Leave a comment

While one side might have completely ceased all hostilities, the other clearly had no intention of doing so. In just the span of a few moments, a good number of Dark Elves had died to the Minotaurs, all the while unable to resist in the slightest…

Realising that their opponents weren’t stopping as they had expected, Zurnalin glared right at the Assassin leader, “We’ve already stopped fighting, why aren’t you stopping?!”

The Assassin leader, on the other hand, was still completely in shock because they actually stopped fighting back.

Yet even though the order was given not to fight back, the Dark Elves weren’t going to let themselves be slaughtered like that either. Faced with the relentless assault of their enemies, some finally lost their cool and began a counterattack. With how fierce the fighting now was, it was hard to see who would win in the end.

Immediately, I felt the Assassin leader’s hand grip down hard on the dagger pointed at my neck, its tip edging ever so slightly closer as if she was about to stab me at a moment’s notice. “Get them to stop, or your holiness over is going to suffer.”

“Blast…” Zurnalin cursed before half-yelling out, “I’ve already told them to stop, but your Minotaurs keep attacking us.”

“So what?” The Assassin leader raised her brows. “Let’s be clear here, this dagger of mine is laced with poison. One little nick and that’s it…”

Her words couldn’t be any clearer at this point. She wanted to use my life to threaten Zurnalin. If I was really the child of the goddess as Zurnalin claimed, they would immediately surrender. If I wasn’t, it wouldn’t matter if I died.

With no choice left, Zurnalin could only give out the order to stop. “Everyone, halt your attacks immediately. Take up defensive positions!”

Yet while the Dark Elves might have listened at the start, they were now too far gone to listen to her words, at least that was till she said the magic words.

“Her holiness is in their hands.” The moment those words left her mouth, the other Dark Elves immediately calmed down and began to retreat fully. This time, no one tried to fight back even if Minotaurs continued chasing after them.

Unfortunately, this only had the effect of emboldening the Minotaurs further. Mooing gutturally into the air, they began ramming with abandon at the shields of the Dark Elves. Each time they struck, one could see the visceral shaking of the retreating shieldwall.

“You actually stopped.” The Assassin leader sneered at Zurnalin who was on the verge of exploding at this point. “Remember, I still have your so-called holiness in my hands. One false move, and she’s gone, Fallen Angel or not.”

“You! Aren’t you afraid of the goddess’s wrath?!”

“Wrath?” What a joke, how do I even know if you’re lying to me here? Besides, who would pass up on such a good opportunity.”

“Why would I lie to you at this point?” Zurnalin snapped back through gritted teeth. “Don’t tell me we all have to die before you will believe me?”

“That’s right. Unless you’re all dead, I will never believe you.” The Assassin leader arrogantly stuck her nose up at Zurnalin as she said that. “Let me see firsthand your loyalty to this Fallen Angel. As long as you are all dead, I promise I won’t hurt this Fallen Angel, because at that point, I would have believed your words… probably…”

“You…” Zurnalin’s body was shaking uncontrollably at this point. If she had her way, she would have tore into this Assassin by now. However, as long as I was still in her hands, she didn’t dare make a move.

“Hahahaha… kill! Kill them all!” Seeing Zurnalin so helpless right now, the Assassin leader couldn’t help but laugh maniacally.

Well… she’s really an unlikable woman, isn’t she? Once I break free, you can be sure I’ll show you some hospitality as well!

In actuality, I did not really blame this Assassin leader for not believing Zurnalin’s words. After all, Lolthe had only recently recognized me as her goddaughter… godson… ahem… She probably did not even have the time to announce this fact before I was suddenly captured. Thanks to that, there was now this awkward situation where only one out of the thirteen clans knew about the fact that I was her goddaughter… I mean, godson.

Because Zurnalin had shown so much concern to me mere moments ago, the Assassin leader had marked me as an important hostage. Now that I was in her hands and the battle had swung in her favour, she clearly wasn’t going to give up on this advantage just because her opponent claimed some random Fallen Angel was the child of Lolthe. Obviously, that was more likely a ploy than anything else.

The fact that Zurnalin actually gave the command to stop was a surprise to the Assassin leader, but that only meant that she shouldn’t let go of me at all. After all, that meant her opponents couldn’t fight back.

Ironically, the Dark Elves’ reputation for being unscrupulous ended up working against me in a most unexpected way this time. With how far these crazed Elves were willing to go to achieve their goals, it wouldn’t surprise the Assassin leader at all if Zurnalin actually gave the order for her troops to stop in order to reinforce this potential lie about me being the child of Lolthe. Honestly, Arachne Cavern was sure proof that these Dark Elves were unscrupulous to an almost fanatical extent. If they were the number two in unscrupulousness, no one would dare take the title of number one.

