Joseph was trying very hard not to stare at the skimpily dressed woman who had popped out of nowhere with Jacob in tow. It had taken them a bit to gather everyone after finding the Alchemical Garden, but Jacob needed every team leader in order to pass new orders to them.

“So, that should be the last team,” Jacob said while his Aunt Linda came out of a clearing with her little cult right behind her.

“We have found the Alchemical Garden. Now, it will take time to move it to St. Peter. There is a lot of work that only this woman and I can do.

“Who’s that?” aunt Linda looked with suspicion toward Epagogia.

“Auntie, this is…”

What happened next caused a general panic.

Epagogia dropped the camouflage and appeared in all her devilish beauty and height.

“I, you must be Linda, right? Jacob has told me so many things about you! I am Epagogia, his girlfriend!”

Multiple people got Spells ready and unsheathed their weapons.

“Holy sh*t, couldn’t you wait for a second?”

“That wouldn’t have been as much fun as this is,” Epagogia pointed her clawed fingers toward the crowd of armed men and women.

“Is this a Demonic Cultivator?” his aunt scowled.

“A what?” Epagogia laughed, “you mean people who kill other people to cultivate or need a sacrifice?”

“No, Aunt Linda, she’s a Devil. But she’s not evil.”

“One letter, huge difference,” Epagogia remarked, amused.

“Why is she saying she’s your girlfriend?” his aunt asked.

“Is this the first question you ask when you know a Devil is in front of you?” Jacob was desperate for someone with some sense in them.

Joseph approached the group cautiously.

“Jake, why are you with a Devil?”

“I kind of know her. Listen, people. It’s a long story, but Epagogia is on our side. She will help me apprehend the criminals at Blacksoil. With her, this whole town-by-town recruitment will be a breeze. Anyway, she’s on our side, and she’s currently the strongest person we know the existence of; so, unless someone wants to die, please do not attack her.”

Geneva perked up hearing that and immediately walked closer to the Devil.

“How strong are you?” the halberd-wielding woman asked to the purplish woman. “Can you use those horns in battle?”

“It is very unusual to use horns like mine in battle, dear,” Epagogia explained to the gutsy female human in front of her, “it’s like headbutting someone with that thick skull of yours. And, to answer the first question, right now, I am at the peak of the Mantis realm. So I need someone to help me make a Pill – or Pasta, apparently – to advance to the Oriole realm.”

Someone whistled.

That someone, as expected, was Marcus.

“Woah, there, horned-lady. Are you like a secret experiment from the government? I bet you worked with Jacob on this whole conspiracy,” Marcus exclaimed.

“Whatever you say,” Epagogia smiled so brightly toward the man that Marcus blushed a little and didn’t ask any further questions.

“Jacob, why is this Devil saying she’s your girlfriend?” Aunt Linda did not relent.

“Because I am, auntie!” Epagogia jumped toward aunt Linda. The two figures side by side were comical; Epagogia had something like forty good centimeters over Linda.

Jacob filtered out the bickering that started right after and focused on making plans for the future in his head. He gestured toward Marcus and Lucius.

“You two need to go toward Woodsea. Make sure that everything is okay around that zone. Tell Geneva and Marina to go over Fort Oak, instead. They will need to make sure the road to St. Peter is secure. We will bring the people from Blacksoil to Fort Oak first; we’ll bring them in different waves.”

“Good,” Lucius nodded, and Marcus followed his partner along, hoping that he had actually got what they had to do.

Joseph and Aunt Linda will stay in the Black Forest to guard the Alchemical Garden and get some experience with the people fighting with them.

Jacob’s chessboard had finally started filling up nicely with enough pieces to make different moves together. Once St. Peter was up and running with all the basic professions and warriors they needed, they could finally start going after some real problems.

Now that Epagogia is with me, we might be able to reclaim L’Aquila in a matter of months.

Juliet and Helena were strong. But there was no substitute for the real deal; Epagogia had fought alongside Jacob for much, much longer than the two girls had. And she could take care of herself, even better than Jacob in certain situations.

He went over to interrupt whatever nonsense Epagogia had been feeding to Aunt Linda and tell them what they would do next.

“Jacob! Epagogia is quite lovely. I didn’t imagine you two had so much in common. And she told me you already have plans or children? I mean, that is a bit premature. And triplets? Is there a way to ensure that? But I mean, your future Sect would definitely have quite the hereditary bloodline!”

Jacob stared blankly ahead.

…

“I can’t believe you managed to convince my aunt to like you in less than a couple of minutes,” Jacob groaned while they were jogging toward Blacksoil.

“Linda’s quite the character! I don’t know what’s going on with her, though. She got suddenly very weird with me and asked if we were using some sort of ‘Dual’ Cultivation. She was very embarrassed to speak about such a practice, from what I could observe and what her body language told me. Have you ever heard the term?”

“No. But it does sound sexual,” Jacob sighed.

“Maybe we should try this ‘Dual’ Cultivation, then!”

Juliet, right behind them with the rest of her team, wanted to perforate her own eardrums.