Chapter 79: Resurgence of the Laughing Blue Blade Reaper
A flying Magical Vehicle constantly sped through the challenging jungle-like terrains outside the Fae Region, escaping a horde of enraged Demonic Beasts. The leader of the pursuit was a massive Demonic Beast with an elephant-like head, its aura radiating at the Gold Tier 3 stage.
"Come back here and accept your death!!" the Elephant Demonic Beast roared.
Many explosive attacks, embedded with Ki and Magic, streaked towards the flying vehicle, only to be deftly dodged or blocked by a magic shield. Counterattacks were also unleashed from the vehicle, inflicting further injuries and slowing down the relentless horde.
After about fifteen minutes of being chased, widening the gap, the Magical Vehicle temporarily landed out of sight behind a giant boulder. Various camouflage spells were immediately invoked. A period later, the horde of beasts reappeared, scouring the land, searching for the hidden vehicle and its inhabitants.
"Come out, you bastards!! Come out and face death!" the Elephant Demonic Beast bellowed.
Suddenly, a wide-ranging magic was released:
"Roots entwine, earth hold fast,
By nature's will, be ever cast.
Vine and thorn, spirit's plea,
Bound by green, forever be.
From earth's embrace, by living thread,
Nature's knot, firmly spread!
—Natures Prison, Answer call—"
A portion of the Demonic Beasts, primarily the Elephant-headed leader, were ensnared, causing the massive beast to let out a violent roar as it was bound. Following this, six figures blurred with extreme speed through the ensnared Gold Tier Demonic Beasts (four Gold Tier 1s and one Gold Tier 2). Each figure unleashed devastating attacks:
–
"León Dragon Spear arts: Impacto Perforador Draconico" (Ramiro)
"Nature's Bloody Pierce" (Joe-Pine)
"Two Sword Style: Black Cutting End" (Zoro)
"Dual Bladed Twin Assassination: Execute" (Kageha and Kuroha)
"Chaos Palms: Execute. Bright Brilliant Sword 3rd Stance: Bright Death" (Christy)
The trapped Gold Tier beasts were barely able to defend themselves, suffering massive, near-fatal injuries if they hadn't already died. Christy, specifically, attacked the Gold Tier 2 Demonic Beast, leaving a gaping hole in its stomach as it wailed, its blood pouring out swiftly.
Shocked by such a swift and massive counterattack from these masked figures—all wearing laughing masks and cloaked in blue robes—the Elephant-faced Demonic Beast utilized all its power to swiftly attempt to break free. Suddenly, two more figures appeared directly before him, and he sensed a third hidden behind the giant boulder. One of the two in front began to swiftly chant an incantation, filled with a Gold Tier aura. The Elephant Demonic Beast sensed it was a rather powerful incantation, judging by how long it seemed to take to chant. In that dire moment, the Elephant Demonic Beast finally broke through its binding, only to be met with a powerful sword skill laced with Ki and Magic:
"White Star, Blue Lightning: Slash"
And just like that, the Elephant-faced Demonic Beast was heavily knocked away, a stinging blue lightning-filled sword slash diagonally across its body, as it crashed into various Demonic Beasts in its path. Not long after, the incantation from the person who came out with the first figure ended. The six figures who had attacked the Demonic Beasts earlier swiftly retreated as white flaming magic began to spread throughout the area, engulfing many Demonic Beasts. To make matters worse, more widespread binding magic was utilized, making it harder for them to escape and defend against the white flames.
"Arrgghh!!! I will kill you! Every single one of you!! Laughing Blue Blade Reaper, mark my words!!" screamed the Elephant Demonic Beast.
"Let's get out of here quickly, guys," Elton said.
They all hopped back into the Magical Vehicle, taking off after collecting some war spoils from the carcasses.
"Whew, another close call. Seriously, Madame Aeloria really did come up with quite the plan," Ramiro said, beads of sweat pouring down his face.
"Indeed. The Laughing Blue Blade Reaper, eh? Haha, Elton, we unexpectedly have quite a few hidden supporters thanks to this old fame of yours," Joe-Pine laughed.
"Ugh, please don't get me started, Joe," Elton said with a bitter sigh.
"Brother Elly is really so cool, though!!"
"Right? El Onyem is so cool! So natural with it, so of course he'll obtain fans!" Shayleaf and Erica both praised simultaneously.
