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Having just sent away Jeerah, another guest arrived soon after. This time, it was a horse, an overlord nightmare steed.

Not too long ago, the Purgatory Shadowcats came seeking Mo Ke. He was still out gallivanting about the Western Human Realms at that time, so they left without result. It was from that point onwards that Mo Na, who had made it her life goal to capture Mo Ke’s heart, started paying attention to the invasion of the undead army.

She discovered that the Undead was searching for something, and worried that they would one day attack the capital as well. That was the point when she decided to send an SOS to Mo Ke. Naturally, she also missed her papa.

The nightmare steed, Mournwraith, was the Overlord of the Purgatory Warhorses. The one who had made the decision to seek out Mo Ke to begin with were the Purgatory Warhorses. Because of his relationship with Mo Ning, he was in a way related to the Purgatory Warhorses… putting aside the question of his gender for the moment. Of the clans in Purgatory, they were objectively the closest to Mo Ke.

Yet even before this whole invasion nonsense, the Purgatory Warhorses were actually quite comfortable to have Mo Ning accompany Mo Ke. As the mate of Mo Ning, he not only had potential, he had a powerful figure looking out for him as well. He himself had three Original Sins blessing him. Strictly speaking, he only required a large amount of souls to reach the Demigod-tier. Emphasis on the word, large.

When Mournwraith first laid eyes on Ferti’nier, he immediately realised that something had changed in the Fallen Angel. As for what it was, he couldn’t be sure. She just seemed more bewitching than usual. Even with his innate resistance to psychic magic, he still lost himself for a second there.

“Overlord Mo Ke?” Mournwraith tactfully asked. “Is that Overlord Mo Ke?”

“Hm? That’s me.” Ferti’nier quickly caught herself. She quietly accepted the Mo Ke label, having no intention of revealing her identity to outsiders. She proudly lifted her head up high and peered down at Mournwraith, lips curled into a mysterious smirk. Such was her beauty that, despite her obvious disdain, the nightmare steed couldn’t help but feel attracted to her.

“It has only been a while but the change in you has been…” Mournwraith had seen the original Mo Ke before, back when he invaded the Purgatory Warhorses. He was a little feminine then, certainly not to the extent he was now.

The fact that Mournwraith was here seeking help from Mo Ke showed that he held authority within his clan. In fact, he wasn’t just any old overlord nightmare steed. His shadow was actually created from another overlord nightmare steed. In other words, he was the equivalent of two overlords!

“Let’s just cut to the chase, what do you want from me?”

“Oh… before that, may I know if Mo Ning has returned with you?”

Faced with Ferti’nier’s overbearing presence, Mournwraith was a little unnerved. He quickly diverted the topic, in hopes of recovering some of his initiative. Unfortunately, even this was proof that she had him at a disadvantage.

“Oh. Mo Ning…” She stroked her chin in thought for a moment, then shook her head nonchalantly. “She should still be in the Western Human Realms. I’m sure she will come home when she wants to.”

That being said, Mo Ning was summoned there by Mo Ke. So unless Mo Ke performed the reverse summoning, Mo Ning basically had no way of returning to Sable Radiance. Unless she was sealed for some reason or another…

Mournwraith stayed silent. Somehow, he got the feeling that if he pressed this issue further, an accident of some sort might happen…

Throughout all that, Mournwraith deliberately averted his gaze from her. His instincts told him that if he were to linger on her eyes for long, his mind might fall into an abyss.

With Ferti’nier’s overwhelming power, even a bug would fall in love with her.

At the end of the day, Ferti’nier and Mo Ke were two entirely different devils. Mo Ke insisted to the bitter end that he was a male, so no matter how feminine his body actually was, he objected to the feminine side of himself. Ferti’nier was a different story entirely. She was the Devil King of Lust. Her ability to bewitch was beyond words. Genderless or not, her very being was enough to enhance Mo Ke’s feminine guilles to its utmost limits. Furthermore, Mo Ke’s body was made in the image of Ferti’nier to begin with, barring his non-existent mounds…

In a lot of ways, this form of subconscious enthrallment was the most troublesome to deal with. Back in the days, Mo Ke was able to make use of this enthrallment to subjugate countless devils. The amount of devils who threw themselves into the fire just for a smile from him numbered in the thousands. Unfortunately, his innate opposition to being treated as such hampered his charms from being fully utilised. If not, there wouldn’t be many in Purgatory who weren’t already kneeling at his knees.

