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The Murloc Shaman was captured, meaning the battle was over for now. The Murlocs around us dared not move a centimeter forward in this situation and could only gaze trepidatiously in our direction.

The Undermarsh Murlocs had always lived under the command of their Clanleader, following that, their shaman. Given that the former wasn’t here, and the latter was a captive, their entire chain of command had collapsed in an instant. No matter how much they racked their fish brains, they couldn’t figure out a way to break out of this impasse.

“Bring the Murloc Shaman over here. If they dare make any moves, cut it.”

Because we didn’t know fish talk, we had no way of communicating with the Murlocs. In that case, the simple brute force method was our weapon of choice. Better to have them know who was in charge earlier than later.

However, it turned out that it was only I who thought we couldn’t communicate.

“Wait… please wait… esteemed Fallen Angel, I wish to speak.” The voice had a sharp quality to it, and its accent was strange as well. At the very least however, it got its message across. I turned around in the direction of the voice and found, to my surprise, that it was the captive Murloc Shaman.

Previously, I had my Shadow Demon pierce both its shoulders, yet to my amazement, those injuries had already stopped bleeding. Even though it still reeled in pain each time it spoke, the pain was bearable and it knew to keep its head down as it spoke.

Just from that fact alone, I could tell this Murloc wasn’t dim like the others.

“Have them back off first.”

Naturally, the Murloc Shaman knew who ‘them’ referred to even if I didn’t explicitly say so. Bearing with the pain of having two gaping holes in its shoulders, it gurgled in that strange Murloc call of theirs and the remaining Murlocs began to back off slowly.

“Bring him over here quickly.”

The Shadow Demon pulled out both of its hands from its shoulders but maintained its binding on the Murloc Shaman itself. Without any Murlocs to block their way now, the attendants quickly had two of their companions carry the bound up shaman to my side. In the meantime, the remaining eight kept a wary eye on the Murlocs.

However, it seemed like the Murlocs had no intention of trying their luck now that the Murloc Shaman had spoken. That Murloc turned out to be a pretty good hostage, after all. In that case, there was no need to escape so hastily either. There was time for a quick interrogation.

In actuality, with our proximity to Shadowhunter City, it was debatable how much danger we actually were in even if the Murloc Shaman turned on us. Before the Murloc attack, there were some Duergar slaves fishing by the river banks. They were definitely gone by now, but in all likelihood, they had fled back to the city to get help. As long as we held our position, I had no doubt in my mind that Paliseth would come flying to our aid in no time at all.

I had the Shadow Demon keep the Murloc Shaman tightly bound up on the floor while I gazed down loftily at him from above. With a flap of my purple wings, I exuded my mana like a blanket of pressure, keeping this captive constantly under duress.

The Murloc began to shiver uncontrollably under my withering pressure, to my delight. “Why did you attack us?”

“We’re here for revenge…” With my mana still pressuring him, the Murloc Shaman dared not even look me in the eyes. He turned his head to the side and continued in a meek voice, “There was an army of Blood Drake Riders who assaulted our settlement recently… we just so happened to be outside hunting when that happened…”

So what he’s saying is that Zurnalin stumbled upon an undefended Murloc settlement which was why she had such an easy time. The Murlocs returned home to find it destroyed and were out for blood. That’s when they so happened to stumble upon me…

Truthfully, the Murloc Shaman had been here since the beginning of the attack. He was merely hiding out in the waters of the river. Had it not been for my interference causing too much of a stir and forcing him to use a battle hymn, he would have probably stayed hidden throughout. Unfortunately for him, this decision led to him being captured by my Shadow Demon.

Upon hearing the Murloc Shaman’s explanation, I couldn’t help but smile sinisterly at it. “I’ll have you know, my lucky charm over here suffered quite a fright because of you.”

“Huh?”

The Murloc Shaman was stunned. If there was someone who should have been frightened, it was him not her.

I gently reached out and ruffled Jezsere’s silvery hair, not at all concerned by the shock on the Murloc Shaman’s face. “I’ll make it simple for you. Do you want to live, or do you want to die?”

“Live… live…” Perhaps it was the sudden agitation in his voice that ended up opening his wounds again, but the moment he rushed to utter that first word, his voice faltered a little.

