After being told that by Alexis the legendary [Nine-Tailed Fox] everyone just kind of… Stood there awkwardly in the doorway.

What should they do now? There was no way they could kill Alexis even if they wanted to yet there was a distinct lack of ‘Elizabeth Jr. charging forward with shit eating grin’ which usually meant there wouldn’t be a fight. They could kill all the goblins however that too felt a bit iffy since other than being killed by Promicarus they hadn’t really done much. Sure, they went all hentai on Alexis, yet she didn’t seem too bothered by the fact. 

Randomly murdering goblins (even if they were adventurers) felt a little wrong when they were not only heading towards a goblin country but partied with a goblin half-blood. Even if Fuka didn’t raise a voice in support of the goblins she also wasn’t exactly getting ready to begin chopping at the sleeping goblins. Not only that but they needed to wait for that dumb Demon to get back from whatever she was doing so they couldn’t exactly lead… Plus no way Eel Jr. wouldn’t start a fight after knowing they were set up so nobody was thinking of going on ahead without Promicarus who accounted for at least ⅓ of their war potential.

As for the other two thirds, ⅓  was allotted to Eel then ⅑ to Lyada with the last fractions going to their resident supporter. The reasoning for the first two thirds was easily explained as both the prideful girls were without monsters even if one didn’t consider their ages putting them firmly in the ‘just started to develop’ section of development. Lyada got ⅑ due to not being as insanely overpowered as the two shorties yet still being very strong in a one on one engagement making her class of duelist proud… Though making use of illusions like she did probably counted as cheating. 

Either way the last two ninths went to Emily since, although she wasn’t a direct attacker, she was able to make anyone way more intimidating. Sadly Fuka didn’t make the cut due to being fully defensive based - she helped in a fight but she couldn’t directly affect how quickly something died. It could be said that Emily was also weakened due to the world around her constantly spinning which greatly impacted her ability to use magic. The weakness of being a succubus clearly reared its head today.

As for Alexis, hoping that she would pick up some conversation was a complete lost cause, she must have spent at least a decade here all alone with these goblins. None of them could say it for sure nevertheless they all imagined goblins weren’t the best conversationalists around so the mature fox was likely used to silence by now. Meanwhile on their side Lyada wasn’t to be relied on for anything but thrusting, Emily was currently shaking away her sleepiness and thus only the little dragon or half-gob were left.

Looking between the two it was the proud 5 foot leader who rose to the challenge.

“So~ what were those ogre’s about if you had the tribe under control and all?” <Eel>

“Oh~ those fellows? Well, although I’ve managed to produce quite a lot of food through a ritual to enhance the growth of plants… I didn’t expect things to take so long so I wasn't prepared for something as large as them. With that in mind I’ve been sending those that evolve towards the {Voluptas Theocracy} where I lived. 

Usually there is a hobgoblin or a few to help manage them on the journey yet this time none evolved down that root. Instead we got a few trolls who are likely even simpler creatures if less aggressive. I do hope they manage to reach the Theocracy alright… Well the border between the forest & kingdom should be somewhat peaceful so I imagine there aren't many people watching there~.” <Alexis>

“Oops…” <Eel>

Wisely Fuka decided not to bring up Elizabeth Jr.’s reaction to the fox’s worries (since she already knew fine well that at least two of those ogre’s wouldn’t make it). Instead she found more interest in the subtle information from the Fox’s comments on the state of affairs - the border between {Evergreen Forest} & {Orrid Empire} clearly being anything but peaceful showed that her information is ‘slightly’ outdated. As such the curious gobo decided to ask a few questions to poke some holes into how much the fox knew; the way she decided to do this was by subtly seeing what the fox knew about the key events in {Goberz Kingdom} history.  

If one of them happened to be an elf who knew about the famous {Greenwood} or this {Voluptas Theocracy} it would be easier since the fox would clearly know more about that. Yet they only had goblins & beasts. Luckily the woman seemed to get along rather well with the little green people.

