Rise of The Demon General

”What’s that?” Nao Pei asked. Two days had passed. They were still waiting for someone to pass by, but aside from the occasional passing spirit beasts, they had not seen any humans yet.

”It’s a message talisman,” Amon answered. The secluded village focused only on mind practices, so the villagers were unfamiliar with specialist jobs in the outside world. Nao Zuanyi and the others never bothered to teach them about it. Amon had explained about flesh alterers to Nao Pei and Nao Mei. He now gave them a brief introduction to the other specialist jobs.

While explaining, he read the message from the talisman. It was an update from Du Ji regarding the situation in the lower world. Their formation sage had detected an energy disturbance from the portal that linked to the surface world.

When they checked their spies in the surface world, they received news that aside from building a camp, the inquisitors had also built a strange contraption around the portal. Many people in robes busied themselves around this contraption every day.

They didn’t need to interrogate the enemy to know that the inquisitors were working on a way to breach the portal into the lower world.

Amon used a message talisman, not to reply to Du Ji’s message. His message was instead sent to Mo Wang, asking him to check on the portal. Mo Wang was the only one who understood the Law of Space. He should know what was happening to the portal and perhaps do something to either foil or delay the inquisitors’ plan.

”What does it say?” Nao Pei asked.

”Nothing you need to be concerned about,” Amon answered.

He received another message. This time, from inside his black space ring. It came from a battle puppet equipped with a vocal module.

He looked to the west, where the road stretched on. He announced, ”Attention, everyone. A group is approaching.”

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked in the same direction Amon was gazing at.

”Do they transport a large, wheeled wagon?” Nao Dou asked.

”No,” Amon answered.

”Then they are not the group of a caravan master.”

Nao Dou had explained before that it was called a caravan system because the group transported a large wagon, usually hauled by domesticated spirit beasts. The reason was that in this upper world, anyone outside the Holy Temple is prohibited from possessing a space ring. This was to prevent the public from hiding their possessions.

Even the caravan master was not permitted to have a space ring, despite their need to transport a large quantity of resources. What they were permitted to own was a space wagon. It was large and impossible to hide, but it was engraved with words of power that manipulated the space inside, much like space rings. A standard wagon owned by a caravan master contained a space equal to a large house. It could hold contents slightly more than a superior space ring.

”What apparel do they wear?” Nao Dou asked another question.

”White robes,” Amon answered.

”They are Holy Temple members,” Nao Dou informed. ”I shouldn’t be surprised. It was mostly the caravan master’s group or Holy Temple members that use this road.”

Amon had also known they were Holy Temple members before Nao Dou’s confirmation. He had, after all, seen Mo Wang slaughter them in the surface world.

”We will continue hiding,” Amon declared. ”Our spot is rather far from the road. Still, everyone must stay down and refrain from making a sound.”

”Don’t use your mental power as well,” Nao Dou warned everyone. ”Just in case there is an inquisitor among them.”

”Does the inquisitor wear the same uniform as normal Holy Temple members?” Amon asked. He never saw an inquisitor because he had left for the upper world before Zheng Chun and his inquisitors came to the surface world.

Nao Dou shook his head. ”They wear the same robe, but you can easily differentiate them from the other holy temple members because they wear striking armor over their white robe.”

Amon summoned a battle puppet. It was one equipped with a visual transmission module. It could project an image. It was now showing what the battle puppets scouting the road were seeing: A group of nine people wearing white robes. The scouting puppet possessed a binocular function that allowed its sight to zoom in on distant objects. Hence, the image showed a close-up detail of the nine Holy Temple members. None of them wore discernible battle armor, but eight carried large, crucifix-shaped hammers on their backs. The one at the head of the group carried no weapons, but seemed to wear armor hidden under his robe.

The villagers were fascinated by the image-projecting battle puppet. Nao Dou wasn’t so, because he had seen such battle puppets during his travels. He said, ”We are lucky. There is no inquisitor in that group.”

