Supreme Demon, Little Imp (Part 2)

The imp was crumbling, knowing that this human youth was indeed evil and would not give it any chances. It was certain that he was an expert in demons, for otherwise he would not have known its weaknesses so well.

"Sir, it is fine. I…I will manage on my own!"

Saleen gently removed his finger from the dent on the imp’s forehead and sucked the fresh blood off his finger, nodding in satisfaction. He said, "It seems like you are more sensible now. Let’s begin please. I am in a rush for time."

The imp reluctantly started chanting in a demonic language Saleen did not understand. While he had a whole library of magic books, including those covering various languages, there was no series for the demonic language. A small amount of demonic language could be found in summoning magic, but as Saleen’s grade was low, he was not able to learn summoning magic. However, since his direction of study was quite specific, he had no intentions of doing so even if he were to become a mage master.

The imp’s expression turned solemn and a round magic symbol emerged from its forehead. As the chanting became faster, the symbol became clear. Although this was a humiliating contract, it was a contract that was bound with one’s life. The imp concentrated on reciting the verses of the contract and was unaware that Saleen knew nothing about the demonic language.

Saleen used the claw of the witcher spider to prick his left index finger, drawing a drop of blood. He then used his index finger to touch the round magic symbol on the imp’s forehead. The moment he did that, he felt that something was amiss. His finger felt as though it had been pulled by a huge magnet towards the imp’s forehead. The round magic symbol was like a black hole which kept ingesting blood and flesh from his wound.

The magic symbol soon became much fuller and grew a bright red. The whole of Saleen’s left hand withered and turned grey, as though it had become a dead creature’s claw. At the same time, Saleen felt that his soul was moving around as if a door had opened. He could feel the imp’s mood without even looking.

Saleen did not get angry. He merely withdrew his hand and quietly looked at the imp. It almost cried out and timidly explained, "Sir, this… is because your strength is too weak. No no no, I meant that my body is too …"

Saleen saw that the red magic symbol on the imp’s forehead had penetrated its skin and that the dent had disappeared. He reckoned that it might have been filled up by his flesh and blood.

"Does this have something to do with the sharing of the injury?" Saleen asked.

"No, sir. This is a condition for the fulfillment of the bond. It will only occur when the bond is signed, after which, it will not happen again!" The imp tried to explain it in a simplified manner so Saleen could understand.

"A soul bond?" Saleen laughed. By using restorative water on a daily basis, his left hand would take half a year to recover at most. During this period, he would be unable to sustain a chant with both hands, but this was a small price to pay for earning a demon’s allegiance.

This was a demon with a pure bloodline. After the Fourth Dynasty had collapsed, it was unheard of for a mage to own a demon. As the effects of the soul bond kicked in, Saleen no longer doubted the imp’s honesty. He placed his left hand in his sleeve and said casually, "Let’s go, I will find you something to eat."

The imp heaved a sigh of relief and thought that Saleen was kind to have not been angry with him. Saleen removed a piece of jerky from his leather sack and threw it to the imp, who swallowed it in one gulp. Saleen still had many questions in his heart but did not know where to start. He lifted his head and said to the people on the platform, "Come down. This has been resolved."

Although Canghong and Sarah held grievances in their hearts, they were unable to show them. Saleen had conquered a demon and Sika’s fighting power was greater than theirs. Neither of them could say anything.

Sika rushed off of the platform within two to three steps and came to Saleen’s side. She rolled up his sleeve and saw his withered left hand. Her eyes reddened in anger and she removed the cudgel from her back, planning to attack the imp.

While she was rash in her behavior, Caucasus folk were also not stupid. Saleen held out his hand to stop her and whispered, "It is fine and will recover. Do not let Canghong and the others make this into a laughing matter."

"Hmph." Sika lowered her weapon and glared at the imp fiercely. The imp was eating a piece of jerky and did not react. Its food supply had stopped for more than a hundred years so even if the head of a hill cyclops had been given to it, it would still have eaten it. Upon seeing Sika’s stare, the imp bowed its head. It was thinking that once its master was not looking, it would…

The imp knew that its wild thoughts were quite far fetched. The lady who was staring at it possessed a good relationship with its master. If it ate her, it would be in a great deal of trouble. Its eyes searched the area and saw that there were a few things up on the platform. It swayed its tail and climbed over. Upon a closer sniff, it seemed that they could be eaten.

These fist-like things were in fact the diasikalas which had been absorbed by the magic array together with Saleen and the others. They had been wrapped up in Saleen’s water shields in the space. Upon leaving water, diasikalas would fall asleep. Their outer shells would close and would only reopen if they were exposed to large volumes of water. These magic beasts were very resilient and could survive in deserts. If there was rain, they would be revitalized.

