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It had to be said that the Hellhounds were exceptional at digging holes. The entrance of the nest was well excavated with a height reaching up to ten or so meters. As one walked deeper in, the cave extended ever further and wider.

Within the cave itself, the walls were dotted with stones that glowed intermittently with a red light. Even though Devils were born with night vision, the thought of having such rocks in the rock walls was still a welcome and intriguing one.

Sidarth quietly led the way further into the cave, showing no intention of speaking at all as he did so. Up till now, I hadn’t been able to gather much information on the Hellhound clan. All I knew was that their clan head was an Overlord, and a rather old one at that. Also, he wanted to see me. That was basically it.

Thinking back on it now, my decision to just meet with an Overlord like this was probably a little haphazard, but this was also an opportunity I couldn’t just give up on. I had to make contact with them.

If everything went as planned, this first meeting should be all we needed to come to an understanding. Naturally, that wasn’t a realistic goal, but it was the most beneficial outcome for the both of us.

The nest was guarded by multiple Hellhounds hidden away in the dark. While they might have hid themselves well, I could still clearly sense their aura. In all likelihood, this was done on purpose. Perhaps as a sign of force? Or was there some other reason? It shouldn’t be to ambush me, right?

With that in mind, I instinctively reached out to the Gem of Authority hung around my neck and felt a wave of confidence wash over me. Even if they were to attack me all of a sudden, as long as I had the Devil King Idol on hand, I was safe.

This nest was dug out of an entire mountain. Its interior was like a spiderweb of tunnels. Often, we would stumble upon a Hellhound hurriedly galloping out of a side tunnel, then after realising that Sidarth was present, bow before rushing off to the next tunnel. Each time this occurred, Sidarth made sure to put forth his best impression of a stern, respectable elder. The dog I saw before me right now was completely different from that flippant old dog I first met long ago. In fact, had it not been for the fact that his aura was completely identical to Sidarth, and that Sinmosa herself had confirmed his identity, I would have never thought that he was the same dog. After all, this dog actually seemed like an elder!

Because the nest itself was a complex web of tunnels, it didn’t take much for my head to start spinning from all the turns and curves we took while navigating, especially for a directionally handicapped person like me. It was against such a backdrop that Sidarth finally stopped, turned around, then signalled that we had arrived.

What greeted me first was a steaming lava pool ahead. It wasn’t a particularly large pool, coming in at around sixty to seventy meters in diameter. Right in the center of this pool was a platform that roughly took up a sixth of the entire pool’s area.

That platform immediately grabbed attention, because there stood a Cerberus the size of an elephant and completely covered in black fur… actually an elephant’s size…

Sidarth bowed at the gigantic Cerberus from a distance away, then said, “Honored Clan Head, Sidarth has brought guests.”

“Mhm, you may excuse yourself for now.” It was merely a light response on the gigantic dog’s part, but it came at me like a shockwave, ratting my ears like an explosion would.

I immediately covered my ears tightly and bit down on my teeth. As I tried my best to withstand the resulting surge of pain from my ears, I was completely oblivious to the departure of Sidarth. By the time I noticed he was gone, there was only me and that gigantic Cerberus.

“My apologies for not controlling my power well.” The clan head sincerely apologized. Yet why did it feel like that was on purpose? Speaking of which, was there ever a need to control his power? Did he think he was the creator or something? If your voice was actually that powerful, you wouldn’t even be here! You’re just a single Hellhound, one who just so happens to be a Nine-star Overlord! In other words, he was clearly trying to embarrass me just now!

Seeing that I was silent till now, the old dog merely chuckled. “Now then, my adorable young friend, do you have time for a little chat?”

‘Hmph, you’re the one who called me here in the first place, and you’re asking if I have time? Are you senile as well as loud?!’

“Oh, where are my manners? I almost forgot that I was the one who called you here. Forgive this old dog, he’s getting a little old so he can be a little slow at times.” Having said that, he gave me a cheeky wink with what had to be the fiercest three pairs of eyes ever. “Sigh, when you’re old you just can’t compete with the youngins anymore. An old dog’s life isn’t easy, I hope you won’t mind.”

‘As if I could…’

I quickly shook my head to show that I didn’t mind at all. He could do whatever he wanted for all I cared.

Perhaps it was because the expression I had on right now was truly amusing, but the moment he saw it, he chuckled once more. “It’s inconvenient to talk from such a distance, how about you come closer? Or should I head over instead? Hmm…I think I’ll just head on over.”

“I… I think I’ll go over to you instead…”

‘You come over? There’s at least thirty meters between us right now, how do you plan on coming over without wings? Jump? With that gigantic body of yours, you will probably end up flattening me if you do, or at least cause a mini earthquake. I think I better go over instead.’

Thankfully, my recent flight training had paid off. I was already able to maintain basic control of my flight path and balance. Still, the fact that I was flying so low to the ground meant that there was no way to avoid the heat emanating from the lava pool. I had to admit, being next to the lava pool and being on top of it were two different experiences entirely. No wonder we always cooked meat on top of a grill and not beside it… Right now, my race was that of a Fallen Angel’s. As a Fallen Angel, my greatest elemental weakness was fire.

Thankfully, the distance between the clan head and land wasn’t too large. It merely took ten seconds of flying to reach him.

Bracing myself once more, I landed back on the ground, and after stabilizing myself, came face to face with a wall of black fur… this dog was BIG… There was that characteristic wild beast smell about him as well… and those three frightening rows of teeth…

“So… how about we get down to business…” I was a little skittish standing before such a behemoth, like how a normal person would feel when standing before a tiger.

“I felt it.” The gigantic dog replied with a completely irrelevant answer.

“Felt what?” I was surprised. ‘What did you feel exactly? And what’s with this pressure? I swear I’ve grown shorter just standing next to you…’

“The fight that happened not too long ago with that cat.”

Shameless Self-promotion

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.