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I didn’t want to give up this chance to obtain a horn, but the moment I fired my tenth volley of Mana Feathers, the Devil King Idol issued a warning that its mana was about to run out.

‘Darn it! Just a little more too!’

The Devil King Idol was powered completely by mana; without any mana, it would simply be a really sturdy statue, that much I knew well enough.

After weighing the odds, I decided to give up on the chase, allowing those three beautiful horns to gallop away right before my very eyes.

Still, the battle was over. Upon confirming that, I controlled the Devil King Idol to send all three of us out of its dimensional space.

The moment we touched down on solid ground, Mo Na came leaping up into my arms. “Mama was so awesome, Mama sent those bad horsies flying away! Mo Na’s mama is the greatest!”

I gently ruffled her hair and hugged her for a good while. Finally, I said, “Be a good girl, go call your Aunt Sinmosa. Tell her to clean up the battlefield for Daddy, he still has other matters to attend to.”

Ever the understanding daughter, she climbed down from my body, smiled then kissed me goodbye. Before leaving however, she left behind this warning, which I had to admit, was quite awkward for me.

“That big-breasted tramp over there, I had better not see you trying to seduce my mama, got it?!” She snapped at a still confused Jeerah.

“Are you talking about me?” Jeerah immediately reverted to her queen-like character upon recovering from that confusion. She arrogantly lifted her head, stuck out her well-endowed rack, and threw out condescending look one would reserve for little kids. “Children should stay out of adult matters.”

“Mo Na isn’t small anymore, Mo Na is about to have children with mama!”

“Hahaha! What a joke. If you really think that’s possible, do it then!”

‘Hey, there’s no need for such provocative words here…’ With regards to these two She-devils, I was basically at my wit’s end. “Alright, alright. How about you two both step back for a moment. Baby go get Sinmosa for me, have her tally our losses, captives and the Warhorses’ casualties. Also, check up on those low level Devils.”

Thanks to my placating, my precious baby finally calmed down a little and gave up on arguing with Jeerah. However, she couldn’t help but leave behind this last bit of admonition, “Mama, you’d better not be seduced by that bad lady!”

‘…what am I to do with this little girl of mine.’

“What do little girls know? Go on, go finish your task.”

“Hmph. Mama’s children can only be with Mo Na. Bad lady, you’d better just give up on mama! And Mama, you’d better control yourself!”

Having said that, she sped off without ever giving me the chance to rebut.

‘That girl, I swear…’ Either way, it seemed like I was now dead set on the path of being a bad father.

“Your daughter sure seems lively.” Jeerah was the first to break me out of my dejected silence with a bit of idle chatter about my daughter. However, her face soon turned serious as the topic changed to the Nightmare Steeds.

“I can’t deny that you’re strong, and that you have the right to be my master. I’m willing to serve as your subordinate, but I won’t sign a soul pact, even if you really are the reincarnation of a Devil King…”

“If you won’t sign the pact, I can’t trust you completely.”

Without the restrictions of a soul pact, trusting a capricious creature like a Devil was almost impossible for me. Not too long ago, I had placed my faith in One-eye and Nine-finger. Even when No.3 warned me that he was building his own faction, I never suspected that they would ever betray me. But sometimes, life was just that like that: never proceeding in the way you would expect.

“I’ll swear loyalty to you, but I won’t give up a part of my soul.”

Jeerah bowed her head and offered that last bit of concession. If I were to accept her offer now, I would gain her loyalty at the very least. While I might not be able to test this so-called loyalty for the time being, I knew that she wouldn’t betray me while I was still in Sable Radiance. The reason was simple: by possessing this Devil King Idol, I was basically at the apex of the food chain in this region. If she was smart, and if she wanted to live a good life, swearing loyalty to me was her only option.

“Fine then, once we get back, I’ll have you manage our affairs in the palace. While there might not be much to do now, as more and more Devils teleport over, I believe it would get busy soon.”

“I still don’t know where this palace of yours is but, your subject is grateful for this opportunity, Master.” Having said that, she went down on one knee as a sign of fealty. She lifted her head slightly, then smiled at me before licking her lips seductively. “And if Master so wishes, Jeerah is willing to offer up everything…”

“Except your soul.”

“That’s right. Except my soul.”

‘Bah. Since she’s so stubborn and I have no intention or means of actually taking her soul forcefully… Anyway, since she’s already sworn her loyalty, she probably won’t betray me as long as I keep an eye on her, probably… I swear, I just can’t seem to settle down about such matters after that betrayal by One-eye and Nine-finger. Still, she did say everything other than her soul…everything…meaning that as well…’

Putting aside the matter of Jeerah for the time being, I still hadn’t forgotten that my main objective now was to gather the materials for that Exchange Array, not recruit more Devils. The list was long and complicated, but as long as I wanted to repair that array, I had to do it. Now, the greatest problem would be how to get a Nightmare Steed’s horn…

Those horses were simply too fast, and all I had to rely on were my golems, but they were too slow for them. In their eyes, my golems were probably no better than turtles.

Giving up on the horn was impossible as long as I wanted to repair the array. But the only strategy I could think of right now was to follow their tracks back to their nest and siege it. This wasn’t a very workable strategy at all. Unlike the human world, there were no seasons here. No rain, no disasters, no change in climate whatsoever. Creatures living in the human world needed a home in order to feel safe and secure because those uncertainties existed. Here in Purgatory, volcanoes basically dotted the lands; their fiery chasms kept the environment at a stable temperature and full of lava. Even if the Warhorses lost their current habitat, they could simply move to another location since everywhere was basically the same.

“Master, what are you mulling on about?”

Seeing that I was frustrated by something, Jeerah leaned in closer. Her pungent scent immediately assaulted my senses with a comforting sensation. In a way, this was her special ability: she would spread her scent around and attract any unwitting lifeform to her side. Naturally, this scent wasn’t strong enough to seduce me yet, it merely comforted me. To be honest, I was more worried that my own scent would end up enthralling her instead. That would truly be awkward.

“I need a horn from a Nightmare Steed but, as you can see, I only have these golems that can accomplish this task. They aren’t a match for their speed at all. You have any suggestions?” There was no need to hide this information from her, so I took the chance to test her instead.

“If Master really wants that horn, we need to seal their agility, else their speed is simply too much for us to handle.” She paused in thought for a while. “The Warhorses are still manageable, but those Nightmare Steeds… they can fly…that’s something we can’t deal with right now unless…”

She stopped at that point; she was probably worried that her following suggestion might end up upsetting.

It had to be said that this problem of mobility had been a recurring problem since the very start. I needed someone that was strong enough and could fly at the same time. So where was I to fly someone like that? Clearly, not possible. It wasn’t like I was some overpowered novel character; I didn’t have some blessing on me that basically turned my every thought into reality.

Sigh…

“We can basically give up on finding someone that can fly and match them at the same time. But considering how much importance they place on their clan… I feel that if we were to capture a large number of their Warhorses, I doubt those Nightmare Steeds will find it so easy to take off and leave their clanhorses behind.”

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.