Seeing his full strength sneak attack fail so spectacularly, the leader of those Devils was once more faced with the cruel reality of how far apart their strengths actually were. Being a rather decisively spineless one, he immediately dove right into the mass of fleeing Imps upon realizing his inevitable defeat.
“You brat, I dare you not to run!”
Faced with the prospect of losing his cornered prey, No.3 hurriedly chased after the slowly disappearing back. However, there were simply too many Imps blocking the way so he had no choice but to shove aside the hindrances with a flail of his hands and feet, all the while dealing with his ever-growing annoyance. Yet while all that might have just taken a couple seconds, that was more than enough for that fleeing Flame Devil Child to disappear completely.
‘No.3 actually failed to capture that fellow…dang, that Devil is surprisingly slippery. Hmm, based on his showing just now, he’s probably about to evolve as well. Not like it will matter anyway –he’s not getting away. After all, there’s still Nola, the Hellhounds and the golems to contend with.’
Given how tightly guarded the encirclement was, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that there was an invisible barrier separating the outside world from this battlefield –those who stepped over that line were mercilessly slaughtered.
As time passed, the casualty numbers started to balloon. By now, even the more brainless Imps were starting to realize that we weren’t actually out to murder them all, just capture them. If I had to hazard a guess, the pile of corpses forming a neat mountain near the edge of their encirclement probably gave away that fact.
As for our side, none of them had forgotten about my orders to just capture and not kill them. Thus, when the other Imps stopped trying to cross the line, Sinmosa and the others did not pursue them either, instead choosing to remain at their stations.
In the meantime, No.3 was in the midst of a frenzied hunt for that fleeing leader. By now, he had managed to corner that Devil like a fox would when hunting a little chick. He casually tossed the poor Devil onto ground before stomping down on his back and keeping that leg firmly locked in place.
At that very moment, the other Imps all knew who was the real boss here and promptly went to their knees to beg for mercy. The leader Devil, on the other hand, was still glaring at No.3 despite his compromising situation. While that poor fellow must have desperately wanted to give No.3 a piece of his mind and fists, a Five-stars Infant Flame Devil wasn’t something he could ever hope to stand up to; he was basically an insect to No.3 at this point.
The Imps had settled down noticeably as well. Gone was the chaos, leaving behind a muted resignation born from those ten subordinates and comrades of mine encircling them. All they could do now was to obediently kneel there and await our judgement.
‘Looks like it’s for me to make my entrance then.’
I gently patted the golem beneath me, ordering it to bring me towards the Devil still struggling beneath No.3’s foot.
Looking down at his miserable sight, I couldn’t help but think to myself: ‘Even in this state, he is still a Four-stars, a Devil with over a thousand Devils under his command. Had it been just a month ago, fighting him would really have been an uphill battle.’
Unfortunately for him, there were no ifs in this world. I had attained the feather of Lucifer and along with it, the right to control those Abyssal Golems. Against a foe like him, all I needed to do now was to dispatch a single golem to squish them all.
Clearly in a superior position, my mood was noticeably better, having just basked in the elation of conquering someone. “What did you say just now? Something about capturing me?”
“…blast it! How dare you insult me like this! You’re just a stinking harlot…”
Unwilling to give up still, the leader Devil tried to push himself to his feet but was summarily thwarted by another firm stomp from No.3. Because of his crass language, this stomp was a lot heavier than before, causing him to grunt audibly in pain.
“You’d better watch your tongue in the presence of the Master. I can take your life anytime I want. Got that, trash?” Was No.3’s rude yet perfectly accurate answer.
To be fair though, it wasn’t like he had no chance against a Five-stars at all. Theoretically, it was possible for him to win if he managed to launch a sneak attack at the worst possible timing for his opponent. However, the chances of that happening was extremely low. Not to mention that the Flame Devil branch of Devils was the one branch he had absolutely no way to fight against since they both used fire attacks; to Flame Devils, flames were basically a kind of delicacy…
“You’re just lucky that your subordinates are strong, don’t think I don’t know what your true strength is. You’re just a Four-stars!” The leader Devil yelled in frustration. “I dare you to fight me. One on one!”
“Oh, you want to fight me?” As if I had just heard the most laughable thing ever, I couldn’t help but burst out laughing. “Hahaha, what a joke, you’ve already lost, why should I even fight you?”
“Hmph, a defeated cur’s howling.” No.3 taunt immediately elicited a violent response from the Devil in question. Unfortunately for him, No.3’s iron foot was still holding him down.
A good long while later, he gave up and turned his sights back onto me. “You’re just scared! Scared of losing to me, that’s all!”
“Scared? Pfft…”
‘What a joke, as if I would ever fall to such a cheap provocation…’
No.3 swooped down and gave the trapped Devil a tight slap. “Even in this situation you dare to use that tone, I swear you just don’t know how the word death is written. As if the Master would ever fall to your cheap tactics…”
“Alright then, I just so happen to be looking for a target dummy anyway.” In the midst of No.3’s curt reply, I unexpectedly agreed to his request.
Ever since I had evolved into a Fallen Angel, I really hadn’t had any chance to fight with someone. While I might have felt that I had gotten stronger, I couldn’t gauge exactly how much that was without a proper test.
“Oh hoh? Did Mama just say she wanted to fight?” Mo Na’s face was one of shock right now. “But didn’t we win already?”
“Woof woof~~`!” Still seated Mo Na, Cinderel excitedly barked for some inexplicable reason.
“Well, it’s fine either way. If Mama wants to fight, she can. Mo Na knows that Mama is the greatest!” Having said that, Mo Na waved her hands at me and yelled: “Go, Mama! Beat up that trash!”
“Seems like Mo Ke wants to try out his new skills.” Sinmosa muttered as she trotted up to Nola with her husband by her side. As she did that, she continued staring in my direction. “What do you think, Nola?”
“About his chances?” Nola turned to face Sinmosa, and after a brief pause, said so: “Ever since his inexplicable evolution, he has gotten much stronger. Strictly speaking, that strength has more to do with his bloodlines though. A purple winged Fallen Angel is basically a legendary-class bloodline at this point. Yet with how recent his evolution was, I doubt he has had much chances to familiarize himself with his new powers. And his opponent…he’s almost at the level of a Five-stars too…”
