Rise of The Demon General

Chapter 671: Chapter 671. Unsanctioned Operation

After the battle with the Kazhan Royal Army ended, Amon confiscated all the surrendered Kazhan Soldiers of the Human Realm. They were to be added to his retinue of human puppets. He didn’t lose many human puppets in the battle. The enemy was massively disadvantaged, and he didn’t attach the bomb backpacks. More than thirty thousand human puppets survived the battle.

With the new addition from the prisoners of war, their number increased. Amon still possessed many unused receiver modules that he had confiscated from Zee Whang’s warehouses. What he lacked was the subjects to be enslaved. The number of his human puppets now rose to nearly sixty thousand.

One benefit of enslaving a human puppet with a tamed beast was that the beast also joined. The Mental Regulator couldn’t command the tamed beast, but the beast remained loyal and stayed by the human puppet’s side. Hence, it was the same as they were part of the puppet army.

Not all the surrendered prisoners still possessed living tamed beasts after the battle, but at least half of them did. So, these spirit beasts also bolstered the Amon’s human puppet army.

The rest of Kazhan’s soldiers of the Martial Realm were imprisoned. Amon left them to Kazhan’s old tribes to decide their fate. Xan Chi took two people out of those prisoners. These two were the ex-slaves who had defamed and harmed his father.

He also reclaimed the old mansion where his tribe used to reside in the capital. That mansion had been taken by the ex-slaves to house their families. When Xan Chi reclaimed the house, he also detained the family living there. This family and the two ex-slaves he captured would be his personal plaything.

Xan Chi could make all these demands because he had been promoted to be the Grand Chief of the conclave for the next five years. As Amon promised, he announced that the Xan tribe gained the best scores during the battle. It wasn’t hard to convince the others because Xan Chi did slay Shou Zou’s second-in-command, the woman warrior, Xiong Jie.

The Fen Tribe was also a member of the conclave for being among the top ten with the highest scores.

As for the First Demon Army, they lost only two thousand soldiers. They were all veterans, and they mostly stayed near the wall. They let the Yuanxu Cannons and the riflemen do most of the dirty work.

The major loss Amon suffered was in the Royal Puppet Army. He lost nearly thirty thousand battle puppets, and many of the surviving ones needed extensive repairs. Among the lost battle puppets were also the special giant puppets. Even the centipede puppet was now only half its original length.

Most of the loss of these battle puppets was due to Zhou Dou. Amon didn’t think it could be helped. To secure a victory against a Lord Stage cultivator, he was prepared to sacrifice more. To lose only these few, he already considered it a good result.

After the new conclave was formed, the change in government was announced throughout Kazhan. Many tribes welcomed this change, but many also didn’t. Those who opposed were those who had already adopted the teachings of the Temple of Divinity. These people conducted secret meetings and contacted officials from Shou Zou’s regime.

When Amon brought up the topic that these people might rebel during the conclave meeting, the tribe chiefs didn’t show concern.

”Let them come!” Xan Chi exclaimed. The others echoed his sentiment. These old tribes worshipped the old ways. They revelled in warfare. They preferred a resistance to a peaceful ruling. Resistance meant enemies to vanquish, which meant a new source of slaves to be owned and traded.

Amon also brought up his demand for tributes during the conclave meeting. As promised, Xan Chi agreed to his demand. The other conclave members didn’t object. It was more because they didn’t dare to oppose rather than being willing. They had seen Amon defeat Shou Zou, an existence they all feared. Denying Amon’s demand would be digging their own graves.

They knew that the main reason Amon managed to win against Shou Zou was the Earth Elemental. They didn’t know if Amon still had control of that spirit beast. The Earth Elemental was still by Amon’s side when the battle ended, and they were not clear of the mechanism when a spirit beast was summoned using a talisman. Such a talisman had never existed before, nor was it recorded in history.

Only Amon knew the truth about the Earth Elemental, which had vanished several hours after the battle ended. Amon intentionally went away before that happened, so that no one knew. Even when Xan Chi and Fen Nu asked him about the Earth Elemental, he didn’t give them answers.

