CHAPTER 493: HOSTAGES (1/2)

The skulls of the Skeletons and Zombies we collected were arranged in a simple pentagram, after which I immediately stood before the array and began channelling my mana as Ferti’nier instructed.

“Direct your mana towards the array, your big sis will help you connect to Purgatory; the coordinates will be Sable Radiance. Your big sis will then send your aura across, and those who sense it should respond to the summons. However… the most you are able to summon are Four-stars…” Ferti’nier’s voice turned solemn at that point. “The offerings aren’t enough… so the amount won’t be many as well… and that’s factoring in your status as the Overlord of those coordinates…”

We have offerings, we just need to harvest them first. We can sustain our battles with more battles that way. As long as our lines do not collapse right away, I’m sure we will be able to overcome this trial. And if all else fails, I’ll pull out the Devil King Idol.

“I don’t suggest you do that.” For the first time ever, Ferti’nier unequivocally expressed her disapproval of my plan. “The Devil King Idol represents the status of a Devil King’s successor. At the same time, it also means that as long as you do not die, little brother, you will one day become a Devil King. To the Humans, you are an existence that must be exterminated as soon as possible.”

I… I’m trying to help them here! You’re saying I might end up being hunted down instead? Then what do you suggest I do?!

Sensing my frustration, Ferti’nier sternly cut me off, “don’t think too much about it now. Just focus on the summoning.”

Fine. This was my decision to begin with, it’s just time for me to take responsibility for it.

As more and more mana flowed into the array, the skulls making up the array started to glow red in their eye sockets, giving the entire pentagram a hellish look.

“By my name as the Overlord of Purgatory… heed my call… pass through the dimensions and arise… emissaries of the Apocalypse!”

As I continued chanting, Jezsere quickly released the souls we stuffed in a couple of Soulstones beforehand. Like a giant firefly, the Soul Flames swarmed out in a glaring blob. It tried to pull away from the summoning array at first, but it was promptly latched onto by the sinister aura spewing out from the array. Without any protection of their own, the Soul Flames were dragged into the flames, finally turning into the offerings needed to break down the barriers between dimensions.

“Sister Nicole…”

Sensing her unease, Neneth first thought was to try and comfort her, but the airhead that she was couldn’t find the words to do so.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.” Nicole answered with a sigh that released her bottled up frustrations at the same time. At the end of the day, she wasn’t a willful girl; she knew that in times of need, power wasn’t something that discriminated between right and wrong.

True to his words, Umbra did not try to interrupt us in the slightest as we summoned the Devils. He merely watched us with a bemused expression from a hundred meters away.

As more time passed by, a black dimensional rift, measuring up to three meters tall, opened up, allowing the first Devil to make its way out of the summoning array. It was a Large Imp that first appeared. Following that, more and more Devils began to spew forth, the majority being One-star, with a few Two-star Head Imps coming forth from time to time. It was only a few minutes later that the array finally began to dim. The rift sputtered in a last ditch attempt to stay open. A crimson Devil clad in flames stepped forth, barely squeezing itself through the closing rift -a Four-star Flame Demon Child!

With those thousand odd One-star Soul Flames, we managed to summon about 350 Devils… not bad. One Four-star, thirteen Three-stars while the rest are One-stars or Two-stars…

“Not bad indeed, but that’s only to be expected of our little brother. Being able to summon so many with just those low level offerings is something to be proud of.”

To that, I could only shake my head and smile grimly. After all, even this amount of Devils wasn’t going to be enough to hold off the Undead horde.

Thankfully, my gloominess was quickly dispelled by Ferti’nier. “Don’t worry, your big sis has already fixed the coordinates for Sable Radiance. You just have to feed the array more offerings and you will have an unending supply of Devils.”

You know… having Ferti’nier around really isn’t that bad. Now… if only she could stop stealing my food so I can level up faster…

“Heck no, your big sis has to work hard as well!”

I paid no attention to her objections, instead turning to that smug Vampire. “So, how about you tell us what you are here for?”