“In truth, I am here because of the Undead invading…” Mournwraith began to briefly explain the situation, including the fact that over ten overlords from the Undead army had shown up. Initially, he was intending to hide this fact, or at least downplay it somewhat so Mo Ke did not just back out right away. However, he ended up spilling the beans anyway… all thanks to a single wink from Ferti’nier.

For the most part, what Mournwraith came to tell her was in line with what Mo Na had already told her, except his report was more detailed.

With the information he told her, along with the conversation Mo Ke had with Lucifer’s clone, and her own confidential information, she roughly came to a conclusion about what the Undead army were doing here. They were looking for something. She couldn’t be sure what it was they were looking for -a relic; a creature; a coordinate; or maybe even a rock- but she wasn’t about to let them get their way.

Regardless of why Lucifer sealed up this place to begin with, the fact of the matter that this was now her territory! How dare those Undead mess up her backyard like that?!

Mournwraith clearly had his own ulterior motives for seeking her out now, but she did not care. With Mo Ke’s body, she was now at the peak of the Overlord tier. Adding in that Gem of Authority hanging around Mo Ke’s neck, she could even take on an Undead demigod if she wanted.

“Come, let’s have a look see for ourselves.” Grabbing onto a puzzled Mo Na, Ferti’nier flapped her wings with a grand flourish and flew past the capital’s walls.

Mournwraith stared blankly at the distancing figure. His plan was to have Ferti’nier bring along some of the Abyssal golems, but the other party did not even allow him time to make this request before speeding off.

“Don’t just stand there, we need to keep up with them.” Mournwraith’s shadow suddenly spoke up.

“Mhm.” Mournwraith quickly replied then galloped off into the air as well. As he chased after Ferti’nier, he muttered to his shadow, “Brother, have you noticed that Overlord Mo Ke has been acting strangely?”

“What’s strange about her?” His shadow snorted at his face. “What could be strange about our beautiful lady Mo Ke?”

“…”

“Didn’t I say to keep up with them?! Hurry up!” He anxiously chided his corporeal counterpart. “Look! Her silhouette is getting smaller by the second… hurry up! If you don’t hurry up, I will take over the flying myself!”

“Right. Right. I’m going already…” Mournwraith nearly sighed in exasperation. “But, brother, are you sure you’re feeling fine right now? Any strange sensations in your head?”

“You’re the one with strange sensations in your head. In fact, your whole family has… I mean… In our whole family, you’re the only one that’s strange in the head! Just look at how generous and elegant lady Mo Ke is. How can you even stand to be apart from her for a second? So hurry up already!”

“…”

Ferti’nier ended up flying for a good few hours with Mo Na in her arms before finally reaching the gathering point for the various clans. Based on the distance travelled, she most likely would have taken several days if she had brought along the golems.

The various overlords of the clans were all gathered beneath a volcano. It could be said that the strongest denizens of Sable Radiance were all gathered here right this very second: the Fire Elementals, the Purgatory Warhorses, the Demonic Fire Sprites, the Demon Fire Salamanders, the Purgatory Shadowcats, and even a Demonic Fire Igneous Giant that was taller than the Devil King idol…

Demonic Fire Igneous Giants were entirely made up of blackish-red igneous rocks. They could be said to be of the magma element, but their current form was because of their fusion with the flames of Purgatory. This fusion ended up being a beneficial one, boosting their prowess to new heights.

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Ferti’nier, Mo Na and the Grimoire of the Dead engaged in a short exchange. Upon learning of Mo Ke’s situation, Mo Na broke down in tears, face stained with worry.

“Weep… Mama…” She cried her heart out in earnest. Even a devil king like Ferti’nier couldn’t help but feel bad for the little girl. However, there wasn’t much she could do at this point. Not only did she have to deal with Mo Ke who was hiding somewhere in the abyss of his soul, she still had to help hold the fort down while he was gone. At times, she wondered to herself, perhaps she had gone overboard with her little prank this time?

