Rise of The Demon General

Wei Lhosa was rather confused as to why Amon asked the question, but he didn't let himself be careless. He had seen Amon's art which delivered a sudden attack from a long-range. Perhaps Amon was simply making a non-sensical question to misdirect him, causing his concentration to falter. Wei Lhosa snickered, such a petty trick.

He immediately activated his metal skin arcane art to counter Amon's sudden attack. He didn't believe Amon's punch could break his hardened skin's defense.

But contrary to expectation, Amon simply stood at his place with folded arms. Amon was smiling as he gave his opponent a condescending stare.

Wei Lhosa who considered himself superior to Amon was infuriated by such a display.

"I will wipe that smug smile from your face!" He uttered by lunging forward.

Amon did not show any hastiness. He waited for his opponent to approach. In the end, his opponent was still a kid. Too easy to provoke. The guy might have had a lot of dueling experience inside his clan, but considering Wei Lhosa's high station in the Wei clan, Amon doubted Wei Lhosa's dueling partners ever disrespected Wei Lhosa in the duels. By disrupting Wei Lhosa's calmness, Amon had claimed half the victory.

Wei Lhosa's right arm bulged as he prepared to punch, Amon deduced that must be his martial art. When he punched, Amon could feel its powerful force from the wind it produced. It was not something that Amon could afford to receive lightly. However, due to Wei Lhosa's disordered state of mind, it was easy for Amon to predict his aim and timing. Amon was already out of the way when the deformedly oversized fist punched through where Amon stood a second ago.

After the sidestep, Amon sent a lightning-fast Bone Shattering Shadow Fist right at Wei Lhosa's side abdomen. The strong impact created a loud clanging sound. Amon was astonished. Wei Lhosa's defensive arcane art was harder than he thought. He felt like he had just punched a solid steel object.

Even though Wei Lhosa was unhurt, the punch still pushed him several steps away.

Wei Lhosa looked at the part where he was punched. Though not wounded, he still felt the pain. His face scowled into an ugly expression with a deathly stare at Amon. "I… will… TEAR YOU APART…!!!" He bellowed.

He jumped and spun, his legs appeared as if they became three, each of them kicked out from a different angle. It was the martial art that Wei Lhosa had used before in the first match.

Amon had seen this move before, so he was prepared for it. Once Wei Lhosa's seemingly three legs came slashing at him, he also punched out. His Bone Shattering Shadow Fist shot out three energy fists, which accurately hit all three of Wei Lhosa's kicks at their thighs, close to their pivoting points. The punch eliminated the energy carried by the kicks before they were even delivered.

Wei Lhosa was dumbfounded that his martial art was so easily nullified. To his consternation, he suddenly found Amon was already right in front of him, Amon's fist punched hard into his chest. Amon again executed his newly created Silent Swift Shadow Fist for the second time in the tournament. Multiple fist shadows came following Amon's wake before they slammed consecutively following that first punch.

*CLANG*CLANG*CLANG*CLANG*

Wei Lhosa's body, which was as hard as metal, got pushed back with each loud impact. He only stopped after skidding for almost ten meters. The chest where he had been punched had several slight indentations. He felt a little difficulty in breathing as he tasted iron in his mouth. He touched the side of his mouth and saw there was blood on his fingers.

'He gets through my defense?' Wei Lhosa thought with alarm.

Amon, in the meantime, had rushed over again. He was not going to let his opponent take a rest. He was not using the Silent Swift Shadow Fist again, that art wasted a lot of aether as it was still unstable. He needed a lot more practice to perfect it.

Wei Lhosa, who saw Amon's approach, pumped his aether into his two arms. The two arms bulged like balloons. It was his previous martial art, now executed with both arms.

"Your punch might be strong, but it won't be stronger than my Strong Arm Punch!" Wei Lhosa bellowed.

