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Overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer… but in this case, it was a decidedly fast killer. Aishael who was still in the midst of organizing her troops had spotted the Harpies flying towards her. With a quick flick of her wrist and a couple of slashes later, a couple of energy slashes were sent out. At the same time, her longsword fell back into its sheath with a clean snap.

Those poor Harpies were immediately brought down from the ceiling, crashing unceremoniously into the ground with a bang, still alive but no longer a threat. Unfortunately for them, the former wasn’t going to be true for long as well. A couple of eagle-eyed Half-Elves promptly seized upon this opportunity to score a couple of kills for themselves, turning both the Harpies into pin cushions in the process… that will you teach birds a lesson!

The 5000 strong Composite Dark Elven Army was led by Reyage. Because Jezsere decided to follow me, he ended up being roped into the reinforcements as well. Given his background, he wasn’t suitable to be a lowly soldier, especially not when Paliseth had plans for him to be the leader of the clan in the future. In light of that, this war was a good opportunity to rack up some merit for himself. Even though it wasn’t a large war, it was still an opportunity that held no disadvantages.

Reyage himself was an Assassin, but unlike the others, he was trained by Paliseth personally. Because of that, he was stronger than most elites of other clans.

As such, the sudden ambush by the Minotaurs and Harpies did not throw him into disarray. Under his calm leadership, the Dark Elves quickly regained their footing and formed into a defensive position under his orders. Shieldbearers at the front and long-range attackers at the back, they prepared for the oncoming onslaught of the Minotaurs and Harpies.

While the Half-Elves were already engaging with the airborne Harpies, their numbers were too many for the Half-Elves to handle alone. From just a glance alone, I counted at least 7000 Harpies. Faced with such overwhelming numbers, the best the Half-Elves could do was ensure that their ranks did not fall to the harassment of the Harpies. Yet despite their best efforts, it was only a matter of time before these Harpies broke free with their obvious airborne advantage. The Harpies, having felt the sting of the Half-Elven army, decided to turn their sights on Reyage’s army.

Unfortunately for these Harpies, if they thought the Half-Elves were bad, the Dark Elves were only going to be worse. This was a properly maintained and trained army that was organised for the purpose for handling battles such as this. Furthermore, this was Paliseth’s own son leading the battle, the soldiers were all the best of the best. This very army held the honorable title of the Blood Brigade.

The only reason why there was even a brief moment of confusion was because Reyage was suddenly shoved in as their commander. Simply put, Paliseth really went all out to pave the way for this son of hers.

Dozens of Harpies swooped down with the intent of grabbing a member of the Blood Brigade. But this was the worst possible target they could have ever chosen. The Archers and Mages of the Brigade were already ready and waiting. Not only that, this particular army had an occupation unique to them, the Javalineers. Armed with short spears, these Javalineers might not have had the longest of ranges when compared to the Archers or Mages, but as long as the target was within their effective range, their accuracy rate was well over 90%.

Furthermore, a short spear was a lot stronger than a mere arrow. One hit was all it took to skewer a Harpy. In contrast, an arrow probably had to hit a weak point like the head or heart in order to take down the target.

Now… the Elves were all a force to be reckoned with, but when it came to the Murlocs…

5000 Murlocs was definitely a staggering figure, but their lack of training meant that they were in complete disarray when faced with such an ambush. In fact, quite a number of Murlocs had already thrown aside their weapons and jumped into the river.

The Murloc Shaman and Clanleader tried whatever they could, scolding, beating, cursing, but nothing could stem the tide of deserters. Something worth noting at this point was that these Minotaurs had clashed with the Murlocs before. The result was that the Murlocs were thoroughly trounced. As for the Harpies… in their own words, they hated those flying birds…

In the proverbial food chain of the Underdepths, the Minotaurs and Harpies were well above the Murlocs, like how a cat was to a mouse. The Murlocs weren’t willing conscripts to begin with, so even if the Murloc Shaman and Clanleader were here to control them, there was no way they could overcome the innate fear in their hearts. That was how much higher up in the food chain the Minotaurs and Harpies were. At the same Star-level, a Murloc had no chance of ever winning against a Minotaur or Harpy.

