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‘Bah, arguing with Ferti’nier isn’t going to get me anywhere…’

In order to avoid any further embarrassment, I went straight to the question at hand. ‘Do you know how to trade with the creatures in the Prison of the Dead?’

“Little Brother, you need to watch your language.”

‘I… yes, yes, yes… Big Sis… is that fine now?’

“Mhm, showing remorse is a mark of a good child.”

‘So Big…Sis… do you know of any method we can use to exchange meat for souls with the Prison of the Dead?’

“Is our little brother referring to the exchange array he used in the Prison of the Dead?” Seeing that I was sincere, Ferti’nier , in all her benevolence and kindness, decided to share the answer with me. “That’s a piece of information only privy to Devil Overlords -as long as one has meat, he can gain access to an unending supply of souls, truly a convenient piece of magic.”

‘That’s right, that’s exactly what I want!’ Back during my days in the Prison of the Dead, I once relied on such an array to procure a large amount of meat. Had it not been for arrays like that, creatures who couldn’t absorb souls would have gone extinct in the prison. There would have been no way for me to pass through the trials and tribulations of the prison either.

With a completed safe zone, I could easily meet this meat demand. I just had to confirm the array worked from our end and I would be rich!

“That array, huh. If I’m not mistaken, the capital definitely has one, but whether or not it still exists… or even works…”

Ferti’nier’s answer wasn’t as straightforward as I had hoped; perhaps the time gap of eighty thousand years was simply too much for her to be certain. It only made sense that she would question the integrity of the array after such a long time.

‘If it’s broken, can we rebuild one?’

“Very difficult.” She immediately replied. “With our little brother’s current resources, it would be impossible. But if it’s just a matter of repairing, it should be possible.”

Now that our main questline was confirmed, I led our little band back to the capital as fast as possible. Because the expected meat volume would have been large in the past as well, it wouldn’t make sense for the magical array to be built at the peak of the capital where the palace was. Thus, it was likely located at the base, where it wouldn’t use up too much time or effort to move.

A vital installation like the array wouldn’t be kept in an insecure location either; that ruled out the outside of the capital city. Based on those deductions, the most suitable location would be between the city walls and the palace.

It had to be said that the condition of the palace and the rest of the capital differed vastly. While the palace was mostly pristine, the capital city itself was half ruined due to wars, meaning the array was most likely damaged as well.

Upon our return to the capital city, the one who welcomed us was Big 4.

With no time to spare, I interrupted his reporting and rushed off to the vicinity of the northern gate, guided by Ferti’nier.

What greeted us was a ruined palatial building that had mostly lost its former glory due to disrepair. Its entrance was even blocked off by black rubble.

Faced with such a broken building, my heart sunk a little. I had a bad feeling that what awaited us wouldn’t be good news. Still, I followed Ferti’nier’s suggestion and pressed on. I had the golems remove the rubble blocking the entrance. In the meantime, I listened to Big 4’s report. According to him, No.6 had sent over more Devils. However, as he said that, he had on a strange expression. Yet that bit of strangeness eluded me as I was too preoccupied by the array.

The golems were extremely efficient in their work, clearing out the impediments in barely any time at all. Thus, with a heavy heart, I entered the ruined building.

“It’s unusable.” In just one glance, Ferti’nier came to a conclusion that left me in despair. To be exact, disappointment was the more appropriate word.

The scene before entering the building left nothing to the imagination. As a magic dealing with dimensional space, the array would have been a highly precise piece of magical construction; even the slightest damage could spell disaster. So it wasn’t that much of a surprise that it wasn’t usable.

The array before us was a huge construct, belonging to the category of large-scale magic. It was carved onto a giant slab of rock, roughly half a meter thick and twenty meters long, with countless intricate and arcane red etchings weaving about into an array.

At least, that was what it was supposed to be. The battle eighty thousand years ago damaged the array severely. Removing a giant piece of rubble on the array, we found an array shattered into disjointed pieces.

Like how a person with a shattered femur couldn’t walk on his own, this array could no longer transport matter.

“Don’t worry, Little Brother, it’s just broken. As long as you repair it, it will function normally again.” Like an angelic light from the heavens, her voice illuminated the dark scene before me, lifting up my spirits when I needed it the most. “The repair itself might be a little difficult, but it is possible.”

‘As long as it’s repairable… but exactly what do we need to repair it?’

“The materials are a little complicated, but they are still within the range of possibility for you.” Having said that, Ferti’nier proceeded to recite what had to be the most painful shopping list of materials I had ever heard.

“First, you need the horn from a Nightmare Steed. Then you need a Shadowcat’s blood, an Eight-stars core from a Fire Elemental Core, and finally the heart of an Eight-stars Fire Devouring Fish. Only by getting these will you be able to repair the array.

‘Horn of a Nightmare Steed? Blood from a Shadowcat? And what else? Curses, I don’t even have a single one of them… and how do you even expect me to get these things? There’s just no way…’

The only material I could probably get would be the blood of a Shadowcat. Based on our relationship, a little bit of blood wouldn’t have been an issue. Except we needed a lot of it. A cat’s worth of blood to be exact… Don’t tell me I’m supposed to bleed Meisian dry? I don’t want to be hated by Anmi because of that, and I definitely don’t want to be hated by the Purgatory Shadowcats because of that…

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.