Now… the reason why I had even bothered explaining all this crap in the first place was because I had already thought of a way out of this deadlock. As long as I could prove that Zurnalin wasn’t lying and I was really the godson of Lolthe, everything would be hunky-dory… seems like a silly plan, but it was what it was…

Alright, time to fire up the old cakehole and warm up the armchair -let me show you what an armchair warrior of the star-spangled red banner can do!

Ahem!

Yet just as I was finally going to make my entrance, an unknown object began descending from the ceiling…

Countless Dryders began rappelling down from the ceiling. From a quick estimate, there had to at least be seventy or eighty of them. For the most part, these Dryders looked about the same as those I saw with the Shadowhunter Clan -Elven upper torso and arachnid lower half. Upon breaking off their spider silk and landing, the horde of Dryders quickly assembled together, and in the short span of ten seconds, had us all surrounded. That’s right, the Assassin leader was included as well.

“What’s going on here?” The Dryders’ strange movements had clearly caught the attention of the Assassin leader and she demanded an explanation, albeit with a hint of anxiety in her quivering tone. “Why are you surrounding as well? Blast! Don’t pretend, I know you all can understand me!”

Unfortunately, the only reply she got was a wad of spider silk spat out by the female Dryder leading the horde. Like a frog’s tongue lashing out at a fly, the two-finger thick strand of spider silk swiftly wrapped itself around the Assassin leader, binding her in an instant, even snatching away that potentially deadly dagger from her hands.

“You… you’ve betrayed us… how can you betray your own clan?!” Even in her bound-up, or rather especially because of her bound-up state, the Assassin leader couldn’t figure out why these Dryders would suddenly betray her at this crucial stage.

“How pitiful. Even now you do not understand the situation you are in.” I looked at the Assassin leader as if I was looking at a dead person. I then turned to look at the other Assassins who were holding Jezsere and Mo Ning hostage and stated coldly, “If you let them go now, I might just spare your lives.”

There was no need for them to even consider at this point. Upon hearing my words, the other Assassins quickly released the two of them. From the point that Zurnalin issued the order to stop attacking entirely, these Assassin were basically convinced of her words. The Dryders stepping in to help us was the nail in the coffin of their leader.

It was true that the Dryders were a dim lot, but it was precisely this reason that their loyalties to the clan that raised them were absolute. If there was ever a reason that could explain their betrayal… well, there’s really no need to say it, is there?

“Master…” Jezsere wept as she dove into my arms. Even though she was now free, her body was still shaking profusely from her ordeal.

“There, there… it’s alright now.”

“Dearest…” Mo Ning wanted a hug from me as well, but seeing as Jezsere had gotten here first, I could only give her an apologetic smile.

“Help me look after her.” I placed Jezsere on top of Mo Ning and turned towards the battlefield immediately.

Now wasn’t the time for comforting them. Now was the time to act.

While the Dryders might have rescued us from our predicament, the army of the Shadowhunter Clan was still in trouble. Under the leadership of that giant Minotaur, they had suffered heavy losses. Their defensive lines were breached and the Blood Drake Riders were in disarray…

Had it not been for the Eight-star warrior Paliseth had specially sent out to guard Reyage, they wouldn’t have been able to hold back that giant Minotaur at all and the losses would have been even heavier.

It was at that point that the Dryders just finished restraining the rest of the Assassins. Like a court official of old, these Dryders immediately prostrated themselves before me. At the side, the Assassin leader’s last vestiges of hope had collapsed as well. Gone was her arrogance as she slumped to the ground in a dejected bound-up heap. Her eyes went blank as she turned to me and muttered, “It can’t be… she really is…”

Naturally, I couldn’t care less about her mental state. I only had one thing to say to her. “I want those blasted cows to stop attacking right this instant!”

“But I… they won’t listen to me… they aren’t under our control at all… we are just using each other to achieve our goals…” The dejected Assassin leader finally managed to squeeze out an answer after ages. Essentially, it was out of her hands now.

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

If you liked my work translating Devil’s Evolution Catalog, feel free to check out Song of Adolescence. Also, every comment is appreciated even though I might not reply. I do read them.

Leave a comment

(TL: Previously, the author did not use a gender-specific term to address Mo Ke so I used his, him, son, etc. The author was very specific in using daughter in this chapter so I will stick to that from now on.)