Murlocs? Hah, how about you guys call yourselves salted fish instead.

Out of the 5000 or so Murlocs that marched with us, not all had managed to escape in the chaos, roughly half of their numbers rallied back under the Murloc Shaman and Clanleader. Of those that fled, some chose the river while some chose to run in the unfortunate direction of the Blood Brigade.

Amidst the chaos of the fleeing Murlocs, the Bridgade’s well laid out formation was nearly destroyed in the process. Thankfully, this army also had an Assassin unit of nearly 200. Training such Assassins were the forte of the Shadowhunter Clan so any Assassin who had successfully graduated were all top-notch. The moment they noticed the disruption caused by the Murlocs, they promptly struck from the shadows. Reyage had already instructed these Assassins beforehand to look after the perimeters for this very reason.

An unusual reason, to be certain, but he was proven right this time. Without even needing any further instructions, any Murloc who even got a webbed foot close to the Brigade was immediately met with a blade from the shadows.

It was only after a hundred over Murlocs had died that these poor fishes finally realised they were fleeing in the wrong direction. Not only did they end up dying despite not having met an opponent, they died at the hands of their own allies… truly a tragic fate.

The cold-bloodedness of this display had the effect of bringing the Murlocs back under control. By using this momentary fear and shock, the Murloc Shaman and Clanleader had successfully reorganised these Murlocs back into the main force.

The head of these Assassins was a veiled female Dark Elf who could be seen signalling to another Assassin to restrain these two brothers. The plan was to herd the remaining Murlocs towards the charging Minotaurs. Naturally, the two brothers weren’t too happy about this treatment, but they both had a dagger to their necks right now. Clearly, a dagger was a lot sharper than their scales.

As expected, rather than losing their fishy self, they would much rather lose a fishy brother. The two brothers expressed their willingness to obey orders and began leading the charge themselves.

Yet not long after they did so, they sneaked a glance at each other. The path they were taking so happened to lie near the river. Clearly, they were plotting something right now. Too bad for them, there were four Assassins already dispatched to follow them. As long as they dared make a move, their fishy lives were over!

At that point, a maelstrom of emotions flowed within their eyes, none of them positive. But what were to do in this damned if they do, damned if they don’t situation? Charge, that’s what.

At the same time that the Murlocs arrived on scene, my three Fire Elementals had made contact with the Minotaurs. With their bodies covered completely in flames, every strike they threw out scorched the air around them. Some of the weaker Minotaurs were even affected by the sheer heat of their presence and began to lose consciousness. Axes began to fall, followed closely by the sonorous thuds of collapsing Minotaurs.

At the level of a Seven-star, the flames of a Fire Elemental had to at least be a thousand degrees celsius. Naturally, these Fire Elementals knew to control their flames outside of battle. During combat however, their mighty flames were fully brought to bear. Lower starred Minotaurs, while stronger than a bull, were still at the level of a normal mortal -certainly not a match for the scorching flames of the Fire Elementals.

In actuality, this burning environment was confined to a circle around each Fire Elemental. This was a skill of theirs in which they could instantly raise the heat around them to a certain degree in order to deal with weaker foes. Right this very instant, wherever the Fire Elementals were, a circular no man’s land was formed around them.

Being summoned, however, they had a fatal flaw of endurance. While they might have had great effect on the Minotaurs, it was still a fact that this wasn’t Purgatory; they couldn’t replenish their fire element easily. Each time they inflicted severe injuries on the Minotaurs, they expanded a great deal of their energies as well. As their reserves slowly drained, their size began to shrink. Even the glow around them had grown noticeably dimmer by now.

The Minotaurs had noticed this point too, which was why they furiously charged at the Fire Elementals. Even if their heavy weaponry were unable to damage the Fire Elementals, they were still useful in expanding their energies.

This obviously wasn’t the most efficient of methods to handle the Minotaurs, but what choice did they have but to overwhelm these mighty creatures with their sheer numbers? While that was happening, the remaining Minotaurs routed around their comrades and continued charging towards us.

When I summoned those three Fire Elementals, I knew full well that the line wouldn’t hold forever. My only hope was that those three would be able to buy us some time, which they did magnificently. At this point, all the armies had already taken up formations and the Murlocs were even herded in the right direction.

