Your Majesty's money, why don't you engrave my name on it?

Leslaufer didn't react immediately to these words, but the Sin Demon Muse sensed something was amiss and quickly asked, "But sir, our legion is under Lord Bael's command, I'm afraid..."

Zariel waved his hand and said, "His bait tactics always work, but he actually used them here this time, and almost lost two of your capable subordinates. I'm busy impeaching him, and he dares to try and steal people from me?"

As she spoke, her gaze, like a tangible flame, scrutinized the two people before her: "Do you two even know how long you've been holding out?"

Muse looked at Leslaufer, and Leslaufer looked at Muse; both saw confusion in each other.

Those who survive in the hell within hell have no concept of time.

“Seven days, in a sense, is already a century in itself,” Zariel grinned. “It’s more than twice as long as Bael had planned. For that reason alone, even if you die, I will go to Lord Asmodeus to find a way to resurrect you—even you, 'mortal'.”

"Don't hate that fat fish Bael too much. Although he did cause you trouble, the victory he secured for the Nine Hells was real. While you were holding off Baltazu's army here, our other front advanced a full three thousand kilometers. I have to admit, I should have come here much earlier, but the spoils of war were just too tempting, don't you think? So as you can see, I'm the only one here. The rest of the troops were all taken by Bael to continue expanding the victory."

No one wants to be a scapegoat or bait, but if it's as effective as Grand Duke Zariel says... well, then we have to go back to the point.

Raslaufer and Muse exchanged another glance. The Sin Demon bowed respectfully to Grand Duke Zariel and then said, "We are honored to have played such a great role. It is an unparalleled honor, but please forgive my frankness, none of us want it to happen again."

“There won’t be a next time, I can guarantee that,” Zariel, given her position, wouldn’t stoop to deceiving her two subordinates on such matters. She looked at Museco, “So let’s talk about where you’re headed next. Museco, you’ve already fought your way through, so you shouldn’t have any worries about being alone in a new environment. There’s no vacancy for my centurion position for the time being, but I can authorize you to form a Sin Demon army, which you will command. I will send a Horned Demon as your new adjutant—as I said, as long as you’re capable enough, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with me bestowing extra trust upon you.”

"Thank you for your mercy, my lord!" Muse was almost dizzy from the sudden happiness and quickly bowed her head in gratitude. Like mortal armies, the troop movements of demons, though infrequent, were not uncommon. For a demon like her, whose entire army had been wiped out and who was left all alone, even though she had achieved considerable merit, being neither promoted nor demoted was already a good ending. But this time, not only was she not held accountable, but her new commander even allowed her to rebuild her legion, and didn't even plan to assign her a peer "assistant"—it was simply a blessing upon a blessing!

“As for you…” Zariel looked at Raslaufer with amusement, “You’re putting me in a bit of a bind. After all, your very existence is a very crazy outcome, and any action taken against you could be ‘inappropriate’ or even ‘overstepping’ the mark. But what’s interesting is that I am the product of the latter, so I can give you a choice and let you decide for yourself what to do.”

Chapter 704 The Third Choice

"I wish I could return to the material world I came from."

Raslaufer gave her answer without hesitation, but to the Great Devil, it wasn't one of the options she offered, so she didn't respond.

“First, I can appoint you as a centurion of a new mercenary legion, on par with Muse, which you deserve,” Zariel said calmly. “Second, you can join my legion, serving me as an elite soldier, just as you did when you were mortal, thus freeing you from official duties; third…”

The Grand Duke paused for a moment: "The third option is that you will break away from the usual military system and enjoy a certain degree of freedom. To complete the task I give you, you can even trample on the law without being questioned. But to become such a knight, you must complete a trial. This trial is not dangerous for you, but if you fail, all the privileges will disappear, and worse, you will be burdened with... debt."

"Don't look at me like that. This opportunity is very rare, and not everyone can get it."

"My lord?" Muse gasped. "You mean, Leslaufer is qualified to participate in the Nightmare Rider Trials? He's going to capture a Nightmare Warhorse?"

Grand Duke was about to nod when Muse spoke rapidly: "That's a mount that's naturally capable of traveling between the etheric plane and the material plane, and many individuals know the locations of portals to the lower planes, the Shadow Realm, and other perilous areas. With such a mount, anyone can quickly traverse between different planes..."

“Alright, that’s enough of the explanation, Museco,” Zariel interrupted the Sin Demon. “Now, mortal, make your choice. Personally, I would very much like you to choose the second option: a sufficiently brave soldier. To me, that’s better than all the other fancy stuff.”