The gigantic Minotaur had a running speed leagues above its smaller brethren. In the moment it took to breath, it had already reached the three surrounded Seven-star Fire Elementals, and with a swing of both its mighty weapons, a pitch black wave of energy slashed outwards, splitting two of the Fire Elementals in half along their waist. At the same time as that, its mighty axe came swinging down on the last Fire Elemental, splitting it in half lengthwise.

Yet Fire Elementals, being made up of elements, did not have a fixed weak spot. Unless you destroyed their Elemental Core or expanded their mana, they would never die. Furthermore, unlike ordinary Fire Elementals, the Elemental Core of my Fire Elementals were in the bracelet on my left hand. The ordinary Minotaurs naturally wouldn’t be able to reach their cores, neither were they able to expand all of their mana. That was the reason why my Fire Elementals lasted as long as they did.

Having been severely damaged, the three Fire Elementals began to reform their husks. But before they could do so, the giant Minotaur smashed his two weapons violently together, causing an explosion of mana that sent shockwaves ripping through the battlefield and even disrupting dimensional space for the briefest of moments.

Battered by the shockwave and the disruption in space itself, the three Fire Elementals exploded in a shower of fiery motes…

Eight-star! That giant Minotaur had to be at the peak of Eight-star!

With an unstoppable force, the giant Minotaur then lumbered towards us. Each step it took caused the ground itself to groan from the weight of its massive five-meters tall body, crowned by a thick pair of horns that were only outmatched by its thighs that seemed more like pillars than anything else -the very definition of brute strength. Its bovine nose started spitting out white fumes and sparks could be seen soon after… is it going to breath fire?!

“Blood Drake Riders! Charge!” Zurnalin raised her Dragon Spear up high for a second then brought it swishing down, pointing right at the giant Minotaur. “To victory!”

“To victory!”

The other Blood Drake Riders cheered in response. A portion of the Blood Drake Riders that managed to free themselves from their opponents started to charge at the giant Minotaur with suicidal abandon.

“Your holiness, there’s been a sudden change in the battle. For your safety, I request that your holiness leave immediately.” Instead of charging ahead like before, Zurnalin hurriedly turned around to address me. “The Alpha Minotaur ahead might be of the Overlord-tier. I cannot guarantee our victory at this point!”

As she said that to me, some of the faster Blood Drake Riders had already made contact with the giant Minotaur. They raised their Dragon Spears, capable of piercing through rock like butter and glittering in the light of their Aura, and charged towards the gigantic monster ahead in what was most likely the last charge of their lives.

Faced with what were obviously feeble attempts at stopping it, the giant Minotaur merely revealed a humanlike sneer then swung its gigantic axe behind itself. That simple swing easily sent the Blood Drake Riders flying over a dozen meters away, finally stopping when they collided with a Minotaur. Naturally, that unfortunate Minotaur wasn’t getting up at that point, but neither were the Blood Drake Riders…

As more Blood Drake Riders charged in, they were all met with the same fate as their brethren. A simple axe swing and they were sent flying away like flies.

Seeing how cruelly strong the giant Minotaur was, Zurnalin tried once more to persuade me. “Your holiness, please leave immediately!”

“Leave? I haven’t encountered a battle that I have to flee from yet.” As I said that, I gently fingered the Gem of Authority hanging on my neck. I coolly looked her in the eyes and said, “The battle is only just beginning.”

I was already preparing to summon the Devil King Idol at this point. The tides of war weren’t favouring us at all, and while I still did not know exactly how strong Zurnalin was, I didn’t harbor any illusion of her being able to defeat that monstrosity tearing through the Blood Drake Riders right now. No matter whether they were Five-star, Six-star or Seven-star, all were swatted aside by an axe swing of that monster. To that giant Minotaurs, they weren’t even targets to begin with.

Too strong… that’s not even flesh and blood anymore! That’s a fudging Gundamn!

“Mo Ning, Jezsere, help me convince her holiness!” Realising that she alone wouldn’t be able to change my mind, Zurnalin tried to rope in those beside me as well.

However, Mo Ning knew about how strong my Devil King Idol was so she had never considered retreating in the first place. Jezsere, on the other hand, was more than terrified and was very willing to leave right this instant. However, her own older brother was still leading the fight against the Minotaurs, so no matter how timid she was, she wasn’t going to abandon this fight either.

