Chapter 98: The Bloody Jungle of Death
Across the Fae Region and far beyond, tens of thousands of bloody red trees now stood tall, each expelling green and red gases that swiftly spread across the landscape. All armies caught within were vastly affected, their Ki and magic energies rapidly corroding. The trees and plants themselves launched wild attacks with strength no less than Gold Tier 4 at their weakest, and Late Stage Mortal Shedding Realm at their strongest. The death toll was increasing at an alarming rate.
But that wasn't all.
Those same trees were also spewing forth all sorts of small, destructive, insect-like creatures that numbered in nearly the millions! Their waves of destruction were paramount as all enemies were swiftly targeted and devoured. Moreover, every drop of spilled blood nurtured the trees in the land, healing their vitality and enhancing their power.
But none of this was even the worst part.
Currently, within one of the Demon Alliance armies, sat Ramorous, his body riddled with bloody injuries. His distorted facial expression betrayed the sheer terror and trauma of the events that had unfolded ever since he clashed with those disastrous, unlucky stars from the White Star Radiance group. No, even before the full-scale war today, everything had begun when he first faced off against that horrifying Daoist Blue Heavens Sword days ago…
Now, half his face was practically destroyed, and he could hardly utilize the left side of his body despite all the various healing and patching he had received.
As he currently stood with a new axe in his hand, attempting to defend himself, all he saw was death and devastation: his allies drowning in the terrifying mist and being torn apart by the deadly trees. The insect-like creatures were practically the icing on the cake—or so he thought.
"Argh!! W-Who are you people!?!?" yelled a Gold Tier 3 expert who suddenly suffered a crippling injury that ruined his leg.
In that moment, the slaughter increased drastically as waves of bloody, crimson-eyed individuals appeared in a suicidal rush, killing everything they could touch, along with the trees and the insects. Worst of all, they weren't affected by the poisonous mist!
Ramorous continuously tried to escape, utilizing his Axe skills and Demonic energy to defend himself and kill any of his enemies. But it was at this moment that he suddenly felt the brush of death. He was barely able to dodge at the cost of his already barely useful left leg being smashed into a strange, bloody angle. He also saw a strange green and red color, mixed with purple, slowly spreading from the impact of that wound.
Ramorous looked at the culprit who did it, and his face visibly paled in terror…
"HOW CAN THIS BE?!?! YOU'RE STILL ALIVE?! NO… WHO ARE YOU!?!?!"
Standing before him was the form of a thirteen-year-old girl who greatly resembled the Fae woman he had held captive and assaulted… She looked too different, but he could tell without a doubt that it was her, somehow! Not only that, but he also sensed another familiar demonic presence within that girl… The Demon slave woman he had also held captive…
The girl looked at him with a vicious snarl as she announced with terrifying eyes:
"You took everything from us, you garbage… EVERYTHING! But… I've been given new life by that demon woman sacrificing herself for our new cause, and by the utmost grace and blessing from our Lord and Savior, Master Farraleaf!"
"You're insane!!" shrieked Ramorous in an attempt to defend himself from incoming attacks, blood flowing from his lips.
"Hehehe, it's you people from those demon tribes and those disgusting Mirehearts that have made me this way… but worry not! My old vessel has been killed, and I have been reborn! Hehehe, I am once again a pure maiden!! Hehehahahaha!!!"
The woman said, a deranged smile spreading across her face.
"But you all must still pay the price."
It was at this moment that something horrific took place. Another grave injury was inflicted upon Ramorous as he fell over and was suddenly bound by tree roots. Suddenly, four demented-looking creatures with flushed faces, clearly in heat, appeared beside him. Huge alarm bells rang in his head as he began to cower for the first time.
"No… You can't do this!!! Spare me!!!" he whined in terror.
"Hahaha, you refused to spare the me of back then and my friends and family, so now I will make you all suffer violent deaths as I ruin all of your dignity in the process!!"
The woman said with a hateful grin as tears slightly appeared in her eyes.
The events that happened here in this area will forever be buried in history, but in various other locations, similar things would eventually occur. The primary targets would always be those from the Mireheart race and those from certain demon tribes, especially the Hobgoblins.
In another location, a full retreat was underway by a certain faction. To be more precise, 85% of that faction retreated at full force back into the Whispering Expanse. The remaining 15% stood within a special barrier in one of the newer regions that had appeared, and there were four Mortal Lord experts at the helm leading this group. One of them being Mortal Lord Groverton.
As they all looked at the far-reaching, bloody tree-infused spell, their faces could only pale with horror.
"This… What kind of terrifying spell is this..?"
"This spell is obviously something that's been in the works for many years for it to be so far-reaching, but this is ridiculous."
"Ridiculous is an understatement!! No Soul Tier level expert, no, I don't even think a Master Tier expert is so capable of this, right?! And what's more, it's almost suicidal for a Refined Soul Tier expert to easily move around so freely with their powers. Their only saving grace is that they are technically still at the Mortal Shedding Realm, but a Master Tier?! And with this level of power?? Impossible!!!"
