Ruthless: Path of Conquest

James stared into the space where he imagined the Goblin King’s eyes were.

He still couldn’t see the figure, but since he held the Goblin King’s throat in his hand, he had a pretty good idea of where to look for eye contact.

It was fortunate that his senses were superhuman. Even if the Goblin King could create a convincing false version of himself, James could still feel the vibrations of the real figure’s footsteps on the ground. Could still sense the real Goblin King’s aura. And he could smell the sweat that ran down the Goblin King’s body in warm, sticky rivulets.

With his eyes shut, James could essentially ignore the illusion. Then he had the real opponent’s location pegged in an instant.

“I swear it,” the Goblin King said, his voice almost a croak as he spoke through his compressed throat. “You have our unconditional surrender. Please spare my people. I understand that my life is probably forfeit. I only ask that you allow me to give my brother’s body an honorable burial. The Goblin Race will serve you well, I promise you.”

He saw his brother die. That’s—wow. Shit. Did I overdo it? If someone had done that to James, he doubted he could get past it. He only had his sister, no brothers, but he couldn’t imagine the sheer rage that would possess him if something happened to Alice. An abstract tornado of fury. But the idea didn’t feel real. Thankfully, it was only imagination. At least for now. He still didn’t know what had happened to her…

“Very good,” James said, trying to keep his tone neutral for now. “Dispel your illusions, and I will dispel mine.”

The Goblin King hesitated, then spoke. “Yes, as you say. I did pledge my unconditional surrender.”

James heard him swallow. Then the air shimmered, and the Goblin King’s face came into view. His eyes were just where James had imagined, but they weren’t locked into the staring contest that James had envisioned when he tried to anticipate where the Goblin’s body would be. Instead, the Goblin King’s gaze was fixed on the ground. Clearly concerned with trying not to agitate the deadly human who had him by the throat. The figure would have been small even for a human, but he probably would have looked down relative to most of the Goblins who James had fought.

More than just the Goblin King came into view. Dozens of small tunnels appeared where James had only seen solid stone walls before.

Excellent illusions, he thought. He looked closer and saw the civilian Goblins again—and behind them, frightened children, trying to avoid James’s line of sight. James frowned. I have to reassure them.

He dissolved his own veil of illusion. The Goblin King’s face lit up instantly.

“How is it possible?” he murmured. His eyes returned to James’s face, and his look transformed into one of awe. “You spared them? Was it all a hallucination? Some sort of masterful illusion?”

James nodded. “I think I avoided killing any of them,” he said. “I tried, at least.”

He put the Goblin King down, and the little person stared up into James’s face with unmistakable gratitude.

“I will serve you forever,” the Goblin said. “You will never have cause to doubt my loyalty. Me and all my descendants are yours. Thank you for sparing us!”

No deception detected, James noted. Cross ‘Acquire Goblin army’ off my bucket list, then.

[Sufficient experience accrued. Blame Avoidance leveled up!]

[Sufficient experience accrued. Blame Avoidance leveled up!]

[Sufficient experience accrued. Blame Avoidance leveled up!]

[Sufficient experience accrued. Blame Avoidance leveled up!]

I don’t even know how that happened. Then James saw the other Goblins watching the interaction between him and the King, and he understood. They were all very upset at me for killing their kinfolk, and I completely dodged that bullet once they realized I just knocked them out. I really hope I didn’t actually kill any of them. He thought of the Goblin Knights that had died up in the tunnels with slight regret.

[Goblin King Duncan Lv. 24 surrendered. You gained 1200 exp!]

[You have successfully obtained the surrender of a Ruler. “Usurper” Title has been activated.]

Huh?

[Title “Ruler of the Low Places” has been obtained!]

[Existing Ruler Title detected!]

[Merging abilities of “Ruler of the Low Places” into “Ruler of the Dark Waters” Title.]

[Required conditions met. You acquired the Skill “Command Structure”!]

Well, I have no argument with that…

[Sufficient Experience accrued. Fisher King leveled up!]

[Sufficient Experience accrued. Fisher King leveled up!]

[Sufficient Experience accrued. Fisher King leveled up!]

[Sufficient Experience accrued. Fisher King leveled up!]

Fisher King? Not Predator in Human Skin, after all this fighting? Well, since I didn’t kill any of them—

So, it worked out well, master? Roscuro’s voice cut into his thoughts.

Extremely well, actually, James replied slightly reluctantly.

As expected. Fear is the way to master these creatures. Roscuro’s voice rang with satisfaction.

I suppose so. James was not quite happy with the looks of fear on the little Goblin children’s faces, but the Goblin King had not negotiated with him while possessing the Goblin Captain’s body, and had outright hidden from him with illusions when James arrived in the Goblins’ cavern. So he had handled this as nonviolently as he could, aside from just leaving the Goblins and Mole People alone. That seemed like a bad plan in itself.

