Rise of The Demon General

”You do this to them to get to me?” Amon asked. ”How do you know I am returning to this city?”

”The hell do you think your situation is? You are not someone who gets to demand an answer!” Guo Chao exclaimed. ”Now, be still and let my friends tie you up.”

Some of the men in the room held runic chains. They came forward to tie Amon. Wicked grins were on their faces.

When the closest man was about to put the runic chain on Amon, Amon’s fist flashed to the man’s head. A terrible crunching sound was heard, and his head blew up. His headless body dropped to the floor.

”You, bastard!!” Guo Chao exclaimed. ”Do you want to sacrifice your friend? Do you think I won’t cut his head off?!”

”Stupid clowns,” Amon sneered. ”I know you are not doing this to avenge Lu Kang. You won’t dare cross me unless you have someone backing you. You worthless fools don’t realize it, but whoever told you to come for me is sacrificing you.”

”What are you saying? Do you want Wi Zhuang to die? Surrender now or...”

Amon’s hand flashed when Guo Chao was in the middle of his speech. A pair of throwing knives shot out. One struck Wi Zhuang’s head, and the other stabbed into Wi Yin’s.

”Or what?” Amon asked.

Guo Chao became speechless. He thought he had the best bargaining chip in his hand. It turned out he had misjudged the value of his hostages.

A pitch-black shadow covered Amon’s body. He was activating his Elder God Veil, except its form was unlike before. The shadow that veiled him took on a shape twice the size of his body. This shadow had a head with two long horns, a large mouth filled with sharp teeth, and a pair of burning eyes. His arms and legs ended with claws. On his back were eight long tentacles that split into two groups, making them look like a pair of wings.

After learning the Law of Darkness, his improvement in the darkness-element arts became much easier. He had already reached the Grandmaster mastery for the Elder God Veil. Not only that, but he also modified the art, allowing him not only to strengthen it but also to give it a new form. This form he was now using was based on the devil depicted in his previous world.

His augmented art exuded an aura that intensified negative emotions in his vicinity, causing the people in the room to become demoralized and terrified. Those who succumbed to their fear screamed in panic and ran to the exit.

They failed to reach it, though. The four tentacles on Amon’s back swiped around the room. Their eroding power had grown so strong that a mere contact with those below the Fiendish Stage could vaporize the contact points in an instant. The tentacles might as well be sharp blades. One swipe, and those who were touched were split apart. Even the Fiendish Stage cultivators couldn’t last long. One had a tentacle slapped into his head. Within only a second, the tentacles moved past, and the head was gone.

In a short instant, everyone in the room was dead except for three individuals. These three were Amon, Guo Chao, and Su Lao. Guo Chao’s two legs were missing, and he was wailing miserably on the floor, out of pain and fear. Su Lao’s whole body was still intact, but he couldn’t move. He was shivering in place, unable to move. He was afraid that even a mere movement would draw Amon’s attention to him.

Amon’s devil form walked toward Guo Chao. Each step produced a thumping sound and cracked the floor. He crouched and brought his face close to Guo Chao. His two burning eyes made Guo Chao feel as if he were staring at death itself.

Amon’s muffled yet ominous voice rang close to Guo Chao. ”I will ask you one more time. Who told you to come for me?”

Guo Chao’s reply was incoherent. ”I... I can’t... I can’t... It’s... I can’t...”

The answer came from another. ”It’s Her Lordship Mistress Yao Ai...!”

Amon looked back at Su Lao. The man had broken down in fear. He no longer considered Yao Ai an entity he should fear more. Right now, all he wished to do was appease Amon.

”Her...?” Amon thought.

Now that he thought about it, her being the culprit made sense. She was the more likely person to know about his return. The group that tried to intercept and detain him near the border must have reported the incident to headquarters, which meant Yao Ai already knew about his return and that he was heading in the capital’s direction.

Looking at the scene, Guo Chao had been here for several days. Yao Ai might have issued the order when she received the news about him. At that time, Yao Ai still considered him a turncoat who had fled from a mission. She must have tasked Guo Chao to get a jump on him when he came to Wi Zhuang’s house, whom everyone knew was his closest associate.

The question was, why didn’t Yao Ai warn him or call off this ambush even after he explained his situation?

A couple of reasons came to mind. Probably, when he patched up his situation with Yao Ai, Guo Chao had already done the deed, and she didn’t want to bother explaining. The other reason was that Yao Ai still wanted Guo Chao to proceed with the ambush, to see how Amon responded.

Whatever the reason, he could see that Yao Ai was someone who didn’t hesitate to sacrifice her pawns, much like him.

Amon grinned. Serving under such a superior was like treading on thin ice. If he were not careful, he could find himself thrown into a situation he couldn’t get out of. Nevertheless, he wasn’t going to back out. He knew full well the road to the top was jam-packed with risks. He wouldn’t have gotten to where he was if he weren’t willing to brave through these risks.

He stood up.

”Will... Will you let me go...?” Guo Chao asked.

Amon responded by stomping on him. The floor cracked, and his body parts scattered all over the place.

Su Lao screamed in terror. He finally snapped. He turned and ran, but didn’t get far. One of the tentacles on Amon’s back aimed at him. It turned into something that resembled a cannon. With a bang, it released a dark bullet. This bullet travelled at lightning speed. It pierced Su Lao’s back and came out of his chest.

The commotion had drawn the two guards outside. They arrived right when Su Lao’s lifeless body dropped to the ground.

”What happened–”

Their question was interrupted by two loud booms, which were the sound of cannon shots. Two dark bullets tore through their bodies. They dropped to the ground with large holes in their chests, the same as Su Lao.

Amon retracted his art. The shadow dispersed. He was back to his ordinary form.

He looked around the room. Everyone was dead. He only spared Wi Zhuang and Wi Yin’s bodies a short glance before he took out a talisman containing a fire-element art. The talisman conjured a torrent of flames that burned the room. Amon walked out of the house as the fire slowly spread to the whole building.

Outside, he saw a group of red-vested faction members coming over. He intentionally stayed and waited for them. When they arrived, they first looked at the burning house, turned to Amon, and whispered to each other. One of them walked out and bowed to Amon deferentially.

”Slayer Amon, may we enquire what happened to Slayer Wi Zhuang’s house?” He asked.

’Good,’ Amon thought. Yao Ai had revoked his fugitive status.

”A feud between faction members,” Amon told the group while pointing at the burning house. ”Wi Zhuang and his family were murdered by faction members who had a grudge with him. I’ve dispensed punishment to those assholes. No one is alive anymore.”

”I... I see. Do you mind following us back to make a report?”

”I don’t have time for that. You can report however you like.” Amon left after saying that, leaving the group speechless. They looked at each other and scratched their heads.

*

Amon didn’t do any other missions after that. Yao Ai kept her word. Amon was given complete freedom. Everyone knew he was Yao Ai’s special agent and thus avoided offending him. A messenger from Yao Ai also gave him a space ring containing a large pile of aer stones for an expense to whatever ploy he was working on.

He spent the first week studying the information contained within the data crystal. The information contained inside was massive. He committed everything to memory and spent the second week contemplating the moves available for him.

In the third week, he went around the capital procuring ingredients and materials for Dao Su, Zee Whang, and Yeresdyx.

After that, he disappeared. No one knew where he went.