The Devil's Evolution Catalog

Chapter 246: Northward Once More

The insides of the Demonic Fire Igneous Giants could only be described as vast and also hollow, as if their body was actually just a rocky container for the lava that used to flow within. As for how much energy I actually absorbed, I had no way of knowing, but the fact that Fertinier was even able to wake up as a result of that, made it a rather profitable trade. At the end of the day, this former Devil King knew a lot more than me and as we Chinese liked to say, having an elder in your home was like having a treasure.

Experience and wisdom was something you had to accumulate with timeahem, that was basically all I had to say.

Having climbed out, the first thing I saw was Sinmosa and the Hellhound family standing not too far in the distance. Beside them were two lanky devils whom I had never seen before.

To be exact, I had never seen such a form before. Both of them had a head that resembled a bulls with a pair of goat horns that curved towards the back. Their bodies were lean, muscular, beautiful even, if one were to discount the bull head on their shoulders and the goat hooves below. Their tail was slender like a bulls as well.

Even though this was the first time I had seen such a form, the words Infant Flame Demon instantly came to mind.

No.3, Big 4? Although I had basically guessed the identity of these devils by now, I still couldnt believe my eyes and had to confirm it once more. You guys, evolved?

Master, weve evolved! Upon seeing me climb out of the giants chest, the first thing the two of them did was to wave furiously at me while excitedly calling out to me as I walked towards them. Once I reached them, they suddenly fell to their knees and said with utter reverence: Many thanks to Masterhad it not been for Master, we would have died

Theres no need for that, your loyalty is something Im fully aware of. No matter what, the blood you shed wont be in vain. Seeing them in their new evolved forms, an indescribable sense of elation filled me. This was the result I achieved after risking life and limb not a bad result at all, if I had to say.

Honestly, I wouldnt have been half as excited about them evolving had it not been for Fertinier awakening. After all, I was still a Three-stars at the end of the dayhaving them outlevel me so much was disconcerting Naturally, I knew that the two of them probably wouldnt betray me, but the same could be said for One-eye as well

To me, Sinmosa and Sasani were mostly trustworthy since we were complete strangers back when we met; I doubt they thought about betraying or using me then. Even if Sasani was thinking about betraying me, that sister of his would fix him right up. In fact, it would be more accurate to say I trusted Sinmosa, rather than Sasani.

Truly, trust was a scary thingeven now, I couldnt believe that One-eye would play me out like thatwell, that was all in the past now, what mattered was the future.

The energy in that giant is gone but Mo Na and youI cant see any changes in the both of you at all Having chatted a while with No.3 and Big 4, it was then that Sinmosa trotted up to me and gasped with a look of disbelief in all six of her eyes. After giving me another look, she half-stated as such, in a voice dripping with curiosity: You arent an ordinary devil are you?

What should I say now..I still cant bring up the matter of Fertinier, but the fact that an entire Five-stars giant was consumed and nothing had happened in Mo Na and I was also strange.

Forget it, everyone has their own secrets, I was just a little curious, thats all. I didnt intend to pry too deeplyyou can always tell me when youre ready. Seeing that torn expression on my face, she chose not to ask any further, instead casually glossing over this subject with another. Cinderel has restored quite a bit of her energy already. Because shes still young, she didnt evolve yet. Sasani and I, on the other hand, received quite a few benefits. It wont be long before we can evolve into Six-stars.

That quick?! For the two of them to evolve now was clearly good news for me given our current situation. Thus I said: Well then, Ill have to congratulate you two in advance. Oh right, when exactly will you two evolve?

Sinmosa paused for a second and then gave me an answer that I didnt know whether to laugh about or cry about. Roughly five years.

well thatspretty quick

I know, it was supposed to be 20 years too. She didnt detect that slight bit of awkwardness in my voice and instead followed up with my comment as if everything was right in the world: After all, Sasani and I arewellyou get it

I get it, totally. Its that, isnt it? German Orthopaedics, Yos*ga no Sora, and if Kyosuke actually did it with Kirino, I can add in Oreimo to the list as wellhonestly, I had really had to hand it to that dog

(TL: German Orthopaedics: Some story in China where it was reported that a brother and sister did it each other and were found out by their father. The father broke the legs of the brother after which the brother flew off to Germany to get it fixed. The rest are all anime references.)

To be honest, before finding out about their unique relationship, I had assumed that incest was a taboo only amongst humans, to think the Hellhounds had such a rule as well.

