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Having sent away Warwraith, I was about to greet Jeerah when the Flame Demon Child I had just rescued unexpectedly knelt down and began grovelling to Jeerah.

“Mistress Jeerah, I brought reinforcements back… are you alright?”

The Flame Demon Child crawled her way towards Jeerah and reached out for her long, slender legs… ‘Is this the legendary greeting of shoe kissing?’

Yet my question barely lasted a second before Jeerah simply lifted up her feet and mercilessly stepped on the Flame Demon Child’s head, pinning her face to the ground.

With her subordinate still under her foot, Jeerah slightly tilted her head upwards in a queenly fashion, eyes scornfully peering down at the lowly Devil beneath her foot. One of her left fingers seductively caressed her lips as she asked, “If you’re that worried about me, why did you wait that long to come help me just now? You even hid over there till everything was over. Do you think I’m blind?”

From then on, no matter how that Flame Demon Child tried to explain herself, Jeerah simply continued trampling on her till she finally realised that her savior, me, was still standing there…

“Oh, I had almost forgotten. You did bring some reinforcements, didn’t you? I don’t know where you found them but they do seem rather powerful.” Jeerah smiled thinly before actually stepping over that Flame Demon Child’s back and onto the ground. But what really had me riled was that I actually found her sway rather elegant, almost beautiful…

“Be careful, little brother, that girl is about to activate her enthrallment, even though your sister can help you, she still hopes that you can break out of it by yourself.” Ferti’nier reminded me kindly. Yet just as I was stunned by her sudden change of heart, her words regained their usual barbs. “Oh right, your sister almost forgot to mention this but, creatures without a gender have a very strong resistance to enthrallment. So even if she doesn’t do anything, our little brother should be fine.”

‘You’re the one without a gender! Your whole family has no gender!’

Like a pest constantly hiding out in my body, she always knew exactly what to do to anger me half to death.

After that little fit, Ferti’nier suddenly turned serious once more. “That girl’s enthrallment hasn’t been refined yet, else that Flame Demon Child would have already rushed into battle just now, instead of holding back her subordinates and watching from the sidelines.”

Back then, there was in fact a period where we were quite far away from Jeerah. Had the Warhorses chosen to throw all caution to the winds and charge at her, she had a very real chance of dying. This tiny sliver of chance was enough for that Flame Demon Child to begin resisting her enthrallment. Should she be away from Jeerah any longer, she would have actually been able to break free from her control.

Psychic Enthrallment drew its strength from the strength of the caster and the tier of the enthrallment. Naturally, one had to factor in the target’s own resistance.

As an example, one merely had to look at the self-serving actions of that Flame Demon Child. Even though she still saw Jeerah as her master, and even brought reinforcements to help her, her actions at the battlefield proved that she wasn’t truly loyal to Jeerah. If I had to explain why, it would probably be that the Flame Demon Child was only restricted by Jeerah’s enthrallment, having no choice but to serve Jeerah’s interests. Yet there always existed the possibility of that Flame Demon Child suddenly turning on Jeerah. After all, Devils were the very incarnation of chaos and betrayal. Even under enthrallment, they still held the seed of betrayal within them.

Furthermore, this Flame Demon Child had a very simple reason as to why she was resistant -that’s because she was a she… And also, if she were to ever be lucky enough to evolve, she would most likely be awarded the Original Sin blessing of Lust.

As I was mulling over the matter of that Flame Demon Child’s betrayal, Jeerah began to slowly walk closer to me, along with a strong but pleasant smell that only grew stronger. It was the kind of scent that any male would find intoxicating. Even if I was in a genderless state right now, I was still a bonafide male in the end. Thus, I didn’t have much resistance against that scent.

“Fallen Angel?” Jeerah carefully observed me. Her eyes had a hint of sneering pride in them while her mouth curved into a smile. Her voice drew me in with every syllable she enunciated, as if I was being slowly wrapped in a warm embrace.

