Rise of The Demon General-Chapter 740. Assaulting the Bandit Base

Wi Zhuang didn’t understand where Amon got his confidence, but he followed Amon to the bandit base.

"Brother, could he be leading us into a trap? Maybe he is one of the bandits," Wi Yin speculated.

"Do you mean he killed so many of his comrades just for the sake of convincing us to follow him?" Wi Zhuang asked. "That doesn’t make sense. Plus, the power he exhibited during the battle is not fake. If he wants, he could easily kill us the way he killed the bandits. Why go through such a convoluted way only to lure us into a trap?"

"Oh... You are right," Wi Yin responded, but then added, "If that’s not the case, then he is surely a madman. Or, perhaps he doesn’t understand how powerful a Fiendish Stage is. He is, after all, a surface dweller. He was not familiar with our cultivation path."

"He is also an infernal cultivator," Wi Zhuang reminded his sister.

"Oh...," Wi Yin uttered.

"Stop worrying," Wi Zhuang said. "As he said, we don’t need to attack. Let’s just watch from afar. If anything goes wrong, we will flee."

"And leave him behind?" Wi Yin asked.

"... He is the one who insisted on attacking the base. If he gets into trouble because of that, it’s his fault. Though I want to repay him for saving us just now, I’m not going to risk you or the others for his blunder."

"Okay," Wi Yin finally felt slightly assured.

The tall tower of the bandit base came into sight. Wi Zhuang and the others landed behind a hill near the base while Amon proceeded ahead.

Several bandits loitering around the outer edges of the encampment noticed Amon’s arrival. The ones who could fly flew up to meet Amon in the air. Those bandits soon dropped back down to the ground, lifeless. An alarm was soon heard.

"He truly goes for it...," Wi Yin uttered. She continued to suspect that Amon had a hidden agenda, but she could see now that he was serious.

More bandits flew into the sky to meet Amon in combat, while the rest shot at Amon using ranged weapons from the ground.

As Wi Zhuang and the others watched Amon getting surrounded from all sides, an astonishing development startled them. A massive number of battle puppets suddenly materialized out of nowhere. Among these battle puppets were giant battle puppets with shapes they had never witnessed before. These battle puppets landed inside the base and fought the bandits. In the sky, many battle puppets with flying modules swarmed the flying bandits. The Great Sun Hawk assisted the puppets. In an instant, the battle turned into a large-scale brawl.

These were Amon’s battle puppets. The ones he released and let go during his escape from Golden Stone City were only a small part of his puppet army. Even the ones he released now were only a fraction of it. As the battle puppets kept the bandits busy, he flew toward the top of the tower.

Unlike proper settlements in Aetheria, this bandit encampment had no barrier to prevent outsiders from entering. He entered through one of the windows in the tower without any trouble. He scanned the place once he was inside.

He was on a balcony. A great hall was below. The hall seemed to be some sort of throne room at the top of the tower. The person who commissioned this tower had a serious penchant for ruling from the top.

His cultivation sense located his target at the same time he saw it. The bandit leader was sitting on a makeshift throne in the hall below. This bandit was looking up at Amon. His gaze appeared casual. He wasn’t concerned about what was happening outside.

"What is your purpose here?" The bandit leader asked.

Instead of answering, Amon asked in return, "Are you Xia To?"

"I am, and I am also the ruler of this place. A Diabolic Stage cultivator like you has some nerve coming here. Do you wish to die so much?"

Amon grinned. "Let me answer your first question. I am here for your head."

He rushed down after the speech. Dark shadows materialized and shrouded his body.

Upon the appearance of the shadow shroud, Xia To’s condescending gaze turned serious. He thought he was fighting a Diabolic Stage cultivator, but the energy emitted by Amon’s arcane art was much more powerful than he expected.

A long black sword emerged from Amon’s dark-shrouded right hand. He was about to slash his sword, planning to bring a swift end to the bandit leader while his opponent was still rattled due to underestimating him. However, he felt a sudden heavy force pull him downward.

This force multiplied his speed toward the ground, but they pulled him at an angle slightly away from his target. His trajectory was altered, and he slammed into the floor due to his increased speed. The wooden floor cracked from the impact, but it was thick and sturdy enough not to break.

Amon stood back up. He felt a tremendous weight pressing down on him.

Xia To also stood from his throne. The two stared at one another.

"I didn’t expect to meet a powerful divine cultivator like you," Xia To said. "Even so, the power I sense from you still puts you below my cultivation level. You won’t be able to move under my gravity zone."

"Hm, gravity. One of the infernal elements. So, this heaviness I felt is a result of your arcane art," Amon uttered.

"That’s right," Xia To said. A disproportionately gigantic maul appeared in his hand. He held the giant weapon with only one hand. "You are a weird cultivator. Why do I sense both divine and infernal energies from you? Never mind. Once you are squashed into paste, your mystery no longer matters."

Xia To swung the massive maul at Amon. The speed at which he swung belied the weapon’s weight. Even so, the maul missed its target. It struck the floor instead. The wooden floor failed to withstand this second impact. A large hole was now created before Xia To’s throne.

Xia To saw where Amon had dodged. His body turned into a blur before appearing beside Amon. His speed took Amon by surprise.

Amon sensed the incoming danger but couldn’t dodge the attack this time. He condensed the shadows of his dark suit in the spot where Xia To’s maul struck. The condensed shadow acted as a shield and softened the blow, but the strike still sent Amon crashing into the far wall.

"Heh, I applaud you for dodging my first strike," Xia To uttered as he walked casually toward Amon. "Normally, anyone with power below my cultivation will not be able to move once they enter my gravity zone. Even someone with the same cultivation level as mine will have difficulty moving, but you can still move that fast. You are indeed impressive." 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

Amon came out from the wall he crashed into. He managed to block the blow just now, but he still felt the impact. Some of his bones had probably cracked.

Xia To raised his brows. "You can still stand? You are even more impressive than I first thought. If you are willing to become my underling, I will let you live. How about it? Not a bad offer, is it?"

"I am here for your head," Amon repeated.

"Hehe. You must be delusional if you think you can defeat me. Have you not tasted my speed just now? The speed is not my real speed. You see, my gravity zone allows me to control the gravity around me, and my mastery is already high enough that I not only can manipulate my opponent, but I can also manipulate the weight of my weapon and my body. See this giant maul I wield? It is as light as a feather thanks to my arcane art."

"A good trick, but it will not save you," Amon said.

"Hehe. I changed my mind. You are too annoying. I won’t be content until I crush you into a pulp!!"

Xia To again vanished before abruptly appearing before Amon. His maul came down with incredible speed. Amon was ready. He slashed his black sword, and the two weapons clashed. Amon was the one who staggered back from the clash.

"What?"

Although Xia To won the clash, he was surprised by a gash in his maul. Amon’s black sword caused the gash. His maul might only be a mid-tier engraved weapon, but it was made from extremely hard materials. The drawback of using said material was that the weapon became much heavier than the average weapon. It was no problem for him, though, thanks to his gravity zone. Furthermore, the maul was protected by his energy. Theoretically, the opponent who was weaker than him shouldn’t be able to cause even a scratch on his weapon. Yet, the gash he saw was rather deep.

Amon utilized the pause from Xia To’s surprise to take out an Aetherium Fruit from his black space ring.

"I plan to consume this after everything calms down, but I guess I need this to score a swift end to our fight," Amon said. He then ate the fruit.