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Strictly speaking, the battle had ended well for us, barring the thousand or so casualties on our side.

Of the two thousand Blood Drake Riders, at least three hundred died today. The Half-Elven army ended up losing six hundred soldiers and many more were injured. It was a hard-won battle. As for the Murlocs, Mary the Mermaid had the foresight to leave right from the very beginning. The two Murloc brothers had taken advantage of the chaos to slip away as well…

(TL: Apparently, the author has settled on Mary, so it’s Mary from now on. Maybe Lily exists as well…)

Those brothers are morons, I swear! Don’t they know that I was just about to show off my awesomeness?! Morons.

We ended up capturing five hundred Minotaurs, including that giant Minotaur as well. Other than the initial wave of Harpies who were shot down, the rest basically hung at the back of battle and did not involve themselves too much in the battle. Because of that, their losses were relatively small.

It was a glorious victory, but the losses on our side were just a tad much for my liking… however that was just me nitpicking. The inner gamer in me wanted a clean victory with no losses at all.

Either way, the hard part was over and our journey back with the captives proceeded without a hitch. By the time we arrived at the city, two days had passed. Paliseth had gathered up countless Dark Elves to celebrate our victorious return, lining the streets with cheering onlookers, every one more fanatical than the other.

Faced with such a grand welcome, even Zurnalin was stunned. In fact, Lersina, our captive, was stunned as well.

Ever since she learnt of my identity, this Dark Elven Assassin appeared to be a little out of it. If I were a normal male, I would have probably rushed to comfort her, given how beautiful she was. Unfortunately, my pee pee was still on vacation so it did not matter even if she was as beautiful as Zurnalin.

However, the shock she showed was only the beginning. The moment she saw her own mother beside Paliseth, her eyes went wide. In actuality, it wasn’t just her mother who was present today; the other Matriarchs were here as well. In other words, the Matriarchs of all the great clans were here, every one of them the very definition of a posh, upper class lady. Their immaculate figures radiated an almost holy aura that was completely at odds with their blackened hearts…

“How… how are all the Matriarchs here…” Even the usually stoic Zurnalin couldn’t help exclaim as she rode up to me. “How did they reach the city before us?”

Naturally, I knew why they were all here, but I still wanted to confirm something. “You are sure all thirteen of them are here today?”

“Definitely, I’ve seen them all in the past.” She leaned in at that point. “The last time the thirteen Matriarchs gathered together was forty years ago. A Demigod tier Black Dragon had invaded the Underdepths at that time. Apparently, it had suffered at the hands of our clan when it was a whelp so it was out for blood. In the end, it took the combined efforts of all thirteen Matriarchs to chase it away…”

“A Demigod tier Black Dragon?” That part certainly piqued my interest. “So where is it now?”

“We do not know.” Zurnalin shrugged her shoulders before casually continuing. “Either way, only matters that involved the survival of our entire race could force the Matriarchs to gather together.”

“And here I thought I wasn’t liked at all…” Clearly, I was now an existence that held as much importance as the survival of their entire race.

“Do not speak ill of yourself like that, your holiness. Our loyalty to your holiness is unwavering.”

I merely smiled wryly at her words. Seeing as the other Matriarchs were about to reach us, I signalled to Zurnalin that the time for idle chatter was over.

Hugging onto Jezsere while still riding Mo Ning, we cantered forward while dragging along the captive Lersina. As we did that, Zurnalin kept a close eye on the Assassin, ready to strike at a moment’s notice should she even move a muscle.

When our poor captive first saw her mother up close, a glimmer of hope flashed past her eyes, as if her savior had just appeared before her. Unfortunately for her, this savior did not even spare her a look. And even if she did, I had no intention of letting Lersina go without making an example first.

“Our respects to his holiness. May tales of his glorious victory today be sung well into the ages!” Paliseth led the other Matriarchs in prostrating before me.

