Rise of The Demon General Chapter 971. Obtaining a Citizen Crest

"Car–Cardinal Tian Yong...?" The deacon stammered. Cardinal Tian Yong was the highest-ranking Holy Temple member in this city. In a way, she could be considered the city mayor. She oversaw its governance.

Lin Li nodded. She whispered, "Keep this a secret, or you will get into trouble. Even Bishop Tian Jung is not aware of this next secret mission."

"Uh..." The deacon felt conflicted. If that was the case, he wished he hadn’t been told.

The deacon’s expression was easily read, so Lin Li explained, "The reason I told you this is that you must understand the severity of the situation. This man here will be our undercover agent. He is instrumental in the secret mission, but he needs the Citizen Crest for the job, and he needs it now because the caravan he follows is leaving this noon. Do you get the gist now?"

"I–I will get his Citizen Crest processed immediately!" The deacon said.

Lin Li nodded approvingly. She told the deacon, "One more thing. I’m already putting the mission at risk by showing myself here. I hope you don’t tell anyone about my visit."

"No, Father, I will not tell anyone," The deacon replied.

"Good. I will leave now. Make sure he gets the Citizen Crest."

"He will," the deacon assured.

Lin Li turned and walked away. The deacon stared at Amon for a moment before saying, "Follow me."

Amon was brought to the same interrogation room as before. The difference was that he was no longer interrogated. He was left alone for almost half an hour before the deacon returned with a box. The deacon put the box on the table and opened it. Inside was a Citizen Crest like one he saw Nao Dou and the others possessed.

"Press your right palm here." The deacon pointed at the front side of the box. Amon noticed five marked spots on that side, which corresponded to the positions of the right hand’s fingertips if one pressed a palm there.

Amon caught the drift. He complied with the deacon’s instruction. When his fingers touched those marked spots, they shone. Words of power manifested and revolved around the box. They then seeped into the Citizen Crest inside.

After a while, the light died down. The deacon picked up the Citizen Crest and offered it to Amon. "This Citizen Crest has been marked with your imprint. It belongs to you and you alone. Don’t lose it. There will be a penalty if it happens."

Amon nodded his understanding and took the Citizen Crest. He didn’t waste time lingering around, nor did the deacon welcome it. He left the Citizen Center right away.

*

Later, at noon, Peng Chi’s caravan rolled toward the city’s exit. The checkpoint guards checked everything. It didn’t matter whether people were going in or out. The process was the same. The guards checked their citizen crests, the goods inside the caravan, and recorded everything.

The guards were impressed, though, when they saw the six Nogrus Saurians. They thought Peng Chi must have scored big with his latest delivery to afford these beasts of burden.

Amon sat in the coach-box, next to Nao Dou, who held the reins to the Nogrus Saurians. His position let everyone see him clearly. Unknown to the guards, the person next to Nao Dou was not the real Amon. He was Lin Li in disguise. She could use Amon’s Citizen Crest because her soul was linked with his. The real Amon remained inside the city, hiding out of sight.

When Amon told Nao Dou this plan, he almost panicked. Amon told him that this was necessary to provide them with an alibi for what would happen tonight in Ceollach City. When Nao Dou asked him what would happen, Amon didn’t tell him much. All he disclosed was that he would leave a gift for the resistance movement, which was still in its early bud. This gift would hopefully supply enough fuel for the movement to grow.

When Nao Dou asked again, Amon chuckled and told him to listen to the news. What he was about to do would certainly send a shockwave to the entire upper world.

Hearing that, Nao Dou changed his mind. He no longer wished to know. All he wanted now was to get as far away from Amon and his seemingly insane intentions.

*

Later that night, after curfew began, a commotion even more outrageous than the night before occurred. It began at Wi Zhing’s house. It lit up into a huge fire. The conflagration grew so swiftly that the patrolling Holy Temple members responded late. The flames had already spread to the next buildings.

To make matters worse, the patrolling members soon learned that conflagrations also occurred at multiple locations in other districts. The city lit up as if there were a festival, which never happened unless it was to celebrate the Divine.

When the holy temple members arrived to douse the fire, spirit beasts ambushed them. They were confused about how these beasts entered the city through the protective barrier without triggering the alarm. Adding to their bewilderment was that these beasts were unlike any spirit beasts they knew. All the spirit beasts had deformed bodies and mismatched limbs, as if they were stitched together from different beasts.

This commotion soon reached the person in charge. Cardinal Tian Yong was about to retire to her chamber. She canceled her intention after being notified.

"How spread out is this incident?" She asked.

Her aide spread the city’s map on the table and pointed at multiple locations while explaining the extent of the damage. Tian Yong frowned at the explanation.

She asked, "How did the fire spread that much in such a short time, and how the hell did those spirit beasts enter the city?"

"Forgive me, My Lady," his aide responded anxiously. "We are still investigating."

"Sister, what’s important now is to contain the incident," said Bishop Tian Jung, who was in the room with her. "We can investigate the cause later."

"You are right," Tian Yong said. "Send all available members of our order to deal with the situation! Without the inquisitors, we must carry the burden of security. Extinguish the flames! Save as many citizens and buildings as possible, and eradicate the spirit beasts. Try to capture some alive, especially the intelligent ones. It can help us understand how they sneaked into this city."

The aide acknowledged the order and left.

Tian Jung said, "Sister, I will go and help quell this problem as well. The sooner we get it under control, the better."

Tian Yong nodded. "I will go with you."

Tian Jung waved her off. "Don’t be ridiculous. You are a cardinal and a leader of this city. You can’t lower yourself to this task. It is just fire and a few spirit beasts. We will get it under control before long. Having you on the site will undermine the people’s confidence in our order. We can’t have that."

"You are right. Thank you for reminding me of this, baby brother," Tian Yong replied gratefully.

"We may lose face, but the Divine can’t. We must always show people that our order is in control."

Tian Yong nodded. "Agreed. Hurry and quell them. Meanwhile, I will prepare a speech for the mass to address this matter first thing tomorrow."

Tian Jung nodded and left.

After Tian Jung left, Tian Yong sighed. Disaster struck one after another. Just yesterday, a factory in Ironlit District and its surrounding sites were destroyed. They had found clues that talismans were being used, which meant it was intentional. His people had interrogated the factory owner, but he didn’t seem to know anything.

Then, there was the problem with Inquisitor Lei Xiang’s disappearance. Her last report was that she was investigating rumors of a resistance movement. When Lei Xiang came to express her concern over the matter, Tian Yong dismissed it. She didn’t believe anyone would be foolish enough to dare go up against their order. There hadn’t been such instances for centuries.

And now, these mass conflagrations and incursions of spirit beasts.

Tian Yong’s forehead raised. A terrible thought came to her. Could these incidents be connected? Were these incidents deliberate? If that was the case, that meant they were under attack. Who in the upper world would be foolish enough to go up against them?

She heard sounds from the reception hall outside. The aura of eight priests who always stood guard outside had suddenly vanished. She frowned. The life presence of all eight vanished almost simultaneously. She thought again about the incidents happening in the city. Most of their order members had gone out to deal with them, so only a few were left here.

Her frown grew deeper.

A silver crucifix-shaped hammer materialized in her hand. She walked toward the door. ’How foolish,’ she thought. If it were indeed what she thought, the assailant would soon discover that going up against a cardinal of the Holy Temple was the height of folly.