Ch.5050. Save Us

Immediately after my advance order was issued, Theseus headed west with the monsters I had provided and the lesser dragons (亞龍), offspring of the fire dragon.

The primary target was the Lizardman Jungle—the habitat of the lizardman tribe located relatively to the north.

Since this jungle was filled with densely growing trees dozens of meters tall and various plants that would have been unimaginable on the former modern Earth, most of the forces I provided to Theseus were specialized for jungle warfare.

For reconnaissance, he brought Hive Raptors, medium-sized monsters, and Drake Bats from among the lesser dragons, which were roughly the size of large bats. He also brought along a large number of wyverns and drakes to surround and burn down the jungle if necessary.

Thanks to the relatively short distance, Theseus soon arrived at the edge of the Lizardman Jungle. He first sent the reconnaissance monsters into the jungle and began to surround it, but… something completely unexpected happened.

[Great One, please save us!]

‘…?’

A lizardman who had been accidentally discovered and brought before Theseus for information gathering suddenly pleaded for salvation through psychic communication.

‘…Can an ordinary lizardman even do this?’

Naturally, I was taken aback, as I had been sharing consciousness with Theseus and Sia, but my surprise lasted only for a moment.

‘Theseus, I will handle the questioning directly.’

[Yes, Mother.]

Since this sensitive matter required my direct intervention, I mimicked Theseus’s psychic wavelength and questioned the lizardman directly through psychic communication using Theseus as a medium, adopting a suitably dragon-like manner of speech.

{‘I ask you.’}

[Y-Yes!]

{‘Do insignificant creatures like you normally communicate in this manner?’}

First, I needed to learn more about this creature’s psychic abilities and the lizardman race in general, so I began my interrogation.

[Yes! All of our kind can use it!]

Starting with questions about psychic communication and moving on to their society and ecology, I asked about everything. I even secretly peered into his memories to gather information about the lizardmen.

Lizardmen. A type of humanoid monster with an appearance resembling a bipedal reptile, like a mix between a lizard and an alligator.

I already knew about their communal egg-laying and rearing practices, as well as their class system, but I learned several interesting and useful things.

First, there are detailed distinctions in their class system. They have a special hierarchy: Priest-King – Priests (royalty) – Warriors – Craftsmen – Workers – Slaves. Interestingly, their class is determined from birth at the spawning pool where they hatch.

Additionally, these lizardmen communicate through innate psychic abilities rather than vocal language, with higher classes possessing stronger psychic communication abilities.

A Priest is said to be able to establish psychic communication with anyone inside the jungle regardless of where they are within it, so there was a possibility this one had come for reconnaissance.

Therefore, I instructed Theseus to block any psychic communication the lizardman might be having with others (though I later learned he hadn’t been communicating with anyone else).

At the same time, I changed the subject and asked the lizardman about other matters.

{‘Very well. Then tell me, why would you appeal to me, who is not of your kind?’}

[That is because we once served one of your kind, Great One.]

{‘One of my… kind?’}

[Yes.]

At the lizardman’s words, I was momentarily confused.

Even though intelligent monsters might form alliances with different species, it seemed strange that they would have such a relationship with dragons—creatures known for their ferocity.

{‘What did this one of my kind look like? And what was your relationship?’}

Feeling I needed more detailed information, I questioned the lizardman, who answered diligently.

[The One had scales that shone like the green forest. We had a relationship where we cared for their offspring in exchange for protection… but it is said that One suddenly disappeared one day.]

‘Green scales would indicate a Forest Dragon… could it be that one?’

With that simple clue (a Forest Dragon with green scales) and the fact that it had lived on the Korean Peninsula, I had a good idea of which dragon it might have been.

In the 5th episode of the Lobster Subjugation, there were four monsters that appeared on the Korean Peninsula after being controlled and strengthened by the Lobster’s unique characteristics.

The Giant Killer Hawk, the easy difficulty boss; the Jangsan Tiger, the normal difficulty boss; the Burning Jagatan, the hard difficulty boss; and the extreme difficulty boss—the named Forest Dragon, Guardian of the Forest. This must be the identity of the dragon that disappeared from this jungle.

