Cooperation with a Demon

Although Beman possessed formidable swordsmanship, he had honed it bit by bit on the battlefield. Aside from basic training methods, he simply did not know how to teach others to fight. On top of that, he was currently tasked with escorting the little girl, so he had even less desire to teach Li Feng swordsmanship along the way.

However, Beman had clearly underestimated Li Feng's patience and gift for talking. In the end, unable to bear Li Feng's endless nagging, Beman pointed at Kay behind him and said, "You want to learn swordsmanship from me? Then first practice proper swordsmanship with Kay. Come find me when you can easily defeat Kay."

After saying that, Beman kicked the White Horse's flank and trotted to the front of the group.

That night, Beman and the others lit a bonfire to rest and eat. Although Mordo sat by the fire, surrounded loosely by the others, his eyes were filled with confusion as he occasionally glanced toward the Prison Wagon.

He found it strange. It was not the first time he had encountered a Demon capable of concealing its aura, but as long as he got close and observed carefully, he could always find some flaw and kill the Demon with ease. Yet this time, the more he looked, the more the girl in the Prison Wagon seemed like an ordinary little girl. That strange feeling seemed more like an illusion.

From the way Li Feng had only spoken half of what he meant earlier, Mordo felt that Li Feng knew why he found things strange. He just did not know why Li Feng refused to say more.

Mordo patted Li Feng on the shoulder, subtly pointed toward the Prison Wagon, and asked quietly, "Do you know why I find this strange?"

Li Feng turned to look at the little girl, scratched his brow, picked up some food from the fire, and said as he walked toward the Prison Wagon, "Figure it out yourself. This is a rare experience. Oh, stay alert. You might get a chance to show off soon."

Li Feng had only taken a few steps when the Priest stood up and blocked him. His tone was stern, his words full of distrust. "What are you trying to do? What do you mean, show off? Are you trying to release the Dark Witch?"

Release your ass. Li Feng did not even spare the Priest a glance as he walked straight past him. "Are you blind or something? Can't you see I'm just bringing her food? Besides, I don't even have the Key. How am I supposed to open the Prison Wagon? Or are you idiots going to stand there and watch me chop it open with my sword?"

Beman glanced at the long blade at Li Feng's waist, gestured for the Priest to sit down, then touched his Crusader Sword and said, "You'd better not try anything. Watch your head."

Without turning around, Li Feng shrugged and carried the food over to the Prison Wagon. After snapping his fingers, he handed the food to the little girl with her back to him. "You may not need food, but your body can't handle starvation. If you don't want it to starve to death before reaching Sefrak, you'd better eat something."

The Demon inside the Prison Wagon was somewhat bewildered. When Li Feng approached, the snap of his fingers seemed to have been accompanied by the sound of breaking glass, and the Demon had clearly sensed a fluctuation of Mana. Yet he was certain he had not suffered any harm.

At the same time, he could not determine whether Li Feng truly knew he was hiding inside the little girl's body or was merely testing him.

Just as the Demon was organizing his words and considering how to probe Li Feng's identity, he heard Li Feng say gloomily, "You could have gone to Sefrak Abbey yourself. Are you directionally challenged and don't know where the abbey is? Or are you so lazy that you have to ride in a Prison Wagon and make others serve you all the way there? Do you really think you're some lord?"

Now the Demon could confirm that Li Feng truly knew his situation. He even knew the purpose of the Demon's plan.

With hostility in his eyes, the Demon gripped the bars and said in a muffled voice, "Who are you? What do you want?"

Li Feng turned to glance at Mordo in the distance, then curled his lip. "We're two travelers passing through. As for what we want..."

Li Feng turned to face the Demon. "It's similar to what you want. We're both after The Key of Solomon spellbook. You want to destroy it, while I want to obtain that miraculous Magic Book. After all, any Magic Book is an invaluable asset to a Mage."

An asset? Clearly, Li Feng's words told the Demon that Li Feng already regarded The Key of Solomon spellbook as his private property. It also meant that Li Feng would not harm him for the time being. In a sense, they could even become partners—though the sort of partners who would tear each other apart the moment they reached Sefrak.

It was not as though the Demon had not considered killing Li Feng now. But in the guise of an ordinary person, he could not kill Li Feng. If he used his full strength, he could kill Li Feng, but his identity would certainly be exposed.

Just as Li Feng had said about him being directionally challenged and lazy, he could not simply walk into Sefrak Abbey in his Demon body, because the abbey gates and walls were covered in Magic Rune arrays.

Not only did those Magic Runes prevent his Demon body from entering the abbey, even possessing a human body would not let him through. The moment the body approached the gates, he would collapse to the ground, and some of his Demon traits would emerge soon afterward. If anyone saw his Demon form then, he would be nothing but meat waiting for slaughter.

Only by relying on transportation such as a carriage or Prison Wagon, where he could sit without walking while others pushed or pulled him, could he safely pass through the Magic Rune-covered gates. If the vehicle crossed through Sefrak Abbey's gates quickly enough, he might not even have time to reveal any Demon traits.

