The Test

I looked over the kaiju people trying to determine who was the leader until one of them, an old-looking Kaiju holding a staff and wearing a long overcoat, walked over to us.

"I am the leader of this tribe. my name is Frijin. tell me, why has a demon lord come to our tribe?" Frijin asked

"I heard from one of my people that a kaiju attacked them. I took it upon myself to find your race and tribe so that I may determine whether to not you people are hostile to everyone." I said

Frijin sighed "I may know who you are speaking of, but I believe we should discuss this somewhere else. my hut is right this way." he said then he led us through his little village and to his big hut

I turned to the maidens "Stand guard. if it looks like they are about to attack, don't hesitate." I ordered and the maidens bowed as I entered the hut

Frijin put his staff off to the side as he sat on the ground "Please sit. I am sure we have much to talk about." he said

"I prefer to stand."

"As you wish." Frijin said then he reached over into a bag sitting off to the side and pulled out a broken horn which he placed in front of him "This horn belonged to a member of our tribe who left a few days. his name was Wargo, and he desired nothing more than to take revenge on the humans for what they had done to us. many of us tried to stop him, to tell him it wasn't worth it but he wouldn't listen."

Frijin sighed "So we tried using force to stop him. that is how we got his horn, but we were unable to prevent him from leaving. I apologize on his behalf for any trouble he may have caused your people."

"Hm, you said he wanted revenge. what have the humans done to you?" I asked

"What haven't they done to us?! our race was once very large, large enough to rival the number of humans. we even had a much bigger village than this. we kaiju kept to ourselves. we never bothered the humans, nor hurt them. the only time we did was when they entered our territories. one day the humans just began hunting us down. they destroyed our village, took our lands, and murdered anyone they could get their hands on, even the children." Frijin explained

Frijin then shook his head slowly "We tried to fight back, but they were ruthless and they had armor and weapons we had never seen before. we had no choice but to run and survive. we eventually made it deep into these woods where we began rebuilding."

I thought for a moment "Why did you not follow in Wargo's footsteps?" I asked

"You saw the state of our village, of our people. w have decided it was best we did not attract attention to ourselves, or else we risk being hunted down by the humans again." Frijin said

"Do you still resent the humans for what they have done?"

Frijin sighed "truthfully, I hate the humans more than anything. I watched as they cut down our own families without a second thought. my sister was one of those people as well. she was a warrior who joined the others to fight back against the humans, when the order to retreat was issued she tried to help me run away but ended up sacrificing herself to ensure my safety."

A tear ran down Frijin's cheek "I watched as she was overrun, the humans surrounded her and cut her down. I can still remember her screams as I ran away like a coward."

I nodded "What if I told you there is a way to get revenge on the humans for what they've done?"

"What do you mean?" Frijin asked

"I did not come here to simply confront you about Wargo. I have come to see if you were worthy of joining my army." I said

"Worthy of joining you? tell me, what would you have done if we weren't worthy?" Frijin asked

"Nothing. you do not need to worry, I am not someone who will kill others just for denying my request. unless they were plotting against me that is." I said and Frijin seemed to relax "I will give you this, I can give you a better place to live, food, and protection from humans and monsters. all I ask is your strength and undying loyalty to me." I said

"Protection? food? and a better place to live? and all we have to do is obey you?" Frijin asked

I nodded "if you need time to think about I will give it to you, but don't wait too long. my time is not made to waste." I said then I left the hut "Follow me." I ordered the maids

We walked away from the village and stood just outside of it when Zoe walked to me "Permission to speak, master." she said

"Granted."

"Are we sure they will accept your offer to join?" Zoe asked

"They will. they would be fools to deny my offer of protection and food. but as I told Celia, if they deny my offer I want you to do nothing. understood?" I said

Zoe bowed "Yes, lord Arzo."

After waiting a couple of minutes, Frijin and the rest of the kaiju's came walking to me

I turned to them "Have you made your decision?"

Frijin nodded then he and the other kaiju's got down on their hands and knees and bowed their heads "We swear our undying loyalty to you, Demon lord Arzo." he said

I clapped my hands together "Excellent, then I will transport all of us to the castle immediately." I said

Frijin stood back up "Lord Arzo, will you give us time to gather out things before we depart?" he asked

"Very well."

"Thank you." Frijin said then he and the other kaiju's walked back to the village

I turned to Zoe "Zoe, remain here until the kaiju's have gathered all they need. when the time comes to transport them, contact me and I will send some mages." I said

Zoe bowed "Yes, master."