I did the best I could, and I’m being appropriately rewarded. A thousand new comrades in my struggle to rebuild the world. If they would follow his rules, James had no issue accepting Goblins, Mole People, or any other monsters. They just had to understand that humans were friends to be protected, rather than prey or enemies to be fought. Unless instructed otherwise.

Goblins really aren’t so different from humans, he thought. Mole People either, probably. There is a tendency to behave badly when left alone. The purpose of government was to stop that. In the absence of the previous government, the only thing I can do is create an image so fearsome that they don’t dare defy the rules I lay out.

The civilian Goblins began to slowly emerge from their hiding places and gather around to get a better look at their new Ruler. The Mole People did the same.

Even some of the unconscious Goblins were beginning to wake up. Good, James thought. I won’t have to repeat myself. So many of the Goblins who are awake are paying attention to me. I imagine even the ones who are unconscious will hear what I’ve said repeated by others later.

“Your Majesty, by what name are we to call our new Ruler?” Another taller than average Goblin was speaking. Most of her physical attributes looked similar to the male Goblins, but by her voice and her face, James could tell that she was female.

Out of the corner of his eye, James caught movement. He turned and saw that Goblin King Duncan was moving toward the female Goblin while looking nervously back and forth between her and James.

Is he afraid that I’ll have some kind of a bad reaction to a regular Goblin speaking to me or something? Or maybe that Goblin female is his partner, and he’s just being protective, because there are any number of ways this interaction could turn sour.

James smiled reassuringly and introduced himself.

“I am called the Fisher King. My name is…”

—

“James! James is coming back up!” Alan’s voice rang through the air with obvious excitement.

Mitzi smiled in turn. “I’m glad he survived. Not that we thought it would go any other way, right? I recall you used the word ‘bloodbath’ to describe what would happen.”

“Well, I didn’t say whose blood,” Alan replied, “but I’m glad it was our guy who came out on top.”

“No doubts, then?” Mitzi asked.

“No doubts,” Alan said.

James floated into the light as everyone else outside gathered around the chasm in the ground. His Skin Balloon floated alongside two others that carried two different figures: a short but muscular humanoid creature with yellow-green skin who wore a slightly dinged up tin circlet around his head and a tall, well-muscled creature with long claws and a thick coat of black fur. The latter creature did not have eyes that Alan could see. Both gave him the creeps.

So, he didn’t wipe them all out, he thought. It was hard to be certain whether that was a good or a bad thing.

“Holy crap!” Dean’s voice floated over from close to the firm building, where Dean had withdrawn to wait out the extermination effort. He sounded intensely distressed. “What the fuck, man?! You brought the monsters up here?”

“It’s your lucky day, Dean!” James announced loudly. “I’m taking them off your hands.”

“You what?” Dean was almost yelling. “These are dangerous monsters. You should have let me gas them! They’ll kill you in your sleep.”

James just shook his head, then turned his focus to everyone else who was gathering at what they felt was a safe distance from the monsters next to James. There were more monsters, Alan noted, slowly climbing up the chasm walls. More of those Mole People, and on their backs, more of the strange yellow-green figures that had apparently also been living under the firm building.

Identify. Alan was at least going to understand what they were dealing with in these yellow-green people.

Goblin Overlord Duncan, Lv. 24

He aimed a second Identify at the Mole Person.

Mole Lord Magnar, Lv. 20

These are strong monsters, James, he thought. I hope you know what you’re doing.

“Meet my new friends,” James said, turning to the gathered people, most of whom were on the opposite side of the fissure relative to Dean. He continued to project his voice so he could be heard by all. “They are the leaders of two species of creatures. The Goblins and the Mole People respectively. Both of them wish to live in peace with humans. They and their people have agreed to follow the same laws as we do. They will be accompanying me back to the Fisher Kingdom. Both of them will serve as councilors to me as representatives of their species, alongside select humans. We will be leaving here, so there is nothing for any of you to fear from the Mole People or the Goblins.”

Alan heard some barely distinct murmurs from his sides. People saying things like, “I didn’t even know we had anything to fear from Goblins in the first place,” and “Easy for him to say. They’re following him for now.”

There was a slight but real atmosphere of apprehension. The others gathered here were still not comfortable about sharing their world with monsters. Or perhaps they weren’t certain of how they felt.

Alan had seen and heard some strange things in the last several weeks. Monsters eating people. Humans sacrificing other humans to an occult god. But also a whole pack of monstrous wolves following and obeying James. The man had also left the wolves behind in his Fisher Kingdom as protection for his family. He had an absolute faith in the strength of his control over these creatures that Alan found compelling in its own right.

James continued addressing the crowd. “I am also open to bringing others.”

Someone in the crowd barked out a short laugh, but James seemed to ignore it.