Once inside the abbey, the Demon did not believe anyone in this world could stand against him after he unleashed all his power.

As for why he had chosen a Prison Wagon rather than a carriage, Sefrak might have been The Church's territory, but its gates were normally kept shut. He would have liked to have horses smash through the gates, but horses were not stupid. Would they really slam their own faces into the gates?

If he forced a driver to crash through the gates and enter the abbey, he would first have to find one who was not afraid of offending The Church.

In this medieval era, when The Church wielded far greater power and authority than kings, a driver unafraid of The Church's retaliation was harder to find than a three-legged toad.

So in the end, the Demon chose to hide inside Anna's body and let The Church escort him into Sefrak Abbey.

If he killed Li Feng now, his plan would be ruined.

All that could be said was that the Demon had an unusual mind. He liked being whipped by Priests and liked riding in Prison Wagons.

"Are you only interested in spells?" The Demon's eyes rolled as he said gloomily, "Perhaps we can cooperate. I only want to destroy the few pages in The Key of Solomon that contain spells capable of eliminating me. I have no interest in the remaining spells. I wouldn't mind giving you the spellbook."

Eliminate? I remember those spells force you back to Hell.

Li Feng nodded. "I like that gift. I don't want to provoke a Demon for no reason and make trouble for myself. So, happy cooperation?"

"Happy cooperation."

Li Feng said, "By the way, I still don't know what to call you."

The Demon put some food into his mouth and smiled. "Are you asking for my name, or the little girl's? Forget my true name. The little girl is called Anna. You can call me Anna for now."

After saying that, the Demon even brushed back her hair and threw Li Feng a flirtatious look, startling him so badly that he nearly drew his blade in self-defense.

Anna did have some looks, but faced with an Anna controlled by a Demon, Li Feng felt that this was no longer merely a question of whether she was his type. It involved sleeping with a Demon of unknown age and gender.

Rolling his eyes, Li Feng said helplessly, "Put away your seduction. Look at whose body you're possessing. A noble might use perfume to cover the smell of sweat, but what about you? Who knows where you found this body? I'd wager the girl never bathed once in her life. Aren't you afraid of the smell after possessing her?"

The Demon shrugged as she ate. "That only shows you don't understand the hardships of Hell. Having a body to possess is good enough, and you still want to be picky? To keep this body from rotting for a few more days, I even kept Anna's soul. I just forced it into a corner of her body."

After finishing the food, the Demon glanced at Mordo, leaned against the Prison Wagon, and said quietly, "Speaking of which, I have a few questions for you. You and your companion don't seem alike. His Mana affinity is ordinary, but yours..."

"It leans toward darkness." Li Feng looked back at Mordo and shrugged. "I've known that for a long time."

"Then does your companion know your Mana affinity?" The Demon smiled ambiguously. "I can sense an aura on him. It is the aura left by someone who killed one of my kind not long ago. So I think your companion is a demon-hunting Mage, naturally opposed to the dark faction. I wonder what your companion will do when he learns that you will one day use spells similar to those of Demons?"

Li Feng scratched his brow, folded his arms, and examined the Demon. "What should I do, then? Kill my companion now?"

The corner of the Demon's mouth twitched. He could sense that Mordo was far stronger than Li Feng. Even he would have some difficulty facing Mordo, so he did not believe Li Feng was unaware that he was no match for Mordo.

Li Feng said, "Tell me what you're thinking. There's no point in all this guessing."

It was rather laughable: a mighty Demon was somewhat wary of Mordo's strength.

Although the Demon and Li Feng had reached a preliminary agreement to cooperate, both knew that a battle would inevitably occur once they entered Sefrak Abbey.

If the Demon only had to face Mordo then, it would be manageable. At worst, after destroying The Key of Solomon spellbook, the Demon could slowly wear Mordo down. He did not believe that, with the vast Mana of his Demon body, he could not outlast Mordo's human body.

But with Li Feng involved, it would be different. Though Li Feng was still a rookie in the Demon's eyes, spells were spells. Even a rookie's spells could interfere with him while he fought Mordo. If he was careless, Mordo might kill him on the spot.

So what the Demon needed to do now was pull Li Feng onto the side opposing Mordo. Once Li Feng interfered with him, he would reveal to Mordo that Li Feng belonged to the dark faction as well.

In the Demon's mind, demon hunters were a group of stubborn fossils, born to hate anyone who used dark spells.

Once Mordo learned that Li Feng used dark Mana, the Demon felt he could hide nearby and watch Mordo kill Li Feng. Human beings slaughtering one another was his favorite kind of show.

For now, however, he was uncertain whether the rookie human Mage before him could use dark spells. If not, his plan would suffer a slight deviation.

"I don't have any particular thoughts." The Demon's lips curled slightly as she said quietly, "I just think you're wasting your talent. Or perhaps you simply haven't found a good teacher. I only find it a pity."