Harbingers of Change

Chapter 12

While scouting teams mapped out the position of direwolves, Momonga curiously observed the goblins, ignoring the overall stench around him. Most still prostrated themselves before him and Albedo, despite having permission to stand. The elder was one of the few who stood up and assumed a bowing position while holding onto his staff.

For a moment, Momonga was unsure how to approach the whole situation and started asking questions he wanted to be answered, ultimately deciding to go with the otherworld explanation if goblins wonder why he is questioning them.

“I want to ask you a few questions if you don’t mind, elder?”

“I will try my best to answer your questions, o great one.”

“I am Momonga, Overlord of Nazarick. What is your name, elder?”

“I do not have one.”

“Why not? Is there some reason for it?”

“To name us monsters, one must spend his magical energy. Only my late son, Rigur, was blessed with a name by a powerful Majin.”

The old goblin was looking at him questioningly, as if he had to explain some common knowledge.

“We have arrived in this world only recently and I am not yet aware of local rules.”

That explanation did nothing to answer the goblin’s curiosity, who seemingly did not know what an otherworlder is. Not wanting to explain it further to the creatures, given that he himself barely understood the phenomenon, Momonga went on.

“So if I would want to name a monster, I would have to spend my magicule reserves?”

“Yes.”

“Interesting. Would naming a monster take the same amount of energy or depend on how strong the monster is?”

“I do not know, o great one.”

‘I will have to perform some experiments.’

“I am curious about another thing. How powerful are goblins compared to everything else?”

“Goblins are the lowliest of the low, my lord. We are very weak, unlike you, who radiates the power of a God.”

“You can sense my power?”

“All monsters can sense the auras of each other.”

If every single monster could read his power by the aura he emanated, it meant there was a need to hide it somehow. Momonga reached into his inventory, taking out a few identical rings with a dark gem on each and put one on. A vague sensation, similar to putting on a mask, hit him. It was not overly unpleasant, so there was no need to worry about it right now.

“Do you sense my power now, elder?”

“No, my lord, your aura is gone.”

So the ring worked. With a mental note of handing out these rings to Nazarick’s more powerful guardians, he handed one to Albedo, saying,

“Put this on. We have been careless in showing our power.”

The succubus took the ring, removed her plate gauntlet, and put it on her delicate finger with a smile.

“Thank you, Lord Momonga, for the gift.”

Her smile quickly faded once Momonga explained such rings would be handed out to everyone powerful enough. Her master had noticed and complimented her efforts a few times before and, as wonderful as it felt, she was not the only one complimented. The young Overseer hoped to one day receive something showing recognition of her status and dedication, but this was not the day.

“My lord, the direwolves are on the move again. They have been waiting for something before, but if I had to guess, the effect of you hiding your power has set whatever their plan is in motion.” Albedo suddenly reported.

That means these wolves were afraid of him. If nothing else, it assured him they were not overly strong.

Momonga and Albedo waited for an incoming attack at the side of the small village, with the goblins gathering some distance behind them, forming a defensive position.

To see the enormous wolves in person was a frightful sight, but luckily, his skeletal face didn’t show any expression. Not knowing if these beasts were intelligent or not, Momonga just stood silently and decided to test his Lord of Death skill. It was an amalgamation of all his previous death and undeath-related spells and abilities, including his favorite opening spell, Grasp Heart.

One wolf, larger than the others, stepped forward and eyed Momonga curiously for a moment, then let out a loud howl and charged.

The moment Momonga activated the Lord of Death, he could feel the life force of every single being around him in at least a four-kilometer radius. Like small flames, they flickered, waiting to be snuffed out. He instinctively felt he could just snuff them all out in a heartbeat. But for now, there was no need for it. Maybe these beasts would submit just as the goblins did once he executed the largest wolf.

With a practiced elegant motion, he stretched out his hand and twisted it into a fist as blood poured out of it. The charging wolf suddenly fell and his lifeless body tumbled forward for a while, until it stopped two meters from Momonga.

The direwolves froze, confused and frightened. To see their alpha just fall over dead was unexpected. Was the skeleton the powerful presence they felt before?

As both sides stood in silent contemplation on what to do next, Albedo stepped forwards and shouted.

“You are in the presence of Lord Momonga, beasts. Submit or be eradicated!”

He could have just stood and waited, but he knew better. Albedo would carry out her threat. There was another skill he wanted to test anyway, and this was the perfect opportunity. In the form of a dark wave, the Aura of Despair coming from his skill, Despair, engulfed both the goblins and the wolves. The proud and mighty beasts being pressed against the ground let out whines and whimpers.

{ We submit! We follow your rule, new alpha. } A united voice of the entire pack sounded loudly in Momonga’s mind.

Seemingly, even in its lowest amount, Despair had a devastating effect. Just this low dosage made these wolves scared half to death and caused the goblins to soil themselves and make the already not exactly pleasant smelling village even more disgusting.

There was a need to learn to use this aura on particular targets and not shower everyone indiscriminately in it. At least Albedo didn’t seem harmed, as the only sign of her being affected was her breathing being heavier.

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Gathering both groups in one spot wasn’t that hard. Just one hundred twelve goblins and eighty-nine wolves. Compared to most of Nazarick’s pop monsters, both creatures were rather weak and thus provided the perfect targets for naming experiments.