”Nevertheless, everyone should still refrain from using mental powers,” Amon said.

”Yes. That is a prudent decision,” Nao Dou agreed. He pointed at the image, or more accurately, the one who appeared to wear armor under the robe. ”This is most likely a Bishop. All Holy Temple members carry similar-looking hammers. His must be hidden inside a space ring. Normally, only Bishops or higher ranks are allowed to wear space rings. As for the others, they should be Priests. Deacons weren’t awarded those signature weapons.”

”Is a Bishop considered high-ranked within the Holy Temple’s hierarchy?” Amon asked.

”Mid-ranked,” Nao Dou answered. ”The lowest-ranking members of the Holy Temple are Deacons. There are those below the Deacons called the Initiates, but they are not considered the Holy Temple’s official members. They are more like applicants under a vetting process to be the next Deacons. Above the Deacons are the Priests, and above the Priests are the Bishops.”

”What ranked higher than the Bishops?” Nao Pei asked.

”The Cardinals, then the High Cardinals. Above all Holy Temple members is the Hierophant. There is only one Hierophant, and the Hierophant answers only to the Divine.”

Amon then understood that Mu Qin had built the Temple of Divinity in Aetheria by copying the Holy Temple’s hierarchy system.

”What about the inquisitors?” Nao Mei asked. ”Where do they fall within this system?”

”The inquisitors are considered a separate division from the normal Holy Temple members,” Nao Dou answered. ”They don’t answer to anyone in the Holy Temple, including the Hierophant. While the Holy Temple members handle the administration and day-to-day activity of the temple, the inquisitors are the enforcers of its rules. They can be considered the militant side of the Holy Temple. Their leader is the Lord Inquisitor. The Lord Inquisitor is considered equal to the Hierophant. He also only answered to the Divine.”

”Okay, stop talking. They should be close now,” Amon warned.

Everyone hushed and lay low. The only one who peeked out to see the passing group was Amon. The road was far away from the rock formation, so he shouldn’t be noticed, provided he was careful. He used the Eagle Eye art to look at the Holy Temple members. Their mouths moved, but they were not talking with each other. They were chanting. They walked at a steady rhythm. It was almost like a ceremonial procession.

Amon wondered if this went on for their whole trip. If it was, he must commend the Divine for inspiring such discipline and zeal.

He watched the nine maintain their march without breaking character until they vanished along the eastern side of the road.

Considering the discipline shown by the Holy Temple members, Amon asked Nao Dou, ”How thorough do they check the group that enters the settlements?”

”Depends on how big the settlement is,” Nao Dou answered. ”Villages are mostly handled by the locals. There are no walls to stop people from coming or going, but any newcomer will be approached and questioned. Usually, one or two priests live in the village as the community leader. Towns and cities have strict checkpoints. As for cities, there will always be inquisitors stationed.”

”Will they always use the revealing artifacts that you mentioned?” Amon asked.

”Only on a group larger than five. That’s why my fellow elders and I always traveled in pairs, and we only enter a city when no other group is entering. We are already registered as upper world citizens.”

He showed a crest. ”This is the citizen crest,” Nao Dou explained. ”If you don’t have one, you will be brought to the administrative office and interrogated. If you pass the interrogation, you will be given one.”

”Does the inquisitor perform the interrogation?”

”Some of the time. There are fewer inquisitors than the temple regular members, after all. If you plan to enter the settlements of this world, I suggest you choose to register in a small town. You are less likely to be interrogated by an inquisitor that way. Not that the interrogation will be less grueling. You only need not fear your secret getting forcefully revealed by the inquisitor’s artifact.”

”How do the elders get the citizen crest?” Nao Mei asked.

”They come with the body of the people we transfer mind with,” Nao Dou answered. He showed a bunch of other crests in his hand. ”I brought their crests with me. Out of our group, only you, Nao Pei, and Amon are without a citizen crest. If you wish to get one, you must go through the interrogation process.”