Annotation

      The Devil’s Evolution Catalog

      恶魔的进化目录

     Mo Ke, a middle-aged good-for-nothing-loli-loving shut-in sage/wizard found himself in the unlikely role of a hero one day when he decided to take an uncharacteristic stroll outside of his lair on Valentine’s Day. Under the glaring headlights of an oncoming truck (Truck-kun), he dove into the middle of the road to save the love of his life, a random loli, and his nemesis, a random pretty boy, in the process heroically sacrificing himself for the two brats.

     With the knowledge that he did something productive for once, he passed away into the darkness only to find himself reincarnated into a different world. A world of swords, magic, devils, elves, a host of other fantastical races and of course, humans.

     Join Mo Ke as he embarks on a journey born of jealousy, desperation, determination and stupidity, to evolve, find his lost pee pee, finally return home and destroy the world with an army of devils???

     Author(s):The Sole Survivor, Wéiyī Shēnghuán Zhě, 唯一生还者

      Artist(s):

     Year: 2016

      Country: China

     Genres:Action, Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Harem, Supernatural, Tragedy, Xuanhuan

     Tags:Androgynous Characters, Army, Army Building, Betrayal, Caring Protagonist, Demi-Humans, Demon Lord, Demons, Depictions of Cruelty, Determined Protagonist, Dragons, Elemental Magic, Evolution, Fallen Angels, Fantasy World, Genderless Protagonist, Gore, Humanoid Protagonist, Loli, Loyal Subordinates, Male Protagonist, Monsters, Multiple POV, Personality Changes, Race Change, Rape, Reincarnated as a Monster, Reincarnated into Another World, Romantic Subplot, Seven Deadly Sins, Succubus, Sword And Magic, Weak to Strong

      Source: Imported

     ASIANOVEL VERSION: 3.9

     EPUB VERSION: 2.0

      UUID: bd55f1c0-7353-11e9-9af5-271f1d9e194e

      USER: maherT

     DATE CREATED: 2019-05-10

     LANGUAGE: English

     More info and chapters: https://www.asianovel.com/series/the-devils-evolution-catalog

      Chapter 201

     Source: Imported

      Report

     Hellhounds were purely devils of the fire element. In order to treat their ailments, providing them with fire mana was often the most effective treatment method. However, the black egg was in its most primal form…it probably didn’t possess the ability to convert mana into energy, at least that’s what I thought. In other words, all that flame breathing was probably in vain.

     Still, the heart wrenching scene continued for another ten minutes or so till the Cerberus finally ran out of mana and was unable to continue. As it laid on the floor, the fatigue it had was laid bare for all to see. Even amidst all that however, the grief reflected in its eyes overwhelmed any sort of tiredness it felt, and stabbed into our hearts like a burning knife. It gave out a string of ‘woof woofs’ as if it was crying, all the while rubbing its three heads against the black egg. From time to time, it would give the egg a tender lick reminiscent of a kiss…

     Seeing that, my already broken heart shattered even further. The pitiful sight of it laying there and crying reminded of Mo Ci long ago. Back then, she didn’t have to die at all; she simply had to give up on that devil egg and she would have survived. However, she didn’t do that, instead choosing to give birth to that egg in a pristine condition. For that, she ultimately gave up her life…

     Was that a mother’s love? Most likely. In order to protect their children, mothers were willing to do anything after all. If that wasn’t love, what was?

      ‘Perhaps there was something I could do to help it? That egg might not be of the same species as me, but it’s still a child. Speaking of children, Ancarin’s belly must be pretty big by now. By my estimation, there shouldn’t be much time left before it’s born…’

      “Sweetie, pass me one of the elemental cores.”

     “Here you go, Mama.” Prior to this, I fashioned a tiny box for Mo Na to store those cores for the sake of convenience. The little box came with its own

     Opening up the box, she passed me one of the Five-stars Fire Elemental Cores. “Mama, are you going to give this to it?”

      “That’s right, even though we had some unpleasantness between us just now, I can completely understand its desire to protect its child no matter the cost.”

     Such was my personality in this world and even back on Earth. Often I would do things that people found inexplicable simply because of my sentimental nature. Even after sacrificing my own interests to help a complete stranger, I wouldn’t leave my name behind. That applied to people who were most likely out to scam me as well. Despite knowing that the other party was most likely a con artist, I couldn’t bring myself to ignore a person asking for help. What happened if he really needed help? That was the biggest fear I had even amidst my fear of being cheated.

     Those who knew me would often joke about me embodying the term ‘good samaritan’ more than the words themselves.

     After all, I never left my name behind on purpose or even made a note of it.

     (TL: A reference to some Chinese drama figure was omitted here since it wouldn’t translate well. The meaning was preserved though. )

     The cores were supposed to be given to No.3 and Big 4 but because of trust issues, I decided to keep them in reserve till now. Seeing as this mother was in dire straits right now, giving it to her was as good of a use for them as whatever I had planned before. Simply put, this was my way of showing respect for a mother’s love.

     I received the elemental core from Mo Na and placed it beside the Cerberus.

      “Woof…”

     It listlessly stared at me but as soon it felt the surge of fire energies from the core, it abruptly stood up and gave me a disbelieving stare. It probably thought

     The Cerberus gingerly probed the core with its claw; perhaps it wanted to confirm whether or not the core was safe or perhaps it simply wanted to check if I was messing with it.

     “That’s for you, it might just be of use to you.” I pointed at the core before pointing at the almost lifeless black egg. “That’s a Five-star Fire Elemental Core, I’m not entirely sure what it can do but it should at least be able to replenish energy.”

     Hearing that, the Cerberus gave me a grateful look before promptly pressing the egg against the core.

     Then, something miraculous happened. The moment the core came into contact with the black egg, the energies within the core flowed into the egg even without needing any sort of guidance.

      ‘The egg knows how to absorb those energies by itself? Or was the core sending its energies into the egg automatically?’

     I had no way of knowing which of the two it was but that really didn’t matter now. As time passed, the energy within the core decreased while the life force within the egg increased almost to a breaking point.

     The moment the energies crossed that threshold, we heard a crack echo throughout the air. Soon after, a tiny little puppy’s head could be seen sticking out of the egg.

     It was a black puppy that was completely jet black all over except for some red patterns running through its fur, and looked remarkably similar to a chinese farm dog.

     “Bark bark bark bark!” The little puppy’s clarion call was filled with life, completely different from the dying wreck it was just moments ago.

     The puppy surveyed its surroundings for a moment and upon noticing that Cerberus lying on the floor, it excitedly barked.

     By now, the Cerberus was beyond tired but the joy it felt was visible on its haggard faces. Lowering one of its heads, it gently licked the fur

     Seeing such a heartwarming sight, I was instantly filled with a sense of satisfaction that could have only come from performing a good deed. Even if I had just lost a Five-stars core, it was completely worth it.

     “Mama, look at them, Mo Na feels so happy right now.” As the little scamp wrapped her arms around my back, she quietly leaned in and whispered in my ears. “Seeing that little puppy pop out of the egg like that is so interesting, Mo Na wants to give birth to a baby too.”

     “…” ‘What the heck, you’re just two months old! Did you really have to enter into the giving-birth stage right away?! Also, if any potato dares to touch my daughter, I swear I’ll dice him up and feed him to the dogs! Don’t doubt me for a second!’

     Completely oblivious to the damage her words did to me but still aware of my sullen look, Mo Na asked in a concerned voice: “What’s wrong Mama? Your face isn’t looking too good.”

      “Sweetie, giving birth isn’t something you should joke about. You’re still young, wait till you’re older before saying that.”

     In order to maintain the peace in our little group, I made sure to explain the matter to her. However, just after I said that, she said something that made me explode right away.

     As if she was swearing an oath, or just marking her target, she waved her fist in the air before saying: “Okay! Once Mo Na grows up, Mo Na will have a baby with Mama!”

      “…”

      ‘I swear she’s trying to kill me here.’

     No longer willing to waste more time on this topic, I promptly changed the topic: “There’s nothing more noble than a mother’s love.”

     “Mother’s love?” She looked at me, confused. “Did Mama say a mother’s love?”

     “That’s right. A mother’s love is the unreserved love a mother shows to her children.” I gently rubbed her head and smiled. “That Cerberus had been protecting her child all this while. Even though she

     Mo Na blinked her eyes and in a voice as clear as day, said: “But Mama…that big doggie…is a male dog.”

      “Ma…le?”

     Mo Na nodded her. “Mhm, male.”

     “…” ‘Kill me please…someone tell me where’s the nearest hole I can hide myself in…please.’

     Looking around, I saw No.3 and Big 4 promptly turn their heads away as if they heard nothing at all; Big 4 even whistled a little ditty to emphasize that point…

     In the midst of my shame-induced mental collapse, the middle head of the Cerberus, which was still snuggling against his child, barked once to catch my attention. Seeing me look at him, he nodded his head at me before taking a few steps forward and turning around to face me again. Seeing me stand there, he called out once more and beckoned for me to follow him with his head. He then turned around and continued walking.

      ‘He wants me to follow him?’

      ‘Don’t tell me my determination has finally been recognized by the heavens? Is this my reward?’

     “Follow it, quick. Let’s see where he plans on leading us to.” As if I had just struck the lottery, I excitedly chased after the footsteps of the Cerberus.

      ‘Doesn’t this happen all the time in novels? After helping a sentient beast, they would hand out a reward like leading their saviour to a treasure trove or something. Judging by his attitude, it has to be something good! I wonder what kind of divine weapon will I find there? Honestly, I’m not asking for much, just a divine weapon or two is enough. But if I’m offered seven or eight of them, I won’t say no either!’

      “Mama, where’s the big doggie leading us to?”

      “No idea, but Papa feels it’s definitely going to be a good thing.”

     Mo Na tilted her head and asked: “Really?”

     “Really really.” I gave a confident smile and said: “You must trust your Papa’s instincts.”

     

      Chapter 202

     Source: Imported

      Report

     With hope in my heart and dreams driving me forward, I chased after the shadow of the Cerberus. Every now and then, the Cerberus would turn around to check if I was still following it. Whenever I lagged behind too much, he would call out to me and rush me along. If I stuck close to him however, he would merely continue onwards without saying a thing. Like that, we ran for roughly five to six minutes before coming upon a black mountain roughly a hundred meters high.

     The Cerberus brought us right up to the mountain base where I found a cave right ahead that didn’t seem too deep. Upon reaching that cave, the cerberus hurriedly brought his kid into the cave without once turning around to check on me as if he was in hurry to be somewhere.

      ‘Legendary treasure trove, here I come!’

     With that thought, I took my first excited step into the cave and then I had my mind blown. ‘Where’s my divine weapon?! Where’s my miraculous encounter?! Did I miss a flag somewhere?’

     What I saw instead was a prone Cerberus with a half revealed belly. There I saw a hideous gash that leaked out blood each time the Cerberus breathed. Judging by how the pitiful hellhound laid there in a pool of its own blood, gasping for air and in an extremely weakened state, it wouldn’t be long before that hellhound died.

     “Wooof wooof…” The male Cerberus lowered his child right next to the body of his injured kin and there the little puppy cried. Even though the puppy was a newborn, it wasn’t dumb. It clearly understood something the moment it laid eyes on that injured Cerberus. Though its wailing was soft, the grief within it was deafening to me.

     Seeing that, I roughly got the gist of the situation.

     ‘An injured b*tch…err, I mean Mama dog…I’m not trying to cuss anyone here…yeah, let’s go with Mama Hellhound from now on.’ Mama Hellhound must’ve gotten seriously injured while giving birth to her child. Most likely that egg was the result of a premature birth and that explained why it kept leaking life force.

     Dog Daddy…Papa Hellhound brought the egg to one of the platforms floating on the lava lake because there was an abundance of fire energy there, unlike the cave we were in right now. Using

     While my brain filled in the gaps, Mama Hellhound tenderly extended her head out to snuggle against the baby hellhound. Unfortunately, that simple act caused her wound to tear slightly, sending ripples of pain rushing through her body in an instant.

      ‘I wonder how long has she been in that state…’

      ‘So this isn’t a treasure trove of divine weapons…it’s actually a giant pit waiting for me to jump into it…all that talk about Papa’s instincts is nothing but a load of hogwash…based on that fact, I can at least say that I’m still a man.’

      ‘After all, a man’s sixth sense will never be able to compete with a girl’s.’

     “I thought our child would never be able to survive…there must’ve been some special reason for that…I can roughly guess who is responsible for that already…you have my thanks…beloved guests…” Mama Hellhound spoke, in fluent devil’s tongue no less. The fact she was able to speak so fluently had exceeded my expectations, but not by much seeing as Violet Snow had already set a precedent for that.

     Seeing my lukewarm reaction, Mama Hellhound opened her mouth in what looked like an attempt at a toothy grin: “Even though I wish to say that I’m happy…seeing as my child’s life is safe…but I’m afraid I don’t have much time to live…”

      “Your wounds aren’t able to close up?”

     There was no need for formalities between us right now because I already knew Papa Hellhound’s motive for bringing me here: he wanted me to save her.

     “I was injured by a slash from a Purgatory Warhorse’s horn…my child was birthed prematurely because of that…that childbirth drained too much of my energy…my body is…at least the child managed to survive…our child looks so healthy…I thought that even if we our child survived…” As she said that, tears rolled down all of her cheeks. However, she immediately apologized upon realizing how rude it was for her to cry in front of her guests: “I’m sorry…I couldn’t control myself there…”

     Seeing his wife cry like that, Papa Hellhound gave a couple of mournful ‘woof woofs’ and gave me an expecting look. What he was thinking right now was extremely clear to me.

     Fortunately

     Fortunately for him, I rather liked hellhounds thanks to my time with Violet Snow. To be exact, I liked all kinds of tiny animals, cats, dogs, whatever. Hellhounds were completely different from devils, they were hounds. Engraved in their bones was a sense of loyalty to their masters. Even if they possessed an intelligence equal to a human’s, they would never strike out against their master.

     Since I was here already, there was no way I would leave her to die like that.

     “Will a Red Lotus help?” During our journey eastward, we managed to harvest quite a number of Red Lotuses. The majority of them ended up in Mo Na’s belly but I made sure to keep a reserve just for such emergencies. I had Mo Na take out our emergency supply; there were three fruits left. “I’m sure you know better than I do what these can do for healing wounds.”

      “I’m extremely grateful for the gesture…but…please take them back…they…are no longer able to help me…”

     From the looks of things, Mama Hellhound must have already eaten quite a number of them but to no avail.

     “Wooof…” Papa Hellhound lifted his heads and howled at the tiny box attached to Mo Na’s waist.

     “Are you referring to this?” I had Mo Na take out the last remaining core stashed in the box. That was probably the real reason why he brought us here.

     Turning my head to face Mama Hellhound, I gently placed the Five-stars Fire Elemental Core in front of her: “If it’s this, I think it might just be able to heal your wounds.”

     “That’s a fire elemental core!” Seeing the crimson pearl brought before her like that, her hope was rekindled in an instant. Voice trembling, she asked: “Is this really for me?”

     I nodded my head before giving her a faint smile: “ I’ve already taken it out so there’s no way I’m keeping it again. Besides, I’m an obsessive compulsive person, unless the ending’s perfect, I can’t settle down at all.”

      “I’m so grateful…”

     Having said that, she swallowed the core and closed her watery eyes.

     ……

     While Mama Hellhound recovered from her injuries, I began pondering the whole situation we were in right now. According to her own words, that injury was from a Purgatory Warhorse’s horn. Within my inherited memories were records of just such a creature.

     These horses had a black hide and

     If Mama Hellhound was really injured by a Purgatory Warhorse, did that mean that the two races were at odds with each other? Purgatory Warhorses were known for being arrogant. In order to ride them, one had to first gain their approval. As for Nightmare Steeds, they were considered a rare mount amongst the devils. Even within my inherited memories, there was no record of how these horses evolved into a Nightmare Steed; most likely there had to be some kind of secret requirement.

     ‘Well, there goes that plan of keeping those cores for No.3 and Big 4. Somehow I ended up give them all away to other people…I mean to dogs.”

     In order not to interrupt her healing, I brought our little party out of the cave for a stroll. Having finally found a devil life form, I had a ton of question to ask, so for the time being I had no plans of leaving.

     Just as I stepped out of the cave however, Mo Na immediately wrapped her arms around me before asking a question filled with sarcasm: “ Mama, didn’t you say that there was treasure here?”

      “…well, Mr. Treasure is not home today, he’s out visiting his friends.”

      “So when will he come home?”

      “I don’t know…”

      “Mama’s instinct isn’t accurate at all, Mama clearly said that there would be treasure here and yet there’s nothing here at all. We ended up giving them two treasures instead.”

     “…that’s enough little girl, is it that fun making fun of your Papa?” I picked her up with my left hand and gave two resounding spanks on her little butt. “Just look at them, their entire family of…dogs already have it so tough, we should help them if we can instead of nitpicking about such worldly goods. Life is priceless, got it?”

     “Life is priceless? So Mama is saying we should

     “Mhm.” Clearly this was a mess I started so no matter what I had to see it through to the end. Thus, I said: “Do you have a problem with that?”

      “…”

     However, having experienced my spanks of fury before, Mo Na didn’t fear them one single bit and instead tilted her head before giving me devious smile: “Mo Na has no problem with that but what about Mama? Mama kills so many Demon Fire Worms everyday and yet she talks about life being priceless…is that really all right?”

      “…”

      ‘Don’t you dare doubt that I will teach you what a head to ground smash is, right here, right now.’

     “Master, the hellhounds are stronger than us, what if…” Amidst my moment of awkwardness, No.3 came rushing to the rescue while casually voicing out his concern: “If they decide to betray us, I’m afraid we…”

      “It’s all right. I’ve been Violet Snow long enough already. She told me that the hellhounds are a race that will always repay their debts. They are utterly faithful to their masters while still possessing a formidable combat strength. Even if they don’t reward us with anything, there’s no way they would turn on us.”

     It was precisely because of all that time I spent with Violet Snow that I ended up learning so much about the hellhounds. Thanks to that, I ended up liking the hellhounds and ended up saving that pair of husband and wife.

     If I didn’t save those two hellhounds, Violet Snow would most likely throw a furious fit the moment I saw her again.

     Thinking back to my time with that adorable puppy, I couldn’t help but think of Numila, Eugenia and Elena as well.

      ‘I wonder how were they doing right now, it shouldn’t be too bad over there, right? They have so many people there after all. Besides, with Flametail by Numila’s side, I doubt they will face too much trouble there in Abaddon unless someone really strong came knocking on their door.’

      ‘Even if someone came knocking, Habona’s with them as well. The medusas are pretty strong too. Bacarel and his half-orcs lived there before entering the Prison of the Dead so they should at least count as half a native, even if the location they teleported to wasn’t the same as where they lived before.’

      ‘They should be fine, right…those ladies…’

     

      Chapter 203

     Source: Imported

      Report

     Regardless of how things were in Abaddon, our situation right now wasn’t going to change one bit. For now, the best thing I could do was to find a way to enter Abaddon as soon as possible…lest I spent several hundred years wandering around here…the lifespan of a devil made such a wait technically possible but still, a few hundred years would be…unbearable.

     Having said that, I ended up spending the next half an hour or so loafing around before the hellhound family finally came out of the cave. Leading the pack was Mama Hellhound who looked noticeably livelier now. The hideous gash on her belly was gone and her body was practically brimming with mana. Looking at her, one wouldn’t have thought that she was a dying hellhound just moments ago.

     “Words cannot describe the kindness you’ve shown us today, my savior.” Mama Hellhound stood before me with her family and then, prostrated herself along with family.

     Being a little puppy, the baby hellhound didn’t take too well to the uncomfortable posture but just as it tried to stand up, Papa Hellhound forced it down once more with a pat of his giant paws.

      ‘I guess I can’t really blame the kid for that, after all who enjoyed kneeling, barring those who were craven.’

     “There’s no need for that at all, please, just stand up first. I have my own motives as well for helping you.” I rushed towards them and tried to get them to stand up with my hands. “Truth be told, we just came from the Prison of the Dead. We intended to teleport to Abaddon but we had a little accident mid way and ended up here. A while ago, we helped some fire elementals and they pointed us in this direction. That’s how we came to be here…”

     I briefly retold our story to Mama Hellhound who first expressed shock and then understanding.

      “No wonder…actually, it has been over 80 000 years since we last had a devil appear here. Had it not been for our inherited memories, I’m afraid we might not have recognized you at all…”

      ‘80 000 years since the last devil? Then what was Arca talking about when he pointed us eastwards? Ah, perhaps in his eyes, hellhounds and Purgatory Warhorses were all different types of devils.’

     Strictly speaking,

     In reality, devils weren’t only the races blessed by the seven original sins. The seven clans built around the sins were merely the most well-known devils; there were still other comparatively weaker devil clans such as the Ice Devils living in Gehenna, or the Wendigos who were once humans but became devils due to their cannibalistic acts. Essentially, there were a huge variety of devil types that weren’t known to humans.

     “Can you tell me what happened 80 000 years ago, I’m rather curious about that.” I had a ton of questions I want answered but like all things, they had to be done in order. “According to legends, this land was once a prosperous territory ruled by a Devil King. That Devil King suddenly disappeared, resulting in the land’s eventual decline. I heard all the subordinates of that Devil King disappeared soon after as well. Was all that…true?”

      “They are, even though I wasn’t there to witness it personally, but my inherited memories clearly held a record of such an event. The details aren’t known but such an inexplicable event did in fact happen and the kingdom fell apart as a result. The kingdom was known as the Demonic Kingdom of Sable Radiance and was overwhelmingly powerful in its heyday. However, ever since its Devil King vanished, the entire territory has remained sealed up by some mysterious power that bars anyone from entering or leaving…”

     ‘Kingdom? Demonic kingdom? So the devils actually created a kingdom and even had a king?”

     “What was the Devil King’s level?” Devil King, words you would normally find in a novel, and words you normally used to describe a powerful being. Such figures were often slain by heroes in those novels but that didn’t mean they were weak at all. Just the opposite, they were terrifyingly powerful, it was just that the main character halo of those heroes were just that overwhelming. It was for that reason that the words ‘Devil King’ immediately perked my interest.

     Mama Hellhound pondered for a moment before finally giving an answer: “Devil King…Devil Kings belonged to the realm

     Just from the terms alone, I could tell how massive the difference between each power level was. As the name suggested, Eight-star Lords were basically commanders while the Nine-stars were the rulers of a territory. As for Devil Kings…they weren’t even mortals anymore.

     According to the ranking system of the humans, Devil Overlords were of the same level as a Sword Saint or a Hierophant.

     One thing had to be made clear however, reaching Nine-stars gave one the ability to become an Overlord of a territory but it did not automatically grant them the title. Stil, it was basically impossible for anyone to become an Overlord without that level of power in Purgatory. Naturally, that didn’t mean that there weren’t Devil Overlords who were below the level of Nine-stars. While these exceptions were still known as Devil Overlords, that title meant a lot less when used on them.

     With regards to the history of Sable Radiance, Arca and Mama Hellhound both didn’t have too much information on that subject. Thus, I was unable to uncover the truth behind the Devil King’s sudden disappearance as well.

     In conclusion, the lands of Sable Radiance were now forbidden grounds that barred thoroughfare completely.

     Throughout all that, I also learnt the names of Mama Hellhound and Papa Hellhound; they were Sinmosa and Sasani respectively. As for the little puppy, it was nameless for the time being.

     Sinmosa was extremely grateful for my aid, and volunteered to follow us on this journey to find an exit to Abaddon.

     Her main motive was to repay the favor I showed them; a motive which I didn’t mind one bit. Sasani and Sinmosa were both Five-stars experts and even their child was a powerful Three-stars hellhound. That was in large part due to the elemental core it absorbed at birth. Not only did the core replenish its leaking lifeforce, the core also levelled it up in general. All it needed to do was evolve one more time to become a Cerberus. Naturally, I was more than happy to accept them.

     Now that they had become our travelling companions, I took the opportunity to ask about our surroundings as well, before deciding on our next course.

     Accordingly, I

     Accordingly, I made the decision to head West. To be honest, it wasn’t even much of a decision at all. The south was the lava lake so that was out of the question for now. The north belonged to the Purgatory Warhorses. Those horses were communal creatures and preferred moving around as a herd —clearly not easy prey at all.

     As a side note, the reason why Sinmosa got injured in the first place was because she encountered those horses while foraging for necessities in the north. The northern regions were mostly grasslands and were home to a rare plant known as Flamegrass that boosted the fire element of those who ate it. More importantly, this strengthening effect would not only apply to Sinmosa if she ate it, but also to the egg she bore then. For a pregnant hellhound like her, there was no better nourishment.

     Were there parents who didn’t wish for the best for their children? The answer was obviously a no. This hellhound couple was the same as well. They hoped to give their child a leg up in life so they decided to search for the Flamegrass despite knowing that it was a rare herb valued by the Purgatory Warhorses as well.

     Initially, they didn’t think that they would have to venture deep into the lands of the Purgatory Warhorses, but because Flamegrasses weren’t often found in the border regions, they ended up doing so anyway. As they cautiously traversed the grasslands, they prayed that they wouldn’t be found by the Purgatory Warhorses. Naturally, there was no god who would listen to a devil’s prayer so they ended up bumping into the horses. With just two of them, there was no way they would ever win against a herd of demonic horses. Thus, they fled with their tails between their legs. The fact that they made it out alive was a miracle in of itself.

     However, there was one thing about their story that struck me as strange. Purgatory Warhorses were communal creatures, that much was true, but weren’t the hellhounds communal as well?

     If a question needed answers, then it had to asked, that was my motto. “I remember hellhounds being communal creatures as well, are there not other hellhounds in this region?”

     “There are…the reason why we had to live alone out

     Nani?! Siblings?

     ‘What the heck! Is it really all right for the two of you to act like that? Aren’t you worried that your child might end being born with disabilities?”

     The moment that explosive bit of news hit me, I couldn’t help but turn my eyes onto the little black puppy. As of right now, it was busy playing with Mo Na and from the looks of things, it didn’t seem to have any intellectual disabilities…

      ‘Ahem. Tripping on its own feet doesn’t count, I think…come to think of it, how did a dog even trip on its own feet? Sounds really difficult to me…maybe that little puppy is actually a genius…in a certain sense…’

     At first, I thought that Sasani must have had some kind of intellectual disability, since he couldn’t speak and all, but upon giving it more thought, I realized how wrong I was. I was the one that was stupid instead. After all, wasn’t Sasani the real winner in life? Marrying your younger sister and all that, didn’t that only happen in fantasy novels…

      ‘A sister, a real life imouto! You b*stard, I curse you to a life of  instant ramen without any flavor packets.’

     That piece of news was a truly a shocking revelation. Even now, I still couldn’t wrap my head around Sasani’s unearthly fortune.

     “Mama, if a pair of brother and sister can give birth, then Mama and I can as well.” Hugging the little puppy in her arms, Mo Na flew over for an adorable little quip: “Mama, when can we have a kid? I want our child to be as cute as Blacky over here.”

      “Shoo, stop messing around and go play over there.”

      ‘This brother is still searching for his pee pee, what are you insinuating by asking me this?  Also, I’ve always treated you as my daughter and yet you wish to ride me…I swear I can’t keep up with this world anymore…’

     Seeing my ever-changing expression, Sinmosa immediately launched into another explanation about their backstory, fearing that I might misunderstand them if she didn’t do so.

     

      Chapter 204

     Source: Imported

      Report

     Sinmosa lost her parents while she was still extremely young and ended up being raised by Sasani. For the siblings, acquiring food in the ruins of what used to be Sable Radiance wasn’t easy as one might imagine, especially since Sasani wasn’t that much older than Sinmosa either. Just feeding himself took a great deal of effort, let alone finding food for Sinmosa who still had no ability to hunt for herself.

     Back then, while the siblings were still staying with their clan, the elders in the clan would periodically organize a hunting raid. To Sasani, there was no better benefit to staying in the clan than that. As long as Sasani participated in the raid, the elders in the clan would give him a portion of the spoils and though that still wasn’t much in the end, it was something. Because Sasani’s parents died during such a raid, the elders in the clan would pay special attention to the orphaned Sasani since that was the custom then.

     However, Sasani was a rather headstrong hellhound and didn’t like being showed favoritism. Thus, he was often the most hardworking hellhound in the raid, all that to feed his little sister. In order to gain more contribution for himself, so as to gain more rewards at the end, he would treat each and every raid seriously unlike the other hellhounds of his age who were only there to make up numbers. It was precisely this go-getter attitude that earned him the praise of his elders, and the scorn of his peers.

     To be honest, such a thing wasn’t all that surprising. It was just like school back on Earth where there was always that one kid who didn’t play with others,always scored well in tests and more importantly, had the favor of the teachers. Given such qualities, there was no way the underperformers would ever like that kid.

     Sasani was essentially ‘that kid’ in this story.

     During the times where there wasn’t any raid, Sasani would go out hunting alone. He was only a Three-stars then, which honestly would have made him an expert within the Prison of the Dead. However, this was Sable Radiance, and in Sable Radiance, a Three-stars was nothing.

     Prior to becoming a Cerberus, Sasani wasn’t able to hunt for Demon Fire Worms in the lava lake. Because of that, he could only hunt on land for food. Naturally, game was scarce on land, with the Demon Fire Worms rarely

     Still, it wasn’t like there was no way to lure those two creatures onto land. By using Red Lotuses or Flamegrasses as bait, there was a chance of luring them to shore. However, expecting a Three-star to forage for Red Lotuses and Flamegrasses…well, let’s just say he would be lucky if he didn’t die on the road.

     Those days of raising Sinmosa by himself were truly tough for Sasani but he still persevered. Like that, ten years passed by in an instant. Throughout all that, his sister always held the number one spot in his heart and that showed in the selfless sacrifices he made for her. It was under such circumstances that Sinmosa fell for him and then eventually got together with him.

     Procreation between those who were blood related was known to have a serious impact on the offspring produced. For example, there were increased chances of deformities, intellectual impairments and recessive genetic disorders.

     Those were unavoidable dangers that grew the closer a blood relation was. As a result, children born through inbreeding had a much higher mortality rate, several times more in fact, when compared to those born between parents who weren’t related

     (TL: Please be advised, certain terms will avoided in order not to offend the sensitivities of certain vocal groups. Apparently, ‘Beastial’ is offensive, lul.)

     Naturally, all that was said with only humans in mind, they tended to be frail after all. Even so, that didn’t mean that devils were completely immune to the effects of recessive genetic disorders either. Although their bodies were built a lot sturdier and thus had a lower probability of being affected by recessive genetic disorders, the probability wasn’t completely zero.

     (TL: To clarify his poorly worded content, a human’s constitution has nothing to do with recessive genetic disorders being passed on but they do suffer more from the effects of certain genetic traits when compared to the devils. Devils, being sturdier, do not suffer as much from said genetic traits even if they are revealed. Plus, devils would most likely possess more desirable traits to pass on than a human.

     For example, humans with Sickle Cell Anemia would suffer intermittent pain episodes because of the lack of blood. In a devil however, he might have a higher pain tolerance or some kind increased bodily function that nullifies this problem.)

     Take for example an arbitrary devil from Purgatory known as Devil A. Suppose Devil A

     (TL: The following paragraph is added text because the author is really bad at explaining concepts…)

     {Assuming that the disorder was the result of a recessive gene, meaning that two copies of said gene had to be present in order for the disorder or trait to be present, there existed a chance of the gene being passed down or triggering even during a normal childbirth. Inbreeding would cause homozygosity, which meant that a cell contained identical alleles of a particular gene, which then increased the chances of said disorder triggering.}

     (TL: Technically, that addition still doesn’t link up to his point about devils being stronger but the author’s example was kind of lousy to begin with…I’m just linking his lousy example to inbreeding…)

     Thus, even amongst the devils, inbreeding was viewed as taboo.

     Just based on that point alone, one could imagine how much resistance the pair must have met when they first announced their coupling, especially for Sasani who wasn’t even that well liked by his peers to begin with.

     However, I had to admit that this child of theirs seemed like a healthy one. There were no intellectual impairments or deformities to be seen anywhere; it was probably a perfectly hale and hearty baby.

     It was precisely because of that reason that Sinmosa and Sasani treasured their child even more.

     Now, that she was done explaining their circumstances, Sinmosa proceeded onto a more detailed introduction of this land, the remnants of Sable Radiance.

     As mentioned before, the north belonged to the Purgatory Warhorses; that area was off-limits for now. The east belonged to the hellhounds and even further east was the territory of the Purgatory Shadowcats.

     The Purgatory Shadowcats were solitary creatures that could be identified by their mostly black fur, riddled with crimson streaks. Compared to the hellhounds, they had a smaller frame but were more agile, and they specialized in shadow magic instead of fire.

     For the most part, the relation between the two of them was lukewarm at best, neither too bad nor too good. There were barely any interactions between the two races except for a scuffle that happened several decades ago. In the

     The Purgatory Shadowcats were a race famous for their wealth of strange knowledge. The elderly amongst them were renowned scholars despite being basically a bunch of shut-ins who rarely left their homes other than to forage for food. All that was only made possible by a unique ability of theirs:

     The ability to traverse the realm of dreams.

     Their Dreamwalking ability took effect only after they went to sleep. Their souls would enter a mysterious state of consciousness that was difficult to describe with words. Simply put, the Purgatory Shadowcats were able to penetrate dimensional barriers in their soul state. While they might not be able to affect reality in such a state, this Dreamwalking ability of theirs allowed them to gather a ton of useful and useless information.

     The Purgatory Shadowcats were originally creatures of Abaddon and were known simply as Shadowcats back then. Unlike their Purgatory cousins, Shadowcats in Abaddon were purely black and didn’t possess crimson streaks in their fur. The streaks came about a long time ago when the first batch of Shadowcats entered Purgatory. Upon acclimatizing themselves to the climate of Purgatory, their bodies began to change into the what we knew today as Purgatory Shadowcats. The streaks were essentially formed to absorb energy from the heat.

     In actuality, there was not much difference between the two races except that the Purgatory variant was more resistant to heat and weaker to cold.

     As for news about entering Abaddon, Sinmosa and Sasani weren’t able to provide much details on that matter. Thus, they gave me a suggestion instead: go ask the Purgatory Shadowcats.

     Of all the races here, they possessed the greatest wealth of knowledge thanks to their Dreamwalking. However, their personalities were a little on the eccentric side so requesting aid from them wasn’t going to be easy.

     Still, in order to find the Purgatory Shadowcats, we first had to pass through the territory of the hellhounds. With regards to that prospect, the looks on a certain Cerberus couple’s faces immediately turned unnatural. Judging by that look, they didn’t seem to have much fond memories of their clan. As for the reason for that…naturally it was because of their controversial choice.

      “If you don’t want to go back, we can always circle around that area instead.”

     To me, Sinmosa and Sasani were both experts,

     “There’s no need for that, we’re just passing through. All we have to do is let them know that the child is fine.” Sinmosa threw me another grateful look before continuing: “Truth be told, the odds of a disorder occurring in inbred hellhound children is a lot higher than the other races. Thankfully, after a round of checkups, I found that our child was born perfectly healthy…no doubt that was thanks to your efforts…as long as we let them know the child is fine…”

     As she said that, she abruptly stopped. Seeing her eyes quiver, I could tell she held a strong attachment to the clan. It was after all, the place she grew up in; it would’ve been weirder if she wasn’t so attached to it.

     Another problem worth mentioning was the child’s socialization. Being away from the clan meant that it wouldn’t have any peers for the most of its childhood.

     Also, even though their child was born healthy, Sinmosa and Sasani still couldn’t return to the clan because their existence was a rather unique one in the clan.

     To be exact, their punishment had to remain lest someone tried to mimic their actions upon seeing their punishment revoked so easily. For the clan as a whole, what Sinmosa and Sasani did was a major infraction of the clan’s rules so punishment was an absolute necessity.

     Like what Sinmosa mentioned, the hellhounds were more prone to disorders appearing during inbreeding. In light of that, what they did was even more egregious and an example had to be made of them.

     However, the fact remained that being alienated from the clan would have a negative impact on their child. Without playmates at its age, it would grow up to be insociable. After all, hellhounds were a communal species. While a family might have been enough for other races, a family unit simply wasn’t enough to perform the functions of a clan. Notably, once the little puppy grew up, it would be hard for it to find a significant other…

      ‘Come to think of it, I still don’t know what its gender was…’

     

      Chapter 205

     Source: Imported

      Report

     “If I’m not mistaken, your child doesn’t have a name yet, do you need my help coming up with a name?” Having came up with so many good names for my subordinates in the past, I was rather confident in my naming sense so I decided to offer my services before asking one last question, a question that I had been concerned about all this while: “Oh right, is your child a male or a female?”

      “A female.”

      ‘So it’s a female, great, great, if it’s a she then I don’t need to take her out by accident. My daughter will be safe after all.’

     Looking at the two little scamps playing together nearby, Sinmosa smiled a mother’s smile. “Miss–ter Mo Ke, if it’s all right with you, can you name our daughter.”

      “You were about to say ‘Miss’ weren’t you…”

     “…” She gave me an awkward smile and neither denied nor confirmed that.

      ‘Bah, I just knew that would happen sooner or later. It’s not even worth my energy to refute it anymore.’

     Intending to move on quickly, I threw out a quick explanation of my gender before getting down to her request. “Whatever the case, you just have to know that I’m a male. As for your daughter’s name…how about we call her Lil’Blacky.”

      “…”

      “Don’t give me that look, I was just joking, livening up the mood and all that…definitely not out of spite for what you did…if you don’t like that name, I’ll just change it so there’s no need for that stare…believe me, it will be good…how about Cinderel?”

     The name Cinderel was something I came up with after thinking of that famous fairytale. It was a pleasant sounding name and had a pretty decent connotation behind it. After all, the heroine did marry a prince. And yes, the name was nothing but a rip off of Cinderell*…

     “Cinderel?” Sinmosa paused for a moment, giving the name some thought before turning to her

     Having said that, she turned her eyes back to the little black puppy still in the midst of horsing around with Mo Na.

      ‘Hmmm really though, what’s wrong with Lil’Blacky, it’s endearing and full of meaning…’

     With regards to finding the Purgatory Shadowcats, it was rather simple, just head east. There was no chance of getting lost this time since we had Sinmosa and Sasani to lead us along the way. As an added bonus, we no longer had to waste time on trivial tasks like scouring for food thanks to Sasani. His familiarity with the surroundings meant that hunting was a lot faster as well.

     To the husband and wife, leading us around and accompanying us wasn’t the most difficult part of the journey at all., Rather, it was the fact that they had to face their own kin that concerned them the most.

     Naturally, it would be best if we passed through the territory of the hellhounds without being noticed but was that even possible? After all, hellhounds were famous for their amazing sense of smell. For strangers like us to even pass through unnoticed was basically…impossible.

     On the second day of being in the territory of the hellhounds, we were discovered by a patrol. Coincidentally, the patrolling hellhound was someone Sasani knew, even more coincidentally and perhaps worse so, that person, dog, was Sinmosa’s suitor. Emphasis on the was…

     With regards to this particular encounter, one had to first know about a certain life form in Purgatory before talking about this story. The territory of the hellhounds was

     The land itself barely had any plant life so the roads were mostly blackened stones with streaks of red lava peeking through the cracks from time to time. Within said streaks lived a number of strange insects that could be consumed as meat. However, those insects tasted horrible and most hellhounds avoided eating them unless they really had to. Even in the hardest of times, Sasani would never allow Sinmosa to eat those insects.

     Because those insects were remarkably weak, their souls were extremely fragile as well. The instant they died, their souls would immediately dissipate into the air leaving nothing behind to be consumed.

     The hellhounds named these type of insects Meat Worms because of their remarkable resemblance to wood borers, except that they were painted red.Naturally, I avoided them completely, let alone think about eating them. Mo Na on the other hand, was fascinated by them but thankfully I managed to nip that fascination in the bud by force.

     Other than those worms, there was another source of meat known as the Flame Devouring Frogs. These frogs were basically the frogs from Earth but with a tunneling ability and no fixed habitat.

     They mostly reached the level of One-star with some even reaching Two-stars. These frogs were communal creatures and grew to be as large as a kitten while still possessing an impressive leaping ability. Their meat was known for being delicious so they ended up as one of the main food sources for the hellhounds.

     The whole reason why we bumped into Sinmosa’s suitor was because Sasani so happened to bump into them while they were out hunting for frogs as well.

     Like that, the two Cerberuses met each other despite both assuming that they would never have to see each other’s ugly mug for the rest of their lives.

      “Ruff ruff!”

      “Awoof!”

     Both

      “Ruff ruff!”

      “Awoof!”

     Both sides gave out a warning howl. However, since I couldn’t really tell the two apart, I almost mistook the new Cerberus for Sasani. Had it not been for the fact that Sasani was clearly the one standing nearer to us, and that his soul aura was familiar to me, I might have really mixed the two hellhounds up.

     “What’s up with those two?” I pointed at the two Cerberuses and turned around to ask Sinmosa who had just rushed over after hearing Sasani’s howl: “Aren’t you guys from the same clan? Why is Sasani acting like he just met an enemy?”

     “The one facing off against Brother is Neanderke, he used to be…” All three of her lips curled into a bitter smile having said that. “He used to be my suitor…the most fanatic kind as well…”

      “Ohh…”

      ‘So that’s why….come to think of it, if I was fanatically chasing after another girl, but that girl ended up eloping with her own brother instead…I would’ve probably lost my mind there and then.’

      ‘I totally get where that Cerberus is coming from now. I bet he and all the other suitors were thinking something along the lines of: at least choose one of us, anyone is better than your own brother! Or perhaps something along the lines of: are you siblings messing with us or something?! Perhaps even something the lines of: I treated you as my older brother-in-law and yet you stole my goddess from me?! Well, I’m out of perhaps for now…either way the moral of the story is, poor Neanderke…’

     “Mama, looking at those two Cerberuses reminds me of a saying…” Mo Na furrowed her immaculate eyebrows and thought hard for a moment before enunciating the phrase, word by word. “Men are naught but fortune’s fools”.

      “…”

     Soon after that stormy greeting, the Cerberus known as Neanderke discovered our position as well. His attention, however, was immediately captured by someone else entirely: Sinmosa. The

     Tossing aside his hated love rival, he galloped towards the nearby Sinmosa and though his three dog faces still looked foreign to me, I could tell that they had on blissful smiles at the moment.

     Neanderke must have really liked Sinmosa. Really. He liked her so much, he even ignored the fact that she was already happily married. He liked her so much, he threw aside everything the moment he saw her and galloped right to her side, only to have his dream shattered right away…

     Standing right next to Sinmosa was not only me but also Mo Na, and in Mo Na’s arms was a certain puppy known as Cinderel.

     To a hellhound like Neanderke, there was no way he wasn’t able to detect the combined scent of Sasani and Sinmosa on the unknown little puppy.

     Just based on that alone, one could, beyond any reasonable doubt, judge that she was a child of those two.

     If I had to describe the poor hellhound right now, a certain song verse came to mind:

     I thought staying behind wasn’t wrong

     I thought my hard work would be understood

     Yet even the falling leaves are mocking me

     .

     .

     .

     Walking in the Cold Wind

     (TL:  走在冷风中 Go youtube it yourself.)

     (TL: Not going to translate the whole song because he wants to make up his word count…)

     Truth be told, I really pitied Neanderke. From his doggy dog faces, I could feel the immeasurable sorrow oozing out of them. It was as if the entire world had abandoned him despite all he had done. He probably thought that they would never meet again in this lifetime but fate decided to play a cruel trick on him. Not only did he meet his goddess once more, he even met the child she bore with his hated rival…

      ‘Oh heavens, please send down your heavenly wrath to strike this d*mned love triangle…’

     

      Chapter 206

     Source: Imported

      Report

     “Woof…woof…?” Neanderke barked, voice trembling with every woof he uttered.

     Sinmosa nodded and barked back at the Cerberus. As if right on cue, Sasani came up from behind and gave the stunned Cerberus a triumphant look before pointing all three of his noses high into the air and snorting proudly. Ever so deliberately, he strutted up to his wife and gently but intimately rubbed against her.

     “Awooo!!! Seeing Sasani, his bitter rival, snuggle so blatantly against Sinmosa, Neanderke immediately flew into a rage and howled like an angered wolf.

     Just as the incensed hellhound was about to pounce however, Sinmosa barked gently at him. “Aroo woo woof.”

     Hearing her response, the anger in him immediately dissipated and so did his contorted expression. What remained instead was forlorn look, as if there was nothing worth living for in this cruel world.

     While I might not understand the tongue of the hellhounds, a convoluted and messy relationship like theirs, a relationship that could probably give those korean drama shows a run for their money I might add, wasn’t all that hard to figure out by filling in the gaps with one’s imagination.

     Simply put, in the midst of hunting for food, Neanderke stumbled on what might have been an actual enemy in the past, judging by the anger he displayed on first sight. However, he found Sinmosa soon after and that anger faded. Unfortunately, before he could approach her, he found a certain little puppy hanging around her. To his horror, he found out she was their child…

     Unable to accept a shock like that, not to mention that timely snort from Sasani, he immediately flew into a rage but was abruptly stopped by his goddess once more. At that point, she probably said this to him: “You’re a good man(dog), I’m sure you will find a better girl(female dog) in the future.”

     The moment she said that, his entire doggy heart crumbled.

     This wasn’t just a matter of meeting one’s rival in love and being exceptionally angered, this was but nothing

     Still, the fact that his goddess had married and even given birth to a child was already a done deal. After a moment to calm himself down, he finally came to terms with this cruel reality.

     This time, Sasani chose to stand aside so as not to incite his rival any further. Neanderke and Sinmosa then proceeded to converse together. Honestly, there really wasn’t much to talk about now. All she did was to explain to him that they were merely passing through and wouldn’t cause any harm to the clan.

     Clearly out of it, Neanderke merely gave a few cursory responses before drifting away with an ashen look on all three of his dog faces. Before leaving however, he barked one last time. Naturally, I still didn’t know what he said but the words left Sasani in a shock.

     Looking at the slowly disappearing and slumped figure of Neanderke, I couldn’t help but feel a little curious so I asked Sinmosa: “What did that hellhound say just now? Sasani seemed rather agitated by his words.”

     “I asked Neanderke not to pass on news of our presence to the clan but he said that it was his duty to report anything of note to the elders…” Having explained that, Sinmosa gave a helpless shake of her head to Sasani. While it might have looked like she was addressing Sasani, she instead spoke in the tongue of the devil: “What has to come will come in the end, we can’t avoid it.”

      ‘Looks like they really didn’t want their kin to know of their return…’

      ‘Honestly, what they did was truly a debacle for the clan. They should’ve known what kind of response it would trigger…but I guess sometimes men(dogs) just can’t control themselves, especially when it comes to matters of the heart…’

     While Sinmosa might not have given too much details on how they got together, I could roughly discern some information from the

     Their departure from the clan was definitely planned well in advance and neither planned to give the clan any warning about it; they probably thought that they wouldn’t ever return to the clan again.

     Thus their kin probably assumed that they had gone missing or had gotten into trouble. Given that assumption, was it any wonder that Neanderke was so excited when he saw Sinmosa? As for that hostile reaction to Sasani, I was pretty sure that it had more to do with the two of them being at odds with each other.

     I wasn’t planning to stick my head into the affairs of their clan either way so Neanderke’s departure really didn’t matter to me. If we left Sasani behind and rushed off towards the east…

     Not long ago after Neanderke left, a visibly anxious Sasani could be seen pacing around incessantly. He must have really wanted to leave for the clan territory right away, out of fear of something bad happening.

     Given what Neanderke said before leaving, we would most likely meet that hellhound again, then however, he wouldn’t be alone.

     Truth be told, I kinda pitied Sasani right now, mostly though, I was delighted at his misfortune…after all, he should have known that such an unorthodox relationship would earn them both the scorn of their kin.

     Moreover, he was the older of the two and being older, he naturally should have known better. Even if it was the two of them who committed something wrong, the older one had to take all the responsibility for it…or at least most of it. In such instances, the older one was always at a disadvantage, especially given that Sinmosa was a female…in a certain sense, Sinmosa was probably innocent in the eyes of others; Sasani was the one who should be quartered and sliced up…simply put, this sister-loving dog needed to be shot a million times!

     Just as I had expected, the moment we crossed the borders of the hellhounds’ territory, the bull-like silhouette of

     The moment Sasani laid eyes on Neanderke and that unknown Cerberus, his face instantly froze up and stayed that way for a long way.

     ‘Looks like there’s going to be another show to watch.’ Seeing that troubled look on that sister-loving dog, I couldn’t help but want to chuckle.

     Trying his best to act calm, Sasani slowly trotted forward as if he never saw those two at all. Unfortunately for him, that gigantic Cerberus gave a long, drawn out howl the very next moment. Given the volume of that howl, I wouldn’t be surprised if even the deaf heard him. Sasani knew that the gig was up so he obediently changed course and trotted towards Neanderke.

      “My apologies, Mister Mo Ke, it looks like we will have to spend some extra time here…”

     With regards to that summon, neither Sasani nor Sinmosa dared to ignore it seeing as it came from an elder. Thus, she had no choice but to apologize to me. She attempted to explain what was going on to me but it might as well have been her way of voicing out the situation to herself: “That’s our uncle…usually he treats us well but he tends to be a little too strict…”

     (TL: Uncle in this case refers to the younger male cousin of a father rather than a sibling of said father.)

      ‘Oho, so that’s their uncle, no wonder he’s so huge. I just knew his level couldn’t be low, he probably has some status in the clan as well. For their family to have such a scandal…how unfortunate it must have been for them…’

     For some strange reason, seeing Sasani act like a wilted eggplant just gave me so much joy. If I had to describe what a wilted eggplant was like, it would be that it was even limper than usual. I honestly didn’t know why I felt so happy about his misery, but I knew for sure that

      ‘Poor Neanderke…’

     “Mama, that big doggie is so strong…” Being one of the rare moments she wasn’t playing around with Cinderel, Mo Na returned once more to her perch atop my neck. As she sat there, eyes sparkling and head resting on my own, she stared unblinkingly at Uncle Hellhound: “Mama, that big doggie looks so fierce.”

     Like she said, Sinmosa’s uncle truly looked powerful. If I had to judge from his stature alone, he was definitely a lot stronger than Sinmosa, making him at least Six-stars…

     “Mhm, that hellhound has to be at least Six-stars but don’t worry, he’s not an enemy…” I reached out and patted Mo Na on her little noggin.

     Having just said that, I spotted a flying hellhound zipping over my head and into the horizon…

     Mhm, that was the legendary slapped-by-your-uncle slap. A slap that surpassed the speed of light and broke the fourth wall.

      “Rawr!”

     Uncle Hellhound roared at Sasani who was about to climb up to his feet and in a couple of strides, charged up to the struggling Cerberus and swatted him down with a paw. Even from such a distance away, I could hear the *slap slap slap slap* of his swats as if they were right beside me.

     Just from that alone, one could see how much force were in those slaps.

     Naturally, Sasani didn’t dare to fight back and merely stood there. After another ten or so more slaps, the beating finally stopped though not because Uncle Hellhound pitied Sasani but because Sinmosa stepped in to plead, with Cinderel right next to her.

     The little puppy, upon seeing her papa get bullied like that, bravely rushed up and bit the bad Cerberus in his left shin as a way of getting revenge for her papa. She tugged and sawed at Uncle Hellhound’s fur with all her might but unfortunately for her, her widdle teeth simply had no bite behind them and couldn’t even leave a scratch on the old dog’s fur.

     

      Chapter 207

     Source: Imported

      Report

     Having chewed at Uncle Hellhound’s fur for what felt like half a day, Cinderel must have been thinking to herself right at that moment: ‘This old dog’s fur is truly hard.’

     “Little puppy, I’m your Uncle, don’t cha know. To think you actually dare to bite me, what if I decide to gobble you up in one bite?” Uncle Hellhound mischievously opened his jaws and made an ‘ahhhh’ sound as if he really intended to swallow her whole. As he did so, his pearly white teeth glittered with saliva and seemed to reek of cruelty itself.

     Because Uncle Hellhound spoke in the tongue of the devil, I heard everything he said loud and clear. Naturally so did the little puppy who paused in shock for a moment before immediately loosening her bite and scampering back to her mother’s side.

     Seeing that, I couldn’t help but express my admiration for that little whiz puppy. While she might be young, that didn’t mean she was clueless either. She clearly knew that her papa couldn’t stand up to Uncle Hellhound so she ran off to mama instead.

     ‘Backers are only called backers when they can provide backup.’ For little Cinderel to know that at such a young age, she had a bright future ahead of her!

     Faced with Sinmosa, Uncle Hellhound didn’t show any intention of hitting her right off the bat. In fact, he treated her tenderly, choosing not to blame her at all.

     “If it hadn’t been for Neanderke’s report, I might have really missed this opportunity entirely. Sasani that b*st*rd, he actually…my child, have you been well? I bet you aren’t…ever since you two went missing, I’ve been searching for you two every day…but to think you guys actually covered up your tracks instead…” Uncle Hellhound gently expressed his concerns before suddenly pulling a Jackal and Hyde on Sasani.

     “Sasani! You wretched thing, you actually did that to your baby sister…I truly didn’t think you had it in you to commit such an act…” A barrage of scoldings

     “Uncle…please don’t speak of Sasani in that manner…all of that was of our own will…” Whether as a sister or as a wife, Sinmosa couldn’t bear to see Sasani berated like that. She stepped forth hoping to alleviate some of the fire on the beleaguered Cerberus but all that elicited was a brief look from Uncle Hellhound before he went back to chiding Sasani.

     “If I only knew that you would commit such an act from the very start, I would have disposed of you long ago…” The scoldings continued, interrupted by intermittent slaps that almost brought him to tears.

     “Uncle~” She tried to placate her uncle once more before throwing a furious glare at the side where a certain Cerberus was currently beside himself with joy at Sasani’s misfortune. Feeling that withering gaze upon him, Neanderke promptly wiped that smile off his faces and pretended as if nothing happened.

      “We were merely passing by this time, we had no intention of…”

     “I know, even if you guys wanted to return, they wouldn’t allow you to.” Uncle Hellhound interrupted her mid-sentence, eyes still gentle as before. However, amidst all that was an undisguisable sense of solemnity and weight in his eyes: “The clan already knows of this matter, the clan leader is really angry…had it not been for me stopping him, you two would have been removed from clan registry a few days ago already…after all, such an act…even I can’t accept it…do you two understand this?”

     “We know…” Sinmosa lowered her head at that. “Honestly, both of us knew that from the very start, it’s just we still held some hope in our hearts that…that…”

     Sasani was just as crestfallen as his sister. Only Cinderel had on a puzzled look at the moment, clearly oblivious to what was going on.

     Being young, she couldn’t

      “The clan leader has promised that your matter wouldn’t be made public but he made sure to emphasize that you two are barred from returning. For all intents and purposes, we will treat you two as missing hellhounds.”

      “We never expected to be able to return…”

     Having said that, both parties fell silent for a moment.

     “Sinmosa, how about introducing your new friend over there.” Uncle Hellhound was the first to break the silence after which he nodded at me. “It has been 80 000 years since remnants of Sable Radiance last saw a devil appear. Let me guess where you guys came from…in my inherited memories, there are records of a certain region being linked to the Prison of the Dead via a teleportation gate. Don’t tell me you all came in from that gate?”

     ‘As expected of a high ranking member of a clan, he figured out our origin with just a glance. Well, it’s not like we were planning to hide that fact since that would be pointless.”

     “That’s right, we came in from the Prison.” The Cerberus threw us a quizzical look at that point.

      “My name is Mo Ke, even though my appearance is that of a Lust Demon’s, I’m actually a male. What about you, esteemed Cereberus, may I have the honor of knowing your name?”

     “Not bad, I like a well mannered youngster.” Uncle Hellhound gave me a thin smile while praising me. “I am one of the elders of the hellhound clan, you may address me as Sidarth. As you’ve seen, I’m Sinmosa’s and Sasani’s uncle. They grew up under my watchful eyes and yet they ended up like this…”

     As we chatted, Uncle Hellhound became more and more sentimental, at times talking about how adorable little Sasani was and how despicable the older Sasani was. Having said that, he then

     Out of respect for my elders, I diligently stood there listening, without ever interrupting him.

     “Ah, I’m sorry, I seem to have gone off tangent. Thankfully, you’re a good natured one, to be able to listen for so long without getting impatient.” Realizing his error, Sidarth gave us an embarrassed smile.

     Truth be told, it wasn’t that I was patient. Rather, it was because I didn’t dare to show my impatience on my face, he was a powerful Cerberus after all. While he might seem amiable now, that didn’t mean that respect wasn’t needed, especially in this lawless hellhole where the strong was king.

     On Earth, there used to be a saying that went: ‘treat others the way you want to be treated yourself.’ If I act in a disrespectful, haphazard manner in front of Sidarth, what I would get in return would most likely be more of the same. While Sidarth might have been Sinmosa and Sasani’s uncle and I was their savior, that bit of connection wasn’t strong enough to be relied upon.

     Thus, manners had to be kept up lest I wanted to remain here permanently. After all, here was an expert that could swat me to death with one paw strike if so he fancied it.

     “You are conscientious, very much so. This attitude of yours will help you avoid a lot of troubles in the future and perhaps even save your life someday, that I’m sure of. However, such a cautious and reserved approach will dull your youthful vigor.” As he said that,  his lips curled upwards in a manner that seemed like a smile yet didn’t seem like one as well.

     ‘Was he praising me or giving me advice? From those words alone, he almost seemed to be warning me.”

      “The young tend to be the ones who die early.”

     “It is as you say, hahaha” Sidarth gave a jovial chuckle. “Truly an

     As he said that, he threw a look at Neanderke and Sasani, instantly garnering a sullen look from both.

     “From the looks of things, your goal must be the territory of the Purgatory Shadowcats.” Sidarth abruptly steered the conversation back to business.

      “Well, I won’t ask why you’re heading there but since we’ve met each other like this, I’ll just give you a little help. While the Shadowcats tend to be solitary creatures, they do congregate under certain circumstances. If you proceed down this path, you will definitely meet that fellow, Anmi. He’s the closest Shadowcat to us, location wise. I helped him before so if you require help of any kind, just tell him I sent you.”

      “Anmi, huh, I’ll remember it. My gratitude for the help, I’ll remember your kindness.”

     “There’s no need for that, I’ll be happy as long as you don’t hold this against me. Besides, for my worthless nephew and Sinmosa to willingly help you, you must have done them a great favor or even saved them.” As he said that, Sidarth trotted over to Sinmosa’s side, head shaking with every step, and gently pulled apart the fur on the side of her nape. Out came a little black puppy who gave her mom a scared little sniff.

      “Even though this little child might seem healthy on the surface, I can sense a giant mass of energy residing in her that she doesn’t naturally own. That energy is what’s maintaining her life right now, moreover, judging from Sinmosa’s injured posture, I can tell that she must have suffered some sort of fatal wound not too long ago. If I’m not mistaken, you are the one who saved them, right?”

