novelraw Chapter 359 - 358 - Taming Demons
Chapter 359 - 358 - Taming Demons
Blood trailed along the stone path as a demon boy ran with his sister over his shoulder. Their village, like so many others, were stripped of their defenses. The lord that looked over their protection was dead and now bandits were rising everywhere.
The fall of the Empire had brought misery to all of the weak that had relied on the strong to protect them. The life was brutal, but if one produced results, they could grasp what they desired.
The boy was only in the 5th tier of the Body Refining Realm. As a demon, he already had more strength than a human, but blood loss had the same effect on both races at that realm.
His sister was bleeding far more but her racing heart gave him hope to keep pumping his legs as the sound of pursuit continued.
Tears streamed down his lavender cheeks as he knew the bandits were simply toying with him as they had the others in his village. He had grabbed his sister while an adult was being used like a living target practice but they had not expected his speed.
He was always praised with how fast he could run, but the boy had no illusions, death was coming. He just could not lay there and accept it.
"Come now, brat! Why the rush? You're not half bad and your sister could be put to something useful I am certain!" A voice from the leader that assaulted their village filled the night air.
The moonless night would not aid him as demons could see far better in the dark than humans, but it was still dim enough that the boy foolishly hoped for a chance to save his sister at least.
He did not answer as he leapt suddenly off of a nearby tree and heard the crack of his bones as pain lanced up his leg. The weight of his sister was too much but he barrelled on.
"Oooo, I heard that back here, boy! Reckless actions will only get you both killed." The voice got closer as the stitch in his lungs was becoming harder to ignore and the blood was getting in one of his eyes but he pushed on.
The leap had covered a jump over a dip in the earth and he was rewarded shortly after with curses filling the air.
"Idiots! Don't tell me a child can outwit you all!" The voice blessedly fell back but then the boy stumbled. On instinct from his training, he turned to cradle his sister as he rolled with her to absorb the fall. Even so, he distinctly heard something snap like a tree branch before one of his hands came into view out of his control.
His arm had snapped in half!
His sister was so pale but still breathing, yet now he was powerless to carry her! He needed both arms to lift her again! Tears formed as the pain was held off by the shock. He slowly stood over her and used his good arm to grab a branch nearby.
It was pathetic but he would not simply bow to those villains.
"Oh, the pride of your family you are, boy." A sudden presence was behind him but he had no time to react as a fist slammed into the side of his head. The world tilted before a tree stopped him right in the stomach. "Damn, he did not flip!"
The mocking voice pulled the boy's head to look but pain burned in his body. As a man stood over his sister. She was older than him, a fact she usually lorded over him, but still a child, yet the look in that man's face made the boy scream.
He had been silent while running, while watching his parents wounded severely for fun as his own kind laughed doing it. Demons had powerful emotions, but children were nearly the same as humans in mentality.
Thus, the boy now openly screamed as rage and pain warred inside him.
"YES! Let that out! Ah, I remember my first time nearly dying. Don't worry, I meant what I said, you are impressive for just a Body Refining brat. We will get you trained up. I will even give you the first lesson!" The man was barely a shadow to the boy even though only a few meters separated them.
He was a wall of muscle but his movements were smooth. Compared to the rough things his father taught him, the bandit leader was clearly experienced. The starlight glinted off a dagger in his hands as he turned back to the boy's sister.
"NO! LEAVE HER ALONE!" A tutting sound followed the boy's shout.
"See, that is the first lesson, boy. No one is coming to save you and no one will. You have no power, save what you take for yourself. Thus, she dies!" The dagger was raised up but both man and boy froze as a strange buzzing sound filled the dark woods.
Before they could locate the source, an emerald flash appeared to sweep the bandit leader where he stood but nothing happened. At least, that was what the boy thought until the bandit leader silently fell into 2 pieces!
A new shadow emerged suddenly but even the boy could tell it was not a demon.
"Kalen should be wrapping up in the village but go help him. I suspect it will be as bad as the others." A gentle voice spoke but more shadows resolved as some demons and other people swiftly left the site of the battle.
A sudden pressure filled the boy but it was not unpleasant.
"You did well." The voice suddenly came from directly over the boy as his tears began to flow with the pain rising. "Drink slowly, you will recover. I will save your sister from her injuries, but you saved her life by never giving up. Do not forget that."
The words burned their way into the boy's heart. In that moment, he swore to follow the owner of that voice for all of his days. The last thing the boy saw was the glow of a bladed weapon. It was the weapon that had changed his fate and revealed the glimmering scales on the owner's skin.
The feeling of power in the visage was burned into his mind's eye as darkness claimed him from exhaustion.