Three weeks had passed since Aeloria and the Fanged Elf Royals suggested they do something like this, without straying too far from the Fae Region if possible. The forces throughout the Fae Region had started to mount an offense against the encroaching threats that were growing in number. Elton's group, in particular, was tasked with three things: fight together as a special forces unit under the guise of the Laughing Blue Blade Reaper persona, leave ways for either their sects or clans to be able to swiftly locate them, and move rapidly between random areas across the land to decrease the chances of being targeted.
Up above, flying atop two four-winged Faery Ducks, barely visible due to camouflage magic, sat a squad of Fanged Elven soldiers. Jewleaf was their commander. As he looked down from above, following the movements of Codenamed: Laughing Blue Reapers, he couldn't help but sigh, smiling at their exploits thus far.
"Those guys seriously have some amazing chemistry… Hehehe, that's my little Shay! Seriously, a squad full of Gold Tier cultivators, even if they are just Gold Tier 1s, is incredible. Especially when they are all far more capable than a typical Gold Tier 1."
"Hahaha, no doubt about it, Captain Jewleaf. I think they may even be better than us overall as a group!" said a lean yet brawny Fanged Elf with a chrome-colored burn scar on the side of his face.
"Heh, indeed, and that's why we will remain moving simply as emergency support scouts while relaying information back to the Kingdom."
In a region further away, an alliance of seven sects and clans had taken over the lands and thoroughly suppressed any opposition. Among them were the Bright Brilliant Blade Sect, the Aka Boshi no Tengan Clan, the Soloman Clan, the Iron Fang Sect, and the Great Brawlman Sect. Perhaps due to far too many aligning interests, these seven sects and clans, in particular, naturally allied themselves completely. There were also other sects outside of those seven who loosely aligned themselves with them, especially due to the more well-known might of the Bright Brilliant Blade Sect. Among the sects and clans here, the most overbearing and impatient were the two clans: Aka Boshi no Tengan and the Soloman Clan. Their top priorities were to track down and rescue Christy and Erica. The Bright Brilliant Blade Sect, as well as the Great Brawlman Sect, had to try and keep reigns over both of these clans to prevent them from recklessly going wild. After coming to an agreement, they created a platoon of scouts specifically for the rescue mission. This group was full of young geniuses led by the Bright Brilliant Blade Sect Elder who had once come to the Bright Blade Sect to recruit and take on the mission in the Stone Forest during Elton and Zoro's first year.
Among this group of young geniuses were individuals familiar with Elton's group, such as Shia and the two Gold Tier clan members who had come to aid Elton on Christy's behalf back then, John Soloman and various other Soloman Clan members, Prince Hunter Helmsley and the two disciples who followed him the most, and even the Demi-human Nahjer and the female disciple who followed him around, Mykuna.
One of the scouts, part of the group, came running back from a distance and gave a report. "I've received some intel that just might be related to our targets."
"Oh? Do tell," said the Elder. The others quickly gathered around to listen to the report.
"While I can't really confirm it, there's this rumor going around about a group of masked individuals calling themselves the Laughing Blue Reapers, led by one person called the Laughing Blue Blade Reaper. I'm sure you're aware of this by now, but they've swiftly become infamous and have even gained a following that claims to be moving on their behalf. With that said, recently they've been involved in a battle against a horde of Demonic Beasts, with the strongest being at Gold Tier 3, apparently. Perhaps because of how strong the opponents were, even though they crushed them, the strongest Demonic Beast lived and even spilled info on the abilities he witnessed… one in particular stood out."
He then looked at the Soloman clan experts and continued. "Corrosive white flames… But that doesn't mean that it's her."
"That right there is good enough for a lead, whether it's Lady Erica or not. We must personally go and confirm it ourselves! But if it was her, why would she be…"
"Enough. Give me all the details you've managed to hear about that person and the others," said the Elder.
"Understood."
As he continued to reveal all the available information, while they were still uncertain, they had a strong feeling there was at least a 50% or higher chance that the ones they were looking for were in that group.
"Blue Blade Reaper… Blue Blade, huh. Hmm. And then there was the equally infamous Double Black Blades Reaper… There's no way this can just be a coincidence," murmured Shia as two individuals rapidly came to her mind. Nearby, Prince Hunter also had similar thoughts in his mind.