CHAPTER 497: CHAPTER 497. LOW-TIER RUNIC BATTLE PUPPETS

Pan Lohuan and the seven people in black suits were shocked to find so many battle puppets suddenly around them. With so many of these battle puppets, their ambush preparation became void. Some battle puppets even landed right next to their hiding places. With one battle puppet sighting them, the others also knew their positions.

They immediately used their martial arts and arcane arts to destroy the puppets that landed near them. They destroyed one, but more than ten were rushing towards them, and many more were following from behind.

The battle puppets didn’t go for the cultivators first. They went for the Swift Spirit Swallows. Without their rides, cultivators at the Transformation Stage were stuck to the ground. The swallows didn’t stand a chance because the appearance of the battle puppets was too unexpected.

Outnumbered so badly, the black-suited people were quickly overwhelmed. Only three among them with cultivation at the Martial Realm could escape the onslaught. Pan Lohuan and the leader of the black suit group flew up to escape from getting ganged up by the battle puppets. Another one with the Beginning Mystic Stage cultivation also flew up. However, his flight didn’t pass the tree canopies.

Something fast zoomed in his direction when he was still watching the battle puppets below. Some of these battle puppets were equipped with ranged weapons. They were shooting metal darts and bullets at him. He was busy blocking these ranged attacks. Thus, he was late to react to an ambush from behind.

This ambush came from Lin Li. She was hiding among the tree’s branches and was targeting the Beginning Mystic Stage cultivator. Thanks to her excellent concealment ability, she was already upon her target when the black suit cultivator sensed her approach.

The black suit cultivator was using his art to block the puppet’s ranged attacks from below. His back was undefended, and Lin Li’s claws sliced deep into him. Lin Li then kicked him and sent him back to the ground, where he was grabbed by the battle puppets and mercilessly pounced to death.

Only two people escaped out of the woods by flying. Amon greeted them using his flying knives.

Pan Lohuan sensed the attacks. He waved his arm, which generated a strong turbulence that swept the knives away. He was about to scold Amon, but the leader of his rescuers beat him to it.

"You, bastard! You will pay for the death of my people!"

Amon recognized the voice. "This voice... You are Gao Tien!"

The black suit leader’s gesture showed that he was surprised Amon recognized his voice. He removed his mask, and Amon’s guess proved to be correct.

"How do you remember my voice...? I don’t remember we interacted much in the past," Gao Tien asked.

"I will remember even if we interacted only once," Amon replied. "You have the guts to save the rebels. Do you know how severe your punishment will be? Your entire clan will be suspected of associating with the rebels and punished for this!"

"... No one will know because you won’t leave this place alive," Gao Tien stated.

"You are pretty confident for someone who has just lost his entire team," Amon returned.

"You might have surprised me with so many battle puppets, but they can’t help you if they can’t fly. You won’t win in a fight against me and Master Pan!"

"I can leave. You no longer have your ride. None of you will be able to catch me," Amon said, which caused Gao Tien to frown nervously.

"He won’t leave," Pan Lohuan said. "If he leaves, he will lose me, which means he and the thirteenth prince failed their objective. Am I right, Colonel?"

"... You are not wrong," Amon replied.

"Well, then. What are we waiting for?" Pan Lohuan uttered.

"Hold! Let me ask some questions first," Amon called. Pan Lohuan, who was about to lunge, paused after hearing Amon’s request.

Pan Lohuan looked in the direction where they came from before saying, "Want to waste our time for your reinforcement to arrive? Hmph! Don’t say I’m not kind. I will give you the chance to ask one question."

"My question is for Gao Tien," Amon said. "From your expressions, I can tell you two didn’t know one another, at least not personally. Hence, I assume the Gao Clan doesn’t affiliate with the rebels. Considering the resources you have used, those flying black battle puppets and the barrier talisman, I have a strong belief you are tasked by someone powerful to foil us from completely eradicating the rebels. Who do you work for? The crown Prince Huang Zi or Princess Huang Er?"

Amon’s words made Pan Lohuan frown and glance at Gao Tien.

