Rise of The Demon General
Chapter 241. The Mission is Over

Chapter 241: Chapter 241. The Mission is Over

"Move aside, kid!" Gao Xi exclaimed.

He was the first to attack. He lunged, and his steel chains shot out. They went directly to Amon. Amon used Lingering Shade Stride and moved away. The steel chains shot past his afterimage and went towards the pursuing Jue Ogre behind him.

Gao Xi was advancing with his steel chains. He harrumphed when he went past Amon. "Hmph!"

Amon replied with a slight smile.

The Jue Ogre did not slow despite the advancing steel chains. It put its two arms to the front. The bladed ends of the steel chains stabbed into the massive arms. The blades could only pierce the skin a little. No blood was drawn.

The Jue Ogre waved its arms to swipe the chains away, but the chains were as if alive. They swirled, and before it knew it, the steel chains coiled around its body. It was like a mummy. But instead of being wrapped in bandages, it was wrapped in chains.

The chains were also wrapping its legs. It couldn’t run anymore. Its momentum caused it to lunge forward and fall face-first into the ground.

Gao Xi didn’t waste time. He activated his metal-element arcane art. Tiny blades revolved around his chains, sawing the target bound by his chains. Yet, the Jue Ogre’s skin was very hard. The tiny blades were unable to saw through. Sparks were produced by the friction. It was like a firework where the Jue Ogre was lying.

"Graahhh...!!!" The Jue Ogre roared. The muscles in its body bulged, showing all the veins.

Consecutive clanging sounds were heard as the steel chains started to break. The broken steel chains flew everywhere. The shockwave even made Gao Xi move a step back.

Gao Xi was flabbergasted. He couldn’t believe a higher superior beast broke his steel chains.

Yong Ling had also acted when Gao Xi incapacitated the Jue Ogre. She jumped high into the air with the help of the trees around her. Up there, tongues of flame gathered at the tip of her spear. The flames swirled around the spear like a small hurricane while the tip flared brightly.

She then thrust the spear down. She shot down with her spear like a blazing comet, straight at the Jue Ogre who had just freed itself.

The Jue Ogre felt the incoming heat. It tried to move away, but the blazing comet was too fast. The blazing comet crashed into the ground. A spiraling pillar of fire sprouted from the point of impact. The flames spread everywhere and started burning the nearby trees.

The Jue Ogre was seen inside the sea of fire. It was still alive. However, it had lost one arm.

The Jue Ogre looked at its lost arm. It then turned to Yong Ling and Gao Xi, before finally looking at Amon. Its gaze stayed the longest on Amon. It was probably wondering if getting the Primordial Blue Lotus back was worth risking its life.

It finally turned around and fled.

Yong Ling didn’t give chase. Her condition was not good. She was wounded and had spent a lot of aether in the previous battle. She had gambled her remaining energy in the arcane art just now, in the hope of killing the Jue Ogre with one hit. Sadly, she missed.

The one who had the chance to slay the Jue Ogre was Gao Xi. He hadn’t wasted much energy. Yong Ling was doing much of the fight in the previous battle. However, his weapon had been broken. He could still win if he fought the Jue Ogre who had lost one arm, but he was not in the mood.

After the Jue Ogre fled, Gao Xi turned to Amon and asked, "Kid! Where is Xian Mei? Where are Gao Xiong and the others?"

Amon faked a sad expression. "Senior Xian Mei was slain by that Jue Ogre. She got jumped by the beast. I have no choice but to run."

"You left her?" Gao Xi asked with a condemning tone.

"I’m sorry, but if I stayed, I would have died as well," Amon faked a guilty expression.

"Teacher Xi, please don’t blame him," Yong Ling said. "No one expected to find a Jue Ogre here. There are even more than one. We could have lost all the students at worst."

"Thank you, teacher Yong Ling. You are truly understanding," Amon bowed at Yong Ling. When he turned away, he gave Gao Xi another slight smile.

Gao Xi knew Amon was pretending, but it still angered him when he saw that smile. He barked, "I asked you before! What about Gao Xiong and the others?"

"I don’t know," Amon faked innocence. "They are not in my team. I never saw them."

Gao Xi didn’t believe Amon’s words, but he also could not insist that Amon was lying. He would have to expose that he knew Gao Xiong’s teams were chasing Amon into the cave if he did.