‘That makes everything fit together… but it’s irrelevant now.’

However, knowing this identity doesn’t mean I can resurrect a dead dragon, so it’s not particularly significant.

I was simply satisfied that I could confirm the lizardman wasn’t lying without having to bother looking into his mind, and I promptly moved on to my next question.

{‘Very well… then how did you come to know of my existence?’}

[Um, Mother? I’m not usually this grandiose in my speech…]

‘Theseus, be quiet. This is easier right now.’

Ignoring Theseus, who was inwardly embarrassed and protesting, the lizardman’s answer was more than I had expected.

[My father is the Priest-King, who stands above all lizardmen. Being an exceptional sorcerer (psychic user), he foresaw the Great One’s arrival and instructed me to come here and wait.]

{‘…Foresaw?’}

I was momentarily alarmed by that word with its potentially far-reaching implications, but upon reflection, I recalled something similar existed in the game.

‘In the highest tier of spatial psychic abilities, wasn’t there something like short-term future prediction?’

That psychic ability, which operated on some principle of physics involving time and space, was so poorly performing that it was hardly used and barely remembered.

Thanks to the limitations of the game, it only showed a few seconds of afterimages predicted by the AI, but… now that this has become reality, if someone had trained this ability for decades, it’s hard to say it would be impossible.

{‘Good. Then my next question. Why do you seek salvation?’}

So I redirected the conversation to ask why he—and presumably the Priest-King of the lizardmen behind him—had requested salvation from Theseus.

After all, if the Priest-King was a psychic user capable of predicting even days or more into the future, he should be able to handle any nearby threats on his own.

And the answer I received was quite unexpected.

[Actually… we are currently being invaded by orcs led by an Orc Lord.]

{‘…Orcs?’}

[Yes. They are inferior creatures that lived in the plains south of our jungle. But they are quite strong, and they were originally ten times our number. Since the appearance of their king, the Orc Lord, their numbers have increased fivefold and they’ve become unified, according to my father…]

With that, the lizardman began to pour out the current situation.

Currently, there are about 10,000 lizardmen, while the orcs outnumber them by 50 times. With the emergence of a powerful leader, the Orc Lord, they were quickly unified into a single force.

In terms of individual combat ability, the orcs were at a slight disadvantage due to their crude equipment and the jungle environment, which is terrible for outsiders. But that’s no longer the case.

As the orcs acquired and learned from captured equipment, they began producing slightly less crude gear. Now the lizardmen can barely maintain parity by setting numerous traps throughout the jungle.

Furthermore, the Priest-King, the only high-level monster among the lizardmen capable of stopping the high-level monster Orc Lord, has been severely weakened by accelerated aging—the price for overusing his foresight in the past.

To make matters worse, this Orc Lord was born with the ability to nullify psychic actions near him—presumably some form of anti-psychic ability—leaving the lizardmen in a precarious situation.

The capital, where the great temple is located, is barely being defended by the Priest-King, but the rest of their territory is being freely plundered and ransacked by the orcs.

[Please, I beg you!]

*Thud! Thud! Thud!*

{‘…’}

So now, this lizardman prince was banging his head on the ground, risking the threat of being enslaved or even eaten, while pleading to Theseus.

‘Theseus, what do you think?’

[We could do without these creatures if necessary. But I find myself… somewhat reluctant to kill those who promise obedience.]

After hearing Theseus’s thoughts, I fell into contemplation.

On one hand, I wondered if there was any need to save them, but on the other hand, their actions stirred the small remnants of humanity within me, making me feel conflicted.

But since Theseus seemed to feel that he couldn’t just leave these lizardmen alone, after careful consideration, I spoke.

{‘You must obey me, the Great One, and become one with us. Even so, do you still desire salvation?’}

[Y-Y-Yes! Gladly!]

{‘Then… very well. I shall save you.’}

[Thank you! Thank you! Great, Great…]

{‘I am Theseus.’}

[Yes, Lord Theseus!]

The answer was victory.

Although their bodies would need to be reconstructed to become part of the Hive Mind, I thought it would still be better than what happened to the dolphin-men.