Rise of The Demon General

Xou Liang helped tie the Primeval Scortaur down before he asked Amon his question. "Why are we capturing this spirit beast? Isn’t our mission to find those humanoid Cryanids?"

"We will do that. Encountering this beast is a lucky encounter. I cannot waste it."

"Lucky encounter...?" Xou Liang turned to Xin Wa’s corpse. No sane man would call this a lucky encounter.

Looking at Xin Wa reminded him of their other surviving comrade. "Zhan An! He ran that way!" He exclaimed.

"He is gone. If you want to look for him, I won’t stop you, but I will consider you gone as well," Amon responded.

Xou Liang stared at Amon in disbelief. How could this man be so heartless? Now that he had a good look, he realized this was probably Amon’s true nature. He had mistaken Amon for a heroic man because he had helped save Defunct Edge City.

It took ten runic chains to restrain the Primeval Scortaur. It wriggled around, trying to break free. If it were in full power, even these many chains wouldn’t suffice. Amon removed the small knives sticking in the Scortaur’s unarmored flesh, daubed them with more Endless Slumber Poison, and stabbed them into the exposed flesh again.

The Primeval Scortaur shook angrily from the stab, but its struggle soon lessened. The additional dose of the poison worked wonders on the weakened beast. The Titan Battle Puppet finally stopped holding the tail, which had been secured to the Scortaur’s side with runic chains.

"What are we going to do with it?" Xou Liang asked.

"You are not doing anything. Stay guard here with this battle puppet," Amon answered.

Amon took out a metal box from his black space ring. He put the box on the ground. It opened, and a portal appeared above it.

The Titan Battle Puppet stood guard beside the portal. Amon summoned a few more battle puppets and spread them around the cave to help with the sentry duty.

Xou Liang cursed within. Amon had so many battle puppets. Why didn’t he use them when they entered the misty border? Those puppets could have served as scouts, preventing many unnecessary losses on their side.

Xou Liang didn’t know that in Amon’s mind, losing the battle puppets was a more regrettable loss. Xou Liang’s team was expendable minions to Amon. They served better as scouts and baits than his battle puppets.

Amon picked the bound Primeval Scortaur. He turned to Xou Liang and warned, "Do not come in," before disappearing into the portal.

’Tch!’ Xou Liang truly regretted his decision to aid Amon in this mission now. The man was far from what he thought. He doubted Amon’s drive in doing this mission was anything grand like helping the citizens of the Mercy Faction. Nevertheless, it was too late to back away now. He was too deep inside uncharted territory.

He sat cross-legged and ate a recovery pill. He looked around. Aside from the broken giant puppet, all the other puppets appeared low-grade. He doubted they could do much if a spirit beast in this area attacked. Even so, they served as useful warning tools. Considering that, he used a recovery art to speed up his healing.

*

The box that summoned the portal was Yuka’s old prison box. The pocket dimension contained within the box possessed many rooms. Amon entered the room that had previously restrained Yuka. The words of power in that room were designed to imprison a strong being.

Amon put the bound Primeval Scortaur within the prison formation. He then went to the control panel and activated it. A chain of light came out from the formation’s center and stabbed into the Primeval Scortaur. The already weakened spirit beast was further weakened.

Amon administered another dose of Endless Slumber Poison, just to make sure, before he left the room. He went to a neighboring room. This other room was packed full of strange devices. Many mutated bugs scurried around the room. Dao Su was inside this room, experimenting with a live human strapped atop an operating table.

Dao Su was so engrossed in his work that he only noticed Amon when Amon stood beside him.

"How do you like this place?" Amon asked.

"Better than the previous place you put us. I must ask, though, how does someone like you possess two artifacts with large yet stable dimensions?"

"That’s none of your business," Amon answered. Amon moved Dao Su here after he requested live humans. Live captives couldn’t be kept inside the black space ring against their will, but this prison box could. When Zee Whang heard about it, he also requested to move here. He occupied another room nearby.