She wanted Mo Ke to learn once and for all that humans and devils weren’t meant to co-exist together. To be exact, she just wanted him to know how wide the gap was between him and Nicole.

However, she ended up overplaying her cards, and Mo Ke ended up in the abyss of his soul…

She genuinely did not expect this outcome. Previously, no matter how much she fooled around, Mo Ke mostly brushed off her mischief, leading her to believe that she was a rather sturdy playmate.

Unfortunately, she had completely forgotten why he even ran away from home in the first place. Why he was so dead set on returning to the Western Human Realms even after turning into a devil. It was all for Nicole, no one else. Although, to be fair, Mo Ke himself probably could not distinguish if he was actually in love with Nicole, or just simply using her as a crutch. His journey from the Blood Sea had been fraught with danger. Barring some sort of plot armor or cheat, he needed a reason to justify his struggles, whether real or not.

Yet the severe degree to which he relied on her only made it that much more devastating when she hurt him. Now that his very reason for living had turned on him, how was he to live?

It was a difficult question to answer. But until he found a way, it could be said that his turn at the driver seat was over; it was now Ferti’nier’s turn to have some fun. While it was true that she would eventually grow sick of this as well… At least till the day Mo Ke was willing to step out of his shell, this body would be hers to control. At the end of the day, however, this body was still Mo Ke’s. His body might not be rejecting her soul much while he himself was hiding, but this wasn’t a permanent arrangement.

Some solutions did exist to remedy this, but one had to first understand what the spirit in a tool actually was. The Grimoire of the Dead belonged to the Demigod-tier. As a magical tool of that tier, the spirit within could communicate with Ferti’nier and Mo Na. Strictly speaking, Ferti’nier could be considered a spirit of a tool as well. The Chaos Crystal was a Demigod-tier magical tool, and Ferti’nier was its spirit. The crystal itself was a dimensional tool; that was how it could safely transport Mo Ke into Purgatory.

As an inevitable side effect of this journey, it started melding with Mo Ke’s spirit. Fortunately for him, Ferti’nier promptly separated Mo Ke from the crystal at that crucial stage, resulting in his eventual successful reincarnation. In exchange, she became the spirit of the tool, while the Chaos Crystal became her new jail, formed out of a powerful Demigod-tier tool!

She could have just allowed Mo Ke to become the spirit while she reincarnated herself in Purgatory, but she would have had various considerations to take care of in that case. Besides, her agreement with Yi Yi would have ultimately resulted in her getting reincarnated anyway.

(TL: I edited this portion heavily since the raw text was kind of incoherent. Original chapter title was basically: Another Shoddy Chapter.)

In truth, there were two ways to avoid the tragic fate of being jailed which she could attempt. One was to break the bindings of the Demigod-tier magical tool, then reincarnate from being a spirit of the tool. A difficult method; one that required very steep conditions. Yet the other method would probably be even worse… That was to evolve that Demigod-tier magical tool into an actual god-level magical tool, a Deity-tier magical tool… Spirits residing in such tools had the ability to reconstruct their own body…

Now that the Grimoire of the Dead was done conversing with them and was back in her body, Ferti’nier reached out to comfort the little girl. She had always liked the girl, because she reminded her so much of herself. She was like a daughter to Ferti’nier -even though she had never had a boyfriend. Back in her heyday, this female Devil King was a lofty figure who easily stepped on any male suitor she encountered. None of them interested her, and with her awful personality, really, there weren’t any who she would truly love anyway. Barring herself, of course.

Since she found herself stuck in Mo Ke’s body, her life had been that of an observer, almost like a player guiding the characters in a game. Even if Mo Ke was an actual sentient being, she treated him like you would a favourite character in an RPG. Naturally, being her favourite character’s daughter also meant that Mo Na had her favour. It also helped that Mo Na was adorable and as delightfully black-hearted as her.

While the two black-hearted she-devils continued hugging, Jeerah just so happened to return from the direction of the city’s gates. The first thing she saw was the sight of this father… mother and her daughter hugging.