     While he might have ended that with a questioning remark, there was certainty in his tone.

      ‘I have to admit, this old dog is a sharp one. With just a bit of information, he actually managed to guess most of what happened.’

     

      Chapter 208

     Source: Imported

      Report

     “Uncle, then will Cinderel…” Hearing Sidarth mention that elemental core’s power, Sinmosa immediately grew worried about her daughter. Up till that very moment, she assumed that her daughter was in the clear, having been born and all, yet that assumption was just proven false mere seconds ago.

     “It’s all right, as long as she receives timely energy nourishments, she should be able to hold out till Six-stars at which that malaise would disappear. Take care however, the little lass needs to maintain a sufficient level of energy or else. No matter what, she mustn’t starve.” This matter concerned the life and death of his niece so Sidarth made sure to emphasize that last point in the gravest of tones.

      “That energy source must’ve come from a Five-stars Fire Elemental Core, I bet. The energies within that crystal are extremely pure and matches the lass’s element perfectly. Thankfully, such strict requirements are no longer needed since the most difficult phase, childbirth, has already passed. Keeping her well nourished is a lot easier, energy in general is enough for that.”

      ‘From the sound of things, we just have to feed her some high energy food then, souls should do the trick. They’re easy to obtain and free of impurities.’

     Naturally, feeding her more cores from Fire Elementals would be preferable but clearly that wasn’t a viable option. Where would we find said elementals in the first place and even if we could find them, killing them for such a reason was just despicable. Besides, their strength weren’t something to scoff at either; unlike the Flame Devouring Fishes, we had no way to counteract their abilities so souls was our best option for now.

     With that, the subject of Cinderel was settled for now, Sidarth turned to face me once more and said: “Speaking of which, why would a devil help a member of the hellhounds for no reason?”

      “Truth be told, I was allied with a hellhound back during those days in the Prison of the Dead. Because of that, I’ve grown fond of the hellhound clan, that’s why I decided to help out Sinmosa and Sasani.”

     (TL: Most of the time I try to reconcile the author’s inane ramblings with the chapter, but this honestly has me stumped so I just left it as is. The bracketed text is unnecessary so feel free to skip it.)

     {We live in a very practical world: just because you treat someone well doesn’t mean that

     The world isn’t only a mirror but rather something more complicated than that. It can reflect your view of the world but can also show you a host of other things yet to happen as well. You merely can’t see it then.}

     “I knew I wasn’t wrong about you, truly an outstanding youth.” Sidarth gave a laugh as he said that and then eyed Neanderke: “Brat, get over here.”

     Being summoned like that, Neanderke wasn’t all too willing to come over but did so anyway.

      “Stop being so wishy washy about it and get here, what are you, a sissy?”

     “…” As instructed, Neanderke stood before me and Sidarth, faces filled with an awkward nervousness.

     Not long after that, Sidarth’s lips curled in a beaming smile after which he gave the Cerberus a swift kick that caused him to stagger towards me and almost topple over. Ignoring the look Neanderke gave him, Sidarth turned to me before asking in an ingratiating tone: “This worthless dog son of mine, what do you think of him?”

     (TL: It’s a cultural thing here to talk about a child like that, the intention is to show humbleness rather than to insult the person in question.)

     “Really strong, stronger than me at least.” Still confused as to what he was asking, I answered the question at face value. Still, the fact that Neanderke was his son surprised me. Thinking about it, was there even anything I could say about that dog? This was merely our second time meeting and if I really had to describe him, I would use the following words: ‘your son is an a**hole.’

     “Originally, Sinmosa would’ve been my first choice…regrettable, truly regrettable…” After sighing for an eternity, Sidarth finally got to the main point: “Since Sinmosa has already married Sasani, I naturally can’t tear those two apart. In that case…are you willing to be my daughter-in-law? Miss Devil?”

      “……”

      ‘Someone kill me…please…’

      “I said so already, I’m a male, a male, a male! Don’t tell me I have repeat everything important three times before you get it?!”

     In contrast to my sudden outburst, Sidarth was strangely calm about this entire affair: “You aren’t being very polite, youngster.”

     “Screw your f****** politeness, I’m a

      “Your sex isn’t decided by what you say, please get that fact straight, O beautiful devil. Even though my son might be a little dumb, if you’re willing to marry him, I’ll aid you in his human reconstruction.”

      “What the heck is human reconstruction?! Also, why must I marry your stupid son? I already told you, I’m a male! Don’t tell me your brains have gotten foggy because of old age?! In what way do I look like a female?!”

     “If you’re male, you should have ‘that thing’ too.” As he said that, he quietly glanced between my thighs before shaking his head and sighing. “Youngsters nowadays, their mood swings come and go like the wind. Not too long ago you were so polite and yet just minutes later, you’re here glaring at me.”

      “That thing is just on vacation for now! It will come back eventually! You hear me? You old dog!”

     While calling him an old dog might not be very polite, there was no way I was going to back down after being prodded at my sore point.

     Naturally, Sidarth didn’t plan on taking that insult lying down either. His relaxed tone immediately changed and the mood suddenly darkened: “You’re being too disrespectful right now, don’t tell me I have to use force to resolve this?”

     “Force?” The moment I heard the old dog say that, a chill immediately ran down my spine and I began shivering uncontrollably. With the way his aura seemed to press down on him, my breathing started to become ragged.

      ‘Too strong, this hellhound definitely isn’t just a Six-stars, he is probably a Seven-stars…’

     Faced with an opponent as strong as a RPG Boss, all I could do was stare helplessly at the towering Cerberus…

     “Master!” Suppressing that overwhelming pressure Sidarth emitted, No.3 and Big 4 immediately rushed to shield me: “Master, please step back and leave him to us…we’ll hold him back while you escape…”

     “Hmph! Mo Na doesn’t want Mama to marry some ugly doggy!” Clearly not fazed by the Cerberus, Mo Na flew in front of me and so happened to block my face entirely: “Run Mama, Mo Na will protect you!”

     “Bark bark bark!” It was then that Neanderke’s excited barking echoed in the background. Because he spoke in the tongue of the hellhounds, I couldn’t understand a word he said. However, judging by those agitated looks on his faces, it probably wasn’t

     “Uncle, are you being serious here?” Sinmosa threw her kin a disbelieving look before shakingly saying: “Mister Mo Ke is our family’s savior…we will never allow anyone to harm him…not even you.”

     “Woof woof!” Sasani threw in an obligatory woof, just in case we forgot that he existed, before standing next to his wife in a show of support. Cinderel gave a couple of adorable ‘ruffs’ as well before scampering to her mama’s side. Like that, the hellhound family was assembled as a united front.

     “What do you mean, am I serious? When has your Uncle ever been serious?” As he said that, his oppressive aura faded away in an instant. Forcing a smile onto his face, he swatted Neanderke on the face: “It’s all your fault for being such a dunce, if not for that, why haven’t you found a wife yet!? Even a devil finds you ugly, stupid and just plain stupid. I swear, do you even resemble me in any way? If I didn’t know that your mother only loved me, I might even suspect that you aren’t my son!”

     A scolding for the ages and a beating later, a pitiful Neanderke stood with all three heads lowered. At that point, I wouldn’t be surprised if he started crying.

     Seeing her uncle give his son a thrashing like that simply because of his spinelessness, Sinmosa asked, albeit with exasperation in her voice: “Uncle…I don’t suppose you plan on saying that you’re joking again right…”

     “To be honest, that wasn’t completely a joke either. After all, if I managed to gain a daughter-in-law just by scaring her, it wouldn’t be that bad of a deal either.” With no remorse whatsoever at having taken a joke too far, that old dog, Sidarth, laughed uproariously while continuing to slap Neanderke: “It’s all your fault, you d*mn moron of a son, how can you not know the language of the devils even at this age, I should have just shot you into the ground back before you were born!”

     Everyone: “…”

      ‘Shot him into the ground huh…’

     Never once did it occur to me that Sidarth would actually be this unreliable but after seeing that debacle of joke he just pulled on us, I no longer had the mood to continue talking. After all, if that mad dog went on another rampage, we would be the ones on the receiving end. I hurriedly said goodbye to this man(dog) child and rushed eastwards.

     Now

     Now that we were a safe distance away from that father and son pair, I started to get a little curious about those barks Neanderke let out back when Sidarth tried to force that marriage on me.

     Hearing me ask that, Sinmosa’s lips curled into a smile that didn’t seem like a smile at the same time: “Neaderke said this: ‘That devil’s so ugly, there’s no way I would want her’, or something along those lines.”

      ‘I’m ugly? Haha, next time we meet, I’ll definitely send him an imp babe to be his wife. I bet that old dog would be delighted.’

     The territory of the Purgatory Shadowcats wasn’t that far off now. If we were to increase our pace, we would most likely reach it in five days. By following Sidarth’s directions, we soon found ourselves out of the hills.

     Unlike the hellhounds’ territory, one which consisted of lava rivers and platforms, the territory of the Purgatory Shadowcats was basically a giant grassland. For the most part, it was a field of black weeds with some dark red mixed in. Other than that, the only other plant life we saw was a blackened tree that seemed more rock than plant. Even so, that lifeless tree somehow managed to give off the impression that it was still growing.

     “An environment like this…” I muttered in slight disbelief. Truly, such an area teeming with plant life boggled the mind. There was clearly no source of water in sight, the closest thing to fluid here was lava, and yet there still existed so many plants.

     “Before coming to Purgatory, the Shadowcats used to live in Abaddon. Back then, they made some preparations before making the move over. The plants you see before you are the preparation they made…” As Sinmosa said that, she almost seemed to project a wise, scholarly image.

      “You’re saying the Shadowcats planned this migration and also wanted to form a new evolutionary branch in Purgatory?”

     I didn’t know much about the Shadowcats but the moment I heard that, I suddenly had the impression that they must have had some kind of pressing reason to move here.

     “Regarding their exact motives, only the Shadowcats would know that.” Sinmosa shook her head. “This is my first time coming here as well.”

      “In that case, let’s just follow Elder Sidarth’s suggestion and find that Purgatory Shadowcat known as Anmi. However…I have to say…Elder Sidarth doesn’t seem all that reliable…what if the person he introduced is also…”

     

      Chapter 209

     Source: Imported

      Report

     “No way…even if our Uncle isn’t the most reliable of dogs…at least he won’t try and scam us…right?” Having said that, Sinmosa shook her head: “Well our Uncle is kinda… ‘eccentric’ normally.”

      “How about we talk about the Purgatory Shadowcats instead. Being solitary, does that mean that each cat lives on its own plot of land?”

      “Apparently, there aren’t many Purgatory Shadowcats here so each and every cat has its own territory. The young Purgatory Shadowkittens would stay with their parents till they mature into adulthood at which point they would automatically leave.”

      “Rumor has it the Purgatory Shadowcats have a Chief Overlord, a Cat King of sorts who possess absolute authority within the clan. This king has a large number of its kin serving it so that counts as a Purgatory Shadowcat Community of sorts.”

      ‘So what you’re saying is that they normally live alone or in small households except for the Cat King who is served by a large number of cats? And that’s the only reason for them to form a community? Sounds pretty complicated to me. Don’t tell me madness is a common trait amongst all cats, no matter which world they are from? I wonder if it’s hereditary…’

     Sinmosa continued explaining the matters regarding those cats but I still had a lot of unanswered questions regarding their living conditions. However, there was one thing I was certain of, and that was that the Purgatory Shadowcats weren’t dumb. The reason for that was simple, to create such an environment rich with plant life required a great degree of intelligence.

     However, the question that continued nagging at me in my head was: exactly what forced those cats to migrate here?

     According to Sidarth’s words, Anmi was the closest Purgatory Shadowcat to us. In other words, we were most likely in Anmi’s territory already.

     “Look Mama, we found a fruit!” Never one to stay idle for long, Mo Na immediately went exploring with little Cinderel in tow, right as we started talking about the Purgatory Shadowcats. It wasn’t until they finally got tired that Mo Na came flying back to me with Cinderel in her arms along with some strange red fruit

     “Don’t run about so much, this place isn’t safe.” I picked up the little puppy and with my other hand, placed Mo Na around my neck.

     As she rode my neck, she lowered herself and pressed that dark red fruit against my mouth. “Mama, this fruit is edible, try it.”

     “How many times have I told you already? Don’t eat strange things.” Being in a foreign environment like Purgatory, the first thing I taught Mo Na was the importance of safety. Unfortunately, with her personality being what it was, she didn’t care too much for my advice and merely ignored them. ‘Perhaps I spoiled her a little too much when she was young, that’s why she dares to ignore my words like that…’

     “Aunty Sinmosa said these are edible. Besides, Mo Na and Cinderel already tried them, Mo Na thinks they are tasty.” She continued pressed that fruit against the corner of my mouth, swinging it before my eyes from time to time.

      “I told you already, you mustn’t eat such strange things…”

     “Eat it, eat it…” She continued egging me on in that adorable loli voice of hers.

     “Fine, fine, just this one time.” I finally caved in seeing as her incessant badgering wasn’t going to stop otherwise.

     *gulp*

     Seeing me swallow the fruit instantly brought a smile to her face after which she promptly planted a wet one on my cheeks, several in fact. Not satisfied with just kissing, she excitedly licked my lower jaw, roughly caressing its contours with her tongue and causing it to itch slightly. That was how she usually showed her affection but sometimes, it just felt a little too much for me.

     The dark red fruit left a lingering sweetness on a tongue along with a slight spiciness that was caused by its fiery elemental nature.

     “We should harvest more of these fire fruits for Cinderel.” I said while petting the little puppy in question. Turning around to face a smiling Sinmosa, I followed up with a question of my own: “Do you know the name of this fruit?”

     “This is my first time in the lands of the Purgatory Shadowcats as well so I’m

      “Well, since the fruit is fine, we should harvest some more. Given Cinderel’s special condition, being a little cautious would be better.”

     “Mhm, I’ll go pick some more with Sasani, it shouldn’t take much time.” Sinmosa called out to her husband and the two trotted off into the distance.

      “No.3 , Big 4, I want you two to go harvest those fruits as well. Also, make sure to observe the surroundings while you two are out there. I’ll be waiting here in the meantime.”

     “Understood, Master.” Upon acknowledging the order, the two of them left in a direction opposite from that of the Cerberus couple.

     As I stood there, admiring the slightly warm field of grass beneath me, my spirits couldn’t help but be lifted by them. While their black and reddish hue was still a little depressing, the mere fact that they were grass made them a lot better than the rocks we had to contend with up till now.

     “Yawwnn…” Yawned little Cinderel as she curled up in my arms and used my arm as a pillow. This little puppy was rather close to me, perhaps by nature even. In all likelihood, it was because she knew that I was the one who gave her that elemental core when she was still an egg.

     “Mama, Mo Na has been having all kinds of strange dreams recently.” As she said that, she gently squeezed aside the little puppy to make space for herself in my arms. Having done that, she leaned in on me and rubbed against my chest, giving a satisfied purr every so often. “In Mo Na’s dreams, a beautiful big sister dressed in black always appear to teach Mo Na new things.”

      “Beautiful big sister in black?”

     “Mhm mhm, she’s really nice. She teaches Mo Na all kinds of spells but Mo Na doesn’t like some of them.

      ‘Why is Mo Na dreaming about such things?’

      “Are they all real spells?”

     “Of course they are. Just look at this.” Mo Na flipped her right palm around

      “What’s that spell called?”

      “It’s called Vengeful Soul, it summons a creature of lower intelligence that can scout the surroundings for us. With its intelligence, it’s still able to differentiate friend from foe but isn’t really suited for combat because of its low combat strength. Also, the soul isn’t suited to the environment of Purgatory and will dissipate given time.”

     Mo Na briefly gave me a run down of the spell. Based on what she told me and what I knew of such summoning spells, summoning such a soul would most likely require some sort of material. Furthermore, multiple instances of the spell should be able to exist concurrently.

     I reached forth and gently stroked her purple hair: “Is there anything else?”

     “There is, there is. Mo Na has a ton of other interesting spells!” As she said that, she gripped down on her right hand, dispelling the Vengeful Soul in an instant before then pointing at a distant patch of grass where a black mouse hid within. “Look Mama, there’s a mouse hiding in there.”

     “Mhm, it’s a mouse all right.” Cats loved to eat fish and mice, everyone knew that; since the Shadowcats made sure to terraform this environment upon arrival, it wouldn’t be strange at all if they brought over some mice to rear as well.

     “Mo Na can stop that mouse from running away.” Having said that, she spread her arms out before cupping them around her mouth. There, a cloud of green mist swiftly coalesced after which she gave the cloud a gentle blow and sent it on its way towards the hidden mouse, neither too quickly nor too slowly.

     Within mere seconds of being engulfed by the cloud, the mouse collapsed onto the ground twitching as it

      “A curse?”

     “That’s right, that’s an Enfeeblement Curse. It can rob a person of his physical energy.” She then went on to describe how great and fun the curse was.

     “Good girl, you’ve learnt a lot of spells, didn’t you.” I gently rubbed her on the head. Yet amidst all that, my heart couldn’t stop pounding for a second. Whether it was the Enfeeblement Curse or the Vengeful Soul spell, they were clearly connected to the Grimoire of the Dead. Back when I still had the grimoire with me, I remembered seeing a ton of such spells recorded within. I even learnt a curse then, known as the Weakening Curse. Compared to the Enfeeblement Curse however, the Weakening Curse was at least a tier weaker.

     ‘In that case, was the big sister Mo Na mentioned the Grimoire of the Dead? Come to think of it, the fact that it was even able to deflect lethal blows for me, was a miracle in of itself. Don’t tell me it’s a Semi-divine tool…”

     ‘So that big sister is the spirit of the tool then? But why would it fuse itself into Mo Na?’ Truth be told, while I might not show it often, the fact that the Grimoire was inside Mo Na worried me a ton. After all, it was Mo Na we were talking about—no amount of caution was enough.

      “Didn’t you just say that the big sister taught you spells you didn’t like? What were they?”

     “Oh, it’s that spell to revive those smelly zombies.” Mo Na rolled her eyes as she said that before continuing: “Those zombies are just too ugly, I would rather summon skeletons instead, they’re cuter.”

     “Mhm, they are rather ugly…though they are stronger than skeletons…” With that, I could basically confirm that the big sister Mo Na mentioned was the Grimoire of the Dead. Still, what was it up to exactly? Mo Na’s soul didn’t undergo any change so it probably wasn’t a possession.

     

      Chapter 210

     Source: Imported

      Report

     Perhaps it was because I was a little too engrossed in my worries and ended up showing them on my face, Mo Na who seemed to have picked up on my mood, and was busy hugging my neck while gingerly asking: “Mama, why are you frowning?”

     To avoid worrying her any further, I forced out a smile before lightly kissing her on the forehead: “It’s alright, it’s just that there are some matters your Papa can’t figure out, the more he thinks about them, the more engrossed he becomes.”

      “What’s worrying Mama so much?”

      “Nothing important, sweetie, don’t worry, your Papa is fine.”

     While the changes in her body concerned me, that much was certain, there was nothing I could really do about it at the moment except to continue observing her. Fortunately, the Grimoire didn’t seem to want to hurt her, I just hoped that remained true for the future as well.

     After having that little chat with Mo Na, Sinmosa and the others returned from their foraging. Their harvest wasn’t bountiful, merely five fruits were handed to me by Sinmosa using her mouth. At the same time, Big 4 handed over four fruits they picked from their side.

     While nine fruits might not have sounded like much, considering this was Purgatory, such a harvest honestly wasn’t that bad.

     I handed over the fruits to Mo Na before instructing her thusly: “Keep the fruits in your little box for now, those are for Cinderel so don’t try and steal them.”

     “Hmph, like I would even.” Mo Na carefully stowed the fruits.

     Having settled that matter, our group continued eastward in search for the Purgatory Shadowcats. Because we were still in the outermost regions of their territory, the cats we would most likely encounter would be solitary ones, two at the very most. In some sense, it would probably be more accurate to say that we were hoping some adult cat would stumble on us, rather than us stumbling on them.

     Thus, while we travelled through their lands, we took extra care to observe our surroundings. Whenever we encountered those dark red strawberries, we would naturally stop to harvest them.

     Other than plants, the lands of the Purgatory Shadowcats had lava lakes as well.

     Within those bodies of lava, there were traces of Flame Devouring Fishes. There were however, quite a number of Demon Flame worms. Moreover, judging by the depth of these ‘lakes’, I highly doubted any Demon Fire Salamander would even be able to live in them.

     For now, those were our basic food sources. The worms became our main food source while the fruits we harvested were all handed over to Mo Na for safekeeping. Whenever Cinderel got hungry, she would head over to find Mo Na for those fruits.

     For the most part, hellhounds were meat lovers, while they were able to consume souls as well, those were more of snacks to them; it was fine if they had them, but it didn’t matter that much if they didn’t. Because of that, the majority of the souls we harvested ended up being consumed by Mo Na and I. As for Cinderel, she ended up joining us in the Soul Squad as well because of her unique constitution.

     Just as we were munching on our respective food sources and wondering how long more it would take for us to encounter a Purgatory Shadowcat, a black and red shadow came speeding right at us from a distance away.

     First to react were Sinmosa and Sasani, who until not too long ago, were chewing on worm meat. The couple warily glanced in the direction of the approaching figure and howled.

      “Nyaaaa!!”

     Before the shadow even entered visible range, we heard a piercing cat meow. However, thanks to its lightning speed, I still wasn’t able to visibly discern what kind of creature it was; not that it was even necessary anymore since that meow=– gave me all the information I would ever need.

     The Purgatory Shadowcat standing before us resembled a normal cat except it was a lot bigger. It had a mostly black coat of fur that had red patterns streaking all around. As for its size, it was roughly the size of an average Chinese dog, moreover, its eyes were golden yellow. However, because it was furious right now, those beautiful pupils were marred by streaks of

     “Grrrrrr!” Naturally not one to take such a provocation lying down, Sinmosa and Sasani immediately put up an aggressive front as well. Yet even though the two of them were noticeably bigger than that cat, their stature seems almost diminished in comparison.

     The Purgatory Shadowcat in question clearly didn’t like the hellhounds either. Its angry hissing didn’t stop for a second as it arced its back and circled the hellhound couple. Moments later, its pressure wave came rushing out in full force, forcing the couple to retreat a few small steps back. Because Sinmosa and Sasani blocked the majority of its pressure for us, we were mostly left untouched.

     “Sinmosa…can you communicate with it?” Seeing as we were the ones seeking their aid here, I didn’t want to get into a fight right away with a Purgatory Shadowcat. Thus I made sure to remind Sinmosa not to act rashly, if possible, I wanted them to communicate with words instead of claws.

     “Devil?” Finally noticing us, the Purgatory Shadowcat made the conscious switch to the tongue of the devil. “Impossible…there are actually devils still alive in the Remnants of Sable Radiance?”

     From its tone, I could clearly sense the shock it felt towards our mere existence. However, was it really to be blamed for that? After all, the devils all disappeared 80 000 years ago and this entire region was sealed up for some unknown reason.

     “Don’t be surprised…even though I find it hard to believe myself…” Thankfully, the Purgatory Shadowcat standing before us knew how to speak the tongue of the devil despite what it just said. Given that they had the ability to Dreamwalk however, that really wasn’t anything to be surprised about.

     In order to facilitate communication between us, I smiled gently and took several steps forward till I was merely five meters away from the Purgatory Shadowcat. I opened up my arms as a show of peace and said: “Please don’t be alarmed, the only reason we are here

     “I don’t care if you’re a devil or a hellhound, all I know is that you all are a bunch of despicable thieves so die!” Without even allowing me to finish my sentence, the cat viciously swiped at me; it clearly didn’t intend to be reasonable at all.

     “Watch out.” Sinmosa and Sasani rushed out from my flanks to shield me.

     The two dogs clashed with the cat in all out brawl amongst the grass. Although the two hellhounds were significantly bigger than the cat, and although they had the numbers advantage, they still didn’t seem to be able to come out on top in this melee.

     “Blast it all, you all actually dare to gang up on me?! D*mned thieves, trash! Stupid dogs!” As it hurled insult after insult at us, it backpedalled furiously while dodging the double-pronged attack from Sasani and Sinmosa, at times throwing a couple of swipes of its own.

     Perhaps it was because of its superior abilities or perhaps because Sinmosa and Sasani didn’t wish to deal a killing blow, the Purgatory Shadowcat managed to successfully escape from their encirclement.

     Taking advantage of that, I tried to reach out to it once more, hoping to calm it down in the process. “We aren’t thieves. We come here,with sincerity in our hearts, in order to seek the aid of the scholarly Purgatory Shadowcats…”

     Unfortunately, before I could even finish that sentence, a huge surge of mana burst forth from the feline figure.

      “A thief is a thief, don’t try to cover up your despicable ways!”

     Having pulled away from us far enough, it began channelling an enormous amount of mana infused with the elements of fire and shadow. As the flames roared to life on the cat’s body, their crimson brilliance fed the strange snaking shadow beneath the cat, causing it grow ever bigger and ever more terrifying.

     Those flames were most likely born out of some novel usage of the fire element. Compared to that however, what truly grabbed my attention was that seemingly autonomous shadow…the way it wriggled about reminded me of my own Shadow Guardian.

      “Be careful, it’s able to cast two types of elemental magicks at the same time.”

     Having evolved into the Purgatory Shadowcats, these

     “Mama, are you all right?” Mo Na reached out to grab me, all the while hugging Cinderel close to herself. “That kitty is dangerous, Mama.”

      “Master, please stay behind us.”

     “Hold on, stop fighting for a while.” I squeezed my way through No.3 and Big 4, walked up to the center of Sinmosa and Sasani before calling out to that cat: “That Purgatory Shadowcat over there, Mister Shadowcat, is your name Anmi?”

     “Despicable thief, you actually know of my name?” The Purgatory Shadowcat was stunned for a moment before becoming even more furious: “Since…since you know of my name, you still dare to steal my things. You all are trying to provoke me, aren’t you?!”

      “…”

     ‘That dumb cat probably has its stupidity level maxed out…I don’t think we can even communicate with it.”

     “Hey, that big kitty over there, you keep saying we’re thieves, then how about telling us exactly what it is we stole?” Mo Na flew up to my shoulders in an angry huff, stood right up, cupped her hands around her mouth like a makeshift loudhailer and yelled: “Don’t tell me you’re trying to slander us?!”

     “D*mnable thieves, how could us noble Shadowcats ever stoop so low as to slander someone else?!” Anmi turned his angry gaze onto Mo Na before yelling at the top of his lungs: “The stolen goods are right on your person, don’t even try to deny it!”

      “…stolen goods…”

      ‘Somehow I think I know where this is going already…’

     That mention of stolen goods being on us immediately reminded me of a certain activity we partook in since entering this region: harvesting fruits. It just so happened that said fruits were on Mo Na right this very instant…

     Naturally, if I could figure this out, so could Mo Na; she wasn’t a moron after all. Opening up the tiny box at her waist, she picked out two dark red fruits and then twiddled them around her fingers before smirking at the cat: “Are you talking about these?”

     

      Chapter 211

     Source: Imported

      Report

      “I caught you red handed, what else do you have to say for yourself!?”

     Eyes glued to the two fruits in Mo Na’s hands, the flames around Anmi roared with an intensity matched only by his fury. Beneath him, the twisting shadow shot towards Mo Na like some kind of shadow demon.

     “Step back.” Even while all the arguing was going on, Sinmosa’s and Sasani’s gaze never once left Anmi. Thus, the moment he launched that shadowy attack, the couple immediately dashed in front of Mo Na. Suddenly, the twisting shadow, upon being stretched to its utmost limit, waved about like a palm tree in a hurricane and sprayed a barrage of countless shadow blades at Mo Na.

     Seeing that, the two Cerberuses opened all six of their jaws and let loose a sea of flames from their mouths. Husband and wife working together, this showdown between fire and shadow merely lasted two seconds before the roaring flames completely overwhelmed the shadow.

      “Nyaaa!!”

     Still surrounded in flames, Anmi hissed furiously before rushing forward in a blind fit of rage.

     Like that, cat and dogs met once more and a heated battle ensued.

     Sinmosa and Sasani were already at the level of Five-stars but Anmi was clearly stronger than them, though he still wasn’t quite at the level of a Six-stars yet. Because of that, this battle was basically a done deal right from the get go. This was especially so since the Purgatory Shadowcats didn’t really possess much of an advantage in a melee, let alone in one where they were outnumbered.

     While Anmi’s shadow magic was still a fearsome and unpredictable threat, it wasn’t to the extent where he could take on two enemies roughly at the same level as him.

     Seconds later, a visibly suppressed cat laid before us on the ground, held down by a paw from Sasani.

     “Hmph, and here Mo Na thought you were some kind of super kitty. Look at you now, you ended up pressed against the ground after all.” Now that the battle was over, Mo Na was more than ready to resume her gloating, having stowed away some of the fear and shock she had on just now. “Hah, next time pick a fight with someone your own size.”

     “If it wasn’t for them ganging up on me…I wouldn’t have…oof pfft..lost in the

      “Thieves this, thieves that, how annoying, ever since we met you, you’ve been saying that we stole your fruits, well then, do you have any proof that the fruits belongs to you?”

     “Those Meowberries were all grown by me, if I say they belong to me then they belong to me.” Anmi obstinately staked his claim over the fruits. However, the very next second later, he was thunderstruck by what Mo Na said.

     “What a joke, it’s yours just because you say so? Mo Na says these fruits were all grown by Mama and me.” As she said that, Mo Na lifted up a fruit to eye level and gave it a thorough look see. A long while later, she then shamelessly declared: “You say this is a Meowberry? But I don’t see your name on it, how about you call out to it and let’s see if it responds to you.”

     “…” Anmi almost spat out blood upon hearing those words, his chest heaved and if looks could kill, his eyes surely would have murdered us all: “You claim to have grown those Meowberries, well, are your names on it then? Will it respond to you if you call it?!”

     “Names huh, of course they are, just give Mo Na a second, she will find them for you.” She then pretended to search around the fruit while in actuality, she was clearly etching her name onto the fruit in question.

      “Alright, here you go, those devil words are Mo Na’s name.”

     Mo Na lowered the Meowberry to Anmi’s eye level and lo and behold, the devil words she mentioned were etched on it as she stated. The only problem however, was that they had clearly been etched on not too long ago…

     Furious, Anmi spat out each and every word with deliberate force: “…I’ve never met such a thick-skinned, shameless thief in my entire catlife…”

     “Hehehehe…you’re too kind.” Meowberry still grasped tightly in her hands, she placed a finger on her lips and gave a very, very smug smile.

      “Mhm.”

     For the most part,

     *Ahem*

     Hearing me cough, Mo Na knew that the gig was up so she unwillingly stepped away albeit with a pout on her adorable lips.

      “Mister Anmi, if I let you go, will you calm down and talk to us?”

     “…isn’t it a little too late for that…” Anmi tried to glared at me but he was swiftly fed a mouthful of dirt by Sasani’s paw press. Clearly humiliated and in great discomfort, the restrained cat did his best to struggle free but upon discovering that there was basically no hope, he finally caved in: “If…and I’m just saying if…you all are willing to talk…”

     ‘…you make it sound like we were the ones out for blood instead.”

     I nodded at the Cerberus couple and the two lifted their paws off the poor cat. Still not too sure of Anmi’s trustworthiness, the two of them maintained a wary posture even after letting him go.

     Thankfully, Anmi still had some sense in him and cleverly chose not to fight back.

     Truth be told, he was a lot stronger than either Sinmosa or Sasani, but that was only if it was a one on one fight. Too bad for him, we clearly outnumbered him and as the saying went, “Four hands are better than two.”

      “We came here looking for you..”

     Just as I said that however, Anmi immediately cut me off and gave me a highly guarded look: “How do you know of my name?”

     “An elder introduced us to you, he was the one who told us to come find you.” Having mentioned that certain ‘elder’, I threw a dirty look at Sasani and Sinmosa. That unreliable dog uncle of theirs truly gave me quite a headache back then.

     “Elder?” Following my gaze, Anmi looked at the two Cerberus who had just beaten him up, staring at Sasani in particular with shock: “Don’t tell me the elder you’re talking about is a Cerberus?”

      “That’s right, he even said he’s pretty close to you.”

     ‘So they do know each other, looks like

      “Is that old dog named Sidarth?”

     “Mhm.” It was then that I realized something was up and as reality would soon prove, I was too immature, too simple in my thinking.

     The moment I nodded my head in confirmation, his face immediately changed. From the cooperative feline of just moments ago, Anmi straightened his body and his fur fluffed up in an instant once more: “NYAAA! So you were sent here by that old dog to humiliate me, I knew it! No wonder you stole my Meowberries…this time I won’t show any mercy, die!”

     “Hey hey hey…calm down for a second, why are you acting crazy all of a sudden…” With just one answer, Anmi reverted back into a crazy cat. His mood swing came so inexplicably quick, my brain had difficulty processing it.

     ‘Weren’t we just playing nice a while ago? How did we end up fighting again?”

      “So it’s not enough that he tries to steal my Meowberries, he even asked others to form a group to steal them…how despicable, I won’t stand for it…NO MORE!!”

     ‘What is he raving on about this time? Ah, hold on, why does it seem like he only went crazy after hearing Sidarth’s name? Don’t tell me he has a grudge with Sidarth…that’s right, that has to be it, why else would he act like a spurned lover who just had his partner stolen?! That d*mnable old dog…I knew he wasn’t reliable!”

      “Nya nya nya nyaaaa!”

     Anmi charged at us with maddened fury, this time not even bothering to defend. His fiery energies mixed with his shadow element and continuously lashed out at the two Cerberuses, causing a chain of explosions and shadow lashes. However, the two were more than able to handle such a relentless barrage of attacks. With perfect coordination, husband and wife split up to deflect each attack separately and once more suppress Anmi with their numbers advantage.

      “Demon Flame Charge!”

     The more he fought, the worse his situation became. Whatever sense he had left in him told that defeat was inevitable if he continued like that. Thus, he decided to go all in. All we saw was his feline silhouette leap backwards several dozens of meters before h came rushing towards us in fiery, dark

     However, this fluidity wasn’t due to some kind of flexibility but rather was caused by the instability of the skill, as if Anmi had turned himself into a ticking time bomb. The troublesome thing was that this time bomb was one we couldn’t stop from exploding and not only that, it was one whose fuse length was unknown to us.

     As Anmi careened through the air, his figure seemed to blur and his speed surged. In just the blink of an eye, he rammed into Sasani with a speed that our eyes could barely perceive, and sent him flying over dozens of meters away. Because of that however, his speed dropped but the berserk Anmi wasn’t one to mind such details. He immediately turned his sights on Sinmosa and blasted off towards her. This time, there wasn’t nearly as much room to build up speed and with his already lowered speed, his charge ended up being blocked by Sinmosa.

     “Raging Flame Charge!” Her body burst out in roaring flames that wrapped her in extreme temperatures. Unlike Anmi’s charge however, hers was more stable and resembled more of a cloak of flames than a ticking time bomb.

     *BANG!*

     Dark red and crimson red collided in a deafening explosion that sent out a massive shockwave mere seconds later. Just watching them fight, I was nearly sent flying away with Mo Na hugged tightly in my arms.

     Like the faithful bodyguards they were, No.3 and Big 4 promptly stepped in front of me to absorb the raging forces. It was at that moment that Sasani came galloping back and he too joined in the protection duty.

     “Sinmosa…” Vision obscured by the ensuing dust storm, I called out in concern to the mass of dust and soil ahead of men. Worried for his wife, Sasani rushed into the dust cloud without a second of hesitation.

     As the dust settled, what came into sight were three figures cut out of a gray backdrop. Of the three, two were lying prone on the floor, both just as injured as the other.

     

      Chapter 212

     Source: Imported

      Report

     In this world, there was no such as equality, the vast majority of humans were born without the ability to cultivate their own Fighter’s Aura, let alone the necessary Elemental Affinity required to be a mage. Compared to that, elemental creatures could be considered the favored children of Mother Nature herself. These creatures possessed an unassailable advantage when it came to their own elemental affinity. Even without studying, they were able to unlock countless spells within their respective elemental affinity. However, there is one thing I wish to make clear right here, right now. There exists a fundamental error in the way people perceive elementals. Elemental cores from Six-stars elementals can impart the necessary talents to unlock Fighter’s Aura in a normal person, thus the vast majority mistakenly assumed that only Six-stars elemental creatures were able to produce elemental cores. This is a common misconception. No matter what level they were, an elemental creature possesses its own core.

     An elemental core, as its name suggested, formed the core of any such creature. It is the source of its life force.

     Seeing as we do not possess such gifts, it behooves us to steal them instead.

     —-From Mysteries of the Elements

     A lot of times, I wondered to myself: why do we struggle? Was it because of a sense of regret, or not wanting to look weak? Honestly, neither of those were true. The real reason was simple: just for the sake of struggling.

     Anmi was the perfect example right now. Even though he knew he couldn’t beat us, he chose, time and time again, to attack us, three times in fact with the last ending in…failure.

     “That was a spectacular Demon Flame Charge.” Even without her husband helping her up, she managed to climb to her feet before the feline. Still, that didn’t mean she was perfectly fine either. As she struggled to her feet, her limbs trembled ever so slightly till she finally got her footing: “It’s just too bad…I bet that skill of yours is a mimicry of our Raging Flame Charge…it’s just too bad…”

     “Too bad about what?” As he laid there in the grass, Anmi coughed up a gout of blood moments after speaking. He

     “Too bad you weren’t able to learn it.” Without any mercy whatsoever, she proceeded to list out the flaws of his skill: “Raging Flame Charge uses the innate explosiveness of the fire element but your Demon Flame Charge uses two elements instead of just pure fire. While it might seem more powerful and more varied in its damage, it actually goes against the explosive essence of the skill itself. More importantly, you weren’t able to balance the two elements. In practise, that shortcoming of yours…resulted in your defeat…did you notice it? When you crashed into me, you weren’t able to exert your full force else I would have lost…”

     From her words, I chanced upon a rather interesting piece of news: Anmi secretly learnt the Raging Flame Charge from the hellhounds and even tried to modify it with his own element. Unfortunately, an imitation was just an imitation in the end. For all his efforts, he still couldn’t compare to someone who had undergone the proper training required and only earned himself scorn instead.

     “So that’s why…*cough*” Anmi coughed up another gout of blood. After throwing up twice, he finally felt a lot better. “Come then…kill me…I won’t resist…”

     “Kill you? Why must we kill you?” I rolled my eyes at Anmi as if I was looking at an idiot.

      ‘Moron, how many times do I have to repeat myself…’

      “We’re here to seek your aid not fight…”

     “Aid?” Anmi found himself at a temporary loss as to what to do: “So you weren’t sent here by Sidarth to humiliate me?”

      “…why would we humiliate you?”

      ‘…is it because we look too fierce or is it simply because you have a hole for a brain?’

      “Ah?? EHH?!”

     Sometimes, some matters had to be settled with fists first or the message won’t get across. This time so happened to be one such case. In that sense, using violence wasn’t that bad of an option seeing as words won’t work.

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      ‘No wonder a certain video game waifu assassin always loved to say: “Violence solves everything!”’

     The sordid past between Sidarth and Anmi wasn’t an easy one to understand. If one were to believe the words of

     Sidarth was an unreliable dog, that much I knew and experienced first hand. As for what he did to Anmi…that would be a story best left to Anmi to explain.

     Anmi used to be a carefree Purgatory Shadowcat. While his territory wasn’t particularly large –it even bordered that of the Hellhounds– he never once resented his situation. Because he had a friendly encounter with a passing hellhound once, his impression of them as a whole was rather positive.

     The two races might have warred with each other in the past, the keyphrase being ‘in the past’, there were hardly any clashes between the two ever since they signed that peace deal.

     Anmi was a proponent of said peace deal and peace in general, at least that was how he viewed himself. He loved the plants in his territory, the Meowberries in particular were his favorite food. At times, he would snack on the Ashen Fur Mice who frolicked in the tall grass instead. To him, eating Meowberries and mice was a form of leisure, of enjoyment, a true appreciation of life’s pleasures even. Thus, he was very particular about his territory. Whenever he had time on his paws, he would check on his Meowberries and then go hunt some mice once the hunger pangs struck. Naturally, there was also the option of just feasting on said Meowberries.

     Such an idyllic lifestyle truly suited a kitty cat like Anmi and it showed as well. He was truly satisfied with this simple life of eating and then sleeping. And yet such peace and harmony became a mere fantasy one fateful day when an unexpected dog invaded his territory…

     It was a shameless-to-the-max Cerberus with a body was big as a bull. It was at least ten times the size of Anmi and just by looking at its towering physique, Anmi almost lost his all desire to resist.

     Initially, that blasted dog didn’t purposefully appear Anmi but its favorite thing to do was to frolick about in Anmi’s territory, eating all his mature Meowberries and poaching all his Ashen Fur Mice who weren’t fortunate enough to find a hiding spot…truly a nightmare

     One fine day, a patrolling Anmi discovered that the Meowberries he had specially stashed away were all disappearing. Not only that, the population of Ashen Fur Mice was rapidly decreasing as well…those adorable and oh so tasty little fellows were now too terrified to even leave their mice holes.

     In order to uncover the causes for those mysteries, he embarked on what was to be the most calamitous investigation of his feline life.

     After three full days of investigating, he finally found the culprit: a Cerberus that was the size of a giant bull…

     Upon discovering the culprit, his anger got the better of him and he furiously pounced on the offending Cerberus. A few seconds later, he was sent flying away with a speed even faster than when he attacked. A complete defeat! His face contorted with grief and fury but there was nothing he could do about this either.

     Ever since his identity was uncovered, the shameless son of a dog, Sidarth, abandoned all restraint and went into full on freeloader mode, coming over every so often to leech on Anmi’s hard work. Should the poor feline ever try to resist him, Anmi would immediately be sent packing with a punch or a packing. That wasn’t even the worst case scenario as well; at times, Anmi even had to prepare a doggy bag for the shameless Cerberus…

      “It’s precisely because you said you came from that blasted old dog that I thought you were here to humiliate me…”

     An ‘aha’ moment descended upon Sinmosa as she proceeded to say: “So you’re saying you secretly learnt that skill from my uncle?”

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     “That’s right…” Anmi lowered his head before proceeding on with an ashen look on his face: “So that old dog is your uncle…does your family know that he’s so shameless?”

     Sinmosa: “…”

      ‘I think I might have some idea about that…’

     “I never thought that my uncle would be such a scoundrel…” Sinmosa then proceeded to apologize: “Even though this won’t really solve your problem, I still feel that I should apologize on my uncle’s behalf, I’m sorry…”

     “Woof woof.” Sasani was probably apologizing as well.

     “Forget it, even if you two apologize, that uncle of yours won’t change.

     Seeing that dejected look on his, I suddenly realized the strangeness of this whole situation: “Isn’t there a treaty between the Hellhounds and the Purgatory Shadowcats? For him to bully you so brazenly…even if the Hellhounds know nothing about this, shouldn’t your clan do something about him, or are they really planning to endure his antics? Anmi, don’t tell me you never reported this matter to your clan?”

     “…” The moment I said that, his face seemed to seize up as if there was something he couldn’t tell me. “Truth be told, it’s not that I don’t want to report this matter, it’s just…”

     He hesitated for a moment before finally saying: “Our clan is in a state of war…”

     “War?!” Back when Sinmosa described the surrounding clans in the region, she only mentioned that the Hellhounds neighbored the Purgatory Shadowcats and further east was the territory of the Demonic Fire Sprites.

     (TL: Used to be Demonic Fire Elves. The same words are used for elves and sprites in Chinese so I used elves initially.)

     The Demonic Fire Sprites were elemental beings like the Fire Elementals and like them, their habitat had to adhere to strict requirements. Given how much terraforming had been done by the Purgatory Shadowcats on their territory, the land was no longer suitable for these sprites to live in. Thus, there was really no reason for them to come to blows either.

     In that case, the Demonic Fire Sprites clearly weren’t the ones warring with the cats; the Hellhounds were clearly not the culprits either. On our way here, we saw no signs of war at all so exactly what was going with this war Anmi mentioned? Who were their opponents?

      ‘Perhaps if we helped them with this war, they might be more receptive to helping us once we showed them results seeing as we would be their benefactors then?’

     With that in mind, I anxiously pressed the feline with another question: “Who are your opponents, does your clan need my help?”

     “Our opponents are…” The moment that word was mentioned, an undisguisable sense of awkwardness filled the air: “It’s a civil war…

     

      Chapter 213

     Source: Imported

      Report

     Civil war, words which most clan were undoubtedly familiar with. If a choice had to be made about the most harmful events that could befall a clan, civil wars would definitely clinch the top spot.

     Before coming to this region, I was told about an existence known as the Cat King. Cat Kings were basically the central authority of the clan. Although their power wasn’t as absolute as those Emperors in ancient China –back then, they could basically order a person’s death with just a snap of their fingers– the orders of the Cat King were usually followed as long as it didn’t involve killing off someone directly. Just from that alone, one could see how prestigious the position was.

     It was precisely because of this prestige and power that made the position so unbearably tempting for those involved. Thanks to that, they found themselves in this whole debacle of hand versus feet, where siblings warred with each other.

     The elderly Cat King passed away not too long ago but annoyingly, he didn’t appoint a successor before doing so. Even more annoyingly, he had two sons and one daughter…

     In order to ascend, these three siblings argued day and night, finally resorting to blows in the end.

     “So a female cat can become a king as well….the Purgatory Shadowcats seem pretty progressive.” At the side, Mo Na listened with rapt attention to the tale of how a younger sister warred against her two older brothers. Most likely, it was the fact that a female was involved that she became so invested in the whole story in the first place: “Mama, once Mo Na grows up, she wants to become the Demon King!”

     “Ambitious! Your Papa approves.” Just like a parent who had just heard his child proclaim himself as a future scientist or president, my heart fluttered and I couldn’t help but give her an appreciative pat on the forehead. “Sweetie, Papa is sure you will succeed if you put your mind to it.”

     “Mhm, mhm.” Mo Na vigorously nodded her head as she smiled back at me.

     “If your clan is in the midst of a civil war, what are you doing here

     “Civil war huh…” Anmi lifted his head and stared at the depressingly grey sky above, doing nothing for what felt like an eternity before rolling his eyes at us and saying the following words in an extremely disdainful manner: “What has that got to do with me?”

     Me: “…”

      ‘You’re good, your whole clan is busy waging a war and here you are with your “what has that got to do with me?” attitude…such callousness, are you sure you’re fine like that?’

      ‘I think I get the whole picture now…it’s precisely because of his callousness towards his fellow cats that he ended up in this state with Sidarth…’

     “Hey, don’t give me that look, I know exactly what you’re thinking right now…honestly…other than me, there are a ton of other Purgatory Shadowcats who don’t give a d*mn about those three siblings.” Anmi sighed in exasperation, voice still as disdainful as before.

      “There are many who don’t wish to get caught up in that mess, it’s not just me, I swear. The majority of the clan doesn’t care about this whole succession war…as long as it doesn’t come knocking on our doorsteps, we do our best to keep our tails out of it.”

     “Why? Don’t you guys feel any sense of loyalty to the throne?” If this was a human war, the rivers would probably be red with blood already. Even though everyone knew that such a war was a bloody affair, there wouldn’t be any lack of volunteers thanks to the irresistible promise of  rewards.

     “Why?” Anmi scornfully harrumphed. “Because those three siblings are all morons.”

     “Morons…” That had to be the first time I heard someone speak of their country’s royal family in such a manner, in front of an outsider no less.

     Well, whether or not they were morons had nothing to do with me at all. My only goal was to find a Purgatory Shadowcat and attain

     “Let’s put aside the matter of your clan’s civil war for now, how about we talk about my requirements instead.” Seeing as that topic was basically spent, I prepared to lay my cards out on the table. “Truth be told, I came here because I heard that you Purgatory Shadowcats have an ability known as Dreamwalking. That’s why you guys are known as scholars, right?”

     “That’s right.” As he acknowledged that in a matter-of-fact tone, he tilted his head in the smuggest display I had seen thus far. “So you’re really here for help then? Speak then, I might just give you an answer seeing as you’re so sincere about seeking help.”

     “I did say we wanted your help…” Looking at his absolute confidence, I knew that this time, for sure, we were going to get the answer we wanted. Even though his smug face was rather off putting, I had no intention of aggravating the situation any further before I got my answer.

     Thus, I asked the question that had been bothering me all this while, “I wish to enter Abaddon, do you know the way?”

     “…you wish to enter Abaddon?” His face froze up and whatever smile he had left on his lips stiffened: “How about another question instead?”

     Me: “…”

      “Mo Na just knew this kitty isn’t reliable at all.”

      “Hey, who are you calling unreliable?!”

     “You of course, who else is there?” Mo Na dismissively waved him off before smirking: “I bet you don’t even know the way to Abaddon, do you?”

     “…” Anmi had nothing to say to that. ‘Seems like he really is stumped by that question.’

     “So you really don’t know then? I thought your Dreamwalking ability allows you to freely traverse the dimensions?” His silence immediately dowsed my prior excitement.

      “Honestly, that ability isn’t as powerful as the legends make it out to be…besides…”

     After leaving that ‘besides’ hanging there for an eternity, he abruptly ended the conversation; he probably had his own considerations to look out for so he chose not to speak any further. It was at that moment that Sinmosa demonstrated her brilliance, a brilliance that Sasani could never hope to match:

     “If you don’t

     “…” At that, Anmi threw the devious Cerberus a mournful yet furious stare before saying: “But I really don’t have any more Meowberries and Ashen Fur Mice…”

      “Well then, do you think my uncle will believe his niece more or an outsider like you?”

      “I guess it’s you…”

     Sinmosa smiled thinly and said no more. Just that look in her eyes was more than enough to pressure the cornered feline. Head lowered for a long while, he confessed.

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      “Truth be told, we’ve already lost our ability to Dreamwalk…”

      ‘So that’s the real reason why…the truth…it hurts so much…’

     “Then why the heck did you act all high and mighty just now?” Honestly, I really wanted to murder someone right now.

     “…because…I do actually know a lot of things…” Anmi answered weakly while glancing at Sinmosa. Upon discovering her rapidly worsening expression, he finally caved into the pressure: “Yes, Dreamwalking is one of the unique abilities of a Shadowcat, but after turning into Purgatory Shadowcats, we slowly lost the ability to Dreamwalk…”

     Resisting that strong urge in me to punch him right now, I immediately cut him off with another question: “Then tell me exactly who can help me enter Abbadon!”

     “Those three morons…they’re still Shadowcats…” By now, Anmi was on the verge of tears: “Because their family is the only strain of cats that haven’t turned into Purgatory Shadowcats, they possess the rights to the throne…”

      ‘So the Purgatory Shadowcats didn’t even see their transformation as an evolution but rather a mutation.’

     With that in mind, we talked him into bringing us to see their royal family instead. Although his face clearly showed his unwillingness to do so, the lump on his head begged to differ… ‘This kitty is actually pretty cooperative after all.’

     ……

      “Past this point is the territory of the little Princess.”

     After travelling for roughly a week, we finally reached our destination. During the trip, we passed by several territories belonging to other Purgatory Shadowcats. Just like

     As we proceeded deeper and deeper into the territory of the Purgatory Shadowcats, we discovered more and more strains of animal and plant life. Given how many we’ve seen so far, I wouldn’t be surprised if their territory was the territory most teeming with life.

     Of those we saw, the majority belonged to the category of animals or plant life that shouldn’t even exist in Purgatory and yet they did. Other than the Ashen Fur Mice, we saw some birds flying above us and found some strange insects crawling beneath us. All of them were lifeforms transported over from Abaddon. Naturally, they all underwent some form of mutation after the migration and now possessed some degree of fire element within them. After all, without fire resistance, it was basically impossible to live in Purgatory.

     “So what’s this little Princess like?” Right ahead of us was a castle town that was stacked and carved entirely out of stone. It had a rather unique pressure that could’ve only come from a city in Purgatory. Its blackish molten rock gave the city an almost overbearing pressure.

     “What’s she like?” Hearing that, Anmi couldn’t help but roll his eyes at the mere thought of the little Princess: “You just have to know that she’s really moronic.”

      “…”

     Because his last words were truly worrying, we ended up spending the rest of our journey in tense silence.

     Finally, we arrived on the doorstep of the castle town, door being metaphorical in this case since there wasn’t actually a door at all but rather a giant hole instead. There was basically nothing stopping a person from entering or leaving except for two cats standing guard outside who vaguely resemble Anmi figure wise. While it wasn’t technically wrong to call them guards, it would take a rather loose definition of the word ‘guard’ to define their lackadaisical posture as anything but lazing around.

     

      Chapter 214

     Source: Imported

      Report

     “Why is it everytime I visit, I find you two lazing about…” Anmi greeted the two guards with an unabashed tsukkomi you would expect from friends or close acquaintances.

     “Sir Anmi, what are you doing here? Didn’t you say you wanted to stay away from this fiasco? Don’t tell me you’ve finally seen the light and decided to help Princess Meisian?” Replied one of the guards with an awkward smile. From the looks of things, this probably wasn’t the first time they were caught skiving.

     Anmi gave a quick but discreet glance at Sinmosa before saying: “Well, the reason is…complicated, mhm. How about helping me send word to the princess first. Just say that I have guests with me.” As he said that, Anmi made a show of how important his position was in the clan. “Carry on then, my affairs aren’t to be delayed.”

     In the midst of all that, Anmi continuously winked at the guardcat.

     “Sir Anmi, what’s the matter? Your eyes keeps on blinking so quickly, is there something stuck inside?” Asked the silly guardcat, clearly not getting the intention behind his actions.

     “No…it’s nothing…” Anmi’s body immediately stiffened.

     I bet he really wanted to kill himself right now. Knowing him, he must’ve wanted to send some kind of secret message to those cats but they were too stupid to realize that. Truly, was a there any better phrase to describe this situation than ‘what’s scary isn’t an opponent on the level of God, rather it is the dumb-as-a-pig teammate who you should fear.’

      ‘Heh heh…maybe I should ask them in Anmi’s stead: “Does your family know that you’re this stupid?”’

     “Just go!” With that howl, Anmi clearly ran out of patience for the two pig-cats.

     “Alright, I’ll go report in.” The guardcat who replied then proceeded to jump over the castle wall… ‘Jump over the wall? Isn’t there a perfectly fine looking entranceway over there, why climb over the wall?’

     I couldn’t, for the life of me, figure out why that guardcat decided to jump over the wall like that but judging by all the cat steps on the

     The walls and cat steps were all pitch black and if one wasn’t looking hard enough, he would most likely miss them entirely. That was why I didn’t notice it till now.

     A short while later, that guardcat came climbing back over the wall, nimbly leaping off each step and covering the entire ten meters in mere seconds. Upon touching down, the guardcat greeted us: “The Princess has decided to welcome you all personally, please enter the castle.”

     “Just pass through that hole and you’ll reach the main hall for receiving guests.” Anmi gave a gentle leap, climbing over the greater half of the castle wall before we even had to chance to react to his words.

     Seeing that, the two Cerberus glanced at each other after which Sinmosa asked: “Should we enter?”

     “Yeah, after all that trouble it took us to get here, there’s no way we’re leaving empty handed.” I nodded my head and then took the first step ahead of the group.

     “Wait for Mo Na, Mama…” Mo Na rushed off with Cinderel in tow, following closely behind her were No.3 and Big 4.

     Seeing that we had all left, Sinmosa gave a helpless glance at her husband before following closely in our footsteps.

     As we continued walking through the hole-like entrance, Sinmosa spoke up as if talking to herself: “Strange, why would the Purgatory Shadowcats not use this entrance? Is it just a force of habit?”

     With regards to that question, I had previously given it some thought as well but soon tossed it aside. After all, we weren’t some researchers studying the habits of Purgatory Shadowcats; such mundane matters really didn’t matter at all.

      “Haha, they really entered it.”

      “Ahahaha, they entered the hole, they entered the hole…”

     Not long after we stepped into the entranceway, the ominous sound of cat laughter

     The first thing we saw upon entering the castle was a field of black grass and some strange trees formed of rock. Right ahead was a two hundred meter tall, three-storied stone structure that was both wide and long, almost like those universities from Earth. From a distance away, the joined structures seem to form a prone ‘T’.

     There, Anmi stood waiting for us at the entrance of the first floor. This time, it was a normal looking entranceway with a couple of stone doors and a door frame.

     “You…took the hole, I see.” Seeing us approach, he took the initiative to receive us with a wide grin on his face.

     “What are you smiling about?” For some reason, that smile of his gave me the creeps.

     “Oh, nothing.” He looked left and right before continuing: “Alright, since we are all here, let’s go see the Princess then, the faster we meet her, the faster I can return to my land.”

     “We’ll see about that.” Ever since we stepped into the castle, that fellow, Anmi, seemed to be acting a little strange… ‘Best not let him get ahead of himself right now.’

     The moment we stepped into the building, we found ourselves in a hallway decorated with a bunch of strange ornaments like fish skulls, dried fish tails and even growing Meowberries. From time to time, we would come upon pools of lava ten meters square in size. Within its crimson liquid, I spied the familiar silhouette of Flame Devouring Fishes. ‘Were they there for decorative purposes as well?’

     The entire hallway took us roughly five minutes to traverse after which we found ourselves in a vast hall where Princess Meisian sat.

     If I had to describe the hall, it had all the exoticness you would expect from a different race. The ceiling was at least five meters high with a bunch of ropes hanging off it. Each rope had a complete set of fish bones attached to it. Was

     The entire hall was devoid of anything table-like or even chair-like, instead there were cushion pads on the floor that were meant for sitting, probably.

     Princess Meisian sat quietly atop a black platform close to the wall. Unlike the Purgatory Shadowcats, her fur was completely pitch black; only her eyes weren’t black, being golden instead. Moreover, her body was extremely petite, resembling more of a normal housecat than anything.

     to her platform were several platters, one bearing Meowberries, one bearing some kind of dark red fruit juice, another bearing Flame Devouring Fish meat while another contained a serving of barbecued Ashen Fur Mouse. Seated there with delicacies at her side, was there any clearer sign of her position than that?

     Other than Princess Meisian, there were ten other cats who were probably bodyguards. Unlike those two guardcat at the entranceway, they were noticeably more lively. If I had to guess, they were her personal guards, kind of like the Forbidden Guardsmen of ancient China.

     “Your Highness, Anmi has come bearing several friends, they wish for your Highness’s aid.” While he might have been rather dismissive of this Princess, he at least knew to keep his head down in front of the person herself and show the expected etiquette.

     Meisian lazily scratched her head with a claw before speaking in a slow drawl: “So even you knows how to return…after ignoring all those summons I sent out, what changed your mind all of a sudden?”

     “…” His face stiffened after which he muttered in a slightly exasperated tone: “Your Highness, we have guests…”

     Before he could even finish speaking however, the Princess curtly cut him off: “So what if we have guests? Just because we have guests, I can’t scold you?”

     “…yes yes yes, Your Highness is always right.” Fearing any further loss of face, he wisely chose to shut up instead.