“Hi…there…” Whether I realised it or not, my words started to stutter, as if I had just fallen in love for the first time ever. Let alone speak, I didn’t even know where to keep my hands or feet. The signature brimstone scent of Purgatory started to smell refreshing. Even the scorching heat of the air began to seem like a cozy radiator, as if all the discomfort in this world was starting to leave me.

I definitely felt that I was under her spell, but why would I ever give up on such a beautiful creature…perhaps I should even propose to her…if she didn’t agree…perhaps I could just force her? Would she be hurt if I did that?

“Get away from my mama!” Mo Na almost immediately sensed my abnormality. She hurriedly flew in between me and Jeerah, arms spread wide open like a mother hen protecting her chick. “You shameless tramp, get away from Mo Na’s mama right this instant!”

“Mama?” Still in the midst of her enthrallment, Jeerah couldn’t help but be stunned by that. She broke into a sneering grin soon after, fingers pointed directly at me as if I was the source of some joke she just heard. “I actually can’t tell if this esteemed Fallen Angel is a male or female.”

“Of course I’m a male.”

If there was one thing I would never barge on, that was my gender.

After that brief argument between Mo Na and Jeerah, I was awakened from her enthrallment. However, it had to be said that Psychic Enthrallment wasn’t just something that could be used on males. If it was used well, even females would be mesmerised. After all, there existed certain creatures known as oysters, and they were made for slurping!

Jeerah’s enthrallment certainly was powerful, else it wouldn’t have been able to cause the death of over ten Warhorses with the help of her low level Devils.

Based on what I just saw, her medium of enthrallment was her scent. And while it wasn’t at the level of Master Psychic Enthrallment, the fact that she could use her scent in such a way meant that it was only a matter of time before she reached that tier.

“Oh, you actually woke up so fast.”

As the spellcaster, she could clearly tell that I had broken free from her enthrallment and was shocked by the speed at which I did so. At the same time, I was both shocked and alarmed at the fact that she could enthrall me.

‘She’s definitely not just some backbencher…’

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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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My command was as simple as it was direct. I wasn’t too certain if the golems could understand the true meaning behind my words, but as the command was given, they charged forward as ordered. Their weight was frightening, to say the least. For every step they took, the earth itself would groan. Rocks would fly off like an explosion had gone off at the site of their footsteps. And as the cacophony of rubble and booming footsteps echoed across the battlefield, it wasn’t long before every creature’s attention was attracted over to us.

“Blast it! What are you doing here again!” Warwraith had a face with the words frustration and anger written all over. “Why can’t you just watch quietly from over there? Do you really think we Warhorses are afraid of you?!”

Because of the booming footsteps of the golems, Warwraith had already sensed our presence the moment we arrived. Yet never in his wildest dreams did he imagine that we would be so shameless as to harass him so soon after the previous beating.

With a horde of golems charging ever closer, Warwraith didn’t dare to act rashly, merely holding position for now. He had definitely heard my command just now, so he knew that as long as he stood there, he wouldn’t be attacked.

He was right on that front. Not long after, the golems surrounded him but never attacked him. Based on this alone, I could at least take heart that their intelligence wasn’t horrifically low.

“If I were you right now, I wouldn’t make any sudden moves.”

Seeing him so obedient in his circle of golems, I couldn’t but smile a little as I brought my forces forward. As we got closer, that old horse’s already black face got even blacker. His furious shaking was no better proof of how angry he was right now. At the same time, it was a sign of his fear.

“What do you even want?!”

Warwraith yelled at me. As he was right now, there was no way for him to express his disquiet other than shouting. Yet as the saying went, dogs who bite don’t bark. His shouting merely showed that he was all bark and no bite.

“Nothing at all, really. So you better not do anything unnecessary either. Just watch quietly from there.”

“There’s no benefit for both of us if they keep fighting like this.”

“I’m fine with that. I’ll just take it as I’m watching a show.”

“… b*stard!” In a war of words, there really was no way Warwraith would ever win -just look at how he lost after two sentences.

Even though I didn’t say it, he knew exactly what I wanted. After a brief pause, he finally swallowed this bitter pill through gritted teeth.

