Rise of The Demon General
Chapter 263. Pledge Demon

Chapter 263: Chapter 263. Pledge Demon

"No! Stay away! Stay away...!!!" The innkeeper screamed hysterically.

The apparition didn’t conform to his demand. It didn’t even appear to understand the request. It hovered over the innkeeper shivering on the ground.

"No...! NOOO...!!!"

The innkeeper finally pushed himself off the ground to run away, but he didn’t get far. The apparition’s long hair, which seemed to flow softly in the air, suddenly lashed out. The hair caught the innkeeper and wrapped around his body. With his body bound, the innkeeper fell to the ground again.

The apparition floated slowly toward the incapacitated innkeeper, who still shouted at the top of his lungs. His voice turned hoarse when he was at a grabbing distance from the apparition.

The apparition’s arms shot out with great speed. They grabbed the innkeeper’s four limbs. Without a pause, it pulled. A terrible shredding sound was heard as the arms and legs of the innkeeper were torn apart.

"AHHH...!!!" The innkeeper’s scream turned a notch higher despite the sign that his throat had hurt from the constant screaming.

The screaming was muffled when one of the apparition’s large hands grabbed his face. The other three hands grabbed multiple parts of his torso. Those arms pulled again. The innkeeper’s remaining body split into another four parts. No more screaming was heard.

The apparition turned back into a shadow before merging with the darkness of the night. It was gone. The only trace of its existence was the mutilated body of the innkeeper.

Xin Lie and Li Jing watched the entire proceeding not far from there. They didn’t move a muscle. The apparition also ignored them.

"Hm...? Who?!" Xin Lie’s arm shot up. The energy from her arm traveled through the air and smashed into the inn’s roof. Someone jumped down from the roof and landed near them.

"You...!" Li Jing uttered when she saw the person.

"What is that thing just now? You two seemed to know about it," Amon asked.

"You have excellent concealing art. How long have you been there?" Xin Lie asked. She only found out about Amon when she focused her senses on her surroundings to trace the direction in which the apparition was heading.

Amon also concentrated on pushing his Concealed Ghost Body to the max. He suspected Xin Lie was a demon cultivator equivalent to a Spirit Stage divine cultivator. Hence, he hid the maximum distance away from the two where he could still hear them.

"Long enough," Amon answered.

"Then you saw me use my art!" Li Jing exclaimed. Two small drum-like weapons appeared in her hands.

When she was about to attack, a dark aura enveloped Amon’s body.

"De... Demon energy?" Li Jing’s movement halted.

The dark aura quickly vanished. "We are the same," Amon said.

"Impossible... Do you use a concealment tool as well to alter your demon energy," Li Jing asked.

"No, his divine energy is genuine," Xin Lie said. "How can you have both the divine and demon energy?"

"That is my secret," Amon answered. The truth was, he couldn’t explain even if he wanted to. "The point is, we both have the same secret. You don’t need to worry about me telling others."

"What about that companion of yours?" Xin Lie asked.

"She doesn’t know," Amon answered.

"You know you have to kill her if she knows, don’t you?" Li Jing asked.

"I know," Amon replied. "My turn for questions now. What is that thing just now?"

Xin Lie and Li Jing looked at one another. Li Jing then said, "We have no obligation to tell you."

"If you don’t, I will inform the kingdom of your true identities," Amon threatened.

"Bastard! Didn’t you say just now you don’t need to worry about you telling on us?" Li Jing cursed.

Amon shrugged. "That is if you are being nice. You are not."

"Then we report you as well!" Li Jing threatened back.

"Try it. As Xin Lie said, my divine energy is genuine. So long as I don’t use my demon energy, there is no proof. I can feign innocence. Do you think the kingdom will believe the words of two demons over a Royal Academy student?"

"Very well. Let’s head into our room. We will tell you about that thing just now," Xin Lie said.

"Sis, are you sure?" Li Jing asked.

"Come on," Xin Lie told Amon without answering Li Jing.

The three went to Xin Lie and Li Jing’s room. Inside, Xin Lie and Li Jing sat around the only table while Amon stood next to the exit door.

