Rise of The Demon General-Chapter 721. Forced to Flee

"Lin Clan...?" Huang San uttered. He had no recollection of this clan. It took him a while before remembering the Lin Clan. It was the clan Amon came from. Pu Zhang exterminated the clan to get back at Amon.

’This group is a survivor of that clan?’ Huang San thought. He then remembered another thing. From Zong Hua’s report after they gained access to Khode as one of the conditions of their alliance, Lin Xiaolong was one of the members of Khode’s new high council.

"Your Majesty, do you know this rabble?" Xu Bao asked.

"Not really, but I know about the circumstances behind their clan’s demise," Huang San replied. "I will try to talk to them."

Huang San stepped forward but didn’t leave his army. He spoke with a voice enhanced by his aether, "Lin Xiaolong, I’m sorry about your clan. It was my brother who ordered the annihilation of the Lin Clan. He is no longer alive. I know the Lin Clan is falsely accused. I have cleared your clan’s name. Your clan members are no longer fugitives in Echos. I know this won’t bring your fallen members back, but I’m willing to grant your clan special status and resources to rebuild in Echos. Furthermore, you are now a member of Khode’s high council. Our two countries have an alliance. We shouldn’t let our personal vendetta jeopardize the alliance. Can we bury this hatchet between us? For the sake of our countries?"

"I will bury the hatchet, alright. I will bury it in your head...!" Lin Xiaolong exclaimed.

Upon that proclamation, explosive sounds were heard from inside the jungle. Everyone turned in that direction and saw many tiny balls flying out of the dense canopies.

Yong Baili and Xu Bao knew those balls well. "Brace for impact!" They warned.

They tried to intercept the elemental balls in mid-air, but there were too many, and the balls moved too fast. Multiple elemental explosions hit the Echos Army.

"Ugh!" Huang San gritted his teeth. He didn’t want to exterminate the remnant of the Lin Clan, but they had delivered the first blow. He couldn’t sit back and be passive. He ordered Liu Xun, who replaced Jiang Tong during his absence, to lead the army into the forest to destroy the Yuanxu Cannons. As for Lin Xiaolong’s group, he ordered Xu Bao to lead a legion and wipe them out.

"Huang Zen, stay near me! Yong Baili, protect him!" Huang San ordered.

Before the two generals could lead the soldiers to advance, many figures rushed out of the jungle.

"Battle puppets!" Liu Xun said after having a good look at these figures.

"Haha! Do you think I dare to attack without having sufficient preparation?" Lin Xiaolong laughed. "I have gathered these tools in Khode using my position, all for this ambush!"

The battle puppet’s number was less than half of Echos’ army. However, the loser and winner were almost immediately apparent after the first few minutes of the battle. Echos’ army was on the back foot, and many factors contributed to the result.

Firstly, they were ambushed. They were not in a proper formation. The enemies occupied all the good positions.

Secondly, they had nothing to counter the Yuanxu Cannons’ long range. They also could not see the cannons as they were hidden inside the jungle. Battle puppets blocked the way into the jungle. Having to fight the puppets while searching blindly through the jungle for the cannons made the task nearly impossible.

Thirdly, the battle puppets had no fear of being outnumbered. Their bodies were more durable. Unless they suffered critical damage, they could keep fighting. The puppets’ reckless charge threw the unprepared army off balance.

Fourthly, Echos’ army had lost a large portion of its Martial Realm soldiers during the battle with Mu Qin. Most of the available ones left were those from the First Demon Army. Sadly, Khode and Kazhan’s soldiers from the First Demon Army didn’t join, so only a few high-level soldiers remained.

The troops Xu Bao led to fight Lin Xiaolong’s group also met with failure. This was because the people under Lin Xiaolong’s command revealed that they possessed rifles. They had also planted elemental mines on the ground between them and the Echos’ army. Xu Bao’s legion failed to reach Lin Xiaolong.

To the Echos Army’s consternation, elemental mines also materialized in their midst. They didn’t understand why. The enemy battle puppets didn’t seem to carry the mines when they appeared. These elemental mines targeted the Echos Soldiers, upsetting the already chaotic situation.

As the battle escalated, one of the battle puppets headed for Huang Zen, who was fighting another puppet. Yong Baili was also occupied. Before it arrived, a giant sword pierced the puppet and cleaved it in two. The sword transformed into Xin Wuming.

