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Just based on the fact that we only had Gaiuz to draw blood from, and we had to do it in a way that won’t harm him, the bloodletting was bound to take a long time. With that in mind, we left for Hellhound territory first to discuss the matter of our alliance.

Ever since that brief encounter with the Purgatory Shadowcats’ Overlord, I knew that it was basically impossible to try and subjugate a clan with an Overlord looking after it. At the very least, with my current power level, there was no way I could convince them to fall in line. The best I could hope for was to do what I did with the Shadowcats: have them cooperate with me. In truth however, both of us had our own reservations, though it had to be said that their cooperation was an indirect submission to me.

What came next then was to find out where the Hellhounds stood in this matter. If they weren’t willing to help me, I could only rely on force to convince them. Even though their Overlord was still a problem, as long as that promise held true, he wouldn’t dare act rashly lest his entire clan paid the price with him. If it was just a battle of Eight-stars, my own safety shouldn’t be an issue with my Devil King Idol.

Because I had no interest in seeing them drain Gaiuz’s blood, I temporarily said goodbye to a sullen Meisian who was still angry with me. With Mo Na, Jeerah and Sinmosa’s family in tow, we left for Hellhound territory.

With Sinmosa leading the way, we took a week or so to reach her clan’s territory.

Although creatures of Purgatory all had their own clans, it wasn’t like each member of the clan had to live in the same habitat. Just like humans had their towns, every member had their own area in which their families stayed in. The Purgatory Shadowcats’ three largest factions belonged to Meisian, Gaiuz and Weiderly, and none of them lived in the same area.

There were many reasons for this arrangement, but the majority had to do with food and perhaps power disputes. Even though the Hellhounds had split into multiple factions, there was still a leader that ruled over them: their one and only Overlord. It just so happened that this Overlord lived in Sinmosa’s pack settlement.

Unlike the Purgatory Shadowcats who lived in castle towns, the Hellhounds made their habitat out of dugout caves in the mountains. Rather than settlements, it would be more accurate to describe their living space as a nest of caves.

Before we even came within sight of this nest, the Hellhound in charge of patrolling the vicinity had already spotted us. Although, to be fair, over seven hundred golems marching together wasn’t really the hardest to spot either, what with the mini tremors they caused with each step.

“Sinmosa! What are you doing back here…”

“Neanderke?” Having spotted the approaching figure of a Cerberus roughly at the same time as the other party, Sinmosa was taken aback for a second as she realised who it was.

Unexpectedly, Sasani was actually the first to react to this newcomer. Before Neanderke even came face to face with our party, he had already rushed forward to block the obviously excited Cerberus from approaching Sinmosa any further.

‘Is that really Neanderke?’

‘The world really is a small place, huh… for the first person to spot us to be an acquaintance… I mean first dog…’

‘If I’m not mistaken, he’s the son of their elder, Sidarth, and the older cousin of Sinmosa and Sasani, not to mention an ardent pursuer of Sinmosa who was ultimately foiled by Sasani and left hanging like dogmeat.’

‘Still…for Sasani to even lay his paws on his own sister… now that’s a winner…’

‘Also, I thought Neanderke couldn’t speak Devil tongue at all? Was our short absence actually enough time for him to pick it up? Or did something happen recently that suddenly caused him to become smarter? If there was anything that could ever fit that criteria, it would have to be Sinmosa and Sasani getting together and even giving birth to Cinderel…’

‘Then we have Sasani… that useless dog is still only able to go woof and bark… Thankfully, Sinmosa isn’t the type of dog to go around attracting attention, else our Sasani can only bid a tearful goodbye to her.’

“Sasani!” Neanderke had already planned out in his head the touching reunion with Sinmosa, only to be interrupted by that annoying dog of a younger cousin.

As the saying went, nothing quite stirs a person like meeting an enemy. The moment Sasani and Neanderke laid eyes on each other, they entered into a glaring match. Had it not been for Sinmosa being here, I had no doubt that they would have already started fighting. One could only imagine how fervently he must have pursued Sinmosa in the past. Unfortunately for him, sometimes that’s just how the river flowed. Was there nothing that could stop the march of the siscons?

Suddenly, I realised a serious problem we faced because of those two siblings. Sinmosa never hesitated about bringing us back to her clan territory, but lest one forgot, their elder, Sidarth, said that they were never to return to the clan in exchange for keeping their marriage a secret. Even beasts had taboos about close relation marriages.

Although this taboo wasn’t up to the level of humans, such a relationship was still frowned upon. Honestly, had it not been for Neanderke I would have forgotten about this matter since she was so willing to lead us to her clan.

In fact, ever since I evolved into a Fallen Angel, Sinmosa’s attitude towards me had become more submissive. That’s right, submissive, as if she was a subordinate of mine. Perhaps it was just me overthinking things. She might have had her own considerations for returning, but she was undoubtedly going to be under heavy pressure in the near future. Sometimes, words were a lot deadlier than weapons.

Still, the fact that she led here anyway meant that she had the resolve to face what was coming. As for me, the best way for me to help her now was to protect her and Cinderel to my utmost abilities. As for Sasani…well, even his daughter thought he was useless, so best of luck, pal.

As I was busy mulling over Sinmosa’s problem, Sasani and Neanderke were now one step shy of all-out war. Neanderke’s barbed words had left Sasani in an awkward position. To the poor dog, the fact that the two of them even conceived a child was definitely Sasani’s fault. Had it not been for that shameless dog’s dastardly lying, why else would his little angel, Sinmosa, ever commit such an act?

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.