Chapter 95: Schemes and counter schemes
After the formidable magic unleashed by Aeloria and the other Fanged Elf experts was finally suppressed, waves of fear and anxiety washed over many of the combatants.
To prevent their allied forces from losing any more ground, all of the Demons and enemy leaders of various races finally decided to throw all caution to the wind and declared an all-out assault. This, in turn, led to a chaotic free-for-all battle involving all Mortal Shedding Realm experts. Even those at the Late Stage finally began to reveal themselves and make their decisive moves.
The massive army led by the Late Stage Mortal Lord who had previously clashed with the Hobbit Race Grand Elder had already converged with three other powerful armies from the Whispering Expanse True World. After integrating their forces, they caused widespread chaos, primarily targeting either the Fae Region or the primary Dimensional Gate Region.
The largest field army, allied with other Grand Armies from the Celebi Forest Kingdom, was now going all out as destruction and chaos reigned supreme across the battlefield.
There were currently six Late Stage Mortal Shedding Realm experts embroiled in this chaos. Three were Mortal Lords from the Whispering Expanse True World, and the other three were: the 3rd Grand Elder of the Fanged Elf Tribe, the Grand Elder of the Hobbit race (who had fought against the army alone back then), and the Grand Elder of the Sylvanid race—a race of dark brown-skinned people with strong, lean bodies that faintly resembled elves, complete with claws.
The Hobbit Race Grand Elder squared off against none other than the Mortal Lord he had initially clashed with in the Whispering Expanse.
All of the other lower-leveled Mortal Lords were also unleashing their full power, causing widespread destruction in their battles.
Gold Tier experts would band together in desperate attempts to aid their allies, but the danger was at an all-time high, with death a constant breath away.
"Hahahaha!! Why don't you all just give up already!!" one of the Mortal Lords from the Whispering Expanse roared, his voice laced with arrogance.
"Fufukukuku…! I would like for you all to consider doing the same, ya know?" chuckled the 3rd Grand Elder of the Fanged Elf Tribe, a chilling mirth in his tone.
Although they exchanged such words, life and death were truly easily within reach for anyone who dared to let their guard down.
It was at this pivotal moment, in another location teeming with powerful experts, that a huge alert was announced across the battlefield.
"The Fanged Elf Tribe's 2nd Grand Elder is on the move!! He imprisoned Mortal Lord Raekus and various others in a wooden domain, lessening their vitality!"
With that announcement, many powers began to rush in that direction—either to swiftly attack the 2nd Grand Elder and save their comrades, or to aid him and attack those interfering.
This, in turn, drew out even more of the few powerful, forgotten experts from all sides.
The sects from the Red Star Continent, unfamiliar with any of these ancient figures, were constantly caught off guard, while those from the Whispering Expanse True World, though more familiar, were still not completely certain of the full extent of any forces power.
Various deaths involving Mortal Lords slowly began to occur more frequently as a result of so many unknowns and powerful, surprise attacks.
But even now, many of the old experts who were in the know remained deeply concerned about two specific individuals from the Fanged Elf Tribe: 1st Grand Elder Daoist Bloodleaf and Matriarch Sunflowria.
"Damn it, those two still won't come out and make a move, even after all of this. I don't know how much longer we can hold out on this Grand Formation specifically for them," muttered a Late Stage Mortal Lord expert, surrounded by a battalion of other experts forming a defensive perimeter.
He sat at the very center of this point of the Giant Grand Three-Point Vertices Killing Formation. A glowing red plate, intricately inscribed with patterns, floated before him. A powerful aura of death faintly exuded from it.
There were two other experts at completely different locations under the exact same circumstance, each holding an identical plate.
The formation covered much of the land within the Fae Region, with the Celebi Forest Kingdom close to being at its very center.
"Just a bit longer…! Hehehe. Even if they have managed to fight so fiercely, barely keeping the upper hand, they are still at quite a disadvantage," the expert mused, confident in their trap.
It was at this moment that, unbeknownst to him, something very unexpected had taken place that would deal the first true heavy blow to all of the Fanged Elf Tribe's enemies.
It was also due to this that the first step of a soon-to-come looming nightmare would be remembered for ages.
In one of the other areas where a Whispering Expanse True World Late Stage Mortal Lord was supposed to be sitting, there was an army filled with all kinds of races, their eyes glowing ominously red. Each bore sharp fangs.
The ground was a bloody mess of what was once a battalion that had been massacred in a surprise attack.
In the ranks of these experts were also quite a few Fanged Elves, but with a far more sinister aura than what was normally seen.
The Late Stage Mortal Lord expert of the Whispering Expanse True World now knelt in fear, heavy bloody wounds covering his body, his armor ruined.
Standing before him was a certain man, holding the Formation Plate in his hand, observing it with an almost casual curiosity.
His skin was pale, he had neck-length, long red and blonde hair, sharp red eyes, and was suited in black and green enchanted robes.
It was none other than the 1st Grand Elder of the Fanged Elf Tribe, Daoist Bloodleaf!
"Interesting… To think you've all plotted on me and the Matriarch—no, my Fanged Elf tribe—to such an extent… But did you know? For centuries, we've also plotted on you all, with various countermeasures in place. The moment our Grand Queen Sunflowria became Matriarch was probably the end for you people. Now we even have the exceptional Duchess Aeloria and a few others. Most notably in the younger generation is little girl Shayleaf and even Amberleaf… But most of all—"
Daoist Bloodleaf infused his powerful Peak Late Stage Mortal Shedding Realm cultivation, no, something vaguely beyond that, into the formation plate, completely overriding its essence and connecting to the other two locations.
"—We have that young human, Elton whose received our blood and blessings to partly become one of us."
The Late Stage Mortal Lord before him slightly quivered as various vines and branches suddenly bloomed throughout his body and dug into the ground.
His face continued to pale more and more.
Deep underground, a dark gold and red branch connected to the branches and vines that had dug into the ground.
The moment they connected, the Mortal Lord's body greatly stiffened as a look of pure horror, along with profound despair, spread across his face.
"H-h-how can this be??! SUCH AN EXISTENCE SHOULDN'T—"
After making such an exclamation, he went silent, and his eyes glowed a vibrant red color.
His body appeared to have various things crawling inside, with large lumps moving all over the surface of his skin.
After a period of terrifying transformation, the Mortal Lord stood up.
"I… Will… Serve… The Fanged Elves… I… Must… Complete my… Mission… Kill Matriarch Sunflowria? Daoist Bloodleaf? Yes, yes..! Their locations are at one of the other points of this formation!! Hahahaha!!! I will kill them now!"
Right after mumbling such words, he suddenly sped off at an extreme speed, even at the cost of his blood essence and life energy, as he went to attack one of the other experts using the three-point Killing Formation.
Daoist Bloodleaf looked at him vanishing into the distance with pity as he shook his head.
"Oh Matriarch, I know that this isn't completely your doing, but you certainly have a hand in this. People really believe that I'm the ruthless one…"