Chapter 439: Tool Construction

The human realms couldn’t be said to be the safest of places right now, certainly not when compared to Earth. If my identity were to be that of a completely defenseless normal human being that was somehow able to travess the land without fear… now, that just wouldn’t make much sense, would it? However, while I was transformed, it was imperative that I refrained from using my mana in order to hide my devilish nature completely. Because of that, I wouldn’t be able to fight at full strength, with only my physical strength being a safe option. Spells like my fireballs were out of question unless I wanted my identity to be exposed.

In that case, I had to find other ways of boosting my combat strength. Clearly, Ferti’nier had something in mind on this front.

“Your big sis is planning to create a summoning tool that you only need to infuse your mana into and you can summon a helper to your side. Little brother, all you have to do then is announce yourself as a summoner mage. If it’s just this extent of mana usage, you won’t expose your true nature.”

I have to admit, she really thought this through this time; even such minor details were considered. Having such a big sis looking out for my back is truly a blessing… like heck it is! I’ll be more than happy if this she-devil doesn’t end up causing more trouble for me!

“Ohohoho, is our little brother scolding her big sis again?”

‘Nope, not at all! Why would I ever do that? If only there was some way I could express my adoration further, but thank god… I mean, alas…’

“Hmph, don’t think that just because you didn’t intend to say it, your big sis can’t hear it. We both share this body so our thoughts are linked as well.”

‘Oops… big sis… I mean momma… Can I call you momma? I’m in the wrong here… please be merciful… your son will forever be grateful…’

Now that we had finished our daily banter, the Devil King inside me made her somewhat displeased question known. “So how long do you plan on hugging her for?”

‘Hmm?’

“Your big sis is talking about that little girl in your arms. Isn’t it about time you let go now?”

“…”

‘My bad, it felt so right that I almost forgot I had her in my arms.’ I had to admit, a soft Elven girl like her was really nice to hug. She was light, and she even gave off a faint scent that just sets off all the right signals – there really was no better pleasure than hugging a girl like her. But now wasn’t the time for this. I had bigger fish to fry so I would have to have her draw the short end of the stick for now… Don’t worry, your master will be back to hug you as soon as he’s done.

I tossed a look at Paliseth who was still standing besides me, then lightly tapped on Jezsere’s head with my chin. Paliseth immediately understood what I meant and began walking towards us, a smile never once leaving her lips.

If I were to ask for her hand in marriage now, I bet these parents of hers weren’t even going to be an obstacle.

It was at that point that Jezsere finally woke up, despite having been asleep in my arms while I was gallivanting through the entire ingredients section. Perhaps it was the sudden movements around her that had set her off, but the instant Paliseth tried to receive her from my arms, she seemed to react.

“Mmm? Master?”

“Hey there, you’re awake, I see.”

“Master…” She blushed furiously. Even though she had just awoken, she quickly realised what kind of embarrassing situation she was in right now. She recoiled her neck back into her shoulders, her pointy long ears practically the color of a tomato at this point. If television was anything to go by, she would have probably been emitting steam from her ears right now. “Mas… Master… please put me down…”

“Of course.” I gently lowered her down onto the ground, but the moment I did so, I saw her slender legs start to cave in slightly. I quickly caught her arms. “Be careful.”

“It’s…it’s fine…” Jezsere quickly wiggled her way out of my embrace. This timid girl had always been quite close to me, but it was also a fact that being too intimate left her more than embarrassed. Even so, it was this sort of shyness that made me like her that much more… and want to bully her as well…

Now that our resident timid girl was settled, Ferti’nier addressed in a stern voice. “I need you to empty your mind now and hand over control of your body to me.”

‘Hand over control to you?’

“That’s right, I need control of your body for now. Is there a problem with that?”

‘No, but I’m warning you here, I’d better not see you pull any funny business.’

“Hmph, does your big sis seem like a person to do that?”

‘What do you mean ‘seem’? You clearly are such a Devil! In fact, you’re the only Devil King that is so bored as to torment me just for fun!’

This time, I was sure she had no way to refute my words. However, the satisfaction of this victory was short-lived. “Alright, then you can create the summoning tool yourself.”

“…”

‘Big sis… momma… Can I call you momma? I was wrong, really wrong… please forgive your insolent son. Just one more time…alright?’

“Hmph, that’s more like it. Now, stop resisting.”

Sigh… why do I even bother trying to win? I began emptying my mind as she had instructed, then handed over control of my body to her.

The moment I felt her soul take over, my external body began to experience a cataclysmic change. If my gender was in any doubt before this -being a genderless Devil that was slightly masculine and all- there was no doubt now. At that very instant, my aura fully became that of a Lust Demon’s, through and through.