      ‘Speaking of which, this Princess of theirs is rather forthright, how interesting. I bet Anmi finds her boorish instead.’

     “Hmph, since there are guests here today, I’ll let you

     While that wasn’t the most courteous of greetings, I fully intended to show her my friendly side.

     I took a step forward and with my left hand behind my back, I bowed, right hand placed at my chest. That, right there, was the greeting used by male aristocrats which I learned from reading mangas: “Greetings, Your Highness the Princess, My name is Mo Ke, a devil who had just come from the Prison of the Dead. My original destination was Abaddon but due to some unfortunate accidents, I ended up in Purgatory instead. I’ve long heard of the Shadowcats and their vast knowledge, thus I come bearing an audacious request. I hope that you will impart upon me the knowledge of how to enter Abaddon, this lowly one would forever be in your Highness’s debt if so.”

      “You wish to know the method of entering Abaddon?”

     “That’s right.” I smiled as I looked her in the eyes. However, I ended up having to endure several seconds of silence before receiving an answer; perhaps she didn’t find my formal greeting to her liking?

     “Why should I help you?” Princess Meisian lowered her head and took a sip of her fruit juice before taking a bite of Ashen Fur Mouse meat. Mouth still chewing, she spoke in a slightly garbled voice: “How would it benefit me if I were to help you?”

      “Benefit…”

      ‘Come to think of it, I don’t really have anything to offer her…but still, aren’t you a princess? Is it really alright for you to be so utilitarian?’

     Seeing me stay silent for so long, she suddenly changed the topic: “Oh right, how did you guys enter the castle?”

      “The main entrance of course.”

      ‘Where else but the main entrance? Don’t tell me they expected us to climb the wall like cats…’

     

      Chapter 215

     Source: Imported

      Report

     “So the hole then….” Princess Meisian suddenly burst out laughing, moreover it wasn’t some bashful giggle either but a full on guffaw. “HAHAHAHAHA, to think someone actually tried to crawl in through the hole…you’re killing me here…AHAHAHA…”

      ‘Hole? What the heck is she talking about? That was clearly the main entrance, how did it turn into a hole all of a sudden? Hold on…those guardcats were laughing as well when we entered… Anmi too…’

     Looking around, I found that the normally stony faced guardcats were all chuckling as well, gone were their serious Forbidden Guardsmen demeanor with some even going so far as to double over in laughter.

      “Isn’t it obvious, those without doors panels are holes.”

      “???”

      ‘The heck is that supposed to mean?! Why did an entranceway suddenly become so complicated?’

     Princess Meisian laughed for a good long while before noticing the dumbstruck look on our faces. Still laughing, she explained the situation using a well-known Purgatory Shadowcat saying: “You still don’t get it? Cats climb the wall, Dogs crawl through the hole!”

      ‘Cats climb the wall and Dogs crawl through the hole? Ah, I think I get it now…what she’s saying is that cats are agile while dogs are clumsier and can’t climb over most obstacles like cats. That’s why they have dog holes but never cat holes.’

     Because of that explanation, I finally understood the true extent of their maliciousness. It wasn’t just me either, the Cerberus couple were the most affected…seeing as they were actual dogs…

     “So this is how the Shadowcats treat their guests?” Sinmosa gave the princess a piercing stare filled with anger that threatened spill out at any moment.

     Sasani barked as well though most of us didn’t know what he was saying. Judging from his contorted faces however, the contents were most likely the same as Sinmosa’s.

     “Hmph, those who come uninvited aren’t guests.” Meisian swept her scornful eyes over the two Cerberuses and then smirked: “Yo~, I never realized this before, we actually have two dogs in my house right now.”

     “…” Sasani finally couldn’t hold in his anger anymore, curving his back slightly, he

     “Ruff!” Sinmosa immediately stopped her husband from acting rashly using the tongue of the Hellhounds. Still, that didn’t stop him from glaring at Princess Meisian one last time before turning around to face his family. Fearing his rashness might harm his family, he chose to swallow this indignation in the end.

     “Smart choice.” The princess threw the defeated dog a disdainful smile before raising her right claw, waving it about to signal to the other guardcats to relax.

     We were still inside her castle, meaning this was her homeground and fighting on someone’s homeground was beyond foolish.

     The Hellhounds once fought a war with the Purgatory Shadowcats. In the end, both sides failed to make any gains and had to sign a white peace. Just from those words alone, it was clear how strong these cats were –at least at the level of the Hellhounds.

     Given that, what would happen to us if we caused a ruckus in their territory? The answer was obvious…

     If we were lucky, they would just kick us out. Depending on their mood, we might even end up dead or worse. Thus, fighting was definitely the worst choice we could make… ‘Absolutely no, no fighting, right now we’re the ones at the disadvantage so we have to play by their rules.’

      “Your Esteemed Highness the Princess, how about we leave the jokes aside for now, we’ve long heard of Your Highness’s profound knowledge and so we’ve come visiting…”

     It was a carefully balanced praise, that neither went overboard nor skimped out on the flattery. Still, it proved to be a fruitful one. The moment I praised her profound knowledge, I noticed her eyes narrow ever so slightly in appreciation while her head tilted back and the corners of her mouth curled up. In other words, she was saying ‘praise me more’. With that in mind, I quickly realized that flattering her was a more effective negotiation tool than force.

     Rushing to take advantage of her good mood, I immediately

     Truth be told, even I felt a little nauseous from what I just spat out from my mouth. Being a d*mn shut-in in my previous life, I basically had no friends or bosses to suck up to. Words such as those would have never left my mouth back on Earth, except as a joke of course. Things were different now however, circumstances being as they were, I had to adapt.

     And that was why people always said, ‘circumstances made the man.’

     “Mhm, you’re really good at talking, but don’t think you can get what you want for free with just a few pretty words.” Princess Meisian lazily licked her left claws before saying as such ever so slowly: “One mustn’t escape from their obligations after all, that would be immoral.”

      ‘F***, I get it now, this d*mned cat must have some kind of task for us…well why didn’t you just say so from the start, what’s with all that sanctimonious talk about obligations and morality? Did you really have to put up a signboard announcing to the world that you’re a b*tch? I swear…’

     I truly wished to rail at her but I held back in the end. If I were to lose my temper now, all that I had done would have been for naught.

      “And how may we service you…”

      “Great question, I do in fact have a task for you.”

      ‘Finally we get to the main point…’

     Prior to this, I already knew that the princess was warring with her brothers. The siblings would periodically send out their armies to fight with each other. Sometimes, it was brother versus brother. At times, it was sister versus the oldest

     Her army was evenly matched against her eldest brother resulting in their matches ending in a draw most of the time. Unless one side was able to subjugate the other with their overwhelming power, it was basically impossible for this civil war to end.

     With that in mind, the task she gave us was to infiltrate her eldest brother’s castle while it was empty and defeat him, forcing him to give up the rights to the throne and acknowledging the princess as the successor in the process.

     “Simple, isn’t it?” Having laid out her plans, she smiled before lowering herself to take another sip of juice; all that talking must’ve made her thirsty.

     “Will their castle really be as empty as you say? Don’t tell me there aren’t any Six-stars elders guarding him.” As I said that, I couldn’t help but shiver from the thought of facing another Six-stars again. Even now, I could still vividly remember that overpowering aura radiating off that old dog Sidarth as if it was just yesterday. Should we encounter such opposition, this so-called assassination of us was just going to end in us becoming roadkill.

     “Don’t worry, as long as you state your purpose before fighting, and ensure them that you won’t harm my brother, those elders above the level of Five-stars won’t interfere.” She confidently declared.

      “Well then, what’s your decision? If you refuse me, you’d better not regret that decision, after all, while I can’t say for certain that we’re the most knowledgeable race, I can at least say that in this very region, the Remnants of Sable Radiance, we Shadowcats are the most knowledgeable devils around.”

     ‘When she puts it like that, was there even a choice then? I’ll do it!’ Before that however, I had a more serious problem that needed to resolve right now: “If his castle is as empty as you say, I don’t mind giving it a shot but we don’t forget, we aren’t Purgatory Shadowcats, would those elders even believe

     The fact that we weren’t Purgatory Shadowcats was crucial here. After all, it was more than likely that they would kill us on sight as intruders rather than listen to our story. The prince was a potential Cat King candidate, lest we forget.

      “That, you don’t have to worry about, I’ll have Anmi aid you guys. Should you encounter any Six-stars elders, Anmi will explain the situation to them so worry not.”

     At that, all our eyes turned to the feline in question who was currently in the midst of sneaking away.

     “…Your Highness…you were looking for me?” Discovered, all he could do was awkwardly scratch his ears and gingerly return to his previous location.

      “Anmi, you were trying to run away just now, weren’t you?”

      “No, no, not at all, Your Highness. My legs just…shook a little, perhaps it might have looked like I was trying to run away, but I can assure you, there’s no such thing at all.”

      “Hah, exactly. It’s not like I’m some kind of monstrosity after all, there’s no reason for you flee from me…RIGHT?”

      “Yes, yes , yes, Your Highness is too correct.”

      “Since you think so as well, I’m sure you know what you have to do next then?”

      “…I do…I’ll bring our guests to the castle of the Eldest Prince for a short excursion.”

     Satisfied, having gotten her way and all, she proudly declared: “Remember to hurry back.”

     “Yes…” Whimpered a certain cat who was on the verge of tears right now.

     Just like that, we accepted the quest to pay a visit to the castle of the Eldest Prince, at the same time, we gained a new companion as well.

     The Eldest Prince was known as Weiderly. His castle wasn’t that far off from Meisian’s castle, roughly a day’s journey on foot, however, that didn’t mean that this was going to be an easy quest either. In order to get to said castle, we had to first pass through a battlefield…in other words, we had to step into the crossfire between Weiderly’s armies and Meisian’s armies.

     

      Chapter 216

     Source: Imported

      Report

     The laws of the new world and ours differ greatly. Even though this has resulted in countless dimensional tears between the worlds, these tears are simply too small to allow anything greater than a Two-stars undead to cross over…we have tried our best to widen the tears yet their self-regenerative powers are simply too much for us…I beseech your Highness to dispatch more reinforcements…with our current manpower, it would be difficult for us to enter the new world given how attuned we are to the laws of our current world…

     —A report from an invader of the New World

     “Just a while more and we’ll reach the battlefield, I hope you’ve prepared yourself mentally.” Standing at the head of our little troupe, the kitty cat who was noticeably more wilted after a run-in with Princess Meisian, turned around to address us. Just looking at him now, I could have sworn that his entire feline self was about to crumble.

      “Prepared?”

      ‘Please, this brother has slain countless undead and devils during his time in the Prison of the Dead. No matter how bloody your clan’s battles are, there’s no way they can compare to my vast experience…-truly those were harrowing times…days where corpses piled as high as mountains.’

     Seeing me so nonchalant, Anmi elected not to explain any further but merely said so in a steady voice: “You’ll understand once you see it yourself.”

     Since he wasn’t willing to dwell any further on this subject, I decided to ask something else instead: “Anmi, is it really alright for us to…cause trouble for the Eldest Prince, Weiderly?”

     Normally, an outsider’s interference during a civil war tended to draw the most hatred to themselves. Just thinking about that point was already enough to give me a headache as is.

     “Don’t worry, while Meisian might not be the most reliable cat in a number of matters, this task of hers is definitely not a trap. As long you all don’t cause any lasting harm to Weiderly, the elders won’t interfere.” With regards to this mission of ours, Anmi seemed extraordinarily confident about it, going so far as to say: “Moreover, Weiderly has already dispatched his armies to fight against Meisian’s. Those guarding him shouldn’t number more than twenty. That, I’m willing to stake my life on.”

     ‘Hmph, such confidence, you’d

     “Oh right, exactly how does your clan settle its succession disputes?” The importance of a succession dispute was never in doubt, else why would the three siblings ever come to blows over it. However, there was one point that left me confounded even till now, if they knew how important the war was, why weren’t they commanding their armies? The fact that the majority of their armies were outside fighting while less than twenty of their soldiers stayed behind as guardcats just seemed a little odd no matter how one looked at it…

     “How huh…” Anmi paused for a second before saying: “It’s actually really simple, both sides send out their armies to fight over territory. Once one side has successfully claimed the territory as theirs, it counts as a victory for them. Also, a castle is a private belonging of each cat, even if another cat wants to claim it, that can only be done at the last battle.”

      “Is calling for outside help even allowed?”

      “It is, to us, being able to call in outside help is a show of one’s success. However, such help must not infringe upon the clan’s interests. If a candidate betrays the clan’s interests, the elders won’t acknowledge him or her even if that cat wins.”

     Having said all that, Anmi lowered his head and fell silent, clearly not intending to talk anymore. Seeing that, I glanced at Sinmosa next to me and gave a helpless shrug before moving on. As of right now, all we could do was handle the issues as they come.

     Honestly, if the worst was to happen to us, I had already planned for Sinmosa to leave us behind and escape with Mo Na. After all, we were visiting an enemy’s castle here, no amount of preparation was enough and a single mishap might just lead to our downfall.

     With nothing else to talk about, the journey proceeded quietly till Anmi stopped in his tracks a short while later.

     “Past this black forest is the battlefield…” As he said that, his mood was noticeably sullen.

     For Anmi to have such a crestfallen reaction was actually…rather understandable. After all, this was his clan’s civil war, no matter what the reason was, the casualties at

     “Don’t be scared Mama, Mo Na will protect you.” For some reason, Mo Na seemed rather attached to this whole concept of ‘protecting me’ and would often throw out those words at the drop of the hat. Even though she was just a child and couldn’t be that strong in the first place, my heart calmed down somewhat upon hearing her sweet voice. Was this what people called kinship? Right here, right now, all I could think of was how to guarantee her safety and that no matter what, I didn’t want her to get hurt.

     “Good girl, Mo Na, but you seemed to have a made a mistake there, it’s Papa who will protect you.” Patting her on the head, the worries on my face seemed to disappear with each rub and all that remained behind was the pride of a father. “If something happens, remember to hide behind your Papa.”

     “Kay~” She somewhat reluctantly acceded to that. “…but Mo Na is really strong…”

      “Mhm, Mo Na is strong but as long as Papa is here, it is Papa’s duty to protect Mo Na, that is what it means to be a Papa.”

     “What do you mean duty??” Blinking those lovely eyes of hers, Mo Na gave me a perplexed look. Even though she had her inherited memories to teach her, it seemed like duty wasn’t one of those lessons passed down. Perhaps the devils didn’t really have such a word in their dictionary.

      “Duty huh, duty means to do what has to be done. Just like how Papa has to protect Mo Na when she is in danger, that is ‘Papa’s duty’.”

     Her fists tightened and she lifted them up in a forceful pose. She seemed to have understood what I was trying to convey but given how tiny and adorable she was, her posture just couldn’t display the solemnity she felt, instead it just made her even cuter: “Then Mo Na will protect Mama as well, don’t worry,

      ‘Why does it seem like we are on completely different wavelengths…’

      “We’ve reached it…”

     Amidst our idle chatter, we unknowingly left the pitch black forest and entered the battleground. Lifting up my head upon his reminder, I found two armies facing against each other.

     On each side were hundreds of Purgatory Shadowcats with the closer army belonging to Princess Meisian. As for the other side, that naturally belonged to Weiderly. The two armies stood a mere hundred meters apart from each other and violently hissed at each other, filling the entire region with a tense atmosphere in the process.

     Right in the middle of these two armies were two lone cats who were chasing each other; from the looks of things, they were probably engaged in a duel of sorts. A leap here and a swipe there, their battle was truly a ferocious one.

     “Is that the heads of each army squaring off against each other?” Looking at two giant kitty cats claw at each other, I was suddenly reminded of those generals from the Three Kingdoms era who would hold multiple general faceoffs in order to raise morale, at least it was so for the winning side…

     “You could say that.” Anmi rolled his eyes and curled his lips sideways: “Why is it those morons again…”

     “The cats from your clan can only fight with their bodies? What about magic?” After watching them for what felt like a half a day, I never once saw them throw out a single spell.

      “MMFFFFAAAAH~~!”

     Before Anmi could even reply, it seemed like a victor had been decided. All we saw were the cats biting on each other’s tails…because of that, both cats gave off a muffled cry filled with indescribable pain. Still, both sides refused to let go of the other’s tail no matter how much pain they were in.

     For cats, their tails were a sensitive spot which gave rise to the saying ‘a cat which had its tail stepped on’. Clearly such a saying wouldn’t have existed if the pain wasn’t excruciating.

     Even so, just as I thought that they would end up biting each other till one side collapsed, the two cats suddenly loosened their bites and collapsed, both falling towards each other and supporting the other.

      ‘Eh? So they aren’t fighting anymore?’

     Just

     Just as I was about to ask Anmi however, the two cats suddenly stood up and as if pre-rehearsed, both sides bowed at each other like they had just come to some kind of agreement that only the other cat knew about. One of the cats bellowed: “It’s a draw once more.”

     A moment later, both sides erupted in cheers and the field was filled with frenzied ‘NYAAHs’ in an instant.

      ‘What’s going on here…’

     Once both sides had finally quietened down, the other cat who had his tail bitten bellowed as well: “With that, I announce the official start of the 38th Succession Battle between Prince Weiderly and Princess Meisian!”

      “The topic of the first match will be—hunting.”

      “The rules will be the same as always, both sides will dispatch one team and within one hour, the side that brings back the most spoils will win…”

     Very quickly, two teams of five Purgatory Shadowcats were formed and sped off in opposite directions from each other. As for those two cats who had their tails bitten, they each took out an hourglass and placed it on the floor.

     The other cats on the other hand…began breaking off into groups of three to five and started playing games. Some started chatting while the more bored ones just went to sleep instead. Some even started teasing each other…essentially, they were all having fun.

      “So this is the civil war you told me about?”

      ‘How the heck is this even a war, it’s just a bunch of cats horsing around!’

     “What’s with wrong this? Don’t tell me we have to duke it out till one side was decimated in order to qualify for the term ‘civil war’?” As he said that, he gave me a strange look of both complacency and embarrassment, either way, I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at them.

     However, I had to admit…this warring method of theirs truly exceeded my imagination. No wonder he didn’t wish to speak about it then. Thanks to that, I mistakenly assumed it was some kind of horrific and bloody affair. I was clearly wrong about that however…the way those two cats were trying to bite each other just now…maybe it’s just my imagination but…that just seemed like them being gay with each other more than anything else!

     

      Chapter 217

     Source: Imported

      Report

      “So what comes after the hunt?”

      “After the hunt, we have a race, a rock-climbing contest and then an eating contest…”

      “Eating contest huh…that sounds like a burden on one’s stomach, what if the contestant becomes too bloated?”

      “It’s fine, we give out free antacid at the end of the contest.”

     Sinmosa: “…you cats sure know how to play…”

     Anmi threw her a look: “Thanks for your praise.”

     ‘I…just…can’t even find a tsukkomi for these cats anymore. Is this some kind of school festival from those japanese mangas…”

     No matter what, the road ahead required us to pass through this battlefield and Anmi had no intentions of hiding our presence either judging from how he openly led us into their midst. Upon noticing Anmi, the two ‘gay’ generals greeted him with a warm smile on their faces.

     One of the generals noticed us and threw a curious look at Anmi: “Anmi, who are your friends, They seem to be devils? Also, where are you all heading to?”

      “We’ve been tasked to visit Prince Weiderly’s castle to handle some matters.”

      “Handle some matters?”

     “We’re going to make him give up his succession rights.” Anmi answered truthfully: “Her Highness the Princess wishes for us to enter Weiderly’s castle and defeat him.”

     ‘Anmi, you moron! That guy is clearly the subordinate of that prince you just said you were going to beat up! Aren’t you afraid of him attacking you for that?!”

     To my surprise however, my furious signalling to that dumb cat turned out to be unnecessary as the so-called subordinate of the prince not only wasn’t angered but instead gave us a jovial smile: “Is that true? That’s wonderful! Honestly, we’re sick of this war already, I’d rather plant some Meowberries and catch some Ashen Fur Mice instead…that would be so much more interesting. Oh right, since you guys are going to assassinate the Prince, I assume you’ve made the necessary preparations already, do you guys still need some help?”

     ‘Ehh? Something doesn’t seem right here…isn’t your boss the

     Ignoring my confused look, Anmi continued his happy little chat with Weiderly’s subordinate: “If you can accompany us, I would be extremely grateful.”

     At that, the cat in question immediately showed us a pleading look: “Accompany you guys…spare me, please. All I can do is delay the troops and have them return a little later.”

      “Well that will do then, best if they march off tomorrow instead.”

      “Got it, if it’s just that, I can still manage.”

     Just like that, I witnessed a subordinate sell out his prince for basically nothing.

     As for the general from Meisian’s side, he passionately invited us to spectate their battle the reason being that since they were planning to stall for time anyway, they might as well make a grand celebration out of it, one that lasted a few days in fact…

      ‘Seems like the cats on our side aren’t too reliable either…’

     Thankfully, I managed to stop Anmi just before he accepted their request.

      “How about we finish our mission first, they’re going to be here for a few days anyway, we can come back after that to have some barbecued Ashen Fur Mice.”

     “But it’s been so long since I had those…you know this as well, the Ashen Fur Mice in my territory have all been…” As he said that, he licked his lips before throwing a look at Sinmosa. While he didn’t finish his sentence in the end, I basically got the gist of his message.

      ‘Sigh, his life is pretty hard as well, isn’t it, having to deal with a bad neighbor like Sidarth and all. However, our mission is pretty important as well.’

      “We can talk about this after our mission.”

     In spite of my resolute attitude, Anmi still seemed rather reluctant to leave.

     “You really

      “Such a pity, I’m rather confident in my barbecued Ashen Fur Mice.”

     After dragging away the vehemently-adamant-about-eating-mice cat, I bid a hasty farewell to the two generals and continued towards Weiderly’s castle. Before leaving however, the two generals introduced us to the troops present and told them that we were here to end this unending war by assassinating the Eldest Prince.

      ‘…is it really okay to introduce us like that?’

     Honestly, there was that one moment where I truly feared that they would rip us to shreds in a fit of anger. Instead, we were greeted with an uproarious round of cheers…

     With that done, all the Purgatory Shadowcats sent us off with a hero’s fanfare as if we were about to assassinate their hated enemy instead of a Shadowcat prince…just from that alone, I could tell that this so-called prince really wasn’t all his title made him out to be…

      ‘I guess it’s true when they say you experience more the longer you live…those cats though…’

     For the most part, the castle of Prince Weiderly was strikingly similar to that of Meisian’s, as if they were cut out of the same mold.

     The main entrance was a panelless hole as before and the wall was filled with cat steps. Just as before, there were two guardcats stationed there but unlike Meisian’s castle, these two were just flat out sleeping.

     Given that we were already at their front door, there really wasn’t much subterfuge left to pull so we simply greeted them. The following few minutes basically proceeded the same way as before with Anmi greeting the two guardcats as if they were friends. After a short chat, one of the guardcats climbed over the wall and leaped back over an instant later.

      “I really didn’t expect you to be such a socialite, do all the Purgatory Shadowcats know you?”

     The fact that every cat

     And yet the cat in question didn’t seem to think so: “It’s nothing, we Purgatory Shadowcats aren’t natives of this land so our numbers aren’t many to begin with, a thousand at most. With so little cats, it’s only natural that the majority of them know me.”

     ‘There are only a thousand cats here? Somehow, I thought there would be a lot more Purgatory Shadowcats.”

      “Don’t give me that look, I’m sure you aren’t so stupid that you can’t figure out the reason why.”

     His words immediately cleared the doubt in my mind: “Because of the environment?”

     “Ever since our ancestors arrived in this scorching land, an additional element appeared within our cat bodies in order to help us acclimatize to the temperature. While we might have gained some powers because of that, we lost a portion of our original powers as well. Rather than an evolution, it would be accurate to say that we mutated.” Having said that, he paused for a moment before continuing in a hesitant tone: “Within the clan, there are some cats who feel that this change isn’t even a mutation…rather it is a serious regression…”

      “Because only Shadowcats can claim the throne?”

      “That’s right.”

      ‘I get it now…being the original form of the Purgatory Shadowcats, the Shadowcats were seen as a lofty existence within the clan and had always been tasked with the crown. The reason was simple: because only they possessed the ability to Dreamwalk. Like humans, these cats only realized the value of their ability after losing it.’

      “His Highness the Prince has agreed to grant you all an audience in the guest hall.”

     “Well then, I’ll be off first.” Perhaps it was because of the heavy mood, but Anmi seemed rather eager to climb over the wall; doing so with merely a few agile leaps.

     “Then we’ll be off too.” I gestured to my companions behind me after which

     Out of concern, I asked: “Sinmosa, what’s the matter? You guys seem to be acting a little weird.”

     “We…” She glanced at the dense cluster of cat steps before turning her head back onto the panelless castle entrance. Nothing more was said after that but I roughly got the gist of it.

      ‘‘Cats climb the wall, Dogs crawl through the hole.’ That saying of the Purgatory Shadowcats was truly a hurtful one to others…I mean dogs…’

     Speaking of which, I was rather confident about my own agility. For me, climbing up the wall like a cat probably wouldn’t be much of a problem. Mo Na, No.3 and Big were all Four-stars devils and possessed wings to fly. Cinderel was still little so she could still be carried. Sinmosa and Sasani however were different. They were all mature dogs with bodies nearing that of a bull’s. No.3 and Big 4 might have been able to lift one of them up together but that sight would be, well…unsightly.

     That saying made fun of a hellhound’s clumsiness. If the two of them weren’t able to scale the wall through their own abilities and had to rely on our help instead, the Purgatory Shadowcats would still tease them anyway. At the end of the day, a racial trait such as this wasn’t easy to overcome.

     “Can’t you two jump over the wall?” Being Five-stars, a ten meter tall wall shouldn’t be too much of a trouble for them.

     “With enough distance to build up speed we can, but still…” Sinmosa sighed at that point: “That’s just because we are Five-stars, a Purgatory Shadowcat on the other hand can freely scale the wall even as a child…”

     

      Chapter 218

     Source: Imported

      Report

     She was right…’Cats climb the wall, Dogs crawl through the hole’, that saying was intended as an insult in the first place. If Sinmosa and Sasani were to jump over the wall using brute force, that would defeat the purpose of not taking the hole in the first place. The designer of this insidious, ingenious and infuriating trap clearly intended for the cat steps to be main focus and tool to bully the Hellhounds. As long as they do not use those steps, the result would end up the same.

     “In that case, let’s just stick to the old way then, let’s walk in.” If I had to stand by and watch Sinmosa and Sasani get humiliated alone like that, I would rather not climb the wall. This husband and wife pairing was our main fighting force against the prince so leaving them outside to wait wasn’t an option either.

     Strictly speaking, the only reason we had to go through all this nonsense about assassinations and princes in the first place was because of my request, in other words, it was a personal matter. Furthermore, one could say that the couple already repaid their debt by escorting me into the territory of the Purgatory Shadowcats. Yet the two of them still chose to accompany us all this while. If I had to make them suffer again because of my personal affairs, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself then. As such…we crawled through that hole together.

     Under their slightly confused yet appreciative eyes, I took the first step through the main entrance of the castle.

      ‘Hmph, a warrior’s character won’t be besmirched by such lowbrow insults, such blatant racism and discrimination is in itself deplorable. Not only did they not highlight their strengths, they only made me look on them even more.’

     Like that, No.3 and Big 4 entered the hole as well, with Mo Na, still hugging Cinderel in her arms, following closely behind. Last to enter were Sinmosa and Sasani.

      “They entered the hole, they entered the hole.”

      “I don’t need you to remind me, I can see for myself, can’t I? Haha, they really entered the hole.”

     Just as we expected, the mocking sounds of the guards came echoing through the hole not long after we left. ‘I bet that’s probably all they

     Ignoring them, we calmly entered the castle and found ourselves in a carbon copy of Meisian’s castle. Just like before, Anmi was waiting for us at the entrance to the main hall. This time however, he had on a rather surprised look as we walked towards him.

      “What are you guys doing together? You all took the hol…door?”

     I bet he thought that us devils would’ve just flown over the wall while Sinmosa and Sasani took the hole themselves. In the end, we came through as a whole and while that might have earned us another round of unnecessary ridiculing, I didn’t think so at all.

     All I felt then was a sense of comradery with the two of them, our relationship as a group being strengthened in the process. As the saying went, ‘there are three bonds of steel in life: one where we bore arms together, one where we shared the same window and one where we went to a br*thel together.’ If I might be so bold as to so say myself, that was exactly what we went through just now.

     (TL: Depending on who you ask, there may be three, four or five. Usually, there’s four. The five are, if I’m not mistaken about the last one: bearing arms together, sharing the same window, going to the br*thel, sharing an account and sharing a steel window. Naturally, some of the those aren’t meant to be taken literally. Bearing arms means serving in the army together or going through a war together. Sharing a window means living together. Brothel refers to knowing each other’s dirty secrets. Sharing an account means having a relationship involving shared interests. Steel window probably refers to jail. Essentially, the saying just means being a bro.)

     Turning to face our newest travelling companion, I immediately vented my feelings, no holds barred: “Maybe the Hellhounds might not be as agile as you all, but does making fun of another race’s shortcomings make you all that excited? Deriving self-confidence by putting another down is just scummy.”

     Were I my usual self then, I would have never taken such an illogical action, after all we still needed Anmi for our upcoming mission. In order to force Weiderly to give up his succession rights, fighting was unavoidable. Should he

     In that sense, Anmi was our protective talisman; offending him now was clearly a bad idea. Still, I just had to say something because those cats truly seemed like a crazy bunch to me.

     “To be honest, that saying didn’t start out as an insult…” Even after my harsh words, not only did he not lose his temper but instead he calmly explained the situation to us, all the while having on an understanding expression: “Initially, that saying was meant to highlight the different strengths of each race, it’s just that it ended up being twisted over time…”

      “So that’s how it is…”

      ‘Still, how is crawling through a hole, a strength? Someone explain this to me please, I’ll be online all day waiting, anxiously in fact.’

     While we were all being honest here, I kind of regretted snapping at him already. I was truly worried that he would simply walk off in an angry fit, thankfully, he did no such thing. The fact that he even tried to explain it to us was surprising in of itself.

     Such a method of speaking, where one used words to convey a meaning contrary to their outward meaning wasn’t all that rare to be honest. For example, using words to deliver a praise which ran the risk of being construed as an insult…such situations happened often back on Earth as well…especially given how arcane some Chinese sayings were…

     After listening to Anmi’s explanation, Sasani and Sinmosa softened their expressions as well.

     “Once we enter, how should we act?” Although we had already infiltrated the castle of Weiderly, the next step in our plan was…honestly still a mystery. It was a miss on my part, that much I’ll admit, but I was simply too preoccupied with thoughts about entering Abaddon as soon as possible that I neglected to think this through completely…thus, we had no plan now.

     Well, this might seem a little last minute of me, but at least it’s still a minute…“How about we discuss our battle plan?”

      “No need for that, just listen to my instructions later on. Trust me, I’m the most reliable cat in the whole clan.”

      “Alright, I guess…that’s all we can do for now…”

     ‘So

      ‘So he’s the most reliable cat in the clan…where should I even start with the tsukkomis…’

     Seeing that everyone didn’t object to that, he led us into the guest hall.

     Like everything else we saw so far, the guest hall was naturally a carbon copy of Meisian’s as well, even down to the number of guardcats present and the platform upon which a certain black cat sat. In all likelihood, that was the Eldest Prince, Weiderly. Based on appearances alone…he looked exactly the same as Meisian…at least it was so to my eyes. Had it not been for my ability to differentiate souls, I might have even mistaken him for the other, even though they were clearly of different genders…

     The prince had a more sombre bearing than Meisian, at least he seemed so at a glance; his sides weren’t filled with platters of food after all. Furthermore, his stiff back and piercing gaze truly gave him the aura of someone superior. If appearances were anything to judge by, he had to be a lot more reliable than that glutton of a princess.

     “Your Highness, Weiderly, Anmi apologizes for the intrusion.” Anmi knelt on the floor and paid his respects to the prince.

     “Mhm.” The prince nodded his head lightly and in a steady voice, asked: “Your arrival…are you here to aid me, or perhaps to aid my sister?”

     Just like with those generals, Anmi’s words were as straight as an arrow; at times, I wanted to ask him if that was a quirky habit of his…

      “Her Highness the Princess has dispatched us here in hopes that you will give up your succession rights and acknowledge Her Highness as the next Cat King.”

      “Hah, you wish to make me give up with mere words? Unlikely! Why don’t you just ask me to hand over all my territories to that sister of mine while you’re at it?”

     Faced with his barbed words, Anmi’s retort was just as piercing, just in a different way: “If you so wish it.”

     “…” Anmi’s response left the prince choking on his own words for a good long while before he finally replied: “Anmi, I see you’re still as good with words as ever.”

     “You’re too kind, Your Highness.” Anmi fearlessly lifted his head to gaze at the prince, clearly not intending to back down at all.

     By

     By now, Weiderly was more than incensed, as he sat on his platform clawing the strange contraption, we could hear the audible screeches echo annoyingly in our eardrums. Still, he didn’t act right away and this tense state ended up lasting for several long seconds as if he was deep in thought. Finally, he revealed a crafty smile before saying: “I just remembered, didn’t my Royal Father once mention betrothing my sister to you…”

     The moment the word betrothing was uttered, Anmi’s body stiffened considerably. He started shaking and coughing as if his cat self was going through some kind of terrible episode: “Cough cough cough…Your Highness…we’re discussing the matter of your succession right now…”

     “Fine, we’ll return to that question.” While he might have said that, the prince was beaming confidently at the moment as if he was a gambler who had just grabbed that ace he needed to complete a royal flush.

     ‘Wait, that’s it? Don’t leave me hanging like that, let’s continue that previous conversation instead…that whole part about Meisian being betrothed to Anmi…’ Unfortunately, my internal monologue wasn’t heard by any of them and the two cats naturally proceeded onto the question of succession.

     “Do you really wish for me to back out of this succession war? Somehow, that seems awfully unlikely to me, this is my castle after all, exactly how do you plan on threatening me here? Those outsiders standing behind you? Hmmm…hold on, Cerberuses and…devils?” The moment he turned his eyes onto his, they opened wide in shock: “There’s no mistaking that appearance…they are devils all right…how are there devils in the Remnants of Sable Radiance? Don’t tell me the teleportation gate to the Prison of the Dead has been reopened once more?”

     “Greetings, Esteemed Prince Weiderly, we come from the Prison of the Dead, my name is Mo Ke.” I took several steps forward up to Anmi and did that same manga-esque bow I showed Meisian: “I apologize for our unruly intrusion.”

     “Greetings Devil, I’m the Prince of the Purgatory Shadowcats and the one who will become the Cat King in the future, Weiderly.” He greeted me simply before proceeding to the meat of this discussion: “You’re with Anmi then? In other words, my foolish sister sent you here with the same mission, I take it.”

     

      Chapter 219

     Source: Imported

      Report

      “…yes.”

     ‘I have to say, admitting that I’m here to assassinate someone in front of said person is something…I really can’t get used to…but the circumstances have demanded so. Well, best not to act too arrogant for now…’ Thus, I merely nodded my head in hope that I wouldn’t draw too much hatred onto myself.

      “Haha, my foolish little sister, to think she actually resorted to outsiders…we haven’t met in a long while but still, I would have never expected her to stoop to such levels…hmph, you wish to force me to surrender…with just the lot of you?”

     Anmi swept his eyes over the ten guardcats before calmly stating: “I doubt you have that many soldiers left after having your army delayed by Her Highness’s own army. Just us is enough.”

      “And if you add in the Elders’ Consortium?”

      “The rules state that as long as we do not cause too much harm to you, the Elders’ Consortium won’t act against us. Outside help is considered a part of one’s arsenal after all.”

      “Anmi, that mouth of yours has really grown quite sharp since the last time we met.”

     Anmi placidly replied: “You’re too kind with your praises, Your Highness.”

     “Praises? Does it look like I’m praising you?” At that, the Eldest Prince fiercely swished his tail in the air and bellowed: “My most loyal guardcats, arrest these fools who dare to belittle your master!”

     The moment that command was given, the ten guardcats immediately tensed up and an instant later, ten piercing set of eyes were locked right onto us, each ready to pounce at a moment’s notice.

     At the end of the day, this was the prince’s castle and as its master, he had the biggest say here. When one’s lord was belittled, as soldiers, one would feel insulted as well. These guardcats were tasked with protecting the Eldest Prince and no matter what the reason was, if the target of their protection ended up being bullied, it would count as a dereliction of duty if they did nothing. To some extent, all that could have only happened because they were powerless.

     In China, there was an ancient saying that went ‘a monarch’s humiliation, a subject’s death.’

      “NYAAAAH!!”

     The atmosphere tensed up in an instant.

     “Don’t worry, these cats are just bluffing. The strongest

      “Then who will handle Prince Weiderly?”

      “Him? He won’t interfere in a fight like this…”

     Before he could finish his sentence however, one of the guardcats’ team leader cut him off with a sharp retort: “Who are you calling weak, Anmi?!”

     The other Five-stars glared at Anmi as well: “You’d better run while you still can, otherwise, don’t blame us for not showing mercy once the fight starts.”

     Anmi: “Haha, who doesn’t know how to boast? I don’t need your mercy, I think you two should consider your own situation instead.”

     “Together now!” No longer able to endure Anmi’s taunting, the two guardcat team leaders exchanged a brief glance before simultaneously charging at him.

     “FIGHT!” At the exact same moment, we let forth a battlecry as well.

     Sinmosa and Sasani matched themselves against the two Five-stars team leader, both of whom initially planned on ganging up on Anmi instead, unfortunately for them, their plan was foiled before it even began by the two Cerberuses. Being Four-stars Flame Demon Childes themselves, No.3 and Big 4 weren’t too shabby in the combat strength department either so they each paired off against a Four-stars Guardcat.

     Mo Na too was paired off against a single guardcat. Despite her multitude of talents which included flame, shadow and undead spells, she was still too young and inexperienced with fights to take on multiple opponents at once so I decided to play it safe for now. As for the remaining guardcats, they all surrounded Anmi, leaving me all by my lonely self. In their eyes, a Three-stars devil wasn’t even a threat at all.

     Like that, I became the only person lazing about even though the battle had already started…whoops, there’s still that prince and Cinderel resting in my arms.

     To be honest, this scene was kind of comical to me in an ironic sense: being the two instigators of this fight, the Prince and I ended up being spectators instead…

     Having fought with Anmi not too long ago, the Cerberus

      “Raging Flame Charge!”

      “Raging Flame Charge!”

     A mass of flames roared to life around the two Cerberuses an instant later as they both charged at the two guardcats. All around them, the already uncomfortably warm air began to heat up even further, reaching the point where it started to burn the throats of those who tried to breath in. Scorching winds blowing, those who stood in the way were hit with an oppressive wall of wind that seemed to close in around them.

     Right at the very last second however, the two Cerberuses suddenly crossed paths in an X that caught their individual guardcats off guard. The two Five-stars cats, having prepared for the Cerberus right in front of them, simply couldn’t react in time to sudden and well-coordinated flanking attack from the couple and stood there stunned, though for only the slightest of seconds. Still, that was more than enough to decide their fate.

     With their strength already at a massive disadvantage, the two cats basically had no chance now especially since they had just lost the initiative thanks to that sudden swap.

     “Meeeowww….” The two guardcats gave out a long, drawn out meow before collapsing to ground, tumbling around several times in the process and fainting right after.

     I had to hand it to them, the couple’s brilliant manipulation of their opponents was truly a testament to their unparalleled teamwork. With just one simple maneuver, they disorientated their opponents and clinched us a rousing victory right off the bat.

     On the other side where No.3 and Big 4 squared off against a Four-stars guardcat of their own, because both parties possessed a degree of flame resistance so the battle ended up being a tough one for the two Flame Demon Childes. While they clearly possessed a strength advantage over their diminutive opponents, their opponents, in turn, possessed an overwhelming advantage in terms of agility.

     Thus, the two devils ended up being thoroughly abused by the two cats. Perhaps it was merely out sheer habit of wanting to toy with their opponents, the two

     From time to time, they would swoop in for a quick swipe that wasn’t all that heavy –the kind which wasn’t exactly painful but neither was it painless. As their claws raked across the crimson hide of No.3 and Big 4, they would tear open a blood-red line that was just enough to cause them to bleed but not enough to count as a major wound. Given the natural regenerative abilities of the devils, it wouldn’t take long for them to heal up from such wounds. Thus, while it might have seemed like they were getting pushed around, the battle wasn’t exactly over either; they could still counterattack from time to time.

     Having met with the anthropomorphized Grimoire of the Dead, Mo Na had been learning a number of spells throughout our journey, all through those dreams of hers. ly, she didn’t have much chance to practise with these spells, now however…her chance had finally come.

     With a Four-stars guardcat assigned to her, she excitedly flew off towards the poor feline and randomly tossed out curses in quick succession.

      “Weakness Curse, Enfeeblement Curse, Slow, Aging Curse…”

     Faced with four great curses, what was once a cat raring to fight was immediately reduced to a jelly-legged wreck…

     Last was Anmi’s fight. For a Five-stars cat, his strength was impressively strong. In a one on one, even Sinmosa and Sasani weren’t his match at all. Thus when faced with a bunch of Four-stars, he clearly had a relaxed time dealing with them.

      “Demon Flame Charge!”

     While his signature skill might seem riddled with weaknesses to a Cerberus, it was still extremely effective against his own clanscat. Wrapping himself in both shadows and flames, he dove headfirst into the pile of guardcats and sent them flying right away.

     With that settled, he even stepped in to help No.3 and Big 4 clean up their opponents with a quick slap of his meaty paws…

     “Done.” It was then that Mo Na finished off her opponent as well by creating a black house of bones around the enfeebled and weakened cat…

     Ever so slightly, I could hear the pitiful meows of the

     “Meeow, meeeooooww…” With the lights turned off all of a sudden for him, the poor fellow must’ve been really frightened…I had to say, this black house of hers was rather cruel…

     As I stood there with Cinderel safely tucked away in an embrace, I basically had to do nothing at all but watch. In a sense, this was great…after all, who wouldn’t want to win a battle just by acting as a flower vase.

     “Alright then, Your Highness, how about we have a nice talk now?” With no more opponents to deal with, Anmi confidently and leisurely squared off against the Eldest Prince once more: “About those succession rights…”

     “It’s not over yet…look I’ve been injured, Elders, did you see that?!” As he comfortably sat there on his platform, he completely ignored Anmi’s taunts and instead turned his head to face a certain room at the side: “There are assassins here! If you don’t come out soon, I’ll be dead!”

      ‘Elders? Sh*t, how could I have forgotten about the Elders’ Consortium?! Even though they won’t interfere in our fight, should the Prince ever get injured…’

     “Remember this Anmi, you forced my paws here. Time for my ultimate move, TAKE THIS!” The Eldest Prince raised his right claw up high and without any special effects whatsoever, or even any force for that matter, he then stuck that paw of his into his mouth and bit down… ‘Ah, there’s blood…’

     “Ahhhhh, I’m bleeding…someone is trying to assassinate me. To me! I need protection quick…I’m injured…I’m going to die…ahhhhh…” The Prince went off on some bizarre one-cat show…the moronic kind no less…

     ‘You clearly bit your own paw and still you claim it’s an assassination…’ Putting aside his exaggerated acting however, this move of his wasn’t without merits, at the very least, we were in deep trouble now.

     ‘HEY! Be reasonable here! How can you pull out the big guns just like that? I swear…the worst part is that we aren’t even the ones who hit you…’ Just as I thought we were about to get beaten up by some giant kitty paw descending from the heavens, a sombre and stately cat voice echoed from within the room the Prince was currently focused on.

      “That wound was self-inflicted, it doesn’t count.”

     

      Chapter 220

     Source: Imported

      Report

      “Huh?”

      “What do you mean huh? How many times do you want me to repeat myself? It doesn’t count if you bite yourself! What a bother, I swear there’s nothing I hate more than having to say the same thing twice.”

     “Blast it all, but I’m clearly injured, why aren’t you protecting me…” Having his request rejected so directly, the Eldest Prince looked more like a little brat who felt wronged than a cat prince. Not satisfied with the treatment he received, he yelled at the mysterious room: “Get out here and help ! If I lose my succession rights, where do you think you lot will stay? Who else will provide you all with such luxuries?”

     “Oh, that’s easy. Even if you fall, there’s still your sister and little brother, don’t tell me they can’t afford to provide us?” Even though I still hadn’t had the chance to catch a glimpse of this mysterious cat, I couldn’t help but picture him as an utterly shameless kitty, someone(cat) that truly desired to be punched.

      “Besides, ever since you grew up, you just keep getting less and less adorable by the year; Meisian is just so much cuter compared to you. I say, how about you just give up already, honestly, I’ve thought about moving out of this dump for a while now.”

     “That’s right, that’s right, little Meisian is the cutest, she loved clinging to me the most in the past, nyah” Came the voice of another elder.

     “You rotten cat, she likes clinging to me more!” A different elder exclaimed.

     Fourth elder :“No, that’s me, nyah!”

      “Despicable, after all I’ve done for you freeloaders, you guys actually chose to abandon me the moment I’m in trouble…”

     Ignoring the Eldest Prince’s howl of grief, the first elder spoke up once more in a lazy drawl: “Anmi, you guys can just take your time with this little chat of yours, even if that little brat chews himself to death, we won’t step out so don’t worry.”

      “…hmph, heartless!”

     Based on that conversation, I was pretty sure that Weiderly was at the end of his road already. However, I still had to say: ‘These so-called elders…don’t tell me they are all a bunch of morons as well?’

     With that promise from the unknown elder not to interfere, Anmi was a lot more relaxed as he turned to face the Eldest Prince, a slight smile plastered on

      ‘Guards, check; elders, check. Yup, that’s all the obstacles gone now; I just can’t imagine how this Eldest Prince even has the slightest chance of a comeback anymore. I guess this marks the end of our quest then, once we get the verbal confirmation we need, I can find out how to enter Abaddon.’

     In the face of Anmi’s vice-like pressure, all Weiderly could do was flash him a very awkward smile: “About that, Anmi…I think we should sit down and have a good talk instead?”

      “I don’t think there’s anything left for us to discuss. Furthermore, with all your trump cards spent, why do I even have to bother with such a hassle?”

      “That devil over there…the fact that you’re helping my little sister must mean that she promised you some kind of reward…that’s why you’re here, right? How about this, I’ll double whatever she promised you, no TRIPLE! So how about delaying this Anmi over here for me? As long as you help gain the crown, I’ll give you even more benefits.”

     ‘Hmph, to think he actually managed to unearth this tiny glimmer of hope after all the pressure we put on him…’ I quietly thought to myself. Truly, his ploy was a rather ingenious one. Devils were basically the representation of deceit and betrayal however not everyone was so. Take for example, No. 3 and Big 4, they’d never betrayed me, not even once, for now at least…The two of them were still perfectly loyal subordinates…once more, for now at least…

      “I’m sorry but I don’t have a habit of betraying others.”

     “Is my reward too little? I’ll give you five times then…TEN! Ten must be enough, right?!” Grasping at straws, the prince threw me an almost pleading look as he said that. In his mind, I was probably some kind of messiah right now…the one devil who could possibly save him. It was almost ironic the way I somehow became his one and only hope at a comeback despite the fact that I was here to beat him up.

     “My words are priceless, once a promise has been made, I intend to see it through to the end. Even if I’m unable to accomplish it, I’ll still do my best.” As the saying went, ‘Do unto others what you would have done unto yourself’, there

     “…d*mn it, why did I have to meet a devil with such scruples!? Don’t tell me those legends were lying?” Seeing that I was no longer a workable avenue, he immediately shifted his target: “Those two Cerberuses over there, if you will help me take down Anmi, I’ll award both of you a piece of land. Once I become the Cat King, I’ll confer a position second only to me –all the cats in this world will be beneath you save for one! Aid me, I’m sure defeating Anmi is easy for you two.”

     “…I’m sorry, we only listen to Mis–Mister Mo Ke.” Having said that, she glanced at me to show who was she referring to.

     “…” Finally out of options, the beaten prince slumped to floor in despair. It was the kind of posture where one’s neck, back and belly all faced the ceiling. For animals, showing one’s belly had a multitude of meanings from trust, acting cute, servitude and admitting defeat. As of right now, he was probably admitting defeat.

     “Since you’ve made that gesture, I take it you’re giving up your succession rights then. With the Elders’ Consortium as my witness, I believe Your Highness won’t go back on your word.” As he said that, Anmi turned his eyes towards the room where the elders hid themselves. “Elders, if you’ll be my witness.”

      “Mhm, since Weiderly has give up, then as the representative of this Elders’ Consortium…”

      ‘I guess this is it then. Since the elder has spoken already, I doubt he can do anything else. How lucky, this quest ended up being even easier than I’d thought.’

     “Hold it, who said I’m giving up!” It was at that moment when everyone assumed the prince was defeat that he suddenly stood back up and resumed his upright and orderly posture.

     Seeing him act in such an odd manner, Anmi couldn’t help but furrow his eyebrows in unease. He stood stunned for a couple of seconds before asking: “Your Highness, your trump cards are all spent and still you wish to fight?”

     Anmi’s words were essentially the same as before but this time however, the Prince wasn’t that dejected cat we dealt with before. He had regained his regal bearing and confidence as he stared right into Anmi, lips curling into a devious smile. “Who said I have no more

     “…you…what are you trying to say…” The winds had taken a sudden change; from Anmi pressuring the Prince just moments ago, the scene now played out in reverse as the hunter now became the hunted.

     “Do you still not understand? Don’t play dumb with me, I know you know what I’m talking about.” The moment Anmi’s eyes started to waver, Weiderly knew he had made the right bet. With that cryptic answer, Anmi was instantly bathed in a cold shower of his own sweat…

      “…Your Highness, if all you wish to do is joke around, then…”

      “Haha, who’s the one joking around here? If you are really dead set on making me give up, there’s honestly nothing I can do about it, that’s assuming you really want to of course…the moment you dare to do that, I’ll immediately set off to see my little sister and tell her about the betrothal our Royal Father set up before his death…at that time…nyah hahaha…”

      “…are you that heartless?”

     “What do you mean heartless? You forced me into this. Besides, you’re ten times more vicious than me, what right do you have to point fingers at me?!” As he said that, he lifted up his bitten paw and waved it before Anmi. Weiderly then guffawed and said no more.

     The tables had turned: it was now the Prince who was doing the pressuring.

     “Mercy…” Perhaps he was no longer able to endure the pressure, or perhaps he really did not want to marry the princess, either way, he collapsed to his knees with a resounding thud. “I beg you, don’t mention this to Meisian or else…I don’t want to live either…”

     Finally, I couldn’t stand this scene any longer; the plot twist was simply too much for me to bear, in fact, I doubt anyone other than those two even knew what was going on!

      “Hey, Anmi…exactly what are you trying to pull here?”

     Turning around to face me, he spoke up in a voice as deep as the abyss and just as devoid of life: “I just don’t want to get married to Meisian, is that so wrong?”

     On the surface, his request actually didn’t sound all that wrong at all…but this was a princess we were talking, what’s wrong with marrying a princess?

     ‘Don’t

     ‘Don’t you know how many people dream of marrying a princess?! Are you dumb or have you just gone senile? Most people won’t even get such a chance in all eight of their lifetimes and yet here you are acting so unwilling?!”

      “Don’t tell me that in the eyes of you Purgatory Shadowcats, Princess Meisian is the kind of cat who can cause blindness just by looking at her ugly face?”

     “Rubbish! My little sister is more beautiful than any flower in this world, how could she be ugly!?” Before Anim could even answer, Prince Weiderly jumped in to defend his sister.

      “You devils are the ugly ones here, that furless body of yours, those ears strangely situated at the side of your face and that bizzare nose…heck, even your teeth aren’t as sharp as ours…what’s worse is that you have no whiskers at all…”

      “Hey, I’m talking to Anmi here, can you hold on for a second, Your Highness? I’m not done questioning him yet.”

      “Oh, go ahead then.”

      “…thanks for your cooperation.”

      “No problem, you’re the guest here after all, such courtesy is only to be expected. As long as you don’t hate yourself for being ugly, it’s fine…after all, it’s not your fault that you were born ugly, it’s kind of your fault for coming out to scare others though…”

     With regards to their sense of beauty, I truly had nothing to say…still, it wasn’t like I could not understand where he was coming from. We were from different races after all, it was only natural that we viewed beauty through different lens. I bet humans looked ugly in the eyes of pigs as well, not just cats…

      “Since Meisian is an absolute beauty in your clan, then why aren’t you willing to marry her?”

     For some odd reason, what was a discussion about the throne suddenly turned into marriage counselling in just the short span of two minutes…it almost seemed like I was reading some kind of gossipy forum right now. Even stranger had to be the fact that I was somehow a participant in this whole mess…well, who told me to be his companion. As his companion, I couldn’t just stand idly by and watch him get driven into a corner by Prince Weiderly. Besides, who knows what might happen if I let things proceed like this…

      ‘I’ll just counsel him for now, I just hope it’s not too late…’

     

      Chapter 221

     Source: Imported

      Report

     “It’s not a matter of appearances…it’s…you won’t understand…“ Anmi paused for second before staring at the ceiling full of hanging fish bones as if there was something be found there.

     “What’s the problem?” I suddenly had a bad feeling about this whole situation, and it was getting worse by the second along with my unease.

     Ignoring my question, Anmi threw a pleading look at the Eldest Prince, Weiderly: “…Weiderly, if you let me go this time, the next time I’ll…”

     “You help me now or I’ll tell my little sister.” With that, Anmi caved in and a triumphant smile graced the lips of Weiderly: “Choose one, those are the only two choices I’ll give you.”

      “Weiderly! Don’t push this cat too far!”

     “I dare you to try and kill me then.” Weiderly rolled his eyes at the raging cat, clearly not paying any heed to his murderous intent.

     Just as Anmi’s murderous intent was about to burst forth however, the hidden elder spoke up and warned the furious cat: “Anmi, rein in that aura of yours, we permit you to force him into submission but we won’t allow you to harm him.”

     “…” From the looks of things, the one who was driven into a corner wasn’t the Eldest Prince but rather Anmi…

     “Well then Anmi, what’s your answer?” The Eldest Prince smiled as he sat atop his platform. Judging from his confident expression, he must’ve already predicted that Anmi would never marry the princess. At the same time, he knew that should he bring up the whole matter of that betrothal, the Princess would definitely force Anmi into a marriage? That was roughly the whole situation as of right now. The biggest question however was why was he so adamantly against marrying the Princess?

     While I might have only seen her once, I honestly didn’t see a reason for him to hate her so much.

     “Anmi, if it’s not convenient for you to act, you can just leave this matter to us.” In

     “That’s right, as long as you do not cripple or kill him, we won’t interfere, however, try not to hit him too hard.” An unknown elder answered in a teasing tone.

      “All right, even without crippling or killing him, I have a ton of methods that will make him regret ever being alive. Even for a cat, they should work.”

     “…stay away, nyahh…what the hell is that twisted smile supposed to mean…Anmi save me…save me…” Perhaps it was because my smile was a little demonic at the moment, but the instant I took a step forward, the Prince cringed back in horror, retreating step by step until finally he reached the end of the platform. Yet for some strange reason, even though he was clearly terrified of me, he never once thought of jumping off that platform.

     Speaking of which, I wasn’t kidding when I said I knew a ton of torture methods. The Ten Great Manchurian Torture Methods and what not, I knew them all; the internet was full of information on that subject after all. With nothing much to do back then, I took a quick look and then branched off even further. While I might have not remembered all of them, I could say with confidence in my heart that my arsenal was still quite full and ready for the Prince, should he be so foolish.

      “You fiends! Don’t you know I’m one of the candidates for Cat King, representing the pride and dignity of our clan…to think you all will actually sit idly by and watch me get tortured by an outsider…where is your sense of decency? Your sense of honor? Have they all been eaten up by dogs?!”

     “Your Highness, I don’t remember any dogs offending you.” Sinmosa glared at the Prince before

      “Noo…don’t hit me…nyahhh…”

     In the midst of all that, the elders began their own discussion as well: “Is it really alright for us to watch him get tortured?”

      “But the rules clearly state that as long as he doesn’t suffer too much harm, we mustn’t interfere, besides…”

      “It’s rather fun to watch him get abused.”

      “Mhm, mhm.”

      “What a coincidence, I feel the same way as well nyah.”

      ‘With elders like that…all I can say is…best of luck, Your Highness.’

     Now that the tables had turned once more on the Prince, right here, right now, there was no longer any doubt in our minds that this matter was finally settled…except who would have ever thought that all that did was stimulate his boundless desire to live.

     The desperate Prince turned his furious gaze onto Anmi, the fires within so burning hot they could almost barbecue meat: “Anmi, I’ll ask you one last time, will you help me or not? If this continues, I’ll have no choice but to pay a visit to my little sister. You’d better get this straight, would you rather marry or MARRY?!”

     Anmi: “…”

     “Don’t listen to him, we’ll turn him obedient. Besides, so what if Anmi stands with you, him alone isn’t enough to defeat us.” Seeing him dig at Anmi’s weak spot once more, I immediately tried to cut in and prevent the worst from happening. However, I was too late…

      “Mo Ke…about that, I’m really sorry…”

      “…Anmi…exactly what do you mean by that?”

     “I don’t want to marry Meisian so…I’m sorry.” As he said that, Anmi lowered his head and took a wide step towards Weiderly before turning around to face us. Was that how he planned on showing his allegiance?

     “I said so already, didn’t I? Even if you stand with him, it won’t

     “No, that’s where you’re wrong, the moment Anmi stood with us, all your fates were sealed.” The Prince bounced right up and regained his normal regal appearance. “Did you all forget? This is MY territory.”

     Even though I could distinctly feel that something was up, appearances still had to be kept up, even if we were destined to lose, we mustn’t lose in spirit at least.

      “So what if this is your territory? Your guards have all fallen and the Elders’ Consortium have clearly stated they won’t help you. Sasani and Sinmosa can easily beat up Anmi so how is your defeat anything but guaranteed? If you really wish to continue resisting, don’t blame me for being rough.”

      “You say the Elders’ Consortium won’t act? HAHAHAH, have you all already forgotten why you guys were even able to enter my castle and assault me without getting attacked by the elders? It was because Anmi was acting as your witness! He is the very proof that you all were sent by my foolish sister. But now, he’s my cat…as long as he doesn’t confirm your status, then you all will change from my sister’s external reinforcement to mere villains. Now that I’ve spelt it out for you, do you understand my words?”

      ‘…I get it now…even if the Purgatory Shadowcats allowed external help in their succession war, that only applied if said aid was guaranteed by someone of the Purgatory Shadowcats…since Anmi is the only proof we have that we were sent by the Princess, the moment he turns on us and calls us villains…the elders would immediately turn us into devil pancakes…’

     Honestly speaking, the elders knew as well as I did that Anmi used to one of us, but things weren’t as simple as that. I had no doubt in my mind that those elders would immediately turn on us the moment Anmi outed us. Why? Because all these d*mned cats were insane!

