[Overlord’s POV]

It had been around a week since we first arrived at the burned town and in that time my minions had been able to rebuild several homes, as well as some sturdy walls for defenses. The surviving members of the town were very thankful for the increased living space, though I did take one of the homes for myself until we leave the town.

Our efforts in hunting down the Arimaspi responsible for the damage to the town were going less spectacularly, several different sets of foot prints wandered off in different directions, seemingly for miles, before doubling back on themselves. That in and of itself told me that the Arimaspi were more than just beasts, they were hiding their tracks to avoid being followed by a pursuing force. Animals wouldn’t have the foresight to do something like that, and this fact only lowered my view of them, I could practically feel myself giving them less and less of a chance to avoid being destroyed.

Not only that, but several groups of minions sent to follow the tracks had been ‘disappearing’, I could tell that they weren’t dead through the hive mind and my, as I’ve come to call it, “Overlord sense”. The problem was that for some reason I couldn’t actually tell where they were, or even narrow down the search area. It was... disturbing, I could still feel the two minions in ponyvill, and even the three I had sent into the frozen north to search for the crystal empire, yet I couldn’t feel around thirty minions within four to five miles to the south west.

Luckily, I wasn’t the only one whose frustration was mounting. Gnarl had recently started to look like more of an angry potato than normal, lashing out at just about everything that he could get away with. I allowed this behavior as it wasn’t just Sarra and I who found it funny, several children and teens following him around to watch his antics. This of course just made him even more frustrated and violent, as he knew he was being laughed at.

At one point he snapped at me while we enjoyed a... let’s call it a meal, grumbling something along the lines of “We already have a Jester and it’s not me! Maybe if you want a stupid little chuckle you should go get him!”

The already quiet dining room had gone silent at that, though it took him a moment for Gnarl to realize that he had been heard.

"Are you sure, Gnarl?" I had asked in a mild tone. Apparently it didn't fool him though, as he took a few seconds to finally answer, giving an unsure "Yes?" with a very apprehensive face.

Not saying anything, I had stood up and walked over to a minion hole. I summoned the Jester, but before anyone could say anything I magically ripped the clothes from him and put them onto Gnarl. Needless to say, he was more than a little displeased by that, sputtering and gibbering indignantly.

"Gnarl, I don't care if you don't like something. I don't care if you find something displeasing. I don't even care if you keep your 'adviser' position, it just genuinely doesn't matter to me. So if I or anyone else wants to laugh at you, then at that moment you are the jester. Now shut up and eat your food, before I order you to be bait or something."

I had magically put everyone's clothes back the way they were supposed to be before returning to my meal. Gnarl didn't speak for the rest of the night, though I suspect it was to prevent him from digging a deeper hole for himself.

That was just one of the incidents that had occurred over the last few days, not including all of the minor injuries that everyone and their mother kept getting for various reasons, so needless to say something was going to happen soon. Stuff like that didn't happen in this kind of world without building up to something, but if it went on for another week, two tops, I was going to abandon the town. That kind of build up is not worth the outcome if Sarra's here with me.

"What is the matter? Your tense enough to make granite jealous! If this is about those minions then I'm sure-" Sarra began before I cut her off.

"It's not that, it's... I feel like something is coming... and I don't want you around when it hits is all."

"Aww, how sweet... well that's too bad, 'cause I'm not going anywhere without you." She thought at me, her 'voice' going from playful to serious and back again, "After all, if you're not there, who will protect poor, defenseless, little old me?"

Before I could respond, (with the prepared line of 'you're a big girl, you don't need me to hold your hoof for everything') I felt a sudden difference in my Overlord sense for only a moment, but that was still long enough for me to pinpoint where it was and what it was.

My captured minions had found the Blues, and managed to kill one long enough to disrupt their 'cloaking signal'. Said signal basically just hid an area from a contesting Overlord, or so the 'Book on Blues' (actual title) had said. The only part that was worse then the fact that this meant I had a rival was the fact that the signal came from the large pointy mountain with what looked like a skull on top of it. One of the few places I didn't want to go to right away, places like that were always a bitch to get through.

Not because they were particularly difficult, they just took forever to walk through.

"I've found them." was all I said, both out loud and in the hive mind. It was time for some payback.

Several hours and half a dozen requests for my Mistress to go back to the town later found myself, Sarra, a small platoon of changelings that had arrived earlier that day and around fifty minions a few miles from the base of the mountain. I had left Gnarl behind so as to not end up strangling him, though he did have some words of wisdom before I left.

"Be careful lord, so far everything we've fought has either been a weakling among weaklings or wholly unprepared to face you. But, if something in that mountain is strong enough that it has somehow earned an Overlord title, it will be more than a match for you if you aren't paying attention!"

Quite possibly the first useful thing he has said for several weeks, though I already knew that. I was just in an Overlords body after all, I didn't earn the power I had thrust upon me.

The Arimaspi who was challenging me for my title had probably spent years working to get stronger and eventually take control of his or her destiny, and here I was, about to take all of that and more from them just because they picked the wrong fight. They would probably be doing the same thing if our roles were reversed, though they might not be having the same musings as I am.

Funny how that works, huh?

"Lord, Lady, only an hour more of travel and we'll have gotten farther than any previous expedition into Arimaspi territory!" One of the larger changelings said with a beaming smile.

"Yes, but we won't be stopping there, so do try to reign in your enthusiasm until we have satisfied our Overlord, hmm?" Sarra said with a small smile back at the changeling who nodded and turned back to continue scanning the area.

That is, until his head exploded into a fountain of blood.

I flinched at the feeling of his mind suddenly disappearing from the hive mind while Sarra cried out. Suddenly several minions jumped in front of changelings, including Sarra, all of them exploding into corresponding plumes of colored light and evil essence.

"Well, at least you know how to use your minions correctly," said a very raspy, yet feminine voice from behind a cluster of trees, "Now, let's see if you can use your other solders as well!"

Several large cycloptic bipedal goats stepped out into plain view, leading them was a much larger, yet slimmer in build, example wearing a poorly adapted form of my own armor.

"I'll only give you one chance. Submit. Now." I growled at her, after everything she had caused my patience was almost completely drained.

"To you? Hah! You don't even have any horns! And to think, I was actually worr-" She began to go onto a monologue.

I put a stop to it by explosively reviling the corruption within my body, the sky suddenly darkening and my armor rattling as my spines and spikes scraped against it.

As she just stood there, realizing her mistake no doubt, I simply said "Very well. Kill them all!"

Author's Note

Sorry for this taking so long, but work has been killing me lately... oh well, on to the next chapter!