“Master?” Even if she could only see the back of Ferti’nier from where she was standing, she could feel the trembling in her soul right now. Yet when the person she thought was her master turned around, she shook to her very core. Her legs began to go soft as an urge to prostrate herself took over her.

“Oh? Is that Jeerah? It’s been a while, little girl.” She smiled while giving Jeerah a mischievous look. “Now about that soul of yours…”

“Yes… Master… whatever you desire…” Jeerah muttered, her otherwise sparkling eyes clouded over as if she was in a trance. She slowly knelt before Ferti’nier and shuffled herself before Ferti’nier, bringing her forehead within easy reach.

“Such a good child.” Ferti’nier gently reached out with her right hand and pulled out a shard of Jeerah’s soul from her forehead. It was a soul pact, one between a master and her slave, to be exact.

“Huh… what’s going on… my soul…”

The moment the pact was signed, Jeerah automatically broke free from Ferti’nier’s psychic control. She felt her soul weaken, as if it wasn’t whole any longer… In fact, it actually was missing a piece!

“All right, all right. Don’t mind the small details.” Ferti’nier casually waved her hand then patted her on her head. “Just go take a nap, everything will be fine after a sleep.”

“Oh… ok…” Jeerah answered woodenly and left, having fallen to her psychic control once more.

Mo Na watched the entire scene unfold with shock in her eyes. Jeerah had always been at odds with her since the beginning. After all, Jeerah secretly harbored thoughts of being Mo Na’s step mother, the abusive kind as well…

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Announcement: I’ve re-opened my Patreon in case anyone wants to sponsor more chapters. Every end of the month, those chapters in early access will be released for free for all to read. If you sponsored a chapter, you will gain permanent early access to these chapters. Essentially, everyone gets more chapters to read, but those who donated get to read earlier. More chapters will then be translated at the start of the month. Explanation on the Patreon itself.

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Even though the Undead had started their invasion of Sable Radiance, their highest combat strength was capped at the Demigod tier.

At the end of the day, this was a territory under Lucifer’s jurisdiction. Their invasion was against the rules to begin with; but if they were to limit the majority of their troops to that of an overlord or less, Lucifer should not interfere either. Even so, there were already over ten overlords assaulting Sable Radiance right now, and that was only the strength they had shown on the surface.

Because of the seal on Sable Radiance, the residents of the region found it hard to raise their level to that of the Overlord tier. The Demigod tier was a foregone dream. Thanks to that, there was barely any resistance from the various clans in Sable Radiance. Especially not with the large showing the Undead brought to bare; that dimensional link was something they had to obtain.

Dressed in the typical black robes of a skeletal mage, Karlston was the commander of this invasion force. In this expeditionary force, there was no higher authority than him. Yet that wasn’t just because the majority of the troops he commanded were mindless or close to mindless. Undead above a certain tier possessed an intelligence not inferior to a human’s. As for what tier that was, that really was a question of the species.

Karlston’s forces easily swept through the lands of Sable Radiance, scaring away any clan who was unfortunate enough to be in their path. When the enemy was an undead, surrender wasn’t even an option; they would rather you were dead, after all.

In barely a week, Karlston’s army had turned into the main villain of Sable Radiance. No one dared raise any opposition, choosing instead to flee if they even got word of the approaching army.

The clans of Sable Radiance had no interaction so far with the undead army. Rather, the undead army itself had no intention of coming into an agreement with the clans of Sable Radiance. They didn’t need to. Why solve matters through negotiation when you could do it through your fists instead? That was how most combat races thought; the Undead were no different.

Since stepping into Sable Radiance, Karlston had been using the magical tool given to him by the Skeleton King to search for the dimensional link. Unfortunately, he hadn’t had any luck so far, despite his best efforts.

While time wasn’t a problem for the Undead, the whole point of Karlston even leading an army here was precisely because they were looking for a quicker solution!

Yet instead of making progress with his main objective, he ended up only riling up the local natives and perhaps converting some of them into undead. This seemingly wanton destruction spree forced the poor natives of Sable Radiance to band together into a temporary alliance.

