The Devil's Evolution Catalog

“Lady Mo Na, are you alright?” asked Andassis the Seventh.

“Nana, I heard someone was trying to steal our Wyrm?”

A certain prince who was being glared at by his father: …

“I’m fine, but there was an intruder, as you said, though he did not succeed.” I nodded to those gathered before taking a seat next to Redleaf. “Perhaps Baku would be a better choice to convey the situation.”

Seeing as I was already picking up my coffee to drink, Andassis the Seventh promptly turned to his loyal bodyguard for a continuation.

The scarred man tensed up a little as he started organizing his thoughts. A while later, he began in a deep voice, “The enemies were led by a human overlord by the title of ‘The Magician’, Bardoka. He had two other eight-stars as his vanguards, of which one was a silver-furred werewolf, while the other was a vampire known as the ‘Crimson Mist’. Other than those three, there were twelve human mages who knew dimensional magic… The werewolf managed to escape using a dimensional tool during the chaos, but the rest were all killed by Lady Mo Na. The commonality between them was that they had no faction backing them… perhaps mercenaries…”

As the king patiently listened to the scarred bodyguard, I could catch glimpses of his brows twitching, even a glance or two in my direction. Glances of incomprehension and even fear. However, those only lasted for a second, else I would really have to re-evaluate my safety in this kingdom.

After all, a king was one of the most paranoid occupations around, plots and assassinations abound. According to the setting I gave him, I never once told him I was strong, so he probably saw me as just a harmless offworlder.

Naturally, that last part was no longer true. Seeing as those opponents I defeated were not just any old cat or dog on the street. That vampire alone was at the peak of eight-stars. Had it not been for my sojourn on Gaia, my own strength and that of my Shadow Guardian’s wouldn’t have grown to the point where it could survive that bloody mist.

As for the last opponent I defeated, that was a full-fledged overlord! Definitely your run-of-the-mill opponent.

To put it bluntly, I could kill the king if I wanted, and Baku, his eight-star bodyguard, could do nothing about it.

Thankfully, my performance thus far was flawless, giving my rich king of a backer no reason to doubt me. Though, the look he gave me now was a lot more fervent. An overlord alone could raise the level of a duchy to a kingdom. And while Andassis was clearly of a higher tier than a duchy or a principality, being able to marry an overlord was still highly beneficial for the kingdom’s evolution.

Maybe I can be the Wu Zetian of this world? If I’m willing to give up my principles of a man, a kingdom is practically at my fingertips!

No, no, no… what am I even thinking?!

Amidst my inane musings, Baku managed to recount the rough situation, leaving none of the important details out, including my Inferno Lion.

“Nana, you’re a summoner?” Redleaf grabbed my hands and began swinging it about in excitement. “Quick, let me have a look at your cute little fire kitty!”

Fire kitty?

I bet my Inferno Lion would be hopping if it heard that…

“Now’s not the time for messing around, and my Inferno Lion is meant for combat, not for petting.” I rejected her with a crossed look.

“Your Majesty,” I turned to look at Andassis the Seventh, “I do not think this was a mere coincidence. That intruder appeared right as Wyrm was complete, and was even able to infiltrate the palace so easily and slay a dozen guards… Furthermore, the leader of the group did not seem to have seen me before, he knew of me… this was no coincidence!”

Ever since I came back to the Western Human Realms, my life was very discreet. Of those who have seen me, they were all the king’s men.

So how did the mastermind know of me? There had to be a traitor.

“We’re of the same mind, then. Adding up all these circumstances, there was no way this was a mere coincidence.” Andassis the Seventh agreed with narrowed eyes, burning with an anger that could barely be contained. When he finally continued, his voice was noticeably darker. “Perhaps these last few years of peace has left everyone complacent…”

An ominous statement, one even more so because it was said by a king. While I might not know Andassis the Seventh personally, when a monarch said that, a power shuffle was imminent.

Just then, a set of hurried footsteps interrupted us, followed closely by the sound of the door opening.

“Your Majesty, we’ve found the culprit. It was Viscount Nollens who let those intruders into the lab… as for the person who leaked the information… we are still searching…”

It was Misseger, the king’s personal maid, who brought us this news. It was also then that I realized the king had been missing one of his usual entourage. In other words, before I had arrived, he had already sent out someone to investigate.

As I would expect of a king like him -he doesn’t miss a beat. Yet for every smart person like him, there were a dozen stupid ones.

“Already?” Redleaf gasped in surprise. “But how do you know which unfortunate soul is our traitor?”

Misseger looked at Redleaf for a second. She knew this was a woman who even her boss would not offend, thus she answered dutifully, “Tonight’s guard duty was handled by the Viscount…”

“That’s all?”

“Even if this was an honest mistake, it’s serious enough for capital punishment.”

“Hmm, true.” Redleaf nodded, though I could see she felt a little embarrassed for having to ask such an obvious question. She straightened her back and as if nothing had happened at all, said to Doris, “Go fetch me some refreshments, I’m feeling a little peckish…”

And off she went…