“The monsters in the neighboring areas will find this place eventually,” he said. “The Goblin standing next to me was previously a Ruler. That’s a kind of high level life form. Now that he has surrendered to me, his aura will dissipate from this area. That means another creature or person with the power of a Ruler can come in and take its place. I’ve removed the potential for you to be attacked by the Goblins or the Mole People, but there will be other threats. Less agreeable species of sentient life. Or other humans who aren’t as friendly as I am. This place won’t ever really be settled or safe until it’s part of a Ruler’s territory.”

“Why can’t you make it your territory?” a woman’s voice asked.

“I could temporarily do that, but my aura signature would fade over time. There’s really no point in doing it now. The former Ruler of the Goblins’ aura is still here. And I won’t come back to this place just to periodically sprinkle my aura. It’s too far away from where I live. It would become a full time job, and I have to save my power to use in my own actual territory.”

There were murmurs of concern from within the crowd.

“Which is why I am happy to take people to the Fisher Kingdom if they want to go now. With some limitations, I will accept almost anyone.”

“Not us, then.” Viktor’s voice was recognizable even from the opposite end of the chasm relative to Alan. He wasn’t even visible from this angle, hidden behind other people. Alan found himself glad of the distance between them. The convict spoke in a resentful tone.

“For you and your colleague,” James said, looking toward where Viktor must be, “I would want to have a separate conversation. Discuss things privately. I’m not discounting any possibility right now.” Settle down. That was what Alan read in James’s voice. A note of warning.

Alan suspected that James would accept just about anyone into the Fisher Kingdom who was willing to take his loyalty oath—but he doubted that would be the only condition for these two men. He probably has some sort of monster he can attach to them that would kill them if they disobey him or something. Arguably a perfect way to deal with criminals. The prison system was never an ideal method.

But Viktor was shaking his head anyway. “I don’t need to go with you. I have people here. We’ll defend ourselves, thank you.”

“A very respectable position,” James replied, shrugging. The monsters were coming up out of the pit now, so he raised his voice again to be heard over the sounds of their scrabbling up the stone and dirt. “Does anyone else want to come with me?”

Even as people backed away from where the creatures were emerging from, hands went up. Around half of them by Alan’s count.

He looked at Dean. The man was clearly devastated. His community was already being ripped apart. Only the worst elements would remain—though Alan saw Olivar, the other convict, was raising his hand to go with James.

Well, at least he didn’t seem as bad as the other fellow. Hopefully James actually has a plan for this “separate conversation” he mentioned.

Alan approached Dean. This might be the last time the two men saw each other, but Alan didn’t want that. He was afraid of what would happen to Dean if they left him behind. Even though James had conspicuously turned his back to Dean during his pitch, Alan felt certain he would not object to bringing Dean into the Fisher Kingdom.

“Dean, are you going to go with us?” Alan asked.

“What, so you guys are leaving with him too?” Dean sounded affronted.

“He’s right,” Alan said. “About everything he said. Nothing was untrue. We’ve been on this adventure with him. All throughout the trip here, we avoided areas that were coming under the control of monsters of every stripe. This isn’t made up. I think if you stay here—well, I think you might die. Now is no time to be proud.”

“No, it’s apparently the time to bend the knee to tyranny,” Dean replied. He raised a hand to stop Alan from disputing. “I know, I know, he’s not a tyrant, right? He just gave himself the authority of a tyrant, the regal title, and is going around telling everyone what to do as part of an elaborate role playing game you’re all in on.”

Alan sighed. Dean wasn’t completely wrong. “I don’t think he’s going down that road,” he said softly, “but if he does, it’s the job of the people around him to head him off. Lead him in a different direction. Or, if necessary, stop him. What makes a man a tyrant? Is it just that he wants other people to call him King? I’ve come away from your little community with the distinct impression that everyone here understands that you’re the leader here yourself. How are you so different?”

Dean sputtered. “D-democracy! People have chosen to work with me. I don’t have any titles either. No one has to kneel and bow—”

“No one has bowed before James in my presence, either,” Alan said. “Maybe that’s because, just like you, he knows how far to push this and doesn’t press any further. People have dignity, and he doesn’t trample on that. He doesn’t actually think he has magic blood. Are you really going to stay here, with your numbers reduced, and monsters surrounding, out of pride?”

“Don’t call it pride,” Dean said. “It’s independence. We’ll manage. You watch. He’ll become a tyrant even if you don’t think he is one already. And we’ll be here. Free.”

How can you think that about him? You knew him before all this. Alan knew he had his own doubts about James as a monarch, but Dean’s feelings seemed to go beyond rational doubt. Suddenly it became clear that no argument could persuade him.

“I hope you’re right,” Alan said. He extended his hand, and after a long pause, Dean shook it.

“I am,” Dean said. His voice was almost friendly again. “After you get tired of King James, maybe you’ll come and join us.”

I hope you and your family survive this somehow, Alan thought as he turned and walked back toward Mitzi and the others. Pride is a hell of a thing to die for.