"Perhaps they are still inside the caves," Amon said. "Since teacher Gao Xi is so concerned about them, teacher Gao Xi should go and search for them. Teacher Yong Ling is wounded. I will help her get back to the village. You don’t need to worry about us."

Gao Xi was fuming. This kid asked him to risk himself by entering alone into a lair filled with more than one Jue Ogre and a horde of Jue Apes.

"I don’t think that’s a good idea," Yong Ling said. "Let us return to the village first. Maybe the other students have returned there after hearing the Siren Stones."

Gao Xi nodded. He was still glaring at Amon. Amon pretended like he didn’t see it.

Halfway to the village, the three met Captain Lian Wui, who brought half his squad. The captain came to provide reinforcement after hearing from Wu Di about what happened.

After a brief talk, Captain Lian Wui brought his team to continue toward the caves to see if they could find the remaining students. Gao Xi followed them. Yong Ling and Amon returned to the village.

At night, Gao Xi and Captain Lian Wui’s team returned. They found Zhuan San and Zhong Xia, who were waiting outside the cave, but didn’t find anyone else. They only swept the area around the caves. They didn’t go inside the caves. They also stayed together and did not split up. The Jue Ogres and Jue Apes had a home advantage inside the caves. They could all be wiped out if they fought the beasts inside their turfs. They brought the two students back to the village.

Everyone gathered to have a discussion that night.

"This mission is over," Yong Ling announced. "We haven’t learned the exact number of the Jue Apes, but what we found is enough for the kingdom to mobilize at least a platoon. Captain Lian Wui will send a transmission informing his superior about this finding. As for us, there is no point for us to stay any longer. We will return to the academy tomorrow morning."

"We still haven’t found Gao Xiong and the others!" Gao Xi exclaimed.

Yong Ling turned to Captain Lian Wui and asked, "Can you spare your men to search for our missing students?"

"Sorry, but as you can see. I’m also short of men. I need to prioritize this village’s safety. Furthermore, I will only send my men to their deaths if what is inside those caves is as you said."

"But... We can’t just leave them!" Gao Xi stated. He didn’t care about the other students, but Gao Xiong and Gao Sou were a different matter. Though he worked for the royal academy, he was just a low-rank teacher. His influence still mostly relied on his old clan, the Gao clan. The Gao clan would hold him responsible if those two didn’t return from a mission under his supervision.

Captain Lian Wui said, "I’m sorry to say this, but if they haven’t returned by now, it is safe to assume they have met unfortunate incidents."

Gao Xi’s face turned to a scowl. The same thought was in his mind. He just wasn’t willing to accept it.

Yong Ling sighed. She mistook Gao Xi’s concern for genuine care of the students. She said, "Let’s wait until noon tomorrow. If the missing students have not yet returned, we have no choice but to leave. If they survive, they know the location of this village. Captain Lian Wui will take care of them if they return here and contact us to send someone to fetch them."

Captain Lian Wui nodded. He added, "The army should take a few days to organize a team to send here. I expect them to arrive within the week. I will tell them to pay attention and look for the students when they scour the caves to eliminate the Jue Apes and Jue Ogres."

Gao Xi could only nod weakly. He didn’t have a choice. The alternative was for him to venture into the caves by himself to look for Gao Xiong and Gao Sou. The worry of getting blamed by the Gao clan wasn’t worth risking his life.

*

Inside the cave, Gao Sou was still walking around the underground maze. He was lost. He had given up following Xian Mei’s markings and decided to return but took a wrong turn. When he tried to retrace his steps, he found he no longer recognized the tunnel.

He had been walking for a long time. He had started panicking a couple of hours ago. He figured it should be nighttime outside. To make matters worse, the effect of the Cat-eye Pill had run out, so he couldn’t see clearly in the dark.

As he walked, he heard tiny voices. Since he didn’t know which way to go, he approached the voices, hoping the voices were from other students.

As he neared the source of the voices, he found two small monkey-like creatures playing. He stood there and watched until the two small monkeys noticed him. They screamed in response.

"Hey, don’t worry. I mean you no harm," Gao Sou said. He figured these small monkeys came from outside. If he followed them outside, he could exit this cave.

While he tried to console the small monkeys, he heard other noises from above. He looked up and saw many glowing eyes from the dark ceiling. Several of these eyes dropped to the ground next to him.

From up close, he could identify them. They were the Jue Apes.