Finally all her knowledge about the woman running the hobgoblin’s country will come in useful. Although she didn’t particularly get along with her family in the past she still worried about them so knew quite a bit about the country they were in. By subtly bringing up those events in conversation she would figure out how long the fox has been trapped in this church for!

First of all to create interest through a shared topic…

“So why’d ya not send those ogre’s to {Goberz Kingdom}?” <Fuka>

“Sorry~ where is that kingdom, I’ve never heard of it~?” <Alexis>

... Fuka doubled over and spat out a mouthful of blood from her helm. 

Meanwhile Eel who didn’t care about these ‘pointless details’ missed what that lack of knowledge actually meant. She just found it amusing that her elder didn’t know about something she did. However Eel, being the amazing girl she was, put her hand on her chest with a pride-filled shit-eating smirk upon her handsome little face. Her actions were of course filled with regal splendour.

“Ah~ that’s a country run by women with a primary hobgoblin population up north of {Moolesh Mountain Range} senior Alexis fufufu~!” <Eel>

“Oh~ I see, those goblin tribes managed to rebuild a little bit of what was lost while being guided by our principles? That certainly is good as I was worried about that. Although it makes me glad it’s strange they went back to being female dominated unlike Orrid ohohoho~!” <Alexis>

The recovered Fuka couldn’t help but blink a few times as the two 9 tailed creatures talked between themselves. Something about their conversation seemed so… So mirrored yet not similar enough for her to immediately put her finger on it. Deciding it wasn’t important she shook her head while continuing to ask about what interested her.

“So the goblin tribes used to be part of that theocracy of yours?” <Fuka>

“Hm~ not quite… Rather it’s more accurate to say everything from beaches of the {Voluptas Theocracy} to the {Moolesh Mountain Range} used to be ours ohohoho~! 

Sadly some nasty god of light claimed the land right in the middle of our theocracy due to the limits placed on our own goddess. By blessing certain males - including a [Drake] - with powerful magic he basically raised some rebels that demanded we give them the land they were born on. Since whether we rule the land or not doesn’t matter to us as a religion of dreams we conceded. To us it just seemed like a new god and his believers desperate for some territory to receive belief thus we simply got their promises to take care of the people.

We didn’t know the cruelty of their god at that time so unfortunately our mercy to the god ended up being our cruelty to the people. Shows how you can never trust a [Drake] since they almost immediately began to attack everything not human while their nobles treated women slightly better than high-class slaves. Since {The 8 High Priestess’ of Voluptas} and such were on the other side of the continent it was too late to do anything by the time we knew. Though one could say our god at least got the last laugh in regard to the fact that she decided their name they received with her ability over the consciousness ohohoho~!” <Alexis>

And with that Fuka felt lightheaded as she couldn’t help walking to put her back up against a wall to support herself. Using that wall as support the paladin slowly began to think through the words that came from the fox. To say they were surprising was an understatement; even shocking wasn’t enough. For someone who lived on the streets of the {Orrid Empire} all her life it was nothing short of world shattering… Two of three people talking once again didn’t seem to really notice anything major while Fuka was left to suffer alone.

“Hm~ who are {The 8 High Priestess’ of Volutpas}, they must be pretty strong to take out that Drake right~?” <Eel>

As can be expected Eel held her usual smirk. Furthermore for some reason Fuka who was looking between the two remaining fighters in this surprisingly brutal discussion (for Fuka’s mental health) could only imagine that graceful woman having the exact same expression. It was just something about the two that seemed so… Similar.