He punched forward, Amon swayed to the side and sent his punch as a counter. Amon's punch hit underneath Wei Lhosa's armpit. Wei Lhosa ignored that punch, it was not enough to penetrate his metal skin. He punched again with his other arm. Amon dodged it and returned the punch again.

The two exchanged punches at close range. Both were not willing to retreat. But there was one main difference between the two, Wei Lhosa's punches never managed to hit Amon, while Amon's ones always hit accurately.

'Too easy. His movements are too easy to read,' Amon thought as he continued the fistfight. Wei Lhosa's eyes, shoulder, and leg movements all revealed his intent.

Amon only counterattacked with a light version of Bone Shattering Shadow Fist to converse energy and also to be able to react fast enough to his opponent's next punch. Even though each punch was not as strong as when he executed the Silent Swift Shadow Fist, the damage still built up.

Each of Amon's punches sent a vibration that shook Wei Lhosa's internal organ. Even though he was still confident in his defensive art, Wei Lhosa was feeling extreme discomfort after the long fistfight. Not to mention none of his punches hit. He was tormented both physically and mentally.

*

"What's wrong? Why can't Wei Lhosa hit that bastard?" Wei Sui, who was watching from the above platform, was getting restless.

"That kid is better than we thought…," Wei Linkun said. "He is very good at close combat fight."

"Hmph! In that case, Lhosa should still win," Wei Sui said. "He has a good ranged arcane art. He has not used it yet probably because he is not willing to admit that he is inferior in close combat."

"Who is that kid's name again?" Wei Yunning who was propping herself on the railing asked.

"His name is Lin Mo. Why?" Wei Linkun asked.

"Hm… I want to fight him," Wei Yunning said. "And then tortured him until he can't speak."

"You won't have the chance. Lhosa will kill this brat soon!" Wei Sui declared.

*

Wei Lhosa, who was fighting down there, finally couldn't let his pride make him continue being Amon's punching bag. He jumped away. His two arms had returned to their normal sizes.

"You asshole! I will end you now!" Wei Lhosa yelled as stretched his one arm at Amon.

Amon, who was about to chase, felt peculiar about Wei Lhosa's stance. He then sensed danger from Wei Lhosa's outstretched arm. A small rock suddenly shot out from Wei Lhosa's hand at high speed towards Amon. It's a good thing Amon followed his instinct and jumped sideways just as the rock passed through.

Wei Lhosa shot the rock slightly downward, so the rock hit the floor further back. Amon looked back and was surprised to see the rock bored deep into the floor. That kind of force could easily punch through his body. It was even stronger than a gunshot. Even if he activated Hardened Bronze Body, Amon doubted it was enough to defend against that rock.

"You are pretty good to dodge my Stone Pellet. Let's see how long you can continue to dodge!" Wei Lhosa hollered as he shot another Stone Pellet, then another.

Amon continued running in a zig-zag pattern. The Stone Pellets' speed was very fast. He was not sure if he could evade them if he only moved after the stone was fired. But he could predict their trajectories by paying attention to his opponent's aim.

He had plenty of experience dodging gunshots in his past life. However, usually, in those conditions, he would have looked for a cover while dodging. This time, though, it was a flat arena. There was no cover. He couldn't risk rushing to his opponent as well. The closer he was, the harder it was to dodge because the interval between him reading the opponent's aim and the shot would become shorter.

He continued to dodge as his opponents continued to shoot. This became a battle of endurance to see who got tired first.

Although Amon moved a lot, he didn't expand much aether. While for Wei Lhosa, although he didn't move, every time he fired a Stone Pellet, he consumed a large amount of aether. This situation again caused Wei Lhosa to feel uneasy.

'Why can't I hit him…?!!" He screamed in his mind. His clan who was watching from above shared his frustration. This fight was supposed to be a short one. The opponent was a nobody, so why did it turn out into such a difficult battle?

Whether close-range or long-range, Wei Lhosa had not hit Amon even once.