Rise of The Demon General

Chapter 442: Chapter 442. Kill With a Borrowed Knife

As Changxiu City’s marshal and his deputy fought Daimu with the aid of the city guards, more and more arrived by the minute. These were the other city guards and clan members who had a good relationship with the authorities. Independent cultivators and other minor clans also sent their fighters because the city had promised to reward those who helped.

During this crisis, the authorities couldn’t afford to consider the budget. If they didn’t stop the higher mythical beast rampaging inside the city, it could cause untold destruction and casualties. They had heard the tale about a major city destroyed by spirit beasts in the neighboring country of Echos. They didn’t want the same to happen to their city.

They were using numbers to grind Daimu down. This was like throwing meat into a grinder. The low-level cultivators dropped like flies when they got into Daimu’s range. One slap from its tentacle could flatten them. The water jet it spat out could cut multiple targets from a long range.

As for the stronger cultivators, they kept having their minds assaulted by hallucinations, causing them to have problems concentrating. Thankfully, the city had a platoon of high-grade battle puppets. These battle puppets were immune to Daimu’s mind assaults. The puppets supported the cultivators when their minds were addled.

The cultivators also sent their tamed beasts as meat shields to prevent themselves from suffering too many casualties.

*

Amon watched from afar. He had stopped running after putting a safe distance. He could see how furious Daimu was at all those interruptions. He knew it would not give him up. It had nothing else to lose. It would keep coming at him, no matter how many humans were in the way.

Amon didn’t mind. This was according to his plan. They were in a big city, and Daimu was dying. The city was too valuable to give up, and there was only one spirit beast. No matter how strong the beast was, the city guards believed they could wear it down. They didn’t believe they would run out of cultivators before this beast was stopped.

Amon decided to stay inside the city instead of running away because Daimu could sense his whereabouts from the fruits in his possession. If he exited the city, Daimu might shake these people and leave the city as well. These cultivators wouldn’t keep chasing Daimu once it was out of the city.

Hence, he took the risk of remaining inside Changxiu City to pit Daimu against the city defenders.

*

The battle lasted for three days. Within these days, Amon kept playing cat and mouse with Daimu while the city defenders pestered the dying beast. Countless corpses filled the streets. Buildings were in ruin.

The marshal lost his deputy among many other city guards. The clan members also suffered tremendous casualties. Fortunately, reinforcements from outside the city arrived during these three days. They were soldiers posted in nearby outposts or who happened to be patrolling nearby.

The protracted battle took its toll on Daimu. It was not in its prime to begin with. The vitality granted by the incomplete Longevity Fruits was not whole. It could feel its strength draining each day. By the third day, it had suffered many wounds in its body.

The conclusion of the battle happened on the third day. The sky split, and an arrow made of light shot down. It struck Daimu, whose movements had slowed. The arrow pierced through its serpentine body and produced a gaping hole.

Daimu roared in pain due to the wound. The wound was small compared to its large body, but blood poured unceasingly from the hole. Amon surmised that the arrow of light had the effect of causing bleeding.

A human-shaped being floated down from the sky where the arrow came from. Light blanketed this being, so its feature was not clear. However, everyone in this city seemed to know who this being was. A Chorus of cheering sounded throughout the city.

A name was chanted in this chorus. ”Dim Loog...! Dim Loog...! Dim Loog...!”

Amon had heard the name before. Dim Loog was the name of the newly crowned king of Farghous. He was considered young for a sovereign of a nation. He was a Beginning Lord Stage cultivator. His high cultivation wasn’t derived from a natural cultivation process but from a secret energy transferal method passed down by the royal family of Farghous.

The previous king of Farghous, Dim Loog’s father, transferred his cultivation power to Dim Loog before his passing. The previous king was at the Intermediate Lord Stage. The method couldn’t transfer power perfectly. A portion was wasted. Hence, Dim Loog could only reach the Beginning Lord Stage instead of the Intermediate Lord Stage.

Amon could hear the reverent voices in the chorus. Amon couldn’t tell if this reverence was due to the young king being a savior during a crisis or because he was genuinely loved by his subjects.

The light enveloped human suddenly shot down like a cannonball made of light. This cannonball enlarged until it became a shining meteor.

Daimu shot a jet of water from its mouth at the incoming meteor. The water crashed into the meteor but couldn’t penetrate its glowing surface. The attack didn’t even slow it down. The dazzling meteor smashed into Daimu and sent it crashing into the ground.

The bright light dispersed after the collision, revealing a young man in a regal robe. In his hand was a long, golden battle staff.

”Vile beast, how dare you intrude on my territory. You should have just stayed inside your forest,” Dim Loog uttered. He knew Daimu. He read the report from the army that invaded Basou Forest in the past. Daimu fit the description of the spirit beast mentioned in that report, and this place was also near that forest.

”Screw you, human! I will eat you alive!” Daimu exclaimed. Its open mouth was large enough to swallow a human whole.

It failed to do so. Dim Loog turned into light and blitzed to Daimu’s back. The battle staff in his hand twirled at lightning speed. All anyone saw was multiple flashes crashing into Daimu’s back.

Daimu was too weakened and wounded to fight a Lord Stage cultivator. It took the beating without being able to retaliate.

The outcome of the battle was pretty much resolved. Amon, who saw the proceedings, decided it was safe to leave now. Daimu’s fate was sealed. He rode his Alpha Flying Knives and flew away from there.

It was as Amon predicted. Daimu didn’t last long. Aside from Dim Loog, it also suffered continuous assaults from many other cultivators. Around ten minutes after Amon left, Dim Loog dealt the killing blow.

Daimu let out a terrible dying cry, ”Hei Lin...! I will haunt you foreverrr...!!!”

Dim Loog frowned when he heard the cry. Who was this Hei Lin? Was he the reason this spirit beast invaded Changxiu City?

Amon made the right decision to leave without waiting for confirmation of Daimu’s death because Dim Loog ordered the city guards to lock down the city and search for someone named Hei Lin. The city suffered horrible losses from this incident. If Hei Lin was somehow responsible, he needed to pay.

*

Amon flew back to Basou Forest. He went directly to Daimu’s lair. With Daimu gone, there was no one to stop him from claiming the Aetherium Tree.

Amon landed before the magnificent tree. Its aura was even more impressive from up close. He looked to the side where the Longevity Tree used to be. It was a pity he couldn’t get that tree as well, but at least he acquired a decent number of its fruits.

He returned his attention to Aetherium Tree. He remembered Daimu saying that someone may only consume this fruit once a year. So, he picked the largest fruit that exuded the most aura. He held the fruit in his hand. The smell was intoxicating.

He took a bite. An electrifying feeling coursed through his body when he swallowed. The sensation was followed by a deep sense of contentment and bliss. He proceeded to take another bite, and another, and another. He wolfed through the fruit like a ravenous beast. In a matter of seconds, the fruit in his hand was gone.

After the whole fruit entered his body, he felt another electrifying sensation. This feeling swelled until he thought his body might explode. This overwhelming energy slowly receded until he sensed it pouring into his energy space and entering his energy core.

Without needing to cultivate, this energy streamed into his energy core in massive quantity. What he felt throughout this process bordered between tremendous ecstasy and intense pain. It lasted for a few seconds before it abruptly ended.

Amon was panting as he tried to grasp what had just happened. Everything was too overwhelming. He couldn’t believe a single fruit could bring about such an effect. When his senses finally returned to normal, he noticed another startling discovery.

His divine cultivation had shot up halfway to the Intermediate Mystic Stage!