Rise of The Demon General

Chapter 724: Chapter 724. Mother’s Words

After sealing Huang San’s escape route, Amon advanced. He slashed at Wu Di’s giant body. Wu Di retaliated by using his glaive.

Amon’s black sword and Wu Di’s glaive clashed. The Saintly Ape and Gigas Blood enhanced Wu Di’s strength, allowing him to compete with Amon’s overwhelming power. Sadly, his arts didn’t augment his weapon. The glaive couldn’t withstand the ceremonial dagger’s black sword. The black sword sliced past the glaive and caused a deep cut in Wu Di’s shoulder.

”Urgh!!” Wu Di gritted his teeth and endured the pain. The Saintly Ape and Gigas Blood also hardened his body, but it was not enough to endure the sharpness of Amon’s black sword.

Amon performed a swift follow-up slash, aiming to maim Wu Di, but Wu Di’s response was quick. He couldn’t dodge the slash, so he punched the black blade from the side. The blast from his Ignition Fist altered the slash’s trajectory and caused Amon to lose balance.

’Tch! I knew he had good instincts,’ Amon thought in his mind.

Wu Di hadn’t stopped moving yet despite successfully deflecting a seemingly fatal attack. His other fist was already heading toward Amon. Amon, however, also had good reflexes. He lifted his leg even when unbalanced. His thigh blocked Wu Di’s giant fist.

The Ignition Fist exploded again. Although the punch couldn’t wound Amon, the force of its impact still sent him crashing into the wall. The instant he hit the wall, countless vines emerged. They wrapped around Amon and turned him into a cocoon that stuck to the wall.

”Let’s flee!” Huang San exclaimed. He darted past Wu Di. He had managed to evade capture by the Elder God Tentacles. He didn’t see any way to destroy the arcane art, so he returned to escape from the opposite direction.

Wu Di didn’t decline the offer. He dashed alongside Huang San. The deep cut in his shoulder had already started mending thanks to his Saintly Ape form.

A deep and vile voice that could dash any hope sounded from inside the cocoon. ”Stay!”

The entangling vines were eroded from the inside ever since they touched Amon’s dark suit. They couldn’t resist his power when he exerted force. The cocoon broke apart in a powerful explosion. Six dark chakrams flew out at high speed. Huang San and Wu Di couldn’t outrun these chakrams.

The chakrams were Amon’s Alpha Flying Knives. They appeared like chakrams because they spun at high speed, and the shadows that coated them made them look like circles.

Huang San sensed the incoming attacks. He stopped running and swung his sword back, deflecting the dark chakrams. Yet, these chakrams seemed almost alive. They refused to let him go. They flew back again every time his sword repelled them.

Wu Di was also harassed by the dark chakrams. He had shrunk his body to normal size when Huang San told him to run. His giant body was too cumbersome to move inside this cave. His two arms remained giant-sized, though.

”Haahh...!” He exclaimed. His two giant arms shone a soft, white light. After losing his glaive, he could only rely on his two good arms. The skin and muscles of his arms hardened as they shone. This was an arcane art he was in the process of creating after receiving enlightenment. He had not yet fully learned it, but he didn’t see that he had many options.

His giant arms struck the incoming dark chakrams, preventing them from hitting his vital parts. While his arms were tough enough to fend off the dark chakrams, each hit left a bloody cut in his arms. If not for his Saintly Ape’s rapid regeneration, the repeated cuts would have mutilated his arms.

Blocking the dark chakrams was like enduring the torture of being cut slowly. Even so, Wu Di didn’t back off. He didn’t even utter a pained cry. His arms further enlarged. With larger arms, he could block multiple dark chakrams at once. He not only blocked the ones that assailed him, but also the ones that targeted Huang San.

”Your Majesty, run...!!” He exclaimed.

This was the second time Wu Di had covered him. Huang San couldn’t help but be moved by Wu Di’s patriotism. He didn’t say any words this time. He honored Wu Di’s determination by not wasting time. He used his movement art and moved away.

”I said, no one leaves!” The voice that could only come from evil was heard again.

Amon suddenly materialized beside Wu Di. He used the Silent Swift Stab that turned him invisible. Combined with his Concealed Ghost Body and Wu Di being distracted by his Alpha Flying Knives, Amon thrust his long sword into Wu Di’s chest. The darkness from Amon’s dark suit spread from the black sword to Wu Di’s body.

