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While one side might have completely ceased all hostilities, the other clearly had no intention of doing so. In just the span of a few moments, a good number of Dark Elves had died to the Minotaurs, all the while unable to resist in the slightest…

Realising that their opponents weren’t stopping as they had expected, Zurnalin glared right at the Assassin leader, “We’ve already stopped fighting, why aren’t you stopping?!”

The Assassin leader, on the other hand, was still completely in shock because they actually stopped fighting back.

Yet even though the order was given not to fight back, the Dark Elves weren’t going to let themselves be slaughtered like that either. Faced with the relentless assault of their enemies, some finally lost their cool and began a counterattack. With how fierce the fighting now was, it was hard to see who would win in the end.

Immediately, I felt the Assassin leader’s hand grip down hard on the dagger pointed at my neck, its tip edging ever so slightly closer as if she was about to stab me at a moment’s notice. “Get them to stop, or your holiness over is going to suffer.”

“Blast…” Zurnalin cursed before half-yelling out, “I’ve already told them to stop, but your Minotaurs keep attacking us.”

“So what?” The Assassin leader raised her brows. “Let’s be clear here, this dagger of mine is laced with poison. One little nick and that’s it…”

Her words couldn’t be any clearer at this point. She wanted to use my life to threaten Zurnalin. If I was really the child of the goddess as Zurnalin claimed, they would immediately surrender. If I wasn’t, it wouldn’t matter if I died.

With no choice left, Zurnalin could only give out the order to stop. “Everyone, halt your attacks immediately. Take up defensive positions!”

Yet while the Dark Elves might have listened at the start, they were now too far gone to listen to her words, at least that was till she said the magic words.

“Her holiness is in their hands.” The moment those words left her mouth, the other Dark Elves immediately calmed down and began to retreat fully. This time, no one tried to fight back even if Minotaurs continued chasing after them.

Unfortunately, this only had the effect of emboldening the Minotaurs further. Mooing gutturally into the air, they began ramming with abandon at the shields of the Dark Elves. Each time they struck, one could see the visceral shaking of the retreating shieldwall.

“You actually stopped.” The Assassin leader sneered at Zurnalin who was on the verge of exploding at this point. “Remember, I still have your so-called holiness in my hands. One false move, and she’s gone, Fallen Angel or not.”

“You! Aren’t you afraid of the goddess’s wrath?!”

“Wrath?” What a joke, how do I even know if you’re lying to me here? Besides, who would pass up on such a good opportunity.”

“Why would I lie to you at this point?” Zurnalin snapped back through gritted teeth. “Don’t tell me we all have to die before you will believe me?”

“That’s right. Unless you’re all dead, I will never believe you.” The Assassin leader arrogantly stuck her nose up at Zurnalin as she said that. “Let me see firsthand your loyalty to this Fallen Angel. As long as you are all dead, I promise I won’t hurt this Fallen Angel, because at that point, I would have believed your words… probably…”

“You…” Zurnalin’s body was shaking uncontrollably at this point. If she had her way, she would have tore into this Assassin by now. However, as long as I was still in her hands, she didn’t dare make a move.

“Hahahaha… kill! Kill them all!” Seeing Zurnalin so helpless right now, the Assassin leader couldn’t help but laugh maniacally.

Well… she’s really an unlikable woman, isn’t she? Once I break free, you can be sure I’ll show you some hospitality as well!

In actuality, I did not really blame this Assassin leader for not believing Zurnalin’s words. After all, Lolthe had only recently recognized me as her goddaughter… godson… ahem… She probably did not even have the time to announce this fact before I was suddenly captured. Thanks to that, there was now this awkward situation where only one out of the thirteen clans knew about the fact that I was her goddaughter… I mean, godson.

Because Zurnalin had shown so much concern to me mere moments ago, the Assassin leader had marked me as an important hostage. Now that I was in her hands and the battle had swung in her favour, she clearly wasn’t going to give up on this advantage just because her opponent claimed some random Fallen Angel was the child of Lolthe. Obviously, that was more likely a ploy than anything else.

The fact that Zurnalin actually gave the command to stop was a surprise to the Assassin leader, but that only meant that she shouldn’t let go of me at all. After all, that meant her opponents couldn’t fight back.

