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‘I…I swear, will it kill you to be a little serious?!’ I glared at Mo Na. And without caring whether or not she knew that I was about to explode or not, I reached out with my left hand, grabbed her by the scruff of her neck, and lowered her down. “Be good.” I flicked her on her forehead.

“Wu~ Mama’s so bad…” Mo Na rubbed her little noggin, wings rapidly flapping to show her displeasure. Her eyes teared up a little as she glared back at me. “Mo Na doesn’t want Mama anymore!”

Seeing that adorable but proud little pout on her face, I couldn’t help but want to bully her more. However, now’s not the best time for teasing my daughter; Jeerah was still standing there.

I resisted the urge to pinch her cheeks and smiled politely back at Jeerah. “So about serving me, have you reconsidered it?”

Jeerah turned away from Mo Na and began evaluating me. As she did so, she would chime in with the odd praise or two. “Wings of Pride, a face of Envy, a tail of Lust… you actually have the blessing of three Original Sins. From a certain point of view, you really are a genius. It’s just…”

“Just what?”

“It’s just too bad that you hold too much potential. Those Devil Overlords, perhaps even the Devil Kings, would never allow for your continued existence. If they learn about your existence… there’s no way they will ever let you live. Even the Devil King of Pride might not shelter you…” With utmost conviction, Jeerah exclaimed, “A Devil like you is a threat, no matter who it is!”

“Perhaps you’re right. Before I even get the chance to grow, those selfish curs would definitely do everything in their power to kill me. However, this zone we’re in right now is no ordinary zone. This is a special zone known as the Demonic Kingdom of Sable Radiance. As for the reason why it’s special, that’s because it has been sealed up for tens of thousands of years. In this zone, I’m the overlord!”

Jeerah was right. But that didn’t mean I was afraid either. With my current trump cards, any scheming b*stard had better be prepared for a nasty surprise! Of course, that was assuming none of those old Overlords tried to find trouble with me…

“What did you just say? You’re the boss around here?” Her jaw practically fell apart as if she was looking at a clown. She even made the point to sneer with an extra wide grin, though she quickly retracted that having just remembered a certain golem. Her lips still quivering from forcing back a grin, she continued, “Hmph, is this some kind of joke, a Four-star Fallen Angel actually claims to be a Devil Overlord… And who do you think you are? The son of Lucifer himself?”

“…”

‘I’ve gotta hand it to her, she really got me in an awkward spot. I am, in a sense, the son of Lucifer…’

Seeing that I was silent for so long, Jeerah continued taunting me. “What’s the matter? Nothing else to say?”

With regards to this turn of events, Mo Na instinctively knew to retreat with her little puppy friend to a distant corner. That little scamp even threw a grin or two in our direction; whether it was directed at me or Jeerah, who knew? As for Cinderel, she merely blinked her eyes innocently -the little puppy was still too young to understand what had just gone on between me and Jeerah.

“Aren’t you a stubborn one.” I smiled thinly. With just one sentence, I threw a wrench into this pointless discussion. And under her still quizzical eyes, I threw in a spanner to boot. “Whether or not you believe me, my goal is to conquer this entire region, spread my will across the entirety of Sable Radiance, and finally become a real Devil Overlord. If anyone tries to stand in my way, I won’t just make him suffer, I’ll kill him!”

“It’s no use. Even if you can scare away that Six-star Warhorse, what about their Seven-stars? Eight-stars? Perhaps even their Devil Overlords! Do you have the strength to fight with them? You’re just some Devil with three Original Sins! I admit that you have talent, but that doesn’t translate to power. Before you can ever grow into your own, someone stronger than you will just wander by and stomp you to death! Here’s some advice, don’t think that the world revolves around you!”

