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With Nicole out of the way thanks to her mana explosion, Ferti’nier reached for the burning yet icy cold sword in Mo Ke’s chest. Being an Epic-grade weapon, this sword had a consciousness of its own. The moment it sensed that Ferti’nier wasn’t its owner, a burst of fire and ice surged forth to repel her hand. Unfortunately for it, Ferti’nier used to be an all-powerful Devil King. Even constrained within a pathetic Five-star body like Mo Ke’s, she wasn’t going to be harmed by a mere weapon.

“You wish to oppose me too? Hmph.” Ferti’nier gripped down hard on the sword, then pulled it out anyway. She gave the sword a couple of casual yet dazzling flourishes before finally turning to face Nicole. Her lips curled into an evil grin as she eyed the haggard and emotionally unstable Demon Hunter.

“Girl, you’ve really blundered this time. That person just now was really your younger brother. Not that it matters now, since you stabbed him into hiding. At least your sister over here got to take control of his body thanks to that… I guess I should be thanking you even.”

Nicole’s eyes went wide upon hearing that. Faced with a Devil that seemed starkly different than before, having gone from writhing in pain to devastatingly bewitching, a myriad of explanations suddenly occurred to her, all bolstered by those taunting words Ferti’nier said to her. For example… what if she did in fact stab her own brother. He had, for some reason or another, turned into a Devil that also sealed another Devil’s soul within it…

“Devil!”

Her eyes went red at the thought that she really could have done that awful deed. Anger immediately overwhelmed her rationality. She did not even care that the Devil standing before her now was impossibly more powerful than her. She only had one thing in her mind, and she planned on enacting it. Reaching for her waist, she swiftly pulled out a pair of daggers and tossed them at Ferti’nier before they had even left their sheaths for a second.

However, those were easily parried by Ferti’nier who still wielded that fire and ice sword. Nicole promptly reached for a third dagger, in hopes of catching Ferti’nier off guard while she recovered from that move. Yet before she even got the chance, a hand grabbed onto her wrist and twisted it violently. In immense pain, she reflexively released the dagger, but she still had the presence of mind to strike behind her with her remaining hand. Unfortunately, that was quickly subdued as well.

She did her best to turn around to see her attacker, only to find a strange black shadow standing before her. It was the Shadow Guardian, which had been deployed stealthily at the start by Ferti’nier. Even though it wasn’t a very strong summon, it was enough to temporarily restrain Nicole.

Her situation could only be described as dire right now. However, she had no intention of quietly awaiting her death either. She did her best to struggle free from the shadowy construct. But she failed. Even after violently activating her Fighter’s Aura in a counterattack, she couldn’t get the shadow to release her. And that was because this was no longer Mo Ke in control of the spell. It was Ferti’nier, the Devil King!

The same ability in the hands of someone else often produced vastly different results. Mo Ke was a newborn Devil. While he might have possessed limitless potential, he was still too young in terms of his current reincarnation. He might have been able to beat anyone at his level thanks to his Epic-grade weapon and wide repertoire of spells, but he still lacked the experience of a longer-lived Devil. His life still had a long way to go.

The same couldn’t be said for Ferti’nier at all. She had lived immensely longer and had a wealth of experience. Even stuck in a Five-star body, she still possessed power far above her host body. After all, what was being used now was her very own, Demigod-tier abilities!

“How about you have a taste of being stabbed in the chest as well?”

Ferti’nier’s lips curled into a smile. She raised the fire and ice sword high then stabbed it downwards without any hesitation. However, with barely an inch from her target’s chest, she found that no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t stab Nicole. Mo Ke’s body was resisting her. Even after being mortally wounded into a comatose state, he still wouldn’t allow Nicole to come to any harm at all…

“Sigh… If you’re going to go into hiding, then don’t be such a busybody… such a stubborn and troublesome little brother…” While she might have said that, Ferti’nier couldn’t help but smile warmly. “Forget it. If you’re going to be so insistent…”

Whoosh!

Still in control of Mo Ke’s body, she willed his Fallen Angel wings to appear from his back. With a flap of those wings, she took to the air, but still hovered above Nicole to stare at her dishevelled form.

“By all accounts, I should be showing my gratitude to you right now for allowing me to take control of this body. But I’m afraid I don’t have any more time to waste on you. Things have gotten a little messy, so I need to hurry as well. I’ll just take this sword of yours as a parting gift for my little brother…”

“Oh right. I should tell you that Mo Na isn’t some made up name either. That’s the name of this body’s daughter. And here’s something from that little brother of mine. He even gave up sleeping to finish it in time.”

With that, Ferti’nier flew off. At the same time, the Shadow Guardian holding Nicole down disappeared. No longer bound, she slumped lifelessly to ground, eyes locked to skies, and brain a complete void. Even now, she couldn’t come to a decision as to who it was she really stabbed. Her brain desperately screamed for her to not trust that Devil, and that all Devils were liars. However, it was also a fact that the Devil’s personality did a complete 180 after that. Was that really her little Ke?