Leslaufer exhaled a breath of scorching air that had been burning in his chest and lungs, and finally shook his head: "If you are not going to give me the last option, I will do as you wish, but I think perhaps the third one is the better one."

The devilish duke's lips seemed to twitch almost imperceptibly, but Leslaufer wasn't sure if it was just an illusion caused by the distorted heat of the air.

“Alright,” she said, “in that case, I will arrange your trial. Until then, you will remain under the control of the Muses—it’s a pity, if you weren’t so complicated, I would prefer to modify you: remove your heart, replace it with a reactor, and then arm you to the teeth.”

But the risk was too great. Raslaufer was more than just a random experimental subject; if the modification failed, or even if it was only somewhat unsuccessful, it would still be a loss of property for Zariel.

She preferred to take a slightly more conservative approach, even though Bael had strongly urged her to take a gamble before she arrived.

Since the entire battle was not yet over at this stage, the Demon Duke quickly left the highlands, but Raslaufer had to wait for the arrival of replacement reinforcements before he could leave—under the Demon Duke's scorching flames, most of his joints had been melted and reshaped, leaving him almost unable to move.

Muse waited until the people responsible for transporting Reslaufer arrived before leaving with them.

“You saved me a second time—to count as few as possible,” Muse said suddenly as they walked beside Reslaufer’s stretcher on the way to the nearest settlement. “I never imagined I would owe so much to a mortal, but you are truly extraordinary.”

“It’s just to survive,” Raslaufer said, though his body was still stiff as iron, at least his head and mouth could still function normally. “And this experience is mutual: I’ve saved the lives of several comrades before, but this is the first time I’ve done this with a devil, especially… a high-ranking devil like you.”

“I thought you’d say, ‘You’re such a beautiful devil,’” a soft chuckle came from beneath Museco’s helmet. “But then again, I suppose in someone like you, the only distinction is between things that can be killed and things that can’t.”

“That’s nonsense,” Leslaufer scoffed, his purple eyes darting upwards in vain. “I’ve never even seen your face, so how can I talk about whether you’re ‘pretty’ or not?”

It's difficult to discern the demon's physique from that heavy armor. Aside from the exquisite craftsmanship of the metal, the only thing Leslaufer could praise about its appearance was probably its wings.

But wings? How would he know what kind of wings are beautiful? Even if Museco's wings were among the most beautiful, they looked like a plucked raven right now, most of the feathers broken and fallen off in the previous battle, and it would probably be a long time before they grew back...

Museco: "...Lord Leslaufer, you should know that as a high-ranking demon, I possess a telepathic range with a radius of nearly forty meters, right?"

“But at least the way you look in battle is quite interesting,” Leslaufer retorted, “you know, uh, like a god descending to earth.”

Beneath the mask, the devil rolled his eyes and muttered under his breath, "...That's hardly a compliment."

Who would praise a devil as an angel?! Especially a sinful demon like her!

Is telling Grand Duke Zariel that you wish her to possess the essence of the Celestials considered an act of approval?!

It was obvious that Muse was unlikely to receive any praise from Raslaufer, but even so, the Sin Demon still accompanied him to find a craftsman who could "repair" Raslaufer properly. Just like back in the City of Broken Glass, Raslaufer's flesh and armor had been burned so badly that they were indistinguishable from each other. Only a craftsman, not a healer, could separate them so that he could receive more appropriate treatment.

In the material world, either of these steps is extremely difficult, even impossible. But this is Avernus, a place of bloody battles where any injury caused by war is commonplace, even in cases like Leslaufer's.

It took almost three full days and nights to separate the metal, the various bone growths that formed after the transformation, and Dople's original body. Just when Reslaufer thought that the recovery would take at least ten days to half a month, a demon with an insect's head and exuding a chilling aura entered his room, led by Museco. The demon pressed its claws against Reslaufer's chest, and a bone-chilling cold that could even make one's soul tremble spread out, completely freezing Reslaufer inside.

But just a dozen seconds later, as the ice shattered on its own, Raslaufer, whose mind was still somewhat numb, was surprised to find that all his injuries had vanished without a trace—even his old, hidden injuries from the past!

“Fortunately, there are no mechanical parts,” the high-ranking demon who treated Raslaufer—Raslaufer was certain that otherwise Muse would never have led the way—sounded sickly, or rather, very reluctant to do the job. “Also, I brought the things you’ll need later from Kania as well.”

With a wave of his hand, Raslaufer was immediately buried under a huge pile of things—roughly a complete set of saddlery, bridle, drill, reins, saddle, stirrups, and spurs…all the equipment needed for riding was included.