"Celia, we will go back to the castle." I said and see bowed as I raised my staff "Transport." I said teleporting both of us back to the castle.

Rinako stepped to me and bowed "Welcomed back, my lord. did the meeting with the kaiju go well?" she asked

I nodded "Yes, we shall expect them to come here soon. has anyone issued a request too large?" I asked

Rinako shook her head "No, master. everyone's request has been within the limit you had set. though, I believe Tokod's request was close." she said

I sighed "What did he do?"

"He requested to help protect the druids as they searched for exotic plants. I suspect that what he really wanted was to search for other monsters to fight." Rinako said

Celia shook her head "That idiotic demon. he had better not have done anything that would trouble lord Arzo." she said

"If he has done something then I will deal with both him and the problem. for now, we will leave it alone." I said as I walked to my throne and sat down "If I'm correct, Zoe will contact me any moment now." I said

I suddenly heard a beeping sound so I held out my hand and instead of Zoe it was Perylua who appeared "Perylua? I wasn't expecting you to contact me." I said

"I know. I wanted to make it a surprise so I asked Rinako way earlier to tell me what you were doing at the moment and timed it perfectly." Perylua said then she giggled "I'm so sneaky."

"You told me you were going to wait until lord Arzo was done with his business to contact him, and told me not to tell him you called. did you really use me for your childish prank?" Rinako asked

"Yep!"

"Unbelievable." Rinako said clearly annoyed

"Enough." I said then I turned back to Perylua "This call had better be important, Perylua. I won't be happy if you just called to waste time."

"Of course it's important, Arzy. I would never have called otherwise." Perylua said "So basically I was playing with my new friend, Issac. when he was suddenly taken away by these people, I didn't know who they were and I forgot to ask before I made them disappear. then when I got to the throne room I saw these hodded people walking out of there. I wasn't able to get there early enough to hear what they were talking about. and that's all." she explained

I thought for a moment but nodded "Thank you, Perylua. you have been doing an excellent job." I said

Perylua gasped "Arzy praised me! does this mean I get some of that special candy to?!" she asked

I sighed "Fine, I'll give you some special candy. but only if you keep doing your job." I said

Perylua saluted "Yes sir!" she said then she disappeared

As soon as Perylua disappeared I got another beep so I held out my hand again and Zoe appeared this time "Zoe, are the kaiju's ready to join my castle?" I asked

Zoe nodded "Yes, my lord. they have gathered everything they need and are ready to be transported." she said

I looked at Celia "Celia, have some mages transport them to the castle. I will prepare the room." I said standing up

Celia bowed "As you wish." she said then she walked through the doors and left

I walked through the door's shortly after her while Rinako followed and we both arrived at the beastmen's room

I tapped my staff on the ground getting the attention of every beastman and woman in the room "Beastmen, I have come to expand your room a bit." I said

Ko raised her hand "May I ask why, lord Arzo?"

"New monsters will be joining our castle, and I have decided that your room will be the perfect place to have them live. it is better than expending energy to create a whole new room for them." I said

"What are these new monsters called?" Najus asked

"They are called kaiju, and I expect you to get along with them. if anyone has any complaints about the kaiju in the future then you may address them to me or Rinako, understood?" I said and every beastman bowed and nodded

I raised my staff to the sky as it glowed brightly then I made the whole room glow as I made the land grow longer and longer until it looked as big as a continent itself. after that was done I felt a bit dizzy and wobbly and Rinako must have noticed this as she helped me stay up by having me hold onto her.

"Are you alright, my lord?" Rinako asked

I shook my dizzyness away "I am fine, it just took a bit more power than expected. I will recover." I said then I stood straight back up "I must go tell Celia and Zoe to bring the kaiju's inside to their new room. come, RInako." I said then we left the room

I walked through the doors and went outside to find both the maidens and the kaiju's along with a few mages

"Zoe." I said getting her attention "Move the kaiju to the beastmen's room. once they have been moved there, I want you to assemble the golems and gather materials for them to build their own homes." I said

Zoe bowed "It will be done." she said then she had the kaiju's follow her into the castle

I waited until all of the kaiju's had entered the castle before going back inside myself and returning to my throne room with Rinako.

"Now that that's done, we should deal with the strange hooded people Perylua saw as well as the people who tried to take the prince of the humans. if we find out about the hodded people then maybe we'll learn about them as well." I said as I walked to my throne and sat down while Rinako joined my side.