⬧⬧⬧⬧
Lind saw the boy was doing well as he laid the young demoness next to him. Their clothes were shredded by branches but mostly intact. Demon resiliency always impressed him as both were in the latter half of Body Refining Realm but hardly hurt by the sprinting through the woods.
They had been seeing how quickly public order fell apart after the war. It had been far worse than Lind expected but Kexin and even Tessa had hardly been surprised. Wyndam was back in the sect restoring the formations with some other elders to manage the everyday needs until things could be settled.
Tonight would be only 3 weeks since they swapped to Rith by teleportation. He was sadly getting used to seeing the eyes of the boy. Young demons were coming to fervently desire to follow them.
Power was far more revered but demons also could feel the respect from Lind instinctively. They would matter in his eyes and he could make them strong. They felt it.
Kexin had laughed at him that it had to be corrected and told Lind that he had to tame the demons to make them work with him. Otherwise, there would be resistance for centuries that Lind did not have to deal with it all.
He wisely kept the Divine Sword Sect out of things but allowed them to help guard the walls of the Moebius Sect. There had already been some pathetic assaults they were all too happy to quash but they made sure to take prisoners when possible.
Banditry had already been a lever nobles used to keep their people in line from what Kexin had told Lind, but with no nobles left, the bandits decided to become the new rulers of their areas.
"Cyntilla and Shoti would have loved this. Maybe Little Fey too." Lind spoke out loud but picked up the 2 children before heading to the village that had already been settled. There were some that could not be saved but the moment Lind appeared, a couple began crying.
He quietly walked over and assured both children were fine and praised the boy's efforts once more as Lind had only arrived in time due to the boy's determination. Unlike the demons, he had zero problem seeing clearly on a moonless night.
His dragon eyes were far better than any other race in the mortal realm.
A terrifying demon stood over the now frothing bandits. Lind sighed when he saw that.
"Kal, you need to tone it down a bit." The fearsome being of horns, wings, and hooves flinched before bowing and the twitching bandits seemed to recover a bit before falling into unconsciousness. "Good, now send your information to Elder Tessa to scout out the city."
They had reclaimed 17 villages, but now they were ready to look at the cities. Compared to the countryside, the cities took a lot more damage.
"I already did Master Frey, but she said the nearest city…" Kalen trailed off as he glanced at the villagers but Lind firmed up before speaking loudly.
"The Moebius Sect is here to take over but we are not here to enslave and control. We have rules but, as you may or may not know, we have a Demon Hall led by Lady Kexin. She is working with me to rebuild these lands. Things will change but I will not hide the fact we have a lot of work and need your help to rebuild your lands." Lind kept his face straight but George suddenly popped up in his mind pointing at a manga MC that made a similar speech.
Kalen tilted his head as he knew Lind did not speak like that normally. Still he continued.
"The city has been turned into a battlefield. A few minor lords have tried to lay claim to the part of the city still standing and they have actual soldiers." Lind frowned but nodded.
"Get these bandits to our Discipline Hall for now like the rest. They will face punishment when I have time to mete it out. For now, we go!" Lind used his dragon soul aura to control his harmony to flare around him as he took off into the sky.
Once he was far enough away, he sighed in tiredness entirely due to mental strain.
"I swear, no one can tell my wives about this, not a single one!" The prayer to the spirit was likely in vain but the effect of his actions spread.
The powerful and undefeated master of the Moebius Sect became a legend in Rith as the weeks flowed into months but those bandits and rebellious forces that wanted to carve out a place of their own found no mercy.
The other effect of those actions and his dramatic presentation was that the commoners began to revere the sect and its master more and more. Kexin had been laughing until she realized she was included in the worship as the leader of the Demon Hall.
The only one truly laughing was Tal as her father and her friend seemed to be sighing a great deal until things began to shape up the basic framework for rebuilding. The Moebius Sect was severely limited in resources for demons of a whole continent, but the facilities of the former Empire still existed.
It bought them the time to start the new cycle of harvest and creation. Disciples had missions without end for contribution points to get rare items or resources for their own cultivation.
It strained the sect by a great deal but Lind had enough connections with the Stardust Emporium to build a trade route straight to the sect. Once that was done, teleportation arrays were re-setup to connect to Darkmoor Kingdom which extremely sped up the recovery after only a year.
It was still centuries until things would truly settle, but Lind only wanted to build a solid foundation from which things could grow. More Diamond Tier 6 elementals were finally emerging thanks to all the vast experience of the war and now the restoration so the power of the sect became impossible to challenge combined with its defenses.
After 5 years, Lind finally had to face the last companion leaving. Tal was ready to ascend!