The enormous insect head trembled slightly, and Reslaufer was certain it was some kind of gloating laugh: "Alright, mortal, this is all you need. Now, go and catch the horse!"

Chapter 705 Nightmare Rider Trial

The demon quickly departed, leaving behind an aura of chill, but as he left, Zariel's message ignited before Reslauver like a flame, sparks leaping and combining within it, finally coalescing into text Reslauver could understand:

The Ice Demon has already delivered the new set of saddles to you, right? Bring them to Cliff Peak immediately.

“A small group of nightmares has recently migrated here.” When Raslaufer arrived, Zariel was standing on the steep mountaintop with his arms crossed, looking down at a small flat area below, where clusters of small purple and white flowers swayed precariously in the inferno, as if they might spontaneously combust into clumps of ashes at any moment.

“These flowers are called ‘bubbles’,” the Demon Grand Duke explained, not only to Reslaufer. Dople noticed three other demons beside her, who appeared to be a two-horned demon and a sin demon, each carrying a set of saddles. “These flowers are very easy to vanish, but also very easy to take root and grow. For nightmares, they are a rare and delicious treat. Some nightmares will even travel through several planes to track them. You four are very lucky. If it weren’t for these flowers, you might have had to search for years, or even wait for centuries, before you had a chance to make contact with a nightmare.”

Muse didn't come along, but Leslaufer remembered the demon's words: Nightmares don't like being ridden, and even when summoned, they don't show much loyalty. Approaching and attempting to capture them is not only an extremely risky activity, but even encountering a Nightmare is a very low-probability event. Finding a group of Nightmares migrating here in search of food is clearly due to the power of the Great Demon.

Raslaufer looked down at the flat ground with interest, but so far, no nightmares had appeared there. Meanwhile, his approach attracted the attention of the other three demons.

"Four? Sir, I think you mean...three?"

Like Muse, the demon was shrouded in a helmet, obscuring his face. Only after he spoke could it be confirmed that he was male. He tilted his head slightly, scrutinizing Reslaufer; the height difference did not deter him in the slightest: "He's just a mortal, not qualified—"

Are you questioning me?

Zariel didn't answer his question at all; a single counter-question was enough to silence the devil, who cowered and lowered his head in fear.

“If it weren’t for the countless years of accumulated merit, the three of you would really think you could get this opportunity,” the Demon Grand Duke snorted. “But he only took about seven days.”

"This is impossible!" a horned demon exclaimed. Although he quickly covered his mouth, Leslaufer still realized something: the merit required to apply for such a trial was an absolutely enormous amount.

So much so that even these high-ranking demons find it difficult to accumulate the required amount.

What Reslaufer didn't know was that, as a unique class of soldiers, there were two main ways to become a qualified knight to ride a nightmare in Purgatory: one was through merit, then transforming one's nature in a manner similar to ordinary promotion; the other was to make a deal with powerful demons in exchange for eternal honor. The latter mainly applied to mortals still in the material plane; for fallen paladins, there was usually a separate set of tests, rather than directly bringing them to Avernus. Therefore, Reslaufer's presence here inherently meant that he had qualified through the first method.

This was almost unimaginable for those three devils.

But Zariel's words here are almost indistinguishable from laws; they have no choice but to believe them—even if only superficially.

Raslaufer noticed that the two horned demons lowered their heads sheepishly, while the sin demon gave him a resentful look.

"I don't care who you are, you mortal," his voice resonated directly in Leslaufer's mind, warning, "No one can steal my thunder today! And stay away from the Muse, you're not worthy—"

“If you keep making a fuss, I’ll twist your head off and hang it under my warhorse’s neck.”

Raslaufer glanced at Zariel, and seeing that the Grand Duke did not react, he immediately spoke. Although he had not brought a knife with him on this trip, if he only wanted "one" head, he could do it even with just one hand.

“You!” Leslaufer didn’t respond through the demon’s telepathy, but spoke directly. Such a blunt threat made the flames on the demon’s body tremble involuntarily, and its eyes immediately turned fierce. “Mortal! Do you know who you are fighting against—”

"Shut up."

With a sharp "smack," Zariel suddenly struck, delivering a slap to the demon's helmet from a distance, making the entire metal can vibrate: "If you scare away the nightmare, everyone's trial will fail!"

The Grand Duke's words carried absolute authority, and the Demon immediately fell silent, quietly hiding with two other demons of lower rank, awaiting the appearance of the Nightmare. Meanwhile, Raslaufer began to observe them. He noticed that although all three demons wore the same saddle, their equipment seemed to differ from one another.

