CHAPTER 499: CHAPTER 499. SOMEONE WHO ALMOST FOILS THE PLAN

Pan Lohuan was still screaming from the pain of losing his arm. He flew away to put as much distance as possible from those black tentacles still devouring his torn arm.

Despite the pain distracting him, he was alerted by his Spirit Sense of incoming attacks from his back. He only had two legs to use as weapons, so his two feet spun behind him in a swirling motion. The wind caused by his legs swept the many flying knives targeting him. These flying knives were tossed away, except for four that flew back by themselves.

Pan Lohuan’s feet kicked at these four. Upon direct contact, the four large knives shattered to pieces.

Distracted by the Alpha Flying Knives, the four battle puppets managed to get close to him again. His feet shot back and struck the two frontmost battle puppets. He was fuelled by pain and rage. He executed the kicks by funneling all the remaining aether inside him. He no longer thought about preservation. The raw power delivered by the kicks was tremendous. The hard skin of the battle puppets cracked with each impact.

While Pan Lohuan kicked the two battle puppets relentlessly, the other two circled their comrades and came from his flank. One grabbed his upper body. Without any arms, he couldn’t resist. The other one grabbed one leg, leaving him to kick only with the other one.

"Aaahhh...!!! Let go of me...!!!" Pan Lohuan screamed like a madman. His kicks were getting faster. They were still raining on the two first battle puppets that refused to retreat. One suffered too severe a damage. It shut down and fell. The other one managed to get close and grabbed his kicking leg.

Pan Lohuan couldn’t move with these battle puppets clinging to him. He sensed the ominous infernal energy approaching from his back. He channeled his power, causing an explosive shockwave to throw the battle puppets off. Unfortunately, he had used up too much energy previously. The explosive shockwave failed to push the puppets away.

He helplessly sensed the infernal energy arriving behind him.

"Ugh!" He groaned as the black sword entered from his back and pierced out of his chest. He looked at the protruding black sword with extreme unwillingness. This was followed by Amon’s voice from behind.

"Goodbye, great rebel leader."

The black sword slashed to the side before slashing back in a flash. The battle puppets released their grips, and Pan Lohuan’s lower body fell to the ground below. Amon grabbed Pan Lohuan’s head. He would bring back this upper body as proof of the rebel elder’s demise.

Gao Tien, still fighting the two battle puppets, was despondent at the sight. He had been trying to go to Pan Lohuan to assist him but was unable to shake these two battle puppets. Since the matter had fallen to this stage, he decided to flee.

He executed another ignition fist to push back the melee battle puppet before turning around to fly away. What he didn’t realize was how close he was to the canopies of the woods below.

While Amon was fighting Pan Lohuan, he didn’t neglect the battle between Gao Tien and the two battle puppets. He constantly sent commands to those battle puppets by using control talismans. A control talisman was a remote controller paired with a specific battle puppet. It was normally used to control a battle puppet when it was far away. Amon used it so he didn’t need to issue verbal commands to the battle puppets.

Gao Tien was not aware because of this. He thought the battle puppets he fought were in auto mode. Hence, he didn’t suspect the two puppets were goading him in a particular direction.

Once he turned away to flee, the leaves from the canopy under him rustled. He was startled because he didn’t sense anything from there. It was too late. Something burst out of the canopy at high speed. All he managed to do was put up his arms to shield himself.

He pumped energy into those arms to harden them but still felt something sharp pierced into his left arm. He gritted his teeth from the pain as he caught a glimpse of his attacker. It was a large white fox with multiple tails. It was the fox’s claw that pierced into his arm. The claws acted like an anchor, which transformed the fox’s charging motion into a pivoting motion. The fox landed on his back and immediately sunk its teeth into the back of his neck.

"Aarghhh...!!" He tried to shake the fox off, but its bite was deep. The fox’s other claw also pierced into his back, reinforcing its grip.

The two battle puppets caught up and grabbed him when he was still trying to shake the fox. The two battle puppets pushed him down to the ground below. In his state, he couldn’t resist their push. He passed through the canopy and was pressed toward the ground.

As he got closer to the ground, he saw around him the countless high-tier engraved battle puppets waiting for him.

The battle was soon over. Gao Tien was pummelled to an inch of his life, but Amon commanded the battle puppets not to kill him. He was bound using an engraved rope.

Amon stored all the battle puppets before he dealt with Gao Tien. Out of the seven low-tier runic battle puppets, two were beyond repairs, and one was in bad condition but could still be repaired.

Amon asked Lin Li to watch the surroundings while he questioned Gao Tien.

"Tell me who sent you," Amon asked.

Gao Tien stared at him with hatred. His eyes suddenly become resolute. "You will never find–achkk...!"

Amon grabbed Gao Tien’s jaws while he was still speaking. He had seen the same eyes as Gao Tien’s current ones many times in the past. The resolution shown by those eyes was one someone showed when they had resolved to end their lives.

While still holding Gao Tien’s jaws, Amon observed his teeth. He then grinned. He saw a small canister in between Gao Tien’s teeth. He guessed despite this world being different from his previous one, some methods remained the same.

He plucked out the canister. Gao Tien watched the small canister in Amon’s hand with wide eyes. The resolution in his eyes had now changed to despair.

Amon proceeded to feed Gao Tien the Eternal Anguish Poison. Eternal Anguish Poison healed as well as poisoned the user, but it only healed the injury it caused. Gao Tien’s existing wounds were left alone.

Under his near-death condition, Gao Tien cracked in no time. He informed Amon that he acted under the order of Princess Huang Er.

Amon asked if he had any proof that linked Prince Huang Er to this operation. Gao Tien told Amon there was none. They met the princess but were commanded via verbal orders. They themselves were soldiers gathered from independent units in the army, which were not affiliated with either Prince Huang Zi or Princess Huang Er.

Amon asked him how the princess knew about his plan to eradicate the rebels. Gao Tien answered that the princess didn’t. She, however, had spies embedded among the followers of one of the rebel leaders. When the princess learned about the big meeting with Amon as a captive, she knew Prince Huang San was making a move. She gathered Gao Tien’s team and sent them to standby near the hideout. They were to disrupt whatever attempt Huang San’s force planned for the rebels.

Amon thought about the information. Gao Tien’s team almost foiled his plan against the rebels because they anticipated it. He wondered who among Princess Huang Er’s retinue thought up this disruption plan. He didn’t believe the princess as the one who did.

Amon asked Gao Tien, "When the princess gave you the order, is she with anyone else?"

Amon understood the princess needed to personally show up to convince Gao Tien and the others. They were unaffiliated to her, after all. A middleman would have never convinced them to take this highly risky job. Any middleman could say they were sent by someone when they were, in fact, sent by a different person. That’s why Gao Tien’s team needed to see the princess in person for assurance.

"There is... one other person in the room beside us and the princess... A young woman," Gao Tien answered. He gave Amon a complicated look before adding, "I don’t remember her name, but she was a Royal Academy student, the same generation as you."

While Amon was impressed by someone who thought of a plan to disrupt him, he was also impressed by someone who gathered the team for this mission. A lot of profiling on the countless soldiers in the army must have been performed. They needed people who were willing to obey royalty, ambitious enough to take a huge risk, decisive enough to take their own life, and would not be traced back to them if things went South.

Lin Li returned and landed beside him while he was in thought. She said, "Brother, several people are approaching from the East."

Amon nodded. He was still holding the suicide pill in his finger. He channeled aether to activate it before shoving it down Gao Tien’s throat. Gao Tien’s body shook heavily before turning still.