The moment they did so, the rest of the Dark Elves got down on their knees as well, nearly shaking the earth itself with their coordinated moves. “Our respects to his holiness. May tales of his glorious victory today be sung well into the ages!”

Seeing that, I couldn’t help but feel a surge of feelings in my heart. Tens of thousands of Dark Elves were kneeling before me right now, celebrating my deeds. At the very least, I had never experienced such a grand scene before in my entire life.

Still snug within my embrace, Jezsere was immediately startled by the deafening salutation. Her first instinct was to back away but I thankfully caught her just in time before she fell off Mo Ning.

“Master… Jezsere… Jezsere…” She bashfully stammered.

“It’s alright, be still. You have the right to be here.” I hugged her tighter then whispered in her ears.

She was clearly overwhelmed by the sight of so many Dark Elves bowing before her. But to me, this was merely a trifling issue.

“Dearest, look at how many of them are bowing before you right now!” Mo Ning practically yelled at me as she turned around to face me, her fiery red hair dancing in the air as if they were even more excited about this celebration than me. “I think I’ve fallen in love with you all over again, dearest!”

“Ahem… well, it’s nothing. You’ll get used to it… you’ll get used to it.” Seeing her fangirl over me like I was some kind of superstar, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride well over me. However, I had to restrain myself from showing this… one must be humble and not brag about their deeds, mhm.

As a well-brought up university student of the star-spangled red banner, it would be unbecoming of me to act so arrogantly. I am a person of virtues, after all! But, of course, sometimes you had to throw your weight around in order to get things done, like now…

I tightened my embrace around her, and before the eyes of every Dark Elf present, gave her a gentle kiss on her silvery hair. Paying no attention how she bashfully squirmed about because of that, I then amplified my voice with mana. “This girl in my arms right now, her name is Jezsere, and she belongs to me. Whoever bullies her in the future should be prepared to face my wrath. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, your holiness!”

The gathered Dark Elves replied in unison, the Matriarchs included. Regardless of what they thought of this matter, Jezsere was now under my care.

“Let’s go, the warriors need a break and the captives need to be processed. Oh right, I want an area set aside for the Harpies to rest. Without my orders, they won’t harm anyone.” Having said that, we rode off into the city, never paying Lersina any attention at all as we did that.

As we proceeded onwards into the city, every Dark Elf that we met would immediately prostrate themselves before me and wish me well as before. It was an intoxicating feeling, to be honest… like I owned this entire world…

It took roughly an hour before we reached the great hall of the Shadowhunter Clan. Behind us were the thirteen Matriarchs with Paliseth at the head. As I sat down on the throne in the center, all thirteen of them arrayed themselves before me in a straight line.

Jezsere and Mo Ning had already been sent off. The guards were also dismissed, leaving only the fourteen of us left in the hall.

To be honest, it still surprised me that the other Matriarchs were able to get here so quickly. But the moment I remembered that the Dark Elves were a race famous for their Assassins, it wasn’t as surprising anymore. It shouldn’t be an issue for the spies of the individual clans to get hold of such news. And it wasn’t a big deal to set up a teleportation array for a small party.

A Devil that made the Dryders betray their clan and so happened to be known as his holiness? It didn’t take a genius to piece the two together and figure out my identity from there. Not unless they wanted to have a taste of my godmother’s wrath!

Seeing them so quiet, I knew that they were waiting for my judgement, and I wasn’t planning to disappoint them on that front.

“I’m sure all of you know who I am.”

The moment I said that, one of the Matriarchs immediately knelt down and pleaded for mercy“I beg for your forgiveness, your holiness…” Her forehead resoundingly thudded against the crimson rug as she continued, “My foolish daughter has committed the gravest of sins in a moment of foolishness, but our clan is innocent… I beg of you, your holiness…”

“So you are the Matriarch of the Ghostface Clan?” I unceremoniously cut her off while looking down at her from my lofty throne.

“That’s right, your holiness, I am the Matriarch of the Ghostface Clan. I am…”

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.