Badge in Azure

Saleen was curious to know how the devil controlled his army. Although the demon dimension also had language and words and even cities, generally it was still desolated and uncivilized. Since they possessed so much power, demons had no interest in building fanciful cities. In the demon dimension, creatures that possessed the demon bloodline always ruled.

Supreme demons, demons, imps, demonic spirits; these demon bloodlines would always have an overwhelming advantage over magic bugs and beasts.

Since they were so strong and powerful, there was no need for fortresses. Armies did exist in the demon dimension, which made Saleen wonder what they were for. Mages did not have much records on this.

“My Lord…,” Erbai was very careful. Although he had signed a soul bond with Saleen, he still called him ‘Lord’ rather than ‘Master’. He learned this from the four demons. Nailisi was the only one who could call him ‘Master’. If he said ‘Master’ as well, that would be directly challenging Nailisi.

“I am the only one who can call him ‘Master’!” This was what Nailisi once said. She only had to say it once for the demons and demonic spirit to remember it by heart. Nailisi could be extremely vicious and that was something Erbai never doubted. If he were to vie with Nailisi for Saleen’s favor, no bonds in this world would be able to save his life.

“My Lord, the Myers Mainland dimension is rather stable, but in comparison, the demon dimension is not. There are many unstable passageways between other dimensions and the demon dimension. Although these passageways do not usually appear for very long, it is long enough for big armies of more than one-hundred-thousand from other dimensions to pass through.”

“I see!”

“So, after every supreme demon advances into a devil, they will build a big city to secure the dimension’s passageway. Battling with creatures from other dimensions is actually a good way to reduce the number of demons.” There was no tinge of sorrow when Erbai said these. For the past one-hundred-thousand years, things had always been this way for the demons.

For a demonic spirit like him, the average lifespan was about one-hundred years. If there were no wars, he could easily live to three-hundred or five-hundred years old.

“A devil’s ability is equivalent to that of a human golden grand swordmaster, or even stronger. Advancing into a devil will also allow it to use some false god techniques or cast some spells. Even if they were of the same grade, a human would not be a devil’s match. They will stand a chance only if there are four to five of them against one devil. One devil can control twelve supreme demons as his generals. These twelve supreme demons are all grade-9 and have signed life bonds with the devil. Even if the devil was to lose its powers or even if it was on the brink of death, the supreme demon generals still will not betray it.”

“Life bond?!” Saleen felt incredulous. Life bonds were not as effective as slave bonds and there might even be some loopholes.

“Once a life bond is signed, the supreme demon will have a chance to advance into a devil.”

“You haven’t told me how a devil controls his army.”

“The devil’s city will contain a population of about a million. All the inhabitants possess fighting abilities. The devil’s twelve generals will control twelve demon armies and each army consist of thirty-six-thousand soldiers. Every army is like a gigantic family.”

“Family?”

“Yes. Under the devil’s rule will be twelve armies so that is equivalent to twelve families. In the devil’s city, the children of the demons do not meet with any accidents unless they are on the battlefield. High-ranking officers in the army are all as strong as Cuisi. Once the supreme demons have had their fill, they can go about a month without eating again. The demon armies usually have an easy time in terms of logistics. We don’t have many soldiers in support roles, at most we make the imps and demonic spirits do it…”

“I understand.” Saleen thought to himself, “This is no different from how humans always ask their slaves to do the most dangerous things in a battle.”

“If there is an outcome to the battle between devils, then it will stop there and then. If it is an invasion by other dimensions, the mages among the demons will order countless magic bugs into battle.”

Saleen was a little disappointed upon hearing this. So, it turned out that the demon armies were maintained through blood ties. This was the same in human armies too. Many of the private armies of noble families were actually part of an extensive family tree as well. These soldiers were treated well and were also very loyal. Saleen did not have so many relatives, and even if he did, he had no intentions of acknowledging them.

When he was still very young, those people took away all the family fortune that was left behind by his parents for him. To Sikenqinyans, blood ties were not always reliable. This demonic spirit definitely had his own ulterior motives for voluntarily signing a soul bond with Saleen.

Saleen started, “Didn’t you say that you know the secrets of the devils?”

“Oh, so this fellow knows the secrets of the devils! Master, I am curious to know too. Please ask him to tell us quickly.” No one knew when Nailisi entered the barrack. The demonic spirit’s back was facing the entrance so he had no clue at all. Nailisi’s voice was not loud, yet Erbai was already trembling.

“Hmm, you have already signed the bond. Just speak quietly.” Saleen frowned. The demonic spirit put on a display of immense fear towards Nailisi in front of him. He must have intentions other than pure fear.

“Master, Lex is worried so she asked her grand swordmaster to keep guard for the night. I might as well take a break.” Nailisi grinned and bypassed the demonic spirit to sit beside Saleen’s bed.

Erbai was flustered and dared not look at Nailisi. He only spoke with his head down, “I wonder what my Lord would like to hear?”

