Rise of The Demon General

The two then turned silent. There was no moon in the sky, just some stars, so there was not much light. Everything was dark. Not many animals as well in this dimension, the silence was unsettling.

Both Amon and Wei Lun stayed still while focusing their hearings to listen to their opponents' movements. Both stayed that way for a long time.

'This one is not an inexperienced kid. He has the patience,' Amon thought. 'Still, it's not enough.'

Amon was still wearing the soft-pad shoes. He lowered his breathing as he crept silently. In his past life, no one would ever notice when Amon sneaked behind stealthily. As long as Wei Lun didn't study any art that detected one's presence, he won't be able to gauge Amon's position.

Amon headed to where he had last heard Wei Lun's voice.

He crept slowly and took a large roundabout. He was now hiding behind a rock that should let him see Wei Lun when he peeked out. He slowly and carefully took a look. There was no one.

Amon frowned. The boy had crept away silently as well? After a brief pause, Amon proceeded forward. If the boy could move stealthily as well, he should be doing what Amon was doing. Wei Lun should be sneaking towards where he last heard Amon's voice. But since Amon didn't meet the boy on his way, Wei Lun should be taking the opposite direction.

Amon increased his pace. Even if Wei Lun was not an unseasoned kid like most of the others that entered this dimension, Amon still didn't think the speed by which Wei Lun could move stealthily was faster than him. So, if he proceeded forward, he should be able to catch up behind the kid.

As Amon moved forward for a while, he heard slight noises some distance forward. Amon continued to advance but slowed down, he didn't want his prey to notice his presence.

The noises stopped. Amon stopped as well. Amon studied the location. This was near where he was originally at. Wei Lun must have looked over to where he used to be and was currently confounded by his absence. Wei Lun must be weighing his options at this moment. The darkness around added to the uncertainty, Amon was hoping the kid to start panicking by now.

Amon advanced, even slower now. His throwing knife was ready while his swan dagger was back inside his space ring. He needed his other hand free to assist him in sneaking, he was currently creeping with a very low body posture. The knife was ready to be thrown once Wei Lun came into view.

There was still no sound, this Wei Lun was more mentally stable than Amon wished.

As Amon was about to arrive around where he last heard the noise, he heard a sound from the front. At the same time, Wei Lun's figure appeared from behind a rock. The kid had apparently decided to return after finding that Amon was not there. The two eyed each other for a brief instance.

Wei Lun's face was in shock as he found the person he was looking for suddenly came up behind him. Amon was quicker in reaction. The knife in his hand was immediately thrown.

Wei Lun's reflex was praiseworthy. He moved to the side. The knife that was about to stab squarely into his heart ended up at his side. Amon had aimed his throw right at the middle of Wei Lun's torso which provided the largest area of target in precaution that he reacted in time.

The knife Amon had thrown was unfortunately the ordinary knife, not the poison one. Amon would only use his poison knife if he had a very high percentage of hitting the target. He wouldn't gamble his limited ammunition if he was uncertain.

Wei Lun was clearly in pain from the knife wound, but he didn't yell out. Amon was slightly touched by the kid's tenacity, only slightly. Something that looked like yellow paper with red scribblings was in Wei Lun's hand. This yellow paper started shining before Wei Lun made a throwing motion forward.

Another throwing knife had appeared in Amon's hand, but he had a bad feeling about that yellow paper. So, he threw his knife. Instead of aiming for Wei Lun, the knife hit the glowing yellow paper in the air.

Upon the impact, a strong explosion resulted. Both Amon and Wei Lun were thrown by the wind of the explosion.

'A magic talisman?' Amon thought. He had read about this magic tool, but he had never seen it before. There were many applications to these talismans. There were ones that strengthened the user, restricted a target, put someone to sleep, or even exploded as the one Wei Lun had used just now. The first explosion when Wei Lun sneak-attacked him must be using this explosive talisman as well.

