49

"That might be tricky to get them all but most are located except for half of the leviathan shield and the mask of Beelzebub as well as the Belphegor boots haven't been seen in almost one hundred years." I know where those three are but can't say anything about the boots because I shouldn't know yet and the shield will soon be obtained by Delia.

"No point in trying to hide it from you since we are attached at the hip now, the haunted item that I need help getting is a mask that I felt guided to and I speculate that it is god eating mask."

"Really? how is it haunted?"

"Well for context I should explain as devils we are beings of sin and are Intune with it so with practice we can sense it. we use it to fuel our lifespans along with making contracts to gain things from people but that's beside the point. I was clearing out a mine of bandits for Shea and I felt a massive spike in Gluttony and when I investigated I found out that the current earth elemental king is wearing the mask and is radiating Gluttony which is impossible for his nature as an earth elemental. that and the earth elementals are butchering the random tribes living underground which is also against his nature leads me to believe he is being possessed by the mask which should only be possible if the mask has sentience. so in conclusion I guess that the mask has a spirit latched onto it and it should be at least demon overlord at weakest to control the earth king." Catherine shows no real surprise and just hums.

"Sounds about right, it should be Glorfindel who went missing with the mask. my nirvana flames would dissipate him in one go since it's super effective in situations like this." she nuzzles into me once more and we sit quietly as I wonder if I should head to her capital with her. once I am there once I can always teleport back and then I can just teleport us to the mines and then back after she helps me secure the artifact. "So Shea huh?"

"Shea indeed, I quite literally crash landed into her dark moon and have been working around the area and partnered with her since. she is a devil like us and I plan to help her get the throne since I know she will take the threat of Abyss seriously. and I also now want to steal their lucifer sword since I am made aware that I can wield the thing." she laughs before sitting up on her elbows and holding my gaze hostage with her beautiful eyes.

"Hmmm, so you are also married to her huh?" not sure where this is heading but somewhat worried.

"Kind of but not really since we haven't confirmed anything but I mean as you said souls attached and all that." she smiles and I feel I dodged a bullet.

"Any others?" and another bullet is shot.

"Yea and a few more soonish if things play out." she nods keeping her smile but I am aware she is waiting for more information. "There is Athena who is the daughter of the general of the fallen angel empire. there is Isabella Belphegor who is into all kinds of things and is trying to kill the secret organization that is responsible for the death of her father and brother. Kia is a succubus who is technically the daughter of the leader of Beelzebub but she didn't come out as a royal family member, also she isn't reincarnated yet since I need to break the soul shackles on her and her mom. a few more but no progress yet but I will introduce you if you are interested at a later date if something comes of it." she rolls her eyes and drops back down on my chest.

"I expected it when you said your kind are a lot like demons and it was confirmed when you said that you are also a being of sin so it's not that big of a deal. just don't collect girls for the sake of collecting girls and I won't complain." I agree since I don't plan on picking up random girls or I would have done something with the girls I hired since most are very beautiful. "also I expect you to publicly marry me first, that's not negotiable I am the biggest public figure with Shea being a close second since Isabella is more into backroom deals." I sweat a little imagining having to explain that to Athena, but then again she said publicly and not privately and the devil is in the details.

"Alright." I smile and give away nothing before my eye catches the battle puppets and I get reminded of my earlier thoughts before we got off topic. "hey babe you wouldn't happen to recognize this?" I pull out the Immortal Dark Gold War Puppet which is debatably more useful for an Asmodeus than even their shadow cloak.

"What did you call m-." she turns her head and spots the puppet in my hand as I hold it up for her to see. "Nova, where did you get that?" she grabs it and pulls it close as she observes it and all its patterns.

"A slime had it in the woods when I went for a walk." she looks at me incredulously, which soon turns to a look of disappointment when she realizes I am not joking.

"I mean a slime of all things? how did it even get it and better yet how did no one find it till you?" I can't help but feel a certain kind of way watching her act like this and it feels good knowing no one else has likely ever seen her this way. she channels demonic energy into it and it takes a surprising amount before she tosses it on the other side of the tent and it rapidly grows into a giant. it grows so big it begins to push the tent up as it rises and finally rips a hole through it with its head sticking out and body still inside.

"He is a big boy." we watch as it shifts and changes to look similar to the others and its wings rip holes into the tent showing some clouds through the gaps.

"He is a massive boy." she agrees as it finishes it changes from the demonic energy. "I think I might be able to even control more gold puppets after my reincarnation, if I made a guess it should be six gold and the one immortal puppet." that is good news, with four gold she was able to one versus three some enemy demon overlords and beat there face in.

"Does your fire feel any different?" she holds up her hand and the flames of rebirth appear and she shakes her head. I pull out my trusty dagger and hold its point toward her palm and understanding me she decides to grab it from my hand and cut herself without my interference. her blood doesn't even have time to come out before the wound seals in a quick burst of flame.