“Oh~ they are very strong ohohoho~! As for… The remaining members are of course 6 since I was supposed to be the 8th after an incubus left the post due to ‘complications’ that lead to a fear of women. There is obviously {Bucucuss the Succubus}, {Ambac the Dwarf}, {Kl’ru the Drow}, {Kesh the Blood-Wolf}, {Cummies the Cum-girl} and lastly the violent old bitch {Malibu the Oni} or technically {Kijin}. If she was awake, whether it be that [Drake] or {God of Light}, they wouldn’t have dared try anything at all since she wouldn’t just get annoyed and destroy the entire country just like her old masters taught her ohohoho~!” <Alexis>

“Why does that Kesh sound so familiar…” <Fuka>

“Hm~ well you probably heard about one of her descendents as they’ve likely all had quite a few more since the time I was around ohohoho~!” <Alexis>

“Oh~ that makes sense fufufu~!” <Eel>

“Something is really bothering me…” <Fuka>

“Oh~ what is it~?” <Alexis>

“Hm~ I could always help as your excellent leader~!” <Eel>

Like that it was as if a bolt of lightning shot through her brain and a divine entity gave her enlightenment because Fuka finally figured it out. Standing straight up again with renewed vigour as she slammed her metal fist into an open palm. Her voice rang out clearly and likely louder than she’d want.

“I get it now! It’s all in the way you two speak, that’s what's wrong!” <Fuka>

“Oh~ what’s wrong with how we speak ohohoho?” <Alexis> 
“Oh~ what’s wrong with how we speak fufufu~?” <Eel>

“Is it a race thing I wonder… It’s nothing.” <Fuka>

The slightly amazed Fuka just looked between the two with clear amazement.

“Hm~ so what an Oni and Cum-girl~?” <Eel>

At that question the aura of the room instantly changed which made Eel’s team (excluding herself) straightened and prepared for combat until they realised who it came from. This aura clearly was coming from the [Nine-Tailed Fox] in front of them however it was one they all recognised. The Nine tails lifted up as the hair on them seemed to stand on end while a mixture of hunger & excitement radiated from Alexis.

“Well cum-girl is just what we named the evolved [Slime] that got generated by chance during a several day long orgy in what was once our territory but now the capital of Orrid. Slimes can be randomly formed from a high concentration of mana infusing into any liquid… Just so happened it was cum. That slime we kept as a pet eventually evolved till becoming stronger than a [Slime-Girl] made from cum likely ever should… As for what an oni is…” <Alexis>

She paused as the sound of her licking her lips was the only thing that could be heard (except for the heavily snoring gobo’s).

“Heh~ they’re our, the [Nine-Tailed Foxes], greatest rival and ally~! While we focus on one's ability with skills they focus on raw physical ability but both of us are unrivalled hunters in our own way. Meanwhile a {Kijin} is essentially just the oni’s version of ascending to become a god but achieving it through physical ability rather than understanding - something unique to them and no others. People who think the mightiest physical creatures are those dragons clearly haven’t heard of the oni people ohohoho~!” <Alexis>

“Thou dost need to fret for I hast returned!” <Promicarus>

“Oh~ if she’s returned I can finally go out to have a stretch~!” <Alexis>

Eel had far more to say yet the fake (though strong) demon eventually made her re-emerge which resulted in Eel’s smile dropping. Before she could say anything though Alexis interrupted her thoughts by suddenly rolling her shoulders back while lifting her hands up in the air while letting out a groan. She then slowly lifted from her kneel while massaging her plump thighs with both hands as she turned around to look at the group; her mouth curled up in a confident yet graceful smile that shouted “Hey, I’m a princess/queen look at me” though that was just their race.

Fuka had more questions…

“W-what about the beast trapped in the forest?” <Fuka>

“Hm~ what do you mean~?” <Alexis>

“Weren’t ya knelt there to keep the barrier erected around the beast?” <Fuka?

“Oh~ yes indeed I was ohohoho~.” <Alexis>

“Then what happened to the barrier!” <Fuka>

However, to that Alexis’ ears just made a cute little twitch while she tilted her head innocently.

“Hm~ what barrier~?” <Alexis>

With that what Fuka wanted to call a roar but was more like an unsettling void of sound came from behind the church causing their insides to all churn and minds feel unsettled.

At this Fuka could now see a few more similarities between Alexis & Eel…