Chapter 89: First Interaction in Hub's Internal World

"We will follow the strongest! Roar!!!" Seven Dragonlord roared in unison.

"Roar!!!" Other dragons and their lessers cheered.

The dragons cheered with loud roars that echoed across the sky of the tall rocky mountain. From small three meters long wyvern to full fledged western dragons, all cheered when a humanoid dragon in the form of a human child defeated the seven Dragonlord that each represent fire, water, wood, earth, sky, lightning and frost. Then proceed to one hit the current Dragon King.

By tradition, Ophis now replaced the old Dragon King and became the new one. As a race that respected and valued strength more than anything, Ophis overwhelming victory is something worth a grand feast of celebration to celebrate a new stronger king for the dragon race.

Ophis is about to return to Ray but when the food is brought out using carts by the lesser dragons like dragonkin, drake, wyverns and even lizardman which is an inferior evolution of dragonkin.

The gluttonous Dragon God instantly forgets about returning and her mind occupied by the food delivered to her. When she feasted the food, she found something lacking. Severely lacking in fact she spat out the bland roast meat.

Only now does she remember Ray again. The food he offered, although tiny in portion, tasted so amazing that her taste buds were so spoiled that bland roast meat like what she just ate became inedible to her. She is reminded of this fact just now and his importance within her list raised a few ranks other than simply being her convenient food dispenser and home. She cannot imagine if Ray suddenly disappeared or died considering she was able to sense plenty of strong beings and even stronger beings than her in this place. She wouldn't be able to eat delicious food anymore if something is to happen to Ray!

In horror, Ophis quickly opens a portal and returns to Ray's side again. The dragons that are excited for a celebration immediately become dumbfounded when their new king suddenly runs away.

"Maybe she had an urgent matter to attend to…" One of the council of 7 elder dragons or the Dragonlords member tried to calm the masses.

Everyone also sensed the change of expression on Ophis before she went away. Perhaps there is something worrying her that she needs to leave immediately. Thus, convincing the dragons isn't hard. However, now everyone is speculating the problem that turns even the strongest Dragon King of all generations' facial expression into a grave one.

———

Observing the battlefield, Ray noticed the Lesser Imps and Goblins didn't put much effort into raiding the village or kidnapping the villagers. Instead he observed they were cutting off the path to the two knights to prevent the soldiers in the village from reinforcing the knights.

Even the rain of slings and arrows from the Goblins are made with the intention to just to keep the people hiding behind their cover instead of fighting them heads on to stall time and potentially helping the detached knights duo.

[Quest: Life of one or a kingdom.

The normally pacifist Forest Goblins are under threat by the Marshland Goblins that acquired a Champion and needed the princess of the Holy Kingdom as sacrifice to acquire a champion of their own to save their kingdom.

Task: Resolve the situation.

-Reward: Random Copper Grade Chest

Accept: YES / NO ]

"I guess that explains why the Goblins seem to be desperate to capture the knights." Ray reached his conclusion after reading the quest description.

Ray recalled his operators before clicking yes to accept the quest. He didn't know how killing more Goblins would affect his completion considering the Goblins aren't exactly driven by evil intent as they are trying to save their kingdom according to the quest's description.

Suddenly the goblins halted their attack. Ray was also surprised and immediately dismissed Void Brand and summoned his most familiar and used, Arondight.

(Just the sword, no Lancelot inside.)

Immediately on his minimap Ray saw a red skull marker appeared within the Goblin horde. Meanwhile the Goblins are chanting excitedly.

"General!" x3

"The General join us!"

"General is with us! We will win!"

In a society where strengths are worshipped, it's no surprise that the strong like Goblin General are worshipped like deities by the lessers. Loud cheers instantly broke off from the goblin horde while the Lesser Imps roared with high spirit and their morale pierce through the roof with the arrival of the Goblin General. Most definitely are willing to sacrifice their lives just to secure a victory when the General leads them.

The two knights surrounded by the horde of green skins faltered a little by the arrival of a strong opponent but recovered almost instantly as they remembered the people they were defending and their kingdom.

"Princess, please retreat. I will open the path for you." The taller male knight shouted to the princess knight.

The knight received no reply and looked back only to see his ward didn't heed his order and start to prepare another skill despite her obvious exhaustion.

"Princess! Your life is worth more than to be sacrificed by burning away your vitality to save a small village." The knight tried to dissuade the princess although knowing it's useless as the princess is too righteous for her own good.

"A small village you say? Small or big, those villagers are citizens of my kingdom and protecting them is my duty and duty of all knights that took the oath. Without them to support the kingdom, the royalty and the nobles, our title and privileges would be useless." The princess is offended by her knight that he had forgotten the oath he took to become a knight, a defender of the kingdom and its people.

"But-"

"Remember, Sir Grey. Without the loyal citizens supporting us, our kingdom would have long crumbled into dust. Especially after what happened 500 years ago. That's why, defending them is also my duty even if I need to lay down my life doing it." She finished her words and the energy she gathered now reached critical points under her abdomen and was going to burst at any moment.