"Speak," Amon said.

"Don’t act like you are our superior!" Li Jing hissed.

Amon didn’t respond to Li Jing. His eyes were on Xin Lie.

Xin Lie chuckled. She said, "That apparition you saw just now is called a Pledge Demon."

"A Pledge Demon...?" Amon muttered.

"We are actually in this plane for that thing. We have been hunting it for a very long time. So frustrating that all our effort has been in vain." Xin Lie let out a very long sigh after saying that.

"What do you mean in vain? You hunted it. You found it. Isn’t that mission successful?" Amon asked.

"Our mission is successful if the Pledge Demon is still contained within its vessel. Now that it is released, it is useless to us."

"How so?" Amon asked.

"Pledge Demons were created by a demon cultivator in the ancient era using a forgotten technique..."

"Sis, should you be telling him that?" Li Jing interrupted Xin Lie.

"That pledge demon is probably the last one in existence. It is pointless even if he knows about it," Xin Lie replied. She then resumed, "The pledge demons can be considered one-time-use artifacts. Once they are unleashed, they bond with the masters who release them. The past owners of the pledge demons used the demons to bind their subjects into guaranteed compliance. If they reneged on the pledge, the Pledge Demon will come for them and claim their lives."

"A very effective tool to ensure obedience...," Amon muttered.

"That is why we want it," Xin Lie said. "But the container sealing the pledge demon can only be used once. We can’t re-seal the demon, so it is useless to us now."

"When that pledge demon attacked the innkeeper, I assume it was because he broke his pledge to the pledge demon’s master," Amon speculated.

"That should be the case, or the pledge demon’s master ordered it to go after the innkeeper," Xin Lie said. "The former is more likely. Li Jing’s art must have caused him to do something that breaks his vow to the pledge demon’s master."

"The innkeeper and most of the villagers here must be under the pledge demon’s influence," Amon said. "That’s why everyone here is so unwilling to share information. They must have been under a pledge to keep silent. Your art makes him say something that he shouldn’t say. That’s why the Pledge Demon came for him."

"I agree," Xin Lie said.

"How do I stop this pledge demon? How strong is it?" Amon asked.

"The pledge demon’s strength is linked to its master. Its power reflects the master’s cultivation level. Considering this small village, the pledge demon shouldn’t be that strong. However, it has unconventional abilities that can trouble most average cultivators, even if those cultivators have higher cultivation levels. Also, it can’t be killed."

"Can’t be killed?" Amon asked.

"Its life is linked to the master. As long as the master is alive, the pledge demon can’t die. You must find the master of the Pledge Demon if you want to stop it."

"Killing the master will kill the pledge demon?" Amon asked.

Xin Lie nodded. "But be warned, the pledge demon will fight fiercely to protect its master."

"With your help, it should be no problem."

Xin Lie laughed. "Our business here is done. If there is no pledge demon, there is no need for us to stay. You don’t need to threaten us by saying you will expose our identities. We are returning to the demon realm, or the lower world, as the people of this realm like to call it. So, it doesn’t make a difference."

Li Jing turned to Xin Lie with a frown. ’Then why submit to his request for information?’ She thought.

"Very well then," Amon said. "I will settle this myself. From what the innkeeper said and the information I learned earlier, I can assume the pledge demon’s master is a woman named Yon Niang."

"If that’s what you want to do, I suggest you wait until the morning. The Pledge Demon is more powerful at night," Xin Lie suggested. "I wish you luck. We may not meet again."

"Before that, I have a request," Amon said.

"What request?" Xin Lie asked.

"Can you give me a cultivation art for a demon cultivator?"

Xin Lie smiled after hearing the request.

Completing the mission was for academic points. Amon had a secret intention behind this mission. He had always gone on missions that had something to do with demon cultivators. The reason was that he hadn’t been able to find any cultivation art to harness his black energy core. Any art that had to do with infernal cultivation was considered forbidden. If he wanted to find any, he needed to get it from someone who had cultivated demon energy.

Before him were two such cultivators. How could he waste this chance?