raise their weapons.

 Even as they shake like leaves, they still remained strong. Oh, he like them, and he love to break them even more, turning them into mere sex slaves.

 "Do you think, you stand against a Greater Demon?" his question caused them to freeze before they all look at him more resolutely.

 "No, but at least we die trying," he was impressed. To think the leader could still back talk him. Oh, he would love break such strong spirit.

 "Oh, but I don't want you to die," he move fast, his swing tore the sword of the leader's hands. The two behind her, a mage and archer quickly launch their attack at him, a bolt of mana and arrows heading his way.

 He merely swipe it away before his tail coiled around the leader, a swordswoman. She struggled but her strength is not enough to break free out of his tail.

 "Release her!" the mage exclaim before firing another bolt of mana. He look with disinterest as he swipe it away, before putting the captured woman in front of him, letting her become his shield. 

 Realizing this, the archer and mage quickly ran behind him, hoping to find a place to fire without hurting the other woman. Unfortunately for them, he can easily place her around him, blocking their pathetic attempt.

 The two huffed in frustration. As he was about to continue playing with them, his goblins appeared and spoke to him, "Grwofh, grragh," he sighed before throwing the captured woman on the ground, causing her to clutch her arm.

 He then walked away, wanting to deal with more important things, namely, subduing the hobgoblins. 

-x-

 "Looks like you are strong as they say," he said with interest. Looking at the monsters in front of him, he could guess why the adventurers flee. While they might stand a chance against 1 or 2 hobgoblins, 15 is a stretch. Thankfully, he had sent out nearly one hundred of his two main monsters roster.

 Armed with better weapons, and ropes, plus a quick get away in the form of wolves, it was easy for them to surround and slowly worn down the green big creatures. 

 They are currently forced to kneel, growling as their hands were tied. While the monsters can easily break free, a single sign of it and they would lose their heads. Or his goblins told him.

 He was glad there are no different dialect in Goblinese or he would be screwed. He looked at his goblins and he began to speak once again. At the same time, Alros unleash his demonic aura, causing the hobgoblins to look at him in fear and awe.

 One thing he had learn is most weak monsters would follow stronger one, if the stronger one did not just kill them, that is. While demons is not considered a monster, instead being put in a class of their own, the monsters still follow demon if there is one, and it is strong.

 With how the hobgoblins lowered its head and whimpered, he knew he is consider strong. He put his hands and began to subdue them, one by one.

-x-

 After subduing the last of them, the hobgoblin spoke to him, "Grrweehgh, wrugh," 

 "Looks like there are more to claim, let's go," after all, there is a nearby village of goblins, with numbers up to 300, maybe even 400. There is no way he will not accept such spoils.

 "By the way, Gobruk," he call out his sole Greater Demonic Goblin, "make sure the prey did not escape, understood," the goblin nodded.

 He smiled. There is no way he would let the trio adventurers escape, could he.