The Mortal Lord experts here were all shocked while trembling in abject terror.
Among their ranks sat a Golden Lord with power almost comparable to an early stage Mortal Lord. He had Crimson Red eyes, and he was clearly an Elf of the Burning Tree tribe in appearance, outside of the eyes. His skin was a mixture of white and red with long golden hair. His eyebrows were bushy and flared, and he wore green and crimson colored robes with fiery tree patterns. Every so often, tiny puffs of smoke would exude from the pores of his skin and vanish quickly.
The man was special, though, given the sharp, murderous crimson eyes glowing with might. He suddenly cut into the midst of the Mortal Lords' conversation.
"The power of our combined elf tribes is truly unimaginable, right? Just think, if your faction had not made the correct decisions, many of you and your comrades may have perished."
The Mortal Lord experts remained silent with hidden expressions but secretly nodded to themselves. The sounds of yelling, killing, and destruction continued unabated.
In another location, an alliance of certain factions which included the Night's Light Devouring Church faced drastic setbacks the moment the widespread magic was activated. It was such a huge surprise attack that they could barely defend against it, but whenever they thought they had figured out a way to defend and escape, things continued to escalate negatively. By now, all forces began to split up and fall apart as the death toll continued to climb.
Interestingly enough, for whatever reason, some of them began to swiftly turn on each other too while being attacked by huge armies of bloody experts of various races.
"Damn it, what is this magic?! And where did so many of these experts appear from?!" shouted a cultivator.
"Th-th-th-that guy right there!!! You!! Why are you still alive?! I thought you died years ago!!!" shouted another cultivator who apparently recognized one of the crimson-eyed warriors.
"Humph. Don't think I forgot what Captain Xeshatan and his men did to us… I remember you too, and you were one of his men back then. I will now take all of your lives for my revenge!"
This one conversation was practically similar to many. So many revenge stories were brought about by survivors who were graced by this entity, Farraleaf.
Back in the Daemon Region, although the extremely far-reaching spell never reached these lands, its ripples could very easily be felt, which caused the already devastatingly chaotic war here to abruptly stop. A temporary ceasefire among all forces was made. It had also become apparent that contact had been completely lost from the vast majority of their factions, allies, or various other individuals alike.
Seated on a demonic throne in his own territory sat a man whose aura was at the peak of Gold Tier 5. His face was twisting and scrunching up in pain as various rune marks appeared brightly atop his head while smaller, more faint ones traveled throughout his body. This man was none other than the demon Roosell.
For a small instance, his face became a bit archaic as his expression revealed the face of someone who has lived for many centuries, perhaps over a thousand years.
A name escaped his lips as a thoughtful expression appeared on his face as he murmured:
"Farraleaf? So he still lives… The opportunity has come."
Suddenly, he screeches in pain once more as his face scrunches up, and then, after breaking out into a puddle of sweat, he returns to the Roosell he is currently known to be.
"This… Escape to the Fae Region? W-what kind of thought is this? That place is a death trap right now! But… Perhaps it's an opportunity? Yes, that must be it!"
And just like that, Golden Lord Roosell ran straight for the so-called death trap he was terrified of. Interestingly enough, what he did not notice was a fleet of less than one thousand demons following behind him. The man in the lead was a Middle Staged Mortal Lord Demon of the Aetherium tribe. Just behind him were three other Mortal Lords, including none other than Devrak.
"It's as you've said, Devrak. Many others will likely follow along after quite some time, but perhaps this could be an opportunity for our tribe," said the Middle Stage Mortal Lord with mirth in his smile.
Devrak looked at him with a smile that wasn't really a smile, but none of them noticed as he nodded.
"Yes, letting all of those fools spring that death trap and then coming in to take the spoils. I knew something like this could possibly happen. And I also knew that Roosell might have some sort of connection to the Fanged Elves…"
"Yes, yes, you've done well! Let us observe all that is to come!"
And so they continued to follow the unknowing Roosell.
In a certain meeting room in the Kingdom of Brawlmanica, a projection of 4th Prince Hunter was shown in front of a room full of noble leaders wearing serious expressions. For the past few years, so many things had happened, bringing many uncertainties, and the Prince had swiftly consolidated his power in the midst of it all. Not to mention his current strength as a cultivator.
In the projection, he looked on with sharp eyes as he relayed one simple order.
"Heed my orders, oh Nobles of the Kingdom. I hereby decree that these three organizations are to be arrested, expelled, or wiped from our Kingdom if they resist the former two. They are the Anti Brawlmanic Alliance that recently cropped up, the Sussurri Oscuri Association (Dark Whispers in Italian), and the Night's Light Devouring Church."
"Yes, Your Highness!" Everyone Replied.