Rise of The Demon General

Chapter 379: Chapter 379. Monster Swarm

”How is it going?”

”What do you mean, how is it going? It’s the same boring shit every day.”

Two kingdom soldiers stationed in one of the towers at Qishurg City’s wall were chatting. One soldier had just returned after taking a short break.

”There is no need to be so depressed. Here, I brought you an apple.” The newly returned soldier threw the apple at his partner.

”Thanks. I guess I can say it is slightly less boring now,” his partner said.

”What do you expect? An attack from bandits? In our line of work, we should be grateful for boring days.”

”I know. It’s just... I guess I miss the time when we were still Royal Academy’s students.”

”You mean when we were bullied by the other better-performing students?”

”Sigh... We should have put in more work during those years. Otherwise, we won’t be stuck as guards watching over the city wall.”

”I don’t mind watching over the city wall. It may be boring, but it is safe. Would you prefer to go with the army to fight the barbarian tribes? I heard our army suffered many casualties during the recent conflict with Kazhan in the North. I wouldn’t want to be in that army, for sure.”

”I get your point, man. It’s just... It’s truly depressing not achieving anything, you know.”

”Just learn to be grateful for your life, my friend. Speaking about the Royal Academy, they will have another graduation contest less than half a year from now.”

”Now that is exciting news. The contest is broadcast to the outside. I hope we get great matches. The most exciting match that I remember from the previous generation is the match between Gao Tien and Xian Yang.”

”That was almost ten years ago, man. Anyway, I heard there are a lot of talented students in the current generation.”

”Yea, I heard it too, especially that student called Lin Mo. Rumors are he used to be the boss of an underworld organization in this city.”

”He goes by the name Amon now,” the soldier informed.

”He can change his name just like that?” His partner asked.

The soldier shrugged in response. He said, ”With his talent and reputation, we might end up working under him once he graduated.”

”Sigh... Now, I’m getting more depressed. I don’t know if I can take it if I must listen to the orders of a junior half my age.”

”Quit complaining, okay? Cheer up. We will... Did you hear that?”

”Hear what?”

They turned quiet as they tried to listen. It was early morning, and the sun was only about to rise. People had just only started waking up, so there was not much noise from the city.

They heard it then, the sound of a shriek, not a human voice. The sound was very faint and very distant.

”It’s from outside the city,” the soldier said. He went to the railing and looked at the distance. The sky was still dark, so there was not much he could see.

His partner operated the spotlight in the tower. The spotlight shone ahead, but its light didn’t reach far. They didn’t see anything where the light could reach.

”Maybe it’s a stray spirit beast. We should report this to the captain so he can send a scout party. Otherwise, that stray spirit beast may harm travelers.”

”Alright, I will go and tell...”

They heard the shriek again, except this time, it sounded closer. It was also not alone. Multiple shrieks were heard. Multiple shrieks that sounded like they came from different spirit beasts.

”What the hell...” The soldier took over the spotlight. He shone it in the direction of the shrieks.

The sun finally showed up. Its light illuminated the horizon. As the light continued to chase away the darkness of the night, the soldiers on the tower could better see the distance. Their eyes widened at the sight.

Far away in the distance were rows of dust clouds. Within these dust clouds were shadows of inhuman shapes. Many were gigantic. Leading in front of the dust clouds were smaller spirit beasts running at high speed in Qishurg City’s direction. Above the dust clouds were countless spirit beasts with wings.

”What... How... Why... Why are those spirit beasts coming here...?” The soldier’s partner asked.

The soldier couldn’t answer. This was the first time he witnessed so many spirit beasts.

When the spirit beasts came closer and closer, they finally understood that this was not a mirage. This was real!

”Sound the alarm!” The soldier exclaimed.

”What?” His partner was still in a state of shock.

”Sound the alarm! Sound the fucking alarm! We need to warn everybody...!!!”

*

The alarm sounded from the tower. At first, the alarm came from only one side of the wall, but the sentries on the other side also observed a similar phenomenon. Soon, every watchtower on all four sides of the city wall had its alarm blaring.

Citizens were confused and nervous by the alarm. This was the first time an alarm with such intensity had been sounded. It was as if someone simultaneously activated every single alarm inside the city.

An emergency announcement was soon broadcast, advising non-cultivators to take shelter inside their homes or the nearest community centers. The broadcast also called for every soldier, active or reserve, to go to the walls and for non-kingdom cultivators within the city to lend a hand.

These independent cultivators were confused. Lend a hand? Such an occurrence had never happened before. Did a war break out nearby? Did an enemy army come to raid this city?

Some cultivators chose to go to the wall out of curiosity. Some chose to ignore the call. It was not their job. Let the kingdom soldiers deal with it. Some, who were cowards, chose to hide and hoped that whatever was happening would go by without affecting them. A few, with malice in their hearts, decided this was a good opportunity to steal and rob.

Those who chose not to go to the wall soon heard the commotion from the wall. The sounds of people fighting and shouting were too loud to ignore. There were also countless inhuman shrieks and roars. They knew then that whatever was happening was extremely serious.

These people noticed shadows from the sky above them. They looked up and saw lots of large birds flying above. These large birds dove toward them, and they learned these creatures were not birds.

*

”Where does this monster swarm come from?”

”Doesn’t matter! Stand your ground and protect the wall!” A senior captain on the wall ordered the soldiers. ”You! Go to the city hall and send an urgent message to the kingdom to send reinforcements!”

”GRAWWRRR...!!”

A giant, green-furred wolf with rows of horns on its back jumped up the wall. With a quick move, its paws and jaws struck the archers on the wall, stopping them from shooting at the spirit beasts below.

The senior captain responded by thrusting his spear. The thrust conjured a powerful drilling energy that pierced the wolf. The wolf lost its strength and fell from the wall. A large, gaping hole was in its chest.

Three smaller spirit beasts that looked like humanoid bugs took the wolf’s place. They climbed the wall using their serrated limbs. Once on the wall, they spit acidic liquid. Soldiers hit by the liquid received burning wounds.

The senior captain made a horizontal slicing move. The move produced an energy wave that knocked the three humanoid bugs off the wall. However, more and more continued to climb up.

Not far away, a huge spirit beast charged toward the wall. The senior captain saw the beast and identified it as an elephaunt. However, this one was almost twice the size of any elephaunt he ever laid eyes on. With eight pairs of steel-like tusks, it rammed into the city wall. The words of power flared brightly. Cracks spread along the wall.

The senior captain turned to the soldier he ordered to the city hall. That soldier was still standing there. ”What the hell are you waiting for? Go, now...!!!” He yelled.

The soldier immediately turned and ran. Yet, he didn’t get far. As he jumped over flights of stairs to get to the ground below, something fast swooped down and snatched him. This something turned out to be a giant crow with four wings. The soldier screamed as he was taken into the sky.

Seeing the scene, the senior captain felt guilty. The soldier was probably so in a rush to carry out his order that he didn’t notice the giant crow coming at him.

The senior captain took to the sky to save the poor soldier. He was a Beginning Spirit Stage cultivator. However, his attention was quickly diverted when he sensed something else in the sky. He turned and saw a humongous bat as black as night. The colossal bat constantly released black fumes that deteriorate everything within its vicinity.

”My God...,” The senior captain uttered. It was a Doom Bat, a Mid Mythical Beast. Why such a spirit beast ventured into a human settlement, he didn’t know. All he knew was he could not let this beast enter the city.

Gripping hard on his spear, he flew up to engage the Doom Bat.