Her resistance was as strong as ever, but it was only to be expected. A soul pact meant that one’s life was no longer in their own hands. Who would want to toil on behalf of someone weaker than them? After all, the strength of one’s master decided their future as well. Had Jeerah been some nobody Devil, she would have immediately submitted to me. For Devils without much potential, serving the strong was their way of survival. That was because they knew that without someone strong protecting them, their chances of dying in this cruel environment were high.

In other words, with someone strong as their master, their livelihood could be secured just by relying on their master.

In a lot of ways, Devil society mirrored human society of the past. A nobody scholar would forever be relegated to the fringes of the court unless he joined a faction of some sort. However, should he do that, he would forever be branded as one of their own. Live or die, his fate was now tied to theirs.

However, if that scholar wasn’t just some nobody but rather the top scorer of the imperial examinations, he wouldn’t have to rely on a faction at all. That was because he would have the favor of the emperor to help him climb up the ranks.

Jeerah basically saw herself as the top scorer in this situation. However, she had to understand one thing: overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer.

“You still don’t know what situation you’re in right now, do you? This is the Demonic Kingdom of Sable Radiance. Before I came here, there were no Devils at all.”

“No Devils? Don’t kid yourself, if there were no Devils here, then how do you explain your presence?” Jeerah wasn’t at all convinced by what I said.

“She’s right. Before she came here, there were in fact no other Devils in Sable Radiance.”

It was at that moment that a strange disembodied voice echoed from a distance away. It was a distant voice, yet it somehow sounded as if it was right by our ears.

A moment later, two Warhorses, black of fur, red of mane and fiery red fur around their hooves, came galloping in as if they were riding on clouds. As they approached us, their gallop slowed to an elegant trot till they went past my golems. Peering down at us, I could easily see into their blood red eyes, eyes that seemed to draw whoever that looked into them into an eternal dream.

‘Nightmare steeds… two of them too. I can already feel the pressure emanating off them…’

“Be careful, these two have the power of an Eight-star.” For once, Ferti’nier didn’t cut in with her usual playfulness, instead warning me to be careful. “If anything goes wrong, just bring out that Fallen Angel Golem of yours. Your sister will handle the psychic attacks.”

Two nightmare steeds had come knocking at our doorstep. Two unfriendly ones, to be exact. Even if their psychic attacks could be nullified, they still had their normal darkness and fire magicks, and their astonishing physical strength -clearly not opponents I could handle on my own.

Jeerah was already shivering in silence from the aura they emanated. Before the might of these nightmare steeds, her blasted stubbornness and foul mouth were no use.

I stepped forth to shield her from the pressure. In truth, their combined pressures had no effect on me at all. Perhaps it was because I had evolved into a Fallen Angel, but ever since the capital, none of my enemies could affect me with their aura, no matter how far apart we were in strength.

I fearlessly stared back at them, not at all mincing my words as I asked, “And how may I help you two Grand Elders?”

“I heard that our little Warwraith was in your care recently, we’re here to return that favor.”

‘Little Warwraith? Don’t tell me these are his parents? So after beating up the kid, the parents come knocking…exactly what kind of third-rate storyline is this supposed to be?!’

“May I know how are the two of you related to Warwraith?”

“Don’t waste more time talking to her, let’s just capture her and be done with it.” Obviously the more temperamental of the two, the other Nightmare Steed basically declared the start of the fight with one sentence.

‘Blast it, what’s with the she this and she that? Exactly how does my manly self look like a she? Are you two blind? Other than my lack of a pee pee, I’m clearly a man!’

“Hey now! It’s not good to gang up on someone like that!”

“Enough talk. Die!”

The temperamental Nightmare Steed zoomed off in a flash of black and red, body travelling at speeds that would leave most people in despair. However, that didn’t mean I had no countermeasures of my own.

The moment I noticed those Nightmare Steeds approaching me, I quietly signalled for Cinderel and Mo Na to retreat. The fact that they would attack me didn’t come as a surprise to me at all. I had already begun formulating a plan of attack right from the very beginning.

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.