“How fragrant…” Jezsere began swooning in my direction as if she had suddenly fallen under an enthrallment spell. As she staggered in a daze towards me, she would mumble to no one in particular. “Master… you smell so nice… and you’re so pretty as well… like an angel from the heavens…”

“Jezsere!” Paliseth yelled. This Dark Elven Matriarch had nearly fallen under my enthrallment as well. However, because she was still a bonafide Overlord-tier being, her iron will quickly resisted the effects in an instant. This enthrallment was actually a side-effect of Ferti’nier’s aura that she subconsciously released. As long as it was a living creature that approached her, it would take effect immediately. Gender had nothing to do with this enthrallment, only how strong that being’s will was.

Oh Jez… you have to forgive your master here. He can’t control his body right now so he can only let that blasted she-devil have her way with you… Be strong, once your master becomes stronger, he will avenge you. At that time, he will give that she-devil a good spanking until she begs for mercy.

Having assumed control of my body, Ferti’nier first turned around to face Paliseth who was still struggling to find out what was happening and smiled. She then began the construction of the summoning tool, not at all concerned with explaining herself or making sure that Paliseth had fully secured Jezsere.

The main ingredient of this alchemical construction was the Nine-star core of a fire magical beast, but there were plenty other ingredients required as well. For example, a piece of highly conductive mithril was required. Next, we needed a whole grocery list of rare metals as well as three Eight-star Fire Elemental Cores and two dozen magical beast cores that were either red or black.

The Nine-star core itself was roughly the size of the Gem of Authority hanging on my chest – the perfect size for gripping. Unlike the gem’s tetrahedral shape, the core was a perfect sphere.

By controlling my mana reserves, Ferti’nier first summoned a ball of Nether Flames in the middle of the air then threw everything into that fire except for those two dozen cores. Naturally, those three Eight-star Fire Elemental Cores were thrown into the fire as well.

Far be it from me to say, but isn’t it dangerous to toss a bunch of cores into fire like that? Are you sure they won’t just explode in my face? A cold sweat ran down my back just from watching her work her magic. In fact, I wasn’t the only one who was frightened either. Paliseth and Jezsere were both equally pale as they watched trepidatiously from the sidelines. The last thing all of us wanted right now was for that Nine-star core to go kaboom. After all, that was a Nine-star core! If it exploded, this whole treasure room would be toast!

With my left hand, Ferti’nier began emitting a controlled stream of mana to feed the burning Nether Flames.

Speaking of Nether Flames, it was a good thing that I was able to wield such magic. Ordinary flames would have been no match at all for something sturdy like Mithril. It was this bit of serendipity that ultimately allowed me to barely meet the threshold of transmuting mithril.

As time wore on, I could feel my mana reserves drain by at least half. At the current rate that she was expending my mana, I would at most last a couple more minutes before I was wrung dry. If that were to happen, then this transmutation would be a complete failure. As for those ingredients which were tossed into the Nether Flames… well, at least they didn’t explode, am I right?

In my current state, I was unable to affect the outside world at all. However, I didn’t dare to distract Ferti’nier either. The last thing I needed was to cause an accident because she lost concentration.

Thankfully, the experienced Devil King that she was did not need any reminder from me at all. Without even looking, she reached out with my right hand and popped one of the red cores into my mouth.

Crunch. Hmmm… doesn’t taste like chicken. Kinda like fried tofu actually, pretty nice to crunch on… Having finished chewing up the red core, Ferti’nier next tossed one of the black cores into my mouth. As she did that, I began to feel my mana reserve recover, going so far as to match the rate of my expenditure.

Hold on… are we treating magical beast cores as tofu now?! Just because this body isn’t yours doesn’t mean you can just mess around like that! What if I get food poisoning, or what if I can’t digest it? Even worse, what if I choke to death? I’m practically an explosive barrel right now, one that’s about to explode! What if… bah… we can talk about this later… I wouldn’t want to mess up this whole transmutation because of some small objections…

Even though I thought that, I was still extremely worried about what was going on with my body right now. I really did not want to die because of some silly indigestion, especially not while I was still a virgin.

Having just recovered from Ferti’nier’s earlier actions, the mother and daughter pair were soon treated to the equally shocking act of her munching on a bunch of magical beast cores. Just like me however, they knew that now wasn’t a good time to distract her. Any sort of interruption would be deadly at this point, that was why they merely kept a silent but worried vigil from the side. Naturally, Jezsere was already shaking at this point.

Time passed by neither slowly nor quickly in that manner. While I had come close to wanting to wrestle back control from Ferti’nier several times, I resisted this urge in the end.

However, just because I put up with her eating those magical beast cores didn’t mean I liked it either… Hey, haven’t you heard of not eating raw foods? What are we, cavemen?!

But really though, how long more will this take? Please give me an exact timeframe. At the rate you’re munching down on those cores like tofu, my heart will probably give out before you’re done…