     “Anmi…when we entered the castle,

     “I’m sorry.” Those were the only two words he knew how to speak right now. Having said that, he turned his head away, not daring to look me straight in the eyes.

     Thus, from that moment on, we were the ones who were in trouble instead…

     “Anmi, you giant baddie, you dare to betray Mama?!” Still standing beside me, a visibly incensed Mo Na railed at Anmi while hopping up and down. However, scolding him now wasn’t going to change a thing and as such, I stopped her from wasting her breath any further.

     Seeing us driven into a corner, the Prince burst out laughing ever so despicably: “Those devils down there, I’ll give you all a chance, will you join me or will you continue to resist me?”

     Not only was the Prince beside himself with glee, even the shadowy elders seemed to be acting a little different now: “Oh my, what a turn of events, I guess that brat still has some intelligence left in him after all. Being able to mount a counterattack at this stage…how amusing, truly.”

      “If Anmi says those devils are here to cause trouble, should we act?”

      “What do you mean act? Just get the guards to do it.”

      “Good point, hey, you lot, enough with the acting and get up! If you don’t stop right this instant, I don’t mind tossing you all into the Lava Lake to feed the fishes!”

     With that irritable shout, those guardcats ,who we supposedly defeated, all stood up without a single scratch on their furry bodies. Seeing that, the Eldest Prince flew into a rage immediately: “What the nyah am I even paying you cats for, isn’t it to protect me?! You bunch of untrainable mutts!”

     One of the Five-stars guardcats: “But Your Highness, we really fainted just now nyah.”

     The other Five-stars guardcat: “That’s right…sleeping was just an afterthought nyah…”

     

      Chapter 222

     Source: Imported

      Report

      “Hmph, fine, I won’t fault you for what happened just now but I want you all to surround them right now, I don’t want a single of them to escape!”

      “Understood!”

     The guardcats who had all just stood up, swiftly took up positions around us. In front of us was the traitorous Anmi and in the corner were the shadowy elders who were still carefully observing us…truly, this was a precarious situation.

      “Your Highness, I don’t remember us dogs having offended you.”

     “Silence!” With the tides turned, the cowardly Prince who, not too long ago, was too afraid to shout at Sinmosa, was now more than brave enough to berate her. ‘What a pathetic cat…’

     “Woof!” Seeing his wife get yelled at like that, Sasani let forth a furious bark but unfortunately for him, the Prince didn’t even spare him a glance. Of course, it could’ve just been that no one understood his barking…

      “Let’s get this straight here, you’re on MY territory!”

     “I guess it’s too late to leave now huh…” Given how sullen I looked right now, one would have thought I had swallowed a fly or something.

     “That’s right, those are the only two choices you have now.” Having said that, Weiderly smugly glanced at Anmi who still had his head lowered in a daze: “Anmi, if they refuse my offer, you know what to do…”

     “…” Anmi remained just as silent as before though he managed a nod soon after raising his head to look at the Prince.

      “I’ll take your silence as consent then.”

      “…”

     “Bah, I’ll give you another ten seconds to consider, if you’re willing to help me, I’ll forgive your previous insolence and even prepare a suitable reward once I ascend to the throne. What my little Sister can provide, I can definitely do so as well, being her older brother.” Patience clearly at an end, he issued an ultimatum to us.

     Faced with a choice that could potentially ruin us if we weren’t careful, the Cerberus couple chose not to say a word but instead threw me a trusting look.

     If I were to reject his offer…the two of them

      ‘I don’t want to die, I’m sure the others don’t want to either…even if it’s just out of consideration for the kids, I shouldn’t reject his offer…’

     For our survival, my principles had to take a back seat for now. Breathing deeping, I slowly exhaled amidst a furiously pounding heart that threatened to burst from my chest cavity right this very second. With no other choice left open to me, I caved in…was there even a choice to begin with?

     “I can abandon the mission given to us by Meisian and help you instead, but I won’t go after Princess Meisian. Also, once I help you ascend to the throne, you must tell me the method of entering Abaddon. If you can’t promise that much, then I’ll just have to say sorry.” Naturally, that sorry wasn’t directed at the Prince or Princess Meisian. Rather, it was directed at those who put their faith in me, the Hellhound family, No.3, Big 4 and Mo Na…

     The moment I accepted his offer, I felt a certain weight fall off my shoulders…

     “Smart choice, to think there would be such a loyal person amongst the devils, almost makes me want to keep you here with me.” Was he mocking me or was he actually praising me, that I didn’t know but neither did that matter. Having said that, the Eldest Prince nodded his head and signalled for the guardcats to back off.

     Once they had all retreated, the Prince resumed addressing me: “So that’s what my little Sister promised you, well, that makes things simple

      “Mhm, I heard you are able to wander the dream state freely as a soul and accumulate knowledge despite being asleep.”

      “And that’s why you don’t need to worry that I will cheat you. After all, it’s just telling you how to enter Abaddon, such a price won’t affect me at all.”

      “Then what do you require from us?”

     “I don’t need you to handle my little Sister so rest at ease, regarding that front…I have plans of my own…” As he said that, his eyes narrowed and darted towards Anmi. However, given Anmi’s unknown state of mind right now, the poor cat naturally didn’t notice the scheming look the Prince gave him then.

      ‘Why did it feel like he had just stepped out of the frying pan and into the fire…well since he agreed not to send us against his sister, that means there can only be one target left: the Second Prince.’

     “I need you to handle that dumb brother of mine.” As expected, the mission he gave me had to do with his younger brother.

      “Same as before?”

      “Mhm, after this fight with my little Sister, we’ll have a three way battle. At that time, there won’t be any cats guarding my little brother. All you have to do is walk into his castle and take care of him. How about it, simple isn’t it?”

      “…I just hope so…”

     ‘Maybe it might be simple for you cats, but everything that had to do with the Purgatory Shadowcats so far was anything but simple…can anything ever be simple when it had to do with a bunch of crazy cats…”

      “As for your guarantor cat…how about I have Anmi follow you guys. My foolish Brother’s castle isn’t too far off from mine so you guys can rest for a couple of days and set off once his army has engaged with mine.”

     Weiderly then arranged for one of the guardcats to bring us to a resting room. Because

     Like Meisian’s castle, Weiderly’s was split into three levels as well. The first floor was where the guest hall, office, kitchen and other miscellaneous facilities were all located. That was also where the majority of the guardcats and servant cats lived. The second floor was constructed as accommodations for guests as well as for cats of certain stature, like those elders or the guardcat team leaders. The final floor was the private area of the Eldest Prince; other than those close to him, this area was mostly off-limits to visitors.

     The room we were assigned to was huge, spanning at least several hundred meters square. Upon entering, we first found ourselves in a living room that had tables but no chairs; most likely that was because the cats themselves didn’t need chairs. In general, the furniture was crafted in a very Purgatory Shadowcats-esque style, having been made almost completely out of that strange rocklike plant material growing around this region. Certain smaller furniture pieces were even decorated with bones while some were carved from stone entirely.

     Just like before, the ceiling was filled with hanging fish bones that I didn’t know the exact purpose for.

     Right outside our suite was a well-lit balcony which was stacked full of squarish tables and flower pots filled with those same blackish red plants we saw growing outside.

     That was basically it for our room. I had to admit though, sleeping was probably going to be a pain because our beds…if it could even be called that…was a bunch of boxes shaped like a cat’s nest…

     Probably out of consideration for a variety of body sizes, there was a number of boxes ranging from large boxes to smaller ones. While the small boxes weren’t much, the large ones on the other hand…they could easily fit both Sasani and Sinmosa at the same time.

     Once our guardcat left, Anmi immediately tried to sneak

      “Bite his tail, Cinderel, don’t let him escape!”

     “Ruff ruff!” Cinderel obediently dove for his tail and adamantly held onto it while trying to yank the traitorous cat back. Even though the little puppy’s teeth were clearly not a threat against Anmi, he knew that he was in the wrong here so he chose not to resist but instead halted his tracks.

     “So Sir I’m-the-most-reliable-cat-in-my-clan, Anmi, how about giving us an explanation here? There are some things I really don’t get.” As I said that, I glanced at Sinmosa, Sasani, No.3 and Big 4, who promptly encircled Anmi, cutting off any avenue of escape: “We were clearly here on Meisian’s orders and yet just look at what happened to us?! Why did you turn on us?”

     Though I said that, Anmi clearly had no intention of running away anymore. Instead, he lowered his head, averting his eyes in the process, and then mumbled: “I just don’t want to marry Meisian…”

     “Do you hate her that much?” By now, even a moron could tell that he didn’t want to marry her, that much I didn’t need him to explain, what I truly wanted to know was why.

      “I told you those three siblings are all morons…”

      “Don’t try to bluff your way out of this, I know you’re hiding something for sure.”

      “…”

     “Silence is golden huh?” I glanced at the two Cerberuses: “Pin him down, No.3 you know what to do, I want all his fur gone right now!”

     “Hey…don’t be like that, we’re all companions here, aren’t we…there’s no need for such cruelty…” The moment he saw the two Hellhounds approach him, he immediately started to struggle furiously but with the two of them arrayed against him, and given that there was hardly any space between them to begin with, it only took a few seconds for them to apprehend him.

     

      Chapter 223

     Source: Imported

      Report

      “Companions? So now we’re your companions? Well, aren’t you daring one, to betray your companions like that.”

      ‘Moron, if you hadn’t mentioned the word companions, I probably wouldn’t even be that angry.’

      “No.3 de-fur his body first, if he still won’t talk, you can pull out the fur on his tail next, if he won’t talk…then pluck out his whiskers!”

     “I’ll talk, I’ll talk…just no pulling….” Clearly outmatched, he promptly caved in before the nightmarish fate could get any closer.

      “Well why didn’t you say so from the start? Could have saved us the trouble of all that, right?”

     “Yes, yes, yes. About that, can you have Sinmosa and Sasani let go of me first?” While he might have said that, I couldn’t help but notice that glint in his eyes. That cat was definitely up to no good…was he still thinking of escaping?

     The Cerberus couple on the other hand, weren’t able to notice his little scheme from their vantage point. All twelves of their eyes turned towards me as if to ask if they should release Anmi.

      ‘Hmph, I know what all you cats are like, the whole lot of you have no scruples whatsoever, if I let him go now, who knows whether or not he will try to run away.’

     Thus, my face darkened as I coldly stated: “Keep him pinned down and stop him from moving. Anmi, how about you just fess up now, the earlier you talk, the less pain you’ll be in.”

      “I…”

     Not only was I the only one p*ssed off at him, so were Mo Na, No.3, Big 4, Sinmosa, Sasani and even the newborn puppy, Cinderel. Seeing that, Anmi knew he was in big trouble

     Initially, the Shadowcats weren’t able to adapt to the harsh environment of Purgatory at all. Still, they forced themselves to acclimatize to the high heats and the sulfurous air and as time passed, a certain portion of the population changed.

     That was how the first batch of Purgatory Shadowcats were born.

     While life in Purgatory was hard, not every Shadowcat chose such a path of mutation. They knew that remaining purely of the shadow element made it hard for them to resist the temperature, but they still did so anyway.

     Back then, their mutated compatriots simply couldn’t understand their obstinance, especially given how they all gained new abilities from their new element. Even so, their determination touched them but at the same time, they just seemed like morons as well.

     Perseverance was a hard thing to maintain, it was so for humans and it was so for cats as well. As time passed, those who chose not to mutate started falling ill from some unknown ailment; the kind that made them die writhing in pain.

     Although it wasn’t contagious, it was still a troublesome sickness. Its incubation period was extremely long during which the host cat became extraordinarily susceptible to any minor sickness. Essentially, it was a death sentence for those Shadowcats and not a single one of them was spared as well.

     In light of that, the minority who chose not to mutate finally had to acquise.

     Only a small portion of those Shadowcats chose to perseverance but of those that did, there was a certain researcher who actually managed to create a cure.

     Before that however,

     What the researcher discovered was that everyone living in Purgatory had the fire element within them else they wouldn’t be able to live for long in Purgatory, barring special circumstances. Having discovered that, another conclusion that was drawn was that all the food in Purgatory contained a dense amount of fire element within them. By eating such food, Shadowcats would start accumulating the fire element within their body. Being cats of the shadow element, this new element naturally didn’t play well with their purely shadow bodies and in the long term…such an accumulation would explode…

     “Why don’t you all just avoid eating the food of Purgatory then. I heard the Shadowcats brought over a ton of plant life they collected from Abaddon, right?” Sinmosa couldn’t resist the urge to interject then: “All those plants we saw on the way here, and those Ashen Fur Mice, weren’t they all brought over from Abaddon.”

     “It is as you say, they aren’t from Purgatory, but there’s one thing you’re not getting…” As he said that, Anmi frowned a little as if the mere thought gave him a headache.

     “Because the environment of Purgatory was simply too harsh, all the plant life had to mutate as well in order to survive…even though we already knew that Purgatory was going to be a harsh

     In a sense, it was only natural for living things to try and adapt to their surrounding…so the whole reason why they died was because of an adverse reaction to their accumulated fire element…

     Furthermore, while every person(cat)s’ body had their own autoimmune reaction to unwanted elements accumulating in their body, there was a limit to that as well. To begin with, a person’s elemental balance was a fragile thing and should it ever get broken, the consequences would be dire.

     (Insert author’s unnecessary analogy here)

     For the Shadowcats who first arrived in Purgatory, the initial period of habitation was still a bearable one, even with their average constitution. However, what was most troubling for them was that all their food was tainted with fire element and yet they had no choice but to consume said food or die from hunger. Even worse was that the very air they breathed contained some fire elements as well…truly there was nothing worse than that.

     Honestly though, there wasn’t much of a difference in the big picture. Let’s say for a second that the Shadowcats were frogs. Having the air filled with fire elements only meant that instead of being slowly poached to death, they were thrown into a vat of hot oil instead. The latter was a horrible croaky death while the former was like a warm blanket that slowly suffocated them in their sleep. Either way, they would end up cooked, it was only a matter of time.

     “The researcher who uncovered all that then

     “What happened next?” Mo Na, being one who loved stories a lot, was completely immersed in his recounting. To her, their tragic past was nothing more than an interesting bedtime story seeing as she hadn’t experienced it herself.

     “…” Anmi sighed: “The synthesis failed…”

      ‘So it failed huh, I guess the look he had on just now was already a dead giveaway. Still, using ingredients tainted with fire elements to synthesize a cure that can purge said fire elements…no matter how you looked at it, it was a crazy proposition…at least use water or something!’

     Sinmosa on the other hand, was shocked. “Failed? So the remaining Shadowcats…they mutated right…no, then what about those three candidates for the throne…”

      “Even though the synthesis was a failure, that Shadowcat researcher managed to create a device that speeds up the elemental purging process thanks to his vast knowledge…”

      “A device?”

     “Mhm.” Anmi nodded his head.

      ‘A device huh…that means both Meisian and Weiderly have it as well…thinking back, what the two of them had in common was…’

      ‘Hmmm…both of them had differing statues but they were still black cats more or less. , they were both sitting on that platfor—platform?! That’s right, it’s that platform!’

      ‘Not too long ago when I pressured that cat prince, he clearly could have escaped by leaping off the platform and rushing to the elders. If he did that, I couldn’t have attacked him even knowing that the elders won’t interfere. But he didn’t do that, no matter how afraid he was, he never once tried to jump off that platform!’

     

      Chapter 224

     Source: Imported

      Report

      “That device you mentioned, don’t tell me it’s the platform they’re sitting on…”

     “That’s right, the very same. Those platforms are called Elemental Segregation Platforms and are one of the greatest inventions in our clan history.” Even though those words were clearly filled with respect, Anmi’s mood was still noticeably low: “Unfortunately, because too much time was spent on researching the platform, most of the already-dwindling Shadowcat population have already died from self-combustion leaving only the researcher and one other Shadowcat…”

     Wide eyes blinking, Mo Na proceeded to spit out another trademark question of hers that almost made me vomit blood in exasperation: “Just two? What a coincidence for them to be a pair of male and female Shadowcats then.”

     “…no…” Clearly incensed by her disrespect, Anmi was about to berate the little devil but upon seeing the raised fists of No.3 and Big 4, he caved in once more and merely continued explaining in a defeated tone: “Both of them were females.”

     At that point, Mo Na adorably gave me a couple bat of her eyelashes before saying: “Mama…how did those two female cats give birth?”

      “Sweetie, that’s not the point you should focus on…”

      ‘How would I know the answer to that and even if I knew, I wouldn’t tell you. Speaking of which, how did those two female cats give birth? Perhaps there’s a chance of a pure Shadowcat being born from two Purgatory Shadowcats?’

     Anmi rolled his eyes at the little devil: “Because one of them was already pregnant…”

     Initially, we only wanted to know why he was so vehemently opposed to marrying the Princess but as the conversation dragged on, it somehow ended up straying further and further off course. However, Anmi wouldn’t have mentioned all that if they were truly irrelevant…

      ‘Did that mean that the reason had something to do with all that? Hold on a second, can a Purgatory Shadowcat even bear a child with a Shadowcat? By mutating, the Purgatory Shadowcats have basically turned into a new type of Shadowcat. Although they might still have some traces of Shadowcat DNA, strictly speaking they aren’t even the same creature anymore. In that case, if Anmi and Princess Meisian were to get married…would their child be a Purgatory Shadowcat? Or a Shadowcat?’

      ‘Given that only Shadowcats can succeed the throne…that’s actually a very important question worth digging into.’

     Because the environment within

     Back then, there wasn’t really much of a difference between the two species except for the addition of their fire element so no one really minded the difference. Other than those two surviving Shadowcats, no one paid anymore attention to this matter.

     As time passed however, the difference between the two races became more and more pronounced with the most problematic issue being that they lost their ability to Dreamwalk.

     As the saying went, ‘only by losing something will one realize how precious it was’, only after they lost their ability did the Purgatory Shadowcats realize how much they relied on it. They were terrified, from the bottom of their hearts, they felt an overwhelming sense of fear. That one ability of theirs not only bestowed a wealth of knowledge onto them, it was also a part of their identity, their pride. With it, they felt a sense of superiority compared to the other races. Now that they had lost it, they felt incomplete as if a part of them had been wrenched out…

     In a sense, it was like having your favourite website taken away from you. Having browsed it everyday for god knows how long, one day you discovered that not only did the government block access to that website, they also fined anyone who had used it…that was exactly how those Shadowcats felt right now.

     Just like that, the two Shadowcats who persevered in their pure-bloodedness suddenly became objects of reverence. The Purgatory Shadowcats raised their status to that of a ruler’s and thus the first Cat King was born.

     However, a tale when told too long tended to get dry. No.3, clearly bored and irritated by now, snapped at Anmi: “What’s the point of telling us all this historical nonsense? What we want to know is why you do not want to marry Meisian. Will you die or something?”

     “I think I get the big picture now…” I turned towards Anmi and sighed: “It has to do with that platform doesn’t it?”

     “That’s right, at the end of the day, it has to do with

     In other words, standing on that platform would cause him suffering…as for how painful that was…only he would know.

     Because of their comparatively frail constitutions, the Shadowcats weren’t able to endure any elemental imbalance in their bodies. That was why Meisian and that Eldest Prince would never leave their platform willingly.

     Given that, should Anmi marry Meisian…he would probably have to spend his entire life with her on that platform. The problem then, was what about the fire elements in his body?

     The platform would purge his body of said elements and cause him harm so how was he to spend an extended period of time on that platform? That was the unsolvable problem facing Anmi right now.

      “So you’re saying that by marrying her, you would have spend your life on that platform?”

     “It’s not to that extent, but after getting married, I would have to spend quite a bit of time on it.” At that point, he shivered uncontrollably: “If I were to stand on that platform, the mana in my body would rapidly deplete and that sensation…can only be described as torturous…”

     “Still, there’s one point that I’m still rather curious about, if you were to marry the Princess…” The moment the word marry left my lips, Anmi shivered once more at which point I hastily explained that it was just an example, several times in fact before he finally calmed down: “If you were to marry her and then have a child with her…will your child be a Shadowcat?”

      “…that’s…what I’m most afraid of…if we didn’t have to have a child, I could still accept this outcome. After all, I wouldn’t have to spend every single moment on that platform. But given how little Shadowcats there are, if…”

     He abruptly stopped and banged his head against the floor several times before he managed to calm himself down.

     “Purgatory Shadowcats are a mutation of Shadowcats so we still have some Shadowcat genes in our body. If…if…Meisian and I were to do that together…I would first have to spend an entire month on the platform during which I can’t leave it, not even for

      “You would end up as a cripple, wouldn’t you?”

      “Mhm…I’ll be ruined.”

      ‘So that’s why…his choices are basically die or live a life worse than death…truly a hard choice.’

      “In that case, Prince Weiderly, should he desire offsprings, would have to find a mate from the Purgatory Shadowcats as well?”

      “Precisely. After all, the only surviving female Shadowcat is Meisian and doing that with a sister is…well, even us cats can’t do that.”

      “…”

     ‘Speaking of siblings…’ I subconsciously turned towards Sasani and Sinmosa at which point they both awkwardly jerked their heads away. Just like that, the atmosphere suddenly became a little awkward with their little action bringing even more attention to them instead.

     “What’s the matter?” Noticing the stiff atmosphere, Anmi couldn’t help but ask out of curiosity.

     He only knew that the two Cerberuses were married but what he didn’t know was that they were also siblings…

      ‘What’s that proverb again… ‘There are no taels to be found here’…’

     (TL: The phrase ‘There are no taels to be found here’ stems from a story where there was once a man called Zhang San. After expending a great deal of effort, he finally managed to accrue 300 silver taels and was naturally delighted by that. However, he lived in constant fear of someone stealing that fortune away from him so he found himself a chest. He stashed the three taels in the chest and then buried it behind his house. However, that still wasn’t enough to allay his fears so he thought of an ‘ingenious’ idea.

     He took a piece of paper and wrote: “There are no taels to be found here”. Having done that, he stuck that paper onto the side of the wall and then walked off, fears completely put at ease.

     Unbeknownst to him, his little action was discovered by his neighbor, Wang Er. In the middle of the night, Wang Er dug up those taels and spirited them away to his own house. In order not to get discovered however, he left a note on Zhang San’s wall, saying: “Your neighbor, Wang Er, would never steal.”

     The next day, Zhang San woke up to find his

     Later on, this story became a way of mocking a foolish person whose attempts at hiding a secret ended up exposing it instead.)

     Truly, that was a vicious slap to the two dogs’ faces but being out of the loop, Anmi had no way of knowing that. That however, just made the slap that much more painful…

     Now that the truth was out, we decided to let him off the hook for now.

     It had to be said however, that had he not come clean with us, none of us would have ever expected that a simple marriage would belie such a calamity…still, how did he even end up as the potential son-in-law of the previous Cat King?

     Seeking to change this awkward mood, I ever so naturally, turned the topic back to Anmi: “Anmi, why did the previous Cat King choose you?”

     “That…honestly, it has to do with a bit of a dark history during my childhood…” As he said that, he lowered his head in embarrassment.

     Like that, I was treated to another tragic tale of childhood ignorance.

     It turned out that the two cats used to play a lot with each other. In fact, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the two of them were childhood friends. Because of that platform, Meisian didn’t have any other playmates other than her two brothers so the little princess treasured Anmi’s companionship deeply. After all, he was only the one brave enough to stand on that platform and play with her…

     Even though his cat parents told him not to approach that platform, let alone climb onto it to play…he didn’t pay heed to their warnings at first. Each time he played with her, his body would feel extremely weakened, however it wasn’t to the extent where it couldn’t be recovered just by eating some food. Because of that, little Anmi didn’t pay much attention to it either. It was only after he spent an extended period on the platform did he finally learn his lesson. One fateful day, after playing with the little princess for a longer time than usual, he ended up losing too much of his fire element to the point where he fainted on the platform…

     

      Chapter 225

     Source: Imported

      Report

     For the mainly fire leaning Purgatory Shadowcats, the fire elements within them were an integral part of their body and purging them would harm their core well-being at best; at worst, it was a form of delayed suicide.

     Having had to down a ton of nourishments in order to recover, Anmi learnt his lesson regarding that dastardly platform. It was then that little Anmi finally regretted crossing that uncrossable gully with Princess Meisian…

      ‘I guess the saying really is true then, a newborn calf doesn’t fear the tiger…a young one is a brave one…truly, was there anything kids didn’t dare to do?’

     For the next two days, we spent our time resting in the Prince’s castle during which we gained a deeper understanding of the habits of the Purgatory Shadowcats. Simply put, they were all a bunch of crazy cats, end of story.

      ‘Never try to figure out what a cat is thinking, because the cat itself doesn’t know…’

     Throughout those two days, we would often hear the random cat nyahaha(laughter) or two while we walked the castle’s stony hallways. The reason being that they found bipedal creatures highly amusing…furthermore, they would often critique our appearance as if we were some kind of rare creature. Just stepping out of our room placed us in the spotlight right away. At times, I wondered if we were really guests or just that new gorilla in the zoo.

     Even though I clearly stated that Mo Na and I did not eat meat, the cat serving us food still did so anyway…When I confronted the cat bearing the platter of grilled fish and mice, the reason he gave me was this… ‘Why should I listen to you just because you said so? Won’t I lose face then?’

     Other than that, there was still a whole list of exasperating experiences, all of which I had already given up on tsukkomi-ing. I guess that’s why insanity was often compared to the starry sky: You could see them but never understand them.

     On the third day, Prince Weiderly invited us all to the great hall for an audience –most likely, it

     As we stepped into the giant hall, we found the Eldest Prince sitting atop his platform once more. Just looking at his sitting posture, I had to admit, he really had a regal bearing. Unfortunately for him, I had seen his depths; that d*mn potato was just a showboating moron. No matter how refined and regal he acted, his internal potato-ness would definitely sell him out.

     “The reason I’ve called for you all here today is because the time has come…” Upon seeing us enter, the Eldest Prince stood up and immediately issued us the mission: “The battle will start soon, this time it will be a three-way battle with my moronic little brother participating as well. At that time, his defenses will be low. All you need do is charge in and just do what you did to me, to him. Remember, he must give up his succession rights!”

      ‘What the heck is do what you did to me, to him…’

     Before leaving however, Anmi threw these last few, stern words: “Remember our deal, once we take care of Gaiuz, you aren’t allowed to threaten me with this matter!”

      “No problem, it’s not like I want you to be my brother-in-law anyway.”

      “That had better be so.”

     Having settled that matter with Anmi, the Eldest Prince then turned his gaze onto me: “Once you’ve settled my foolish little brother, I’ll defeat my little sister myself. As for when I ascend to the throne, I’ll tell you the method to enter Abaddon so don’t worry. I keep my promises.”

     “As you say.” I obediently accepted his order. What else was I to do then? For the sake of entering Abaddon, all I could do was try my best and complete this mission.

     Just like that, our mission went from taking down Weiderly to taking down his little brother, Gaiuz.

     Gaiuz’s castle wasn’t that far off from Weiderly’s, roughly a day of travelling was all it took for us to reach our destination. Along the way, we did in fact meet some of the Second Prince’s troops though we circled around them instead of

     “I honestly thought you would go up to them and grab a snack or something.” Frankly speaking, I expected Anmi, that sociable cat, to greet them and then ask for some barbecued Ashen Fur Mice. Instead, he took the initiative to lead us away.

     “I already had something to eat at Weiderly’s, besides, I’m not in the mood to talk to those morons.” Having said that, we resumed our journey.

     Upon reaching the Prince’s castle, we found ourselves staring…at another carbon copy of the previous two castles. That’s right, all three of them looked exactly the same, even down to the cat steps on the castle wall and that panelless hole…truly a strange phenomenon but real nonetheless…

     Unlike our previous two visits however, not only were there two guardcats stationed at the castle entrance, there was also another Purgatory Shadowcat standing there waiting. The moment we entered his field of vision, that waiting cat revealed a smile on his face.

     “Anmi, so you’ve really come…it’s been a long time, nyah.” Without giving us any time to react, he took the initiative to welcome us before warmly greeting Anmi. “Come then, His Highness is waiting for you all in the hall.”

     “Lohmi, were you specifically waiting for us at the door?” Instead of reciprocating his warm greeting, Anmi instead voiced out that nagging question in his head: “Don’t tell me Gaiuz already expected us to come a long time ago?”

     “That’s right, His Highness knew that you all would come so he had me stationed at the entrance.” Lohmi nodded at Anmi before smoothly turning his gaze onto me: “This must be Mister Mo Ke then, it has been a long time since the Remnants of Sable Radiance has seen a devil, you are probably the first we’ve seen.”

     “I just so happened to end up here because of some misfortune.” Truth be told, the fact that our opponent sent someone to greet us was surprising…based on that, the Second Prince probably had spies implanted by the side of Weiderly…speaking of spies, those guardcats by Weiderly seemed a little suspicious…for them to fall asleep

     “Either way, I pray you would honor us with your presence, His Highness is most fascinated by your presence, come, let’s enter the castle.” Lohmi courteously extended his paw in welcome. Naturally, I wasn’t one to snub such politeness. What happened next however, stunned me. Instead of climbing over the wall, all I saw was him slowly walking into the entrance…in other words, the infamous ‘hole’ in ‘Cats climb the wall and Dogs crawl through the hole.’

     Having taken a couple of steps, the cat realized that we weren’t following him at which point he merely smiled and repeated that same line from before: “His Highness is waiting for you all in the hall.”

      “About that…aren’t you going to climb the wall?”

      ‘How should I say this, do I have to remind you what the hole means…’

     “Ah, is that what concerns you, nyah.” Lohmi gave us a wry smile before proceeding to explain as such: “I assume this has to be the effect of that saying, ‘Cats climb the wall and Dogs crawl through the hole’. Truth be told, that saying wasn’t meant to belittle the other races but it ended up being misconstrued by my clancats over time. The real intention was to explain that each race had its own strengths and weaknesses and that we shouldn’t look down on them for that.”

      “To think there’s such a maverick amongst the Purgatory Shadowcats…”

     “Please don’t say that, those are actually the words of His Highness. His Highness even said that no matter how lowly a creature was, they all had their mission to fulfill in life. We shouldn’t look down upon it just because it is weak and neither should we cower in fear in front of the strong…” Judging by his tone, this cat was probably a diehard fan of Gaiuz. Throughout our short jaunt through the hole, Lohmi would constantly tell us about the Second Prince while not forgetting to throw in a praise or two.

      ‘Well, not like there’s anything really wrong with that, I’ll just take it as storytime.’

     Another point to note was that unlike the

      ‘For him to be able to whip those lazy cats into shape…this Second Prince must be a formidable character…’

     Under Lohmi’s guidance, we quickly entered the guest hall where we found Gaiuz, just like his siblings before him, sitting on the Elemental Segregation Platform. As for his appearance, there really wasn’t much to talk about there…they all looked the same to me so I relied on my soul sensing ability once more.

     “Your Highness, I’ve brought them in.” Upon entering the guest hall, Lohmi announced our arrival in a clarion voice.

     At that, Gaiuz warmly nodded at the cat after which Lohmi smoothly made his way to the side of the Second Prince. It was then that I realized that there were no other guardcats beside Gaiuz other than Lohmi.

     “It’s a pleasure to meet you all, guests from a distant land. My name is Gaiuz, one of the candidates for the throne of Cat King.” Unlike the regalness of Weiderly and the brashness of Meisian, Gaiuz’s demeanor instantly endeared him to me though it had to be said that I wasn’t sure why that was so.

     “Gaiuz, I’m sure you know why we are here.” Not intending to beat around the bush at all, Anmi immediately jumped straight into business. “There are no guardcats here and our combined might is more than enough to defeat you. Also, don’t even think about relying on the Elders’ Consortium while I’m here.”

     “Anmi, I see you’re still as direct as before. It has been a while since we last met, how about we have a chat instead.” Gaiuz calmly proceeded to say: “According to what I’ve gathered, you were supposed to help my little sister and yet you ended up as a tool arrayed against me by my foolish older brother. Truly fascinating…the way the world revolves so quickly…”

      “Hmph, you’re still as long winded as before. Well I can’t be bothered to deal with all that…”

      “I won’t give up my succession rights…”

     

      Chapter 226

     Source: Imported

      Report

     “So we’re fighting then?” Anmi abruptly cut off Gaiuz while adopting a combative stance. Having learnt from that painful lesson in Weiderly’s castle, Anmi decided to settled this mission as soon as possible. After all, his weakness was painfully apparent for all to see and in a war of words, his mouth cannon simply didn’t compare to his opponent’s.

     As for me, I was inclined to agree with that decision as well lest Gaiuz pulled the marriage card like Weiderly. At that point, Anmi would undoubtedly turn on us again and we would have to go through another tragedy….

     “Anmi, what are you so worried about, are you worried that I would bring up the matter of my sister’s betrothal to threaten you? Don’t worry, I won’t do that, would never in fact.” Ignoring the cat’s hostility, Gaiuz waved his hand dismissively and signalled for him not to overreact. “Honestly, that foolish brother of mine is truly clever with those petty tricks of his, to think he would even make use of our little sister’s happiness as a bargaining chip.”

     “…” The moment the word betrothal left the Prince’s mouth, Anmi knew that things were about to fall apart. In an instant, his shoulders slumped over as if he was some kind of deflated kitty. “What are you trying to say here?”

      ‘Don’t tell me this is going to end in another marriage threat…that’s such an overplayed meme at this point!’

     “What am I trying to say?” He repeated Anmi’s words before suddenly blowing his top a second later. No…it would be more accurate to say that he was extremely displeased as if he was looking at an annoying cockroach right now. “There’s no way you would ever be able to give my sister happiness, how would you even? Why…why did my little sister have to marry a cat like you?”

      “Huh?”

     Anmi jaw fell wide open, clearly confused by what he just heard. Thus, Gaiuz repeated himself once more: “Why must little sister marry you? Why did that moron of a father have to marry her off to you?

     “…that…it’s not like I wanted that either…” The moment Meisian was mentioned, Anmi

     “Don’t want it? Are you saying my sister isn’t pretty enough? AHH! Which d*mned eye of yours made that call, I’ll toss it into the lava lake!” As he continued talking, the Second Prince gradually devolved from that well-mannered cat who gave off good vibes to an irate cat…truly a Jackal and Hyde situation we were witnessing right now…

      ‘Didn’t you just say that you didn’t wish for the two of them to have any relationship? So why are you acting so furious now that he specifically stated his aversion to that? What a conundrum…’

     “Gaiuz, what are you trying to say here?!” By now, even the deflated Anmi knew to snap back given how much the Prince had just berated him.

     “What am I trying to say?!” Gaiuz coldly harrumphed before saying: “Exactly what kind of dementia made that braindead old man of mine choose you? Isn’t it obvious that I’m a better choice for my little sister?”

      “…”

      ‘F***, so that’s what this is all about, you’re just a damn Siscon…if your father were to betroth his daughter to you, then he would truly be mad.’

     The moment the conversation moved onto siblings, the mood instantly turned awkward, especially for Sasani and Sinmosa who were suddenly struck by how small this world was…

     “Ahem, Your Highness, please control your emotions.” Amidst the growing awkwardness, the previously silent Lohmi cleared his throat lightly to remind the Prince of his impropriety: “Your Highness weren’t you saying how you wanted to discuss a certain matter with Sir Anmi?”

     “Mhm, that was rude of me.” Gaiuz straightened himself out and from his slightly elevated position, peered down at Anmi: “I know exactly what that foolish brother of mine is thinking right now, he wishes to force me out of this fight by using you, does he not? After that, he plans on using that marriage to handle our little Sister. Unfortunately for him, it never occured to his tiny little brain

     Speaking of brains, I couldn’t help but recall what Anmi mentioned the first time we met. Back then, I asked him why was he hiding in his territory catching mice while a civil war was ongoing. His answer then was a resolute: “Because they are all morons…”

     Naturally, I had no way of understanding what he meant by that then, but now I did…those siblings were truly off their rocker…

      “Anmi, I’ll give you two choices now, first, continue fighting me or two, help me.”

      “…Gaiuz, I think you aren’t getting the picture here, we’re here to beat you up, why in blazes would I help you instead?”

     “The one who doesn’t get it is you, Anmi. If my older brother triumphs over me, what do you think his next move would be? To sell you off. After all, you’re the only cat who played with my little Sister for an extended amount of time when she was young…nyah…I should just kill you…” As he said that, his Siscon mode started taking over once more.

     Anmi, on the other hand, nearly choked on his own spit as he spluttered: “…Weiderly is going to sell me off to Meisian? To trade for her succession rights?”

     “Of course he is! If it wasn’t for you, why would my little Sister even bother with the throne!” Gaiuz’s brows furrowed the moment those words left his mouth, a hint of hysteria flashing through his feline eyes at that very instant. “Why else would she if not for the privilege a Cat King has to pick their own mate!”

     “That…how…why…would she go so far for me…” As if struck by lightning, his entire kitty face went pale as he stood there shellshocked.

     “I’m not entirely sure about the exact details but still…I bet your brush with the Elemental Segregation didn’t go too well, right?” Ignoring the slightly crazed and mumbling Anmi, Gaiuz continued: “Well things are different now, as long as you help me seize the throne, my older brother can’t blackmail you and the moment I ascend, I will announce my marriage with Meisian!”

      ‘Another d*mned Siscon…’

     With that

     With that in mind, my eyes unknowingly drifted towards Sasani. Knowing exactly what my gaze meant, all he could do was flash me an awkward smile but nothing more… ‘How boring…’

     “I…understand…I’ll do as you say.” For sake of avoiding the platform, Anmi had no choice but to hang his feline head in shame and accept the Second Prince’s offer.

     Now that he had caved in, Gaiuz then turned towards us outsiders with a thin smile: “A wise choice, as for you all…” While the rest of that sentence wasn’t spelled out for us, having gone through this exact situation once already, we were more than experienced enough to know what came next.

      “I understand the situation as well…just proceed onto what we have to do…I need a way of entering Abaddon, whoever becomes the Cat King has nothing to do with me at all.”

     Honestly, what else were we to do then? Scruples be d*mned, I say, it wasn’t like that was the first time we did so anyway. Since that unreliable traitor of a cat, Anmi, caved in with just a few words, there really wasn’t much meaning to any further obstinance on our part. After all, I wasn’t the first one to pull the trigger here, us devils were just innocent bystanders so why not just go with the flow.

      “Very good, I do in fact know a way to enter Abaddon but I won’t tell you now; I will only do so once I ascend. For the following days, I’ll have to trouble you all to stay in my castle. I’ve already thought of a plan of action so I just need you all to cooperate. I plan on having a three-way negotiation between us siblings. At that point, I need you all to step in as outsiders and restrain the both of them. Once you do that, I can officially become the Cat King.”

     ……

     Having laid out his plans, we were sent away soon after. Lohmi led us up up to the second floor of the castle where we found ourselves in an identical room; even the furniture inside our room was identical, down to its placement…

     ‘Even the gossiping

      ‘Even the gossiping cats are the same…all that nonsense about bipedal creatures…and not eating Ashen Fur Mice…even that feeling of being treated like a spectacle is the same.’

     The moment Lohmi left us, we surrounded Anmi once more. This time, we said nothing but merely glared at him.

     “You…you…let’s be clear here, anything but the face.” Surprisingly, he didn’t try to resist but merely covered his head with his paws and put up a defenseless posture.

     Well, with all that fur on his face, I doubt anyone would notice the difference anyway.

     “Forget it, it’s not like this is the first time…” Seeing how spineless he was at the moment, I truly couldn’t bring myself to get angry anymore: “Well, what are your plans?”

     “Plans?” Anmi was stunned for a moment before saying: “Help Gaiuz become the Cat King, of course. What else is there to do but that?”

      “Do you truly feel nothing for Meisian? Gaiuz said so himself, the only reason why she is even in this fight is because of you.”

      “…don’t joke around, that platform isn’t as simple as you think. It will forcefully separate your element away from you…that feeling…those who had never experienced it before will never understand.”

     In other words, he fully gave up…

      ‘Fine, for that reason alone, you betrayed us twice…not only that, each time we confronted you, you would put on that pitiful face of a victim as if you were even more innocent than us…how should I even deal with you? I can’t even think of any words to describe you anymore.’

     Still hugging my neck, Mo Na immediately threw a jibe at Anmi: “It’s just a marriage, it’s not like she expects you to die.”

     “You just don’t understand…that sensation…it’s worse than death…” Anmi sighed once more but didn’t argue back.

     Perhaps it was truly as he said, the Elemental Segregation Platform was the most cruel form of torture in this world, but there was still something I had to ask: “Then does Meisian truly love you?”

     Hearing that, Anmi opened his mouth to speak but just as he was about to say something, the words got stuck in his throat: “I…don’t know…I really don’t know…”

     

      Chapter 227

     Source: Imported

      Report

     Regardless of whether or not Anmi knew…time marched on. During those days we spent in Gaiuz’s castle, we mostly lazed around while the staff serviced us. Even though I specifically said that Mo Na and I didn’t want barbecued Ashen Fur Mice, the servings came unabated…even though my eyes clearly said that I didn’t want to be a sideshow, the kitty cats still continued circling around us…truly an unpleasant few days…

     That was our experience with Gaiuz’s cats in a nutshell.

     Roughly a week passed uneventfully like that till finally, Lohmi came looking for us with a message stating that the Prince wanted to meet us.

     Even without that meeting however, I could roughly guess what he wanted to say: the meeting had been set and all the parties had agreed.

     The moment we met, he said just that.

      “My little Sister and that foolish brother of mine have agreed to the discussion. Even though we call it a discussion, it will probably end up as a competition between our armies in the end, with the final victor ascending. However…as they say, a little guile never hurt anyone, your mission is to hide in the Cat Nest I prepared for you and capture the two of them once the time is right.”

     Having said all that, Gaiuz’s gaze couldn’t help but sweep over Anmi. Seeing the latter in such a distracted state, a flash of annoyance crossed his eyes after which Gaiuz glared at the cat. However, Anmi didn’t respond to that. “Sir Anmi, exactly what has you so enamored?”

     That finally did the trick in catching his attention, but Anmi still wasn’t all that spirited as he said: “I don’t wish to see Meisian.”

     “Don’t wish to? Fine, I don’t want my little Sister to see you anyway.” Gaiuz curled his lips further in annoyance and raised his voice: “At that time, I just need you to settle that foolish brother of mine, as for my little Sister, leave her to me.”

     Gaiuz then waved his paws, signalling that we

     Just like that, the basic premise was all set with Lohmi filling in the details as needed.

     “His Highness usually isn’t like that. It’s just with matters concerning Her Highness, Meisian…he tends to get a little…heated, nyah.” As we walked out of earshot of the guest hall, Lohmi explained thusly in a slightly apologetic tone while walking alongside us: “Honestly, I can’t agree with His Highness’s behavior…I’m sorry, that was inappropriate of me, nyah.”

     “It’s alright, we won’t tell.” Badmouthing one’s master as a servant was a taboo in an aristocratic society like this. In situations like that, a servant might have been dragged out and beaten to death but given that this was the Purgatory Shadowcats we were talking about, I bet the punishment would probably be something along the lines of no meals for a day…

     Either way, we didn’t plan on ratting him out. Compared to Gaiuz’s irate behavior, Lohmi was a lot more likeable.

     Having sent us back to our guest room, Lohmi left us, but not before saying: “Truth be told, His Highness’s behavior…isn’t appropriate…nyah…I misspoke again…” He then left in a hurry.

     So exactly what behavior was he referring to? Naturally, he wasn’t talking about his master’s desire for the throne but rather it was the act of liking one’s own sister…I still clearly remembered Anmi mentioning that even the Purgatory Shadowcats frowned upon such a relationship between close relations…Sasani and Sinmosa must’ve wanted to bury all three of their heads when we touched upon that awkward topic…

     Still, what did Lohmi mean by those words? For a close aide to speak like that…were there not restrictions against marriage between close relations?

     Back then, Anmi only mentioned that the Purgatory Shadowcats weren’t capable of such acts. Those were rather non-committal words considering the issue in question. In light of that, I highly doubted that there was actually a complete ban on such behavior even though, being highly intelligent lifeforms, they naturally knew the dangers of doing so.

     At least that was the conclusion I

     I had a million questions in my head right now but no matter how much I thought about them, I wasn’t going to get an answer so I finally decided to ask our resident expert instead: “Anmi, what did Lohmi mean by those words?”

     With regards to that question, he raised his head and gave me a deadpan look that was somehow still infuriating even though I knew that he was merely depressed. “Lohmi is a female, don’t tell me you all didn’t realize that?”

      “…well, you know…you Purgatory Shadowcats all look the same to me…besides I have difficulty differentiating faces…”

      ‘Hmph, I’ll forgive you for now since you’re down in the dumps. Looks like all that talk about Meisian really had a lasting effect on Anmi, but still…to think Lohmi is actually a female…awkward…sometimes this problem of mine just leaves me in such an awkward position.’

      “What do you mean look the same, Lohmi’s fur is clearly more vibrant than mine and her body is more petite than mine too. Also, her scent is completely different from mine and her fur is a lot puffier. Besides, our faces are completely different, nyah! Did you even try looking at us! Don’t tell me you can’t tell us apart when we walk side by side?”

     “I’m sorry, I’ve been using my sensory abilities to tell you two apart up till now…” I sheepishly smiled at him before saying: “You two really look so similar…”

      “Hmph, you devils are the ones that look similar. I swear whenever I look at you lot, you all seem the same to me, especially that No.3 and Big 4 of yours. They might as well have come out from the same mold for all I know. Had it not been for my sharp nose being able to differentiate their scents, I would be the one having trouble instead!”

     ‘Fine…I guess this is what people meant when they say that foreigners all looked the same to them…sometimes, I could’ve sworn that those actors on the big

     “Hmph, Mo Na and Mama are the ones who look normal here! How dare you compare Mo Na to those ugly potatoes!” She then pointed her little finger at No.3 and Big 4 who were listening in on the conversation all this while. Ignoring how wronged they felt, how pitiful they looked or awkward it was for them, she then turned her finger onto Anmi’s snout before loudly yelling: “Cinderel, get him!”

     “Ruff, ruff!” Upon hearing that, Cinderel immediately lunged at the cat, widdle teeth sawing furiously away at his thigh. She clearly wasn’t going to be able to hurt him but because Anmi was afraid of hurting the little puppy, he had no choice but to flee. Thus, the two ran around in circles while Mo Na flew behind, egging on the puppy throughout with a boisterous laugh…

     Seeing the three of them horse around so happily, whatever displeasure we felt towards him gradually disappeared.

     Thus, another few days passed by uneventfully and finally, the day of reckoning came when Gaiuz personally led us to the site. In the first place, the three castles were positioned roughly in the shape of a triangle so the site was naturally situated right in the center of all three castles. By travelling in a straight line, it roughly took the same amount of time from each castle to reach the discussion site.

     Unlike the previous battles, this battle required a round of negotiations between the three siblings so they had to set off their armies this time around.

      ‘Ehh? Set off? Just as I reached the castle entrance, a thought suddenly occurred to me and I paused in shock.’

     ‘I thought the whole setting was that the Shadowcats couldn’t acclimatize themselves to the environment of Purgatory…so how are they going to leave that platform of theirs? This doesn’t make sense at all, I clearly remembered Weiderly staying on that platform no matter how much we pressured

      “Didn’t you say that the Shadowcats can’t live in Purgatory’s environment, so how is Gaiuz going to remain on his platform then?”

     As they said, when in doubt, ask.

     “…” However, the moment I said that, Anmi gave me a scornful look as if he was looking at an idiot. “Who ever said that the platform wasn’t mobile?”

      “That thing…can move…?”

     “Of course it can.” Anmi nodded his furry head before walking up to the entrance and saying thusly in a slightly exasperated tone: “Just see for yourself.”

     Looking in the direction of his gaze, all I saw was the sight of Gaiuz sitting atop his platform that was roughly ten meters wide and an inch and half thick. Naturally, that black platform was the Elemental Segregation Platform,but that wasn’t the issue here. What was so amazing and bizarre was that it was actually floating in mid air, in clear defiance of gravity. In fact, there had to be at least a meter’s worth of distance between it and the ground…

      “That platform can actually fly…why didn’t you tell me that before?”

      “Did you even ask me about it?”

     “…” When he said it like that, I really couldn’t help but agree that this really had nothing to do with him. “But I don’t remember Weiderly using that function even when he was cornered.”

      “That’s because the speed of the platform is really slow and requires quite some time to activate. That’s why Weiderly never thought about doing that.”

      “Oh I see…”

     Seeing me flabbergasted, Anmi proudly said: “Didn’t I say so before, the Elemental Segregation Platform is one of the three greatest inventions in our clan. Since it is worthy of such a lofty title, it naturally had to do more than purge elements. Back when it was first invented, its inventor already thought about this issue of mobility. As long as the Shadowcats remained in Purgatory, they would forever be bound to the Elemental Segregation Platform, that’s why the inventor specially added in this feature so that they could move about freely!”

     

      Chapter 228

     Source: Imported

      Report

      “That’s amazing. But there’s no way moving such a behemoth doesn’t require a ton of energy.”

      “Hm, don’t think that just because the platform is so gigantic, it can’t be powered up. Just so you know, the Elemental Segregation Platform is powered solely by its user. Gaiuz for example, would spend his days on that platform during which the fire elements within him would be separated from him. The platform will collect these elements and store it within it’s Mobility Furnace. Thanks to that, the platform is able to output unthinkable levels of performance during crucial moments.”

      “Woah~~that’s amazing.”

     Truly, that contraption surprised me to no end, up till that point, I honestly thought that those Shadowcats had to spend their entire lives stuck on that platform for their daily needs…even pooping…

      “Amazing isn’t it? From that look on your face, I bet you assumed they were stuck to that platform permanently.”

      “They aren’t then?”

      “Of course not, even though leaving the platform might ultimately cause an Elemental Imbalance in their bodies, short term travel is still all right. You seem to have forgotten that whether it is Meisian, Weiderly or Gaiuz, their castles all have three levels in them. The first level performs an assortment of functions, the second is for guests and those of status, the third however, is their personal cat territory.”

      “…”

      ‘Now that he mentioned it, I do in fact remember him telling us that…’

     Clearly happy to brag about his own clan, he continued to blow my mind with the following revelations: “I bet you never noticed that there was a tiny platform hidden behind the platform in their throne rooms. Because that other platform is tiny when compared to the Elemental Segregation Platform, it’s only understandable for you not to notice it. That platform was specifically crafted to allow quick travel between the third floor and the first. Their functions are similar to the Elemental Segregation Platforms except that they are smaller and noticeably faster.”

     ……

     For this operation, Gaiuz had most

     By my estimation, the speed of that platform was roughly 15 m/s, which meant it was 54 km/h. At that speed, it would probably take us three to four days of travelling to reach our destination.

     Purely for convenience, Gaiuz prepared some mobile Cat Nests which basically served the same purpose as a tent. These mobile Cat Nests were shaped like carriages and were extremely wide, being only a smidge smaller than the platform itself. Just one alone was enough to fit our party though it would be a squeezy ride.

     One thing had to be said however, the ones pulling these Cat Nests weren’t the Purgatory Shadowcats themselves. Instead, such a laborious task was dumped on another race known as the Demon Fire Arcane Lizards.

     The Demon Fire Arcane Lizards were another species transported over from Abaddon. Mostly, they were the equivalent of horses –weak and easily tamed. Before coming over, they were called Arcane Lizards and were a race known for their sturdy bodies, extraordinary strength and poisonous saliva. Other than that however, they were weak. Adding on the fact that they were tended to be rather dim as well, their race as a whole belonged near the bottom of the pyramid in Abbadon.

     Still, the fact that they possessed a degree of intelligence made them very obedient servants though still dim. Thanks to that, they were raised by the various races in Abaddon for labor.

     Like the Purgatory Shadowcats, these lizards had to forcefully change their constitution to suit the harsh environments of Purgatory. What their appearance was like before mutating, that was something I didn’t know but with regards to their current appearance, I had only one thing to say, ugly…also, they kind of stank as well.

     The lizard pulling our Cat Nest was at least five meters long and possessed a thick set of limbs brimming with power.

     Truth be told, those cats seemed more like a bunch of moronic potatoes than anything else to me, the reason being that the way they viewed things seemed so off kilter from my own. Take for example those so-called guardcats, a human guard would never fake his defeat and then fall asleep…furthermore, humans would show fear when they were scolded and would do their best to avoid getting reprimanded even further. After all, their lives were at stake here.

     Those guardcats however…the most memorable moment for me had to be when those two guardcat team leaders even had the balls to toss out that tsukkomi: ‘sleeping was just an afterthought, nyaah…

     Truly, the Purgatory Shadowcats were beyond my understanding and that wasn’t even all I had to say as well…

     Take for example where we were now… After days of travelling, we finally reached our destination, known as Domeh Lake. It was a lake of lava just like everywhere else but instead of blackened rock, it was surrounded by lush foliage. Just based on its picturesque qualities alone, I had to admit that this lake was like a rare oasis in an unending desert of red and black.

     It was in such a scenic backdrop that three hovering platforms met and combined with each other. The three Shadowcat siblings met and immediately they started off with a customary round of snide remarks. Naturally, the main target of said remarks was Weiderly since Gaiuz would never insult his beloved little sister though

     Rather fascinating in of itself, I quietly listened in on their conversation with ears pressed to the wall of our Cat Nest.

     Gaiuz: “Foolish brother, I see your scruples have fallen once more.”

     Weiderly lowered his head: “No they haven’t.”

     Gaiuz: “…truly, how stupid can you be…”

     Weiderly: “You’re the one who said that they dropped, that’s why I looked!”

     Gaiuz: “That’s why I say you’re stupid. How can you even drop such a thing?”

     Weiderly: “Well, your scruples have fallen as well.”

     Gaiuz lowered his head to look: “Is that so? No, they haven’t.”

     Finally at the end of her patience: “That’s enough, did you two morons call me over just so that I can bear witness to your stupidity?”

     Weiderly: “O foolish sister of mine, just looking at your furry face, I can’t help but remember those fond memories of you peeing in your box when you were still a wee kitten…”

     Meisian: “Shut up!”

     Gaiuz: “My foolish brother, I heard our dear Royal Father mention that you used to wet your box as well.”

     Weiderly: “Shut up!”

     Gaiuz: “Hmph, as if I would shut up just because you told me to. Just for that, I won’t. I still remember back in those days, you…”

     What happened next was a furious exchange of insults, snideness and tsukkomi-ing till Meisian finally had enough and yelled: “That’s enough of out you two morons! I’m not here to see you two idiots duke it out, we’re here to decide a Cat King! If you two keep arguing like this, I’ll just fly back to my castle right now! You hear me?! Idiot! Idiot!”

     Seeing their little sister blow her top, the two of them finally settled down and moved onto the main topic for today.

     Still, amidst all that, Gaiuz could be seen acting rather strangely. At times, he would use his paws to slap the platform beneath him, sometimes quickly and sometimes slowly. When his slapping was rapid, it almost

     However, even with all that nonsense going on, the discussion proceeded barely impeded. In other words, just as slowly as before.

     Honestly, there really wasn’t much to be discussed at all. This battle of theirs would most likely end up being those same few competition events plus some kind of Try-not-to-laugh competition as the finale.

     As for the contents of said competition…my face immediately darkened the moment Anmi explained it to me.

     The event was really simple: both sides would dispatch their own teams, both of similar strength. The two sides would then take turns performing for the other and should one side laugh or sleep, the contestant in question would be kicked out. The two sides would continue sending out people till one side finally ran out of cats.

      ‘Could there be any more unreliable method of competition in this world? Not to say that the event was intrinsically bad…after all, it was full of entertainment value…but as a way to decide the future Cat King…’

      ‘I get the reasoning behind all those other events…hunting, racing, gathering and whatnot…but what the heck is this try-not-to-laugh competition…it’s clearly just a comedy showdown isn’t it?! What is even doing in this battle?!’

     At times, I truly wanted to burst out in exasperation just from listening in on their discussion…

     Still, with the battle program basically ironed out, Weiderly was the first to leave. As he did so, he threw his two siblings a dismissive look before he left, as if it was beneath him to spend more time with them. Just like that, Weiderly sped off in in his Ferrari…oops, I mean Elemental Segregation Platform.

     

      Chapter 229

     Source: Imported

      Report

     "What are these?" I asked the stranger.

     "The first will lead you to a story, lost in ancient times. The other tells you about the man who translated it," he said.

      "And who are you?"

      "I am a nameless lone wanderer, a mere explorer. I am just @A_Passing_Wanderer."

     And that’s how I came across The Second Coming of Avarice, a new translation found only on CrN. True story. Now I pass it onto you, Everyone , to read to your heart’s content.

     Meisian didn’t leave immediately but chose to stay a while. Once Weiderly was out of the picture, Gaiuz immediately leaped to his paws excitedly and greeted his little sister.

     Gaiuz: “Sister, it has been awhile, you seem even more beautiful than before.”

     Meisian: “Gaiuz, you seem more disgusting than before.”

     Gaiuz: “Can you not call me disgusting?”

     Meisian: “Can you distance yourself from me?”

     Gaiuz: “…”

     Meisian: “…”

     With just a few lines, the mood instantly took a nosedive. A while later, Meisian spoke up once more though with a scrunched up look as if she was looking at a pervert: “Speak, is Anmi with you?”

      “He is with me right now but I didn’t mistreat him.”

     “Then I’ll be off.” Upon receiving that definite answer, Meisian turned around and left without any hesitation as if she was trying to avoid the plague itself.

     “…am I that detestable…” Watching her float away like that, Gaiuz couldn’t help mumble to himself in a half doubting, half dejected tone. However, his sullen mood quickly recovered: “O Sister of mine, I know you love Anmi but that trash doesn’t even have the courage to step on the Elemental Segregation Platform, the only one who can keep you company and willingly sacrifice himself for you, is me…”

     Like that, the comedy skit between the three siblings came to an end and next up was…

     Not too far away from the platforms was our mobile Cat Nest, in other words, we heard everything that was said just now. For Gaiuz to be despised like that, was honestly well within

     Eyes as dark as the abyss itself, Gaiuz glared at Anmi while coldly asking: “You saw everything?”

     At that, Anmi unabashedly laughed: “I saw it, it was pretty funny. I swear there’s nothing funnier than when you three get together.”

     Immediately, the Prince’s already darkened mood worsened: “Then I’m sure you saw me shaking my paws as well, that’s the signal to kidnap Weiderly and you all actually ignored it!”

     “That’s the signal? I don’t remember you telling us that beforehand?” Anmi deliberately blinked twice while putting on an innocent look on his face: “So that’s why, nyah…I thought you had suddenly gone mad for a second, I almost ripped a gut laughing.”

     “…” Even though his answer was rather piercing, it did however remind Gaiuz of a certain, crucial point. And that was the fact that we didn’t settle on a signal beforehand and that he had only mentioned that he would call for us. Thus, the blame laid squarely on Gaiuz himself.

