I jogged over to the massive man-shaped creature walking with the other more minor Demons. The other demons were average-sized compared to me, but the Orc looked to be almost right feet tall.
"Hey, you! Big guy!" I called out, and the massive creature slowed down, turning large yellow eyes on me.
"Hello," was all the big guy said, but he gave me a smile about a foot wide.
"Well, you are quite the impressive-looking guy! Are there other Orcs that will be coming? I asked the monster of a man, but he shook his head.
"Only me. The others stay. This is home, but there is a new king, and he is strong! Grak is strong, so I want to fight him!"
"So, you like to fight, hey? But what if you lose?" I asked but then remembered what I was doing.
Before the big guy could answer, I turned back to my followers. I told the Gogs following me to get into the line of people and start heading to the beach.
The group shook their heads no, and I rolled my eyes but asked them to wait for a moment as I turned back around. I didn't think that this guy would become a problem, but he was big and wanted a fight.
"If I lose, I will be happy. If he loses, Grak king!" The Orc told me, flexing his arms as he did, and I nodded.
"Well, I am the new Demon Lord, but we don't have time to fight. I am sure that we will have plenty of time in the future for that. My name is Zack," I told the Orc, offering him my hand.
"You are a little man? I Grak, and I am bigger than you! Roaaar!!" Grak bellowed, tipping his head back, but I was already growing.
By the time the Orc brought his head back down, it was level with my waist. To his credit, Grak didn't step back, but he did look up at me with awe.
"Woah! You are a tricky little that uses magic!" Grak roared up at me and then tried to grab me by my leg.
It was less successful than if a child had tried to move me. I was about to scoop the Orc up, but both of us stopped at the sound of Nushi's voice yelling at me.
"Zack! This is not the time for messing around! You are blocking the path!" Nushi yelled up at me, and I grinned with a sigh and struck back down.
"You little man or big man?" Grak asked me as I shrunk back to my original size.
"I am the boss, man," I said with a grin as Nushi ran over to hug me.
The Demons we're starting to move again, but the Gogs we're still waiting behind me. I guess I would have to take them directly myself, but they all had to feel pretty lost.
"Grak, go to the beach, and the girls will find a place for you if you still want to join us," told the big guy that was still standing in front of us.
"Okay, Bossman!" Grak shouted, making passing Demons jump, and then the Orc started back to the beach where he had been heading.
Once he was gone, Nushi glared at me.
"I thought that you were going to mess around?!" Nushi scolded me, making me smile with an apologetic look.
"Sorry, I had never seen an Orc before, and it was a lot bigger than I assumed it would be. Then he called me a little man and said he wanted to fight me. I got big to prove a fast point, and then you showed up!" I explained, trying to soothe my beautiful Demoness.
"I see that you have the Gogs, but did you finish the rest of your business here?" Nushi questioned me, but I answered with a hail of kisses.
She tried to fight me off, but I already had my arms wrapped around her. Nushi finally stopped resisting and kissed me back, melting into my arms.
Once we finished, I set her down and nodded.
"Everything is done. The Sahuagin and Barracuda are doing well, and I have the Gogs. All that is left is getting everyone loaded up. How is that going? There seems to be an extremely large number of people heading to the beach," I said to Nushi.
"Most of them are just coming to say goodbyes or to see us off. The number of people that are actually joining us so far is less than twenty," Nushi explained, and I waved for the Gogs to follow us.
That surprised me, but I wasn't disappointed. I really didn't want to take the whole island, but I had thought that there would be more.
"I guess that it's a good thing that most of them are staying. Have all your grandmothers returned yet?" I asked Nushi as we walked towards the beach with the steady stream of Demons.
"Most of them are happy now that Doa is gone, and they don't want to go through any more strife. I can't blame them," Nushi said, and I agreed.
This trip would not be safe, and when we got to Gardania, things were only to worsen. It was best for most of them to stay, but I still wanted to give everyone a choice.
N0 v el Next. CoM
The Demons that walked with us all looked happy. I had a couple come up to me as we made our way to the beach.
"Thank you for getting rid of Doa!"
"Thanks to you, my daughter and I can come out of hiding!"
"Praise the Great Demon Lord, Zack!"
The praises and thanks picked up as we got closer to the beach, but people were starting to crowd around my group. I got worried that the Gogs were going to get trampled if people got any more excited, so I asked everyone to back up.
Everyone did as asked, and Nushi, Grak, and the Gogs followed me through the separating crowds. I was glad that the big guy followed us; I wanted to ask Grak why the other Orcs had chosen to stay behind.
????