Wu Di could feel his end. The black sword had pierced his heart, and the darkness was rapidly eroding him. He was not strong enough to drive back the demon who was now pinning him. His fate was sealed.

’Is this my end?’ Wu Di thought. His life flashed before his mind as death approached. The most precious memory assailed him. ”Mother...,” he whispered.

He thought back to the days before he departed for the Royal Academy. He lived in a small hut, located at the far corner of Wu Clan’s manor. He lived there with his mother. His father was the clan master’s younger brother, whose name was Wu Dao. Yet, neither Wu Di nor his mother had ever been acknowledged as the clan’s inner members. This was because his mother was a poor commoner whom Wu Dao wooed to a night of passion.

Wu Dao tried to avoid responsibility, but Wu Di’s mother didn’t let him. She bravely confronted Wu Clan’s clan master with baby Wu Di in her arms. She demanded that Wu Di be accepted into the clan even if she was chased away. She wanted a better life for her son. To avoid shame and a bad public image, the clan master forced Wu Dao to take in the mother and son. However, they were never truly accepted as part of the clan and were constantly bullied.

Nevertheless, Wu Di’s mother never let his son get discouraged. She always taught him to be responsible, good, and to uphold justice. She told him to help those in need and never to abuse his power. It was his mother’s strength and care that helped him get through the harsh surroundings filled with unfriendly clan members who looked down on them.

It was also his mother who helped him gain a spot for candidacy at the Royal Academy. She fought to have Wu Di enter the clan so he could get a better life. But after seeing how the other clan members refused to accept her son, she fought to get him into the Royal Academy. After Wu Di turned fifteen, she begged the clan master every year for three years until the clan master finally relented and gave Wu Di a spot.

Wu Di was unwilling to leave, but her mother made him promise to work hard and not to return until he gained a name for himself.

After he joined Amon’s team and helped Huang San ascend the throne, he was granted the rank of Lieutenant General. He figured he had gained enough prestige to show his mother. He returned to Wu Yin City, where the Wu Clan resided.

Upon arrival, he was given the devastating news that his mother had passed away four years ago.

He was shown to the place where his mother was buried, which was in a deserted patch of land outside the city. He sat before her grave in silence for three days. After forcing himself to stop grieving, he went and bought the land where her mother was lying to rest. He built an extravagant crypt for her. At the same time, he asked around about the circumstances of her mother’s death. With his new status and power, it was not difficult to persuade people to talk.

It turned out his mother had been sick for some time. Yet, Wu Dao continued to force his mother to work. When Wu Di was still in the clan, Wu Dao sometimes visited when he was in a bad mood. Wu Di often became his father’s target for venting frustration. He learned that his mother replaced him as the target. One day, his mother finally succumbed. Sickness, exhaustion, and one angry slap sent her mother to her grave.

Learning that, Wu Di stormed into the Wu Clan. No one could stop him. He was a Beginning Spirit Stage by then. He found Wu Dao and beat him to a pulp. Even when the clan master arrived, he couldn’t stop Wu Di. He had the same cultivation as Wu Di, but as an official soldier of the kingdom and someone trained in the Royal Academy, Wu Di possessed better equipment and arts. The clan members also didn’t dare to gang up on Wu Di due to his status.

In the end, it was Wu Di himself who stopped before delivering a killing blow to his father. He suddenly remembers his mother’s words not to abuse his power and to be responsible. Although everyone in the clan generally treated them like shit, they owed the clan master a great deal. It was the clan master who agreed to his mother’s request to take them in and send him to the Royal Academy. No matter what, he owed the clan master.

Wu Di let go of his near-death father. The clan master knelt and thanked him for sparing his brother’s life. The clan master promised he would punish his brother and not let him forget his sins. The clan master also passed a letter to Wu Di. The letter was from his mother. She wrote it for him when she began to feel sick.

In the letter, his mother said that she had a feeling she didn’t have long to live. She regretted that she couldn’t see him before she left the world, but she was sure he would return with success. She wished she could see his triumphant return, but fate was sometimes cruel. Nevertheless, she reminded him not to give up on life, not to give up on kindness despite others’ cruelties, and to always uphold righteousness and justice.

It was his mother’s words that kept him going.

Remembering these words gave Wu Di an inexplicable inner strength. The light that flashed in his two arms brightened considerably. He had his left hand grabbing the base of the black sword that punctured his heart. The other hand balled into a fist and slammed into the dark demon. His light-infused punch sent the demon tumbling back.