But even that had problems as well. The disparate clans had their own misgivings with each other, grudges even, thus they hadn’t been able to come to an agreement or elect a leader. The initial idea was a good one, but old grievances weren’t easy to forget, especially not bitter rivalries…

In order to mediate these differences, the highest powers amongst each clan, the various overlords, came together for a meeting, only to end in failure as well. No one wanted to compromise with the other and a fight nearly broke out in the end.

Thankfully, the fight was averted by the more level-headed amongst them. It was only then that it dawned on them: they had no one powerful enough and also trustworthy enough to lead the pack.

After all, would anyone willingly give up absolute authority to an enemy? The invasion was a priority, but what if the leadership was handed over to a bitter rival, only to have that rival send their entire clan off on a suicidal mission?

At this rate, Sable Radiance was doomed…

Amidst the head-wrecking, an overlord of the Purgatory warhorses suddenly remembered Mo Ke and made the suggestion to elect him as the temporary commander.

This suggestion was easily approved by those who knew him.

First off, he was actually the Overlord of Sable Radiance. He was the ruler of the region, appointed by Lucifer’s clone himself, his authority couldn’t be questioned on this front.

Secondly, while his own strength might not be much to look at, he had a Devil King idol. That construct’s defences were known to be impervious to any tier below Demigod. Plus, it could even exhibit the power of one, should its driver be capable.

Finally, Mo Ke owned an army of Abyssal golems! This was the strongest reason out of the three. Each golem was at least six-star, with some reaching seven-star. Like his Devil King idol, these golems were famously difficult to damage for creatures of the same tier. Furthermore, as long as they had the materials to craft these constructs, they would have an endless supply of troops to throw at the undead army. Even losing a golem wouldn’t be a problem, seeing as they were mindless constructs anyway. At least that was so for the people thinking of making Mo Ke fight for them…

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Announcement: I’ve re-opened my Patreon in case anyone wants to sponsor more chapters. Every end of the month, those chapters in early access will be released for free for all to read. If you sponsored a chapter, you will gain permanent early access to these chapters. Essentially, everyone gets more chapters to read, but those who donated get to read earlier. More chapters will then be translated at the start of the month. Explanation on the Patreon itself.

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A blood-red sky; brimstone-filled air billowing from the volcanoes lining a rocky landscape… This was Purgatory; an environment that was hostile to all ordinary life.

Suddenly, a tear in the sky opened up to reveal a beautiful figure, floating in mid-air like she was standing on clouds. Her silky, long, purple hair flowed between a pair of elegant, purple wings. A thin smile graced her flawless face- a face so beautiful, a single glance would render you her slave for life. Her very being exuded an aura that could only be described as enthralling.

“Mama!~” At the same time she appeared, a little girl with matching purple hair flew up to her, beating her bat-like devil wings. She plunged into the figure’s arms, blissfully rubbing her face against her chest. “Mama, Mo Na misses you so much!!”

“Hahaha, my precious little Mo Na. I’m not your mama. Strictly speaking, I’m your aunty.” The figure gently picked up the girl and gave her a little peck on the cheeks. “My little Mo Na is the cutest, your aunty just wants to eat you up.”

“You’re not mama!” Mo Na bolted out from her embrace, doing her best to put at least two meters between them. She gazed at the figure from top to toe, her eyes furrowed. “Your body smells like mama… No, that is mama’s body. But you’re not mama! Speak, who are you exactly? Where is Mo Na’s mama?”

“Not bad, you catch on quick.” Ferti’nier smiled at Mo Na then beckoned to her. “If you want an answer, just call out that little thing living inside of you to explain.”

A second after she beckoned, a tome made out of an unknown material emerged out of Mo Na’s chest as if it was a surface of water. It was the Grimoire of the Dead, a book that had taught Mo Ke a great deal in the past. Mo Ke’s dark alchemy was in large part due to the knowledge contained within.

The Grimoire floated between the two of them, and while it wasn’t able to speak directly, the spirit within could communicate with Ferti’nier through her soul. It only took a few seconds before the two of them completed their initial contact.

Ferti’nier; The Grimoire of the Dead; Mo Na; these three all were responsible, at one point or another, for Mo Ke evolving so slowly. This was the first time all three of them came together face to face. There must be a ton for them to discuss. At least it would be so for Ferti’nier…

However, that wasn’t the main story of the day. Instead, it was the massive changes that had happened since the seal of Sable Radiance was broken.

