While Leon slowly rose from his unconscious state, Astaroth kept fighting what was left of the horde. He had already melded with Morpheus, using his aerial advantage to kite the remaining monsters to death.
When he transformed Ad Astra into a bow, he quickly noticed the extra power his arrows gained. It was like the weapon was automatically enhancing the projectiles magically.
It didn't take long for the Zone boss to be back on his feet. Leon's form had also shrunk back to its humanoid one.
When he noticed what was left of his horde, his face morphed into a mask of anger. Leon's head snapped to the flying, bat-looking Ash Elf.
He roared with rage.
"ENOUGH!"
Every surrounding monster instantly stopped moving, the command of their king being absolute. Astaroth stopped firing arrows, but stayed in flight.
He wasn't sure if the beast-man would consider himself defeated yet, or if he would have to engage him again. The only thing he was sure of was that Leon looked pissed.
"Why are you slaughtering my subjects?! Tell me?!"
Astaroth looked at him warily.
"You are asking the wrong person. I was out for a while, too. When I came to, my friends were defending me from them."
"Your friends must have attacked them first! My subjects would never disobey my orders!"
"Why don't you ask them?"
"Are you suggesting they disobeyed me?"
"I'm suggesting they could have lost it after they saw me take you out and sought revenge."
Leon averted his gaze from Astaroth, sweeping his subjects one by one. Most of them held his gaze, but a few of them looked to the ground as their eyes met.
That was a sign enough for him to accept that what Astaroth was saying might hold some truth. He turned his head back to the man.
"I want to hear your friends' version. Tell them to come here, now."
"Can you assure me they won't be attacked until they have spoken their side?"
Leon only nodded in return, sweeping his gaze back on his subjects. All he met was the top of their heads as they gazed at the ground.
Astaroth nodded, before sending a message in the party chat. When he asked his party to come to where Leon was, they assumed that the combat with the boss wasn't done, and they left their shelter in a rush.
But when they saw Astaroth flying above the ground, Leon standing still and looking at them, as well as all the remaining monsters with their heads down low, they were confused.
Astaroth tried explaining the situation succinctly, as they walked over to him and Leon. He needed them to stay their weapons, lest Leon think they really did attack first.
Phoenix looked groggy, and her only clear reactions were some of hostility towards Morticia. The latter seemed to pay no heed to the hateful looks as she walked toward Leon.
Morticia decided it would be better for her to talk in this scenario. She was the eldest in their group and considered herself the most rational as well.
She also intended to use her background in psychology to appease the boss, since they were still not in a fighting shape. Phoenix would have contested that if she were in a talkative form.
Once Morticia was before Leon, she did a small curtsy.
"Spare me your humanoid politeness, Fey woman. Speak. Tell me your side of the story, so I can decide whether I punish my subjects or rip your group to shreds."
Some audible gulps resounded from the rest of the party, while Astaroth frowned at the beast king.
Morticia, though, paid the threat no mind. She stood back straight, smiling warmly at Leon.
"The situation was quite hectic after the explosion, your majesty. After both you and our leader collapsed, our group and your subjects went to find out their respective leader's status."
Leon growled low at the title Morticia gave him. Even though he was indeed the king of beasts, he felt like the woman was using the title to insult him.
Morticia coughed slightly before proceeding.
"When we saw our leader was unconscious, we surrounded him to keep him safe, in case of retribution. Which didn't make itself wait long. Once your subjects saw you unconscious too, some of them started howling and roaring, and seconds later, we were surrounded."
"Can you point me to the ones that howled and roared?"
"Why certainly!"
Morticia started looking through the monsters, to identify those she remembered howling, but before she could point out the first one, the monster lunged at her.
His speed was nothing to scoff at, Morticia's eyes going wide at the incoming creature. It was a dark leopard-looking monster, and his movements were akin to a lightning bolt.
As its jaws were nearing Morticia's throat, an arrow impacted its skull, veering the head to the side, before its body suddenly went limp. In front of Morticia stood Astaroth, who received the weight of the monster with his body, after killing it.
Astaroth looked at Leon with rage.
"Does this not prove what she is saying?"
Leon looked at Astaroth with defiance. He wanted to rebuke the Ash Elf, but the reaction of his subject to being accused was convincing of the truth the humanoids were claiming.
The monster that attacked wasn't an outlier, either. It was one part of the group that had already tried overthrowing him.
He thought he had quelled their spirits of rebellion already, but it seemed he was wrong. Leon turned his head to the remaining monsters he knew were part of the same faction.
As soon as their eyes met, he could sense the fear in them. He relished in the feeling, taking mental notes to deal with those subjects later.
For now, he still had to make right upon his agreed promise to the Ash Elf. Even if serving under a humanoid made him sick, they had proved themselves fair, and he would not renege on his deal.
"I will deal with the wrongdoers later. For now, I will agree that you defended yourselves. As per our agreed terms, I shall join your guild."
*Ding!*
*You have recruited an NPC in your guild. You can check your recruited NPCs in the specified section of the guild tab. Congratulations on acquiring a native ally!*
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