In the end, Mo Ning merely smiled at Zurnalin to show she wasn’t going to help her while a pale Jezsere gently shook her head, lips still quivering and eyes almost watering. “Jezsere… Jezsere is going to stay with master and her big brother…”

What was supposed to gain her allies ended up gaining her betrayal instead. With no other choice left, she could only try to force out another attempt at persuasion. “Your holiness! You need to leave now, it’s too dangerous…”

At this point, she had already seen through the fact that I wasn’t planning to retreat. On the contrary, I was even planning to participate myself. This time, she did not try to persuade me any further but was already about to snatch me herself. Unfortunately… it was too late.

“Holiness? When did the Shadowhunter Clan change their faith?”

Amidst the chaotic battle, a disembodied voice came echoing from above, coming closer to us by the second. While there were clearly more pressing matters to attend to right now, the scorn in that voice quickly drew my attention. I looked upwards in time to see a dozen Dark Elves jumping down from the ceiling, dressed in the typical garb of an Assassin.

“Your holiness, watch out!” Zurnalin’s reaction was a lot quicker than my own. While I was pondering why there were Assassins above me right now, Zurnalin had already ridden her Blood Drake in front of me. Having never been more focused, she raised her Dragon Spear up high and practically bellowed out a chant, “Barrier!”

However, there wasn’t enough time for her to project a sturdy barrier. All she could manage was create a flimsy, transparent dome above us.

“Pointless!” The Assassin leader grandly announced her arrival in your typical villain style. The leader of the Assassins then took up a plunging stance with both her daggers, her swift descent enhancing those already deadly daggers of hers as she viciously stabbed into the magical barrier. A second later… the barrier had completely shattered into sparkling fragments and began to dissipate.

“Your holiness!” Zurnalin desperately wanted to save me, but she was easily blocked by the Assassin leader who had just made her landing after breaking the barrier.

Seeing Zurnalin so distraught, the Assassin leader couldn’t help but taunt her foe. “Has the Shadowhunter Clan fallen so far? To actually address a Fallen Angel as the child of their goddess. Have you all forsaken the goddess Lolthe for the Devils?”

With a dagger that was most likely dripping with poison pointed right at my neck, Zurnalin’s voice was already hoarse with anxiety as she half-yelled, “We would never forsake the goddess. You all had better let go of her holiness right now, before the goddess bestows her wrath upon you!”

Hearing that, I felt the dagger pressed against me quiver for the briefest of moments. Clearly, Zurnalin’s words were having an effect on the Assassin leader.

I say, lady, I suggest you listen to Zurnalin, and can you hold that dagger a little firmer? You know what, take it away… just don’t shake it about like that when it’s so close to my neck…

With how sharp the ends of her daggers were, I had no doubt in mind what would happen if she were to even scratch me with them.

“You can’t fool me, why haven’t I ever heard of the goddess ever having an offspring?” At this point, the Assassin leader was beginning to sense the doubt in her army. She quickly tried to calm them down once more. “How many years has it been now? I have never heard of the goddess ever having a child. To impersonate the child of the goddess is blasphemy!”

Hey, hey hey… you’re free to come up with whatever theories you want, but how about you calm down first… and get those pointy daggers away from me… and stop shaking…

Dagger stuck to her neck, Jezsere mumbled with tears in her eyes, “Master…”

“Dearest…” Mo Ning had a dagger stuck to her throat as well.

Whether Elf or horse, both were now subdued by the Assassins. The Dark Elves were famous for their poisons in the entire Western Human Realms. There was no one more proficient in poisons than them -they were like those rogues in RPGs who maxed out their poison skill for obviously nefarious reasons. In other words, if any of us even dared move, we might just die a second later…

At this point, Zurnalin’s eyes had already turned red with the sheer effort it took to restrain herself in front of these Assassin who still did not fully believe that I was the child of the Lolthe. “She is truly the daughter of Lolthe. The goddess has only recently recognized her as her goddaughter!”

“Lies. If you truly care about her that much, let’s see you surrender then. I will give you ten seconds to consider. Once the time is over, I will start killing.” Having said that, the Assassin leader threw Zurnalin a scornful look as if to say, let’s see you try and bluff your way out of this now. You either surrender right away or this false holiness of yours is going to kick the bucket.

“Stop! Everyone stop at once!”

Under the disbelieving eyes of the Assassin leader, Zurnalin immediately gave the order to surrender without even waiting for a second to be over.

With her mana boosting her voice, Zurnalin’s voice easily spread across the entirety of the battlefield. Those who were familiar with her voice immediately broke away from their opponents. However, the Minotaurs weren’t ones to just stop because their opponents said so. Rather than stop, they began to chase after their fleeing opponents with renewed vigor.

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

If you liked my work translating Devil’s Evolution Catalog, feel free to check out Song of Adolescence. Also, every comment is appreciated even though I might not reply. I do read them.