"Tch, looks like this one's not too bright either…"
"What does your brother's rebellion have to do with us?"
Rimuru was utterly exasperated. She wanted to ask if all lizardmen had such low intelligence.
No wonder they'd managed to infuriate Damien and Shion so much.
"Lady Rimuru."
Souka, the leader of the trio, spoke up. "I don't think there's any need to waste words on her."
"Exactly."
"She's a princess, reduced to this state," Sourei added. "Is someone like her really worth Lord Damien's recruitment?"
"Mm-hmm!"
The youngest, Soumin, didn't speak but nodded in agreement.
"You…"
Humiliated by the three women, the lizardman princess felt deeply frustrated.
But the problem was, they were right.
Failing to protect her father and being imprisoned by her brother... she was unworthy of her title as the tribe's princess!
"Alright, enough with the harsh words."
Rimuru waved her hand, and the metal bars before them instantly dissolved.
The lizardman princess stared in shock.
"You... how?!"
"How did you do that?"
"Just a little trick."
"Don't worry about it."
Rimuru said, "I'm here on behalf of that lord to deliver a final ultimatum to you and the lizardmen."
"Submit!"
"Or die?!"
"…"
The lizardman princess was stunned by Rimuru's question.
Submit or die?
What right did she have to answer such a question?
That was a decision only the lizardman chieftain could make!
"You might not understand yet."
Rimuru continued, "When Gabiru listened to that majin, killed his father, and led the lizardman army to march, the lizardmen were already doomed."
"What do you mean?"
Hearing this, the lizardman princess's expression grew grave, and she immediately demanded an explanation.
Due to changes in the plotline, the lizardmen hadn't yet noticed the orcs' movements.
Gabiru had rallied the army to march.
He even believed his target was the kijin.
"Gelmud has already prepared a trap, just waiting for Gabiru to lead the lizardmen into it."
Rimuru projected an image of hundreds of thousands of orcs surging like a flood, leaving nothing but barren land in their wake.
"What's that?"
"Orcs?"
"But why do they look like that?"
Seeing the orcs frantically devouring everything, the lizardman princess felt a chill run down her spine.
"You mean that majin named Gelmud wants to use Gabiru and the entire lizardman tribe to feed those monsters?"
The lizardman princess wasn't stupid. The moment she saw the Ord Lord appear, all her doubts fell into place.
She understood…
Gabiru was a pawn, bait to lure out the entire lizardman tribe.
What Gelmud truly wanted was their flesh and souls!
"Please!"
Without hesitation, the lizardman princess dropped to her knees. "Please, save us…"
She had no other choice.
The lizardman tribe could not be destroyed by Gabiru's foolishness!
She had to find the only path to survival for her people!
"I don't have that authority."
Rimuru didn't accept the princess's gesture. She looked up into the void and asked, "What does Lord Damien say? Should we accept her pledge?"
"Thanks for handling this, Rimuru."
"Let me talk to her now."
A figure formed of magicules materialized beside Rimuru... a magical projection of Damien.
"Lord Damien!"
Seeing him, the three women immediately knelt on one knee, their earlier assertiveness toward the lizardman princess gone.
"No need for formalities."
Damien waved a hand, signaling them to rise.
"You… you are…"
As Damien's figure appeared, the lizardman princess felt an overwhelming pressure from a superior species.
She couldn't describe the sensation.
But her instincts screamed for her to submit to the man before her!
As for why…
It was almost laughable. In the Cardinal World, lizardmen were descendants of dragons.
Under the right conditions, they could evolve into Dragonewt or even Dragon.
"First time meeting you, lizardgirl."
Damien said, "My name is Damien, the new master of the Jura Forest."
"Master of the Jura Forest?"
The lizardman princess replied, "Forgive my bluntness, but the master of the Jura Forest should be the legendary Storm Dragon."
"Even if it's a caretaker, that role should fall to the dryads."
Realizing she might have offended Damien, she quickly added, "I don't mean to question you. I just think such a claim might not be in your favor…"
She had never seen Veldora or the dryads.
Both were mythical figures absent for centuries, beyond the reach of a lizardman like her.
"Hey!"
"You're being awfully rude!"
"Lord Damien, why not just abandon her? The lizardmen are nothing but arrogant fools!"
"I-I…"
Hearing the three kijin women's rebukes, the lizardman princess deeply regretted her outburst.
She hadn't meant to blurt out her thoughts…
"Heh."
Damien didn't reprimand her rudeness. "At least she speaks some truth, unlike those who only flatter."
"But your information is outdated."
"The Jura Forest is indeed mine now."
Damien continued, "Because not long ago, Veldora the Storm Dragon transferred ownership of this forest to me."
"What?!"
"The Storm… Storm Dragon…"
The lizardman princess's eyes widened.
If that was true, Damien's claim was legitimate.
"As for me…"
Damien added, "Veldora is like a brother to me."
"Brother?!"
To others, 'brother' might simply imply a close bond.
But as a lizardman with dragon blood in her veins, she sensed another possibility.
"True Dragon?!"
"You're a True Dragon, like Lord Veldora?!"
The realization that the man before her was a True Dragon filled the lizardman princess with instinctive awe and an innate yearning born of her bloodline.
***
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