Rise of The Demon General

Amon heard rapid incoming footsteps. He immediately snapped to attention. No time to think about the pain. Pain was a good thing, it meant that he was still alive. He rose and saw Lin Sora coming at him with a shortsword. He took out his Swan Dagger and parried the shortsword as it came at him.

A loud clang was heard as the two blades met. Lin Sora twirled his hand holding the shortsword and broke into three images that rotated with accelerated rotations. Each of the images was as if a spinning chainsaw blade. Amon was not confident that his Hardened Bronze Body could withstand a direct hit against these assaults, so he made a hasty retreat as Lin Sora chased after him with the triple twirling blades.

Amon's back suddenly hit something, there was a stalagmite on his back. His movements didn't stop, he was already jumped to the side once he felt something was blocking his back.

Lin Sora was stunned by Amon's response, but he also didn't stop his assault. Amon's sudden jump to the side had escaped his two spinning blades, but the third one was still on Amon's path. Amon used his Swan Dagger to block this third blade, only for the dagger to receive a tremendous collision and got forcefully torn from Amon's hand. The force of the impact shot the dagger directly into the cave wall and it embedded deep into the wall.

That spinning blade that had disarmed Amon suddenly changed direction and headed for Amon's torso. Amon felt a strong impact as his body got thrown away again. He hit a stalagmite, breaking it before falling to the ground. Amon was unmoving.

Lin Sora's spinning blades stopped and revealed his shortsword again. He was panting as he looked at Amon's still body. He did not expect he would have to go all out against this kid who was still at peak Mortal stage. He was even not expecting to have his two comrades fall in this mission. This was supposed to be an easy mission.

Lin Giru had told them before that today's mission was a special one given personally by one of the clan master's direct descendants, Lin Fong. They were to lure Madam Lin's adopted bastard into this supposed Greasy Horned Weasel's lair before ambushing him.

There was never a Greasy Horned Weasel's lair. Actually, the rumor was true, but the lair had already been searched. Although there was a trace of the Greasy Horned Weasel, they did not find the beast. The spirit beast must have vacated this lair. Hence, this cave could be used as an ideal place to conduct the deed. They would then simply place the blame on the illusory beast.

The plan was supposed to be simple. The target was supposed to be weak. How did it end up like this? How should he explain to Lin Bu and Lin Lang's families when he went back?

He gritted his teeth. Lin Giru would think of a reason for those two's families. This was Lin Giru's plan anyway. He had done his part. He was just following orders. Let Lin Giru deal with this mess.

His eyes looked at Amon again, whose body was still. No way the kid survived his Death Revolving Blade. But he should still make sure, let's just stab the kid one more time on the head. He walked over to carry out the deed.

When he was close enough to have a better look, he stopped. There was no blood on the ground?

At that moment, Amon suddenly rose. His arm shot out. Lin Sora could see a flash of light from Amon's open hand. Lin Sora was not taking any chance. Unlike his two comrades, he was the more cautious type. He jumped sideways despite not knowing what Amon did. He then heard a whoosh sound as a ray of light zipped past where he stood just now.

It was a flying knife! Lin Sora realized after seeing the object that had created that ray of light.

But before he thought of anything further, he felt a sharp sting on the left side of his neck. His hand went to the place and found a cold knife embedded there, he also felt hot liquid leaking out from there.

Amon's two arms were spread out. He had thrown out the second knife immediately after the first, predicting Lin Sora's dodging path. The second knife had landed accurately at the target. He must admit a cultivator's body resilience though, even without activating a defensive art, the knife still only penetrated halfway. If it was normal people, their heads would have been cut clean off. His knife throw was enhanced by Hundred Shooting Stars martial art that could penetrate even concrete.

Still, that throw had struck a fatal spot. Lin Sora was holding his neck trying to stop the blood that was oozing out. He dared not pull out the knife as it would just tear up the wound and cause more blood to leak out. He retreated hastily, he knew he could no longer complete the mission, preserving his life was more important now.

Lin Sora's eyes carried the confusion as he stared at Amon. He couldn't understand how Amon had survived his Death Revolving Blade. The kid's bronze body art was supposed to not be strong enough to resist his martial art.

Amon did not deign to explain to his prey. The main reason for his survival was because of the Self-adjusting chainmail he had worn under his shirt. Amon felt the pain from the impact. In fact, he even thought that some of his rib bones were cracked due to it. But the chainmail had prevented the blade from cutting his abdomen open.

Amon threw two more knives at Lin Sora consecutively, which Lin Sora dodged. Amon then threw a punch, three bursts of energy shot out and demolished the stalagmite where Lin Sora had stood a moment ago. Lin Sora continued to avoid Amon's assault as he put more distance from Amon. As long as he could get to the surface, Lin Giru would save him. Lin Giru could even use this excuse to execute Amon, claiming that he did it to save Lin Sora's life. All was not lost yet.

When he almost reached the hole opening which should take him up to the surface, something hard and sharp suddenly impaled his back. He saw a long and wide blade coming out through his chest. He coughed blood as the pain registered. The one who held this long blade then lifted him, he was hanging up in the air by the blade that had impaled his chest. He tried to turn around to see who had backstabbed him, but his neck couldn't make a sufficient turn for him to see his assailant.

Then he heard a growl. From the growl, he realized who, or rather, what had attacked him. Didn't they say this lair was clear already? He thought in dismay, but his vision was getting blurry. He was losing too much blood.

Lin Sora then got thrown down violently, his body was smashed to the floor and he rolled on the ground. Before he lost all vision, he saw the silhouette of the one that had attacked him. It was a large cat-like beast with a long blade for a snout.

Amon stared at the Greasy Horned Weasel, he was wondering why the three had picked this beast's lair to ambush him. Weren't they afraid that this beast would serve as an unknown variable that could disrupt their plan?

Amon did not know that the lair had been considered empty from the start. He had been fighting with the awareness that the weasel might mount an ambush. As a matter of fact, he had been aware of that beast's presence when he felt its killing intent as it approached. All the throwing knives and Bone Shattering Shadow Fist that he threw at Lin Sora, were to push him closer in the direction of the spirit beast that was hiding in the dark.

As Amon expected, Lin Sora was not aware of the hidden danger, and the weasel attacked once Lin Sora was within range.

But why was there only one Greasy Horned Weasel? The description on the mission board indicated that this was a pack animal. There usually was more than one in a lair. What Amon didn't know was that the lair had been abandoned, but one of the weasel offsprings had gotten left behind. It had been surviving on its own and had developed a very cautious nature. It was very good at hiding and had avoided detection when the previous hunters came. Those hunters then declared the lair empty while in fact there was still one Greasy Horned Weasel inside.

It only came out now after smelling blood within its lair. The blood was from Lin Lang and Lin Bu. Still, its cautious nature made it stay hidden. Only after sensing the two still alive ones were not that strong that it decided to strike when one of them got near.