Nicole dared not contemplate that possibility any further. She merely stared blankly at Ferti’nier’s disappearing silhouette, in hopes of somehow willing her to come back. Yet at the same time, she was afraid of what would happen then. Her eyes began to glaze over as the last of her energy finally left her.

Suddenly, a red crystal the size of an apple slowly dropped from the skies. She instinctively reached out with both hands to catch it. She woodenly looked down to see what it was she caught… A red crystal? No. That’s a voice-recording crystal. Teacher Mille Nix(Thousand Snow Crystal) used to have one as well.

(TL: going to use Mille Nix from now on, instead of Thousand Snow Crystal. Sounds cooler.)

For no reason in particular, she decided to activate the crystal, causing it to tremble slightly before a beautiful song started playing…

If you are the fireworks above the ocean
I am the bubbles on the waves
At some point in time, your light shines on me

If you are a distant galaxy
So dazzling that you make people want to cry
I am the pair of eyes chasing you
Whenever I am lonely, I search the skies

I can follow behind you
Like a shadow chasing light, sleepwalking
I can wait at this crossing
Doesn’t matter if you pass by or not

Whenever I lift my head because of you
Even tears feel like free (freedom)
Some types of love fall like sunlight
On the one hand, you possess it, on the other hand, you lose it

(TL: song lyrics taken from 追光者 by 岑宁儿. Translation taken from singchinesesongsinenglish(dot)com. I don’t want the link to react weirdly when I transfer the text to the website…)

“Ke…”

Zurnalin was the strongest Eight-star Magister present, she could sniff out a battle a mile away; her reputation as the beautiful leader of the Blood Drake Riders wasn’t for naught, after all. She sensed that fight between Ferti’nier and Nicole the moment it started. After all, Mo Ke had only brought Nicole away for a stroll, so they weren’t too far from her current location. As she looked in the direction that Mo Ke left in, she so happened to see Mo Ke, now Ferti’nier, flying in the sky.

“Your Holiness?!”

Her cry startled those around her, then a violent gust of wind blew through the clearing, after which a slender figure descended.

“I want everyone here to evacuate right this instant. Inform those watching the Undead as well to retreat.” Ferti’nier commanded Zurnalin and the others as naturally as Mo Ke would have. At the end of the day, she was the one who was closest to Mo Ke, and had spent the most time with him.

“Under–stood.” Zurnalin answered uncertainly. She could tell that this holy daughter of theirs had undergone some change, but she couldn’t put a finger as to where. Even so, she must have had her own reasons, so Zurnalin dared not tarry a second longer, rushing off to fulfill that command loyally.

“We are just going to leave those Undead there?” Asked Neneth, munching on a slice of bread as always. Still in the dark about what had happened in the forest, she asked in her usual adorable tone, “Sister Mo Na, why isn’t Sister Nicole with you? Also, why do you have a pair of purple wings growing out of your back? They are really pretty… can Neneth get a pair too?”

Ferti’nier’s impression of the little girl had always been good. She smiled sweetly at her as a sudden urge to tease her emerged. “That’s where you are wrong, Neneth. It’s not ‘we’, it’s everyone, excluding you, is going to leave those Undead there.”

“Ehhh? Why is that, Sister Mo Na?”

“That’s because your reinforcements from the Demon Hunters’ Guild are about to arrive.” Ferti’nier patted the girl on her head. “That Sister Nicole of yours was throwing a little tantrum in the forest just now, you should go check up on her.”

“Oh?” Neneth was a little puzzled that Nicole would do that, but it had never crossed her mind to doubt Ferti’nier’s words. She absentmindedly walked towards the direction Ferti’nier pointed at.

“Ah… so gullible.” Ferti’nier sighed while watching that familiar giant sword-bearing silhouette disappear into the forest. Yet after a quick smile to herself, she turned her attention back to the situation once more. “There’s no time to waste, have those scattered about leave first. The rest of you here, form up and evacuate south.”

By now, Zurnalin had returned from dispatching the signal of retreat. She looked at Ferti’nier with confused eyes and asked, “Your Holiness, you are not coming with us?”

“An Overlord from the Humans has arrived. I need to stall him while you all make your escape.” Having said that, she curled her lips in annoyance.

“What a bother. Must be that teacher that girl was talking about… I think our little brother would hate me for life if I were to kill someone like that. Bah… I’ll just take it as payment for letting me stay in his body…” She muttered to herself.

“Your Holiness, why is the Human Overlord out to get us? Furthermore, it’s not appropriate for Your Holiness to be the one staying behind. If someone has to stall for time, it should be me!” Zurnalin was even more confused, now that she had heard Ferti’nier’s explanation. Weren’t the Humans their allies? Temporarily, maybe, but still allies. And even if that wasn’t true, their roles seemed to have been reversed.

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