Eyes still spewing hate, the old horse yelled in the direction of the battlefield, “Stop fighting! I want all of you back here now!”

Even though Jeerah was able to disrupt the Warhorses with her Adept Psychic Enthrallment, the battle couldn’t be said to be in their favor. At the end of the day, the Devils were simply too weak to fight against the Warhorses. Her participation did allow them to counterattack somewhat, but their level difference wasn’t something that could be overcome so easily.

If one was to take that Large Imp who fought a Warhorse to death as an example, while he might have won, he had to pay an unbearable price for that victory. Barring some form of main character plot armor, any similar victory would be a pyrrhic one as well.

In just five short minutes, half the Devils were either dead or injured. In contrast, the Warhorses merely suffered a dozen over losses. These losses were mostly restricted to Three-stars as well. Should the battle continue, their defeat was inevitable even without Warwraith’s participation.

Warwraith knew of my true intentions. He also knew that even if they won, he wouldn’t gain a single benefit -because my fist was bigger than his.

Since he clearly had no way of winning, there wasn’t much point to his resistance either. At the very least, this way there was a chance that they wouldn’t be massacred.

With Warwraith’s shout, both sides slowly stopped fighting. The Devils retreated back to Jeerah’s rock as per her orders, instinctively forming a layered defense ring around her.

Warwraith glared at me then. He wanted to say something but he held it in; not like I couldn’t tell what he was trying to say from his bulging eyes. He clearly wanted to curse at me.

‘Ah… the world is really such a strange place. I still remember the first time I met him too. Back then, he forced me to fight those Demonic Fire Igneous Giants… Well, looks like the roles have been reversed now. As the saying goes, don’t bully a kid just because he’s poor. A river that flows east for thirty years, flows west the next.

“Pack up… we’re leaving…”

When he said pack up, what he really meant was to gather the corpses of their fallen. As Warwraith silently watched Warhorse after Warhorse corpse got dragged before him, his mood sank further.

‘Maybe I should just stay away from him for now. Judging by his foul mood, he might just snap and attack me if I provoke him more.’

In actuality, I wasn’t the least bit afraid of him since my golems could easily teach him a lesson in how to be a proper horse. Yet what good would that do for me? None. In fact, it was detrimental to my cause.

My end goal was to gather troops by conquering Sable Radiance. These horses were a force to be reckoned with, a force that I could easily turn into my cavalry unit. Thus, my plan had always been to subjugate not to decimate.

There were a multitude of ways to declare war, ones that didn’t require me killing off their important members. In other words, ways that didn’t get in the way of me gathering more troops afterwards.

Humiliating him but not killing him was certainly an option. But there was a possibility that I could cross his limits, turning him into a diehard rival even if their whole race surrendered. At the end of the day, one shouldn’t be too extreme in his methods.

But for me to say that… should still be alright, right?

I sent off Warwraith with a slight tinge of guilt in my heart. That horse even forgot to give me his customary glare before trotting off. In all likelihood, he was on the verge of mental collapse right now.

Mo Na seemed to have picked up on this little fact as well. With a cheeky grin, and a loyal Hellhound at her side, she said, “Mama, Mo Na feels that horse was really pitiful just now.”

“Woof woof.”

“If even you say that, then he must really be pitiful.”

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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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The Devils led by Jeerah were already surrounded by the Purgatory Warhorses. Though the numbers on both sides were roughly equal -about a hundred on each side-, their actual combat strength couldn’t be any more different; the Warhorses were vastly more powerful than a bunch of low level Devils. Not to mention that these Warhorses still had a Six-star elder watching over them from the sidelines who I doubt was in the best of moods after being pummelled by me. In all likelihood, he had no intention of sparing even a single one of them.

The battle going on before us right now was a pretty clear cut one. In order for the Warhorses to qualify for the hunting party, they had to at least be Three-stars. In comparison, the Devils who just came over from the Prison of the Dead were malnourished, and were mostly One-stars or Two-stars. There were barely any Three-stars, let alone Four-stars. With such a difference, it didn’t come as a shock that they were getting trampled right now.