Ironically, the Dark Elves’ reputation for being unscrupulous ended up working against me in a most unexpected way this time. With how far these crazed Elves were willing to go to achieve their goals, it wouldn’t surprise the Assassin leader at all if Zurnalin actually gave the order for her troops to stop in order to reinforce this potential lie about me being the child of Lolthe. Honestly, Arachne Cavern was sure proof that these Dark Elves were unscrupulous to an almost fanatical extent. If they were the number two in unscrupulousness, no one would dare take the title of number one.

Now… the reason why I had even bothered explaining all this crap in the first place was because I had already thought of a way out of this deadlock. As long as I could prove that Zurnalin wasn’t lying and I was really the godson of Lolthe, everything would be hunky-dory… seems like a silly plan, but it was what it was…

Alright, time to fire up the old cakehole and warm up the armchair -let me show you what an armchair warrior of the star-spangled red banner can do!

Ahem!

Yet just as I was finally going to make my entrance, an unknown object began descending from the ceiling…

Countless Dryders began rappelling down from the ceiling. From a quick estimate, there had to at least be seventy or eighty of them. For the most part, these Dryders looked about the same as those I saw with the Shadowhunter Clan -Elven upper torso and arachnid lower half. Upon breaking off their spider silk and landing, the horde of Dryders quickly assembled together, and in the short span of ten seconds, had us all surrounded. That’s right, the Assassin leader was included as well.

“What’s going on here?” The Dryders’ strange movements had clearly caught the attention of the Assassin leader and she demanded an explanation, albeit with a hint of anxiety in her quivering tone. “Why are you surrounding as well? Blast! Don’t pretend, I know you all can understand me!”

Unfortunately, the only reply she got was a wad of spider silk spat out by the female Dryder leading the horde. Like a frog’s tongue lashing out at a fly, the two-finger thick strand of spider silk swiftly wrapped itself around the Assassin leader, binding her in an instant, even snatching away that potentially deadly dagger from her hands.

“You… you’ve betrayed us… how can you betray your own clan?!” Even in her bound-up, or rather especially because of her bound-up state, the Assassin leader couldn’t figure out why these Dryders would suddenly betray her at this crucial stage.

“How pitiful. Even now you do not understand the situation you are in.” I looked at the Assassin leader as if I was looking at a dead person. I then turned to look at the other Assassins who were holding Jezsere and Mo Ning hostage and stated coldly, “If you let them go now, I might just spare your lives.”

There was no need for them to even consider at this point. Upon hearing my words, the other Assassins quickly released the two of them. From the point that Zurnalin issued the order to stop attacking entirely, these Assassin were basically convinced of her words. The Dryders stepping in to help us was the nail in the coffin of their leader.

It was true that the Dryders were a dim lot, but it was precisely this reason that their loyalties to the clan that raised them were absolute. If there was ever a reason that could explain their betrayal… well, there’s really no need to say it, is there?

“Master…” Jezsere wept as she dove into my arms. Even though she was now free, her body was still shaking profusely from her ordeal.

“There, there… it’s alright now.”

“Dearest…” Mo Ning wanted a hug from me as well, but seeing as Jezsere had gotten here first, I could only give her an apologetic smile.

“Help me look after her.” I placed Jezsere on top of Mo Ning and turned towards the battlefield immediately.

Now wasn’t the time for comforting them. Now was the time to act.

While the Dryders might have rescued us from our predicament, the army of the Shadowhunter Clan was still in trouble. Under the leadership of that giant Minotaur, they had suffered heavy losses. Their defensive lines were breached and the Blood Drake Riders were in disarray…

Had it not been for the Eight-star warrior Paliseth had specially sent out to guard Reyage, they wouldn’t have been able to hold back that giant Minotaur at all and the losses would have been even heavier.

It was at that point that the Dryders just finished restraining the rest of the Assassins. Like a court official of old, these Dryders immediately prostrated themselves before me. At the side, the Assassin leader’s last vestiges of hope had collapsed as well. Gone was her arrogance as she slumped to the ground in a dejected bound-up heap. Her eyes went blank as she turned to me and muttered, “It can’t be… she really is…”

Naturally, I couldn’t care less about her mental state. I only had one thing to say to her. “I want those blasted cows to stop attacking right this instant!”

“But I… they won’t listen to me… they aren’t under our control at all… we are just using each other to achieve our goals…” The dejected Assassin leader finally managed to squeeze out an answer after ages. Essentially, it was out of her hands now.

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.