     ‘So all that was just a silly own goal on his part…should’ve just told him to toss a cup as a signal instead. Assuming there was a cup to be thrown…

     “Blast it, and that was such a good opportunity too…” Finally realizing his error, he immediately changed the topic to avoid any further embarrassment: “Well, since this time is a bust, we’ll just have to wait for the next opportunity. Remember, the next time you see my paws shaking like that, I want you all to charge ahead and take down my foolish brother.”

     “Kay.” Anmi lazily answered.

     “That’s all for now nyah.” Having said that, Gaiuz drove off on his platform.

     “I thought he was having a seizure too…to think that was him trying to give us a signal…too bad he didn’t inform us of that beforehand.” Anmi muttered as he watched the Prince disappear into the distance. While he might have said that however, he wasn’t at all shy about following it up with a snide remark: “I told you guys he’s a moron.”

     “Whether or not he’s

     The fact that these cats were crazy wasn’t news to me at all, what bothered me was how were we going to solve this problem.

     “Don’t worry, the competition will end really soon.” Since the discussion has ended, we will probably have to wait a little till Gaiuz sees the need for us to step in.”

      “Then what are his chances in a fair fight?”

     “All three of them should be pretty evenly matched.” Anmi paused for a second in thought and then shook his head: “There’s no way of knowing till they actually compete. Like I said before, Gaiuz will definitely call for us when he needs us.”

      “Let’s wait then.”

     The next day, once everyone(cat) had rested up, the battle for the throne officially started. For the most part, it was the same few battles we passed by on the way to Weiderly’s castle. Still, it was rather refreshing to see a bunch of cats messing around.

     The competition proceeded at a rapid pace, and also with a frenzied fervor. After three days of gruelling battles, all the battles(events) had ended except for the Try-not-to-laugh Challenge. Given how evenly matched the scores were, this last challenge would definitely be the tiebreaker.

     In short, the cat who was able to fully utilize this challenge to score points would become the Cat King.

     On a side note, the judges for all the events thus far was an elder.

     The Try-not-to-laugh’s rules were simple: each side was to send out 10 contestants who would face off against each other. Once a side had been declared the winner, the remaining contestants would each score a point.

     First off, Gaiuz Vs. Weiderly.

     Both sides sent out their contestants to the match area next to Domeh Lake. Because this was the final event, all the cats from each side attended as spectators.

     Forming up into clearly demarcated ranks, the twenty cats took up their respective spots on the grass patch, with the right being assigned

     As for how, it was really simple…the judge plucked two strands of fur from had and had two contestants choose one. Whoever picked the longer fur would start first.

     In the end, it was Gaiuz’s cat that won, earning the Second Prince a massive advantage. However, the first cat they sent out to compete was a little…

     The first thing that Purgatory Cat did was to furiously tumble about in grass patch, eliciting absolutely no response from Weiderly’s cats. Instead, another cat from his team went “heh.”

      “No.7 from Gaiuz’s team has been disqualified.”

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     The judge immediately called out that potato who laughed at his own teammate…

     “I object, it shouldn’t count if we’re the ones who made him laugh.” Gaiuz immediately stepped up to contest the ruling, clearly not happy to be handed an own goal right from the start.

     Unfortunately for him, the judge cat would have none of that: “As long as he laughs, it’s a loss. I don’t care who is the one who caused it. Objection overruled, the match continues.”

      “That crooked referee…”

     Just like that, Gaiuz: -1, Weiderly: 0.

     For the second round, the cat from Weiderly’s team stepped out and then fell to the ground. He arched his furry back and gave a long drawn out yawn before…sleeping.

     ‘What the heck is that supposed to mean? Also, why the hell are the two of you falling asleep…don’t tell me sleepiness is contagious? But then why are all the Weiderly cats still perfectly fine?”

     After roughly two minutes of napping, the judge announced that Gaiuz’s team had lost another two more cats…as for Weiderly’s, it was still at full strength.

     For the third round, it was now back to Gaiuz’s team on the offense, this time, they sent out their ultimate weapon…a

     Truly a pyrrhic victory…one that we couldn’t afford right now; as of right now, Gaiuz had already lost half of his team while Weiderly had only lost three.

     Unable to stand this any longer, Gaiuz yelled furiously from the top of his platform: “You stupid furballs, what’s the point of laugh yourselves…”

     As he yelled that, his rear paw started frantically tapping his platform… ‘Is that the signal? Looks he’s had enough of this event.’

     Thanks to that clarification from him, we now knew what to do. Still, acting as an insurance, Lohmi came running up to us quietly –she was the cat assigned to assist us in this mission.

      “With His Highness Weiderly’s guard weakened, there’s no better chance than now to attack. As long as we pin him down quickly, the results of this battle won’t matter at all.”

      ‘So that’s why he had this event scheduled near the end…I thought those contestants looked rather familiar as well…so it’s those potato guardcats…’

      “Are you sure this will succeed? There’s still over a hundred cats by his side.”

     With all his cats acting as spectators now, trying to ambush the Eldest Prince sounded like nothing short of foolishness to me.

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     However, Lohmi clearly stated as such: “Don’t worry, all this is legal under the rules of succession. Even if Weiderly’s cats try to stop us, our own cats will step in as well. They’ll definitely be able to buy enough time for you.”

     “As long as a Cat King hasn’t ascended, all sorts of tricks are perfectly fine.” Lohmi added. “It’s settled then, we’ll act right before the event ends.”

      “Speaking of events…this competition of yours is really bizarre…”

     

      Chapter 230

     Source: Imported

      Report

     "What are these?" I asked the stranger.

     "The first will lead you to a story, lost in ancient times. The other tells you about the man who translated it," he said.

      "And who are you?"

      "I am a nameless lone wanderer, a mere explorer. I am just @A_Passing_Wanderer."

     And that’s how I came across The Second Coming of Avarice, a new translation found only on CrN. True story. Now I pass it onto you, Everyone , to read to your heart’s content.

     “Mama, those kitties are so funny.” Mo Na doubled over in laughter as she pointed a shaking finger at the contestants of Try-not-to-laugh.

     With regards to such comical sights, there was nothing that could compare to the good old sight of a bunch of crazy cats horsing around, when wanting to grab her interest.

     “Well, you can make fun of them later, first, we have to take care of Weiderly.” Anmi awkwardly diverted the topic back onto business –perhaps he was a little embarrassed by the childish antics of his fellow cats as well. “Lohmi will help us delay Weiderly’s army, as for his guardcats, they are all competing against Gaiuz’s own guardcats so all we have to do is focus on capturing Weiderly.”

     As luck would have it, things actually proceeded as smoothly as that simple plan would suggest seeing as everyone(cat)’s attention was squarely focused on the Try-not-to-laugh Challenge. For the Purgatory Shadowcats, this comic event must have held some kind of special place in their hearts as every cat watched with rapt attention, laughed with rapt attention and even slept with an utmost seriousness…in short, there was no one(cat) who noticed our few dissonant figures.

     By the time we arrived at the side of Weiderly, Gaiuz’s team was down to merely three cats while Weiderly’s had six left…with nearly a 100% lead on their opponents, it was destined to be a crushing victory for Weiderly.

     Knowing that as well, Weiderly was clearly in high spirits as he sat upright on his Elemental Segregation Platform and continually taunted his losing brother. As for Gaiuz, his performance was worthy

     It was in such a backdrop that we hopped onto his platform and before he could even react, surrounded him.

     “Anmi? Aren’t you supposed to be locked up?” Never in his wildest dreams did Weiderly expect Anmi to turn up like this during his moment of triumph. With no guardcats by his side and us already surrounding him, Weiderly had no way of resisting and could only surrender to us.

     “Just like how you forced a choice on me, your brother, Gaiuz, forced another choice on me as well.” As he said that, Anmi glared at Weiderly. “This damned platform, gives me the shakes just standing on it.”

      ‘Speaking of which, I feel pretty bad too. I guess that’s only to be expected since this platform was made to purge a person of his fire elements.’

     However, because of how my fire element was completely welded onto my being, the lost of energy was barely noticeable.

     “To me, guards!” Even with how dire the situation was, Weiderly still wasn’t addled enough to not call for help. However, no matter how much he yelled, it was already too late.

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     His own troops were currently occupied with Gaiuz’s own. Even if he was in danger right now, there was no way they could arrive in time, especially given how Gaiuz had dispatched Lohmi to command his troops beforehand.

     Turning around, Anmi announced to the Purgatory Shadowcats beneath: “Stop! This battle has gone on for long enough. Today, I hereby declare our intention to not only end this farce but also to confirm a successor to the throne!”

     It had to be said that his words had a major impact on the cats present. To begin with, their nature was more lackadaisic than anything else so they didn’t take too well to all these management and military affairs. Still, a succession war was one that required an army by definition and while these

     Even so, their dislike of this unending battle wasn’t erased at all; each kitty cat wished from their bottom of their hearts that this blasted battle would end soon.

     Before meeting us, Anmi could be said to be the very representation of this school of thought. Even after being bullied to tears by Sidarth, he still chose to remain in his territory, instead of running off to Meisian, Gaiuz or Weiderly to ask for help. At the end of the day, he simply didn’t want to get involved in this mess.

     Sometimes…it felt as if I would never be able to understand these cats no matter how much I tried. The moment Anmi finished his announcement, every cat stood stock still, no cat wishing to fight any longer, instead eagerly awaiting for this scene to play out.

      “Don’t worry, we’ll do our best to end this war and then every cat can return to their normal and peaceful lives.”

      “Meooohhhhh~~~”

     Hearing the words ‘normal and peaceful’, the gathered cats immediately erupted in some kind of weird cheer.

     Just like that, all the cats returned back to spectator mode, this time, with a markedly different show to watch. As for Gaiuz, he was in the midst of flying over with his platform, neither too quickly nor too slowly. Even though there were only 100 meters separating us, he still took over 10 seconds to reach us.

     Speaking of the elder acting as a judge, he already had his metaphorical popcorn ready for this show.

     ……

     The two platforms lightly touched against each other before joining up. At that point, a smug Gaiuz sauntered over with a broad grin on his lips. “My foolish brother, you’ve finally fallen into my grasp.”

     Weiderly eyed the nearby Anmi who was still visibly shaken because of the Elemental Segregation Platform. Within his eyes were probably a multitude of questions especially given how Anmi was the mercenary cat he sent out

      “Anmi was never locked by you at all…blast it, you tricked me…”

     “And that’s why I say you’re stupid. Back when I told you that I had Anmi locked up, I actually didn’t expect you to believe me at all and yet you did.” As he said that, Gaiuz disdainfully pointed at Weiderly’s head: “I just can’t fathom how a moron like you is even my older brother.”

      “Hmph, no matter what you say, I’m still older than you.”

     “Fine, fine, right now you’re still the eldest but soon that will change as well.” Gaiuz smirked: “According to the rules, you’ve lost, am I right?”

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     “Hmph…” While he didn’t answer that question directly, Weiderly’s act of turning his head away was a tacit admission of defeat.

     Throughout this entire ‘assassination’, Meisian sat quietly by the side, not showing any intention to interfere at all. Well, there was nothing really left for her to do now since the entire competition was now pointless thanks to our sudden intrusion.

     We handed over the captured prince to Gaiuz for safekeeping, and then returned to our mobile Cat Nest without being asked to as we waited for Gaiuz to conclude this succession war, and fulfill his promise.

     Even now, I was still a little puzzled by what had just happened despite being a perpetrator myself. I just couldn’t wrap my head around the strange way in which the Purgatory Shadowcats fought their succession wars; wasn’t a succession war supposed to be a bloody affair? Besides, as a candidate for the throne, why did Weiderly even think that it was all right for him to send his guardcats out into the competition like that…thanks to his foolishness, we encountered no hindrances whatsoever.

     Even more unbelievable was the fact that all the cat soldiers actually gave up because of Anmi’s declaration…truly unfathomable, these cats.

     With no war to fight, what else was there to do for the remaining cats except to return to their own business.

     As for the two princes,

     ……

     The next day, Weiderly led his cats back to his castle without putting up so much as a fuss. In order to fight for the crown, Weiderly had recruited a great number of cats into his army. Now that the war was over for him, they naturally dispersed as well, back to their homes or territories. No longer did they have to mess around with some foolish war under the leadership of a potato, instead they could finally enjoy their long-awaited peace and quiet.

     Now, there was only Meisian left to contend with. However, as we had agreed upon previously, that was not part of our mission. After all, she was the one who had sent us out in the first place and through a string of strange happenstances, we somehow ended up in Gaiuz’s camp. Because of that, I just didn’t think it would be right for us to strike out against her now.

     With Weiderly out of the picture, Gaiuz happily flew off to find his little sister for a little discussion…as for the contents of that discussion…it was undoubtedly about persuading her to give up the fight…

     However, things didn’t proceed as smoothly as with Weiderly, and his proposal was immediately and ruthlessly shot down.

     On the surface, it looked like Gaiuz had failed, in actuality…well, even I didn’t know whether or not this cat had a way of persuading his little sister. Why? Because no one could ever understand the thoughts of a Shadowcat.

     As for me, all I cared about was how long it would take for them to settle these last few loose ends after which I would rewarded with the method to enter Abaddon.

     

      Chapter 231

     Source: Imported

      Report

     "What are these?" I asked the stranger.

     "The first will lead you to a story, lost in ancient times. The other tells you about the man who translated it," he said.

      "And who are you?"

      "I am a nameless lone wanderer, a mere explorer. I am just @A_Passing_Wanderer."

     And that’s how I came across The Second Coming of Avarice, a new translation found only on CrN. True story. Now I pass it onto you, Everyone , to read to your heart’s content.

     Logically speaking, we should have received our reward by now seeing as we had just taken out Weiderly for Gaiuz, and that Meisian wasn’t part of our agreement.

     In reality however, he said that only after he became a Cat King would he tell me the method of entering Abaddon. Why? Because at the end of the day, his so-called ‘way of dealing with Meisian’ involved us.

     As long as we stayed by Gaiuz’s side, it would send a signal to Meisian, one that we could strike at her anytime with just a mere signal. Naturally, we wouldn’t do that at all but Meisian didn’t know that. Essentially, this was an information asymmetry. Based on that alone, he could pressure Meisian into submission.

     To resist and get forced shamefully out of the fight, or to simply give up…those were the choices Meisian were faced with now. However, it wasn’t like it was impossible for herself to extricate herself from this mess either, assuming she knew what her brother was planning of course. She simply had to get into contact with Anmi and…I guess, that’s just my imagination running wild again.

     Ever since that time when I stepped onto the Elemental Segregation Platform, I finally understood why Anmi was so afraid, going so far as to associate the word terror with Meisian, it was because the platform’s purification powers were truly that terrifying. Initially, when I had just stepped onto the platform, that purification sensation wasn’t all that noticeable, but as time passed, I began to notice a growing discomfort in my body. If I had to describe it,

     Normally, most devils carried within them the element of fire and yet by removing said element from us, the mere act of stepping onto the platform was akin to an ice cube being thrown into a boiling hot of water; without a doubt, there was no good outcome when that happened. Like Anmi said, long term exposure to that platform would cause an elemental imbalance in one’s body, in a sense, it was almost like we were talking about a sickness.

     Like all sicknesses, human or feline, it can be prevented. In Anmi’s case however…let’s just say that he had to procreate sooner or later…

     Initially, elemental imbalance wouldn’t cause too much problems but as time passed, paralysis and even death was a possibility. Essentially, this was the legendary ‘horribly slow murder with an extremely inefficient weapon.’

     Yet just as I was convinced that Meisian would never try to reach out to Anmi, she did so personally…to be exact, she was trying to find me.

     Without any subterfuge whatsoever, she daringly drove her Elemental Segregation Platform right into Gaiuz’s camp and stopped right outside of our mobile Cat Nest.

     “Meisian…wha…what are you doing here?” Hearing some movement outside of our Cat Nest, Anmi poked his head out of the Cat Nest and received the startle of his cat life. There she was, the object of his fear, driving right towards us on a hovering platform. Stunned and completely caught off guard, he stood there in a daze, unable to recover till she was so close that their eyes met.

     ‘That galiant figure of her driving alone into Gaiuz’s camp…I swear, is there anything more awe inspiring than that?’ At the side, Gaiuz’s cats had basically turned on their popcorn mode and was more than ready to watch this scene playout without any intention of interfering.

     “Anmi, you were supposed to be on my side and look at what happened now?” Bringing her platform to a halt, she

     Like a domineering queen, she descended from the platform in her own personal carriage, in search of Anmi. Knowing this, the self-aware cat stepped out, lowering his head in the process as if he was trying to show submission.

     Naturally, we couldn’t absent ourselves either. With guests at our doorstep, it would be remiss of us to leave her unattended, even if said guest wasn’t all that welcome.

     Our entire entourage of me, Mo Na, Cinderel, Sasani, Sinmosa, No.3 and Big 4 strode out of the Cat Nest and stood before the princess whose expression darkened even further upon seeing us.

     Her thoughts were crystal clear to me: why were we helping her brother even though we were her hired help in the first place? For such a betrayal to befall her, she must have really been infuriated by it.

      “My visit this time, isn’t to find Anmi but rather to look for you, devil. You’ve reneged on our deal.”

      “Your Highness, given how things have worked out…I feel should you ask Anmi instead about what happened.”

     Truth be told, I was a little embarrassed by her straightforwardness, but this whole debacle was really wasn’t my fault at all. No matter what the reason was, there was no way I would even consider taking the blame for Anmi. After all, I hadn’t even settled my score with him yet, why would I ever repay his betrayal with benevolence?

      “Anmi, the devil told me to ask you, so what do you have to say for yourself?”

     With my plot to divert the fire a success, the Princess turned her withering gaze onto Anmi who was currently quaking underneath his fur right now. Hesitating for an eternity, he finally managed to force out an answer.

     “Nyah…it’s all my fault, back when we faced off against Weiderly, it was me who forced Mo Ke to

      ‘I actually did not expect this at all. To think Anmi had it in him to shoulder the responsibility like that instead of pushing the blame onto me. All this is still his fault though, I’m just an innocent bystander.’

     “You…” In an instant, her regal bearing disappeared and what was left behind was the vulnerable look of a girl whose eyes burned with both fury and sadness as she glared at Anmi: “Do you hate me that much?”

     “…no, I don’t hate you…” Anmi refuted her claim while secretly sneaking a glance at the Shadowcat’s expression. Upon seeing her face lighten up, he couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief as well.

      “Then do you know why I’m fighting for the throne of Cat King?”

      “No…no, I don’t.”

      ‘Come to think of it, didn’t Gaiuz say that the Cat King can pick a mate, and from the way he said it, I doubt that mate has any say in it at all. Given that, I guess it’s safe to say that Meisian is basically pursuing a one-sided love right now…sigh…as they say, the falling flowers wills it but the flowing water is merciless…perhaps Anmi might have liked her as well, but with that very practical obstacle standing between them, was there any surprise that Anmi was pushed to the opposing side instead?’

     (TL: The falling flower wills it but the flowing water is merciless: just refers to romance between a boy and a girl where only one side likes the other.)

     “Fine then, let me tell you why.”Meisian breathed in deeply upon saying that and bravely proceeded to confess her reason.

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     Before she could speak however, Anmi was already sweating buckets. His heart was in turmoil right now. On one hand, he hoped that she would say that all this was for his sake, on the other, he hoped that it was for another reason as well.

     Should she express her interest in making him her mate, then Anmi would have nowhere to run to. Whether or not she ascended, there was no way he could ignore this comment.

     If it was for

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      ‘Normally, in soap opera-like situations like this, this would be where some potato would cut in and interrupt the scene…’

     Naturally, that didn’t happen and Meisian proceeded to spell out her reason.

      “Because I hate Gaiuz.”

     Anmi: “…”

      ‘What’s with that dejected look on your face? Did you really expect a princess to openly confess to you in front of everyone? Don’t kid yourself…you’re just being a…er, that thing, you what that thing is right?’

     Truth be told, hating Gaiuz was really enough of a reason for her to run for Cat King. After all, the Cat King held an absolute authority to pick his or her mate with no way for the other party to reject. Furthermore, Gaiuz was a rather unique cat to say the least…as everyone knew, he was a Max Lv. Siscon, and not everyone loved their elder brother unreservedly like a certain hellhound.

     “Little Sister, why do you hate me so?” Speaking of the devil, just as Meisian brought up the matter of her brother, the cat in question popped up.

     Honestly, with how large the Elemental Segregation Platforms were, there was no way he didn’t notice the ruckus she caused while flying here. The fact that he hadn’t shown up till now was probably because he wanted to suss out what her intentions were. Now that she had made bare her distaste for him, he finally couldn’t hold himself back anymore.

     “Do I need a reason for hating you?” She gave the approaching cat an expressionless scowl: “If you don’t wish for me to hate you even more, you’d best get out of my sight, NOW.”

      “But Little Sister, this is my base…”

     Gaiuz originally intended to put up more of a fight but that little bit of resistance was quickly stamped out by a lazy but curt reply from Meisian: “Scram.”

     Surprisingly, Gaiuz did just that. As he drove off, we could hear traces of his mumbling from his slowly shrinking figure…I doubt it was anything important anyway.

     

      Chapter 232

     Source: Imported

      Report

     "What are these?" I asked the stranger.

     "The first will lead you to a story, lost in ancient times. The other tells you about the man who translated it," he said.

      "And who are you?"

      "I am a nameless lone wanderer, a mere explorer. I am just @A_Passing_Wanderer."

     And that’s how I came across The Second Coming of Avarice, a new translation found only on CrN. True story. Now I pass it onto you, Everyone , to read to your heart’s content.

     Ignoring the devastated Gaiuz entirely, Meisian then turned towards me with eyes more serious than I had ever seen. Gone was the frivolity she showed when we first met, instead what faced me were deeply furrowed brows and a piercing gaze.

      “Devil, I know you’ve become Gaiuz’s trump card. Back then, I only sent you away to cause trouble for Weiderly on a mere whim, to think it would end up like this now…in that case, I’ll need to you leave, now.”

     “Leave? You wish to attack me?” At that, Sinmosa, Sasani, No.3 and Big 4 all put up their guards and ever so slightly shifted their positions to surround the Shadowcat.

     Meisian ignored their aggressive posturing and continued speaking, with that same placid expression on her face: “No, I wish to give you what you seek beforehand.”

      “What I seek?”

      “That’s right, the answer which you’ve been searching for all this while.”

     “…” I had to admit, her newfound seriousness spooked me a little and struck me as not at all adorable. Given a choice, I would rather she return back to that brash kitty who addressed us while munching on snacks. Even though there was no shred of propriety to be found in her then, it was kind of adorable in its own way, not to mention interesting.

     “If I give you the answer which you seek now, there shouldn’t be any reason for you to stay in this fight,

     Seeing that I was still confused, Meisian then proceeded to elaborate: “I was hoping to simplify this mess by hiring you as my external help but seeing as you’ve now become a hindrance, that clearly isn’t true anymore. I do not have a suitable reason now to act against you and even if I did, Gaiuz would most likely interfere, making the entire mess even worse for me. Given that, sending you away would be for the best, if you catch my drift.”

      “…”

     In other words, as long as I lost the sole reason for my participation in this war, the method of entering Abaddon, I wouldn’t have any reason to stay here and be a hindrance any further. In her eyes, our withdrawal was more a plus than anything else.

     To being with, she didn’t want to hand us the answer for free when we first met because there was no such thing as a free meal in this world. Take for example, a person who so happened to dig up a chest of gold bars and thus became rich. While others might have construed that as merely being lucky and not working for his own riches, that wasn’t true at all. The act of searching and digging up the chest was his labor and the gold, his fruits. ‘You reap what you sow’ that was the unchanging law of Earth and of this world as well.

     That was why she gave us that mission and just like that example above, while it might seem like I hadn’t labored for this answer…the truth was that I did…so much so in fact that I…sigh, my scruples…

      “I remember you mentioning that you all were sent here by a teleportation gate in the Prison of the Dead, am I right in saying that?”

      “That’s right.”

     “Can you give me a brief introduction?

     “Alright.” Given that there really wasn’t much to hide there, I told her whatever she wanted to know: “I first started off in the Blood Sea…”

     As I recounted our entire adventure thus far, the Princess listened with rapt attention, taking care not to miss out any detail. Upon finishing my explanation, she sighed deeply before falling silent. Even though I still didn’t know what all these had to do with entering Abaddon, I had everyone keep quiet so as not to disturb her.

     Not long after, Meisian came back to her senses and inexplicably stated: “So that’s why…I think I roughly get what’s happening now.”

     “”Huh?” Hearing her say that, it almost seemed like we were the ones who gave her an answer instead…

      “We are currently in the remnants of the ancient kingdom of Sable Radiance, you know that as well, right?”

      “Mhm.”

      “Sable Radiance used to be a thriving kingdom till one day, in just the span of one night, every devil, including the Devil King, disappeared without a trace, you know of this as well right?”

      “Mhm, I’ve heard of this strange legend as well but I’m not sure how much stock to put into that…how can there be anyone or thing powerful enough to cause the devils to vanish like that…or cause that mysterious barrier surrounding this region…moreover, only the devils were affected and not the other fiendish creatures…”

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     “How can you be so sure that the Hellhounds or the Purgatory Warhorses are perfectly fine? Besides, such a power does in fact exist…” Having dangled that tantalizing bit of information before us, she then took a deep breath before putting on a rather strange expression: “Long ago, when our clan had nowhere to go, it was the Devil King of Sable Radiance who offered us refuge. It was thanks to his magnanimity that we were allowed a place to live in. The

      “I’m still not too sure what you’re trying to say but since my coming is a revelation of sorts, why didn’t you notice anything when we first arrived in your castle?”

     After pondering on this issue for a long while, I finally decided that this tsukkomi was one that had to be tsukkomied.

      “Because I didn’t connect his Excellency’s disappearance with the Prison then…”

      “In other words, you messed up?”

     “…” She glared at me.

      “Hey, don’t give me that look, please. Continue, just continue, please.”

     She gave me an ‘at least you know what’s good for you’ look before continuing on with her hypothesis. “If I’m not mistaken, that particular Prison of Dead you broke out of was formed out of countless devil corpses…”

     *cough cough cough* ‘A prison constructed out of countless devil corpses? So you’re saying I’ve been walking on devil corpses up till recently?! Also, didn’t she just say that particular…there are more of those prisons out there?!’

      ‘I had considered that possibility before…but to think it was actually possible for an entire realm to constructed of bones…’

      “You mentioned being teleported to the Prison after leaving the Blood Sea, right?”

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      “That’s right, I’m still in the dark about that too, why would the entrance of the Blood Sea link to the Prison?”

     “If that is true, then the disappearance of his Excellency…might have to do with that being, nyah…no, it has to be connected to him…” Having said that, Meisian couldn’t help but shiver as if she was frightened by the mere thought of something. She peered around for a second and upon seeing that nothing was amiss, relaxed somewhat.

     “What

      “What does ‘that being’ mean?”

     From her actions alone, I could tell that the being she was referring to must have been someone great else why would she act so timidly as if she was afraid of being implicated in something.

      “It’s better for you to not know about his existence, in fact, don’t bring this up in the future…that being is a deity that can easily wipe out his Excellency with a mere thought…”

      “By His Excellency, do you mean the previous Devil King?”

      “That’s right, the former Devil King of Sable Radiance, and the benefactor of us Shadowcats. Even though he might have had some kind of ulterior motive in allowing us to stay here, it didn’t change the fact that we would have perished without his aid…well all that’s in the past, let’s talk about the present instead.”

     I could tell that she no longer wished to dwell on the past of her clan. Well, it wasn’t like doing so would benefit either of us so I decided to skip right ahead.

      “Your Highness, I’m rather curious about this Ten-stars Devil King you keep mentioning, can you describe exactly how powerful he is?”

      “You really wish to know?”

      “Mhm, mhm.”

     “See that mountain over there?” Meisian pointed at a distant volcano which had been terraformed to not erupt by the Shadowcats. While we were a good distance away from it, I could roughly tell that it had to be at least over a thousand meters tall.

      “Yeah, it’s a rather tall one.”

      “If it’s a Devil King, he can slice the mountain in half just with his bare hands.”

      “…”

      ‘What the f***, that’s a mountain we’re talking about here, not some tree! A mountain that’s over one thousand meters tall too, you’re saying he can slice it in half, just like that? Are you sure you aren’t exaggerating here? And for someone that powerful to disappear in one night…how strong did that being have to be…’

     

      Chapter 233

     Source: Imported

      Report

     "What are these?" I asked the stranger.

     "The first will lead you to a story, lost in ancient times. The other tells you about the man who translated it," he said.

      "And who are you?"

      "I am a nameless lone wanderer, a mere explorer. I am just @A_Passing_Wanderer."

     And that’s how I came across The Second Coming of Avarice, a new translation found only on CrN. True story. Now I pass it onto you, Everyone , to read to your heart’s content.

      “So that’s how terrifyingly powerful a Devil King is…”

      “You said it, nyah.”

     “…” Other than abject shock, there really wasn’t an expression I could think of right now that was appropriate.

     Humans…often it was said that ignorance was bliss because one couldn’t fear what he didn’t know existed. Those so-called supreme beings wouldn’t show any interest in you and even if they did, you wouldn’t know about it…

     Compared to those supreme beings, we were nothing but ants and insects. Was there anyone who cared about insects then? The answer was no, and even if they did, it wouldn’t involve too much interference either; mostly at the level of a child toying around with ants. Adults rarely messed with insects, barring researchers of course.

     Right now, Meisian and I were the insects in the story. Just talking about ‘that being’ I could see her body shake ever so slightly –she was definitely afraid. Yet us popcorn munchers were still blissfully ignorant and were all dying to get an answer. Please?

     However, the next sentence she said threw me into the abyss.

     “Taking into account your words, I’ve come to the conclusion that the Prison of the Dead was actually constructed to provide troops for the undead of Gehenna, though its original purpose was to

      “About that, so what you’re saying is that we might have just done something really crazy?”

     “That’s right, at least to me, it’s crazy.” Meisian shrugged her shoulders before giving me a helpless look:” Seems like you unknowingly destroyed one of the supply camps for the undead.”

      “…”

      ‘If that’s true, aren’t I in deep sh*t?! I won’t die a horrible death, right…’

      “Alright, enough talk about these unrelated matters, let’s go back to the question at hand. If my hypothesis is correct, that prison you broke out of had connections to ‘that being’ since it was even linked to the Blood Sea…well, at least that’s the only possibility I can think of, either way, you need to be careful from now on.”

      “…don’t scare me like that, my heart can’t take it.”

     At that point, Mo Na flew over and with a confident pat of her chest, reassured me like some kind of tiny adult: “Don’t worry Mama, Mo Na will protect you.”

     “…I haven’t sunk to that level yet.” I wryly smiled before giving her a little pat on the head. Just like always, she then proceeded to wrap herself around my neck before closing her eyes to enjoy my warmth.

     Perhaps envious of our father-daughter interaction, a slightly sour Meisian suddenly interjected herself: “Ahem, can I continue?”

      “Ah, my bad, go ahead.”

     I promptly let go of Mo Na and turned my eyes onto the dainty little house cat in front of me, hand placating a noticeably dissatisfied Mo Na.

     “Because the time of Sable Radiance’s sealing coincided with the construction of that Prison

      “…I just said not to scare me, can you just tell me the method of entering Abaddon?”

      “Fine…since you’re so insistent on it, I’ll just be magnanimous and tell you just this once…”

      “Prepare for trouble…and make it double…to protect the world from devastation…”

      “Huh…what are you talking about?”

      “…my bad, you reminded me of someone so I couldn’t help but remember something…”

     ‘How about I call you Me*wth from now on, you’re as arrogant as those three potatoes from Team R*cket after all. Well, I’ll just bear with it for now, not like she will know what the heck is Team R*cket after all.”

      “Is your head screwed on right?”

      “It’s…please continue, this time I promise I won’t interrupt you.”

      “Hmph, then this Princess will be magnanimous just this once and continue, you’d better remember not to cut in again, got it?”

      “Mhm, mhm.”

      “Very good. Because of that incident ten thousand years ago, Sable Radiance was sealed up from both the outside and inside…at least until you appeared and destroyed that quarantine. In a sense, you could say that ‘the being’ left you all devils a fighting chance…all that talk about the Blood Sea being sealed up…that’s no joke at all.”

     “You should know, the amount of Devils produced every year by the Blood Sea is a sizable amount even considering the entirety of Purgatory. For such a thing to even happen, that being must have reached some kind of agreement with the undead in which he agreed to change the exitway of Blood Sea to link to the Prison of

     “…” A cold sweat immediately ran down my back.

      ‘Crap, I must’ve just ruined some kind of realm wide conspiracy…well, what’s done is done…I wonder if he will forgive me if I say that I know Yi Yi…still, I thought I told her not to scare me anymore so what’s with this low blow.’

     “You must think that I’m prattling on about some unrelated matters, but just think about what I said for a second, especially that last part, that was the MAIN point, the MAIN POINT.” Having seen through what I was thinking, probably because it was written all over my face, she made to emphasize the word main twice before finally giving me the answer I wanted.

      “I think I’ve finally figured out how to undo the seal on Sable Radiance.”

      “Huh? So you didn’t know before this?”

     Suddenly, I had this creeping sensation that all those past days were spent for naught, without any guarantee of even getting paid.

     At that, her feline face seized up slightly in panic, though only for a split second before it regained its composure. “…ahem, you must have heard me wrong, what I’m trying to say is that I can tell you the answer now.”

     “…forget it, as long as the answer is correct, all that doesn’t matter.” ‘Hmph, I’ll be magnanimous here and let you off the hook just this once.’

     “Don’t worry, it’s definitely correct.” She confidently threw her little head back and said: “In the former palace of Sable Radiance, there’s a giant statue of Fallen Angel in the courtyard, roughly 13 meters tall. That statue

      “That’s it?”

      “Yup, there’s nothing else.”

      ‘…after all that storytelling, all you have to tell us is to go find some statue in a palace?’

      ‘Oh right, one more thing, that Fallen Angel has six wings, make sure not to mix them up.’

      ‘…this cat, what a scam!’

     Without waiting for an answer from me, she then drove off in her platform.

     Suddenly, I realized that there was another key point I didn’t know yet: “Hey, you still haven’t told me where’s this palace is!”

      “Go north, through the territory of the Warhorses and continue further north.”

      “…just a direction? How about giving a rough estimate of distance at least!”

      “It’s not like I’ve been there before, how would I know?”

      ‘…what an irresponsible cat.’

     Like that, Meisian left while we stood there looking at each other blankly.

     “Mama, should we leave now?” As she said that, Mo Na hugged my arm and gave it a tug: “Mama?”

      “Huh?”

     Seeing me return to my senses, she then repeated the same question again.

     “Oh, there’s no rush for now.” I gently rubbed her little head and warmly said: “There’s still something we have to care of here.”

     As she hugged my waist, her eyes glazed over slightly in comfort. “What’s that?”

      “The choice of Cat King hasn’t been made yet.”

     “Huh?” Silent and watching up till this point, Anmi suddenly gasped. “Didn’t she say that there’s no need for that anymore?”

     “You all seemed to have been confused about something, I only care about how to enter Abaddon and not who ascends to the throne.” At that point, I gave him a devious grin.

     “…and…since you already know the method, there’s no reason for you to stick your head into this matter anymore…right?” This time, it was Anmi who had to sweat buckets.

     

      Chapter 234

     Source: Imported

      Report

     "What are these?" I asked the stranger.

     "The first will lead you to a story, lost in ancient times. The other tells you about the man who translated it," he said.

      "And who are you?"

      "I am a nameless lone wanderer, a mere explorer. I am just @A_Passing_Wanderer."

     And that’s how I came across The Second Coming of Avarice, a new translation found only on CrN. True story. Now I pass it onto you, Everyone , to read to your heart’s content.

      “Technically, that’s true. But Princess Meisian seemed to have given me my reward prematurely even though I haven’t finished my mission yet.”

      “Didn’t she already say there’s no need for that…”

      “Who knows if she was merely trying to maintain that proud facade of hers.”

     “Have you ever considered my feelings in this matter? If you do that…what am I to do then?” Anmi was panicking right now, given how much he sounded like a resentful wife, one might have mistakenly assumed that I had abandoned him irresponsibly.

     “Your feelings? HAH!” I coldly laughed. “Did you ever think about your companions when Weiderly forced us into a corner? Did you ever consider my feelings when you switched sides to Gaiuz’s camp?”

     “…” He had nothing to say in his defence then. He knew that there was no stopping us now so he merely kept quiet.

      ‘Heh heh, I’m sure that Elemental Segregation Platform won’t show any mercy then…Anmi, the matter of your betrayal…don’t think for a second that I’ve forgotten about it.’

     Leaving aside Anmi, Mo Na excitedly flew onto my neck and plopped herself down on my shoulders: “Mama, we’re going to beat up that annoying Siscon now?”

      “That’s right, we are going to beat up that d*mned Siscon, I never liked him anyway.”

     “…” Sasani averted his eyes in awkwardness.

     “Don’t worry, we weren’t talking about you.” I initially wanted to comfort him some more but seeing all three of his dog heads lower even further, I changed my mind in the end.

     Now that the decision had been made, it was simply a matter of enacting it.

     The next day, Meisian and the d*mned Siscon proceeded to hold a meeting with their usual arguing

     Gaiuz swept his eyes over our popcorn munching selves, and then hinted at our existence to his little sister as if to show his willingness to resort to extraordinary measures in order to get his way.

     Seeing that however, Meisian merely curled her lips upwards and coldly smiled at her brother. She then swept her eyes over us as well before throwing her brother an equally resolute and challenging stare: “Go ahead then, ask for their aid, I’m dying to see what would happen then.”

     “…”Gaiuz paused in shock for a moment, unable to process her inexplicable fearlessness. In his mind, all he thought he had to do was reveal this trump card of his and his sister should capitulate. Even if things didn’t proceed as simply as that, she should at least should have some sort of reservation. In reality, she not only didn’t show any hesitation, she even dared to egg him on.

     Faced with an opponent who wouldn’t play by the rules that so happened to be one he couldn’t offend either…what was he do now? Clearly, this was a bad situation for him.

     Suddenly, it dawned on him and his face revealed the shock he felt in his heart: “I thought you were there to only visit Anmi yesterday?!”

     Lazy to explain herself, she merely smirked at the wide-eyed cat and said: “What do you think?:

     “Ahem.” It was at that point that I cleared my throat and drew the attention of those present before slowly walking up to Gaiuz’s platform. Behind me came No.3, Big 4, Sinmosa and Sasani as well. The four of them took up positions squarely in the way of Gaiuz’s escape route, cutting it off entirely. Because of that, everyone(cat)’s gaze was instantly drawn to me.

      “Your Highness, the Second Prince, Gaiuz, if you give up your succession rights now, I will show mercy and allow you to leave unharmed.”

     “And

      “And if I don’t?”

     “Then I will help you leave.” Naturally, that ‘help’ wasn’t going to be friendly.

     “…d*mned devil, you actually betrayed me!” As he said that, his eyes blinked twice, first in surprise and then in anger. For one’s hired help to end up helping another instead, was there anything worse than that in this world?

     He turned his eyes onto the elder who was still pretending to not see a thing before looking at Lohmi who was already trying to rush to his aid. Given our distance however, there was no way she could reach him in time. Realizing that he was truly at the end of his road, he yelled furiously: “Do you not wish to find out the method of entering Abaddon, NYAH!?”

     “I’ve already gotten it.” As I said that, I threw a look at the still silent Meisian. “Yesterday, in fact.”

      “Little Sister! You…”

     “Truly, this is a bit of serendipitous fortune, nyah.” Just as surprised as he was, she said: “I only expected them to withdraw from this fight, to think they even helped me clinch the throne as well. Is this what the humans mean when they say the world is unpredictable?”

     “…” Gaiuz hatefully glared at me then. “As expected of a devil, they are never to be trusted…I’m done.”

     Just like that, Meisian became the final winner of this fight while the biggest loser had to be…Anmi…

     The next morning, Gaiuz brought his men(cat) with him and left, spirits low. As for us, we were in the process of leaving as well when Meisian came to see us off with Anmi in tow.

     “Won’t you at least stay till the ceremony is over?” She smiled at us as she said that. “You have all done me a great service, how about staying for the coronation at least, nyah.”

     “I’ll pass, besides the sooner we enter Abaddon…I think Anmi doesn’t welcome us anyway.” Having said that, I turned around to face a sullen Anmi and smiled: “Remember to get along well her Highness~”

     “…I will.” He glared at me through gritted teeth before finally harrumphing in displeasure. If looks could kill a person, I would have undoubtedly been

      “Mister Mo Ke, if you don’t mind me asking, why did you help me?”

     “Oh that, it’s actually really simple.” I gave Anmi the sweetest smile ever and said: “Because Anmi scammed us twice.”

     “Is this payback, nyah…” Anmi said with a crestfallen face.

     “Hahahah, so that’s why.” As she laughed, she shook her head at my unexpected answer before half-jokingly saying to Anmi: “You really can’t offend a devil, nyah.”

     With regards to that, all Anmi could do was quietly sob.

     Having said our farewells to the two of them, we proceeded north, first towards the territory of the Purgatory Warhorses.

     Speaking of Warhorses, there was still that matter of Sinmosa and Sasani. The couple followed me into the territory of the Shadowcats out of gratitude. Now that we had reached the borders of Warhorse territory however, their debt had been fully repaid. Truth be told, I wouldn’t mind having a couple of Five-stars fighters like them on my team but at the end of the day, they weren’t my subordinates and I couldn’t force them to follow me. Thus, I decided to broach this subject to them.

      “Sinmosa, now that we’ve gained a lead on Abbadon, my favor has basically been repaid. What are your plans from now on?”

     “Plans?” She fell silent for a moment before exchanging a look with her husband. The two Cerberuses then proceeded to converse with barks.

     “Mama, Mo Na doesn’t want to be separated from Cinderel!” Realizing that she might have to leave Cinderel behind, she tightly hugged the little puppy and then said thusly in a sobbing tone: “Mo Na wants to be with Cinderel!’

     “Ruff ruff!” Cinderel stuck out her pinkish dog tongue and licked Mo Na on the face as if she was trying to comfort her.

      “Sweetie, Cinderel isn’t your pet, she has a family as well. Kids should follow their parents, just like how you wouldn’t want to be separated from Papa as well. Got it?”

      “Mhm, Mo Na will always be with Mama!”

      “Cinderel is just like you as well, so you mustn’t be too willful.”

     “Mhm…*weep* *weep*…but Mo Na doesn’t want to leave Cinderel…” She sadly nodded her head but no longer insisted on keeping Cinderel.

     Just as I was done teaching Mo Na, the Cerberus couple seemed to have finished their discussion as well.

      “Mister Mo Ke, I’ve discussed this matter with my husband. Seeing as we have nothing planned at the moment and our ‘situation’ has already been exposed to clan, we’ve decided to follow you for now since we no longer have a home in the clan. Who knows how long the road to the palace is but I’m sure it won’t be a smooth one. With us two protecting you, it should be somewhat easier…assuming you don’t mind of course.”

      “Of course, why would I?”

      ‘Nice, here I was worrying that I would have no bodyguards too.’

      “With your help, I’m sure our travels would be a lot easier, well, I’ll be in your care then.”

     “You’re too kind, had it not been for Mister Mo Ke’s help, Cinderel and I might have…” She threw me a grateful look before continuing: “Such a small matter simply isn’t enough to repay the debt we owe you.”

      “There’s no need for such talk of debts, we are companions aren’t we? Helping each other is only to be expected.”

      “Companions?”

      “That’s right, isn’t helping each other what it means to be companions?”

      ‘Bodyguards secured!’

     “Woooo, this is great, Mo Na doesn’t have to separate from Cinderel anymore!” With that settled, Mo Na began flying around me in excitement while Cinderel happily chased her in circles, barking in excitement form time to time.

      ‘Come to think of it, if we had to pass through Warhorse territory as long as we travelled north, didn’t that mean their territory was bigger than either the Hellhounds or the Shadowcats, seeing as it bordered both?’

     Truth be told, that fact didn’t surprise me in the least bit. After all, horses needed a field to run around in, as for cats and dogs…they were a lot cheaper to raise…

     

      Chapter 235

     Source: Imported

      Report

     Our journey northward took us through a number of Purgatory Shadowcat territories of which some belonged to those who took part in the succession war. However, upon recognizing us, they didn’t try to trouble us but instead treated us warmly, going so far as to offer us barbecued Ashen Fur Mice while enquiring about a certain cat couple…

     The moment I said “Anmi is going to kick the bucket”, they all chuckled devilishly with their unique feline “Nyahaha” before then expressing their good wishes while gushing about how fortunate Anmi was to marry a princess. Deep down however, they were laughing at the poor guy(cat), that much was certain by looking at their eyes.

     For the most part, our journey went rather smoothly and quickly thanks to our fair bit of strength. In roughly one month alone, we traversed through over a dozen Purgatory Shadowcat territories and formally entered Warhorse lands.

     Having left that terraformed region, the first thing that struck me was how drastic the change in environment was. Gone were the teeming plant life and scampering animals, instead we found ourselves surrounded once more by the characteristic lava lakes and blackened soil of Purgatory.

     That wasn’t to say that there weren’t volcanoes in the Shadowcats’ territory, rather they were simply sealed so as to prevent any potential eruption that could wreck havoc on the lands.

     Speaking of horses, my first impression of those beasts was that they were very fast, and that they ate grass.However, unlike the Shadowcat’s lush territories, the Warhorses’ lands were just filled with solidified magma. Without any grass to speak of, what exactly did those horses feed on?

     If I had to hazard a guess, it would probably be meat and souls. Being a fiendish creature themself, they possessed the ability to feed on souls, just like most fiendish creatures. Upon entering their territory for the first time, we so happened to stumble upon one of their hunting expeditions.

     Over a hundred Warhorses were in the midst of surrounding and attacking three gigantic monsters made entirely out of dark red molten rock. The biggest of the three had to be at least ten meters or so, the smallest, eight or so at the very least. Gazing at

     Seeing that, I was reminded of those breathing lights I used to have on my PC mouse…it really did look like that, huh.

     The rock monsters were humanoid in shape, but in terms of body proportions alone, they were more dwarven in stature than human. With burly limbs, they kind of looked like winter melons to me. As for their facial features, they were mostly a blur to me, with the rough shape of a pair of eyes and nose being the only visible parts. Their eye sockets were sunken in and within those pits, I managed to make out a pair of deep red crystalline objects that seemed to be in a burning state.

     Compared to those giants, the horses were noticeably smaller. An adult Purgatory Warhorse was at least two meters tall when standing and for the stronger ones, they could even grow to three meters tall.

     In terms of appearance, the Warhorses were basically horses. Their fur was pitch black except for the tip of their tails which had a tuft of red fur. Their eyes were of a blood red hue and their teeth resembled that of a wolf’s, the kind that seemed on edge no less. Mostly, I could tell that their bodies were extremely well-built and brimming with power. Whenever they galloped, flames would roar to life around them, giving one the impression of speeding fireballs when seen from far.

     Our unexpected arrival naturally caught their attention but upon discovering that we had no intention of approaching, they chose to continue with their hunt and merely ignored us.

     A while later, we came to a stop on a relatively tall hill where we were afforded a decent view of the ongoing battle. There, mostly out of curiosity, I pointed at the two species battling it out several hundred meters away and said: “Those black horses are the Purgatory Warhorses, I assume, what about those rock monsters? Are they Earth Elementals?”

     “Those monsters are known as Demon Fire Igneous Giants, a subspecies of the Giant clan.

     From the way Sinmosa had such information on hand, my guess was that she had interactions with these giants in the past. “Igneous Rock Element is one of the evolved form of the basic Earth Element. For the most part however, Igneous Giants resembled the Demon Fire Igneous Giants.”

     “There sure are a ton of creatures in Purgatory…” Truly, this was an eye-opener for me and proved that my inherited memories wasn’t all-knowing either. For example, this Demon Fire Igneous Giant she spoke of wasn’t in my memories at all so I had no information about them. Well, whether or not they were actually giants or just elementals, that I didn’t know, but there was one thing I knew for sure, and that was that they were strong. Still, the two races were clearly as different from each other as horses and cows so what was up with those Igneous Giants?

      “I bet you’re wondering right now which race they actually belong to. In truth, this question has been debated for a very long time because the Demon Fire Igneous Giants possess both the traits of giants and elementals. The defining feature of an elemental is that they are comprised of pure elements and require nourishment in the form of elements to survive. The Demon Fire Igneous Giants satisfy such a criteria but they also possess something similar to blood flowing through them. That, is something only creatures of the flesh can possess.”

     Noticing my confusion, Sinmosa continued explaining, going the extra mile of being as detailed as possible: “I’m sure you’ve already seen those that blood vessel-like sections on them that periodically gives out light. That’s their circulatory system and that’s also the reason why the Purgatory Warhorses are hunting them.”

     Entranced by the topic, I pursued this avenue even further: “So you’re saying the blood that runs through them is precious?”

     “That’s right. For most creatures in Purgatory, the blood of a Demon Fire Igneous Giant is a rare treasure that not only enhances one’s Fire Element, but

     “I bet that blood would come in very handy for Cinderel.” Just from her description of that ingredient alone, I could tell that it was extremely suited for Cinderel. After all, that poor puppy was born prematurely and wasn’t even going to survive in the first place had it not been for that Fire Elemental Core I fed her at birth. However, it was precisely because of that reason that she ended up being born with a rather special constitution that required her to maintain a certain level of energy, or fall into a critical condition.

     Truth be told, the reason why Sinmosa and Sasani were still willing to follow me now was probably not due to some sense of gratitude at all, but rather it was due to their daughter. Given their current status in the clan, there was clearly no way Cinderel would get the nourishment she needed…In that case, why not just try their luck in the ruins of the Sable Radiance Palace? For all she knew, she might just get lucky and find some kind of treasure.

     While there was no doubting that our combat strength was rather…pathetic…that had nothing at all to do with luck, mhm.

     “Too bad, there’s just too many of them…” She left her words hanging there but just from that brief snippet alone, I could glean a lot. She had clearly thought about trying to snatch the blood from the Demon Fire Igneous Giants but thankfully, her rational side stepped in and showed her the vast difference in strength between our parties.

     At times, knowing when to give up was a victory in of itself; at the very least, we wouldn’t end up dead for some inane reason…

     “Oh right, is it really all right for us to stand here and watch them hunt?” Given that we were at least two hundred meters away from the battlefield, interfering in their battle was basically impossible so they shouldn’t mind our presence, right?

     “Us Hellhounds do not have

     “In that case, time for the popcorn then.” At times, watching someone duke it out was fun too and with that in mind, there was no way I would miss out on this valuable opportunity.

      “Popcorn?”

     Sinmosa paused for a second before asking. Clearly she wasn’t familiar with the term popcorn or the point of eating it.

      “It just means to spectate.”

     “Got it.” Still confused, she, however, chose not to pursue this topic any further.

     The attacks of the Purgatory Warhorses could only be described as being both frenzied and violent. In their galloping state, a single full speed ram was more than enough to stun a Demon Fire Igneous Giant, causing bits of rock to fall off it in the process. Having done some damage, each Warhorse would swiftly back away from any potential counterattack. However, given its massive girth and size, its defenses were extremely formidable as well though that came at a price –its speed.

     Upon receiving that fiery shock, the giant immediately tried to strike back but unfortunately for it, its clumsy swings were destined to miss their marks. Just as one Warhorse backed away, another promptly charged in a blaze of fire to take its place. This time, its powerful strike took a sizable chunk out of the giant’s right arm.

     Rocks pitter pattering in the background, there was now a noticeable hole in the giant’s arm.

     Just like that, over a hundred Warhorses took turns ramming the giant, each taking care never to face off against it directly. Instead, they merely galloped around and waited for their turn to attack before swiftly backing away right after.

     “Mama, that stoneman is so clumsy, it can’t even hit those horsies.” As Mo Na sat atop her usual seat on my shoulders, she would hug me tightly while throwing out the random comment or two.

      “It’s not the giants who are clumsy, it’s the Warhorses who are too quick. Honestly, those giants are extremely dangerous and powerful. When at the same Star-level, those Warhorses wouldn’t dare to try and take its hit.”

     

      Chapter 236

     Source: Imported

      Report

     With their gigantic size, the sheer power of the Demon Fire Igneous Giants vastly outclassed the Purgatory Warhorses’ own, despite being at the same Star-level. Given that one’s size was directly proportional to his energy, one could only imagine how powerful these towering titans were.

      “Oh right, what are the levels of those Warhorses?”

      “The strongest is a Six-stars, 14 Five-stars and the rest are Four-stars. As for the giants, only one of them is a Five-stars, the rest are Four-stars.”

     “Six-stars?!” That was a full tier higher than Sasani and Sinmosa, a Warhorse at that level had to have been a bigshot in its clan.

     “The Six-stars is most likely an elder since any hunting party involving a Demon Fire Igneous Giant had to at least have an elder leading the team.” Sinmosa then proceeded to placidly state: “The blood of those giants can be counted as a rare ingredient to any fiendish creatures; even us Hellhounds highly value it. Moreover, while that elder might be a level higher than the giant, there’s guarantee that it can win either. One mustn’t underestimate the power of those creatures.”

      ‘So it’s like a RPG boss then? Even if its level is the same as or lower than yours, its attributes are still going to be a lot higher than any player, making it impossible for them to be soloed. Essentially, those horses are fighting an instance boss right now.’

     With that comparison in mind, I simply couldn’t imagine such a powerful creature staying so helpless for long.

      “ROARR!!”

     Enraged by the pesky Warhorses, the Five-stars Demon Fire Igneous Giants suddenly raised its head into the air and howled. Its boulder sized fist punched through the air, stretching out to its limits before crashing down onto the ground. With gravity boosting its roaring descent, the speed of the fist was a lot faster than before but it still wasn’t enough to hit the galloping horses. Yet just as I thought that was the end of that attack, a rounded rock wall, measuring five meters in diameter and over ten meters tall, sprang up from the ground and abruptly

     That unsuspecting horse gave the giant a rousing kick, smashing off a piece of rock in the process, before making a swift turn away. Probably still drunk in the elation of scoring a hit, the poor soul didn’t realize that its escape route was now replaced by a towering wall of death. Unable to react to the suddenness of the wall as it made its turn, the horse smashed right into the black wall with a force so hard that I swore I could hear its bones cracking even from 200 meters away…

     “Disperse!” Having suffered a casualty for the first time since they appeared, the leading elder promptly commanded his clansmen to retreat in the language of the devils, in order to avoid getting hit by another such attack.

     The Demon Fire Igneous Giant however, wasn’t one to care whether or not they were of the mind to retreat. From start to finish, its attacks had never once ceased, and the wall summonings had never once abated. By now, several other Warhorses had already been trapped by it.

      “Blast it, to think it actually knows a skill like that…leave the biggest one to me, the rest of you go take care of the other two. I’ll go rescue our trapped clansmen so just be ready to receive me then.”

     Realizing that the giant had entered a frenzied mode, the elder Warhorse knew that he couldn’t hold back any further so he ordered a retreat while charging at the largest giant.

     As fast as a falling meteor, and just as bright, the Warhorse rammed right into a nearby wall with a frightening speed, penetrating it in an instant like a burning laser. However, instead of continuing onwards, it took an abrupt turn towards another wall, charging right through that as well, with just as much as ease. “Evacuate that unlucky fool, quick, I’ll go rescue another…”

     The moment the word ‘another’ left its mouth, it disappeared in a flash, leaving behind a resounding boom in its wake as it crashed right

     “Elder, you should take a rest first.” Seeing the elder in such a haggard state, one of the other Warhorses trotted up and tried to persuade him to rest. Unfortunately for them, this was no longer a fight that they had control over. Instead, it was the Five-stars Demon Fire Igneous Giant who held the absolute say in this fight.

     “There’s no need for that, you lot just need to be careful, I don’t want anymore injuries.” Disregarding the advice of his clansmen, the elder charged right into what was destined to be a desperate battle.

     As for the other two giants, while they didn’t have the ability to create walls, their attacks still contained a degree of Earth Elements within them. While they still weren’t able to directly hit the galloping Warhorses, unlike their previous attacks, these attacks now caused a change in the ground itself. With one forceful stomp, a wave of Earth Spikes sprouted from the ground. With one grasp of the soil, a giant Earthball was created and projected soon after at a nearby Warhorse.

     Naturally, there was no way such a large ranged attack would cause much threat to the speedy Warhorses, the psychological effect it caused them, on the other hand, must not be underestimated. After all, should that two meter wide ball ever hit one of them…it would be an instant, grizzly death for that Warhorse. Thus, the moment that Earthball came careening through the air, all the Warhorses’ attention was instantly drawn to it, causing a slight delay in their reaction time.

     Heads not being entirely made out of stone, these two giants naturally knew to take advantage of an opportunity when they saw it. Immediately, the two giants embarked

      “To think those giants are actually this strong, even against over a hundred Warhorses, just three of them are able to hold their own…”

     I meant every word that I had just said, truly, their strength left me in awe. After all, that herd of Warhorses contained a Six-stars elder figure, ten Five-stars over dozens of Four-stars. Exactly how strong did their body have to be to fend off such a terrifying force?

      “It’s their racial characteristics after all, there’s no helping that. With such a huge body, they are able to output a large amount of power. Not only that, these giants possessed the traits of both an Elemental and a Giant. As long as they remained in contact with the Earth Element, they have an infinite source of energy that recovers their mana and health in a short time. Defeating them is going to be a tall task.”

      “Then how were those Warhorses ever going to win?”

      “Roughly speaking, there are two methods of taking down these giants. One is to use an absolute level of strength to suppress them and finish them off in a short amount of time. The other is to maintain a constant level of damage such that it exceeds their recovery rate.”

      “So a burst of damage or a sustained approach then?”

      ‘That doesn’t sound all that complicated…’

     “That’s right, other than those two methods, there’s no other way to take them down.” Sinmosa nodded her head before saying: “At least for us right now, there are no other methods but those two.”

      ‘To suppress a giant like that with absolute strength would take at least a Seven-stars Hellhound or Warhorse…as for the other sustained method…that’s not even viable without an army of a certain size. I doubt any of us have some method of recovering MP after all. Explains the sheer numbers those Warhorses brought to bear against three giants.’

     However, reality was, and always will

     Even so, their opponent’s new tactics had caught them off guard and had it not been for their prodigious speed saving their hides multiple times, who knew how many Warhorses would have been sent flying by a stony punch. This lack of familiarity with their opponent, while troubling and dangerous, wasn’t something the Warhorses could remedy easily however. Given the rarity of these lumbering creatures, was it any surprise that the Warhorses weren’t able to gather sufficient intelligence on the Demon Fire Igneous Giants?

     As time passed, the battle grew ever more intense and the pock-marked ground reflected just that. Just as damaged were the culprits themselves, the Demon Fire Igneous Giants. However, while the Warhorses might have succeeded in smashing the giants multiple times with their powerful hooves, the damage they caused wasn’t truly effective. These creatures known as elementals had a special trait to them where, as long as their core wasn’t destroyed, they would never die, assuming there was a steady supply of elements nearby for them to feed on.