“You wish to live? Be my slave then.” My sinister grin grew even wider at that point. “Have your Murlocs throw down their weapons.”

“But…owww… don’t… I’ll do it…”

The Murloc Shaman clearly wasn’t too willing to have them disarm like that. After all, as long as the other Murlocs were still a threat to us, his value as a hostage was guaranteed. However, the pain in his shoulders had another plan entirely.

This Murloc Shaman was a shrewd one, I’ll admit. He knew what it was that was keeping him alive right now. However, I was in no mood right now to play with him. With a mere thought, I had the Shadow Demon stab both his shoulders once more. This time, I only had it stab a few inches in, barely leaving any distance at all between its shadowy blades and his bones. If he dared try anything funny, I would be more than happy to send him off to the big fish pond in the sky.

“See. You should have listened from the very start. I wouldn’t have had to resort to forcing you at all then.”

Being scolded by me like that, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if this poor Murloc had the mind to cry just there and then.

“Put down your weapons… all of you put down your weapons now!”

Well, that was a quick change of heart. He acts all obedient in front of me, but he sure is quick to turn around and boss his own Murlocs around.

A small portion of the Murlocs who were directly under his command immediately threw down their weapons. The rest, however, were more hesitant to do so. They gazed at each other in confusion, unsure as to how to react. After all, throwing down their weapons was an act of surrender, and that was something a brave Murloc would never do.

Naturally, running away wasn’t a form of surrender… that was just postponing the battle.

“Are you all deaf?! I said throw down your weapons.” Seeing so many still hold onto their weapons, the Murloc Shaman’s first worry was that I would have my Shadow Demon stab him once more. That was why he immediately yelled at them. His heightened mental state caused by the wounds in his shoulders meant that he was more than furious right now. Too bad for him, he couldn’t direct that anger at the culprit, me. In that case, that only left the surviving Murlocs. “Are you all trying to get me killed or something?! Throw down your weapons now!”

This time, his enraged yelling seemed to have taken effect. However, before the murlocs could carry out his orders, a massive black silhouette emerged from the Brackishwaters River. It was a massive black Murloc, roughly two meters tall and with the typical brawny stature of a Murloc warrior. Unlike an ordinary warrior however, it had a much larger stone spear and even wore a horn by its left waist. In comparison, this horn was several times larger than the shaman’s horn, coming in at roughly a football’s size.

“Mrrrggrwwwllll!”

The giant Murloc gurgled sonorously. While I might not have understood Murloc, I could roughly guess what it was saying. After all, the moment that giant Murloc spoke, the remaining Murlocs immediately tightened their grips on their weapons. Even those Murlocs who threw down their weapons had already picked them back up.

The Murloc Shaman’s eyes went wide the moment that giant Murloc appeared. Even his words were starting to sound a little garbled, to the point where he forgot to gurgle. “Clan…Clanleader…”

“That’s the leader of your clan?” Seeing that newcomer suddenly wrest control of the situation away from me like that, my face immediately sank. I gave the captive Murloc Shaman a swift kick and said, “help me translate. Tell him to surrender immediately or I’ll kill you.”

“There’s no need for translation, I can understand you.”

The Undermarsh Murloc Clanleader menacingly waved his stone spear at that point, then flashed me a scornful smile. “Kill him if you want, it’s not like our settlement is lacking shamans.”

The moment he said that, the Murloc Shaman promptly panicked “Big brother… save me… I’m your own little brother…”

So they are siblings? A brawny fish like him and what looks more like a fish finger… exactly how are they siblings? Exactly whose genes is the recessive one here?

“Idiot! Why can’t you keep your mouth shut!?” The giant Murloc glared at his little brother as he said that. However, now that their relationship was exposed, the Murloc Clanleader had no choice but to change his tact. “Devil, do not harm my little brother, else I’ll never let you all go.”

“So you two really are siblings then. Pretty close too, by the looks of it.”

I swept my eyes over the Murlocs at that point. There had to be over a thousand right now.

Even though the Murlocs weren’t strong individually, there was no denying their numbers. Furthermore, our backs were against the river at this point. If we were to run away now, we could only escape in the direction opposite of the city. And even if we were to do that, the complexity of the wilderness might not necessarily be a better choice either.

Shameless Self-promotion

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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.