"I rarely get a visit from you unless you want something," Dao Su said. "Out with it. What do you want?"

"I want a body alteration," Amon answered.

"Ho... I always wonder when you will ask for that. Alright, which part do you want to alter, and do you have an idea what kind of alteration you want? Or will you let me choose for you?

Instead of answering, Amon gestured for Dao Su to come with him. Dao Su followed with curious interest. When they entered the main prison room, his interest quadrupled.

"Hoho! A lower primordial beast! Fascinating, simply fascinating!" Dao Su’s eyes went wide when he realized the Primeval Scortaur was still alive.

"I remember you said using the part of a live subject increases the success chance," Amon said after seeing Dao Su’s reaction.

"It is. Marvelous! This is going to be fun... Hey, but are you sure it is truly restrained?"

"It is. The restraining enchantment in this room is top-notch. If you need more assurance, take these." Amon handed Dao Su several vials of liquid. "This is the poison I used to put the Great Sun Hawk to sleep. Administer it regularly to keep the beast sedated."

Dao Su nodded and collected the vials.

"Anything else you need?" Amon asked.

"Can you stay here throughout the process?" Dao Su asked back.

"No."

"Well, I will need a lot of your blood and some flesh for preliminary tests. However, when it is time for the assimilation process, you will need to spare some hours, probably half a day."

"Very well. Do it."

Dao Su brought Amon back to his workroom. Using his devices there, he collected Amon’s blood and cut a large piece of flesh from Amon’s thigh. Amon felt dizzy due to blood loss. He ate a recovery and regrowth pill after the process.

"I will probably need you to come over to do some tests when needed. That will probably involve getting more blood and flesh. How can I contact you?"

Different from when Dao Su was in the black space ring, he couldn’t contact Amon at will from this place.

Amon summoned a battle puppet and had it stay with Dao Su. "Tell this puppet if you need me. If I can, I will come."

Dao Su nodded his understanding. He performed a few preliminary tests on Amon’s body, as well as asking Amon for the specifics of the part he wanted for his alteration. After Dao Su got everything he required, Amon left the room.

He didn’t immediately leave the dimension. He visited Zee Whang’s workshop.

Unlike Dao Su, Zee Whang noticed Amon the second he entered. That was because a worker puppet at the entrance notified Zee Whang when Amon came.

"What do you want?" Zee Whang asked curtly.

Amon studied what Zee Whang was doing. "Building another Supreme Puppet?" Amon asked.

Amon could see the framework of something large that resembled a humanoid form.

"What is it to you? Do you have an objection?"

"No. Do whatever you like. However, don’t forget to pay the rent by supplying me with high-quality battle puppets."

"Give me more resources, then. I can only build a few with so few resources."

Amon chuckled. "Are you sure it is not because you smuggled a large portion of the resources for your personal project?"

"I consider it payment for my service."

"Well, you should balance the payment you took with equally valuable service. Otherwise, you won’t like me as an unhappy customer. Speaking of which, I need you to prioritize a service."

"What service?" Zee Whang asked, but Amon signaled for him to wait.

Outside, the Titan Battle Puppet picked up its severed arm and entered the portal. Xou Liang was surprised by it. He wondered what had happened inside the portal. He approached it, but a battle puppet came and blocked his path. He could easily overpower this battle puppet, but he chose not to. That would put him in a confrontation with Amon. Inside this misty border, he couldn’t afford that yet.

The Titan Battle Puppet entered Zee Whang’s workroom.

"Bloody hell! Didn’t I give you this puppet not long ago?" Zee Whang cursed. "Can’t you appreciate other people’s creations?"

"A battle puppet’s purpose is to do combat. It is because I appreciate it that I pit it against a strong opponent."

"Tch! Whatever. Leave it here. I will fix it up... No, I will make it even better!" Zee Whang announced.

Amon grinned. "I will hold your word for it."