For now, the wolves were left alone as Momonga first wanted to deal with the goblins.

“Elder, I wish to test naming. Do you want to be named?”

The old goblins shook and cried, mumbling.

“It would be an honor, Lord Momonga.”

“Excellent.”

Now what to name him? Momonga was many things, but creative was not one of them. After a brief moment of thinking, he said,

“I will call you Rigurd, in honor of your late son.”

The old goblin suddenly grew taller and bulked up. His old and wrinkled face smoothed out and his almost bald head rapidly filled with thick silver-colored hair. Within a minute, the old and frail goblin had grown a full head taller and gained at least double his previous mass, now sporting a powerful, well-built body.

Once the transformation was completed, he dropped on one knee and spoke with a shaky voice.

“Thank you Lord Momonga, you have made me into more than I could have ever hoped or dreamt to be.”

Momonga’s Dark Sage assaulted his mind with new information right away. By naming Rigurd he had not only made him into a hobgoblin, which was a species superior to a goblin, but also added him to his Nazarick servant list. The amount of energy used was so minuscule compared to his monstrous magicule pool that it had regenerated even before he had said the word out loud. Basically, he could name goblins nonstop and never run out of magicules.

Now was the time to test the next thing. He turned to the goblin that he knew was Rigurd’s youngest son and used him for the next test. At this point, he didn’t even attempt to come up with anything new and just thought,

‘I name you Rigur.’

The much younger goblin went through the same transformation as his father, growing taller and more muscular. So he didn’t even need to say the word out loud. Just setting a clear intention in his mind worked.

“Albedo, wait here, I will be back in a minute.”

“Yes, Lord Momonga.”

Momonga teleported away and a second later, one goblin in the crowd went through the transformation. Before anyone could wonder what happened, the Overlord reappeared and said.

“Make orderly rows, I want to test another thing.”

“My lord, is it wise to name us all right away?”

“Do not worry, Rigurd, it takes less energy than I regenerate naturally.”

“You should know by now as a servant of a Supreme Being that Lord Momonga’s power is beyond understanding.” Albedo says. At first, she found it strange for a Supreme Being to bother with such disgusting worthless creatures, but a single name from her master made them much stronger and integrated them into Nazarick’s personnel list.

Once the goblins stood in orderly rows, he tried naming them semi-randomly by using Dark Sage. The first row of twenty goblins went through a transformation at the same time. And with even twenty times of energy spent, it still was less than he regenerated naturally.

Without worry, he did the same with the remaining goblins, making an entire tribe of hobgoblins and goblinas in less than ten minutes.

The taller and better built race was faced with an interesting problem right away. Their ragged clothing barely covered their bodies now. Women, in particular, caught his attention.

Satisfied with the results, he turned his attention to wolves.

“I need one of you to take the position of leader of this pack.”

One wolf, larger than most, stepped forward. Unlike his mono-colored brethren, he had lighter silver fur on his neck and paws, and his forehead was decorated with black fur in the form of a star. This creature brought back a memory, a happy memory from his childhood.

When he was five or six, there was a cartoon he watched together with his mother on weekends. It was about the adventures of a wolf named Ranga, who had lightning powers. If there was one time he truly hated his new passive emotion suppression, then it was this moment. Just as the happy memory filled his non-existent heart, the emotion faded, returning him to the usual tranquil state.

{ I will lead the pack for you, my lord. }

“Then I will call you Ranga, the Tempest Wolf.”

For the first time, he sensed an actual drain of energy. It was still a minor one, but unlike goblin naming, it took out enough for him to notice the energy regeneration. The entire wolf pack grew larger and gained a subtle shine to their furs. Ranga himself grew at least twice his previous size and in the middle of the star on his forehead, a single horn sprouted out. His appearance gave the illusion of tiny sparks dancing around the horn.

It was strange that the entire pack evolved at the same time, so Momonga had to ask,

“Ranga, is there some kind of connection between you and the other wolves?”

{ Yes, master, we are as one. My father, the previous alpha, had cut off this connection but I embrace it. We all are tempest wolves serving you. }

Momonga saw a lightning affinity in the new creatures, but there wasn’t any distinct skill yet to include in Nazarick. The newly formed tempest wolves also rivaled the low to mid-range pop monsters of Nazarick, with only Ranga rivaling the strongest monsters forming automatically within the great tomb. But it surely will be interesting to see how naming would affect Nazarick’s monsters.

“Ranga, Rigurd, from now on I expect no fighting between goblins and wolves. You will share this land to the best of your ability in my name.”

“Of course, my lord!” 

{ We will treat your servants as our own kind! }

“Excellent. Then Ranga, you will lead the tempest wolves, and Rigurd you will be the goblin lord responsible for…”

Another transformation! Rigurd grew even taller than before, now standing at the same height as Momonga, and growing even more muscular, looking like a green bodybuilder. With that came another revelation, not only names but also titles gave power to monsters.

Now he needed to give some basic tasks and plan the next steps. During this brief excursion, Nazarick had gained two new species on their personal list and, as an avid collector, Momonga had no plans to stop at just two.

Edited by Edgy.