"Shall I retrieve Alastor, master?" Rinako asked

"Not this time. we need someone who is good at tracking and is fast enough to get information from the and back to me." I said

"Then, shall I recommend Seiko the kitsune beastman?" Rinako said

"Yes, that could work. bring her in." I said

Rinako bowed then she left the room and came back after a few minutes with an orange-haired man with fox ears who wore a large Japanese-styled black and green yukata with one arm through a sleeve and the other sleeve hanging down, he also had three white fox tails with the tips also being orange. and just with the others as soon as I saw him I had memories rush into my head.

Seiko bowed "My lord, how may I serve you?" he asked

"I have a special mission for you, Seiko. one that will require your expert skills in stealth and recognisance." I said

"It has been some time since I've used my skills in the field." Seiko said

"I trust you haven't gotten rusty." I said

"No. I have been training on my own, waiting for the day my skills would be needed again. and I am glad that day has finally come where I can be useful to you." Seiko said

"Excellent. The mission is simple. I want you to go meet with Perylua and she will describe the people I want you to find. when you have found anything about them I want you to report to me as soon as possible, understood?" I said

Seiko nodded "I shall not disappoint you, lord Arzo." he said then he turned into a three-tailed fox and ran out the door.

"With Seiko searching for the people, we should expect news soon. for now, we will wait." I said

Just then, Tokod came bursting through the doors and skid to a stop just at the stairs leading to my throne.

"Lord Arzo!" Tokod said

Before I had a chance to say anything Rinako stepped up "Tokod! you had better have a good reason for barging into his lordship's throne room unannounced!" she said

"Trust me, I do. I wouldn't come barging in here if I didn't." Tokod said

"That's a lie and you know it."

"True, but this is actually important."

"Rinako, please." I said making Rinako step back "Tokod, you can speak now."

"Thank you. I was going to ask about that new race you added to the castle." Tokod said

"The kaiju's? what about them?" I asked

"Have you tested their might yet?" Tokod asked

"Tested their might?"

"Yeah, like see just how strong they are. you must see if they can handle themselves in a fight." Tokod said

"I am not sure if that is necessary." I said

"But it is, my lord. each race has contributed something to the castle to make your might stronger. we can not just have this new race live here and do nothing." Tokod explained

Rinako turned to me "I must admit, master. Tokod does make a good point. we must know just how strong these kaiju are." she said

I looked at her then Tokod 'great, what am I going to do? I don't want to end up hurting the kaiju warrior, but I can't just deny something like this. the kaiju do need to be tested. wait...what if I play this card.' I thought

I stood up "Very well, we will test the kaiju." I said

Tokod cracked his knuckles "I will gladly volunteer to test the kaiju." he said

"No, you won't fight them, Tokod. we will have someone else." I said

"Wha-."

"Tokod! don't even start. we do not question our lord's decision, understood?" Rinako said giving him a very obvious death glare

Tokod sighed "Fine. then who will fight them, lord Arzo?" he asked

"I believe the giant warrior Orlong will do." I said then I turned to Rinako "Rinako, go and retrieve Orlong and have him move to the colosseum." I ordered

Rinako bowed "Yes, master." she said then she left.

"Tokod, since you won't be doing anything soon. go and retrieve the strongest warrior from the kaiju's and have them go to the colosseum." I said

Tokod bowed "As you wish." he said then he to left.

I teleported myself to the colosseum which had been repaired after Tokod's fight with that human warrior. I floated to the top where my throne was still sitting and sat down. it wasn't long till Orlong was teleported into the colosseum via a teleportation circle on the ground. Orlong was a giant who easily reached the height of where I was on my throne and then some. he wore an eyepatch on his right eye and an open green shirt which clearly showed his chest, he also wore long green pants and had a massive hammer.

Orlong bowed to me "Lord Arzo, it has been too long friend. to think that when you call on me it is to fight a new race. I would be lying if I said I wasn't worried about disappointing you." he said

"Do not worry, Orlong. it doesn't matter if you win or lose. I just want you to go all out on the kaiju, but be sure you don't kill them." I said

"Thank you, my lord. that makes me feel a lot better." Orlong said

Then another magic circle appeared as did Tokod and a kaiju. This kaiju had two normal horns \. he wore a sleeveless shirt and normal gray pants. his skin was purple as well.

