Rise of The Demon General

”I was very different then... I was ideal. I believe in goodness,” Mo Wang said. ”After the accident that caused my death on Earth, I transmigrated into this world. I thought I was given a second chance. A second life in a bizarre world filled with magic and monsters. I still believe in goodness even then...”

”What changed?” Amon asked.

Mo Wang shrugged. ”I survive.”

”... Your Lordship said it was the Creator who pulled Your Lordship into this world?”

”I and other transmigrators.”

”Does Your Lordship know why?”

Mo Wang shook his head. ”The Creator never explained his actions. He talked to us when he wished to, but as I said, he stopped doing that a long time ago.”

”Does Your Lordship miss the Creator’s voice?” Amon asked.

Mo Wang laughed. ”If anything, I was relieved.”

”How so?”

Mo Wang was quiet for a few seconds before he answered, ”What do you think of this world?”

”... I like it.”

”I imagine someone like you will.”

”I don’t understand.”

Mo Wang sighed. ”As I said, I used to be idealistic. I believe I was a good and kind person, but this world... It isn’t suitable for a person with such a belief. Say what you want about our old world, but it possesses balance and fairness. True, evil exists in that world. Many bad people thrive there. Nevertheless, everyone has a fair share of chances. At least, it is not as skewed as here.

”For example, no matter how powerful a person was in our past world, it was not to the point of being undefeatable. Even an infamous dictator like you could be killed with a bullet or a knife. That’s because the power in our past world did not lie in individuals. The power was given by other people. In our past world, one became a king or a ruler because others agreed to it. When people stopped accepting the arrangement, they rebelled, and another was chosen to become a new ruler.

”Hence, to keep the power, the ruler must learn to be good to others and share. Perhaps not to everyone, but to certain individuals, those who could help him maintain power. The cruellest tyrant in our old world could be mean to almost everyone, but he couldn’t afford to treat his immediate followers the same way, because those followers would be the ones who kept him safe. There have been plenty of records of tyrants in our past world who forgot this point. They caused their own downfall because they offended the people they shouldn’t have. They were too drunk with their own power that they thought they were untouchable, but they never did. This was how fair our old world was.

”In this world, however, one can become a literal God. One with a high cultivation level can possess individual power that makes him invincible to those with lower cultivation levels. For example, me. With my current power, I can do whatever I want in this lower world. I can make them all my slaves or wipe them all out if I wish to. Someone with this kind of power, do you think he is more likely to be benevolent and rule over others wisely, or give in to his desires and do whatever the fuck he wants?”

Mo Wang paused to let Amon ponder the question. He didn’t expect an answer, though, because he resumed soon after.

”I told you I used to be a good person. I still wish to be one... but living in this world, it fucked you up. To survive, I learned to be selfish because this world rewards you when you do so. You obtain more resources than others, and you push your cultivation to higher stages than others. Once you are ahead, it is unlikely for others to catch up. You can bully and hinder your weaker competitors, stopping them from catching up. They can’t do anything because, as I mentioned, you have become much more powerful than they are.

”Our past world, though there were plenty of evils, I believed its essence gravitated toward goodness, because the populace there needed each other to survive. They were forced to be good to each other out of necessity. If there were a Creator of our past world, I would find it more likely to believe that He is benevolent. This world that centers around cultivation and promotes selfishness, however, can only be created by an evil and vile being.

”You can understand now my sentiment when I said that I was relieved when the Creator of this world stopped communicating with us? I hope that the reason he stopped is that he had either left this world or expired. I dread the thought of an evil entity with untold power watching over us and affecting our lives.”

”.... I’m afraid I must disappoint Your Lordship. The creator had neither left nor expired,” Amon said.

Mo Wang frowned deeply upon hearing it. ”What do you mean?” He asked.

”I know for a fact that he still communicates with a certain individual.”

”A certain individual? What do you mean? Do you know someone who speaks with the Creator?” Mo Wang’s face suddenly showed that he realized something. ”I see... That’s why you are not surprised by his existence. You have known that he existed because you have met someone who received his messages. Who is this person?”

Amon had met two such individuals, but he told Mo Wang only about Xuan Ming. He kept Xlasstazh’s existence a secret. Otherwise, he would have to explain why he was socializing with a Hyanid.

”A mysterious woman in the surface world who received the Creator’s messages as prophecies? Hm... This is worrisome. I might have to give those three down there the instruction to look for this woman during the purge.”

”The purge... I have always wondered about it. Does Your Lordship mind shedding some light on the issue?” Amon asked.

”Well, you are from the surface world, so I understand your interest in the matter. But answer me, if I tell you that the purge is the end for everyone living in the surface world, would you do something to stop it?”

”No. I have no one I care about in Aetheria. I care not if the surface world is burned to the ground,” Amon answered.

”Hm, considering you are the infamous General Amon from our past world, I believe you. You were famous for having no leverage that others could use against you. Very well, I will tell you about the purge. Honestly, I never care about keeping it a secret. It was the upper world that imposed this secrecy.”

”The upper world can dictate what the lower world does?”

Mo Wang paused again. This time, it was involuntary and longer. ”We always answer to someone. It was true in the past world. It was true here. Actually, it was even worse here, because as I have pointed out earlier. The someone we obey might be immortal and too powerful to get rid of, which means our life might as well be an eternity of servitude. That’s how evil and unfair this world is. Nevertheless, we do what we must to survive...”

”... And the purge?” Amon tried getting Mo Wang back to the intended topic.

”Yes... The purge.” Mo Wang chuckled at getting distracted. ”Before I tell you that? I may need to provide you with a context. How do you compare the surface world and this lower world?”

”I hate to say it, but the lower world is evidently more chaotic than the surface world.”

”No, no. I’m not talking about the inhabitants. I’m referring to its aether contents.”

’Why didn’t you make the question more specific then?’ Amon complained in his mind. He answered, ”It is certainly much denser. I can increase my cultivation level much faster and easier here.”

Mo Wang nodded. ”Do you know that, originally, Aetheria only consisted of the surface world? There were no lower world or upper world in the beginning.”

”I have read a historical record that mentioned a deity-class beast sacrificed itself to create this lower world to give the infernal cultivators a safe haven to live.”

Mo Wang laughed lightly. ”What happened wasn’t that noble. This world is created by someone who possessed the law of space, very much like how I created this Big World Ring and that Small World Ring on your neck. Though, of course, with much more complexity. For one, the denizens of this world cannot leave anytime they want. We must use a specific gate point for that.”

”Your Lordship possesses the law of space?” Amon asked.

”Of course. Normal space rings are the only limit a smith can make without understanding the Law of Space,” Mo Wang answered. ”Anyway, this lower world was created by an infernal cultivator before my time who understood such a law. He captured and used the life force of a deity beast to create this world. Millennia later, a divine cultivator who successfully mastered the Law of Space mimicked the same method to create the upper world. However, both the created worlds were empty in the beginning. The people who entered the created worlds toiled to make the worlds the way they were now. Do you understand what I’m getting to here?”

”... That this world’s original aether content wasn’t the way it is now?”

Mo Wang nodded. ”Precisely so, and that’s what the purge is for.”