     On the surface, their crumbling and hole-ridden exterior might seem serious to most outsiders, this degree of damage was basically nothing to the giant’s themselves. Had it not been for the sheer number of Warhorses, their attacks would have been nothing more than mosquito bites.

     There was no real limit to the endurance level of elementals since they had no physical body to begin with. In a sense, they could considered ‘perpetual motion machines’. The Purgatory Warhorses however, were different. Each time they attacked, they had to retreat at breakneck speeds in order to avoid being hit. By fighting at such a blistering pace, their endurance was on the verge of running out any second.

     

      Chapter 237

     Source: Imported

      Report

     The battle raged on…

     *Bang bang bang* The sounds of thunderous strikes echoed in the air. Because the Warhorses were starting to tire out, their speed had slowed down considerably to the point where the two Four-stars Igneous Giants managed to swat them away like ping pong balls. Those who were sent flying, while not dead, were severely injured and weren’t likely to get up anytime soon.

      “Strong…”

      ‘That was a blockade of over a hundred Warhorse and yet those two Demon Fire Igneous Giants managed to mount a comeback…isn’t that just a little too scary…’

     “Something’s amiss here, those two giants are too strong.” Sinmosa voiced her doubts regarding the precarious situations the Warhorses found themselves in right now: “Logically speaking, it should be impossible for the two Four-stars giants to make a comeback like that at their level, unless…”

     She paused then, seemingly deep in thought as if something had just occurred to her. Seeing that, I hurriedly pressed her for answers: “Unless what?”

      “Unless those two giants are about to evolve…”

     “Evolve? You’re kidding…isn’t that just a little too coincidental? Oh right, what do these giants normally eat?” Because these giants were a strange hybrid of elemental and physical entities, I was rather intrigued by this topic: “They do have to eat, right?”

      “They…eat everything.”

     Seeking to end this harrowing battle as soon as possible, one of the Five-stars Warhorses galloped towards the flank of the giant and gave a resounding kick to its waist, taking a chunk out of that giant in the process. Having succeeded, it tried to use the igneous exterior of that giant to try and springboard away but unfortunately for him, he had underestimated its reaction speed and sturdiness.

     What looked like a serious injury was nothing but a scratch to the ever-regenerating giants. With just an effortless swipe, it managed to capture the fleeing Warhorse, encasing the poor beast in mere seconds with its palms that rapidly closed together like a rocky vice. Immediately, that Warhorse was squashed into an unrecognizable mess of blood and flesh that began gushing out of the giant’s palm even

     “Hoh hoh hoh…” Having caused the first true kill in this prolonged battle, the Demon Fire Igneous Giant bellowed with pride after which he promptly, and unabashedly, tossed the corpse into its mouth and…

     “…it ate the corpse?!” As I watched the grizzly deed unfold before me, I was suddenly reminded of a chilling similarity this scene bore to a certain anime about attacking titans…

     “Ahhhh…scary…” Mo Na was just as spooked by what she saw as I was and quickly hid behind my back, eyes averted.

     “This is one of the main reasons why the Demonic Fire Igneous Giants are considered giants in the first place: pure elemental creatures do not need to eat.” At that, Sinmosa sighed before continuing: “Not only are these giants able to replenish their energy by feeding on elements, they can do so by consuming flesh as well. With how mighty, inexhaustible and tough they are, the Demonic Fire Igneous Giants are basically invincible, if not for their lack of speed.”

     The first gruesome death amongst the Warhorses seemed almost like a danger signal of sorts to those present. As they watched helplessly by the sidelines as their companion was ripped to shreds and swallowed, their psyche began to collapse and soon, mistakes began to pop up one after the other. Those unfortunate enough to err, were soon picked up by a swift scoop of the giants’ hands and summarily executed in the same way as their companion.

     Just like that, the number of deaths spiked within a short period of time. The more the Warhorses panicked, the more mistakes they made and the worse their situation got. Even though they still held the absolute advantage in terms of strength, they were clearly in a bad situation.

     At the other side, the elder Warhorse was still duking it out with the Five-stars giant. Had it not been for the fact that he had to expend so much energy to save those trapped Warhorses, he probably wouldn’t have had such difficulty fighting the giant.

     Still, there was no doubting the power and ferocity

     While the elder’s combat level was a whole tier higher than the giant’s, he still wasn’t strong enough to deal a lethal blow in one strike. Given that his endurance was nowhere near the giant’s, the outcome of this battle was basically decided.

     Fist after fist, the giant swung out at the nimble Warhorse elder who seemed to zip through the battlefield like a speeding bullet, and while all these attacks ended up missing, it was now only a matter of time before it would eventually score a hit thanks to its endless supply of energy.

     Barely dodging another thunderous blow of the giant’s by a hair’s breadth, the elder was immediately bombarded once more by the cries of his kin nearby. Taking advantage of this momentary reprieve between attacks, he sneaked a peek at the other side and was immediately horrified by what he saw. In just thirty minutes, their party had lost ten Warhorses to those two Four-stars giants.

     Of those surviving Warhorses, there was clearly a sense of fear in their eyes as their formation steadily fell apart. Gone were the calm and collected strikes and retreats, and instead what remained what was a disparate and disjointed effort at maintaining some semblance of an offense.

      “HEAR ME WELL, we’re abandoning this hunt, everyone head towards the south!”

     Before their losses got any worse, the Warhorse elder made the decisive call to retreat.

     By now, the Warhorses were no longer eager to tangle any longer with these terrifying foes so the moment that order was given, they sped off like a swarm of bees towards the south.

     “Mama, those black horsies are acting a little strange, why are they heading towards us?” As she said that, Mo Na pointed a finger at the furiously galloping horses heading our way. “Isn’t their home in the north?”

     “Not good, they are trying to

     However, we were still too slow, or rather it would be more accurate to say that the Warhorses were too fast.

     Two hundred meters was nothing for a bunch of adult Warhorse; ten seconds was all it took for them to cross that distance and catch up to us.

     Having noticed us from the start, the Warhorses still had no intention of calling out to us but merely galloped around us and continued heading south. The last to pass us was the Warhorse elder who seemed to notice us and yet not see us at the same time, before zipping past us like a gust of wind.

     “I…” really wanted to point a middle finger at him there and then… ‘I thought we were just here for the popcorn?!’

     Having been picked up by me, Mo Na twisted about slightly and wiggled her way into a more comfortable position before saying: “Mama, what should we do now?”

     “Run of course!” Left arm still wrapped tightly around her, I lowered my body and scooped up a befuddled Cinderel before jumping onto Sinmosa’s back. Clearly understanding what I had intended, Sinmosa sped off towards the Warhorses without saying a word.

     Behind us, No.3, Big 4 and Sasani started sprinting without any hesitation.

     As expected, the Demonic Fire Igneous Giants hadn’t given up on the chase. Thankfully, their speed was woefully lacking and it wasn’t long before the distance between us widened to a large degree. Still, even from such a distance away, I could hear the resounding booms of their feet crashing into the ground as they sprinted furiously towards us. With each step, it seemed like the ground quaked in fear from their powerful strides. Awash in the unending tremors, just standing there felt extremely discomforting for us.

     All in all, the chase lasted for another ten or so minutes before the giants finally gave up having realized that there was basically

      ‘We are safe at last…if that colossal thing were to ever land a hit on us…we would turn into devil pancakes in an instant…’

     With no need to run anymore, we took some time to rest on the spot.

     Now that the road northward was completely blocked off by those giants, we had to reconsider our route once in order to proceed. Yet things weren’t as simple as we had initially thought as the moment Warhorses realized that giants had give up, they immediately stopped running as well and then turned around to surround us…that’s right, surround us.

      “Hellhounds…and DEVILS?! What are devils doing here?”

      ‘At this point, that reaction might as well just be added to the basic package of emojis…’

     “What’s the meaning of this?” As I sat atop Sinmosa, I hugged Mo Na and Cinderel even closer to myself, ever ready to force a breakthrough out of their encirclement at the drop of a hat. Even though I knew that was basically impossible now, appearances still had to be maintained.

     “Devil, I don’t care why or how you have come to stand before me now, I just hope that you will help us.” Ignoring my question entirely, the Warhorse elder went off on his own: “I still have some kin who weren’t able to escape and are lying wounded in that battlefield. Those d*mned giants must be heading back right now to finish them off. In order to avoid that, I need your help.”

      “So what you’re saying is that you’ll delay those giants while we rescue your kin?”

      ‘Making such a request after surrounding us like that? Did no one teach this Warhorse some basic manners? Besides, don’t think for a second that I didn’t notice how you abandoned those poor horses. Your retreat wasn’t so chaotic that no one had time to rescue them.’

     

      Chapter 238

     Source: Imported

      Report

     Regardless of how many snide remarks I made in my mind, there was clearly no way he would have heard them. As for this talk about aid, the Warhorse obviously had something else to add onto that.

     Just as I saw him nod his head, the Warhorse elder then spat out a few words that almost made me want to murder him: “The gist of it is correct but there’s just a little something you got mixed up: the ones drawing their attention is you all, we are the ones doing the rescuing. I hope you don’t get this mixed up later on.”

     “…how about I just say no?” ‘Hmph, only a moron would accept that, you clearly want us to be cannon fodder!’

      “How about no.”

      “What if I…”

      “I’m terribly sorry but we don’t have a lot of time to waste. Every second we waste here, the chances of our kin getting injured becomes higher. That’s why I hope you lot will be more cooperative lest I have to resort to force.”

     By my rough calculations, the Demonic Fire Igneous Giants took roughly ten minutes to chase us up to this point. If they were to take this exact route back, the distance and time taken would probably be the same as well. However, since they weren’t chasing anyone this time around, their speed should be noticeably slower; given my recent experience with them, that should be about thirty minutes of walking.

     In order for the Warhorses to return to their kin, they would have to circle around the giants undetected, meaning they would have to take a longer time than usual, bringing the approximate timing to about thirty minutes as well. In light of that, it was basically impossible for them to rescue their kin.

     Naturally, there was no way the elder would accept such an outcome, especially given how much importance he placed on the lives of his fellow horses.

     It was precisely because of this reason that he was wasting time on us now, forcing us to be a decoy for them. While we held the attention of the Demonic Fire Igneous Giants, the Warhorses planned on

     “Forcing us like this…I bet you already thought of this whole plan when you were retreating…” Gritting my teeth and holding back my fury, I stared unblinkingly at the elder.

     I truly wanted to give his horse face a resounding punch right now, but unfortunately I couldn’t. He was clearly stronger than us and the weak had no say in such matters. I was but a piece of meat before the cleaver that was his power; resistance was futile. ‘Looks like I really have to be a moron this time…’

     “One minute, if you can’t come to a decision in one minute, I’ll kill off one of you.” Dissatisfied with our hesitance, the elder coldly eyed us all before finally stopping on Mo Na, who was still in my arms right now.

     “Mama…” The pressure of a Six-stars wasn’t something an infant like Mo Na could endure right now so the moment his cruel gaze fell on her, she whimpered slightly before burying herself in me with a tighter hug, body trembling all the while. She was scared. For the first time ever, my little daredevil was scared.

     “…we’ll go.” Mo Na was my weak spot, that much was certain, and that d*mned horse actually used that to force me into submission. ‘Blast it all…if only I was a little stronger…’ As those thoughts ran through my head, I forced my head down and averted my eyes. ‘Looks like there’s no escaping this fate then…’

     As the saying went in this world, ‘never doubt the threats of a fiendish creature or you will not live to regret it.”

     “All we need is thirty minutes.” Seeing that we finally understood our situation, the Warhorse elder instantly dropped the threatening attitude and instead put on an air of absolute generosity as he said: “If you manage to kill the Demonic Fire Igneous Giants, the rewards are all yours, we won’t try to snatch them from you.”

     ‘Horsepoop! What makes you think

     Unfortunately for him, all that would never escape my lips, doomed to forever be buried in my heart.

     In the face of an insurmountable foe, the best course of action would be to not provoke him. After all, the one who would suffer in the end would always be you.

     Just like that, we were sent on our merry way back along the same route we just passed by not too long ago. Right now, we were like flies rushing towards the light: even though we knew that it would spell certain doom, there was just no resisting that urge to do so. Why? Because the Warhorse elder was tailing us like a shadow in the distance so as to prevent us from escaping.

     Even if it was just him alone, there was no way we could stand up to him –he was a Six-stars after all. Moreover, splitting up wasn’t an option either as that would merely give him an opportunity to take us down separately… Compared to facing him, delaying the giants would be probably the better option.

     After rushing forward for a few minutes, we finally caught sight of the Demonic Fire Igneous Giants. Naturally, the fact that we noticed them, meant that they could spot us as well. A mere moment after spotting them, they were alerted to our presence.

     Turning their lumbering bodies around to look, they so happened to see us rushing right towards them like an arrow. Immediately, all three of them did a complete one eighty to face us and charged towards us.

     As their figures rapidly towered over us, we began to deeply feel the tremors of the earth resonating within us. Thankfully, we didn’t have to face these goliaths head on but merely delay them; that meant just luring them away was enough.

     Having successfully attracted their attention, I immediately signalled for Sinmosa to turn tail and run at full speed. As expected, the giants

     In their minds, we probably weren’t as attractive as those horse corpses and injured Warhorses. After all, those casualties couldn’t run.

     Naturally, that Warhorse elder stalking us would have none of that. Like an evil slavedriver, he immediately barked out a few threatening commands to have us rush forward once more.

     Still, with his position being clearly superior to our own, we had no choice but to listen to his bidding and rush off towards our doom once more. Initially, our back and forth worked out pretty well but as time went on, the effectiveness of this tactic took a nosedive. Soon, the giants realized that chasing us was futile so they completely lost all interest in us and merely rushed back to the battlefield, no matter how much we taunted them. Even tossing rocks at them wouldn’t force them to budge.

     Compared to us pesky flies, those helpless horses were more to their liking.

     Normally, this would have been great for us, but the moment those giants lost interest in us, the elder stalking us became interested instead. With no other choice in this matter, we rushed off once more, this time to engage them.

     To prepare for the gruelling battle ahead, my first instinct was to summon up some expendable skeleton troops but no matter how hard I tried, the spell would always fizzle and the mana refused to flow.

     “Mama, are you trying to summon skeletons?” Being extremely sensitive to Undead magicks, she soon sensed what I was up to.

     “That’s right, I’m planning to send some skeletons after the giants since they no longer have an interest in running targets.” I then proceeded to voice my confusion: “But for some reason, the spell just won’t work? I know that I can cast it, I did so before, extremely smoothly in fact.”

     “Mama…don’t you know…Undead magic requires a medium to

     “Undead Summoning magic requires a mediu–” The moment I voiced that thought out, I shut my mouth immediately. Was there even a need to ask such an obvious question? Of course, it did. Even back on Earth there were clear precedents for such a requirement; in all those games I’ve played, wasn’t a corpse a basic requirement for summoning undead…how did I even forget such a basic premise?!

      ‘Am I slowly turning stupid or something…no wait, it’s not that I forgot…it’s that the two areas I’ve been in before, the Land of the Dead and the Prison of the Dead, both had something in common, and that was that they were filled with corpses…especially the Prison which was basically made out of bones…’

     It was such a convenient setting that ended up creating a misconception in me that I could cast my Undead Summons anywhere, and without restrictions…

     Now that the plan was a bust, there was only option left to us…use ourselves as bait.

     “No.3, Big 4, the two of you can fly so I want you both to fly around them. Be careful, don’t fly too close, just grab their attention, that’s all.” Based on my previous observations of them, I learnt that they had no effective long range attacks to speak of so having the two of them fly around should be relatively safe.

     “Yes, Master.” The two took to the skies immediately upon receiving my command.

     Having now had time to acclimatize to their wings, their flying skill was impeccable. The two of them would maintain a distance that was just close enough to draw the attention of the giants and yet not close enough for them to be attacked. Like a deadly dance on a razor’s edge, they would poke in and out, never once allowing themselves to be in striking range for long, in part thanks to their practised flying skill and in part thanks to the clumsiness of the giants.

      ‘Very good, just like that, keep stalling for time…as long as we hit the thirty minute mark, we are free to retreat..’

     

      Chapter 239

     Source: Imported

      Report

     If a fly were to incessantly buzz around you, you would undoubtedly be irritated. However, what if you weren’t able to swat it away despite your best efforts, what would you do then? In all likelihood, anger would be the answer. For the Demonic Fire Igneous Giants, No.3 and Big 4 were just such flies.

     Perhaps their constant pestering had finally gotten to the giants, but just as the pair were done with their usual poking, the smallest giant stirred. It opened its mouth with a roaring howl and then, just a split second later, a strange red light seemed to emit from its inky depths that rapidly blasted forth in a rain of red substance.

     Naturally, that substance was lava but by the time I realized that, it was too late.

     With a blanket of lava raining down from the sky, there was basically no hope of escape for my two subordinates who, as expected, were drenched in the scorching substance. Thankfully, devils were born with an innately high level of fire resistance so while it ate at their flesh, they were still able to bear with the pain and not fall to the ground.

     Teeth gritted, the two of them hurriedly distanced themselves from the Demonic Fire Igneous Giant, all the while making sure to fly away from us so as not to cause us trouble…

     Realizing that the annoying flies who had been plaguing them all this while had been injured, they immediately chased after the two of them with a blood-induced frenzy.

     “No.3, Big 4!” I yelled. Unfortunately, neither of them had any intention of turning around and merely flew ever further away from us.

     ‘Damn it…” I turned around and glared at the elder watching us from the shadows, eyes blazing with hatred.

      ‘If anything were to happen to No.3 and Big 4, I swear I won’t forgive him no matter what!’

     In response to my burning gaze, the elder merely snorted before throwing us a disdainful,

     Even though I really hated him, I couldn’t do a thing to him at all. Moreover, he even treated us like ants, which was only to be expected after all. Whether it was strength or prestige, he was clearly superior to us and shouldn’t even be mentioned in the sentence as us.

     Was there a point in caring about an ant’s revenge? Clearly not, who would bother about such a laughably small matter?

     That was why the elder had no qualms, whatsoever, about forcing us to help him. Our reward was most likely not being killed by him…perhaps not even that.

     Still, there was no choice but to obey or all that would await us was a swift and violent death.

     Truth be told, our current situation could be said to be the best case scenario. As long as No.3 and Big 4 kept those giants busy, we could simply wait out the mission in safety, assuming of course, that the elder didn’t intend to go back on his words.

     However, the two of them were my loyal subordinates who would die for me at the drop of a hat…as long as I was still human, could I ever be so heartless as to abandon them? No matter what, I had to try and save them…for me, while there were things that I couldn’t be bothered to do, there were also things that I had to do.

     With that, we chased after No.3 and Big 4’s distancing figures under the surprised look of that Warhorse elder. He must have been shocked by our choice, given that we were safe as long as we stood there; there was simply no need to take this risk at all.

     As for the lives of No.3 and Big 4…all that had to be said was that living creatures

     That was selfishness on a more macro level. Still, it was only to be expected of someone with his position. After all, if an accidental death were happen everyday, who wouldn’t want for it to happen on someone they didn’t know, instead of a close friend or relative?

     Being injured, there were limits to how far they could fly and that limit was fast approaching. Moreover, the lava was still eating into their flesh with its fiery embrace. Thankfully, No.3 and Big 4’s innate resistance allowed them to maintain some degree of agility despite the pain they had to endure, and thus they managed to avoid all the blows thrown at them up till now.

     The scene of them performing rolls after rolls, and swerves after swerves, was unimaginable for me had I not seen it myself. It was as if I was watching a smoking plane weave in and out of a withering barrage of anti-air fire…despite its unsteady flight path, it somehow managed to stay airbound…truly a miraculous sight.

     Seeing that the both of them were fine for now, I had Sinmosa maintain a cautious distance from the giants, one where we could respond at a moment’s notice while not putting ourselves in too much danger.

     Behind us, the Warhorse elder continued his cold vigil, clearly not intending to interfere at all.

     Time ticked slowly by. Going by my calculations, roughly half an hour had passed thus I turned around to face that horse skulking in the shadows: “Time’s up, can we retreat?”

     “Not yet, just a little

      “Time’s up.”

      “I know, but I haven’t received any news from my kin yet. I don’t know if they’ve finished the task so you all will just have to keep on stalling for time.”

     “Well then, how long is that going to take?” I was on the verge of exploding any second, my words dripping with barbs. “My devils can’t hold on for much longer…”

     “Then just let them die.” The Warhorse snapped without any sense of pity or remorse whatsoever. “If you can’t bear to watch them die, you can jump into the fray yourself.”

     “…” There was no way I could do that, I had no wings after all. Neither was my speed up to mark so charging in was nothing but a death sentence. As for Mo Na…how could I even consider asking my daughter to risk herself!?

      ‘Blast it…that scum, once I become powerful, I swear I’ll turn him into horse sashimi!’

     While our little back and forth was ongoing, No.3 and Big 4 were still caught up in their desperate struggle with the giants. By now, their flying had become more erratic and strained. Even from this far away, I could tell how enormous the pressure they had to face was. At this rate, I might just end up losing two loyal subordinates.

     With no time to spare, I knew that now wasn’t the time for hesitation. Thankfully, just as I was about to recklessly charge into battle myself, Sinmosa provided a more sensible out for me.

      “Sasani can take over the shift for them, while the giants are busy with him, we can rescue your subordinates.”

     “That…is it really alright…” ‘For him to take on all those giants alone…wasn’t that just a little too difficult?’

     “It’s fine, I’ve observed them enough myself. With their speed, they shouldn’t pose a threat to Sasani. The most problematic ability would probably be that lava

      “But how is he going to grab their attention?”

     “Those giants aren’t the smartest rocks in the mountain, as long as Sasani does something threatening, they should notice him.” Having said that, she then turned to her husband standing beside her and nodded. Sasani nodded back in response before galloping off into the distance, reaching the striking range of the giants in a mere instant. As his galloping figure slowly turned into a speedy blur, his body suddenly burst in flames.

     Raging Flame Charge!

     At the same time as that, Sasani turned into a beam of crimson light that rammed right into the right calf of the rearmost giant. With just the power of a Four-stars, it was instantly staggered by Sasani’s powerful charge.

     The giant immediately let forth a strained howl, indicating that it had probably been enraged. The other two giants then turned around, attracted by the howl of their companion, and then swiped at the offending Cerberus.

     In all likelihood, they probably saw Sasani as the real threat here unlike those two staggering flies in front of them. Thus, they instantly locked onto the speeding Hellhound.

     Having accomplished what he set out to do, Sasani immediately turned tail and ran. While the Hellhounds weren’t as nimble as the Purgatory Shadowcats, their speed in a straight charge was more than enough to make up for that shortcoming. Punch after punch, spit after spit, Earthspike after Earthspike, no matter what was thrown at Sasani, he merely dodged them all by galloping ever faster ahead.

     Taking advantage of this respite, Sinmosa brought us around the giants towards No.3 and Big 4 who promptly landed upon noticing that giants were off their backs as well. Unfortunately for them, their bodies no longer had the stamina to finish this move so just as I saw their shaky figures descend, they suddenly plummeted into the ground with a resounding crash…

     

      Chapter 240

     Source: Imported

      Report

     Nightmare Steeds are the final form of the Purgatory Warhorses. However, not every horse was able to evolve into such a lofty form. Even now, no one knew the exact requirements for becoming a Nightmare Steed, not even the Purgatory Warhorses themselves. Still, that didn’t stop the Nightmare Steeds from being unreasonably strong.

     The most basic requirement that everyone knew about was that the Warhorse had to evolve from a Five-stars to a Six-stars. During that process, the Purgatory Warhorses had a chance of evolving into a Nightmare Steed. It was worth stating however that even if said Warhorse failed to evolve then, that didn’t mean that it lost the chance to become a Nightmare Steed forever.

     Each time a Warhorse raised its Star Level, it had a chance of becoming a Nightmare Steed. Thus, while it was said that entire process was secretive and hard to decipher, there were those who simply chalked it up to sheer luck.

     Nightmare Steeds had the ability to penetrate the Dream Realm, create an illusory Dream Realm of their own, control said realm and finally devour said realm. Such a unique ability is said to be of the psychic branch of magicks. Because of this ability, the Nightmare Steeds could be considered invincible, at least in the Dream Realm, especially since till now, there has been no known record of a way of resisting such a dream incursion.

     —From The Encyclopedia on Illusory Fiends

     Just based on the crunch of their bodies slamming against the ground, I could tell how hard their crash landing was. With their stamina completely spent, even maintaining some semblance of balance during descent was impossible.

     Sinmosa, still bearing me and the others, galloped at full speed around the line of sight of the Demonic Fire Igneous Giants till finally we came upon No.3 and Big 4. There I saw a sight so sorry, a wave of heat seemed to rush up to my eyes and caused me to nearly cry.

     There was barely any patch of skin left on them that wasn’t horribly burnt. From top to bottom, they were covered in blackened scorch marks, and as they laid there twitching on

     “Mama…will the two of them be alright?” Mo Na’s brows were furrowed deep with concern as she asked in a quivering voice. Normally, she would have been coolheaded enough to realize that they were still alive but because of her young age, the anxiety caused her to lose her judgement for a moment.

     “It’s alright, they’re still alive.” Gently patting her on the head, I sighed with a heavy heart. Even in their barely humanoid state, they were still alive…At the very least, if there was something worth celebrating, it was that given a devil’s immense recovery abilities, they would be able to make a full recovery once they pass this critical stage, assuming of course that I gave them the necessary nourishment.

     “Sasani will be fine, right?” Even though Sinmosa assured me not too long ago, I couldn’t help but worry for the Cerberus. He was, after all, facing off against three giants, not just any old dog, cat or slime you found in some random dungeon. Those were fully fledged super super rare class Elite monsters.

     “Don’t worry, he will be alright.” Faced with the prospect of her mate getting potentially hurt, Sinmosa seemed unexpectedly calm. Perhaps this was because of her trust in him.

     As facts would have it, Sasani didn’t let us down. He successfully kited the three giants, not only dodging every attack in the process, but also managing to throw in a couple of attacks of his own. Thanks to that, he thoroughly earned the ire of those three giants who had no intention whatsoever of letting him off the hook at this point.

     While his attacks didn’t inflict any effective damage to speak of…but for prideful creatures like them, how could they ever tolerate a rat nibbling away at their bodies?

     By now, it was clear that all that talk about delaying for thirty minutes was all horsepoop. Still, it wasn’t like we could delay these giants forever so I decided to press that Warhorse elder

     However, before I could even say a word, a black silhouette came speeding towards us, seemingly galloping atop a road of fire. In terms of appearance, the newcomer was a black horse, similar to the Warhorses we had encountered up till now. However, that was where the similarities ended as other than its figure, there were a host of features that set it apart from any ordinary Purgatory Warhorse.

     For example, the mane on the back of its neck and the bristles on its tail were all blood red. Its hooves were crowned with a similarly eye-catching tuft of red hair that, when paired with its mane and tail, made it seem like there were clouds of fire riding atop blood. Even more unusual was the fact that on the top of its forehead was a black single horn…was it some kind of corrupted unicorn?

     The black newcomer was clearly galloping in the air and yet I couldn’t feel a single shred of mana emanating from it. In fact, the more I looked at it, the more unreal his form seemed, as if I was looking at a dream. Clearly, this was no ordinary bystander A.

     The unknown black horse came blasting through the skies at lightspeed. In just a few moments, it crossed the distance of several hundred meters, bringing itself up to us, or more accurately, the Warhorse elder.

     Just like the arrogant elder, this newcomer didn’t even bother to spare us a glance and instead addressed the other Warhorse in a haughty tone, spoken in the language of the devil: “I received a distress signal, was that sent out by you, Warwraith?”

     “Grand Elder Shade…” While the Warhorse elder, known as Warwraith, was significantly larger than this newcomer, he seemed more like a wronged child in front of the Grand Elder. “It was I who sent out the signal, the target of our hunt this time are those three Demonic Fire Igneous Giants. They were tougher than expected so my calculations were thrown off and…and…we suffered losses…heavy losses…”

     “A Five-stars and two more Four-stars who are about to evolve…so that’s why. For a party like yours, such a composition would

     Having never asked us about our origins, all Warwraith could do now was to awkwardly answer as such: “I’m not too sure myself, we just happened to stumble upon them while hunting.”

     “Forget it, I’ll take care of our prey first.” Upon saying that, he took to the sky and galloped towards the three giants.

     Seeing that this so-called Grand Elder was so confident in his abilities, my first thought was: ‘Great, we finally don’t have to be that Warwraith’s cannon fodder.’ My second thought however was: ‘What if these black horsies decide not to let us off…’

     Just a mere fifty meters away from the Demonic Fire Igneous Giants, Shade came to an abrupt stop and stared down the three giants with his bloody red pupils.

     While the three of them weren’t able to sense any mana movements from his approach, they could clearly sense the power of this newcomer. Each opened their mouths wide and roared as if to warn off the Warhorse.

     However, all that earned them was a cold reply from the Warhorse as he peered deeply into the gem-like, fiery pupils of the Five-stars: “Dream…”

     A second later…*boom*!

     The Five-stars giant who was on edge just a second ago, suddenly stiffened up before collapsing to the now trembling ground in a cloud of dust. From the way the ground shook, it was as if a mountain had crashed into the ground.

     Shade, on the other hand, paid no attention at all to the fallen giant and instead turned his eyes to the remaining two giants who had now abandoned Sasani as their target.

      “Dream…”

     As before, he spat out that same chilly word. This time however, he didn’t peer deeply into any of their eyes but instead casually tossed out that command. Soon after, their bodies stiffened up and collapsed, just like that Five-stars.

     ‘What a strange and terrifying skill…all he said was two words and all three of those giants were taken care of…can someone tell

     In the midst of my confusion, Sinmosa calmly said this: “Asleep.”

      “Huh?”

      ‘What do you mean Asleep? What’s asleep?’

     “I’m referring to those giants…that Purgatory Warhorse…no…that Shade is a Nightmare Steed, the final form of the Purgatory Warhorse.” Sinmosa explained to me with narrowed eyes. “It was said that the requirements for evolving into such a form were secretive and unknown so their numbers are few. However, in proportion to their rarity, their strength is insanely strong, especially their ability to control dreams. Those three giants are probably trapped in some kind of dream state right now.”

      “Nightmare Steed…”

      ‘I remember those things…back on Earth, I saw a wiki page on them on the net. They were called Nightmare Beasts and were said to be born from the souls of dead horses. They not only had the ability to float, they also came with a ring or aura that frightened those around them. They could breathe fire that was able to melt everything in its path, even molten rock…a truly terrifying mythical beast.’

     Perhaps it was born out of some need to prove her words but right as Sinmosa explained all that to us, the Grand Elder cast another hypnosis on those three giants by merely speaking as before: “Hostility…”

      ‘Hostility?’

     I didn’t understand what he meant by that, at least it was so for a brief moment.

     A mere second later, the three of them howled in pain simultaneously and began trembling… ‘were they having a nightmare?’

     ‘Wait, how were they even put under a psychic spell? Oh right, these giants aren’t exactly pure elementals but are part giant as well.’ In other words, they still had certain features of fleshbound creatures…for example, the need to eat or the ability to dream…

     The three giants struggled with their nightmares for a minute or so, during which they would periodically reach into the air and claw at nothingness while their legs flailed about wildly. Because of their massive stature and strength, every tremble was met by a tremor from the ground…truly a terrifying race…even more frightening had to be that Grand Elder who single handedly took them all down by himself…

     

      Chapter 241

     Source: Imported

      Report

     Those three Demonic Fire Igneous Giants were not only subdued but the moment Shade uttered the word, “Consume…”, the three giants immediately flailed about frantically as if they were trying to claw their way out of their nightmare. Unfortunately for them, it clearly wasn’t going to work on this fabricated nightmare.

     Such a sorry sight continued for a while before finally, after ten seconds or so, the struggling stopped with the Four-stars giants being the first couple to quietly become still and then limp like they had fallen into an eternal slumber. They weren’t dead however, at least that was what I felt from the flow of energy inside their bodies.

     “Are those two big monsters dead?” As Mo Na tightly hugged Cinderel, she poked her head out from behind me out of curiosity, and asked while peering at the still giant bodies. “How strange, they aren’t moving anymore.”

     “They aren’t dead, at least not physically.” Sinmosa answered. “ Judging whether or not these giants are dead is actually really simple. Under normal circumstances, their lava-like blood will emit a red glow and as the fluid passes through its body, its glow dims and brightens with time. If the giant is truly dead, the blood flow will cease completely.”

      ‘I think I’m starting to understand what that “Consume…” means, rather than consuming dreams, it would probably be more accurate to call it soul consumption, or some kind of psychic restraint ability. That’s why those giants became vegetables…at least that’s it should be.’

     While I was mulling over that ability, the Five-stars collapsed as well, joining the fate of his two companions. With clearly no shred of psychic resistance to speak of, these giants never stood a chance against the dream attacks of the Nightmare Steed.

     “Warwraith, have our kin come over and collect the spoils, it’s time for us to return.” Never once sparing us a glance, Shade placidly gave the command to pack up, seemingly not at all interested in our origins.

     “Yes, Grand Elder.” Answered Warwraith, not intending to pay us any attention at all.

     ‘Well, that works out for us as well, not like we want

     “Hnngh…ugh…” No.3 and Big 4 took turns grunting in pain behind me. Because they were still in a semi-conscious state, I wasn’t able to ask them about their condition. Based on what I saw of their bodies however, I doubt it was anything good, in fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if they were in a critical condition right now.

      ‘This won’t do…I need to find some kind of nourishment for them else…d*mn…I don’t think meat or souls would help in this situation either…what should I do…’

     “Mama, what should we do…No.3 and Big 4…they…” Hearing them grunt like that, Mo Na was beside herself with worry as she tugged on my arm.

      ‘What to do…how do I know what to do…nourishment…even if I place some souls in front of them now, I doubt they can absorb it in their current state…but if they don’t eat, they can’t recover…it’s just a deadlock at this point…’

     “The blood of those giants could save them.” Just as I panicking over what to do, Sinmosa chimed in with a solution, albeit hesitantly. “The blood of those giants can be considered a miraculous panacea, even without ingesting it, it can allow them to evolve…however…”

      ‘However huh…well, I think I know what’s coming next even without her saying. A rare treasure like that…would those Warhorses even share them with us.’

     Interests. At the end of the day, it was all about interests. The rarer the treasure, the less likely it was that a person would share it. The logic was sound but I knew that I had to give it a shot anyway.

     I had Sinmosa and Sasani, who had just returned not too long ago, stay behind to look after No.3 and Big 4, along with Cinderel and Mo Na. As for me, I gingerly approached the Grand Elder Shade and started with a

     “Mongrel how dare you! Who do you think you are to make demands of the Grand Elder!?” Before the horse in question could even answer, Warwraith immediately berated us: “Those three giants were personally defeated by our Grand Elder. How have you contributed at all? By what right do you make this request of us?”

     At the side, the Nightmare Steed stood silently watching this scene unfold.

     I had admit, right now, those flapping horse lips of Warwraith truly irked me. But there was no way I could show my true feeling especially given our clearly inferior position. As the saying went, “Weak countries have no foreign diplomacy to speak of.” The weak were never afforded the right to make requests of the strong, whether it was back on Earth or in this world. Still, for him to say that we never contributed was…just going overboard…

     “We definitely contributed, it was us who delayed those three giants, if it wasn’t for us, your rescue operation wouldn’t have proceeded so smoothly in the first place.” As I said that, I did my best to keep my tone even and restrained. “Without us, you would have to be the decoys.”

     “Hmph, were you guys even willing to be decoys?” Warwraith threw us a scornful laugh before giving us an equally disdainful look. “Had it not been for me forcing you all, you guys wouldn’t have helped at all and ran instead.”

     “That’s right, we didn’t plan on facing those giants, they are just too strong for us. If I had a choice, I would have never chosen to be fodder for you at all. But it was because of you that my devils ended up severely injured, and on the verge of dying. I just hope that you can give me a little giant blood so that I can help them recover, is that too

     “Of course it is.” His annoying horse lips continued flapping: “The spoils belong to us, as for that so-called contribution of yours, you’ve already received it, don’t be too greedy.”

      “Received it…when did we receive it?”

      “Not killing you all is the reward you’ve received.”

      “…”

      ‘Blast it all, what do you expect me to say in front of such shamelessness? That thick skin of yours is even thicker than the hides of those giants.’

     Even though Warwraith said that he wasn’t going to share the spoils with us, the one who truly had the final say here was Shade, the Grand Elder. With that in mind, I turned towards the Nightmare Steed: “Your Excellency, we’re in desperate need of the giant’s blood, even a few drops is fine, as long as I can save my subordinates…please just give us some, once I become stronger, I swear I will repay this favor.”

     “Repay? Favor?” The Nightmare Steed coldly gave me an appraising look before saying: “With your current level of strength, you have no right to speak of repayment.”

      “…I’m talking about the future…”

     “Then we can talk about that in the future…whether or not you can live till that long is still an unknown, besides…” The Nightmare Steed paused for a second before narrowing his eyes in disgust, as if he was looking at some kind of insect: “Why should I care whether or not your subordinates are injured?”

     Warwraith then interjected to hammer in the final nail in the coffin: “That’s right, we can’t just hand out our spoils to any old random dog or cat who come knocking on our door, am I right?”

     ‘These two scumbags, each more selfish than the other…how I wish I can just turn around and leave right now but No.3 and Big 4’s injuries can’t wait any longer…if I don’t get help for them soon, I don’t think they can even make it past the day…but those two clearly aren’t going to give us the blood, even if I kneel down and beg them, I doubt they will relent.”

     I turned around to gaze at my two injured subordinates before deciding to

     “Nothing.” Warwraith flatly cut me off.

      “But I will repay you…”

     “You’re annoying.” In the face of my insistence, the Nightmare Steed’s cold gaze finally erupted forth in a brilliant display of bright red as he glared at me. “Dream…” He coldly declared.

     Dream…by the time I heard that word, my next instinct was to close my eyes and sleep…it was too late. Just staring into those ruby-like eyes of his, it felt like my consciousness was being sucked into them. My vision began to blur after which everything turned black, except for those two blood red eyes staring at me, like a pair of ghostly fires in the dark.

      ‘Is this the dream realm created by that Nightmare Steed? Is my body lying on the floor like those three giants right now…am I going to die? I guess that’s only to be expected…since I angered those who shouldn’t be angered…blast it…I don’t want to die yet…there’s still so many things I want to do, I still want to return to the human world and see Nicole…I still have to find Yi Yi and get my body back…I still want to see Roscar…and also Numila and the others…also…’

     There was no sense of time in this place so I had no way of telling how much time had passed in the outside world. Perhaps it had only been a second or perhaps it had already been an entire day, or even more.

     “Fear…” The voice of that Nightmare Steed echoed sonorously in the void. While my surroundings were still as black as the abyss, it felt like there was a certain something extra thrown inside now.

     It almost seemed like I could hear footsteps…no…there really were footsteps. A person’s silhouette slowly became cleared right before my very eyes. It was familiar…just like…Nicole…

     ‘It’s Nicole…even with all this darkness, there’s no way I will ever forget that face!’ I excitedly yelled in my head, even forgetting the fact that I was trapped in some illusory world created by that Nightmare Steed…

     

      Chapter 242

     Source: Imported

      Report

      ‘It’s really Nicole…and her appearance hasn’t changed at all, just like in my memories. Just like before, my red headed, twin tailed, not-at-all arrogant loli, but why is she giving me such a…hateful look?’

     There was no mistaking the hatred in her eyes as she slowly approached me, dressed in the austere white garb of a swordsman, and fist clenched tightly around her silvery white long sword. As she got closer and closer, the murderous intent radiating off her only got stronger by the second.

     “Devil, give me back Little Ke!” She yelled while diving at me, her words shattering my heart long before her sword drove straight through it.

     Never in my wildest dreams did would I have ever expected Nicole to attack me so my response was panicked, to say the least. My legs hurriedly stumbled backwards as I shouted: “Nicole…it’s me, I’m Mo Ke…”

     “You can’t fool me Devil!” Her attacks continued, not giving me a single chance to explain myself at all. Stab after stab, they came faster and more vicious than before.

     Thankfully, I wasn’t the Mo Ke of yesteryears. After turning into a devil, my power and speed was no longer comparable to my human self. However, Nicole was just as speedy as well and to make matters worse, I didn’t dare to fight back so I merely retreated.

      “Nicole, it’s really me…”

      “Don’t you dare spout my name, Devil, it disgusts me!”

     She weeped while stabbing at me. There was absolutely no sense of order or rhythm to her attacks at all. They were just chaotic, pure and utter chaos, completely unlike that of a genius swordman’s. Tears began to roll down and scatter about the air like tiny diamonds as she dove at me: “Return Little Ke to me…return…return him to me…”

     Hearing her weep like that, it truly felt like my heart was being ripped into a million pieces right at that moment. In fact, other than retreating out of pure instinct, my mind was completely blank.

     ‘Attack? There’s no way I can do that…how could I even attack Nicole…but I’m really Mo Ke…how else am I supposed to explain that to you…there must be

     Yet that wasn’t the end of my misfortune. As if one Nicole wasn’t enough, another silhouette soon appeared from the darkness. It was broad-shouldered, muscular and as it stood there gripping an old broadsword, its muscles seemed to brim with power. Despite there not being any wind at all, the figure’s red hair seemed to dance wildly in the air, gently caressing the unkempt beard on the figure’s face from time to time. Looking at the expression on this newcomer’s face, I could tell that he wasn’t in a good mental state; mostly likely he had been drinking a lot… It was Roscar…

     “It’s you, you’re the one who ate my son.” Before I even had the chance to explain myself, Roscar lunged forward with his broadsword raised high. “DIE DEVIL!”

      “Old man, it’s me, I’m Mo Ke…”

     “Fiend…so you did consume my son…don’t give me that look, you aren’t him, don’t you dare look at me with his face!” Eyes red with blood, Roscar ignited the Fighter’s Aura within him and immediately his body erupted in a terrifying blaze as he charged at me once more. The sheer force of his pressure was enough to make me step backwards.

      “Old man, I’m really Mo Ke…”

     “Don’t even think about fooling me…give me back my son!” His fist crashed into my chest. Instantly, I was sent flying back by the titanic force that threatened to mercilessly penetrate my chest cavity…

     His powerful shove momentarily robbed me of the control over my body, causing me to land heavily on the ground and tumble backwards so many times I lost track of the revolutions. Each time I spun around, my limbs scraped against the floor painfully and uncontrollably till finally I began to lose consciousness. It was then that the violent spinning finally stopped but just as I tried to climb to my feet, I found a sword sticking right through my chest; it was Nicole’s longsword…

     As the cold steel tore through my flesh and bones, she unreservedly pushed it forward right through my heart, knuckles white from clenching. Turning around mechanically, I found her in a

     Even though I had a sword sticking out of my right now, and even though I should be paralyzed with burning hot pain right now, I felt nothing because my heart had shattered long ago. The physical pain I felt right now simply couldn’t be compared to the emotional turmoil I was going through.

     Through that thick pall of haziness around my senses, I managed to hear her saying something about similarity. I tried to open my mouth but the moment I did so, a gout of blood rushed up from my throat and caused me to cough violently. Forcing it down, I asked: “…what’s similar?”

     “Your eyes…they are just like Little Ke’s…just so similar…” As she said the words ‘Little Ke’, her eyes warmed up though she still had on a complicated smile. There was the elation of having accomplished her vengeance in that smile but at the same time, there was a certain sense of loss from having lost a goal. It was as if she just realized how empty she felt right now, and that there was no longer anything to think about; to need or even to care about…

     Roscar slowly strode to my dying body and without saying another word, sliced down with his broadsword, lopping off my head under my disbelieving gaze.

     ‘Am I dead? My head was severed and my heart was stabbed by Nicole’s sword…’ Roscar then picked up my severed head and left with Nicole towards that hidden pair of ruby-like eyes which had been observing me all this while.

      ‘Those eyes…I remember them now…those aren’t even Nicole or Roscar at all, they are just illusions created by the Nightmare Steed. I’m still in the nightmare crafted by it…’

     ‘Dream…Fear…I remember him clearly saying those words right as he brought me into this world. Dream should be the command word to bring me here and then

      ‘In other words, he’s attacking me with my greatest fear…so Fear is just him magnifying my greatest fear…’

     “So you’ve finally come to your senses.” As his red eyes slowly closed in, I was now able to see his horse silhouette. Trotting calmly up to me, I couldn’t detect a sense of pride or satisfaction in his words at all. To him, winning over a piece of trash like me wasn’t even worth mentioning:

     “To tell you the truth, I’m at a severe disadvantage in this realm when compared to you. In fact, this could be said to be your homeground, a place where I shouldn’t even be able to win at all. Yet in all the countless dreams of living creatures I’ve invaded so far, I’ve managed to kill them. Do you know why is that? Even with my disadvantage, I’ve always come out on top because of the word ‘Fear’. No matter who it was, they weren’t willing to strike out against the target of their fear and that is why you’ve lost.

     His words caused me to pause for a second before I finally understood the meaning he was trying to convey. Even if he was able to force me into the dream realm, was he truly able to create an entire nightmare? Yes and yet no at the same. At the very end of the day, this realm was still mine, nightmare or not.

     In a sense, it was kind of like a soccer match. While the matches might be decided by another foreign party, the fact that you still held the homeground advantage didn’t change. After all, even if some foreign team was the organizer of the match, there was no way they acclimatize themselves to the climate, the food, the culture, etc. Even if all that wasn’t true, jet lag was still an issue.

     This was so for my dream realm as well. Because the battle took place in my dreams,

     The problem however was this so-called God didn’t realize that he possessed such power. Taking advantage of this ignorance was what the Nightmare Steed did.

      ‘In other words, as long as I will it, I can recover my original form…and even kill that Shade fellow…’

      “There’s no use, the whole reason I told you all that is because you’ve already lost the ability to fight back. Simply put, you’re about to die.”

     ‘….no, how could I die so easily? I just discovered my own miraculous powers as well…all I need to do is think about my body recovering and…’ Unfortunately for me, several seconds passed and nothing happened.

     I tried to open my mouth but without a throat to speak of, I couldn’t really talk.

      “Alright, since we’ve reached this point, I think it’s about time I sent you on your way…Consume…”

     Ready to unleash his final killer move, the Nightmare Steed opened his mouth as if he was trying to swallow me whole.

     While all that happened, Roscar emotionlessly carried my head towards the waiting mouth of the Nightmare Steed. Behind him, Nicole’s figure stood there motionlessly like an inanimate object.

     As the Nightmare Steed’s mouth slowly grew larger to the point where my eyes were filled with darkness, all I could do was helplessly stare at my impending fate…if I were to be swallowed now, it would truly spell the end for me.

      ‘I don’t want to die…but there’s nothing I can do about this at all…’

     Even though this was my dream per say, the Nightmare Steed had completely kicked me out of my own nest. WIth no way to resist him and death imminent, exactly what kind of expression should I put on?

      ‘This is like what…the third time I’ve died then? The first two, I’ll accept since they were the results of my own decisions, and of my own powerlessness. But this time is different…this time I…really don’t want to die…but I don’t have a choice, do I?’

      ‘Nicole, Roscar…even if you two are just illusions, aren’t you two a little too calm…how should I even react to that callousness…by crying?’

     

      Chapter 243

     Source: Imported

      Report

     Crying was obviously not the answer to my current predicament. After all, I couldn’t even cry anymore. With just a head left, what was I to do? Even speaking was impossible so what else was I to do but quietly wait for my death?

     No matter how reluctant and filled with regrets I was, I had to face my fate of being consumed by the Nightmare Steed  because he was, in my eyes at least, an unstoppable force that overwhelmed me.

      ‘I wonder if I will even reincarnate this time…if I die, what if Mo Na also…should I struggle for a little longer? But how should I even fight back? Since this is my dream, perhaps there’s something else I can do?’

     Perhaps it was out of sheer curiosity towards my calmness, but the Nightmare Steed didn’t immediately swallow me whole as I had expected. Instead, he closed his mouth and gave me an intent look like cat toying with its prey… ‘I bet he was trying to guess what I was thinking right now…’

      “I don’t see in you the fear that you would expect from someone who is about to die, are you not afraid of dying? The others had a truly colorful reaction when they were in your position. Some begged me to let them go, others offered to be a slave…yet I see nothing on your face at all. Are you really not afraid of dying? Most likely not, you’re undoubtedly thinking about how to make a comeback.”

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     Because I had no way of talking, I couldn’t make my will known but my eyes said it all: I wasn’t afraid at all. Even though this was clearly checkmate for me, and he clearly held the upper hand here, but I really didn’t feel any sort of fear right now. If there was one thing I was concerned about, it would be that I was worried about my loved ones…maybe others would be terrified right now but me…I’ve died too many times already, to the point where I’ve almost become numb to it.

     “Ah, I forgot, you can’t talk right now.

     Having said that, the Nightmare Steed opened up his mouth once more and got ready to chomp down on the me that only had a head left…

      ‘I guess that’s it then…how could an ant ever hope to win against a human in the first place?’

     However, no matter how much I wished to live, this ending would never change for me…or so I thought. Oftentimes, things in life were never so simple, choosing not to proceed in the way you would envision. This time, the tides seemed to be in my favor as moments after I closed my eyes to welcome the inevitable end, nothing happened…except for the awful cries of that Nightmare Steed.

      ‘Wait, why is he making all those awful sounds? I’m the one that’s dying here…’

     “Ahhhh…” Came the panicked yet short-lived cry after which the illusion of Roscar disappeared. The same happened for Nicole as well who seemed to have never existed in the first place. All around me, the darkness of my dream rapidly dissipated, leaving behind a pure whiteness…and then, I woke up.

     Opening up my eyes, I found that I wasn’t actually lying down but was instead standing erect. Because I had just woken up, my sense of balance wasn’t steady yet, causing me to wobble violently. I almost collapsed to the ground then, but because of the innate physical adeptness a devil like me was born with, I managed to forcefully correct my posture in the nick of time.

     “Blasted Devil, what did you do to Grand Elder Shade?!” I still hadn’t taken stock of the situation when I was suddenly bombarded by that furious question from Warwraith.

     I turned around to face the Warhorse, and all I saw was a heaving horse, glaring at me with bloodshot eyes that seemed to spit fire as they focused on me. Yet amidst all that fury, I sense a strange sense of fear in the both of them. A Six-stars Warhorse

     Rather, it wasn’t me who was missing the picture here, it was that something must have happened in the interim where Shade was supposed to have consumed my soul and when he was forced to halt the consumption process. Not only did that cause him to become severely injured, his orifices even started to bleed…truly a frightful display.

     “What’s he trying to pull now?” The shock was a little too much for me to handle right now so the addled me could only say this: “If I’m not mistaken, I should be dead…”

      ‘Exactly what’s going on here, wasn’t he supposed to consume my soul, what is he doing on the floor right now…how did everything end up reversed?’

     Thankfully, things didn’t end up all that complicated as before Warwraith and I were even done arguing with each other, the Grand Elder in question woke up.

     The first thing he did was to softly harrumph before slowly climbing to his feet. From the slow, deliberate way he pulled himself up, I could tell that there was something up with his condition right now. He was weakened, very much so in fact, as not only his body showed signs of weakness, his psyche did as well.

     “Warwraith…don’t be rude…” As he said that, the Nightmare Steed eyed me.

     ‘Was he trying to throw another dream at me? But judging from how he stopped Warwraith’s hostility, I doubt he intends to harm me right now.’ The staring continued for a long while before the Nightmare Steed sighed in a resigned fashion and said: “To think your soul actually…forget it, it was an error of judgement on my part. You want the blood of those giants, right? Take it then, as much as you want…I just hope that you will spare some for us, since we’ve

      “Grand Elder…”

      “Shut up!”

     Still in the dark about what happened, Elder Warwraith was the first to express his displeasure about this new loot arrangement. But the moment he said that, he was strangely silenced by that shout from Shade. The Grand Elder was afraid of something…and that something must have had something to do with his failure to consume my soul.

     He was trying to say that something was hidden in my soul…as for what that something could be, only Ferti’nier came to mind. Strictly speaking, Ferti’nier was basically my version of that grandpa who mysteriously aided you along in cultivation as a spirit, in short a Cultivation Grandpa, or just a hack. Even though this cheat-like existence was basically in a comatose state right now…she was still an existence that used to be a Devil King. Moreover, as someone who almost forged a divine core for herself, her spirit was definitely a force to reckon with, even if she had no body right now.

      ‘If it’s Ferti’nier we’re talking about here, then it all made sense now.’

      ‘If his current attitude was anything to go by, Shade must have really been dealt a severe blow then and had no choice but to change his tact. He probably found out that I had a Devil King’s soul hiding inside me when he was trying to consume me. At that point, he must have gotten a taste of his own medicine. Under such an unexpected circumstance, he probably assumed that I was a Devil King reincarnated.’

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     Still, the fact was that I was just an ordinary human reincarnated. A human who just so happened to have a Devil King residing in his soul and just so happened to be the fiancee of a princess of Abaddon…in short, ordinary. So while I might have looked frightening to him, my precarious situation hadn’t changed at all.

     Seeing that I hadn’t spoken at all, Shade gingerly raised his head to look at me. Seeing that I was deep in thought, his brows furrowed even deeper as if he was concerned about something.

     “I apologize, not knowing of your exalted status

     Having said that, Shade took the rest of the Warhorses, along with Warwraith and quickly left the vicinity resolutely and without any intention of turning around at all.

     Not too far away, Sinmosa witnessed this strange sight as well. She left No.3 and Big 4 in Sasani’s care before galloping up to me.

      “Why did they leave? Also, why didn’t they take those three giant corpses?”

     From her perspective, all she saw was that the Grand Elder suddenly collapsed for a second before standing up shortly thereafter. In the end, said Grand Elder hurriedly left the scene with Warwraith in tow. This entire sequence of events must have really confused her, I know, because I was confused as well.

     “I…was dragged into the dream realm…” WIth regards to Sinmosa, she was a trusted ally so I didn’t want to hide too much from her, but the matter of Ferti’nier was special. “He ended up losing completely…so he didn’t dare to want anything from me.”

     “…” Her eyes betrayed her suspicion then but thankfully she didn’t have any intention of unmasking my lie at all. She merely nodded her head and went along with me: “Then you’re sure they won’t come back again?”

      “I don’t know, but he specifically said that we could have the spoils, right before leaving.”

     “…alright then, I guess this matter is over.” I could tell she was still suspicious but could she really be blamed here? Those giants were a treasure trove of ingredients after all, not to mention how much casualties and effort the Warhorses had to expend in this fight…for them to give up so easily was just…unthinkable.

     The fact that I was hiding something was a given but she chose to believe me in the end. “Then I’ll just go and remove the outer covering of those giants, it will be easier to extract their blood like that. Do you mind asking Sasani to bring No.3 and Big 4 over as well, it will be easier to dowse them in blood like that.”

      “Alright, I’ll get right on it.”

     

      Chapter 244

     Source: Imported

      Report

     With regards to extracting the blood of those giants, it was actually a rather simple process.

     First, Sasani had the two devils, No.3 and Big 4, placed on the right and left of one of the Four-stars. There, laid a hole we had dug up prior and it was also there that we poured in the blood of the giants.

     The entire process started with Sinmosa tearing apart the rocky exterior of those giants with her paws. From that gaping hole, flowed a viscous lava-like fluid that slowly covered the two injured devils. While the blood flow was kind of slow, it was only a matter of time before the hole became a bloody pool.

     Initially, I assumed that the two of them would float to the top once we filled the hole with blood, but as I soon found out when the hole was filled, they didn’t.

     “Are you sure they’ll be fine like that…can they even breathe…” Even devils had to breathe so this treatment method of Sinmosa was rather…concerning, not that I was doubting it’s efficacy.

     “It will be fine. The blood contains the purest essence of those giants, by soaking them with one whole giant’s worth of blood, there’s no way they won’t evolve.” She confidently answered me.

      “The two of them are Four-stars right now. If we were to dowse them with giant blood, they will forcefully evolve into Five-stars and become a new race of devil; gaining the respective clan name and abilities as well. In a sense, it’s a super evolution. Moreover, the blood of those giants contain a vast amount of pure energies. By soaking in that, they don’t need air, in fact, the pollutants in the air would probably affect the chances of evolving.”

     ‘She’s right! The two of them are now at an important threshold. For them to be receive such injuries and then such nourishment, is actually a blessing in some sense. By evolving, they are no longer ordinary devils but are

     What were ordinary devils? Those were devils similar to No.3 and Big 4 in their Four-stars form. In other words, imps and Demon Childes. Looking at it from another point of view, devils like Mo Na and I weren’t ordinary at all, but were actually high level devils since we belonged to the Lust Demon branch. In this case, high level wasn’t actually referring to our stars level but rather to the fact that we possessed an innate advantage over our peers.

     In the world of the devils, a lot of attention was paid to bloodlines and clans because the more prestigious one’s bloodline was, the more potential they held. For example, the aforementioned imps and Demon Childes were basically the most primal form of the devil form. To the devils with higher bloodlines, these low level devils were basically dogs, slaves. This was especially so for the Small Imps whose low strength level relegated them to the level of food.

     That was why the jump from Four-stars to Five-stars was a unique one.

     Either way, with one entire giant’s worth of blood to nourish them, No.3 and Big 4’s safety wasn’t something I needed to worry about for now. At this moment, I was more interested in Cinderel’s situation. According to that old dog, Sidarth, she wasn’t completely in the clear yet. Because of her premature birth, Cinderel required nourishment on a regular basis, at least until she reached Six-stars. Should she experience an energy deficiency in the meantime, her life might be endangered.

     “How about we let Cinderel have some as well.” I gently ruffled the fur on the little black puppy’s head as she tumbled about with Mo Na. She was rather fond of me so my gesture was met with a tender lick of her tongue.

     However, that suggestion was rejected by a shake of Sinmosa’s head. She had hesitated for quite a while before making that decision but in the end, she said this: “That’s not too good,

      “It’s fine, all this happened because of an accident in the first place. Besides, No.3 and Big 4 don’t require that much blood. Evolving too fast isn’t good for them after all. More importantly, aren’t we comrades? Also, you guys contributed as well, remember?”

     To me, Sinmosa was a trusted companion…even though I had purposely hidden the fact about Ferti’nier from her…to be fair, it wouldn’t have made a difference even if I told her…and telling her that a Devil King’s soul was residing in me would be a little…absurd. Perhaps not telling her was actually the better choice, at the very least she wouldn’t think that I was trying to lie to her with some poor excuse about possession…

     As for what she thought I was hiding…well, that was up to her imagination…my conscience was clear at least.

     “Alright then, let’s just give her some from No.3 and Big 4’s giant.” Sinmosa gave her husband a brief look before saying that. In the end, their concern for their child convinced them to take up my offer. For parents like them, there was no way they would ever want their child to encounter any sort of danger. Besides, wasn’t the whole point of following me to find some nourishment for Cinderel in the first place?

      “Hmm, should we give her a little more?”