The energy was the result of burning out her vitality for a temporary burst of energy. A common but very strong skill but at the price of reducing lifespan or even killing the user if not used properly.

The energy concentrated in her body burst open and coat her whole body with a shimmering metallic silver glow. The skill temporarily raised her physical prowess by a few levels and dull her pain to not feel the immense strain applied to her entire body. Then the princess blinked away as result of using a movement skill and reached the Goblin General with intent to defeat the leader and hope it will demoralise the horde enough to retreat.

Sir Grey gripped his sword tightly until his hand was shaking before loosening it with a defeated and acceptance sigh.

"If that is your wish then I shall follow through with my task from the king and accompany you to the depth of hell." The knight said before ripping open his helmet.

"Haiz… what a troublesome person I am tasked to guard." The knight complained in a mumble but on his face was a wide and determined bloodthirsty smile.

"Besides, retreating while letting my ward sacrifice herself will stain my honor as your guardian knight. After all, what kind of guardian knight would let his ward die protecting himself!" Sir Grey said before, also following the princess' footsteps and igniting his vitality.

Deep silvery grey solid aura coats his entire body but unlike the princess, his aura is stronger like a flame that coats his body. Unlike the princess, she still has hope of returning alive. If the princess is kindling a bonfire, the knight is burning the entire stock of firewood after dousing it with gasoline.

Faster than the princess, Sir Grey blinked and reappeared next to the Goblin General that raised his blade to block the strike from the princess and did a full body spin to perform a powerful strike by building his momentum.

The Goblin General however didn't flinch even when the sword was inches away from him. The General stoically kicked the princess knight on her body and sent her flying a few meters away and smashed through a few trees before redirecting his blade instantaneously to block the spinning slash from Sir Grey with relative ease.

"Tch, the energy isn't concentrated enough!" Sir Grey said before looking at the princess with concern that other goblins and imps might attack her while she is still stunned.

Seeing the princess recovered just fine, Sir Grey then looked back at his opponent to see it vanished. The knight frantically sensed where the Goblin General went and sensed it went past him towards the princess. He immediately wanted to intercept the Goblin General but was stopped by a wave of lesser imps and goblins that blocked his path with their body.

"Begone monsters!" The knight shouted and poured his power into his sword before doing a sweeping slash that create an energy arc that cleaved his obstacles in half, cleanly and slide off before blood sprayed off like a fountain but more of the green skins horde poured on to him to halt his movements despite knowing the result would be death.

"Glory for General!" A hobgoblin that stood out from the horde due to its height let out an inspiring roar and pointed its barbed club at the lone knight.

"For General! For King! For Forest Goblins!" The horde chanted in reply before swarming the lone knight in hope to stall him with a wall made of flesh, dead or alive.

Suddenly, metal cylindrical canisters rained down on the battlefield to both sides confusion that they all momentarily stopped due to distraction. They stared at each other, speculating about their opponent's deed but both sides were confused.

Then the canister exploded, releasing near absolute zero mist that turned the entire battlefield into a frozen landscape. Everything touched by the mist turned into a frozen statue and was trapped for a while.

Then an unknown creature made of black coloured metal and purple glowing light around its body, dropped from the sky and swooped the two knights and Goblin General before disappearing again elusively like how it suddenly appeared.

———

30km away from the battlefield, Ray exited the portal with three individuals. He summoned a few operators to apprehend them if they got violent. Then he waited for the cryo grenade to wear off. In the meantime, he looks at the minimap to monitor those unaffected green skins and the people defending the village.

The green skin horde seems to be retreating to save their trapped brethren while the soldiers and villagers stay put in the village except for a few scouts that went out to determine the situation.

Without him noticing as Ray is focused on the minimap, a portal opens up and Ophis dives through it and latches on Ray's back, seemingly afraid that he might disappear with how tight she is choking Ray till his face turns purple. Ray had to repeatedly tap Ophis' arm in hope she would let go of him.

"...phis.. let go… I'm choking.." Ray struggled to say the words but Ophis immediately let go after Ray asked.

"Fuh… haah…" Ray greedily take in fresh air into his lungs while Ophis looking at him apologetically and with guilt but Ray immediately reassure her it's alright with headpat.

Ophis is naturally very strong and has good control of her strength but heightened emotions can cause her to be a bit careless sometimes. Ray was aware of this and didn't blame her for it because she can snuff his life out at any moment if she wanted. Choking is tame in comparison to being squeezed to death like an insect.

"Sorry." Ophis apologized while cutely fidgeting on her feet which made Ray feel like an arrow was shot through his heart with how expressive Ophis' expression suddenly showed to him. Ray was shocked but immediately reassured her again it's alright while offering her snacks that work every time to calm her down and it worked as Ophis accepted the chocolate chips cookies and munch on it but occasionally glanced at Ray which Ray replied with a smile.