He never thought that Wei Lun was someone who possessed such a tool. He had heard some exclusive shops sold talismans but even the basic ones were very expensive. No way, a kid like Wei Lun could have this tool, unless he made it himself. Which meant this Wei Lun was even more talented than Amon initially thought. A high-skilled talisman maker was as respected as a high-skilled engraver and pill master.

Amon was closer when the explosion happened. He had activated Hardened Bronze Body when the explosion occurred but he still suffered a slight burn on one side of his face. He didn't let this slight inconvenience stop his movement. He had seen another yellow paper appear on Wei Lun's hand. Wei Lun had been blown away as well but he was not as severe. Amon hurriedly jumped behind a rock just as Wei Lun threw his next talisman.

Another explosion ensued.

The rock that Amon hid behind was blasted apart, but Amon had moved away from there as well. Against explosive assaults, staying put was identical to waiting for death.

Even if Wei Lun was a talented young talisman maker, the materials needed to create one were not cheap either. Amon didn't believe he had many supplies of those explosive talismans. He had used three, Amon suspected Wei Lun only had a few left. Additionally, Wei Lun had suffered injury from Amon's knife. Wei Lun won't be able to move freely.

Amon took out his small crossbow. A crossbow could hit further than a thrown weapon. He then moved away from where he was. He saw Wei Lun appearing out of the corner, the kid was holding his injury with one hand while the other hand was ready to throw his talisman. But when Wei Lun saw Amon was out of throwing range, the talisman stayed in his hand. Amon aimed his crossbow and fired.

Wei Lun hurriedly ducked back to the corner. Amon had fired the bolt using his bow art, Soul Searching Shot. He had reached the master level for the art which could influence the bolt to travel at an arc, chasing its target. The bolt flew into the corner where Wei Lun had disappeared to. A yell of pain was heard soon. Wei Lun must have not expected the shot to still come at him after he hid behind the rock corner.

Amon jumped up, climbing the upper elevation of the rocky hill. He agilely jumped around and traveled over the normally untraversable upper part of the rocky hill. He came up on the corner Wei Lun had ducked into and aimed downward, but the kid wasn't there. There was a trail of blood though, heading away.

*

On the grassland beside the rocky hill, Wei Lun was creeping away with a low posture. The grasses here were not high but it was dark enough. He believed he would be able to escape if he stayed low.

He couldn't believe this Lin Mo was such a dangerous boy. His clan had marked this boy as a target, Wei Sui had even come to him and asked him to search for Lin Mo inside this secret dimension and kill the boy. She promised that he would be rewarded handsomely if he brought back proof of Lin Mo's death. With the way Lin Mo had killed Wei Lhosa in the tournament, he didn't think Wei Sui's request was strange. Lin Mo had killed that old hag's son after all.

He had seen Lin Mo's fight with Wei Lhosa during the tournament. He thought that it was risky to engage Lin Mo in close combat. That's why he had prepared these explosive talismans to overwhelm him from long range. But after a long time wandering this dimension, he felt it was a pity he never found Lin Mo.

When he found out that the thief who stole the mandrakes was Lin Mo, he secretly celebrated. He would not only get the mandrakes, he would even get the rewards Wei Sui had promised. However, successfully killing Lin Mo was only his wishful thinking. He never thought that the boy would be even more proficient in ranged combat.

He was always a careful person. He was born under a lowly family member in the clan. He knew he needed to conceal his strength until he was powerful enough. He had survived by sucking up to the higher clan families while concealing his talents. No one in the clan knew that he could make talismans. If those families knew, they would feel threatened and he would face many obstacles from them.

Due to this careful nature, he had decided to cut his loss. He had suffered two injuries, Neither the mandrakes nor Wei Sui's rewards were worth risking his life. It's time to split. He would take his revenge later.

But as his mind was devising a way by which he would take his revenge, a whistling sound was heard. Before he could react, he felt something puncture his left leg. He screamed in pain and fell to the ground.

A talisman came up in his hand. But before he could activate it, another bolt stabbed that arm, and the talisman fell from his grip.

In his pain, Wei Lun saw a figure approach under the darkness. The figure stopped a couple of meters away from him. It was Amon.