Rise of The Demon General

Chapter 480: Chapter 480. The Target of the Assault

Four Yao Birdlings remained around the great eagle Amon was riding on. As for the other six enemies, they were targeting the other great eagle.

This other great eagle underwent a worse experience. One of the reasons was that it didn’t carry Amon. The other was because the Yao Bird was among the enemies that targeted it.

While five Yao Birdlings harassed the great eagle and took the soldiers’ attention inside the howdah, the Yao Bird again unleashed its black smoke. It then flew high above before diving down at high speed. It came from the great eagle’s blind spot. Its big claws crashed into the roof of the howdah, shattering it. Its long neck shot at the great eagle’s head. Its jaws, filled with sharp teeth, bit the great eagle’s neck. The great eagle screeched in pain from the assault.

The rider of the Yao Bird acted then. He was the leader of this team of Yao Birdlings. His name was Gui Xa. He had the highest cultivation among these riders. He revealed his weapon, a long spear, two times longer than a standard spear.

He stabbed this ridiculously long spear down. Following the stab was a drilling energy. The spear and the drilling energy pierced easily into the great eagle. A second later, it was as if an explosion happened inside the great eagle. Parts of the eagle’s body were blown out from the inside. The eagle stopped flying and started falling.

A few of the soldiers inside the howdah were Mystic Stage cultivators. They used their flying ability to stop themselves from falling while the rest of their comrades fell with the dead eagle. While they escaped death by falling, they still didn’t escape death.

Their flight speed was significantly inferior compared to the Yao Birdlings. These Yao Birdlings circled them and snatched them one by one.

Gui Xa observed the soldiers who fell with the dead eagle and the Mystic Stage soldiers currently fighting for their lives against his underlings. He muttered, ”The target is not with this eagle.”

He turned to the other great eagle. He was surprised to see his team on the other side was losing. Out of his six underlings, only two remained. One recently had the rider killed by the last swallow rider. The Yao Birdling of the dead rider was now flying away with a broken mind.

”You and you! Follow me!” Gui Xa pointed at his two underlings. The two complied and flew by his side. The remaining three Yao Birdlings resumed their harassment of the Mystic Stage survivors from the fallen eagle.

What happened with the other great eagle didn’t escape Amon’s observation. He watched the fight over there even when he was giving commands against the enemies on their side. From what he had gleamed, the enemies were looking for something or someone, and they didn’t find their target with the other great eagle. He could hazard what they were looking for.

”Captain Yong Cao! Command the great eagle to stop fleeing and focus on fighting,” Amon called the captain in charge of the soldiers inside this howdah.

”What? Didn’t you say these Yao Birdlings have little stamina? Shouldn’t we keep fleeing until they run out of stamina?” The captain asked.

”We won’t escape that Yao Bird in time. If it strikes this great eagle while it is distracted, we are toasted. We need the great eagle to focus on defending itself to have a chance!”

Under this critical situation, the captain wasn’t given the luxury to think too long. He decided to trust Amon’s judgment. He used a talisman given by the owner of this great eagle to relay the command. The great eagle slowed down before it turned to the incoming Yao Bird. It spread its wings, readied its claws, and uttered a loud screech. It was ready for a confrontation.

Gui Xa sneered in contempt. The Yao Bird was a lower mythical beast. The great eagle was a mid-superior one. Furthermore, his Yao Bird was trained for combat, while the great eagle was trained for transport. It was no surprise who would win a confrontation between these two.

Moreover, he was a Beginning Spirit Stage cultivator. His flight speed was no match for a great eagle flying at top speed. But if the great eagle stopped, he could join the battle directly as well. All in all, this benefited him more than his enemies.

He had his Yao Bird spit its black smoke again before they arrived. Thick black smoke covered everything. The enemies couldn’t see or sense anything covered by this smoke, but the Yao Bird and Yao Birdlings could by using their strong sense of smell and hearing.

However, he suddenly saw a red light inside the black smoke. This red light was growing bigger rapidly. Before long, it was as if the black smoke was ignited. The smoke evaporated, and a brightly shining flame in the shape of a bird headed to him.

Gui Xa was startled by this development. He instinctively had the Yao Bird veered away before this bright firebird crashed into them. When this firebird passed, the fire surrounding it was poured onto them. The Yao Bird screeched in pain as the flames washed over it. Gui Xa used his Spirit Stage’s energy to form a barrier blocking the flame from touching him.

After the flames left the firebird, Gui Xa could see their assailant more clearly. It was a large bird with bright red feathers. He quickly identified it as the rare spirit beast, Sun Hawk.

”Where did this beast come from?” Gui Xa asked in bewilderment. This area was not known as the habitat of a Spirit Hawk. Plus, he would have known if one approached during the battle.

He then noticed another weird thing. Atop the Sun Hawk was a young girl. The girl had hands with elongated, sharp nails. He was confused by the sight. A beast tamer? He didn’t notice the girl and the Sun Hawk on both great eagles when they first arrived. Did these two hide somewhere inside the howdah?

His confusion caused him to pause longer than he should. The Sun Hawk attacked again. It spat a couple of fireballs that rushed at the Yao Bird. The Yao Bird quickly veered to the side to dodge the fireballs.

During the dodge, Gui Xa sensed an incoming attack. He swung his spear back just in time before a black dagger tied to a yellow cloth hit him. However, the black dagger dodged its swing and went in another direction. The dagger sliced into the back of the Yao Bird. Despite its thick hide, the black dagger easily cut through. A huge, bloody gash resulted from the slash.

The Yao Bird screeched loudly from the pain. It also started shaking left and right to throw off whatever was hurting him. The movements threw Gui Xa off instead.

Gui Xa didn’t try to get back to the Yao Bird. This was because he laid eyes on the one who owned the black dagger. He commanded his Yao Bird to deal with the Sun Hawk and the girl instead.

He grinned at Amon and said, ”I must applaud you for getting this close to me without me realizing. You have a good concealment art.”

”From your expression, I assume you know who I am,” Amon said. ”Am I the target you are looking for?”

”Hehe. What is the use for a dead man to know?” Gui Xa repeated his previous statement.

Gui Xa commanded the Yao Birdling riders to deal with the great eagle and the soldiers it carried. He wanted to focus on Amon. From the intel, Amon was an Intermediate Mystic Stage cultivator. It was a walk in the park against such an opponent. He was furious when this assignment was given to him. An accomplished veteran like him should be given a more difficult prey. His target should be at least the same cultivation level as his. Assassinating an Intermediate Mystic Stage was an insult, but he couldn’t defy the order. This order came from the top.

Gui Xa thrust his spear casually. The spiraling energy produced by the spear made its already incredible reach even longer. Yet, the spear’s energy failed to hit its target. Amon shot slightly to the side just as the energy came stabbing. This caused Gui Xa to frown.

Amon used the Invisible Sky Steps. Though his flying speed had increased from mere floating after he entered the Intermediate Mystic Stage, it was still a far cry from the flight speed of a Beginning Spirit Stage. He was at a disadvantage for fighting in the air. The Invisible Sky Steps covered this weakness, but only briefly.

His mastery of this art had improved to the expert level. He could perform more consecutive dashes, but he didn’t do that because it would leave him open after overusing. Instead, he limited it to a single dash. Combined with his acute sense of danger, it allowed him to avoid the enemy’s attack even when the enemy was much faster than him.

”Perhaps you deserve the reason they sent me,” Gui Xa uttered. He spun his long spear rapidly. ”But let’s see how you dodge this!”

Gui Xa thrust his spear again. This time, countless spear energy shot out. They rushed at Amon and covered all his escape paths.