Rise of The Demon General

Amon’s body was soaked in sweat since he had been moving at high speed non-stop. Yet, he was grinning. In this world, aether reserve was more important than stamina. He could use his aether to recharge his stamina, allowing him to persist on this high-speed dodge indefinitely as long as he still had aether.

His opponent, on the other hand, had been executing arcane art continuously. Wei Lhosa’s face was starting to become pale.

Wei Lhosa himself could feel his aether reserve drained. He couldn’t afford to continue shooting the Stone Pellet. He had been hoping Amon to make a mistake or hoping his shot to score a lucky hit. But after this long, he had to accept the bitter fact. His opponent was not someone that could be defeated by simply hoping.

Yet, his pride couldn’t accept that his opponent was a better fighter. He gritted his teeth. This was a do-or-die situation, he decided to throw caution to the wind.

”You think you are good? I have said before that I will wipe that smug smile off your face! And I will!!” Wei Lhosa yelled as his aura rose.

Amon stopped running. Wei Lhosa had stopped shooting his Stone Pellet, this should be the ideal time to rush over and finish him. Yet, Amon didn’t do so. He felt a clear sense of danger from the kid.

The air around Wei Lhosa stirred as if getting boiled by high temperature. Even his hair was lifted as if a huge gush of wind was blown from under. Yet, there was no wind. Wei Lhosa’s skin started to turn red.

*

”No! Don’t use it!” Wei Sui screamed from the platform above. ”Your body can’t withstand that art yet!”

Wei Linkun frowned seeing the scene. ”You taught him full transformation art?” He asked the woman.

”He… he is not supposed to use it,” Wei Sui said defensively.

”What the hell are you thinking? He is too young for that kind of art.”

Wei Sui was silent.

”Hmph, but at least his victory is assured,” Wei Linkun said. ”You just have to prepare to spend lots of recovery and enhancing pills on him after this. Even then, his body might still carry permanent damage.”

*

In the arena, clear change was seen in Wei Lhosa’s physique. His body bulged unnaturally. His clothes had become too tiny for his inflated body that they were torn apart. Red hair grew all over his skin covering his body. His hair also turned red and was getting longer. His eyes had become all white, his pupil gone. His mouth was filled with sharp teeth.

”RAARRRRR…!!!” Wei Lhosa roared. The appearance of an arrogant and high-standing noble was no more, replaced by the look of a wild beast.

”You….! I will rip you to shred…!!!” Wei Lhosa could still talk, but his voice was completely inhuman.

Wei Lhosa dashed forward. His speed took Amon by surprise. Amon activated Hardened Bronze Body just as Wei Lhosa’s fist hit his stomach. Amon was thrown far away, his back hit the boundary field and he bounced back into the arena. He landed on all four as he spat a mouthful of blood.

’Even with the defensive art, the punch was still so destructive,’ Amon thought pensively.

”Hehe, this is the first time I hit you,” Wei Lhosa said mockingly. He felt much better after that one hit. He walked over leisurely to Amon.

Amon controlled his breathing. That one hit was damaging, but he could still move. He stayed low on the ground on his four, pretending to be weak. He didn’t look up. He was estimating Wei Lhosa’s distance from his aura and footsteps.

”Haha, I didn’t think transformative art will be this powerful,” Wei Lhosa said as he walked. ”Why did they forbid me to use it until my cultivation reaches the Transformation stage? No matter, I’m sure will win now. Even though my aether is depleted, my physical strength alone is enough to finish you. With this Brute Ape body, I need no martial nor arcane art!”

He had come close to Amon by then.

”Heh, it seems that my one punch is too strong for you. Come, I’ve promised to crush your head in front of everybody,” he said as he bent down with his one hand about to grab Amon’s head.

Suddenly Amon jumped to the side when Wei Lhosa was about to grab him. At the same time, two rings of water materialized on both his hands. Amon put both hands together, combining the two rings, and swung it at Wei Lhosa’s arm. Wei Lhosa felt a stinging pain once the ring passed through. A large amount of blood spurt out.

”AARRGGHHH…!!!” Wei Lhosa screamed in pain.

’It only managed to cut half?’ Amon thought in surprise. He had learned that he was able to create two Water Slicing Rings and then merge them into one, effectively doubling the cutting power. But even then, it only managed to cut half of Wei Lhosa’s arm.

If it was any other element, Wei Lhosa wouldn’t even receive any damage. His defense after using the Beast Ape form was even sturdier than his Metal Skin art. Unfortunately, the Beast Ape form was of the fire element. Amon’s water element was most strong when used against the fire element.

Amon didn’t stop. Once he learned that his attack failed to fully cut his opponent’s arm off, he immediately followed with another swing. Luckily his opponent was still a kid. Their mentality was not yet forged to think fast under pressure. Once the pain sunk in, Wei Lhosa was unable to form any coherent thoughts.

Amon’s Water Slicing Ring cut through the same wound. The arm, which was still half intact a moment ago, was now cleanly cut off. Wei Lhosa thrashed about as more blood gushed out. His pain had now turned into fear as he moved away trying to put as much distance as possible from Amon.

Wei Lhosa crawled pathetically away with one hand. He turned back after crawling some distance, only to find that Amon was nowhere to be seen. He looked around frantically before feeling a sharp pain in his one remaining arm from behind.

He looked back just in time when Amon’s two hands were lifted high, the Water Slicing Ring was spinning rapidly around his two pressed palms, before being brought down. He watched in horror as the blue energy ring slashed at the same spot that was hit a second ago. His one remaining arm was now also gone.

He wailed in agony. Blood continued to gush out. He no longer had any hands to support his body so he fell with his face hitting the floor.

The pain and instability of his mind caused his body to revert to its original state. His skin was broken and bloody from the transformation, a side effect of the premature use of the full transformation art. Wei Lhosa tried to move but was unable. He floundered on the floor helplessly.

While he was trying to move his legs to push himself away, he felt a strong hand grabbing the back of his neck. He was soon lifted by that strong hand. His body, which was now naked and crippled was exposed for all to see. Yet, it was no shame that was in his mind. It was the ultimate fear. The fear of impending doom.

”Ple… Please… Spare me…,” he uttered with difficulty. He felt his throat was very sore. His entire body was hurting after reverting to human form. Not just the arm parts that were cut.

Amon didn’t respond. He brought Wei Lhosa to one side of the arena, facing the audience. Pai Kuan was intrigued by Amon’s act. But when he realized the direction Amon was facing, a cold chill was felt on his back.

Amon was holding Wei Lhosa and showed his pitiful condition facing the platform that housed the Wei clan.

Wei Lhosa never stopped begging, but when he saw no reaction from Amon, he changed to threatening. ”You… You can’t kill me… My clan won’t… let you go… Release me… My clan will… re… reward you well…”

Amon stayed silent.

Not long after, an energy-filled voice was heard from the Wei clan’s platform. It was the voice of Wei Linkun, ”Lin brat. Let him live and we will consider our dispute settled. If you harm him again, we will have an unreconcilable blood feud between us. We will stop at nothing till we claim your head.”

Amon grinned. He pulled his one free hand back, that hand was clenched into a fist.

”Stop! Do you truly want to be our sworn enemy?!” Wei Linkun’s voice was heard again, with more urgency.

But Amon acted as if he didn’t hear at all. His fist shot forward. The full force of Bone Shattering Shadow Fist crashed onto the back of Wei Lhosa’s skull. Wei Lhosa’s head exploded like a crushed watermelon.

All the audience gasped at this display of cruelty.