"Oh, that was quick. I didn't even manually do anything to assist it and it was that fast." that explains the spelling of her black Phenex trait. all that's left is Starsend Moment but how do I explain it to her? the ability was engraved into my mind, but she hasn't said anything about it, and neither Izzy nor Shea was gifted with knowledge so I assume Catherine wasn't either.

"Feel anything else new after the reincarnation? when I integrated the cloak and gained these ears I am confident I was given a new ability." she shakes her head but looks expectant with a bright smile. "I think it has something to do with probability and luck, devils usually have intuitive knowledge about their inborn abilities. just try to feel something out and if I figure out mine I will let you know."

"Ok, did something like that happen with the other reincarnated devils that were once demons?" I nod and she adjusts herself finding a comfy position. " well, either way, I will figure it out so not a big deal, we should probably get ready to leave since there are quite a lot of things I need to start planning for. I need to head back to town Leia and regroup with Delia and head back and try to deal with Broc, he has been a problem for a while and would be even more so once I start trying to gear up and ready for a potential invasion for Abyss. he would use it as a means to cause trouble and even instigate a war to try to seize power." that sounds like something he would do but I also need to tell her about blood fall and that I can teleport her to town Leia.

"He is likely a part of blood fall the secret organization that Isabella works for ' against ' her will. she has been planning to kill a few people in it for a long time to avenge her family and will likely be a help in removing it from shadow empire if you let her have those specific people to vent on." she wiggles from my grasp and sits on the edge of the bed, after thinking for a bit she stands up and pulls some clothes from her ring.

"Blood fall huh? it would make sense and I wouldn't put it past a few of the fallen royal families that have lost their empires to have allied to deal with the current royals in power." she slides on some underwear and I am reminded of how lacking it is in this world and plan to open up a lingerie line with Kia's help. still, she makes it look good as she waves her hand and the puppets shrink and disappear into her storage device. she turns around and notices me checking out her ass and snorts before finishing getting dressed. "I wouldn't mind meeting Isabella to discuss her aid in helping with removing an organization I was previously unaware of, I had a guess they might be up to it but didn't think they could put aside their pride to aid one another but it also makes sense if I begin to connect some previous events." I stand up and am about to put on a new outfit when I remember I am currently reeking of sex and need to clean up. I walk over to Catherine and smell her and find she is clean. she giggles and places a hand on my chest and I feel demonic energy wash over me and am surprised she found a way to use it like that so fast.

"You have been a devil for like an hour and can use your energy to clean things already?" I could as well with a spell I have had forever but still, she used it in its raw form without a circle to guide its purpose and did it.

"Yea I used to be able to use my spirit power to clean in situations where a quick clean was necessary but when I tried to do it by instinct just now my demonic energy did it the same way." huh so like muscle memory but it also probably worked because she imagined it to or just desired it to. she might figure out Starsend Moment before I even have a chance to explain it to her. I wanted to wait a reasonable amount of time before telling her but she might just do it on her own.

"Alright well let me throw on some clothes and I can teleport us to town Leia." I quickly throw on some clothes and once dressed step out of the tent and feel my newly changed ears as she packs the tent back in her ring.

"How long till you can set up a teleportation circle like you talked about." she walks over to me after having grabbed all her things in the area. I close the distance between us and wrap an arm around her waist as she looks at me in confusion.

"This fast." I teleport us into the valley where the illusion of the fruit tree is and she looks around before giving me an unamused look.

"You could teleport us away whenever you wanted that whole time." I nod and she sighs before pushing me away with a glare but I can tell it's more playful than actually being angry. she looks at the fruit tree before waving some flames at it causing it to dissipate and shakes her head with a sigh. "It is almost like you were just covering your ass when you bargained to use those fruits you had, what if I had pressed on to secure the Pomegs and didn't agree?" she turns back to look at me and I shrug as I pull out a Pomeg from my inventory.

"Beg for leniency? I don't know I probably would teleport whenever I saw a chance, to be honest." she grabs the fruit before smelling it and handing it back.

"Smart but also really stupid, did you plan the whole encounter? since you fought Broc you could have killed everyone in this town let alone get injured and teleport away with the dark will." she tosses the dark will and I reequip it since it's a pretty sick ring if I am honest.

"A little bit didn't know it was you per say but had an idea someone important was coming to get the fruit since I rob all the mayor's many wives to hire in my stores and they told me some info. I wanted to try to make a friend in your empire to slowly try to get the deal of peace till Abyss is gone and thought this was a good chance." she walks over and wraps her arms behind my head and briefly kisses me before pulling away and wraps herself in a veil once more hiding her identity.

"Well it wasn't the worst plan and it worked out for you since you snagged the empress as a wife. you went for a small fish and managed to pull in the biggest, not sure if I should be angry at myself or admire your ability." we begin to head toward the town as we talk about why I stole a man's harem to work in my shops and she asks to try a few of the items I sell.