“MOOOOOO!!!”

Just like that, a bunch of three meters tall Minotaurs, armed with gigantic maces, axes and hammers clashed with a bunch of Murlocs, coming in at 1.6 meters at most and armed with bone clubs and broken spears. The outcome was clear for all to see… a complete massacre…

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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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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.

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Living in a fantasy world couldn’t be anymore different than a game world, despite what transmigrators in novels would lead you to believe. Everyone here had their own experiences. They weren’t ‘NPCs’, but were actual flesh and blood. Those who would foolishly make this assumption, those so-called transmigrators, would often end up dead in a ditch, unknowingly done in by the same people they put off as being ‘NPCs’. Naturally, I wasn’t that stupid, although my showing had been rather arrogant of late.

Ever since I reincarnated as a Devil, I never had a day of respite. Not when I was fighting for my life through the Blood Sea, not when I was chased by a horde of Zombies… anyway, it was a hard journey. But ever since I came to the Shadowhunter Clan, my fortunes had taken a significant turn for the better. Not only had I gained a godmother, I was now half the owner of the entire Dark Elf race. That was why I had been acting rather arrogant recently. But was I really to blame here? I was, after all, at one point a sacrifice waiting to be offered before I suddenly became an object of worship instead -quite a drastic change in attitudes.

But everything in life had its ebbs and flows. Just because I was suddenly thrust into such a lofty position didn’t mean that this fortune would last forever. Just as I was entertaining thoughts about starting a biography about the heroic adventures of a certain Fallen Angel, life would teach me a lesson along the lines of ‘the only constant in life is change’.

Other than the thousand or so Blood Drake Riders led by Zurnalin, the rest of the army were foot soldiers. Naturally, they wouldn’t be able to travel at the same rate as us. Furthermore, the Murlocs weren’t able to leave the water for too long so we had to plot a route that was nearby water. At times, we had to take an otherwise unnecessary detour, resulting in a belated arrival at the battleground.

Even so, our location was only ten kilometers away from the forward post. Zurnalin had already sent out the Assassins ahead of us to scout the situation. By all accounts, they should be back soon.

Unfortunately, it was now two hours and ten minutes since they left. Their scouting trip was supposed to have taken at most two hours. While this was only a ten minutes delay, every minute and second mattered in war. Being the professional Assassins that those two were, they would have at least sent a letter back if they weren’t able to return in time.

Lest one forgot, these were Dark Elven Assassins of the Shadowhunter Clan, not just any old Assassin you would find elsewhere. If they were late, there was only one possibility: something had happened to them.

Zurnalin was in a right pickle now. If she had her way, she would be rushing over to the battlefield this very instant, but the fact that her scouts hadn’t returned meant that there might be a trap ahead. A blind advance would undoubtedly lead to heavy losses, but her mission was to reinforce the forces ahead, failing to advance now would lead to its failure.

By this point, the entire army had marched a staggering 40 kilometers without rest so everyone was tired, especially those Murlocs lying on the floor right now like a bunch of infuriating dead fishes.

These fishes were the very definition of lazy. Even before the first kilometer was finished, there were already Murlocs complaining. Had it not been for my decidedly black face being discovered by the Murloc Shaman, leading to him punishing those who dared complain, we might have already had our first wave of fishy deserters.

As the saying went, you are only as strong as your weakest link. Had it not been for the Murlocs holding us back, we would have already reached our destination. Even so, there was no reason to give up free cannon fodder just because of that. Especially since we weren’t the first batch of reinforcements to arrive. Prior to us, another army had gone to reinforce the forward post a day earlier. Their numbers might not have been as many our own, but it should at least guarantee that the lines will hold before we arrive.

Finally, Zurnalin gave the orders to assemble and march onwards. The situation with those two Assassins were a concern, but we still had to proceed in the end.

However, before the entire army could assemble, an incident happened. A signal flare burst into a blinding glare ahead, bathing the otherwise darkened caverns in white.