“How would I know what secrets the devils may have that they doesn’t want anyone revealing? Whichever you think it is, just say it.” Saleen squinted. He was not pleased with how the demonic spirit had performed so far. “Still thinking of how to drive a wedge in the relationship between Nailisi and I? Although it is very discreet, I already have a relationship with him that is based on the soul bond. There is no way he can hide those changes in his emotions from me.”

The demonic spirit bore hatred towards Nailisi. There was fear too, but not as much as he had acted it out to be. Saleen and Nailisi had already been bound by the soul bond for many years so his senses towards the soul were very sharp. If it was another mage that had just learned about soul bonds, he might not have been able to grasp it as deeply.

The demonic spirit suddenly understood. He could sense the anger in Saleen’s heart and knew that he had gone overboard with his acting. He knew that Saleen was not pleased with him now. If he could sense Saleen’s emotion, naturally Saleen could also do the same.

“I know some of the devil’s weaknesses, plans, and their tendencies in battle and formations…”

“Plans? What plans?”

“The devils are seeking a stable dimension such as the Myers Mainland dimension. They are looking for teleportation portals of at least thirty-thousand years old and have already found a few. They are trying to repair them.” The demonic spirit rambled on whatever came to mind. Whatever Saleen wanted to know, just let him ask. He dared not keep Saleen in suspense anymore.

“Oh? I am not interested in those,” Saleen replied indifferently. It would be extremely difficult for the devils to come to the Myers Mainland dimension alone, what more the multiple armies of demons. Even if they did make it to the Mainland dimension, they still had to go up against a strong opponent, the Holy See.

To build large-scale dimensional teleportation portals that could reach the Myers Mainland would probably require tens of years of preparation. Nailisi was already close to the level of a supreme demon, yet she could only summon four demons. The amount of energy required for a dimensional teleportation portal would be unimaginable and even a devil would have a hard time sustaining it. After spending so much effort teleporting his troops over, they would probably face the onslaught of the Holy See immediately. The Holy See would never be caught unaware by their advances.

The body of a supreme demon was a treasure chest by itself. Kill a supreme demon and one would be able to help himself to the many materials that were of very high grade.

“Master, I think this fellow is spouting nonsense and is trying to deceive you. Let me question him for you.”

Upon hearing Nailisi’s threat, Erbai’s hair all stood on end. He immediately shouted, “My Lord, I know the devils’ secret. They killed a God!”

“Killed a God? Humph, still trying to lie to Master!” Nailisi growled.

“Its true! All eighteen devils in the demon dimension were involved and they have even created a God’s skin war drum out of it and armed millions of demons!” Erbai had no choice and hurriedly revealed everything he knew.

“A God’s skin war drum?!” Saleen had been studying theology recently and countless anecdotes had mentioned about the uniqueness of this God’s skin war drum, which left him with a deep impression. If the devils had created God’s skin war drum, then they really must have killed a god.

“Say no more!” Nailisi stared at Erbai viciously while facing Saleen and pointed towards the outside. Saleen knew that Nailisi just did not want Lex to hear about what Erbai had just said about the demon dimension.

During the war between humans and Gods, humans also refined a God’s skin war drum. Countless creatures from various dimensions obeyed the beat of the drum, attacking and retreating as one. That was how humans managed to successfully fight their way into several kingdoms of God plundered those unlucky Gods.

Compared to the God’s skin war drum, war puppets were like child’s play. Even the metal titan was probably only worth one ten-thousand of a God’s skin war drum.

If the devils of the demon dimension had really refined such a thing, then the Myers Mainland was in deep trouble. If one were to take the God’s skin war drum for oneself, it would be like possessing the strength of a demi god and one would be able to increase the fighting abilities of every soldier multiple times.

Tens of thousands of years ago, humans had a large group of grade-10 sorcerers. Combine that with a God’s skin war drum and the total power was terrifying. “Although the Holy See is certainly powerful, if I can get my hands on the God’s skin war drum, there is no way I can be defeated. The Lord of Glory will not be able to descend onto this dimension.”

“Master, this matter… we should discuss it with Teacher when we get back.” Nailisi was calmer than Saleen and he was shocked. “That’s right. Why am I already thinking about the power of the God’s skin war drum? It is still in the demon dimension. Even if a devil brought it along, am I even a match for him?”

That would be a strong foe that has surpassed grade-9 and was equivalent to Joey’s standard. Even if it was slightly weaker, it would still be much stronger than an ordinary grade-9 sorcerer.

“A golden grand swordmaster that knew magic and could cast divine spells? Damn, I am too greedy.”

“You idiot…”

“Nailisi, my Lord, my name is Erbai.” The demonic spirit knelt in front of Nailisi, with his head on the ground.

“Whatever you have spoken to Master today, if you tell anyone else about it, I will kill you. I don’t care if it was you or someone else who leaked it out. Do you understand?” Nailisi was no longer as cool she was earlier, but every word was firm.