"Wuming, thank you!" Huang San thanked Xin Wuming for protecting Huang Zen. Xin Wuming replied with a silent nod.

"Your Majesty, allow me to aid as well!" Wu Di charged over and slammed into the battle puppet Huang Zen was fighting.

More battle puppets broke through.

"Your Majesty, the situation didn’t look good. We should flee," Yong Baili proposed.

"I can’t desert the army. We will retreat together," Huang San said.

Yong Baili shook his head. "Our army has only one path to retreat to, back toward Saint’s Rest, but the cannons’ bombardment is focused on the middle section of our army. Your Majesty will have to endure the bombardment if Your Majesty retreats with the army."

"We can fly past the river," Xin Wuming suggested.

"I agree. The cannon shots don’t seem to reach that far," Yong Baili said. "We fly above the river and join the army further back."

"Alright. Sound the retreat horn," Huang San ordered Xu Bao.

The retreat horn was sounded while Yong Baili called for nearby Martial Realm soldiers to come. They gathered more than a hundred Martial Realm soldiers, most of whom were Mystic Stage cultivators. With these guards, Huang San and Huang Zen left the ground and flew above the river.

They watched the battle from above the river. Their side was indeed a mess. The cannons’ bombardments truly did a number on them. Huang San’s heart pained when he saw the soldiers he lost with each explosion. While he was lamenting, he sensed something approaching from below.

The water under them burst. Yet, they didn’t see anything emerging from the water.

"Look out! They are invisible!" Huang San exclaimed. He slashed the golden longsword in his right hand. Sword lights crisscrossed below them. The severed bodies of multiple people materialized.

"There are still more! They are using invisible talismans," Huang San informed.

As if to prove Huang San’s words, they saw multiple water bursts near their positions.

"I can’t sense them!" One of the mystic stage cultivators exclaimed anxiously.

Only Spirit Sense cultivators could sense these invisible attackers. Huang San, Yong Baili, Xu Bao, Liu Xun, Xin Wuming, and Wu Di were the only Spirit Stage cultivators in the group. They slew all the invisible enemies that approached, but there were too many. They couldn’t protect the other Mystic Stage soldiers.

"How the hell do they possess so many low-tier runic invisible talismans?" Liu Xun complained.

"This is Khode we are talking about. We once fought an entire brigade of invisible enemies when we were in Khode," Yong Baili informed.

"How did you deal with them?" Liu Xun asked.

"We... General Amon equipped our battle puppets with another Khode’s tool that can detect invisible enemies," Yong Baili answered.

"Bloody hell! Those are not available to us now," Liu Xun said.

"Keep fighting! The invisible enemies aren’t that strong," Xu Bao encouraged.

Suddenly, countless floating discs materialized. These discs flew toward them and exploded upon contact.

"Shit! The elemental mines!" Yong Baili identified the discs.

"Fuck! How many weird things does Khode have?" Liu Xun cursed.

More bursts of water. Between these invisible enemies and the elemental mines, the mystic soldiers were getting massacred. Their number continued to shrink.

"Your Majesty, we will hold them here. Please flee to the opposite side of the river," Xin Wuming suggested.

"I can’t leave you behind," Huang San said.

"Your Majesty’s safety is our priority!" Xin Wuming exclaimed.

"Your Majesty, he is right. The enemy’s number kept increasing. It is too dangerous for Your Majesty to stay," Xu Bao supported Xin Wuming’s suggestion. "We won’t let them get past us."

"We can’t let His Majesty leave alone. I will stay with him," Yong Baili said.

"No. Your weapon had the widest range. You have the best chance of stopping the enemies from pursuing His Majesty," Xin Wuming said. "I will..."

"Leave His Majesty to me! I will protect him!" Wu Di exclaimed before Xin Wuming could finish.

Xin Wuming flashed Wu Di an annoyed glance, but didn’t say anything to protest.

"In that case, I entrust His Majesty to you," Yong Baili told Wu Di.

Huang San flew toward the opposite side of the river. Huang Zen, Wu Di, and around thirty Mystic Stage soldiers who were still alive accompanied him. The Mystic Stage soldiers were powerless against the invisible enemies anyway, so they remained on Huang San’s side. The rest of the Spirit Stage soldiers stayed behind to block the invisible enemies from chasing the fleeing group.