Either way, since everyone is accounted for, its time for us to set off once more.

In order to save time, Sinmosa offered to give us a ride on her while the two of them galloped northward. Naturally, it wasnt that we had not thought about doing that before, but based on their speed, it would have been impossible for No.3 and Big 4 to keep up with their galloping speed. Now that the two of them had evolved however, their flying speeds were now significantly higher and their wings, significantly more agile. Thanks to that, the two of them had no problem keeping up with Sinmosa and husband all throughout.

If I had to make a comparison between their current and past formsit would be the difference between a World War One plane and a World War Two planehmmm, sounds about right.

Along the way, I took the time to inquire about No.3 and BIg 4s newfound abilities. They were, after all, devils with a clan now, their abilities had to have increased. If I had to be perfectly honest however, I assumed that Infant Flame Demons were like Ragn*ros from World of W*rcraft, essentially devils in the form of elementals. Clearly my assumption was wrong.

Within my inherited memories, they clearly stated that Flame Demons were borne of the flames, that was true, however, that didnt mean that they were entirely formed of flames either. With regards to these flame devils, in particular the Infant Flame Demons, there wasnt much information about them at all. Or rather, the information was sealed up, waiting for me to level up even further before unlocking. After all, allowing access to such skills wasnt necessary a good thing unless one had the required level to use them. In a sense, it was like magic. Trying to cast a spell above ones mana capabilities ran the risk of causing a backlash or worse.

While the majority of a Flame Devils abilities were still locked up, No.3 and Big 4 still managed to pick up quite a few abilities this time around. For example, they were now able to control flames as if they were a part of their body. Unlike the past where their control of flames was still a little unnatural, it wouldnt be an exaggeration to say that the  flames were now their limbs.

In fact, as if to demonstrate that ability, when Big 4 had No.3 cut off his left hand with a crafted bone knife, something miraculous happened. Where his severed arm once laid, we saw a bundle flames that Big 4 calmly picked and reconnected to his stump of a wrist. Under our shocked eyes, that bundle of flames began to take on a hand shape before finally reconnecting and turning back into a hand flawlessly.

I gave the new appendage a careful look through and found, to my astonishment, no difference at all between his previous hand and his new one

Turning ones body into flames is just a basic ability, theres no need for Little Brother to make such a big fuss about a parlor trick. Thats just embarrassing. As usual, Fertinier chimed in with her teasing amidst my shock and awe.

Embarrassing? How so? At least their evolutionary branch is strongwhy cant us Lust Demons be as powerful as that?

Hey, were really strong!

Why do I feel so weak then? If it wasnt for Shadowfang, I dont think I can even defeat Violet Snow.

In my mind, that was nothing but a little gripe on my part, who wouldve thought that it would instead garner such a reaction from Fertinier: The fact that you cant even beat a little white puppy is because youre weak, dont lump us together with your weakness!

Really? Lust Demons are strong? If they are so strong, why are there so many sub-branches, carnal, combat and whatnot?

Wellits a female only branchso they feel a need to compensate for that

Sounds so true that I cant even think of a counter to that

Thanks to our internal squabbles, time passed rather quickly for me. Because we were still in the territory of the Warhorses, we encountered quite a number of roaming Warhorses during our jaunt northward. For the most part, they knew to steer clear of us. Thats right, they were avoiding useven though they were the masters of territory, they were avoiding usno matter how I looked at it, we seemed more like unwelcome intruders more than anything.

The fact that they were acting in such a manner was probably because of Shade. Perhaps they even thought that I was some kind of Devil King reincarnatedspeaking of which, that whole incident was rather interesting in of itself. For a powerful Nightmare Steed like Shade to fear me like thateven fear wasnt enough to describe the expression he had on then.

Its normal to fear this one, dont cha know Came Fertiniers usual snideness.

Still, to think that this is the Remnants of Sable Radiance, this one clearly remembered that this whole region was sealed off a long time ago. So it was actually linked to the Prison of the Deadhow secretivesince its in a sealed off state, that passage to Abaddon shouldnt work as well. Little Brother, are you sure the answer is really in that palace?

Im not too sure either, it was a Shadowcat Princess who told me that.

Shadowcats huh, the race that can Dreamwalk? I like those little kitties, I remember keeping a few kitties myself in my home, theyre really fun to play with.

I never knew you were a cat lady.