"Fuck you! Don’t think I will tell you anything," Gao Tien replied.

"Hehe, you don’t need to," Amon said. "The way you responded tells me all I need to know. My suspicion is correct. I can investigate by myself who your master is."

"You can’t investigate anything because you will die here!" Gao Tien exclaimed. He used a movement art that caused an explosion in the air. He shot at high speed toward Amon.

When he was about to reach Amon, another battle puppet appeared in his way.

"Out of my way, tin can!" He punched forward.

The battle puppet responded in kind. Gao Tien’s fist and the puppet’s metal fist slammed into one another. Consecutive explosions were produced from the impact. These explosions caused the battle puppet’s arm to get thrown back.

Whilst Gao Tien won the power contest, his face displayed a surprised expression.

"A low-tier runic battle puppet?" He blurted in surprise. The power he clashed with just now was strong enough to stop his charge. This battle puppet was different from the high-tier engraved puppets below.

His surprise turned up a notch when another similar battle puppet materialized. Both had flight units, allowing them to fight in the air.

"How... How did you hide all these battle puppets? It is impossible you can use enough space rings to stash all of them!" Gao Tien exclaimed. Making a thousand battle puppets materialized from thin air already defied common sense. For Amon to add another two, Gao Tien couldn’t wrap his head around this reality.

"Hehe, you will take your questions to your grave," Amon responded. His Sun Hawk flew away, putting a distance while the two battle puppets advanced towards Gao Tien.

A low-tier runic battle puppet had a base power roughly between a Beginning to Intermediate Mystic Stage cultivator. The better the materials used to produce the battle puppet, the stronger it became. With properly installed weapons, it could even fight a Peak Mystic Stage cultivator.

Thus, Gao Tien, who was at the Intermediate Mystic Stage, was at a disadvantage against two such puppets. His only advantage was his high-grade martial arts and arcane arts.

However, the two battle puppets did not rely only on simple punches and kicks.

A flight unit for a battle puppet required rare materials to produce. Hence, only a small portion of Amon’s battle puppet army possessed flight units. All high-tier engraved battle puppets installed with flight units could only perform simple physical attacks because a flight unit consumed tremendous energy. The power source of a high-tier engraved battle puppet couldn’t produce enough energy output to simultaneously run an installed weapon and a flight unit.

A low-tier runic battle puppet was different. It had excess energy to run both a flight unit and an additional weapon. Of the two battle puppets Amon sent to fight Gao Tien, one was installed with a retractable wrist blade. The wrist blade was powered with energy, enabling it to clash with high-tier engraved weapons. The other battle puppet was equipped with a wrist gun. It fired a small energy bullet containing one of the infernal elements, wind.

The puppet with the wrist blade engaged Gao Tien in melee combat while the one with the wrist gun fired at him from afar. The two coordinated perfectly since they had linked minds. Adding to the fact that the battle puppets possessed no fear nor pain, Gao Tien was continuously pushed back by the confrontation.

Gao Tien looked around, expecting Pan Lohuan to aid him in the fight, but the rebel elder was nowhere nearby. He was about to curse the elder for being ungrateful when he noticed Pan Lohuan riding his light surfboard to cruise at high speed toward Amon.

"Amonnn...! I demand you repay the lives of all the rebels who died today!!!" Pan Lohuan exclaimed when he was almost upon Amon.

"Not today, you won’t," Amon responded. Five battle puppets appeared before him. These battle puppets formed a fence that stopped Pan Lohuan’s charge.

Pan Lohuan was shocked after clashing with the five puppets. All five were low-tier runic grades. Gao Tien, who watched from afar, was speechless at the sight.

Aside from the high-tier runic battle puppet imprisoning Yuka, these five were the last Amon had. He had a total of seven low-tier runic battle puppets in Shi Zi’s battle puppet army. These low-tier runic battle puppets required mid-tier zillium for their power sources. He couldn’t get mid-tier zillium from the Xei Clan. However, the kingdom had a small stock of it.

If only for seven battle puppets, Prince Huang San could acquire them little by little over a few years. This was how Amon succeeded in activating these seven low-tier runic battle puppets.