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One question had always bothered me about this invasion: why couldn’t the Warhorses just give up their territory since they were nomadic to begin with? The moment I laid eyes on their nest, I knew exactly why.

That was because their nest was a flipping treasure trove!

Growing right in the middle of their nest was a gigantic rhombohedral crystal that was somehow made even more eye-grabbing by its blood red hue. Around it were streaks of red that spread outwards in a spiderweb-like fashion. These streaks weren’t lava; I could tell that from a distance because they were a grisly blood red instead of an orange hue. However, that was all I could make out right now due to the giant herd of Warhorses blocking my way.

Countless Warhorses stood between me and that giant crystal. At the head of this herd were twenty or so Nightmare Steeds. Behind these Nightmare Steeds were dozens of Eight-star Warhorses. Finally, there were the rest of the Warhorses who formed a giant sea of horses… Geebus, why are there so many Warhorses all of a sudden…I can’t even give an estimate anymore…

I promptly had the golems take up formation in the front while the Hellhounds and the Purgatory Shadowcats took up formation at the back. Yet when faced with a sea of Warhorses that stretched into the horizon, I still couldn’t help but feel a little uneasy. Thankfully, that unease was quickly snuffed out when I remembered how overpowered my golems actually were. Still, there was still the matter of their hundred or so Eight-stars… was the Devil King Idol going to be enough?

Putting aside the problem of how many elites they had right now, the rest of the Warhorses were at the peak of their morale by having that giant red crystal behind them. Just like how the Soviets were when they said, Russia is big, but there is nowhere to retreat -Moscow is behind us, the Warhorses were most likely experiencing a similar surge of energy right now.

A fight with one’s back to the wall: you either pressed onwards or died.

With the battle set against such a desperate backdrop, the air itself began to prickle with the undisguised killing intent floating about on both sides. Unknowingly, everyone’s gaze sharpened. Even my mischievous baby flew off my shoulders and knowingly hid behind my back with Cinderel in her arms. Jeerah was right beside her as well. She knew not to argue with Mo Na right now. Instead, she quietly stood behind me and did her best to appear as air.

She knew more than anyone else that her little enthrallment wasn’t going to do much against a sea of Warhorses.

This wasn’t my first time fighting against an army that seemingly numbered in the tens of thousands. Back in the Prison of the Dead, I fought an endless army of undead. However, those were mindless enemies who could only throw themselves into the meat grinder without a second thought. A spell that had a wide radius was enough to take care of an enemy like that. This time was different. What we were about to face was a coordinated assault led by a creature that was as intelligent as a human being.

Not to mention that there were tens of thousands of them… tens of thousands…

“Devil, you’ve come at last.” The Nightmare Steed pack parted way and one of their members stepped forward, one who had arguably the most experience dealing with me. He looked conflicted as he swept his gaze over me then over the Hellhounds and Purgatory Shadowcats. His voice hardened. “Is there no other way?”

“At the start, all I wanted was just a Nightmare Steed’s horn.”

I stared right into his eyes. There was no need at all to be afraid of his dream abilities -I had Ferti’nier inside of me who rendered me immune to psychic attacks. Besides, what I said was true. While my goal was to try and subjugate the various clans of Sable Radiance, failing that, my backup plan was to at least try and restore the exchange array. If I had gotten a Nightmare Steed during that incident with Jeerah, the situation wouldn’t have escalated to this state.

At the very least, I wouldn’t have started any wars before finishing repairs on that array.

“What about now, what if we give the horn to you?”

“What do you think?”

Once the sword was drawn, there was no sheathing it till blood was spilt.

‘So now you know how to compromise… why didn’t you do so from the start?!’

“I understand.” Shade bit down on his lip, then said, “I just hope you’re not biting off more than you can chew.” (I made a mistake and spelled his name as Warwraith instead of Shade. Fixed it.)

“My teeth will be fine, at the very least, they won’t be broken like yours soon.”

Seeing that I wasn’t going to change my mind, Shade could only shift his gaze towards the cat and dog standing beside me. “An alliance of the Hellhounds, Purgatory Shadowcats and Devils… are you two planning an all-out war with us then?”

“Well, I don’t like running around either, but this campaign… I have no say in this.” The representative of the Purgatory Shadowcats, Masrow, stated plainly, surprisingly not playing Mahjong with his other buddies for once. Masrow knew full well that he was a small fry and had no chance against an Eight-star Nightmare Steed, thus he made completely known his reluctance. “Honestly, I’m just here for the popcorn…even though I don’t know what popcorn is, but I’m definitely just here to have some popcorn.”

Sidarth, on the other hand, was a lot tougher in his response, “What then? You thought both our clans are just here for fun?”

With just one sentence, he ended the conversation in an instant. Now that was a manly dog right there… a true hotblooded dog.

“Then fight we shall.”

Shade turned around and returned to the other Nightmare Steeds. Making use of this brief window of peace, I asked Sidarth some questions. “So what’s up with that ten meter tall crystal?”

“What do you mean what’s up? That’s the Warhorse’s clan treasure.” Sidarth answered in a heavy tone. “That is a Blood Netherite crystal, it’s said to be the Mana Core of a Felldrake. I do not know how it came to be here, but either way, it has existed here since the beginning of Purgatory, according to legends anyway.”

“Blood Netherite?”

‘Now that’s a fancy name, makes me want to have it.’ I immediately asked about the Blood Netherite. “So what is it used for?”

“I’m not too sure. Our esteemed clan head once mentioned that it has something to do with their evolution into Nightmare Steeds.”

‘A Mana Core of a Felldrake…’ I knew what a Mana Core was. That was a crystal that most magical creatures held in their bodies. The size of the crystal was determined by the creature’s size. Simply put, the bigger the creature was, the bigger the crystal would end up being. So if this piece of Blood Netherite was over ten meters, then how big was its previous owner… just thinking about that gave me the chills.

While I was busy daydreaming about a giant dragon, Shade had already returned to his clan, meaning the war was about to start.

I signalled to Sidarth and Masrow to split up. “Just like we planned, leave the main fighting to me. Your jobs are to stop them from retreating once they are beaten. As for how many we end up capturing… well, just do your best.”

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.