Beneath its searing illumination, the vague silhouette of a horde of Minotaurs could be seen roughly two and a half kilometers ahead in the mushroom forest. With their brutish force, they pushed aside the obstructing mushrooms with a beastial howl and charged in our direction. These Minotaurs were all roughly three meters in height. Each wielded a heavy weapon that looked to be about 180 kg each. Some wielded a giant warhammer, a giant axe, a giant mace… essentially, they were all gigantic. Despite that, their speeds were alarmingly fast, covering a kilometer in a mere minute.

High above, a flock of Harpies began to break over the horizon. Each Harpy had a wingspan of around three to four meters, and in the typical fashion of their race, they had a rather fetching human face but an eagle body that was anything but.

Where did that signal flare come from? And why are they here instead of fighting the forward post? Has the forward post fallen already?

Fudgecakes, looks like things have gotten complicated…

“My riders, hear my command! Assemble! We are under attack!”

The moment those monsters appeared in our vision, Zurnalin hastily yelled out that warning to the rest of the army. Thanks to her quick reactions, the rest of the units began to quickly form up as well. The Blood Drake Riders all hopped onto their Blood Drakes, spear in hand, and formed up around Zurnalin.

“Master…” Unlike Zurnalin, Jezsere was already frightened to death by the sudden appearance of these enemies. She tried to duck into my arms for cover but I placed her on Mo Ning’s back instead. I then instructed Mo Ning to look after her.

Mo Ning herself did not mind our resident timid girl all that much. She nodded her head and quickly went about her work.

I started channeling mana into the summoning bracelet on my left hand, the Lion’s Majesty. Immediately, the three Fire Elemental Cores lit up with a fiery glow as the first hints of mana began to flow into them. I had invested over half of my mana into those three cores, only to receive a weak response from the bracelet. Still, that was all I needed. “In my name, come forth and scorch the lands! Emissary of flames!”

As I spoke the summoning words, three three meter tall Fire Elementals materialised out of thin air before me. Each of them had a vaguely humanoid shape that shimmered from the flames they gave out. Even from where I was standing, I couldn’t make out the definite features on their bodies or faces. Based on their aura however, I could sense that these were bonafide Seven-stars.

It was at that point that I realised why Ferti’nier had this summoning bracelet made for me in the first place. Because my mana had the unique ability to impart consciousness, the three Fire Elementals summoned through the bracelet would benefit from this trait as well. Simply put, these Fire Elementals weren’t just your normal puppets that required controlling, they were able to function independently like my Shadow Demon!

I pointed at the charging Minotaurs. “Stop them, don’t let them get any closer!”

Upon receiving my command, the three Fire Elementals exchanged a look with each other then nodded wordlessly before sprinting towards the Minotaurs. With their help, we should be able to buy a significant amount of time. As for the Harpies above… Well, that’s a problem for the Archers and Mages. I wonder if it will help if I tell them that I have a Harpy Witch as a fiancee…

On Aishael’s part, her reaction wasn’t much slower than Zurnalin herself. Even though she was still a young girl, she was deathly calm right now. “Half-Elves, I want Archers and Mages on those Harpies right away. Second division will provide cover. First division, gather on me!”

These two thousand Half-Elves might have seemed like a ragtag army at first, but it was an undeniable fact that each and every one of them had gone through life and death situations together. In terms of experience alone, they had probably gone to war more often than the Dark Elven army. They knew what a battlefield was like and what the battlefield required. Even when resting, all of them kept their weapons at the ready in case of an ambush.

Thanks to the timely orders by Aishael, the Half-Elves were able to form up their long-range units quickly. Volley after volley of spells and arrows rained down on the incoming Harpies, never giving them an inch without first taking a mile from them.

Using the time bought by the Archers and Mages, the second division of the Half-Elves formed up a basic defensive position around them. As long as any Harpy tried to come close, they not only had to contend with projectiles flying their way, they had to guard against the weapons of these warriors as well.

At the same time, the first division of the Half-Elves had formed up around Aishael. Their mission was to hold off the unstoppable charge of the Minotaurs. It was at that time that a few Harpies noticed this new division that didn’t seem to have any long-range units guarding them. Realising that this might be an easier target, they swooped down in hopes of perhaps procuring a new toy for their nest.

(TL: 40km isn’t that far…)

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.