Take, for example, the spurs already fitted to the back of their boots. Compared to the two horned demons, the sin demon's spurs had more ornate and flamboyant gear-like rollers at the ends, looking as if they were plated with gold. Even among the two horned demons, their spurs were different: one had a longer neck that curved outwards, while the other's spurs looked like ordinary spikes, and even the rollers were somewhere between present and absent.

Raslaufer looked at his own; he hadn't yet attached them to the back of his boots. The two forked bodies lay quietly inside the saddle, behind the shorter spur neck, with the bladeless gears turning slowly. It looked much like the Sin Demon's set, except that Raslaufer's was heavier and completely iron-gray in color, without any decoration.

“Each Nightmare Rider’s saddle is different, each with its own characteristics,” Zariel said, watching him from somewhere. “After you succeed—if possible—you will also receive your own unique lance. Any soul killed by it will be led to the River Styx and reborn there as a lesser demon. And on it, you and I will bear our unique marks.”

Zariel was about to say something more, but suddenly his gaze sharpened slightly as he turned to look down at the cliff face below: "Alright, we can discuss the details after you succeed—I need to leave now to avoid startling them. Now, you're free to do as you please."

Chapter 706 "Ladies First"

Following Zariel's fading gaze, Raslaufer and the three demons spotted the Nightmare pack: a small group of five of these terrifying warhorses, each with a fiery mane, burning hooves, and smoldering eyes. Compared to ordinary warhorses, they were much more robust, with frames almost twice as large, but in terms of agility and reflexes, they were in no way inferior to any other type of warhorse, and perhaps even no less so than a unicorn like Verunara.

These creatures from hell were now moving with light steps, leaving behind five fiery hoofprints as they walked towards the flat ground below the cliff, their target the flowers known as "bubbles." Three of the smaller ones seemed oblivious to their surroundings, heading straight for the flowers, while the remaining two were unusually alert. Despite the food being right in front of them, they stood tall upon arrival, scanning their surroundings and monitoring every rustle of wind.

This is purgatory, and countless creatures want to capture and ride them. Although most of them fail in the end, if they can detect the anomaly before the other party makes a move, these creatures, which are said to be transformed from the broken wings of a pegasus, can instantly open a portal and escape across planes.

Raslaufer and the three demons lurked on the cliff for a long time. Only when the two nightmares, unaware of anything amiss, finally relaxed their guard did they lower their guard. But even so, unlike their three companions, they did not bury their heads and feast. Instead, they reached out and bit off a flower, then looked up again and slowly chewed the bubble in their mouths until it was finely crushed before swallowing it, repeating the same action.

"Approaching them is almost impossible," a horned demon muttered worriedly through telepathy. "These two horses have no blind spots; to get close to them, we'll probably have to use invisibility..."

"If you think it's that easy, then go ahead and try," the Demon sneered. "See the eyes of that red nightmare? The being that created it cast an enchantment on its eyes that reveals invisibility—how superfluous—"

The demon shuddered and stopped speaking—the sudden warning made him realize that this creature was probably the work of some abyssal demon or a higher-level devil. Although he didn't know why the creator of the Red Nightmare had released it or let it escape, using the Nightmare to slander the creator was still a fatal taboo.

The Demon King carefully examined the red horse, his eyes revealing a strong desire to conquer: this warhorse was the second largest of the five, its entire body a fiery red without a single blemish. Rather than a mount, it was more like an extremely rare and precious work of art.

He wanted to forge another equally magnificent horse armor for it, so that it could better match him! The Demon couldn't help but think this, and while examining the red horse, he inevitably glanced at the largest Nightmare out of the corner of his eye.

It was a gray horse, its entire body a deep gray, but it was not inconspicuous at all—its size was only a small part, and more importantly, the flames burning on this nightmare were also strangely grayish-white, and just one glance seemed to be able to draw in the soul of the observer and burn it to ashes.

This is the most powerful one, the Demon of Sin silently judged. While he was over 70% confident he could tame the red one, he was less than 30% confident he could subdue this gray nightmare.

Although as a high-ranking demon, he could easily defeat or even capture all these nightmares alive, it would be useless. If the nightmares refused to submit to him, tormenting them for millions of years would still be futile. And the gray one was clearly the most difficult to deal with.

But if that's the case... the devil's eyes darted around, and he turned to look at Leslaufer.

"Hey, mortal, which one have you got your eye on? I was going to choose first, but I don't want people to say that I stole the mount that should have been yours, hmph."