Had it not been for Jeerah, the Devils probably would have lost in two minutes flat. You heard me right! Jeerah was like a messiah to them right now thanks to her decisive combat support.

As a Lust Demon of the beguiling branch, she practically radiated beauty from top to toe. As long as it was a male, regardless of race, they would be affected by her.

A Beguiling Lust Demon’s strongest tactic was to enthrall an opposing male to fight for her. However, in order to reach this level of beguilement, that Lust Demon first had to ensure that there was a comfortable distance between her level and her target’s.

Not only that, she had to ensure there was enough time to pull off the enthrallment. The requirements were rather complicated, but mostly because of individual differences.

The ability to enthrall an enemy without any physical contact was a high level technique. Most Lust Demons could only enthrall an enemy by coming into contact with them. But if a Lust Demon was powerful enough, her enthrallment technique could take place from a distance through her words, scent, or even sight. At the pinnacle of this technique, Lust Demons were even able to alter a person’s memory.

These techniques which controlled one’s psyche were all collectively known as Psychic Enthrallment.

Psychic Enthrallment possessed three tiers of power: Novice, Adept, and Master. Novice Psychic Enthrallment required the caster to maintain close contact with the target to have any chance of success. This was the forte of the carnal branch of Lust Demons. Through their bodily techniques, they would forcefully brainwash their targets. A normal human would merely require a single session or perhaps even a kiss to enthrall.

Adept Psychic Enthrallment was what the Lust Demons of the beguiling branch specialised in. Because this tier of enthrallment only required simple contact like a touch, they often did not have to go to the same… lengths… that the Carnal Lust Demons had to.

When one reached the master tier of Psychic Enthrallment, the brainwashing could take place simply through words, scent or even sight. Such a Lust Demon often only had to use her voice to control countless souls. This was the strongest power a Lust Demon could hope for!

In truth, I was naturally endowed with Master Psychic Enthrallment thanks to Ferti’nier. Furthermore, this enthrallment wasn’t easy for me to control. That was why when I had just reincarnated, I would often encounter situations where Devils would inexplicably submit to me.

Jeerah was performing just such a technique right now. As she stood atop a giant rock, she feverishly released her mana in the form of a pink fog that slowly travelled across the battlefield.

It was a pink fog that somehow triggered certain memories within me… didn’t I give out this fog in the past as well?

Upon inhaling this fog, the Devils immediately experienced an explosive burst of fighting spirit. Yelling “FOR THE MISTRESS!” at the top of their lungs, they would fearlessly charge towards the Purgatory Warhorses like a bunch of brainwashed zealots.

This fog wasn’t only effective against the low level Devils either. Majority of the Warhorses who inhaled this fog experienced a momentary period of giddiness. And on a battlefield, such a momentary distraction often proved fatal, no matter how short that moment was.

A Three-star Warhorse was the first to inhale this pink fog. His movement started to turn sluggish, and his strikes became weaker as well. In the beginning, he was able to defeat a Large Imp with one simple kick, but after ten seconds of inhaling that fog, his attacks not only became slower, but were now unable to even seriously injure a Large Imp.

In stark contrast to that, the Large Imp he fought charged with the ferocity of a zealot who just received a divine revelation from his deity. His actions practically screamed that he would at least take a bite out of that accursed Warhorse, even if it meant his death. Other than frenzy, there was nothing to be found in his crimson eyes.

But a Large Imp’s body was nowhere as tall as a Warhorse. That meant that he had no choice but to jump in order to reach the Warhorse. As he did so, he accurately wrapped his arms around the neck of the Warhorse and began biting into his neck. Like a hound that found his prey, the Large Imp viciously tore into the neck of the dazed Warhorse, inflicting a serious injury in the process.

Neck throbbing furiously, the Warhorse finally came to his senses. His injuries caused the blood within him to circulate even faster, countering the slowing effect of the pink fog in an instant with its own adrenaline-filled frenzy.

The Warhorse neighed loudly in the air as if to announce what was coming next. Nostrils flaring and muscles taut, the Warhorse galloped furiously in a forward charge. No matter who he encountered, whether friend or foe, he simply rammed through them all.