     “She’s still young, I’m not sure if her little body can even withstand that much so there’s no point feeding her more.” Sinmosa picked up Cinderel from my arms with her mouth and then lowered her gently onto the floor. “Besides, you said so yourself didn’t you? Evolving too fast isn’t a good thing.”

     Back on the ground, Cinderel instinctively snuggled herself against Sinmosa, rubbing her little noggin against Sinmosa’s front paw while putting on a lovable expression.

     “Oh right, how about you and Sasani have that Four-stars giant, if you’re lucky, the two of you might

     “That…” She stared in shock at me. She probably never expected a devil to be so generous.

     Truth be told however, I wasn’t being generous at all. I had a reason for offering up one of the giants. Back when Sasani was dragging No.3 and Big 4 to the giant, he gave me a rather unfriendly look. Even though it was only for the briefest of moments, I still noticed the strangeness in that gaze. Back then, I suspected that Sasani was thinking about killing me to steal all the giants for himself. However, that thought was quickly banished by a stern glare from Sinmosa.

     Being a d*mned Siscon, a mere gaze from his sister was enough to shut him up. Naturally, he wouldn’t do anything else to upset her either. Even so, that look was scary enough to warn me about a certain fact; I should share some of the spoils with them.

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     First off, we were a team. No matter who contributed the most, the spoils should be shared amongst the entire team.

     As Confucius once said, “Fear not poverty but ware inequality.” Just think about it for a second, recruiting for a treasure expedition was all fine and dandy what comes after it then? Internal strife, of course.

     In fact, such a played out conflict was basically a part of film culture by now.

     The situation we were in was basically like that. Being the strongest members of our team, Sinmosa and Sasani had to be given their share whether or not they contributed, else…well, our team wouldn’t last past the day. Leaving the team would probably be an alright outcome then, the worst case scenario would be that they ganged up on me instead…our strength levels weren’t equal after all…

     However, all that was basically nothing but a guess on my part. But given how Sasani looked at me then…sharing the loot shouldn’t be a bad idea, right?

     Faced with her hesitation, I earnestly looked the couple in all

     Without waiting for Sinmosa’s answer, Sasani furiously nodded his heads; because he wasn’t able to speak in the tongue of the devil, he had no other way to communicate with us. From the way he nodded however, I could tell that he probably wasn’t harboring any nefarious thoughts…for now at least.

      “We do, in fact, need them…many thanks.”

     Unlike No.3 and Big 4, the two of them weren’t in a comatose state so they could directly ingest the blood of the giants. Bringing Cinderel with them, they hopped onto the giant’s body and opened up a hole before…drilling themselves into it? ‘Are they planning to eat the giant from the inside?’

     With that settled, I set aside the matter of those two Cerberuses for now and turned my attention to Mo Na who was currently staring at the last giant with wide eyes. “Mama, mama, Mo Na wants to eat that one! But those three big monsters don’t have any souls, how strange…”

     Now that she mentioned that, I was a little puzzled as well. ‘Was it because of the fact they were part elementals that no souls came out of them? Did their souls enter their elemental cores upon death…did they even have cores? There’s no guarantee that their souls weren’t consumed by that Nightmare Steed either…after all, my soul was almost consumed while in my own dream realm…’

     Truly, this world was a strange one, filled with all sorts of unknown mysteries and dangers waiting for me to stumble on. If I wasn’t careful enough, I might just slip up and end up battered on the streets somewhere with my bones shattered completely.

     

      Chapter 245

     Source: Imported

      Report

     Speaking of corpses, I was suddenly reminded of what Mo Na said before. Not too long ago, she told me that summoning magicks required a corpse as a medium; in that case, didn’t we have three perfectly serviceable corpses right now?

      “Sweetie, do you think you’re able to summon a few undead from these corpses?”

     “Mama’s overthinking things.” She rolled her eyes at me: “Demonic Fire Igneous Giants are part elemental so they aren’t strictly flesh creatures either. It’s impossible to turn them into mediums for summoning.”

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     “Is that so, that’s a shame then.” I hopped onto the largest giant and drew forth Shadowfang, a weapon which I hadn’t unsheathed since coming here, and stabbed it into the giant’s chest cavity. As always, its sharpness never ceased to amaze or frighten me for that matter. Even a Five-stars giant’s hide stood no chance against its razor sharpness. With one smooth motion, I was able to penetrate the rocky exterior and with another slash, widen the wound.

     Because of its unique viscosity and the prone position the giant was in when I sliced it open, the blood didn’t come bursting out like a fountain. Instead, it laid there quietly in the giant’s body, no longer flowing about like before; it almost looked like a pool of still blood…no, perhaps a pool of still lava would be more apt.

     Even now, I was able to feel a degree of warmth from within; ‘it must’ve been scorching hot just moments ago…’

     Slightly curious, I reached forth to touch the lava-like blood in order to check its warmth. However, the moment my fingers came into contact with the fluid, the blood immediately rushed forth and wrapped itself around my fingers before continuing up my arm… ‘What’s going on here, didn’t I just touch it a little?! Why is it running up my body like some kind of living creature…’

     “MAMA…” Realizing my strange condition as well, Mo Na immediately yelled out to me but unfortunately for her, my body was completely

     My consciousness began to fade as if I was falling asleep… ‘Exactly what is going on here?! What’s happening to my body, I can’t seem to find anything at all…time seems to be flowing slowly as well or maybe it’s going so fast…either way, I can’t feel a thing.’ Finally, after an indeterminate amount of time, I heard a voice calling out to me.

     “Mama…mama…*weep*…mama…” I could vaguely hear the cries of a little girl in the background; it sounded a little like Mo Na’s… My eyes slowly opened up and I found myself in an unfamiliar surrounding as if I was in kind of strange stone cave. Beside me sat Mo Na, crying and terribly shaken up as her tears flowed down unabated.

      ‘Oh, this isn’t a cave, it’s the belly of that giant…I remember now, I was testing out the warmth of that giant’s blood when I must’ve fallen into the giant’s body by accident…at least I think that’s what happened.’

     “Mama…you’re awake.” Seeing my eyes open, Mo Na wiped dry her tears before giving me a relieved smile. “Mo Na thought that you weren’t going to wake up anymore…Mo Na was scared…”

     “What do you mean won’t wake up anymore…” I gently flicked her on the head and upon seeing her fake a pained expression, I couldn’t help but break into a huge grin: “Sweetie, you look so comical right now, Papa likes you like that.”

      “Bad Mama, after all the worrying Mo Na did for Mama, the first thing Mama does is bully Mo Na. Hmph!”

     As she said that, she pouted and faced away from me in what had to be the most adorable display of anger ever. Seeing that, I hurriedly tried to placate her.

     A good while later,

      “…”

      ‘I ate that entire giant by myself? Exactly how am I not bursting at the seams right now? That thing is even able to take on a Warhorse elder! A Six-stars!’

      ‘And I consumed that entire thing? Did I evolve?’

     I quickly gave my body a quick look through and found, to my dismay, that nothing had changed… ‘Did all that energy get swallowed up by some dog or something? Hold on…I seem to remember a certain glutton…don’t tell me, Ferti’nier ate it all again, didn’t she…’

      “Little Brother seems to have gotten smarter since we last met, he even remembered this one. You won’t mind that this one had a little snack, right?”

      ‘That teasing voice, and the way it communicated with me telepathically…there’s no mistaking it, it’s Ferti’nier…’

      “Ohh~Little Brother still remembers this one then, this one is so happy~”

      ‘By the way, what’s with that display just now? That wasn’t just a nibble or two anymore, you ate the whole blasted giant! At least leave some scraps for my daughter or something.’

     ‘Daughter? Oh~~Little Brother is talking about that little sweetie over there? That child is pretty talented and all…but is it really alright for Little Brother to do that behind Yi Yi’s back?”

     ‘Oh please, you don’t even know what happened to me…let’s just say that without ‘THAT’, I can’t even if I wanted to—‘

     ……

      “Oh~~I see how it is then, so you’re saying if your ‘thing’ is returned, Little Brother would cheat on her then?”

      ‘Hey hey hey, don’t put words into my mouth, when did I ever say that I wanted to cheat on someone…’

      “Didn’t you just say so right then?”

      ‘Let’s be clear about something here, before confirming all this fiancee stuff with Yi Yi, I’m not acknowledging this betrothal! We haven’t even gotten married yet, and what do you mean by cheat? Don’t spout nonsense!’

     “Is that so? This one thought Little Brother was a

     ‘Stop using that innocent tone to make fun of me already. If you aren’t going to be serious here, I’m ignoring you from now on!”

     “…fine, Little Brother is right, this one won’t tease you anymore.” At that, she paused before resuming once more with that same old wily tone of hers: “But since the two of you aren’t related by blood, Little Brother is planning to groom her as a wife then?”

      ‘HUH?!~%&@(*$…I’m not going to be an On*chichi!’

     (TL: Some reference to a ‘mature japanese game’ about stuff)

     “What’s an On*ch*ch*? Forget it, even if Little Brother doesn’t say anything, this one can guess what it roughly means…” Sensing that I was about to lose my temper, she quickly diverted the topic: “Mhm, now let’s see where this one is at right now…oh~ isn’t this Purgatory? Little Brother actually broke out of the Prison, not bad, not bad at all.”

      ‘That’s right, it was tough, but we made it in the end. I wanted to head to Abaddon straight away but due to some reasons, we ended here.’

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      “Well, it’s fine either way. There’s actually a passageway between the two hells, all you need to do is find it. But for some strange reason, this one still feels that something is off but she can’t figure out why.”

      ‘Of course you do, this is the Remnants of Sable Radiance.’

      “Remnants of Sable Radiance? Err…Little Brother, what are you doing here then?”

      ‘I just said it was an accident, didn’t I? I didn’t intend to come here either. Still, there’s something I’ve wanted to ask you for a long while now. Since you’ve awaken and all, please answer me seriously.’

      “What question? Don’t worry, if it’s Little Brother asking, this one will definitely do her best to answer.”

      ‘I’ll take your word for it then. So, are you the Devil King of Sable Radiance?’

      “You must be joking, this one isn’t that old. If this one’s memory is correct, this one hasn’t even celebrated her 20 001st birthday yet.”

     “This

      “This one is still very young don’t cha know? Tehee~”

      ‘What the heck is a 20 000 year old witch acting cute for…even a sage ,like this brother, feels he is old. To pretend to be young at 20 000…Isn’t that skin of yours a little too thick…’

      ‘Speaking of which, back when that Nightmare Steed tried to consume me, it was you who saved me, I assume…thanks. If it wasn’t for you, I would be dead now, let alone talking about giant blood. I guess that’s why you had to consume that entire giant’s worth of blood…once again, thanks…’

      “Thanks are unnecessary, this one was attached to you by Yi Yi in order to be your bodyguard anyway. Besides, our souls are bound together. The last thing this one wants is to be eaten up by some ignorant horse. Thanks aren’t necessary, just remember to help with my bodily needs next time.”

      ‘I’ll have to pass on that…anyway, we’re talking about serious business here, stop going off course!’

      “This one is being serious here, it’s just Little Brother’s mind that’s being dirty here.”

      ‘What’s all that about bodily needs then…and you call me dirty…’

     “It means that I need your help to reconstruct my body, Little Brother is thinking dirty again.’

      ‘You managed to find an excuse for yourself? Fine…you win.’

     “Mama…Mama…Mo Na is talking to you here.” Throughout that mental conversation, I basically stood there in daze in front of Mo Na who was clearly worried sick by now. Concerned, she started to shake me continuously. “Mama, why aren’t you talking to Mo Na?”

     “Sweetie, stop shaking, Papa is just doing his daily meditation, that’s all.” For now, I didn’t intend to tell anyone about Ferti’nier, including Mo Na. “Sweetie, let’s go out for now, I don’t know how much time has passed but No.3 and Big 4 should be done by now. Same with Sinmosa’s family as well…I wonder if they’ve evolved to Six-stars.”

     Having said that, I didn’t wait for her response before scooping her up into my hands and stepping out of the rocky carcass.

     

      Chapter 246

     Source: Imported

      Report

     The insides of the Demonic Fire Igneous Giants could only be described as vast and also hollow, as if their body was actually just a rocky container for the lava that used to flow within. As for how much energy I actually absorbed, I had no way of knowing, but the fact that Ferti’nier was even able to wake up as a result of that, made it a rather profitable trade. At the end of the day, this former Devil King knew a lot more than me and as we Chinese liked to say, ‘having an elder in your home was like having a treasure.’

     Experience and wisdom was something you had to accumulate with time…ahem, that was basically all I had to say.

     Having climbed out, the first thing I saw was Sinmosa and the Hellhound family standing not too far in the distance. Beside them were two lanky devils whom I had never seen before.

     To be exact, I had never seen such a form before. Both of them had a head that resembled a bull’s with a pair of goat horns that curved towards the back. Their bodies were lean, muscular, beautiful even, if one were to discount the bull head on their shoulders and the goat hooves below. Their tail was slender like a bull’s as well.

     Even though this was the first time I had seen such a form, the words Infant Flame Demon instantly came to mind.

     “No.3, Big 4?” Although I had basically guessed the identity of these devils by now, I still couldn’t believe my eyes and had to confirm it once more. “You guys, evolved?”

     “Master, we’ve evolved!” Upon seeing me climb out of the giant’s chest, the first thing the two of them did was to wave furiously at me while excitedly calling out to me as I walked towards them. Once I reached them, they suddenly fell to their knees and said with utter reverence: “Many thanks to Master…had it not been for Master, we would have died…”

     “There’s no need for that, your loyalty is something I’m fully aware of. No matter what, the blood you shed won’t be in vain.” Seeing them in their new evolved forms, an indescribable sense of elation filled me. ‘This was the result

     Honestly, I wouldn’t have been half as excited about them evolving had it not been for Ferti’nier awakening. After all, I was still a Three-stars at the end of the day…having them outlevel me so much was disconcerting… Naturally, I knew that the two of them probably wouldn’t betray me, but the same could be said for One-eye as well…

     To me, Sinmosa and Sasani were mostly trustworthy since we were complete strangers back when we met; I doubt they thought about betraying or using me then. Even if Sasani was thinking about betraying me, that sister of his would fix him right up. In fact, it would be more accurate to say I trusted Sinmosa, rather than Sasani.

     Truly, trust was a scary thing…even now, I couldn’t believe that One-eye would play me out like that…well, that was all in the past now, what mattered was the future.

     “The energy in that giant is gone but Mo Na and you…I can’t see any changes in the both of you at all…” Having chatted a while with No.3 and Big 4, it was then that Sinmosa trotted up to me and gasped with a look of disbelief in all six of her eyes. After giving me another look, she half-stated as such, in a voice dripping with curiosity: “You aren’t an ordinary devil are you?”

      “…”

      ‘What should I say now..I still can’t bring up the matter of Ferti’nier, but the fact that an entire Five-stars giant was consumed and nothing had happened in Mo Na and I was also strange.’

     “Forget it, everyone has their own secrets, I was just a little curious, that’s all. I didn’t intend to pry too deeply…you can always tell me when you’re ready.” Seeing that torn expression on my face, she chose not to ask any further, instead casually glossing over this subject with another. “Cinderel has restored quite a bit of her energy already. Because she’s still young, she didn’t evolve yet. Sasani and I, on the other hand, received quite a few benefits. It won’t be long before we can evolve into Six-stars.”

     “That quick?!” For the two of them to evolve now was clearly good news for me given

     Sinmosa paused for a second and then gave me an answer that I didn’t know whether to laugh about or cry about. “Roughly five years.”

      “…well that’s…pretty quick…”

     “I know, it was supposed to be 20 years too.” She didn’t detect that slight bit of awkwardness in my voice and instead followed up with my comment as if everything was right in the world: “After all, Sasani and I are…well…you get it…”

      ‘I get it, totally. It’s that, isn’t it? German Orthopaedics, Yos*ga no Sora, and if Kyosuke actually did it with Kirino, I can add in Oreimo to the list as well…honestly, I had really had to hand it to that dog…’

     CreativeNovels.com Approved Only

     (TL: German Orthopaedics: Some story in China where it was reported that a brother and sister did it each other and were found out by their father. The father broke the legs of the brother after which the brother flew off to Germany to get it fixed. The rest are all anime references.)

     To be honest, before finding out about their ‘unique’ relationship’, I had assumed that incest was a taboo only amongst humans, to think the Hellhounds had such a rule as well.

      ‘Either way, since everyone is accounted for, it’s time for us to set off once more.’

     In order to save time, Sinmosa offered to give us a ride on her while the two of them galloped northward. Naturally, it wasn’t that we had not thought about doing that before, but based on their speed, it would have been impossible for No.3 and Big 4 to keep up with their galloping speed. Now that the two of them had evolved however, their flying speeds were now significantly higher and their wings, significantly more agile. Thanks to that, the two of them had no problem keeping up with Sinmosa and husband all throughout.

     If I had to make a comparison between their current and past forms…it would be the difference between a World War One plane and a World War Two plane…hmmm, sounds about right.

     Along the way, I took the time to inquire about No.3 and BIg 4’s newfound abilities. They were, after all, devils with a

     Within my inherited memories, they clearly stated that Flame Demons were borne of the flames, that was true, however, that didn’t mean that they were entirely formed of flames either. With regards to these flame devils, in particular the Infant Flame Demons, there wasn’t much information about them at all. Or rather, the information was sealed up, waiting for me to level up even further before unlocking. After all, allowing access to such skills wasn’t necessary a good thing unless one had the required level to use them. In a sense, it was like magic. Trying to cast a spell above one’s mana capabilities ran the risk of causing a backlash or worse.

     While the majority of a Flame Devil’s abilities were still locked up, No.3 and Big 4 still managed to pick up quite a few abilities this time around. For example, they were now able to control flames as if they were a part of their body. Unlike the past where their control of flames was still a little unnatural, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the  flames were now their limbs.

     In fact, as if to demonstrate that ability, when Big 4 had No.3 cut off his left hand with a crafted bone knife, something miraculous happened. Where his severed arm once laid, we saw a bundle flames that Big 4 calmly picked and reconnected to his stump of a wrist. Under our shocked eyes, that bundle of flames began to take on a hand shape before finally reconnecting and turning back into a hand flawlessly.

     I gave the new appendage a careful look through and found, to my astonishment, no difference at all between his previous hand and his new one…

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     “Turning one’s body into flames is just a basic ability, there’s no need for Little Brother to make such a big fuss about a parlor trick. That’s just embarrassing.” As usual, Ferti’nier chimed in with her teasing amidst my shock and awe.

     ‘Embarrassing? How so? At least their evolutionary branch is strong…why can’t us Lust

      “Hey, we’re really strong!”

      ‘Why do I feel so weak then? If it wasn’t for Shadowfang, I don’t think I can even defeat Violet Snow.’

     In my mind, that was nothing but a little gripe on my part, who would’ve thought that it would instead garner such a reaction from Ferti’nier: “The fact that you can’t even beat a little white puppy is because you’re weak, don’t lump us together with your weakness!”

     ‘Really? Lust Demons are strong? If they are so strong, why are there so many sub-branches, carnal, combat and whatnot?”

      “Well…it’s a female only branch…so they feel a need to compensate for that…”

      ‘Sounds so true that I can’t even think of a counter to that…’

     Thanks to our internal squabbles, time passed rather quickly for me. Because we were still in the territory of the Warhorses, we encountered quite a number of roaming Warhorses during our jaunt northward. For the most part, they knew to steer clear of us. That’s right, they were avoiding us…even though they were the masters of territory, they were avoiding us…no matter how I looked at it, we seemed more like unwelcome intruders more than anything.

     The fact that they were acting in such a manner was probably because of Shade. Perhaps they even thought that I was some kind of Devil King reincarnated…speaking of which, that whole incident was rather interesting in of itself. For a powerful Nightmare Steed like Shade to fear me like that…even fear wasn’t enough to describe the expression he had on then.

     “It’s normal to fear this one, don’t cha know…” Came Ferti’nier’s usual snideness.

      “Still, to think that this is the Remnants of Sable Radiance, this one clearly remembered that this whole region was sealed off a long time ago. So it was actually linked to the Prison of the Dead…how secretive…since it’s in a sealed off state, that passage to Abaddon shouldn’t work as well. Little Brother, are you sure the answer is really in that palace?”

      ‘I’m not too sure either, it was a Shadowcat Princess who told me that.’

      “Shadowcats huh, the race that can Dreamwalk? I like those little kitties, I remember keeping a few kitties myself in my home, they’re really fun to play with.”

      ‘…I never knew you were a cat lady.’

     

      Chapter 247

     Source: Imported

      Report

     Ever since Ferti’nier woke up, the time I spent ‘meditating’ was on a straight trajectory upwards. Talking to her was an interesting way to kill time; from her, I managed to learn a great deal of things that I never knew about. Naturally, the usual teasing and taunting were there as well. For Ferti’nier, there really wasn’t much for her to do other than to talk to me and sleep. It went without saying that I humored her as much as possible. After all, leaving a mature beauty like her alone, wasn’t the gentlemanly thing to do.

     However, as a direct result of that, Mo Na became a lot more bored… ‘so that’s why people always had trouble with their in-laws…’

     While hugging onto Mo Na and Cinderel, the days went by uneventfully on the Hellhound express. Because we weren’t exactly sure how long this journey would actually last, Sinmosa’s galloping was kept at a manageable pace, neither too quick nor too slow, so as to ensure that she had enough stamina should a fight happen.

     “Mama, Mo Na wants to listen to a story.” Seeing me in a daze once more, she started tugging at my arms in dissatisfaction, forcefully knocking me out of my ‘meditation’.

     With no other choice, I apologized to Ferti’nier. Either way, it shouldn’t matter too much since she could hear whatever I said to Mo Na.

      “Sweetie, what would you like to listen to this time?”

      “Mo Na wants to listen to the Little Mermaid.”

     For the most part, she loved listening to fairy tales like Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and the aforementioned, Little Mermaid; essentially those that had a witch in them. When I asked her why this was so, she answered thusly: Mo Na likes to compare with the witches in those story, Mo Na is sure she will do a better than job than those witches!

     In short, she was gaining experience for her

     To inflict misery on other creatures was the traditional mindset of devils, in that sense, wasn’t my goody two-shoes act a disgrace then? Perhaps I really was the black sheep of the devil race…

      ‘Am I really doomed to walk the path least trodden, no matter which world I’m in?’

      “Mama, a story, quick.”

     Being badgered like that, I finally started my storytelling with a wry smile. Besider her, little Cinderel had her adorable dog ears all perked up as well, ready to listen to my tale. Unlike Mo Na however, she couldn’t speak the language of the devil so she had no way of expressing her comments.

     The tale was a rather long one so instead of starting from the very beginning, I picked up from where the prince met the princess.

     ……

      “Sweetie, what’s with that disdainful look on your face?”

      “Hmph, Mama, that witch must have never had any experience ensnaring people.”

      “Oh, why do you say that?”

      “Simple, because all the witch offered was to slice off her tongue and for her to experience excruciating pain while walking.”

      “That’s right, this is the third time you’ve listened to this story, so what’s wrong with the witch’s terms?”

      “Of course there’s something wrong. She clearly has no experience being the bad guy.”

      “And what makes you think so?”

      “Because the terms she gave out are all so superficial. Obviously, a mix of physical and mental torture is the best way to get the results.”

     Seeing Mo Na so animated and proud, I couldn’t help but laugh and ask: “Well then Sweetie, what’s your expert advice then?”

      “She can keep her tongue and the legs, without the pain even, but she has to have her face disfigured.”

      “…that’s a little much isn’t it…”

     ‘Now that’s cruel…for a woman, her face was like her second life. If she were to become ugly, it wouldn’t matter what other good traits she had, the prince

      “That’s too much? You haven’t heard the rest of it…”

      ‘Maybe that’s enough of this storytelling for now…at least, I shouldn’t continue with Beauty and the Beast…’

     (TL: I shortened this section to mostly conversations since it’s REALLY pointless. Really.)

     About the time I was done retelling the tale of the Little Mermaid, trouble found us.

     “Master, there are roughly 50 Warhorses ahead of us.” Came No.3’s warning yell as he sped towards us, wings flapping furiously. Upon making an emergency landing, he proceeded to report as such: “They seem to hunting down a Demon Fire Salamander.”

     “Mama, should we go have a look?” Her eyes lit up at that point, clearly eager to cause some trouble after a long uneventful journey.

     “There’s no need for that, let’s circle around them.” I knew Mo Na wouldn’t be happy with this decision, to be honest, I wasn’t as well. After all, those Warhorses and those two elders treated us so horribly back then; with the memories just a few days old, was there any way we would have forgotten about that sordid past? Of course not! Just because he gave us a few trinkets(giants) as an apology, was our enmity wiped clean then? Absolutely not! If someone was to slap you across the face and then toss out a hundred dollar bill right after, would you forgive him? Only the truly wretched would stoop down, pick up the money and then laugh off the grudge with a smile. What would be worse would be if he even threw in a  ‘Please come again’…

     This debt between us and the Warhorse had to be settled one day…that day just wasn’t today. We were still too weak. Only

     Let us be clear about one thing however, I wasn’t admitting defeat or backing down. I was being Magnanimous, that’s a capital M too.

     Unfortunately for us, while I might have decided to avoid the Warhorses, the other party clearly didn’t agree with me.

     Just as that decision was made, the deafening sounds of a herd of horses galloping came thundering towards us. Because of the powerful stomps of their hooves, the ground itself began to shake. All around us, bits of earth and rock began to break loose from the blackened ground and dance about in the air, kept afloat by the wobbling ground that seemed more like wood than stone right now.

     The galloping sounds grew louder by the second after which we spotted the first silhouette of a Warhorse. I knew who that Warhorse was…even though their faces all looked the same to me…there was no mistaking that soul aura… ‘To think it’s actually someone we knew…’

     “So it’s you devils.” Warwraith came knocking on our doorstep with several dozen Warhorses. Within his eyes, I could see a hint of apprehension but for the most part, they foretold his probable troublemaking. “I heard from my kinshorse that he spotted some devils while he was out on watch, I just knew it would be you lot.” He arrogantly stated.

      ‘Really…what a small world we lived in…exactly why did we have to meet this horsepoop again?’

     “Elder Warwraith, you’re in our way right now.” With regards to this bully of a horse who made us be his decoys, I had nothing nice to say to him. Had it not been for the fact that I couldn’t defeat him, I would have definitely rushed up to him and given him a piece of my mind, or fists rather. Then…I would slice off his

      “I don’t remember blocking any path whatsoever, just look around you, the area is so wide and spacious, how am I blocking anything.”

     “…let’s go.” Not wishing to waste more time on this moron, I signalled for Sinmosa to circle around him. Yet just as we took a turn, a portion of the Warhorses, under the discreet command of Warwraith, came trotting up to block us.

      “A good…horse, doesn’t block the way!”

      ‘Almost said a good dog there…thank the heavens I changed it in time.’

     “I’m not the one who told them to do so, they did it themselves.” At that, he gave an exasperated sigh and said: “You saw it yourselves, I had no intention of causing trouble but these youngsters…”

     ‘You horsepoop, don’t try and act all innocent in front of me!’ Thanks to Ferti’nier’s presence, I wasn’t as intimidated as before and my words reflected as such. “Exactly what do you want? I don’t have time to waste on your childish games, you’re too old for that as well. How about you let out whatever crap you have to say and be done with it.”

     “Hmph, I’m not the one playing games here. All I want is for you to give up those giants and we’ll be on our way.

      ‘There it is, that foxtail of his… so he’s still after the blood of those giants…too bad I drank it all already, with not even a drop of blood left…heh heh, if he wants it so badly, maybe I should just ask him to harvest it off No.3’s poop.’

     “You want the blood of those giants?” I threw a scornful look at the Warhorse as I said that. “You lot were there as well when your Grand Elder handed the corpses over to us himself. What’s the matter? Regretting that decision already? Do the words of your Grand Elder not count anymore?

     

      Chapter 248

     Source: Imported

      Report

     “Of course the Grand Elder’s words still hold weight, but this is a personal matter between the both of us. This has nothing to do with the Grand Elder.” At that, his eyes narrowed. “While I still don’t know what kind of trickery you used to make the Grand Elder give up on the giants, don’t think for a second that it will work on me. Today, none of you are leaving unless you hand over the blood of the giants.”

     “Trickery? You think his fear of me is because of some kind of trick? Tell me then, exactly what kind of trick is able to scare your Grand Elder into such a wimp?” On the surface, I made sure to put on an uncompromising stance. In my mind however, I was scrambling to work something out with Ferti’nier. The whole reason why I was even bothering to spew all those threats was because I was trying to buy some time.

      ‘Gorgeous, are you there? I seem to be in a little trouble right now.’

      “Oh, this one knows you’re in trouble, this one is having a lot of fun watching you right now.”

      ‘Then…aren’t you going to help me?’

     “This one wants to help you, but this one doesn’t have a body so she can’t help you.’

      ‘Then at least come up with something…if I kick the bucket now, won’t you die as well?’

      “That’s right, if you die, this one will accompany you as well…this one still doesn’t want to die, so do you best to not die.”

      ‘Sister, I’m begging you for help right now, don’t just sit on your bum and do nothing…’

     “Alright, since Little Brother is so insistent, this one will make an exception and help you this once.” Having said that, she flatly stated as such: “Hand over your body.”

      ‘Huh? What do you mean hand over my body?’

      “What this one means is to hand over the control rights of your body…sigh…how about you pull your mind out of the gutters?!”

      ‘Ohh…so you don’t want my body…got me excited for a moment there…I mean, worried. Well then, how do I do that?’

      “At the end of the day, this one is just a soul living in Little Brother’s body, as long as Little Brother gives up on resisting, this one can temporarily take control of your body.”

      ‘Alright then, I give up…hold on, are you sure you won’t take advantage of this situation to steal my body…’

     “This

      ‘I’m ugly? I can’t even my tear eyes away from my own reflection and you call that ugly? How blind can one person get?’

      “Little Brother, now isn’t the time to talk about your appearance.”

      ‘Hey you’re the one that started this fire…forget it, just get on with it, that horse is annoying me.’

      “Little Brother, your body is still rejecting this one, how do you expect this one to assume control of your body?”

      ‘I…I was probably subconsciously rejecting her attempts at taking over my body…well, that won’t do at all, that Warwraith is clearly losing his patience already.’

     “Devil, exactly how long more do you need?” The Warhorse elder in question snorted and then stomped on the ground with his hooves as if to express his dissatisfaction. “Are you trying to buy time for yourself by standing there in a daze?”

      “If you really want the blood of those giants, it’s not impossible, but…”

      “But what?”

     At that, I faked a confident look as I said thusly, smile curving deviously: “You might just have to find more for yourself.”

     “And where would that be?” Asked the elder, clearly not getting what I was trying to say. By now, there was nothing left of those giants except for rocks. If he really wanted more blood…he would have better luck just digging for it since I absorbed all the blood already…

     The whole reason why I was doing all this was naturally to buy some time. But no matter how much time or how hard I tried, the problem still remained: my body kept rejecting Ferti’nier’s attempt subconsciously. In front of me, the Warhorse elder was already looking rather peeved. In fact, for all I knew, he was about to blow his top… ‘this isn’t good, I need to think of something…

      “Since that’s the case, how about we use another method then?”

      ‘What method? We don’t have a lot of time right now so I’m open to anything at this point, no matter how much of a scam it is.’

     The moment I said that, I immediately noticed that something was up with my body. It was…not listening to my commands at all, going so far as to go against my wishes entirely…

     Even without my commands, it was performing a set of strange movements of its own accord.

     ‘I’ stared at the Warhorse elder

     By now, I had basically come to the conclusion that Ferti’nier was up to no good. I desperately tried to pry some answers from her but to no avail. Perhaps she was simply too engrossed in trying to control my body to answer me at this point. Or perhaps the lost of control also meant that my thoughts weren’t being transmitted outwards any longer.

     At the very least however, the Warhorse elder’s strange behavior was definitely due to Ferti’nier’s ability. His eyes were already widening in fear and his body began to shake in response. It was as if he was staring at the most horrific thing in the entire realm as it approached him while he stood there helplessly. In a sense, this situation was similar to that dream ability Shade used on me, though not entirely the same either. After all, his eyes shouldn’t be open at all if Ferti’nier was using some kind of dream ability. Also, he shouldn’t even be able to jerk his head like that; that was clearly an attempt at diverting his eyes. Without a doubt, this elder was conscious and yet he seemed to be in the middle of a nightmare.

     “Impossible…how could you…” He began muttering himself and the shaking grew even more intense by the second. Just standing there, he seemed more like a raving mad horse than a powerful elder.

     Exactly what was he looking at? That I didn’t know, but it had to be something utterly terrifying in order to scare him into a little child like that. Thus, without wasting another word on me, he ran…without even saying a word to his other kin, he ran…as if he was a deserter running away from the battlefield…

     His sudden departure left the other horses in confused conundrum, eyes swivelling about as they tried to seek an answer from amongst themselves. This elder of theirs was clearly the mastermind of this plot; it was him who brought them here to seek revenge so what was he doing running away like that after a mere glance? What were they to do then? He should have at least said something before leaving…

     Now

     Now that the elder in question was gone however, there wasn’t much reason for them to stay any longer. Besides, ‘I’ was acting a little strange at the moment and they seemed to have picked up on this change as well. One after another, they turned around and galloped after their distant elder. From the bloodshot and widened eyes on their equestrian faces, it was like looking at a herd of horses fleeing from some kind of ghost on a bright sunny day…

     Having miraculously chased away the elder, I soon found myself back in control of my body once more. And yet before I could even get an answer out of Ferti’nier, I was bombarded by Mo Na’s ecstatic cry: “Mama is so awesome, the baddie got scared away with just one look!”

     “Master, how did you do that? That was amazing, you’re truly the almighty master!” No.3 and Big 4 both gave a fervent look of worship at the same time.

     As for Sinmosa and Sasani, they glanced at each other but astutely chose not to pry any further.

     Back when I faced off against the Nightmare Steed, I was somehow able to scare that Grand Elder off, entirely because of Ferti’nier of course, but they didn’t know that. Now that Warwraith came knocking, I was once again able to chase him off…if the first time was just mere luck, what about the second time then? Was there even a chance that it was luck then?

     In all likelihood, the two of them had revised their opinion of me from that moment on. After all, I was now an unknown factor to be considered.

      ‘Hey there, Gorgeous, how about talking for a second, what happened back there?’

     In the face of everyone’s praise, all I could do was give them a silly grin while throwing out some superficial excuses. At the same time, I continued asking the Devil King in my body about what had just happened.

      “Little Brother, this one is a little tired now, how about we talk about this later?”

      ‘Alright then, to be honest, I can roughly guess what happened even if you don’t tell me. I bet you forcefully took control of my body, right?’

     “Mhm, after all, your body technically belongs in part to this one as well, ever since Yi Yi had this one take up residence in your body. From that moment on, your body was no longer the same. Normally, this one

      ‘That’s why you needed my unconditional consent?’

      “That’s right, because Little Brother wasn’t able to unconditionally trust this one, this one had to forcefully take control of your consciousness…but this body still tried to resist this one…”

      ‘And that’s why you ended up so tired, am I right?’

      “Mhm…Little Brother isn’t so stupid after all…well, this one is going to sleep now. Don’t try and disturb this one before she wakes up…if Little Brother gets into trouble then…he will have to take care of it himself…”

      ‘Ehh…why does this bodyguard of mine seem so unreliable…each time she helps me out of a pinch, she always ends with a “I’m sleepy” before proceeding to sleep…how is that even the bearing of a Devil King…she’s more like a so— Ahem, that comparison is a little uncouth so I’ll pass on saying it.’

     This little nap of hers was most likely the result of her expending too much mental energy to try and forcefully control my body. Based on that fact, her nap shouldn’t last all that long. Still, our journey couldn’t stop just because of that. Now that the Warhorse elder was gone, our journey should be a lot smoother…or not…when was our journey ever smooth…that was merely wishful thinking on my part…

     With how hurriedly they left, the Warhorses even forgot to take their prey with them so what stood before us now was a Demon Fire Salamander that was over 10 meters long. Its hide was a crimson red and it had a single chipped horn growing on its head. Its body was thoroughly battered at this point, with blood flowing out of multiple gaping wounds on its body.

     Thanks to their abrupt departure, this salamander, who had its left leg thoroughly mangled right now, was basically left to its own devices. And from the trail of blood leading away, I could tell that it was trying to find a lava lake to recover in. Unfortunately for it, the Warhorses lived in a giant plain with hardly any lava lakes to be found nearby.

     ‘Exactly what was it doing here anyway…plus from its size and aura, it’s probably a Six-stars.”

     

      Chapter 249

     Source: Imported

      Report

     The Demon Fire Salamander, with its left leg a bloody mess, crawled along with utmost difficulty. With each step it took, a trail of blood would be left in its wake.

     “Master, that was the salamander fighting against the Warhorses.” Big 4 stared at the salamander and gave a confident nod of his head. “I don’t think there’s even a lava lake within miles of this region so what is it even doing here?”

     As a relatively flat region, there weren’t that many lava lakes to be found here. To be exact, those nearby were more like tiny streams than anything else. The salamander could still fit in them, that much was certain, but that was the extent of all the streams could do. There was just no way a tiny body of lava like that could sustain such a huge Demon Fire Salamander for long.

      ‘Like what Big 4 said, what was a large salamander doing here?’

      ‘In a sense, it’s kind of like a shark somehow making it into a river from the ocean…there’s no way it can sustain itself so why even make the trip?’

      ‘Maybe it’s looking for something…kinda reminds me of how I met Sasani and Sinmosa. Ah, seems just like yesterday when I ended up gaining their help after Sinmosa was injured by the Warhorses while looking for Flamegrass…to be honest, that couple probably wouldn’t even have been in so much trouble had it not been for their baby who born with an abnormality thanks to their close relation…’

      ‘Wait…don’t tell me that salamander is another Yosuga no Sora…’

     (TL: Anime about a brother and sister.)

      “Master, be careful, I think it spotted us…”

     Roughly the same time as we saw it, it saw us as well. It immediately, albeit painfully, swiveled its body around to face us, bloodshot eyes staring right into Sinmosa and Sasani. Without even wasting any time, it was instantly able to tell who was the bigger threat here. Assuming that we fought, of

     “What now, Master?” Concerned that the salamander might attack us at any moment, my two trusty bodyguards, No.3 and Big 4, reflexively shielded me from the salamander and quietly awaited my orders. Having been with me for so long, they were used to not acting without my direct instructions.

     Seeing like that, the salamander stopped as well, abandoning its original intention of finding a lava lake to recuperate in.

     From within its eyes, I could feel an undisguised level of enmity and yet it didn’t attack right away. Was it because its injuries were too severe? Or was it simply because it was sizing us up as potential nourishment, just in case we were too powerful for it to handle alone…either way, there were too many possibilities for me to go through one by one.

     Roar~~~!” In the midst of our tense silence, the salamander suddenly roared, having realized that we had no intention of retreating.

     “Mama, that lizard is scary.” Unable to take the sheer pressure of its roar, Mo Na instinctively hid behind me.

     I gently ruffled her hair and in a gentle voice, placated her: “Don’t worry Sweetie, even though that roar might sound terrifying, it is actually the opposite, that roar is a show of weakness.”

      “Mama, that’s it showing weakness? Why does it sound like its trying to posture itself instead?”

     Still at a tender age, she only knew how to see things on a surface level. As the saying went, a dog that barked, didn’t bite. Often, the truly dangerous dogs were those that were silently glaring at you. The only reason dogs growled so loudly were because they were afraid of us.

     For a beast, if they truly wanted to attack you, they would have done so from the start where they still had the initiative.

     Using my finger to flick her lightly on the nose bridge, I laughed while saying: “Haha, it was telling us not to come close or it would cry.”

     “Mama, you actually know

     Seeing that, I wanted to brag a little more but before I could even speak another word, a coarse voice interrupted me: “I was clearly trying to threaten you just now, if you don’t leave this instant, don’t blame me for being rough. I’ll eat you, I swear! Also, I wasn’t begging for mercy!”

      ‘Eh??? It can talk? But that salamander we met last time couldn’t speak in the tongue of the devil at all so I thought that their race was a little…I even remember it asking that Fire Elemental for help in translating…ahem…well…’

     “So you can speak in the language of the devils, that makes things a lot easier then.” I shrugged my shoulders and with a radiant smile, expressed our lack of enmity.

      “You seem really wounded right now. I bet you’re at least a Six-stars in your peak period else that Warhorse elder wouldn’t have brought so many Warhorses to try and attack you. We don’t wish to fight you so how about we just pretend that we never saw each other and just be on our own merry ways, okay?”

      “Hmph, a devil’s words can’t be trusted.”

      “If you can’t trust them, why are you even talking to me then?”

      “I just couldn’t stand you spewing all that nonsense.”

      “…”

      ‘Don’t you know how to hold a conversation here…I was just teasing you, that’s all…forget it…since we’ve come this far, I doubt we can leave without a fight anyway.’

      “Master, there’s no need to waste your precious time on such a stubborn lizard, let Big 4 and I take care of it.”

     “Master, let us fight, now’s the perfect time to test our new strength anyway.” As he said that, Big shot the salamander, that was as big as a tiny hill, an aggressive look. “We haven’t had the chance to fight

      ‘Now that he mentioned it…the two of them really hadn’t had a chance to duke it out since they’ve evolved. A test would be useful. Besides, that salamander was clearly trying to make me look bad, if I don’t give it some trouble, that itch in me just won’t subside.’

      “In that case, take care you two.”

     Having gotten my permission, the two of them excitedly smiled as they shouted: “Understood, Master!”

     Seeing them act like that, was it simply because of some kind of newfound confidence from having just evolved? Either way, now that the order was given out, they immediately spread their fleshy wings and with a violent gust of wind, took to the skies. By the time I noticed that they were airborne, they were already high above me.

     “Flames!” The two of them shouted in unison. Instantly, their bodies burst into flames but unlike the flames on the Warhorses, which were mostly on the surface only, their bodies actually turned into flames.

     “Mama, how did the two of them turn into Fire Elementals?” Mo Na asked with eyes as wide as saucers.

     “That’s probably their innate Flame Devil ability. Remember how No.3 had his arm turn into flames not too long ago?” I answered though with a slightly unsure tone. This was, after all, their first fight after evolving and Ferti’nier wasn’t here to answer my questions as well.

     “Their opponent is strong, is it really alright for just the two of them to attack?” Sinmosa asked out of concern. While the two of them might have evolved into Infant Flame Devils, they were still weak to the eyes of Sinmosa, even though of them were technically at the same Stars level.

     “Let’s just watch for now. I’m not entirely sure what kind of abilities they have but they should have some kind of defensive ability to rely on should things turn bad.” I confidently stated, the source of said confidence stemming from the fact that the salamander

     For elementals, physical attacks were ineffective on them. While No.3 and Big 4 weren’t completely in an elemental state right now, their physical resistance wasn’t something to scoff at either. As for the salamander’s elemental attack…the two of them were basically borne of flames, its attack would only feed them.

     Just looking at the salamander, I could tell it was seriously injured. There was a stump on its head where a second horn once stood and its left leg was completely mangled. Not only that, there were over a dozen cuts on it that were still bleeding as we spoke.

      ‘Cuts? I thought the Warhorses only used charging attacks, biting attacks, ramming attacks and also elemental attacks? They don’t have any claws like the Hellhounds, nor did they have arms to use any cutting implements like humans…so where did all those cuts come from? They looked like blade or sword cuts even.’

     “Sinmosa, aren’t the wounds on that salamander a little strange?” In terms of knowledge about the Warhorses, I was clearly inferior to Sinmosa so the first thing I did was to seek her opinion. “Those wounds, they seem like cuts. Just look at the entry wounds, they are thin and show no sign of tearing…exactly how did those Warhorses cause such injuries?”

      “Newborn Warhorses are sometimes blessed with a rare innate skill called Sound Blades. Those who have this ability can create a slicing effect with just sound. If I’m not mistaken, that salamander must have met some Warhorse with such an ability.”

      ‘As expected of the Hellhound’s No.1 Beauty, she really knew a ton of things…’

      “A genius like that would definitely enjoy an elevated status no matter which clan they came from. Judging from the depth of the cuts, that Warhorse shouldn’t be higher than Six-stars.”

     

      Chapter 250

     Source: Imported

      Report

      ‘So that Warwraith is actually some kind of hidden boss himself…fascinating.’

     To be honest, there were a wide variety of rare abilities one could be born with. For example, those who were anointed with an original sin like Mo Na, or being born with an elemental affinity like Elena, Eugenia or Numila; they were all gifted individuals in their clans. However, while there might have been a wide variety of abilities to inherit, those who did were far and few between.

     During the time when I was talking to Sinmosa, No.3 and Big 4 started duking it out with that Demon Fire Salamander.

     For the most part, they approached this fight intelligently, choosing not to fight it head on but instead choosing to make use of their natural advantage of flight to harass the salamander. After all, just because their target was riddled with wounds didn’t mean it was a pushover. At the end of the day, it was a Six-stars.

     The two of them took turns to hold the attention of the Demon Fire Salamander. While one attacked, the other would distract the salamander without even needing any sort of communication between them. Initially, this tactic worked spectacularly and the salamander was left scrambling about to try and cope their tactics. Even worse for it was the fact that the both of them concentrated their attacks on its injured limb. If it even lost focus for a single second, it would be instantly met with a couple of lethal attacks from the front and back.

     Because its left front leg was injured, it had a limited range of movement available to it. Adding on the fact that No.3 and Big 4 were able to fly circles around it with their superior mobility, all the injured salamander could do was feebly launch ranged attacks at them.

     Naturally, for a salamander at its level, it had more than just physical attacks in its repertoire. It had a ranged attack of its own as well, but it wasn’t magical in nature. Instead, this ability had more to do with the scope of its innate abilities.

     Dive after dive, the two devils would take

     Just as Big 4 completed another dive, confidence brimming as he soared into the air, he was suddenly onset by countless flame arrows that gathered together into a huge, blinding bunch of flames which soon exploded and engulfed him…

     ‘Sh**, don’t tell me he’s done for…’ Not only was I concerned, so were Mo Na, Sinmosa and Sasasni…

     Yet even our most optimist predictions couldn’t be any further from the truth. With Big 4 as its core, the flames started rapidly fizzling out until only Big 4 was left floating in the air as before, not only uninjured but looking even more radiant than before.

      ‘Don’t tell me he ate those flames…if that’s the case, I would have to thank that salamander then.’

      “I guess flames really can’t harm a Flame Devil, in fact, they feed the devil energy instead…but still…did the salamanders always possess such a long ranged attack?”

     “I’ve never encountered such a case before.” Sinmosa answered immediately, without any hesitation whatsoever. “Perhaps that’s its own unique ability. After all, for a salamander to survive for so long under the onslaught of those Warhorses, it had to have something special in its arsenal.”

      “Mhm. That sneak attack was really well executed, if Big 4 hadn’t evolved into a Infant Flame Devil, he would have probably died then. Even a Flame Demon Childe’s fire resistance isn’t even to cope with a conflagration of that magnitude.”

     Once we discovered that its ranged attacks weren’t going to harm them but instead help them, No.3 and Big 4 immediately dropped their wary stance. Clearly, with all of its ranged attacks ineffective, that salamander probably wasn’t going to try and launch anymore ranged attacks at them. In all likelihood, this battle was going to be decided

     Once again targeting its crippled limb, No.3 and Big 4 split up once more, each taking up a flank as they cycled through their attacks, one from the left and the other from the right.

     No.3 dove in, winds rushing around him as he delivered a resounding swipe at the crippled front left limb. Seeing that, the salamander immediately turned its sight onto the offending devil and counterattacked. On the other hand, while the salamander was distracted, Big 4 took the opportunity to sneak a swift punch and kick to its soft underbelly.

     Naturally, the salamander was able to sense his approach but it simply didn’t have to ability to react because of its injuries. Trying to cover its belly and limb at the same time, the salamander nearly collapsed onto the ground thanks to its awkward positioning. By the time it was able to stabilize itself and raise its head once more, it was met with the taunting gazes of No.3 and Big 4…

     With the way the two of them pestered the salamander, I wouldn’t be surprised if it just got annoyed to death at this point.

     My eyes were completely glued to the fight right now. It was then that Sinmosa coldly muttered: “Weak…”

      “What’s weak?”

      “That salamander, it’s too weak. There’s no way a Six-stars Demon Fire Salamander could be so weak. Furthermore, just look at the way it keeps trying to protect its underbelly. From its standpoint, it would make more sense to just try and take down No.3 who keeps trying to attack its injured limb. Big 4’s attacks might be powerful, but they aren’t at the level where its own defenses couldn’t handle them unless…”

      ‘Deliberating protecting its underbelly…appearing in a region where it shouldn’t be…why does this remind me of something.’

     I turned my gaze onto its belly and gave it a hard look. There, I found no wounds whatsoever…even though its body was covered in cuts all over and drenched in blood, only that particular

      “Is that a male or a female salamander?”

     “A female.” Sinmosa immediately answered. While I wasn’t the best at recognizing a creature’s gender, Sinmosa clearly wasn’t the case.

      “Is it pregnant?”

     “That…I can’t tell.” She answered albeit with a slightly exasperated look. In her mind, she was probably saying to herself, how would she know…not like she was some kind of gynecologist for beasts…

     Since she had no way of telling if the salamander was pregnant or not, it was now up to me and my well-honed soul sensing abilities. Because of the salamander’s significantly higher strength, I initially wasn’t able to get much information from her soul. However, because of her serious injuries, I managed to make out a sea of soul fragments wandering about in her body, after some digging on my part. Normally, a soul only had one soul within its body, if there was more than one soul living within that body, then it would be safe to say that the creature in question was pregnant…naturally, I was an exception to this rule…

      “Don’t tell me…it’s about to give birth, isn’t it…”

     That was the only possibility I could think of at the moment. The reason for her uncharacteristic behavior must have been precisely because of that; in order to stabilize her birth, this salamander came looking for Flamegrass from Warhorse territory. The Warhorses must have stumbled on her and she ended up as their prey… ‘So the salamanders like Yosuga no S*ra too…ahem, I think all that talk about blood relations is starting to get to me…not everything related to Flamegrass has to be about Yos*ga no Sora…’

     “Stop!” I yelled out to the two of them. “Come back for now.”

     With that possibility in mind, I immediately halted their attacks. Still basking in the elation of being able to bully someone of a higher Stars level than them, my sudden command stunned them for a moment but the both of them soon recovered and returned to my side without any hesitation.

     By now, the salamander was basically a defeated lizard, completely unable to retaliate at all, or perhaps she simply chose not

      “Master, we’re back.”

     As they landed beside me, the both of them had a look of confusion on their faces. In their minds, they probably weren’t able to comprehend why I recalled them when the battle was about to end. Their foe clearly had no way of resisting so victory was merely a matter of time.

     To me however, it wasn’t a matter of victory at all. What we were doing was ganging up on a pregnant mother who was ready to give up her life for her baby. No matter who it was, or what they were, this show of motherly affection was universal. For us to act against such a mother would just be…

     Besides, we didn’t actually have any sort of blood feud with this salamander; all she did was make fun of me for a second or so. Now that I had taught her a lesson, there really wasn’t a point in attacking her anymore.

      ‘As they say, the cycle of hatred and all that…heh heh, just look at me, repaying her belligerence with magnanimity…I know, I’m such a noble guy.’

      “Let’s go, it won’t be able to block our way anymore.”

     The moment I said that, everyone, including Mo Na and Cinderel, gave me a bewildered look as if I had just done something inexplicable…

      “What’s up with you guys?”

      ‘I’ll be honest here, that look you guys are giving me right now, creeps me out. Don’t tell me you guys all got possessed or something…’

     

      Chapter 251

     Source: Imported

      Report

     No.3 gingerly asked me: “Master, aren’t we killing it?”

     Big 4, plucking up the courage to speak as well: “The soul of a Six-stars is definitely going to be a feast…”

     Sinmosa shook her head: “A high level prey like this doesn’t come along all too often.”

     Sasani, still unable to speak in the devil language, merely nodded in agreement.

     “Exactly, Mo Na thinks Mama is being wasteful as well.” As she rode on my shoulders, she folded her arms like a little adult and expressed her dissatisfaction: “Mama is just too willful.”

     “Woof woof.” Cinderel barked as well, seemingly agreeing with Mo Na.

     Just like that, a schism was formed on how we were to handle this salamander…fine, it was just me versus everyone else.

     Naturally, my stance was that we should let her go while the others wanted her dead, pregnant or not. After all, this was Purgatory, and they were devils, not some kind of hot blooded warrior with a sense of honor. Survival of the fittest, by consuming the weak, one became strong. Kill or be killed, and all that stuff…

     Still, while the others were a little puzzled by my show of mercy, they accepted my decision in the end since I was the one making the decisions in this team.

     “Well, it was No.3 and Big 4 who brought her down in the first place, so I’ll leave the decision up to you.” Sinmosa said as such after exchanging a glance with her husband; this was her way of saying that they wouldn’t interfere.

     “We’ll listen to the Master’s wishes.” No.3 and Big 4 said in unison while acting like the loyal bodyguards that they were.

     “Mo Na will listen to Mama as well.” There was still a clear look of reluctance in her eyes but this adorable daughter of mine clearly had no intention of defying me.

     “Woof woof~~~!” Came Cinderel’s barks, seemingly as a way to show her existence in the group. Naturally, I still had no way of telling what she meant by those barks but most likely they were barks of support.

     Thus, with everyone’s support, the salamander was set free.

     On the other side, the

      “Exactly what is it in the east that has her attention so captured?”

     “Master, there so happens to be a body of lava large enough to fit that salamander just three li away from here. She’s probably heading there.” Having scouted this area from the air before, No.3 was the one who gave me that answer: “She’s probably trying to replenish her strength there.”

      “Three Li? That’s pretty close, in that case, let’s be on our way then. That salamander should be able to reach that herself.”

     *Crack*

     As I said that however, her left leg suddenly caved in and with a loud bang, her body soon followed after.All around her, the ground trembled and the dust flew about, displaced by her massive body’s crash. With injuries so severe, her body finally couldn’t take the strain anymore and collapsed…

      ‘This…you’re kidding me…’

     “I’ll go take a look.” Seeing my face darken, Big 4 volunteered to check up on the salamander even without me asking, returning mere moments later with this report: “Master, I don’t think she will last long.”

     “…” Even without looking, I could tell how black my face was at the moment.

     “So what should we do, Master?” Noticing that I hadn’t spoken in a while, Big 4 asked as such in a perplexed voice: “Should we just be on our way?”

      “…”

     “Should we eat it then?” No.3 pointed at the weakened salamander who was breathing raggedly at this moment, and then made a eating gesture.

      “…”

      ‘What now…I swear, could my luck have been any worse? I already let the big fellow go and yet who would’ve thought that she would drop the ball so soon after. We hadn’t even left yet and she had already collapsed…well…should we kill her or save her?’

     “She’s most probably about to give birth.” Having had experience with this, Sinmosa was able to provide this precise assessment with just a mere glance at the salamander. “The previous battle must have triggered the womb and brought the birth forward.”

     Hearing the word ‘birth’, I immediately asked: “Will

      “Probably not…”

      ‘What do you mean probably not, it is clearly a no. After being wounded so badly by the Warhorses, and after being bullied by No.3 and Big 4, how would she even have the energy to give birth…she’s clearly about to die!’

      “Can we save her?”

     “It will be hard.” Sinmosa then paused for a couple of seconds before sighing: “Unless we have a Fire Elemental Core, Flamegrass or some other treasure at the level of those giants’ blood…well…”

      ‘I did have two cores, but they were all used up by Cinderel and Sinmosa. As for the blood, that was gone too. I have never even seen a Flamegrass before too…’

     “I still want to save her…” Had she not been pregnant, I would have never tried to save her, male or female; neither would I ever let her go like that. But once it concerned a pregnant creature…I simply couldn’t ignore her plight. Standing idly by now wasn’t something a human would do at all…though I technically was a devil now. Still, my heart was that of a human’s. This was something I refused to budge on; there was just no way I would ever give up this benevolent heart of mine!

     With that settled on, I gave Sinmosa a resolute look as I said this: “Tell me how I can save her.”

      “Are you sure? She was our enemy just a while ago too…letting her go was already merciful enough…”

     “I’m sure.” I nodded my head and said so once more without any hesitation: “I want to try and save her, no matter what, I want to give it a shot.”

     “Alright then…I understand.” Sinmosa resigned herself to following my whims once more. At the very least however, the face she had on told me that she understood the salamander’s plight somewhat. After all, she used to be in the same position as well. Thus she knew how painful it was to be unable to protect one’s own child. For a mom, like Sinmosa and that salamander, the most tragic thing wouldn’t be that they died but rather that their death wasn’t

     Truth be told, I could vaguely tell that it wasn’t only me who wanted to save that salamander, Sinmosa probably did as well, else she could have just kept silent.

     “Even though I never seen a salamander give birth before, I know that they will seek out a lava lake when it’s time, and lay their egg in that lake…” Sinmosa then pointed eastward: “It would be best if we placed her in that lava lake in the east.”

     “I don’t think that’s possible…” I stretched out my arms in order to illustrate my point. Just thinking about how huge that salamander was could give me a headache. “Besides, with her current condition, moving her might just achieve the opposite effect, unless we are strong enough to easily lift her up…”

     “Then we’ll just have to create the right environment here.” Having said that, Sinmosa turned her head to face Sasani, who was standing beside her idly all this while in a daze: “There should be some Flamegrass nearby, Big Brother, how about you go find some. They should be in the west if I’m not mistaken.”

     “Woof.” Sasani nodded his head before galloping towards the west.

      “How do you know that there are Flamegrasses there?”

     “Normally, one would escape in the direction from which they came. Thankfully, the terrain around this region isn’t complicated, with not much obstacles to speak of. Because of that, those who are travelling with a purpose would choose to take a straight line. Adding these two bits together, the fact that she was fleeing towards the east probably meant that she was heading towards the west previously…” She calmly laid out her deductions but upon realizing how much time it took her to do so, she stopped midway and turned to No.3 and Big 4 instead. “Since we can’t bring her to the lake, we just have to bring a lake to her.”

      “We’re creating our own?”

      ‘I just wanted to save a lizard…how did this whole affair suddenly become so huge…’

     “Based on what I saw from the previous battle, and the fact that they are

      ‘Kinda like how people used to dig for underground water…so what she’s saying is that she wants the two of them to dig for one…like a hot spring!’

     As reality would soon prove, she was right. Not long after I sent the two of them away, they actually found one such underground lake with their senses. It just so happened that the lake was a mere two meters away from where that salamander was.

     “Master, we detected the energy signatures of a lava lake here, roughly less than 10 meters below the ground.” No.3 pointed at the blackened ground beneath him and said so, chest puffed out. “This is the spot, there’s no mistaking it.”

     “That’s right, it’s here.” Standing just beside No.3, Big 4 proceeded to give the ground a solid punch, creating a pothole in the process. “It’s rather hard too…”

      “Well, let’s get started then, try to create a hole that can fit her.”