It's criticized by "people." Here, the only human being is probably Reslaufer.

The Sin Demon was certain that this mortal would definitely challenge him, saying he would choose the gray nightmare that was obviously the strongest at first glance. In that case, he could take advantage of the situation and tame the red one first, while the other would have no other choice when it came to his turn—unless this mortal had absolutely no backbone.

People who are obsessed with saving face suffer for it; all mortals are the same.

"Naturally, it's the gray one." As the Sin Demon had predicted, Raslaufer indeed chose the Gray Nightmare.

The devil, thinking he had outmaneuvered the devil, laughed: "Very well, since that's the case, then I'll choose the red one—you two don't have any objections, right?"

The Sin Demon was of a higher rank than the Horned Demon, so the two Horned Demons naturally dared not object. Seeing this, the Sin Demon immediately stood up, preparing to be the first to try. However, he was somewhat worried that Leslaufer would use this as an excuse, so he quickly added to Leslaufer, "Mortal, are you planning to line up before me?"

“Ladies first.” Leslaufer rolled his eyes, causing the sin demon to stumble. The two horned demons beside him tightened their skin, trying their best not to burst out laughing immediately.

Hmph, mere mortals.

The Demon cursed inwardly, but with things having come to this, he could only be the first to fly off the cliff. Faint, shimmering waves swirled around him. The nightmares, affected by the magic, didn't immediately flee, but instead looked at the Demon with interest.

But after that first impression, only the weakest Nightmare took the initiative to step forward and tentatively took two steps toward the Demon of Sin.

His promotion to Nightmare Knight was a foregone conclusion. The Sin Demon couldn't help but feel a little smug. However, as a knight in the future, he could not be picky about the choice of his mount. He still set his sights on that red Nightmare.

However, the nightmare seemed to have only a slight interest in him. After taking a quick look at the Sin Demon's wings, the nightmare lowered its head again.

This was within the Sin Demon's expectations, so he was not discouraged. Instead, he adopted a majestic and heroic posture and began to perform various actions and poses in front of the Red Nightmare, seemingly to declare his power. Then he drew the Withering Blade, a standard weapon for Sin Demons, and brandished it in front of the Nightmares, showing off his martial arts and skills.

Leslaufer observed these actions and silently memorized them, but he couldn't quite understand the demon's next move. The demon sheathed its sword and began to launch into a long, rambling discourse at the nightmare before it...?

“Nightmare can understand language, it just can’t speak it,” a horned demon noticed Leslaufer’s confusion and spoke up. “It seems this red Nightmare has high standards, it doesn’t even look down on your rank and martial arts skills, but it seems there’s still a chance, since it hasn’t rejected you yet. But if words can’t sway it, it might have to pay a price.”

Chapter 707 An Untamed Nightmare

Just as the Horned Demon had predicted, below the cliff, although the Sin Demon had tried his best, he could only move three of the Nightmares besides the red and gray ones. The red Nightmare was still standing in front of him, observing the demon with interest, but neither getting close nor distant. As for the gray one, it simply turned around and began to enjoy the flowers on the ground that had begun to become translucent.

As its name suggests, the bubble flower blooms for a very short time, and when it disappears, it leaves not a trace in the world.

"What else do you want to see?" The Sin Demon had no ulterior motives towards the Gray Nightmare, but he was quite furious with the red horse in front of him. Now he only had two choices: either give up on the Red Nightmare and choose the most suitable one from the remaining three, or he had to bring out everything that the Red Nightmare might be interested in.

The first option is undoubtedly the safest, and he will definitely get a promotion opportunity, but... that won't work.

The two horned demons had no right to question his choice, but what about that mortal? He wouldn't dare to be so arrogant in front of a mortal! Besides, if he chose any of the three horses, and that mortal gained the favor of the red or gray nightmare, how would he face himself?

At the very least, I must ensure that even if I try my best, I cannot persuade those two beasts.

If he were to ask himself honestly, the Demon of Sin had absolutely no belief that Raslaufer could surpass him; even the part he had shown so far was enough for him to catch up with with all his might. But Grand Duke Zariel's attitude toward Raslaufer made the Demon of Sin uneasy, and no matter how arrogant he was, he dared not let his guard down for a moment.

And so, a heavy iron coin appeared in the devil's hand.

“Come on, my goodness, take a look at this…” he whispered, presenting the coins to Red Nightmare. Each of these soul coins sealed within a soul, and their taste…

Nightmare's eyes lit up, and the three weaker ones almost frantically crowded around the demon, nuzzling its body with their heads, trying to get a piece as a reward.