To fully understand the context, one had to first understand the motives of the undead in Gehenna. Even now, they were occupied with assaulting the barriers of the new world they found. By breaking through the dimensional barriers, they hoped to convert the population of that world into undead soldiers. And if possible, turn the world into one of Hades’s. Should that happen, Hades would be able to break through the rank of Prime Deity, reaching unknown heights.

The chances of breaking through that tier were slim, but it was a risk Hades was willing to pay for. That was how an agreement was struck between Lucifer and Hades. As part of the agreement, Hades would provide troops in Lucifer’s invasion of the Western Human Realms once his own invasion of the new world was done.

Because of interference from the Goddess of Light and the other Gods of Order, Lucifer and his Gods of Chaos were unable to directly destroy the Western Human Realms with their divine powers. This fight had to be settled by those below the rank of a deity. In other words, the upcoming apocalypse was at most able to accommodate a demigod.

Yet humans weren’t the only race living in the Western Human Realms, despite what the name would suggest. Should the apocalypse break out, the rest of the races, like the elves, the dwarves, the beastmen, and even the rarely seen sea races would be forced to make their presence known as well. After all, Lucifer’s plan wasn’t to wipe out the humans, it was to wipe out the entire Western Human Realms.

Furthermore, for the devils to be able to occupy the Western Human Realms, they had to terraform the environment of the Western Human Realms. For the majority of devils, a fiery environment was indispensable.

Should the humans gather up a lot of mages to cast a composite ice spell on the area where the devils breached, that would be a disaster for the fire-loving creatures.

All in all, there were a host of problems facing the devils if they wanted to invade the Western Human Realms. But if they were to gain the aid of the undead, the ensuing battle would be one-sided.

Yet an entirely new world was an enticing prize, even with that agreement between the two gods. Just because Lucifer agreed not to vie for it, didn’t mean he had to offer it up either. He had hidden one crucial fact from Hades: Sable Radiance had a dimensional link with the new world!

However, this link wasn’t stable and could only be used once. That vastly limited its use as an invasion point. But should an overlord, versed in the arts of dimensional magic, be sent across using this link, he could then coordinate with the main forces trying to break down the main barrier.

Without that, the undead would have to expend an enormous amount of forces to set up a new link.

Yet a secret couldn’t remain a secret forever, especially not at the level of gods. Lucifer knew of this as well, and that was why Sable Radiance had now turned into a contentious point between the two gods. Lucifer wanted to extract more concessions from Hades, in exchange for this link. But he wasn’t planning on bringing this matter up to Hades, especially not when the other side knew of it and said nothing. After all, the first one to show his cards in a negotiation would lose his initiative.

On the other hand, Hades did not want to pay even more than he had initially agreed with Lucifer. And if he were to suddenly bring up the link now, he would end up looking desperate as well -that was just bad negotiating right there. Thus, the two gods pretended not to know of the link. Even Hades, who came to learn of the link’s existence after the initial negotiations.

Just like that, the dimensional link was kept an open secret between the two, sealed within Sable Radiance for eighty thousand years, till Mo Ke came along…

The situation was no longer the same. The forces of Hades had failed multiple times at breaking through the dimensional barrier, leading to the conclusion that the only way they could do so was with massive sacrifices. With that determination, and the fact that the seal was undone on Sable Radiance, that strange stalemate over Sable Radiance was no longer tenable. Even if it could only be used once, Hades needed it.

He finally told the demigods under him about the dimensional link in Sable Radiance, along with a method to invade the region…

Thus, the undead arrived, army in tow.

(TL: I made some interpretations with regards to the last ten paragraphs.)

Shameless Self-promotion

Announcement: I’ve re-opened my Patreon in case anyone wants to sponsor more chapters. Every end of the month, those chapters in early access will be released for free for all to read. If you sponsored a chapter, you will gain permanent early access to these chapters. Essentially, everyone gets more chapters to read, but those who donated get to read earlier. More chapters will then be translated at the start of the month. Explanation on the Patreon itself.

LINK HERE