Tokod stepped to me "Lord Arzo, I brought who the kaiju's called their strongest warrior." he said

I nodded then I looked to the kaiju "Tell me, what is your name?" I asked

The kaiju kneeled "My name is Storjin, lord Arzo." he said

"Storjin, do you consider yourself to be the strongest of your race?" I asked

"I do. after Wargo left the village, I was chosen to be the next warrior." Storjin said

"I see, if your own people consider you as the strongest warrior then you will do for this test." I said

"May I ask, what kind of test?" Storjin asked

"You are to fight Orlong, my giant warrior."

Storjin looked at Orlong "I see, then I hope I don't disappoint." he said then he stood back up

Rinako and Tokod both joined my side. Tokod sat on the edge while RInako stood next to me

"You may begin when ready." I said

Storjin immediately got into a fighting pose while Orlong simply walked to him

Orlong smirked "You know what, as the new guy I'll let you strike first." he said as he continued to walked

"Very well." Storjin said then he ran and jumped at him but when he threw a punch Orlong used his hammer to block it but when it connected it caused a huge gust of wind to fly out

'he certainly does have power to him, but is it enough to defeat Orlong.' I thought

Orlong knocked him away then he swung his hammer down to try to smash Storjin but when the hammer smacked the ground it appeared that Storjin was lifting it up.

"Oh? you're stronger than I thought. I can certainly see someone like you being useful to our Lord, but I doubt you're strong enough to take me on." Orlong said then he lifted his hammer up and swung it around knocking Storjin away but he didn't hit him hard enough to knock him into the wall.

Storjin seemed to struggle to stand back up but he did "I thank you for the praise, but I assure you that I will be the victor of this battle." he said

Storjin ran at Orlong again so Orlong lifted his hammer and swung at him on his left, but instead of dodging it Storjin opened his arms and caught the hammer and dug into the ground stopping the hammer which impressed even me.

Orlong chuckled "Color me impressed. but, what will you do about my second one?" he said then he moved his hammer back and swung it at Storjin again.

Storjin pulled his fist back then he punched the hammer which ended up knocking it back.

'He deflected it? he did it without a weapon as well. I should look into that.' I thought

Orlong swung his hammer backward then at Storjin who punched the hammer again and deflected it. they kept this up multiple strike and deflection for a while, but it seemed that Storjin was losing ground to Orlong.

"You've done well at defending yourself from my hammer, but we shouldn't keep our master waiting any longer. it's time I give you the full power of my hammer." Orlong said then he swung his hammer back as it began glowing

"Impact strike!" Orlong shouted as he swung his hammer at blinding speed and also with strength that Storjin wasn't to take nor deflect so he went flying into the wall of the colosseum.

When I looked over at Storjin I saw that he had fallen unconscious inside of a hole in the wall so I clapped my hands together getting Orlong's attention

"That is enough, Orlong. this fight is over." I said as I stood up and Orlong bowed then I turned to Rinako "Rinako, please bring Storjin to the middle of the colosseum. I'll take care of healing him."

"Yes, my lord." Rinako said then she began walking to the hole Storjin was in while I floated down to the ground. it wasn't long until Rinako brought Stojin to the middle and laid him down in front of me.

"Heal." I said healing his wounds. Storjin woke up and slowly sat up and when he turned to me and immediately kneeled

"Lord Arzo, I am so sorry for my loss! please have mercy on me!" Storjin said

"Storjin, raise your head." I said and Storjin did as told "I understand you are new to serving a master, let alone a demon lord. but you must understand that I have no intention of punishing you for losing, this was a mere test to see just how strong you are. in my eyes, your performance was perfect."

Srotjin gasped "T-thank you, lord Arzo."

"That being said, I have noticed that you are still inexperienced in ways of combat. so to deal with this we'll have some of your people train under one of our more experienced warriors." I said

"Hm? who do you recommend?" Storjin asked

I thought for a moment "I choose, Najus. he is strong and has a lot of battle experience. he will be perfect for training your people." I said then I made a paper appear detailing Naju's job as I turned to Tokod "Tokod, deliver this paper to Najus."

Tokod jumped down and took the paper "Very well." he said then he teleported out of the colosseum

I turned back to Storjin "You may return to your room and inform the others of their soon training. I will let your people choose who will be trained." I said and Storjin nodded then he stood up and teleported away.

"I shall also take my leave, lord Arzo." Orlong said then he teleported away

"Come, RInako. let us return to my throne." I said

Rinako bowed "Yes, lord Arzo." she said then he teleported out of the colosseum and back to the throne room.