The imp used both hands to grab hold of the diasikalas and looked at Saleen. He did not notice, and the imp immediately used its sharp teeth to pry open a diasikala’s outer shell, beginning to ingest its blood and flesh. The imp’s thin long tongue had sharp thorns on its surface, and with a few sweeps of its tongue, it had swallowed all the flesh and blood. The poor Grade 5 magic beast had been eaten by an imp while in its slumber.

Boom! The imp spat out the magic nucleus which it had broken into pieces in its mouth. It had felt the innate strength of the magic nucleus. It then placed the nucleus back into its mouth and used its teeth to grind it up into smaller pieces before swallowing it. After which, the imp lifted up the second diasikala.

There were five diasikalas which had entered the area. The imp proceeded to swallow the flesh and blood of the remaining four after removing their magic nuclei. After feeling that some of its strength had returned, it returned to Saleen’s side holding the four magic nuclei. It was only an imp and had limited abilities in swallowing the magic nuclei whole. It was a waste to grind them into pieces. By giving these to its master, he would be pleased and would probably not abuse it.

An imp’s knowledge of humans was limited to that from tens of thousands of years ago. Prior to that, imps had possessed no status, not even that of slaves. If Saleen no longer wanted it at this point, the termination of the soul bond would mean that it would become a hollow demon, which was of an even lower grade than a spirit.

"You are sensible." Saleen patted the imp on his head and took the four Grade 5 magic nuclei. These Grade 5 magic nuclei were valuable as they were relatively small, and could fetch thousands of gold coins.

"Mage Merlin, we have reached the relics. What should we do next?" Canghong asked. He did not dare act hastily lest he angered Saleen.

Saleen thought about it and said, "Do not worry. We are from Sikeqinya and we always adhere to contracts. Since you have hired me, I will not keep the wealth to myself."

Seeing that Canghong remained uneasy, he laughed and said, "The relics are huge. How would I be able to take away all the items here single-handedly? If it were not for you, I would not have reached this place. Canghong, not everyone is like the Vulture Regiment."

Canghong looked at Saleen who was half a head shorter than him, and felt a tinge of sadness in his heart. Just to get to these relics, his own squad had nearly completely died off, with only Sarah remaining. This was the fate of mercenaries, and good outcomes were rare. He hoped that what the little mage said was true. After searching for the relics, he would be rich and could eventually find a way to pass some money to the families of the deceased so that they would not be poor for the rest of their lives.

"Please have a rest while I ask about the full background of the relics," Saleen said, before speaking to the imp.

The imp was unclear on the origins of the relics. It only remembered that during those years, it had been captured along with many supreme demons by a few humans. The imp had not been valued, and had also not been bound by the lighting chains. After arriving on this plane, the humans who had captured them had been attacked, and later all the supreme demons had been rescued and left in this location.

After that, there was a long period of captivity. This space which was initially only an underground cave was gradually transformed into a temple by their rescuers. It was only after a while that the demons realized that the humans who had built the temple had not removed the lighting chains, as though not bothering to enslave them. After about four thousand years, the temple was completed and the humans vanished.

Over time, the demons started devouring each other, not knowing if they would survive. In the demonic plane, this was quite common. As the imp had not been tied by the lighting chains and possessed a small body, none of the supreme demons had given it any trouble from the beginning.

However, as the number of demons started falling, the imp started finding places to hide. Luckily, the supreme demons had been bound by the lighting chains and could not move around easily. As such, it had not been in any danger. After ten thousand years of the demons feeding on each other, the remaining surviving demons had died of starvation. At that point, the imp had started feeding on the bodies of the supreme demons to survive.

The imp still hoped that humans would return. It transformed into the likeness of a Bafendier supreme demon, hoping that the returning humans would be attracted to it and therefore prevent it from dying of starvation. However, no humans had appeared, and after it had eaten all the food, it fell into a deep slumber in the hopes of delaying its eventual death.

When it had been rudely woken up, the first thing it had seen was Saleen, the skinny human mage. The imp did not understand why this human had such weak strength, even below that of a spirit. As such, it had tried to scare Saleen. Unfortunately, Saleen’s courage was more than a hundred times greater than his strength, and its plan failed. After thousands of years of being under captivity, it had grown fearful of humans. After two to three clashes, it had been defeated by Saleen.

Saleen did not find any of this information useful. Instead, he asked one final question. "In that case, I would like to know your name."