Without knowing for sure, these tribe chiefs would always see the shadow of the Earth Elemental behind Amon.

Nevertheless, they also knew that Amon possessed the Alpha and Beta Puppets, which were currently under repair by Ji Zhi. So, they already knew for sure that Amon was not someone they could offend.

Hence, they went along without a fuss, even when Amon demanded that the first tribute be handed over one day after the Kazhan Royal Army was defeated. The conclave forcefully drafted the required levies from the civilians and sorted out the ones that fulfilled Amon’s standards. For the aer stones, they gave Amon a portion of the wealth they had stolen from the castle’s treasury. As for the captured beasts for taming, they confiscated the spirit beasts from the local markets.

Amon reminded them that such a heavy-handed method would draw the ire of the public. They seemed not to care. Amon didn’t criticise them. They could rule this country however they liked, but he still reminded them that he would not forgive late deliveries on future tributes, whatever the reason.

After receiving the new injection of troops, the First Demon Army’s troop size increased to thirty-three thousand soldiers. This number did not yet include the tamed beasts.

While the infusion of new blood was encouraging, an incident caused the First Demon Army to lose some troops.

Amon was meeting with his four legion commanders, Xin Wuming, Yong Baili, Xu Bao, and Zue Du, who replaced Wu Di after he left. It was Yong Baili and Xu Bao who requested this meeting.

”General,” Xu Bao began. ”We have received alarming news that our army has been defying the king’s command for quite some time. I demand an explanation.”

”Xu Bao, you are out of line!” Xin Wuming scolded. ”Need I remind you that you are talking to our main commander?”

”Forgive me,” Xu Bao responded with a respectful salute. ”General Amon will always be someone I respect. I, however, am a soldier of Echos. My absolute loyalty is to Echos Kingdom. If we are not acting under Echos’ authority, I am afraid I can’t continue to accompany this army.”

”This news,” Amon asked. ”Where did you hear it from?”

”... Prime Minister Huang Er,” Xu Bao answered.

”General Amon,” Yong Baili joined in. ”I have the same sentiment as Xu Bao. Fighting under your command has been a miraculous experience. I am honoured to be part of your army, but I am both an Echos’ citizen and its sworn official. I can’t act against the will of the rightful Echos King. Most Echos Soldiers in our army feel the same.”

”I see, so the news has spread to the soldiers as well?” Amon asked.

”This is mutiny! How could you let such news spread?” Xin Wuming admonished.

”Because it is an order directly from the king,” Xu Bao returned. ”We are ordered to leave the First Demon Army immediately. It is out of respect that we came to ask for clarification.”

”Mm... Very well. I guess I have no choice but to tell you the truth,” Amon said.

”The truth?” Xu Bao and Yong Baili raised their eyebrows.

”The truth is that what I did, I did it for the sake of the world, even if that means going against the king’s will.”

”General, I don’t understand,” Xu Bao said.

”Let me tell you a secret I have learned along our campaign,” Amon said. He narrated the prophecy regarding the calamity and the suspicion that pointed at the Temple of Divinity as the culprit. He told them that the other countries had waged war with the final goal of defeating the Temple of Divinity and preventing the calamity. He also showed them the image contained within the memory stone.

Xu Bao and Yong Baili were silent throughout the account. As for Xin Wuming and Zue Du, they already knew.

After Amon finished, he said, ”After I came upon this information, I have notified the King. Yet, I was commanded to stay put. I was torn between my loyalty to the crown and my responsibility to the world. In the end, I chose the world. I will ask the King’s forgiveness once I carry out my duty in saving the world.”

”If the king doesn’t wish to act even when the world is in danger, then he doesn’t have the right to be king!” Xin Wuming exclaimed. ”General, I am with you all the way!”

Zue Du shrugged. ”I am never loyal to Echos to begin with, so I am fine either way.”

Amon was quiet. He waited for Xu Bao and Yong Baili to announce their decision.