While Ray and Ophis are in their own world, the two knights and the Goblin General are already freed from the Cryo grenade effect but the Goblin General froze on his own after feeling the intense presence of Ophis.

The princess who possesses the quality of a priestess and is able to sense the aura of the divine from Ophis. She also, like the Goblin General, didn't dare to act impulsively in front of someone she assumed was a god.

Thus the three silent waited until Ophis who they assumed is a god give them attention. However, they are even more terrified of the being that exude no threating presence but treating Ophis like a harmless house pet by headpatting her and feeding her food.

Noticed they are being watched, Ray fake a cough to attract their attention. Ophis climbed to Ouroboros' shoulder and claimed her seat while carrying a zipper bag filled with cookies and quietly munching her snacks.

"May I ask for the mighty one's name?" The Goblin General kneel respectfully before asking for Ray's name, clearly respecting both Ophis and Ray as he assumed both are strong beings.

The princess and her guardian knight also going to ask but the Goblin General cutted them off before they could. However, they are also attentively listening to not missed the introduction. Since the divine very rarely come to a backwater region that they currently at. Most of them in stronger and more thriving region like the upper continent that exist literally above the sky.

(I explained the Hub inner world in my first fic but the hub has a world inside it like the hub itself is outside of any existing time axis so time spent there will not affect the DxD world time flow. Then inside the world there are multiple layers of land above and below [Just imagine it like the danmachi dungeon but each floor is as vast as earth.] Above is mostly inhabited by avian race or race capable of flight like dragon or winged race while below, the subterranean layer is inhabited by humans or landlocked races like dwarves or gnomes.)

"Ah, I forgot my introduction." Ray facepalmed before fixing his posture.

"I am Ray while the girl on my shoulder is my daughter, Ophis." Ray introduced himself with a friendly smile and Ophis just looked at the three before giving a nod of acknowledgement and continued eating her snack.

"Daugh… ter?!" The Goblin General and the two knights are going through a shock and Ray earned a new found respect from the three as they actually think Ray is indeed so strong that they feel nothing from him.

(Common cultivation logic. If one feels nothing from a person. That person is either weak mortal or expert too strong that one cannot feel its strength.)

"Anyway, I have business with you, Goblin General. I am aware that your kingdom is harassed by the rapidly expanding Marshland Goblins and require someone with priestess ability to communicate with your god." Ray revealed the information that shocked the two knights while the Goblin General expression became grave.

"Indeed as you said, Lord Ray." The Goblin General cupped his fist and respectfully saluted Ray as he replied.

"If so, why don't your kingdom become an ally with these people? As I understand, this kingdom is also affected by the Marshland Goblins rapid expansion that encroaches on their eastern territory that faces directly at the Marshland."

The Goblin General lifts his head to look at the knights before looking at Ray with a puzzled look.

"The human race as a whole is an xenophobic race. Human befriending a Goblin is extremely rare because most monster races like us are killed on sight by most humans." The Goblin General explained while also eyeing the two knights beside him.

Meanwhile Ray nodded in understanding. He can't really argue with the Goblin General's reason. He can easily imagine that humans will kill just any other race that differs from them just like how most humans react to other races in many manga or anime.

Without him noticing, Ray is giving the two knights judgemental gaze which made the Goblin General smirked while the affected two to cower slightly, thinking they gained Ray's disapproval.

"If Lord Ray wishes, I as the First Princess of the Holy Kingdom will swear on my ancestor's name to convince my father and the people to forge an alliance with the Forest Goblins." The princess immediately tried to salvage the nonexistent situation and given her cooperation which surprised Ray because he thought he might have to threaten the king of both Holy Kingdom and Forest Goblin kingdom to be friend as long term solution or just genocide the Marshland Goblin as instantaneous solution. However, he is indecisive on which to choose since he doesn't know how it will affect his final grading of the quest.

"I see, then the problem is solved." Ray clapped his hands and cheerfully announced it.

"Besides, if both of your kingdoms fought each other and weakend, wouldn't it be more beneficial for the Marshland Goblins? Forging an alliance is better for both sides in my opinion. I will also provide some assistance to deal with the Marshland Goblin." Ray added before opening a portal back to the battlefield. The cryo grenade for them almost ends too and soon will be running around like headless chicken without their leader.The three are stronger, thus the effect expires faster.

"Now, go and stop this meaningless battle. I will appear again in a few days." Ray ushers them without giving them a chance to respond to his suggestion.

The Goblin General immediately goes through the swirling void portal while the knights hesitate a bit before reluctantly entering the portal.

Satisfied with his work, Ray nodded before returning back to the Hub to return to DxD world. Although the people in the DxD world wouldn't feel his disappearance, he still feels uneasy in his heart to leave them for a long period of time without informing them.

—————

(Sorry it took almost a week to update and my poor writing quality but my workload even just as an intern trainee is very heavy. Basically going to all divisions of the company I intern at to inspect forklifts and air compressors and need to make presentation slides by monday.)