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When catching a mouse, one should be careful to get a good grip on it, lest it escaped. When catching a Purgatory Warhorse, one had better double that grip… just to be safe.

That was why when I lifted up the Devil King Idol’s leg, I made extra sure that it was basically dead.

Another Eight-star Warhorse, who was clearly not afraid of death at all, took this opportunity to charge at me. This time, it didn’t go after my legs, instead it went after my head.

I willed my right hand up to block this assailant. But just as it looked like I was about to hit it, the Warhorse abruptly leaped in mid-air, miraculously dodging my hand.

Yet that wasn’t the end of it. The Warhorse landed squarely on top of my arm, and by using the momentum it gained from kicking off my arm, launched another attack in what had to be the textbook case of using your opponent’s energy against him.

However, a Devil King Idol had two arms, not one. I had already factored in the Warhorse’s unbelievable agility when I made the decision to try and catch it with my right hand. With that bit of foresight aiding me, the Devil King Idol’s left hand swiftly came swatting through the air, catching that Warhorse completely by surprise as it caught it.

Not one to give my enemy a chance to escape, I immediately clapped my hands together before it could even struggle and mashed them together. A stream of thick, meaty blood came dripping down the cracks of my fingers like a rain of blood.

Having squashed that giant bug of a Warhorse, I willed the Devil King Idol to toss the corpse into a nearby battle like a makeshift projectile. Like a bloody comet from the sky, it came crashing down onto an unsuspecting Warhorse, killing it in an equally grisly fashion.

All that took place in the matter of mere seconds. Barring that Warhorse I killed with that horse projectile, I had already killed two of their Eight-stars. Such an impressive feat quickly attracted the attention of the rest of the stronger Warhorses.

In what felt like an instant, over ten Purgatory Warhorses and Nightmare Steeds abandoned their opponents and came rushing at my Devil King Idol in hopes that their blitzkrieg-like attack would swiftly take it down. However, my Devil King Idol’s defenses were basically unbreakable to those below the level of an Overlord. No matter how much these horses tried, they failed to leave even a scratch on its outer surface.

Like swatting away a horde of flies, I began waving both my hands about to attack the incoming Warhorses. Yet no matter how much I flailed about, none of my attacks were connecting.

At the same time, the area around my legs wasn’t exactly peaceful either. The other Eight-star Warhorses who couldn’t take to the skies were furiously ramming at my legs. With the combined interference of those airborne Warhorses, I had no way to focus my attention on those below.

Having found a blindspot in my vision, over ten Purgatory Warhorses rammed my left calf in unison, nearly causing it to topple.

Despite this little setback however, I determined one thing in this fight: there was no need for me to worry about my defenses being broken. In that case, it was time for me to change targets. Besides, those Warhorses were just too agile for me to handle, especially after they had learnt their lesson from losing two of their Eight-stars. The Devil King Idol’s greatest weakness was its speed. If its opponent was dead set on dodging it, there was no way it could ever land a hit.

Putting aside the stalemate on my end, the rest of my golems weren’t in the best of situations either.

With the Winged Abyssal Golems restrained by their Eight-stars, there was no way for them to attack the lower starred Warhorses. My remaining golems were all suppressed by their Seven-stars so there wasn’t much to report there either.

What infuriated me the most was that my golems were slowly being chipped down by those Warhorses who were one whole star level above them. Even though it took repeated attacks to the same spot to deal damage to a golem, such a feat was easy when the Warhorses possessed such a massive numbers advantage.

The only good news so far was that my side hadn’t suffered any casualties yet. On the other hand, quite a number of Warhorses had been lost by now. Still, that didn’t change the fact that I was at a distinct disadvantage in this battle. Something had to be done to turn the tides.

With that in mind, I ordered the Devil King Idol to charge towards the battlefield where my ordinary golems were battling their higher starred Warhorses. With its massive body, I was able to launch an unstoppable straight line charge right at my target. Given how massive the Devil King Idol was, even its footsteps weren’t something a Warhorse could withstand. Regardless of whether it was an Eight-star Warhorse or a Nightmare Steed, all cleared the way for my idol, lest they were sent flying away in the process.

However, the same couldn’t be said for the rest of the Warhorses who were still engaged in a battle with my golems. Unlike the Nightmare Steeds who all had the ability to fly, those landlocked Eight-star Warhorses weren’t so fortunate as the bulldozer that was my Devil King Idol came ploughing through the mountains themselves.

Thunderous booms echoed across the battlefield constantly, every boom a herald for the destruction that my Devil King Idol promised. Because of its invincible defenses, even if the Warhorses tried to attack me, the most they could achieve was divert my course slightly. It didn’t take long before I reached my desired destination.

In contrast, those Warhorses had bodies that were decidedly mortal. Those that were unfortunate enough to bear the brunt of my charge were either left crippled or dead.

In a straight line charge, the speed and power of my golem was nothing to scoff at. Regardless of who I rammed into, all were sent flying away like ragdolls, or just simply stomped into the ground. Each time I lifted my feet, a pile of meat slurry could be found on the ground. Naturally, if it was a golem that I stepped on, they were perfectly fine and ready to battle a second later.

The impact of my arrival was immediately felt across the battlefield. My ordinary golems were all inanimate objects so there was no morale to begin with, but those Warhorses were different: they were live creatures.

My Devil King Idol was like a high level character in an MMORPG who decided to visit a beginner’s area and began slaughtering all the new players. Anyone who even came near to my Devil King Idol was easily swept aside by my charge. In just under a minute, my Devil King Idol had completely destroyed whatever formation the Warhorses had in mind and left their entire clan with dampened morale… because there was no horse amongst them who could stop me.

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.