     “One that’s just enough to fit her?” Big 4 scratched his head. “The ground is pretty hard…”

     “Of course bigger would be better.” I glared at Big 4 for his silly question. “Start digging then you two, that salamander might just start giving birth any moment now…”

     “Understood, Master!” Upon receiving my command, the two of them immediately got down to punching the earth. Fist after fist, they pounded into the earth and in just one short minute, they managed to dig a meter deep into the earth…though the width of their hole was a little lacking…rather than digging a lake, it was more like we were digging a well…

     “I’ll help too.” Sinmosa gave Cinderel a tender look as she said that. “Speaking of which, had I not met you then…I might have just…this salamander is truly fortunate to have met you.”

     “Then I’ll join in as well.” Since Sinmosa was going to help as well, there was no reason for me not to.

      “Mo Na too!”

      “Woof woof!”

     

      Chapter 252

     Source: Imported

      Report

     “Your levels aren’t high enough, and your strengths not high enough as well. Forcing yourselves would only hinder our progress instead.” Sinmosa shook her head and flatly stated as such: “If you guys really want to help out, just stand there quietly.”

      “…”

      ‘Who knew…Sinmosa actually had such a direct side to her as well…’

     Since we were basically labelled as deadweight, we now had the honor of being audience members instead.

     With Sinmosa’s participation, the entire digging process proceeded much faster. Sinmosa’s digging method was quite different from the two devils who were basically bashing a hole into the ground…she was actually digging!

     Condensing a layer of mana around her claws, she then strengthened them and started digging into the ground like a normal doggy would. Because of how fast she dug, she alone was more efficient than No.3 and Big 4 combined.

      ‘I guess all that talk about cats something something wall and dogs something something holes was true after all…’

     While waiting for the digging to complete, there really wasn’t much to do so I approached the salamander, partly out of boredom, and partly out of concern. She wasn’t looking too good. Her eyes were shut as if she was in a comatose state. Thankfully, I could still faintly see the rise and falls of her chest meaning that she was at least breathing and alive.

     Standing around wasn’t going to accomplish anything however and it so happened that Cinderl’s little tummy decided to growl then. Roughly taking stock of the time, I found that it was about mealtime anyway. Thus, I decided to take Cinderel and Mo Na with me on a little excursion to that lava lake, in order to find some food. Normally, this work would have been done by No.3 and Big 4 but since they were clearly busy today, I did it instead.

     Sharing this plan of mine with Mo Na, I was met with her delighted squeals after which

     However, the moment I reached that lava lake in question, which was roughly ten meters in width, I had a change of heart. The reason was because I found a normally sized Two-stars Demon Fire Salamander duking it out with a Two-stars Fire Devouring Fish.

     Such occurrences weren’t rare between the two races but this time was different, at least it was to me…

      “Mama, they are fighting over there, should we help?”

     While Mo Na might not have understood why I did the things I did, she clearly understood my inclinations and did her best to suit them. Had this been the past, she would have probably just waited quietly by my side for the two sides to tire themselves out before swooping in for the final kill. Now however…perhaps it was because I decided to help that Six-stars salamander, but it seemed like she had placed the salamanders as a whole on the Do-Not-Hunt List.

     Whether that was a good or bad thing, that I didn’t know. At the very least however, I knew that my words and actions were affecting her. In that sense, this whole affair was a good thing.

      “Kill that fish, and capture the salamander.”

     “Are we eating it then?” Mo Na gave me a quizzical look then.

      “Not to eat, we’re going to communicate with it.”

      “How?”

     Mo Na was still slightly confused but she chose not to continue asking any further, because I had already started attacking. A whip, wrought of pure flames, burst to life from my left hands, swiftly snaking towards that fish and ensnaring it just as it was about to take a bite out of that salamander. I tossed the fish high into the air with a flick of my wrist and with my other free

     As for that slightly dazed salamander, I coiled my Flame Whip around it. With one quick flick and flourish, I brought it over to my side.

     “Grr…” The salamander tumbled about a couple of times before promptly springing to its feet. It cautiously retreated backwards while giving me a sharp, apprehensive glare.

     “Get back here.” I sheathed Shadowfang and then tugged at my whip gently, forcing him closer towards me

     “GRR!!” It knew that running away was impossible now thus all it could do was to warn me even louder. In truth, its growls seemed a little comical to me.

     “I know you can’t speak in the devil’s tongue, but you should at least be able to understand what I’m saying.” I flatly stated as such, ignoring its obvious show of bravado. Not caring at all whether it believed me, I went straight to the point: “There’s a high level salamander over there who is seriously injured. She’s pregnant and is about to give birth. Because she’s too big, we can’t move her, and that’s why I hope that you can help us summon the Demon Fire Worms over to feed her. In fact, it would best if you can help us dig as well, our digging speed is rather slow…”

      “Moouuu!!”

     Even though I still couldn’t understand it, I roughly knew that it didn’t trust me at all. To be honest…this whole communication thing was something I thought of on the spur of the moment.

     Not too long ago, when I had Big 4 and No.3 capture a salamander back to experiment on, I learnt it had the ability to summon worms to aid in its self-regeneration. Back then, that salamander we caught was in a similar situation as well

     In my opinion, that was probably an innate ability of theirs. The reason why she didn’t summon the worms to her side was probably because they were too far away from her and even if she managed to, those worms probably wouldn’t help all that much either, given how small they were compared to her relative size. More than likely, they would just be snacks for her…a final meal of sorts.

     Going back to the salamander before me, it was probably suspicious of words because of this fact as well. All salamanders had the ability to summon worms so why would we need its help? That other salamander could have just summoned the worms herself.

      “So you’re saying you don’t trust us then?”

     “Mouu!!” The salamander nodded its head, clearly stating its meaning despite the language barrier.

      “Mama, since it doesn’t believe us, what should we do then?”

     “It doesn’t matter whether or not it believes us, I’ll make it believe.” I kept my whip coiled tightly around the salamander. “Sweetie, I want you and Cinderel to head back first and call for Big 4.”

     “Got it, Mama.” While she still didn’t know what I was planning, Mo Na obediently flew off anyway.

     A while later, Big 4 came flying towards me alone.

      “Master, I’ve come.”

      “Mhm, bring this fellow back with you.”

     I flicked my wrist, withdrew my whip and tossed the salamander, who was giving me a dirty look right now, right at Big 4’s feet.

     “Master, that’s the food you caught?” Big 4 asked as he firmly caught the struggling salamander, and snuggly kept it by his waist. With his other hand, he scratched his head slightly: “There doesn’t seem to be enough food.”

     “Did I ever say that it is food?” I raised an eyebrow. “Just go back first.”

     “Kay.” Seeing that I wasn’t exactly in the best of moods, he gingerly

     Probably triggered by the word ‘food’, the salamander, realizing that its days were numbered. immediately started struggling for its life. That however, merely annoyed Big 4. He tightened his grip on the salamander and by applying a tad more force on it, smashed the salamander against his waist. It writhed about in pain but at least it stopped struggling.

     Having subdued the unruly salamander, Big 4 gave a satisfied harrumph, proving his own dominance in the process.

      “Be careful, I don’t want it hurt. I still need it to go take a look at that pregnant salamander. If it dies on me now, I would have to find another one, and that, I have no time for. Go bring it back, quick.”

      “Understood, Master.”

     With a flap of his fleshy wings, Big 4 flew off with the salamander while I sprinted behind him like a speeding car.

     By the time I returned to the salamander, I stumbled upon the sight of that Two-stars salamander anxiously mooing towards that pregnant salamander. From its frantic actions, I could tell that it was completely at a loss as to what to do.

     Seeing me return, it no longer showed any sign of enmity as it stared at me.

      “Stop crying about like that, go summon your kin, quick. It might give birth anytime, or it might just die before that, either way, we have no time to lose.”

     “Mou.” The salamander furiously nodded its head before sprinting off towards the lake in the east.

     However, its speed was simply too slow and its wagging tail and body just seemed to annoy me.

     ‘Too slow… at this rate, that salamander will turn into a popsicle before it returns.’ Thus I turned to Big 4 and said: “Big 4, give it a lift, and be quick about it.”

     “Understood, Master.” Just like that, Big 4 became a taxi driver…for an unpaid two-way trip no less.

     

      Chapter 253

     Source: Imported

      Report

     To be honest, that salamander’s speed wasn’t really that slow; it was just my irate mood that made me feel so uncomfortable.

     In terms of its speed, it was at least at the level of a sprinting human male. Furthermore, as a creature of Purgatory, one could be sure that its stamina was sufficient to cover the entire three Li even at that speed.

     However, when compared to Big 4’s flying speed, that impressive level of speed was a little lacking then…

     Scooped up by Big 4 once more, the salamander didn’t struggle at all this time. Instead, it obediently allowed the devil to grab it and fly away. From this, along with all my other experiences so far, I could basically conclude that the creatures of Purgatory weren’t actually stupid…they simply weren’t able to speak the language of the devils and that resulted in certain complications. However, simple differentiation was still all right. Moreover, they all had one thing in common…they were pragmatic…

     Looking at the soaring crimson figure in the air, I couldn’t help but sigh in frustration. ‘When would I ever be able to evolve into a Four-stars…also, you’d better not kick the bucket after I did all this for you…live and lay that egg of yours…otherwise all my efforts would have been for naught…come to think of it, what is a devil like me doing, saving another person…ahem, I mean salamander…’

     Roughly ten minutes later, Big 4 came flying back. Because his flying speed this time wasn’t all that fast, I was able to get a good look at him along with…a horde of salamanders slowly appearing over the horizon, behind them was an even larger horde of wiggling Demon Fire Worms…

     Truth be told, this was the first time I had seen so many salamanders and worms gathered together. All of them were sprinting as fast as they could and given how the worms had no limbs at all and had to crawl ahead by contracting and expanding its body…the sight that bombarded

     Soon, the salamanders in front began to widen the distance between them and the worms thanks to their furious sprinting.

     “Master, I’m back…” His face was a little pale as he landed; most likely this was the result of all the pressure he was under right now. Even though those salamanders weren’t likely to attack us, the pressure was still immense given how many of them there actually were…especially how those worms at the back looked like a horde of maggots crawling towards us…that pressure…it was as heavy as a mountain…so overbearing, it’s almost invincible!

     Crawling up to me, one of the salamanders separated from the group and from the aura it gave out, it was probably a Four-stars. It was the largest salamander amongst its peers but when compared to that Six-stars…it was at most half of its size.

     Still, it could be considered massive already, with its nearly 5 meters long body.

     “Greetings, Devil, My name is Nozala, one of the salamanders living in the nearby lava lake. If it’s possible, I would like to start with the rescue operation immediately.” Even though its tone was polite, I could feel its eyes boring into me all throughout the conversation. I could tell that it didn’t trust me all that much. Should I even try anything funny right now, it and the horde behind it would undoubtedly dogpile me in a heartbeat. Still, in a real fight, we shouldn’t fare too badly. At the very least, we should still be able to escape even against such a horde.

     “Alright, that’s exactly why I was looking for you. Honestly, I hope she is able to safely deliver the egg as well.” Truthfully, Nozala’s stare unnerved me somewhat but I wasn’t going to harp on this matter now. After all, them coming here was a risk for them as well. This entire situation could have easily been a trap that I had set for them…given the horrible reputation devils had managed to garner

     I signalled for everyone to step aside in order to make space for the salamanders. Sinmosa quietly nodded her head and trotted over to my side. No.3 and Big 4 came flying to my side aside, keeping a safe distance from the salamanders.

     “Hmm, we can’t move her…looks like we just have to die into an underground lava stream…this location isn’t half bad, let’s keep digging downwards then…” After inspecting the pregnant salamander, Nozala couldn’t help but sigh before commanding the rest of the salamanders to commence digging.

     Prior to this, No.3, Big 4 and Sinmosa managed to dig a rather sizeable hole so all they had to do now was follow the general direction of their digging. Naturally, the over ten thousand strong worm army had no digging power to speak of. Moreover, those worms were still a good distance away because of their slower crawling speed so there really wasn’t a point in expecting anything out of them.

     Upon making the necessary arrangements, Nozala then walked up to me, seemingly full of questions to ask.

     “Devil, till now I have no idea why you are helping her, what is your motive? Exactly how is this benefiting you?” Before I could answer however, Nozala shook its head and said thusly: “If you are trying to use her as bait, I don’t think you will even be able to find a juicier target than her, so what exactly is your motive?”

     “I don’t care if you believe me or not but I really have no ulterior motives here. I just couldn’t bear to see a mother suffer…” At that, I sighed. “If it hadn’t been for me informing you of this news, she would’ve been dead by now. Before this, none of you even knew about this situation.”

     “That’s right. She’s an outsider. I’ve asked my other clan salamanders, they did, in fact, spot her passing by the outskirts of our territory. We assumed she was only passing by and had no intention of stopping

      “It’s understandable but I hope you get a few things straight here, we are all trustworthy, and the most important thing right now is to save her.”

      “Speaking of that, her wounds are too severe…we can’t ensure her survival…if only we had some Flamegrass..”

     “If it’s about the Flamegrass, I think we can help you out there, probably…” Seeing Nozala wag its tail so anxiously, I decided to break this bit of good news prematurely: “I have a companion out searching for Flamegrass, if it goes well, I’m sure he will be back soon.”

     “Is that so? Then I couldn’t be anymore grateful…I’m truly sorry for doubting you back then…” Nozala’s attitude instantly improved the moment I said that.

      “No problem, truth be told, her injuries were in part due to me as well…”

      ‘Err…’

     Faster than I could say ‘oops’, Nozala’s expression darkened. Its eyes took on a sharp, dangerous glint as it stared daggers into me: “Exactly what do you mean by that?”

     “Oh…honestly, I found her fighting with some Warhorses and because those Warhorsesspotted us, they turned their attention tous instead and right at the very end, we managed tochase away those Warhorses and happened on her and…” I hurriedly explained myself. Unfortunately, my words were a little minced together so I wasn’t all that sure if Nozala understood them. “When we met her, she was already severely injured and highly suspicious of us. She thought we were trying to ambush her so she refused to let us pass through…so we ended up fighting and she lost…”

      “Then why didn’t you kill her and instead save her?”

     “It’s not like we have some kind of deep seated grudge. Besides, bullying a pregnant mother…an injured one no less…is just…” With no other way to explain my intentions, I said thusly:

      “But it’s also a fact that you injured her, am I right?”

      “That’s right. No matter what, we did have a part in injuring her.”

     With no way to proceed with this conversation, the both of us fell silent and the mood instantly became heavy. The salamanders continued digging as always but I could now feel a certain portion of them keeping their eyes on us. Judging from their wary, battle-ready stance, their target would most likely be me…

     No.3, Big 4, Sinmosa, Mo Na and Cinderal, all noticed the strange atmosphere as well, each entering an alert stance. As of right now, both sides were just a hair’s breadth away from fighting; all we were missing now was Nozala’s command.

     A well-intentioned act that ended up going awry…those weren’t all that rare. For example, it wasn’t rare to see a person trying to do a good deed but ended up achieving the opposite because of his incorrect methods or bad communication skills. What happened to us now was the perfect example of just that…all I did was let slip something and the mood instantly took a dangerous turn.

     Both sides waited with bated breaths, as if a pin drop could trigger an all-out war between the two sides. Yet just as I thought that Nozala was going to pull the trigger, it suddenly relaxed its aura.

      “Forget it, even though I find it hard to believe myself, I feel that you mean us no harm. After all, if you hadn’t told us about her, there was nothing stopping you all from just consuming her.”

      “…”

      ‘When he put it like that, I really must say…I’m such a moron…there laid a perfectly helpless piece of Six-stars salamander meat and I just had to open my big mouth and summon a whole army of salamanders instead…right now, we are basically caught between a rock and a hard place thanks to this blasted mouth of mine…’

     

      Chapter 254

     Source: Imported

      Report

     As the saying went, ‘a leopard never changes its spots’; some fundamental things were just too hard to change. Just like how a dog likes to lick strange matters, like how cats loved fish, or like how otakus had to love lolis, all of these were laws written into nature itself, facts, unchanging…

     In short, expecting me to abandon this silly streak of mine wasn’t going to be easy.

     Still, at least from Nozala’s words, I was able to tell that he wasn’t going to try and trouble us any further. Honestly though, it didn’t matter even if he did. Even if we couldn’t beat them, we could at least escape; our mobility was leagues above theirs after all.

     (TL: I’m assuming Nozala’s gender to be male.)

     Thanks to Nozala’s show of trust, that heavy mood that pervaded this scene just moments ago lessened considerably. Yet, it was the return of Sasani that ultimately expunged all the tension between us.

     His return could only be described as timely, and more importantly, he came back with a bunch of unknown matter in his mouth that looked like flames. Although I had never seen such a thing before, I knew right away that it had to be the legendary Flamegrass everyone had been talking about, the same one which was good for pregnant moms. It had to be said however, that this plant was only effective on creatures of the fire element, at the very least they had to have some form of fire resistance or else…it wouldn’t even be usable, probably.

     Having just returned, Sasani was immediately shocked by the giant horde of salamanders facing him. He had clearly left this place with just one giant salamander and yet after a short excursion to find some Flamegrass, that number multiplied by several hundredfold… Initially, the shocked Sasani was doubtful whether or not he had even returned to the right place so he merely galloped about on the outskirts. Most likely he was trying to determine the situation first or perhaps he was worried that something had happened to us, so he didn’t want to alert the salamanders to his presence.

     Thankfully, it was Sinmosa who discovered his presence first and called out to him, at that point, he came trotting back to us with Flamegrass in mouth.

     It was then that I discovered that Flamegrass

     “Flamegrass…” The moment Nozala saw the Flamegrass in Sasani’s mouth, his expression immediately changed. He desperately wanted the grass but in the end he chose to keep quiet. After all, we just had a bit of unpleasantness between us not too long; whether or not we would even hand over the Flamegrass was still an uncertainty to him.

     “Sasani, give him the Flamegrass.” Upon hearing that, Sasani turned to look at Sinmosa first who nodded back at him, he then handed over the Flamegrass.

     “Thank you…thank you…” He continuously thanked us before running off with the grass and placing it by the mouth of that Six-stars salamander.

     Perhaps it was because she sensed the Flamegrass near her or perhaps Nozala had used some method to awaken her, either way her once-closed eyes slowly opened up and the pupils within swivelled about to take a look at the situation.

     “I don’t remember calling for you all…” Her voice was very weak, seemingly on the verge of being snuffed out like a candle.

     “It was that devil over there who called us.” Nozala threw us a grateful look before continuing on: “I’ve already learnt about the situation from that devil. I know you mean well and do not wish to implicate us, but this time you were…”

     Nozala probably wanted to say that she was wrong then but because of their vast level differences, he couldn’t bring himself to say such an accusatory word.

     “Perhaps…” By now, no matter how dense she was, she should be able to discern the back and forth that happened before. Thus, she didn’t blame Nozala for his rudeness but merely exhaled on the Flamegrass, causing it to sway a little in the wind: “You are the one who brought this Flamegrass here?”

      “No…it was the Devil who gave it to us…”

      “Is that so…looks like I was really wrong then…”

     She gave me an apologetic look while I simply smiled back at her. ‘I bet I am glowing with white light right now…’

     She inexplicably nodded at me and upon doing so, gulped

     It was at that point that the salamanders finally broke through into the underground lava streams, causing an eruption of lava to spew forth from the ground and fill up a miniature lake 10 meters wide. Naturally, this was only the beginning. The salamanders continued digging as before, hoping to dig a hole large enough for the pregnant salamander to soak in as soon as possible.

     It was then that the horde of Demon FIre Worms finally arrived. An almost endless wave of worms crawled towards us ,layer by layer, until there were only 50 meters separating them from the pregnant salamander. There, they started the process of splitting themselves off with one half crawling up to the side of the salamander while the other half proceeded to return. At that very moment, all she had to do was open her mouth and an entire feast would come jumping into it.

     Soon, the pregnant salamander was able to slowly open her eyes, most likely a result of the Flamegrass’s nourishment. She opened her mouth wide open and the first wave of split-off Demon Fire Worms leaped into her mouth…*gulp*, the worms went down her throat while she kept her mouth wide open for the next batch of worms to jump in…

     No matter how many times I saw this, I couldn’t help but be amazed by this spectacle. The world was a truly a vast place, filled with all sorts of oddities I could never have imagined or understood. The way they leaped into danger like that probably didn’t make much sense to others, but for them, this was their existence.

     While the worms continued replenishing her energy, the other salamanders continued digging the lake. Soon, the massive salamander was covered in lava within their artificial lake.

     The seconds ticked by and soon I had even forgotten about them entirely. All I knew was that other than us observers, everyone else had their hands full with work. It felt like we had suddenly turned into freeloaders, even though all that work they were carrying out right now was basically done by us before…

     Childbirth was something I had never witnessed before. Whether it was Mo Ci’s or Sinmosa’s,

     By now, the salamander was completely covered in lava and the other salamanders soon stopped digging as well, once the lake reached twenty meters wide. One by one, the salamanders crawled onto the shore and quietly waited with bated breaths for the moment of truth. As for those Demon Fire Worms, they were no longer there…because she ate them all.

     No one spoke a word throughout this tense period. The pregnant salamander kept quiet as well while she soaked in the newly dug up lava lake, motionless as if she was hibernating.

     No one moved an inch and even our breathing was kept to an absolute minimum as the seconds ticked deafeningly by in our heads. Finally, the time that seemed to had frozen up till that point, moved.

     The lava surface started bubbling all of a sudden, as if something was about to come bursting out of the lava lake. Pieces of igneous rock started to float to the top because of this violent movement…

      ‘Is she going to give birth?’

     That was the first thought that occured to me. I stretched out my neck to have a peek, just in time to catch a glimpse of several unknown objects that looked just like frog eggs floating up to the surface. These so-called frog eggs were rather small, each coming in at only the size of an adult’s fist. They weren’t, however, as simple as their floating exterior would suggest. Under the crimson, viscous surface was layer after layer of said unknown object. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if the entire section of that lake was filled with it, from bottom to top.

     These strange objects were most likely the eggs she had just laid. Other than a layer of white wrapping around them, the only other color I saw was a tinge of red within. Discounting the color, they looked exactly like frog eggs.

     *MOUU*

     The pregnancy was a success and the salamanders all cheered in response. Because of all the nourishment she received from the Demon Fire Worms, a miscarriage was avoided entirely. In short, the mother was safe…

     Having just gone through such a harrowing experience, the salamander was naturally worn out. She wanted to have a closer look at her

     Soon after she fell asleep, those newly laid eggs slowly turned a blackish red. During that entire process, I could clearly tell that they were absorbing the rocks and magma around them and slowly turning red and black as a result. At the same time, their gelatinous exterior started to harden and turn into the same rocky material that they absorbed not too long ago…

     That’s right, those eggs were all turning into stone, the really hard kind too…

     The entire lava lake was soon filled with red and black rocks that if stepped on, would most likely feel exactly like solid ground…

     At the very least however, it was all over…I heaved a deep sigh of relief. This was the first time I had truly witnessed a life being born and I had to admit, I was rather excited. Even now, my heart was still beating furiously in my heart. ‘How should I say this, it feels like I had just accomplished something! From today onwards, I’m a man who had delivered a baby! Wooooo.’

     Upon confirming her safety, Nozala slowly, and calmly walked up to me: “I’m extremely grateful for this, if it wasn’t for your help, I’m afraid our race might have ended up paying an exorbitant price…”

     The fact that I wasn’t just ‘the Devil’ anymore, showed how much his attitude had changed.

     “There’s no need for all that, since she’s all right, we should be going as well.” I was rather happy right now, given how successful all this was. Not only was I part of this entire process, I played a crucial role as well. ‘I don’t know why but I am  just so happy and fulfilled right now.’

     “Leave? Right now? What’s the rush?” Upon hearing me say that we were about to leave, a shocked Nozala asked as such: “Where are you all heading to? If it’s not too inconvenient, I would love for you all to stay a while so that we may show our gratitude.”

      “It’s fine, I rather leave sooner. As for our destination, we are heading towards the royal capital of the former kingdom of Sable Radiance. I’ve heard that all we have to do is head north.”

     

      Chapter 255

     Source: Imported

      Report

     Spread the love

      ‘I, the great Mo Ke, never leave a name behind when I perform a good deed, thus our departures are always dashing and gallant.’

     In actuality, I tried to ask Nozala if he knew about the exact location of the palace of Sable Radiance, unfortunately, all I got was an ‘I don’t know’. To be honest, all the different races in the Remnants of Sable Radiances were kind of like me in the past, a shut-in. Unless something momentous happened, they would basically never leave their territories. After all, there weren’t any merchants here nor was there any sort of common currency here either. With no flow of goods or trade, each race basically holed themselves up and kept a close watch on their own property. There wasn’t any sort of tourism here either…should one accidentally trespass on another’s territory, they would basically be treated as invaders…who knew what would happen then.

     Speaking of invaders, there was something that had to be said about the Flamegrass Sasani brought back. It wasn’t, in fact, found by him, rather, it was stolen from Warwraith…

     Simply put, that Warwraith was scared off by me so when planning his route, he made sure to avoid us entirely. He knew that we were heading north and that we would encounter that salamander for sure so he purposely took a route off our probable course.

     Flamegrass could be a considered a speciality of the Warhorse’s plains, you could call it a treasure of their race too. Thus, they were often guarded by a Wahorse. It was precisely such a Warhorse that got into a fight with Sinmosa when she was out searching for a Flamegrass, and ended up wounding her.

     Going back to Sasani’s story…he so happened to chance upon Warwraith while searching for Flamegrass. Upon seeing the familiar Cerberus, the Warhorse elder immediately paled and began shivering slightly, clearly frightened that we hadn’t given up on seeking revenge upon him. However, once Sasani explained that he was here for some Flamegrass, and not to cause trouble for

      “So you already knew that there would be a Warhorse guarding the Flamegrass? Then why did you let Sasani go off on his won?”

     “Either way, that old horse already had his bravery scared out of him so it should be fine even if Sasani went off on his own.” Sinmosa confidently stated as if she had already foreseen that all these would happen.

      “Then how did you know that it would be that old horse guarding the Flamegrass?”

      “Because there’s always a temporary camp set up near the Flamegrass, that’s how those horses operated. It’s more likely that he would encounter Warwraith than not.”

     “…” ‘I have to admit, she’s pretty smart, being able to think through all that in such a short time. Still, for Sinmosa to generously offer up her husband’s services like that…isn’t she afraid that he might get into danger?’

     Noticing the expression on my face, Sinmosa said thusly: “Honestly, even if he wasn’t able to grab the Flamegrass, he could just as easily have escaped.”

     ‘That’s true, he could have ran if things go sour…’ No matter what world it was, luring an enemy away from his nest was a valid and well-known strategy. Naturally, those Warhorses were aware of this as well and didn’t dare to chase him too far either since he could have just been a decoy.

     Either way, that was enough reminiscing for now. At the end of the day, our final destination was the palace and that should be where we focus our attention onto.

     Having split off from Nozala, we continued heading north as before. And just like before, we met a number of Warhorses along the way who also avoided us like the plague, merely gazing at us from a distance away.

     Thus, our journey proceeded rather uneventfully for about a month. According to the number of paces covered by Sinmosa, we had roughly travelled over thirty to forty thousand Li and had finally

     The territory we were in now could be considered ownerless. The reason was simple: it was dangerous. There were hardly any fiendish creatures who lived here, let alone those who formed a community.

     “Master, she’s still following us.” No.3 reported upon returning from his surveillance mission. His brows frowned as he told me: “Since five days ago, she had been stalking us, I originally thought about speaking to her but…”

     The ‘she’ No.3 was referring to was a certain salamander who had just given birth. No.3 was the first one to spot her skulking behind us a few days ago. He had wanted to reach out to her then, but upon noticing No.3, she immediately ducked into a nearby lava lake.

     Truly, this was a conundrum for us… ‘Why is she following us like that? And why did she duck away then? Well, since you don’t want to meet us, I’m not going to waste time on this either.’

     Just like that, I said to No.3: “Leave her, I doubt she has any bad intentions.” Given how we had just saved her, I doubt there was even a smidge of possibility that she had come looking for revenge. Yet at the same time, it didn’t seem like she was here to thank us either… ‘Meh, it’s not like we’re the ones hiding in the shadows, why should we be the ones fretting instead?’

     With that out of the way, we picked a random clearing to rest while Big 4 went scouting ahead, Sasani went hunting for food, Sinmosa took up guard and No.3 continued his patrolling. As for me, I was on storytelling duty with Mo Na and Cinderel. That was basically our daily routine for the past few days. Until the day we reached the palace, this routine would probably go unchanged…probably…

     Just as I was about to start telling Alice in Wonderland, something happened.

     The earth itself began to tremble slightly as booming footsteps slowly echoed in the surroundings.

     Sasani came galloping back, mouths conspicuously empty…to be exact, he did bring back something…a

     This newcomer was made out of reddish-black rock that was carved into armor in certain regions, giving it the impression of a heavily armored warrior. However, this warrior had no weapons to speak of and most likely relied on its fists and feet to fight…well, a fist, to be exact. The golem in question sent a powerful punch swinging right towards where Sasani stood just moments ago, destroying the earth in the process and sending dust and soil flying about, as if it had just struck a pile of flour. Missing its target, the golem easily pulled out its fist and continued the chase.

     The golem’s speed wasn’t too fast, at the very least it wasn’t up to par with Sasani’s. However, with the way its imposing figure seemed to loom over him, and with how the ground seemed to shake with every step it took, Sasani couldn’t help but feel extremely pressured by the lumbering titan. What was most astonishing was the power it had just displayed –that punch was at least at the level of a Five-stars!

     That staggering power was probably why Sasani didn’t dare to pause for even a second as he ran right towards us…

     “WOOF WOOOF WOOOF…” Came Sasani’s loud barks. Upon hearing them, Sinmosa’s face immediately paled as she yelled to us: “RUN…that thing is really strong!”

     “Master, let me have a go at it!” No.3’s yell trailed slowly behind him as he sped off towards the unknown golem, not caring at all about Sinmosa’s reminder. He had seen that golem attack as well; he knew that it was only at the level for a Five-stars and that stirred his battle instincts.

     Like a speeding comet, he dove at the golem with a powerful punch on its head, even without waiting for my prior approval.

     *BOOM!*

     As the fiery fist landed on the head of the golem, the sheer impact caused the flames of his punch to scatter about like a deadly fireworks show. A second later, he came bursting out of that conflagration, hand wrapped

     Because he charged in without first confirming the traits of that golem, he ended up coming short in that brief scuffle: “Blast it…why is that big lug so hard…”

     Golems, a mysterious construct whose origins were now untraceable. Even though the humans had always insisted that the initial golems were created by them…I believed that as well, given how ingenious we humans were…but upon seeing that golem before me in a place that had been sealed up for 80 000 years…I could safely say that the first golems weren’t created by human alchemists. Most likely, the first alchemists probably copied the designs from somewhere. After all, human history wasn’t longer than 80 000 years, as far as I knew…

     Depending on the design, golems could have a wide variety of traits. However, there was one thing in common with all varieties of golems: their defenses were always stronger than their power by at least one whole Star level…in other words, this broken down golem was at least as tough as a Six-stars…for No.3 to try and punch one like that, was there any wonder that his fist hurt so much?

     Thankfully, Flame Devils had an impressive innate regeneration ability in the form of their elemental transformation. By turning themselves into elements and then back, they could basically recover from most injuries. The drawback was that such a move consumed vast amounts of mana so it had to be employed judiciously in a fight.

     “Master, I’ve returned…” Hearing the commotion in the distance, Big 4 came rushing back just in time to see No.3 fail his attack: “Master, what’s that?”

     “That’s a golem…” In the past, Roscar had told me about such a construct. He said that human alchemists loved to use these constructs as guards but for the most part, the ones they created weren’t that high level. A golem at this level could already be considered a high level golem.

     

      Chapter 256

     Source: Imported

      Report

     “Big 4, come help me!” Not satisfied with giving up so quickly, No.3 charged at the golem once more. This time however, he had learnt his lesson. Prior to impact, he transformed into an elemental state and tried to use his elemental energy to hurt the golem.

     Infant Flame Devils weren’t able to fully turn themselves into flames. At the very most, their ability allowed them to only convert a limb or a portion of their body. Thus, No.3 changed his right arm into its elemental form before smashing down onto the one-armed golem’s head.

     There were no explosions to be heard anywhere, all we heard was a faint splutter, like iron coming into contact with cotton. Seeing that, No.3 wasted no time in retreating right away, avoiding the golem’s counterattack in the process as he soared into the skies once more.

      “Why is that piece of junk’s fire resistance so high…”

     Whether it was his physical or elemental attacks, they had all failed in harming his opponent. Now sensing the vast difference between himself and the golem, No.3 tried to retreat but unfortunately for him, he had underestimated the golem once more.

     With a thunderous creak, the golem bent its rocky joints and leaped into the sky, reaching an astounding height of over 10 meters despite its giant size. It had closed the gap between itself and the fleeing No.3 and instant. Using its last remaining arm, it easily caught both of No.3’s legs with a quick swipe. It was then that the golem reached the peak of its flight and because of its unimaginable weight, plummeted to the ground in an instant, bringing No.3 along with it…

     Because No.3 had assumed that he had escaped, he wasn’t at all prepared for the giant’s sudden attack. Panicked, he desperately flapped his wings to try and break free of the golem’s grasp. Unfortunately for him, that tiny pittance of strength was nothing before the mighty weight and strength of the golem. His fate had been decided from the very moment he was caught.

     Thankfully, his panic didn’t get the better of him as he managed to transform his two legs into flames at the crucial moment, narrowly breaking free just as the golem was about to impact the ground.

     *boom*

     The golem came crashing down, in a shower of dust and fractured rocks. Having just rushed over, Big 4 reached for his waist

     One had to know that, as of right now, the bones of said fiendish fishes were the most suitable crafting material we had found for weaponcrafting. By condensing hundreds of fishbones into one single short sword, the sharpness of its edge was indescribable.

     Because such a powerful sword required so much materials, Mo Na was only able to create one sword, and that was given to Big 4 who was in charge of scouting ahead for us. Naturally, I wasn’t one to make such a statement based on feeling alone. Back when it was first crafted, I had it tested against the igneous rocks nearby and it performed spectacularly, cutting through the hardened rock like it was just tofu.

     From that demonstration alone, one could tell how powerful the short sword was.

     Yet when Big 4 forcefully stabbed at the head of that golem, the short sword merely slid past the rounded surface, causing a screeching sound amidst a shower of sparks, and nothing more…

      ‘The defenses of a Six-stars are formidable after all…to think that short sword isn’t even able to leave a scratch on it…at this rate, only my Shadowfang could possibly hope to stand against it.’

     As I thought that, my eyes travelled down to the stump of its former arm before taking another look at the multitude of wounds carved into its body. I could tell that it must have gone through a vicious battle in the end: ‘Just how powerful was it in the past…’

     Having failed to cause any damage despite his confident stab, the look on Big 4’s face immediately turned to one of shock after which it was blocked out by a forceful slap from that golem. Like a ping pong ball, Big 4 was sent flying over several miles away…

     Not expecting this turn of events at all, Big 4 crashed into the ground with a resounding crunch before he could even come to his senses, mind still too addled to even try and climb to his feet after that. However, the golem wasn’t done with him at all.

     Seeing the two of them engaged in such a difficult battle, Sasani had no choice but to charge right into battle once more, with the intention of using himself as bait to give Big 4 some breathing time.

     From his measured gallops and approach, I could tell that Sasani must have clashed with that golem before, and had probably suffered at its hands as well. Choosing not to face the golem head on, he circled around the lumbering construct while looking for a chance to launch a flanking strike.

     Even though the one-armed golem was surprisingly speedy for its size, it wasn’t able to turn too well. Sasani knew that and was specifically exploiting this weakness to gallop around to the back of that golem before using his relatively more agile movements to leap on the golem’s back. Jaws wide open, he bit down viciously into the back of the golem’s neck, making sure to throw in a flame breath for good measure as well. And yet even this mighty attack was unable to pierce the defenses of that golem. With all his biting strength, Sasani was only able to leave a shallow scratch mark while the flames harmlessly scattered about in the air.

     The golem flailed its upper half about in a frenzy, trying its best to dislodge the annoyance stuck on its back. However, Sasani’s vice-like jaws refused to let go and soon the two were locked in a heated wrestling match. On one hand, there was the golem who, because of the restrictions of its body, was unable to capture Sasani. On the other hand, there was Sasani who, while still unable to damage the golem at all, was still an annoying pest. For the time being, neither side was able to do a thing to the other.

     Seeing that, No.3 took the bold move of resuming his attacks while circling around the golem. Although they still weren’t all that effective, they at least limited the movements of the golem somewhat.

     “Sinmosa, if I rode on your back, can you guarantee that I won’t get swatted by that golem?” With how powerful that golem was, I knew that the only hope we had now was the blade, Shadowfang, resting on my back. However, with

     “There won’t be a problem there, but your strength…” She immediately answered without any hesitation. Seeing her husband engage in a deadly melee with the golem like that, she couldn’t help but feel anxious as she said: “It doesn’t look it can turn too well, as long as I circle around it, I doubt it will be able to hit me, but your strength…”

     “Don’t worry, I still have this.” At that, I drew out Shadowfang, the blade which had I never used since I slew One-eye. Had it not been for the golem’s obvious lack in speed, and the fact that it could only be hurt by physical means, I would have never made this offer at all. For the most part however, I was pretty certain that I wouldn’t be any danger while on Sinmosa thanks to her speed advantage. All that left was, as she said, my strength, however that was something that had to be tested firsthand.

      ‘Well, Sinmosa should be able to protect me even if Shadowfang isn’t able to penetrate its outer shell.’

      “Mama…don’t go…it’s dangerous…”

      “Sweetie, don’t be scared, Papa will be alright.”

     “Mhm, Mo Na believes in Mama too…” Her eyes started to water. “Mama, make sure to come back…”

      “Got it, Papa will come back for sure…make sure to take Cinderel and hide somewhere safe, don’t distract your Papa, got it?”

     “Mhm.” She nodded her head vigorously before flying up to give me a peck on the cheeks and flying off with Cinderel safely in her arms.

     Had this been the past, Mo Na would have definitely clamored about trying to protect me. From that incident with the Nightmare Steed however, Mo Na had matured noticeably. No longer did she try to offer to protect me at the drop of a hat; in her mind, she probably thought that was some kind of mysterious power dwelling in me.

      “We’re off then.”

     “Mhm, I’m almost prepared.” As I said that, I breathed in deeply and forced my pounding heart to quieten down lest it jumped out of my throat. Had it not been for Sinmosa being with me, a small fry Three-stars like me would never have even thought of joining in the fight unless I wanted to get flattened

     This golem wasn’t the most powerful foe I had faced down before, but it was the foe that I had to face right now. Without Ferti’nier to back me up this time, this trial was one that I had to overcome myself with the help of my companions.

     Big 4 was still out of commission because of that powerful swat from the golem. Sasani and No.3 were currently working together to restrict the golem and buy more time for Big 4 to recover. Yet while they were doing that, they suffered some minor injuries from time to time. At the very least however, they managed to avoid any lethal blows though such a dance of death took a heavy toll on their stamina. Before their stamina was spent, I had to end this quickly or at least buy more time for Big 4 to recover and…run.

     Either way, I had to stand out now. Whether it was No.3, Big 4 or Sasani, they were all companions I couldn’t give up on!

     “Let’s go!” I yelled, partly to encourage myself, and partly to give Sinmosa the signal that I was ready.

     She said nothing but instead sped off like bolt of lightning towards the one-armed golem, taking a hard but fast turn to its right just as we reached it. Because the golem was missing its right arm, that flank was a gap in its defense we could exploit without ever worrying about resistance.

     Knuckles white from gripping Shadowfang, I clamped both my legs down on Sinmosa’s back and secured a stable platform for myself. Blade reaching over two meters long, the jet black Shadowfang swung out a moment later towards the neck of the golem. Immediately, a powerful shock reverberated through the blade and back towards me, causing my hands to go numb instantly. Unable to stand up to that overwhelming force, I lost my grip on Shadowfang and it went spiralling away before piercing the ground nearby with a resounding stab…

     However, that wasn’t the end of my problems either. Because of that powerful shock, I was thrown off Sinmosa’s back. Never once in my life had I fallen off a horse, because I had never ridden one before. Yet now, in this strange world, I had experienced falling off a mount for the first time ever but with even graver consequences than it otherwise would have…

     

      Chapter 257

     Source: Imported

      Report

     My body slammed against the floor like a rag doll, causing a powerful wave of pain to wash over me in an instant. So strong was the pain, that it almost caused to me to have an out-of-body experience. My screaming nerves immediately seized control of my limbs, causing me to lie there, unable to move to at all while my consciousness faded slowly. My eyes were glazed over and my head felt hazy…I didn’t even know if my slash had even struck the golem or whether it had even caused it damage…

     As I laid there spasming slightly in pain, my breathing became ragged and difficult as if there was something squishing me to the floor.

     From my prone position, I could vaguely make out the silhouette of that golem rushing at me.

     “Master!” No.3 yelled as he swiftly scooped up Big 4’s fallen sword and sped towards the approaching behemoth, sword drawn and ready. However, his frenzied attacks did nothing to halt the golem’s progress as it stomped towards me steadily while brushing off No.3’s swings with its left arm. As for the areas it wasn’t able to shield, it didn’t care that much either. It had already come to the conclusion that No.3 wasn’t able to cause it much harm thus it ignored him mostly and was instead dead set on wiping me out.

     “Sasani!” Sinmosa howled for her husband. Having jumped off the golem not too long ago, he howled back to her. The two of them immediately burst into flames and charged at the golem, each taking one flank.

     The Raging Flame Charge was both a physical and elemental attack and while the golem was mostly immune to fire attacks, physical attacks definitely affected it. Still, the combined charge of the two Cerberuses wasn’t able to cause it much damage at all, but it was at least able to delay its march of death slightly.

     With two blazing Cerberuses speeding towards it from the flanks, the golem finally had to defend itself. Unfortunately for it, and fortunately for us, it only had one arm so while it was able to block Sasani’s charge from the left, it wasn’t able to defend against Sinmosa’s charge.

     As for Sasani, just because his charge was blocked didn’t mean that his attack was ineffective either. All three

     Taking advantage of this temporary instability, Sasani released his bite and upon landing on the ground, swiftly scampered up the golem’s back and resumed biting, this time at the golem’s neck. ly, he had bitten this particular spot before and this showed in the bite marks left on the back of its beck. This proved to Sasani that his attacks were indeed effective and that as long as enough physical force was applied, he could eventually bite through the golem, given time of course.

      “Master…you dare to harm the Master?! I’ll kill you!”

     After a period of recovery, Big 4 was finally able to stand up. However, because of the severity of that swat just now, he still wasn’t strong enough to access all of his powers and thus wasn’t able to turn himself into an elemental state. As he stood there looking at my prone form, his first instinct was to reach for Shadowfang, which laid stuck in the ground not too far away from, him in order to avenge me.

     Unfortunately, as an Epic-grade weapon, it wouldn’t allow just anyone to touch it. In fact, this was the first time that someone other than me or Habona tried to touch it; let’s just say that the result was rather shocking.

     Even before his hand touched its hilt, Shadowfang actually backed away from him as if someone was controlling it.

     Initially, Big 4 thought that it was merely his eyes playing tricks on him so he decided to give it another shot. This time, his second attempt was met with a much more violent response. With an unexpected 360 degrees flourish, Shadowfang sliced off Big 4’s hand…

     Thankfully, such a wound wasn’t enough to cause any lasting problem for Big 4 who

     Still, that brief brush with danger was more than enough to teach him not to touch Shadowfang…

     Up till to that point, I truly did not know that Epic-grade weapons had the ability to recognize its owner…

     Unable to utilize Shadowfang, Big 4 joined the other three in circling the golem and attacking it. Thanks to their superior agility, all four of them managed to avoid taking too much damage but so did the golem, whose defenses were simply too strong even with their combined might. Once their stamina ran out, this fight would basically be over.

     “Sinmosa, take the Master and leave first, we’ll hold him here.” Soon after Big 4’s arrival, No.3 realized the severity of their situation and tried to call for a retreat.

     As of right now, I was still laying on the ground in an extremely embarrassing pose but at the very least my condition had improved and the numbness had subsided somewhat.

     Sinmosa understood what No.3 was trying to convey in an instant. She answered his cry immediately and sped off towards me without any hesitation.

     WIth her gone, No.3, Big 4 and Sasani redoubled their efforts in order to cover for her. Unfortunately, their attacks were still as weak as before, being more akin to mosquito bites than anything else. While the golem might seem like a Six-stars on the surface, its defenses had to be at the peak of Six-stars. Moreover, the golem was practically immune to fire attacks so we could only rely on physical attacks.

     Unable to employ their main elemental attacks, was it any wonder that our members found themselves so hampered?

     If I had to make a comparison, which I definitely did, the three of them were like player characters who dabbled in magic and martial arts. When faced with an enemy who was immune to either skill category and highly resistant to the other, their damage output would drastically decrease, putting them at a severe disadvantage.

     That was basically the situation facing No.3, Big 4 and Sasani right now; the golem

     (TL: The author’s example was slightly altered (mostly shortened) to make more sense. If you think I should remove it entirely, leave a comment below.)

     Switching back to Sinmosa, she had just arrived by my side when she immediately bit down on my armor and with a flick of her neck, tossed me onto her back.

     The golem, who seemed to have discovered Sinmosa’s  intention, promptly chased after her with an amazing burst of speed. From the way it came rushing towards us, I could have sworn that there was some furious gust of wind pushing it forward from the back. In a mere moment, it managed to bypass No.3, Big 4 and Sasani’s blockade and rush straight at us.

     “Hold tight!” Sinmosa yelled as her body did an emergency turn to try evade the golem. With how fast it charged at us, she barely managed to avoid the blow as it grazed her fur.

     While I might have recovered somewhat in the interim, it wasn’t enough for me to cope with such a sudden jerk. My forceless grip was promptly ripped away and my body tossed aside soon after by the residual force of Sinmosa’s turn…

     *bang bang bang*

     A cascading wave of booms echoed in my head, bypassing my ears entirely, coming instead from the direct impact reverberating inside my skull as I rolled about on the ground. Pain…an indescribable level of it, accompanied by that same numbing sensation that plagued me not too long ago…

     That was the second time I was thrown off Sinmosa’s back. Thanks to my bad luck, I was sent crashing into a nearby rock that almost caused me to kick the bucket then. I inhaled sharply from the sudden shock and my eyes seemed to go black as if I was about to faint…

     “Master!” I faintly heard the two of them whispering from a good distance away. ‘Whispering? They must’ve been really been yelling loudly then for me to hear them from this distance away…where am I even?’ As I gazed around me, my eyes swimmed unsteadily, causing my vision to blur into a surreal picture, or illusion of sorts…that was probably how others must have felt when they were on the verge of fainting.

     The ground shook once more and

     Finally, there was nothing standing between it and me.

     With my fate sealed, my eyes inexplicably drifted over towards the direction of Mo Na who was flapping her tiny wings furiously to try and reach me, eyes watering all the while and tears scattering about like tiny jewels.

      ‘Sweetie…it looks like Papa won’t make it after all…’

     Ferti’nier was still out of commission so there was no use hoping for her aid. But without her, I truly had no trump cards left to play. ‘Even if I wanted to fight back now…I don’t think it’s even possible…looks like I was a little overconfident in my abilities after all…like a Three-stars could ever stand against a Five-stars just because of some Epic-grade weapon and some blasted Main Character Halo…if only I hadn’t rushed at it with Shadowfang…but there are no ifs in this world…only cold hard facts…’

     Suddenly, a huge shadow seemed to zip across my field of vision. ‘A hallucination? To think my pain would actually cause me to hallucinate about a giant monster passing through my body…no wait, it did in fact leap over me! That field of red passing over me and blotting out the sky in the process must have been its belly.’ Because of my poor angle, I wasn’t able to get a good look at the monster before it leaped over me and rammed into the golem.

     *BANG*

     The two collided in what looked more like a scene from Ultr*man versus some kind of monster…

     Taking advantage of this momentary distraction. Sinmosa hurriedly bit down on my armor once more and dragged me out of the battlefield. It was then that No.3, Big 4 and Sasani came rushing back as well. Also, Mo Na, who was worried sick by now, came flying over with Cinderel in tow.

     “Mama…” Just as I was placed on the floor, I had the wind knocked out of me by Mo Na who leaped onto me and stubbornly clung onto my neck while weeping. “Mama…*weep*…Mo Na was so scared…”

     

      Chapter 258

     Source: Imported

      Report

     The first phase of scouting has been completed. 1000 skeleton soldiers were sent out for this expedition and all 1000 had successfully made landfall…intelligence reports indicate…the soldiers managed to land in one of the human cities. The humans of this world are exceptionally frail, not advisable as a replenishment source. Modification is required. The humans of the new world possess a variety of strange weapons. They are able to fly by wearing a full suit of armor and possess a high degree of long ranged firepower. The expedition only survived for five minutes before they were completely wiped out. The mana in this world is limited…unable to discern the weapon type employed by the humans…initial reports indicate that they aren’t magical weapons, energy source…unknown…

     The second phase is currently being prepared but the dimensional walls of the new world are repelling us. We beseech Your Highness to send more warlocks to reinforce us…

     —–A report from an invader of the new world

     “…” Bearing with the pain coursing through my body, I reached out in order to pat Mo Na on the head. However, just as I tried to lift a finger, my muscles seized up in pain and my hand instinctively jerked in response. In my current state, I wasn’t even able to talk, let alone raise a hand.

     “Mama…what’s the matter? Why aren’t you talking…*weep*…” Mo Na saw the pained look I had on right now and it left her completely at a loss as to what to do. All she could think of was to hug me and weep.

     “*cough…it’s…okay…Pa…pa…is fine…” Seeing her so upset tore my heart apart. Compared to the physical pain I felt then, the emotional pain I felt was much worse. I truly didn’t wish for her to be frightened so badly. Thus, while bearing with the scorching pain in my body, I did my best to force out that response and assure her that my condition wasn’t as bad as she thought.

     Hearing my voice calmed her down somewhat and she began to wipe away her tears with her little hands before giving

     Naturally, a full recovery wasn’t possible in the short term, but speaking was still barely manageable for me.

     “Master, it’s her…” Having just returned to my side with Big 4, No.3 pointed at the red monster tangling with the golem and exclaimed: “It’s that salamander!”

     I saw it as well. Someone of that size and stature…with such a timely arrival as well…was there anyone else but her who could have done so? Still, it wasn’t like everything was alright now. While she was a fully fledged Six-stars, as compared to the golem being at the level of Five-stars offensively and Six-stars defensively, she wasn’t at an overwhelming advantage either. Having just given birth, her strength wasn’t at its peak yet so she still had some issues fighting with that golem.

     Unfortunately, that golem’s defenses were simply too strong for us to break through and without Shadowfang to help us…none of us were of any use right now.

     The giant salamander first clawed at the golem with her two front limbs, restraining it in the process. With how large her claws were, almost half of the golem’s upper body was covered in her palms. The salamander then opened her reptilian mouth and breathed a roaring pillar of fire at the golem. Flames raging, the powerful attack collided with the rocky hide of the golem in a blinding fireworks show that ultimately did nothing to the golem.

     The golem immediately reacted by lifting up its leg and gave a solid front kick to the salamander’s throat, forcing her to sputter violently while tiny motes of flames escaped her throat unnaturally.

      ‘That must’ve really hurt…having to choke on fire like that…’

     Not paying attention to the pain in her throat, she took this opportunity to launch a counter attack at the golem’s face using her tail. *CRACK* The golem’s head was sent flying, just like that!

      ‘Woah…exactly how powerful is she anyway…’

     Not only were we shocked, that salamander was as well, judging from the dumbfounded look she had on right now.

     Still, now wasn’t the time for us to let our guard

     Not to say that the head was completely unnecessary either; there was no such thing as a meaningless part when designing a golem. Thus, while the head might not function in the same way as our brains did, losing it was still a massive blow to the golem.

     The golem immediately flailed its arm about, clearly unable to see or hear now that it had lost its head. It desperately tried to claw at the salamander’s position but unfortunately for it, the salamander was no fool either.

     By now, she had already retreated several paces back and circled around it entirely. Sweeping out with her left front limb, she grabbed ahold of the golem’s legs and toppled it before pressing down on its back with her right limb. Restraining it entirely like that, she prevented any chance of a comeback from it. The golem made one last bid attempt at knocking her off with its arm but was swiftly stopped by a bite from the salamander. Finally, after a period of biting and sawing from the salamander, its last remaining arm was torn off!

     With that, the battle was basically over. Without a head or hand, and with its body completely restrained, the golem was no longer a threat. In this state, it merely took a minute for the salamander to smash it into pieces.

     “How did its head get smacked away like that…” The fact that the golem was rendered headless so easily still shocked me even more. No.3, Big 4, Sinmosa and Sasani had all attacked it countless times but its rock hard body refused to budge an inch and yet all it took was one whack from that salamander… ‘that’s just wrong…’

     “Because

     “Because your slash just so happened to land on its neck. If your strength was just a little stronger…you could have lopped it off then.” Having had a front row seat to that, Sinmosa naturally knew what happened just before I was flung off her back.

      ‘Like she said, if I had just been a little stronger…all this wouldn’t have happened…the falling off twice, Mo Na’s crying…in the end, I’m just too weak…if I was just a little stronger, I wouldn’t be lying on the ground like a dead dog. If I was stronger, I could’ve just used Shadowfang to sliced that golem up into pieces and feed it to the dogs…not that Sasani or Sinmosa would eat it…’

     The Demonic Fire Salamander picked up the head of the golem and carried it up to me. It reared itself backwards slightly, bringing its height to roughly that of the golem’s. Given how she had just taken out an enemy which we all failed to, her pressure seemed even more domineering than usual.

     Lowering her head, she gently dumped the head before me and gave me a complicated look. Because of her approaching us, No.3 and Big 4 became slightly anxious and hurriedly rushed to my side, separating me away from the salamander. Even Sinmosa and Sasani didn’t know what to make of her now and took up a wary stance as well.

     Even though all that was really just useless before this salamander…

     Still lying on the floor, I peered into its eyes and saw no killing intent whatsoever. However, that didn’t necessarily mean that it wasn’t out for revenge either, not that I felt that she had any reason to do so.

     “I’ve already learnt…about what happened then….” Because she was so huge and so near to me as well, her voice reverberated through my ears like thunder, causing my severely injured self to feel a little lightheaded :”Thanks…”

     “No problem…I have to thank you as well. Had it not been for you, I might have already been…in that sense, we’re even.” I forced out a smile from my aching face before asking

     “No…” The salamander shook her head: “I just wanted to know why a devil would help me without any reward. Not only did you not ask for anything for helping me, you did so even though we just had a fight…” “*cough* You were pregnant then, how could I just ignore a pregnant mother in need of help?”

      “I…don’t understand.”

      “Oh right, let’s not talk about these unnecessary matters for now, how are your children? Is it alright for you to be here like this?”

      “The children are safe, they don’t need my care.”

     Hearing her say that, I was reminded of that hardening phenomenon I witnessed when the eggs were born: “Is it because they became as hard as rocks after absorbing the surrounding igneous rocks?”

      “That’s right, that layer is extremely sturdy, even a Flame Devouring Fish’s teeth couldn’t hope to saw through that.”

     But if it’s that hard, how are they going to break out?”

     “…” Her lips curled into a rather human smile then. “Once the children are ready to come out, that layer will automatically fall apart.

     “…” Sometimes, I truly felt that I was really stupid. “Then they will all be Demon Fire Worms?”

      “That’s right, our entire race all started out as Demon Fire Worms before evolving into what we are now.”

      “Your race’s method of survival is just so special, I swear…”

      “Special? How so? Because we eat the split off section of a Demon Fire Worm?”

      “That’s right, most people wouldn’t think of jumping into someone’s mouth to be eaten.”

      “That’s just how we survive. Besides, every Demon Fire Worm has the ability to split itself up. As long as they do not split themselves up too much in a short period of time, there won’t be a problem at all.”

     After that short chat, I decided that it was roughly about time so I went straight to the point: “Then where are you headed to now?”

      “Let’s put that aside for now, what about you guys? Where are you all heading to?”

     

      Chapter 259

     Source: Imported

      Report

     “Our destination is the ruins of Sable Radiance’s Palace . According to the information I was given, we just have to head north but I’m not sure how far we have to travel . ” I could tell that this salamander wasn’t going to harm us at all . Thus, I happily told it our destination without any reservation whatsoever: “Based on the fact that we encountered that golem, I dare say that we are nearing our destination . ”

     “So you’re saying that your destination is close by?” The salamander paused for a second before adding: “That’s your guess?”

     “That’s right, if something as monstrous as that golem has even appeared, I doubt the palace will be much further away . ” At that, I gave that golem’s head, which was half as tall as I was, a swift kick and then I smiled: “Where else would you find such a powerful golem other than the palace, they can’t be that common, right?”

     “Long ago when I was still young, my elders mentioned that golems were hidden throughout these lands and they weren’t in the minority either . When you least expected it, one could ambush you . ” Her reptilian face darkened . “Moreover, it’s really hard to find food here or perhaps it’s simply because there are so many golems here that the majority of the creatures ended up getting expelled, leaving behind those who possess some sort of unique ability . Are you sure this is really the place you’re looking for?”

     “It should be right, Princess Meisian was the one who told us to head north some time ago and

     “So you’re fine with putting your life in danger?” She gave me a confused look . “Just like with that golem, if I hadn’t followed you all…”

      ‘If she hadn’t followed us, I would probably be dead by now . But should I really give up my long held goal just because of that? I still want to see Nicole, to see Roscar . Also, how are Numila and the others doing in Abaddon? But if I don’t visit the palace, will I be stuck in this god forsaken place forever? No…I must go, I want to return to the human world, I want to find Numila and the others . Yi Yi too; that fallen angel who even gave me a second chance at life by sending me to the Blood Sea…I should at least thank her personally…and talk about our marriage at the same time…ahem…I mean if I’m marrying her, won’t Nicole be as…’

      ‘Crap…I’ve gone off the rails again…’

      “Are you all right?”

     “I’m fine but if you’re trying to persuade me to give up, stop . No matter what, my feet will never stop . ” I knew she meant well by trying to stop me but I had too many considerations to back down now . Besides, I didn’t want to be stuck here forever either . Thus, I resolutely shook my head and said: “I want to leave, there are too many people waiting for me elsewhere and I want to see

     “Is that so…” She fell silent . During this period of silence, neither of us spoke . I was busy recovering while she…well, I had no way of telling what she was thinking now but either way, none of us was planning to break this silence yet . Ten seconds later, the salamander finally spoke up once more: “Travelling northward in this injured condition of yours, and with this level of combat strength…that’s just too risky…”

      “Huh? So what you’re saying is…”

     Even though I had only heard the initial half of what she was trying to say, I could basically guess what came next… ‘don’t tell me she wants to accompany us…’

      “I’ll travel with you all then, since you’re so dead set on continuing . ”