Yet the Large Imp held fast. He stubbornly bit into the neck of that Warhorse, the rocking of the Warhorse’s charge merely adding to the speed at which his teeth tore.

Purgatory Warhorses had no arms to speak of, so no matter how fast that horse charged, he really had no way of knocking off that Large Imp. His only hope now was to shroud his body in flames, hopefully burning that Imp to death before it could do more damage.

Shrouded in flames, the Large Imp was immediately burnt by the wrapping flames. As this fire wasn’t of his own making, the Imp’s body was sure to be damaged. Yet no matter how much his body writhed in pain, he had no intention of ever letting go. Right now, he was the most devout follower of Jeerah; his heart only held the desire to protect her to his death.

Even with his flame resistance, there was no way a Large Imp could completely ignore the effects of a Three-star’s flame. Before long, the Large Imp was completely engulfed by the flames, yet that only served to fuel his ravenous biting. Finally, right before his body was reduced to ashes, his teeth made contact with each other…

Fresh blood gushed out like a crimson hotspring. The moment that happened, the Warhorse lost all strength and began wobbling, knocking into two more Large Imps and one of its own at the speed of over 150 km per hour, carving a bloody road of death right before its own impending demise.

At long last, the Warhorse collapsed to the ground leaving behind a smothering trail of fire in his wake, his head knocking into the rock Jeerah so happened to be on.

The Warhorse used whatever energy it had left in its body to raise his head in hopes of looking at Jeerah one last time. Unfortunately, he failed. He could only let forth one last mournful neigh before dying together with that Large Imp who finally let go of his neck at that exact same moment.

‘A One-star actually fought a Three-star to death…now that’s a miracle right there!’

In truth, such an occurrence wasn’t unusual at all. There were a few cases of something similar happening all around. The most frightening fact was that even a Five-stars wasn’t completely immune to Jeerah’s enthrallment. It could only be said that her technique had surpassed what a normal Adept Psychic Enthrallment should be able to accomplish.

“Little brother, that right there is the natural born power of the beguiling branch.” Jeerah’s exceptional performance naturally attracted the attention of Ferti’nier. Like the Devil queen that she was, I could hear her amused voice rattling in my head right now. “Her technique is on the precipice of evolving into a Master Psychic Enthrallment. That pink fog of hers is actually an enthrallment that uses scent to affect her opponents.”

‘So we got a genius on our hands…speaking of which, Devils with an Original Sin aren’t even that common to begin with…’

“Beguiling Lust Demons are actually a rarity amongst Lust Demons. That’s because they have to maintain their chastity until they comprehend the secrets of Adept Psychic Enthrallment… truly an ironic rule, I have to say. Even though they are the incarnations of Lust, they have to curb their desires…but should a Lust Demon be able to achieve such a feat, she would be a Lust Demon of the beguiling branch. She would no longer have to rely on her body to enthrall her opponents.”

‘So once they lose their chastity, they lose the ability to evolve into the beguiling branch. But if they don’t use their bodies as a weapon, these nightworking Lust Demons can’t survive… truly a conundrum…’

That exchange with Ferti’nier didn’t last too long, and we soon turned our attention back to the battlefield.

Jeerah’s enthrallment had brought forth an unexpected outcome in this battlefield, resulting in casualties amongst the Warhorses. However, such a fortuitous turn of events wouldn’t last long. Warwraith wasn’t one to allow his fellow horses die, thus he would never allow Jeerah to continue unchecked. And as I had predicted, Warwraith prepared to intervene.

‘We mustn’t let that Warwraith join the battlefield. If that blasted horse interferes now, he can take out all the Devils in an instant with just his Six-star might and capture Jeerah.’

‘That Jeerah was even able to earn praise from Ferti’nier. That must mean her talent is the real deal.’

Being understaffed as I was, there was no way I would give up this chance to recruit another member. I immediately gave the order, “Advance, don’t let that donkey of a horse join the battlefield!”

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.