Chapter 28: The Chase 2
While Meixiang and her escorts were having an easy time hunting their pursuers, Zed was running across the forest in the opposite direction while hearing a horse's galloping behind him.
This entire time, he had been running in a straight direction, and considering his opponent was a Dark-mage who was using a bow, he should be having a hard time using his weapon.
And the evidence to that was-
Tak!
An arrow hit a tree beside Zed. He didn't even glance at it as he continued running, jumping over a large collapsed tree.
'It's this!'
This was the location where his plans would take the next step.
He ran towards the left while his opponent shouted in frustration.
"Where are you going, you bastard! Damn it? Don't you have any balls? Face me like a man!"
Wan Chao was extremely annoyed because he couldn't chase after Zed properly due to his bad horse riding skills, which prevented him from properly maneuvering his mount.
And now, he had just been chasing Zed in a straight direction. He had managed to shorten their distance but an annoying huge log covered his way and his horse wouldn't jump over it.
"Annoying horse!"
In anger, he cut a piece of the horse's skin.
"NEIGGHH!!"
The horse screamed in pain and shook him off.
"Wo-woah! Calm do-"
Thud!
Wan Chao fell to the ground.
"You bastard!" He drew his sword, but his horse had already run away.
"FUCK!"
He kicked a pebble out of frustration, but found out it was harder than he expected.
"Oh FUCK! DAMN IT!"
He dropped to the ground while repeatedly rubbing his toe.
Zed who was watching this entire scene, couldn't help but shake his head in disappointment. 'Was I really running away from this guy?'
But of course, regardless of what he felt, he had to stick to his plan and ensure the death of his opponent.
"You know... you're quite pathetic." Zed spoke.
Wan Chao's eyes widened as he immediately got up to his feet, albeit the other being slightly loose.
"Where are you, you little-pussy bitch?! Huh?! I can't believe you were running your ass off like a little bitch!"
Zed appeared from above the collapsed log and laughed. "And you- you hahahaha... You injured your own mount and proceeded to injure yourself out of frustration? Hahaha!"
"Y-You!" Wan Chao's face crumpled in anger.
He drew his bow and aimed at Zed. Although Wan Chao appeared to be angered, he was actually conjuring a spell inside his mind.
Shuk!
Zed only smirked and dropped down from behind the large log as the arrow went over the position he was at earlier.
He ran while taking note of the shadow that was moving across the shades of the trees.
He knew that this was Wan Chao moving across the shadows while using an intermediate grade dark spell called, [Intra]
It was a dark spell that allowed the caster to merge within the shadows. Of course- it was not as powerful as it seemed because they were very vulnerable as a shadow.
The worst part of it was the shade or shadow they occupy would become their entire body.
Which meant...
[Basic-Level Fire Magic: Ignis]
Large balls of fire appeared around Zed as he felt Wan Chao's shadow sneak up on him.
"SH-"
BOOM!!
It was already too late. Before Wan Chao could escape, the fireball directly hit the shade from where he was coming from.
"AHH!" He screamed in pain as his body materialized beside a tree.
He couldn't allow himself to rest nor be dazed as another fireball came towards him.
Immediately, he melted within the shadows and continuously moving from one shade to another.
He thought he could buy enough time while processing his thoughts.
His expression was ugly while thinking, 'This guy turned out to be a mage! Not only that, but a fire-mage which is exactly my worst match up!'
Due to how long Wan Chao hadn't fought with mages, he immediately assumed that Zed was a fire mage based on the elemental spells he released.
Wan Chao couldn't think for too long as balls of fire crashed into every direction, resulting in him getting caught in the crossfire.
"Not good.."
He materialized from the shadows, but, as if his enemy had predicted his next move, a fire ball was already coming into his direction.
Fshhhh!!
"AHHHHH!!!!"
Wan Chao screamed as he barely avoided getting burned into crisp by that fire ball.
"You fucking monster!"
He finally realized that he had truly messed with the wrong opponent this time. His surroundings were on fire, meaning there was no other shadow he could travel to except his enemy's own shadow.
But that would be asking for death because the enemy could simply cast a spell towards his own shadow and that would be the end.
Finally, he saw Zed walking towards him. Wan Chao's entire left side was suffering from burns. His expression was not good as he glared at Zed as if the latter had killed his family.
"YOU BASTARD! WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU, HUH?! AND YOU'RE A MAGE AS WELL?! FUCK! THAT MEANS YOU'RE A REINCARNATOR TOO... I SHOULD'VE KNOWN!"
His voice sounded hoarse as he tried to put on a strong front. Inwardly, he was panicking while thinking of a way out.
His eyes glinted as an idea struck him. He waited for Zed to get close enough, and prepared to cast a spell.
He wanted to distract Zed so he continued to shout. "I'LL KILL YOU! I SWEAR I WILL!"
As if to take Zed by surprise, Wan Chao got up to his feet and casted the spell.
[Intermediate-Level Dark Magic: Inludicre]
A faint wave of force shot out from Wan Chao's eyes, but Zed's spell was faster.
[Basic-Level Wind Magic: Meves]
This was another weakness of Dark-Mages. Their spells were easy to dispell as a simple basic magic spell from the wind could break it.
As a result-
Woosh!
A gust of wind disrupted the spell as the wind pushed past Wan Chao.
Wan Chao was surprised that his opponent had another spell, but the moment he saw the fire behind him had died out due to the wind, his eyes flashed. 'A chance!'
Without wasting another second, he cast a spell on himself.
[Intermediate-Level Dark Magic: Intra]
His body melted into the shadows.
Zed didn't seem particularly worried and simply killed the nearby burning trees and grass. He didn't want to start a forest fire after all.
As for Wan Chao, Zed knew he wouldn't escape, and was looking for another chance to turn things around.
Because, as mages in a lawless world, they both wanted something from each other and that was-
-
Still remaining by the crashed carriage, the Leader looked at his subordinates.
"Are you telling me... that there's only the two of you left?"
They were both scared, but nonetheless, the two nodded silently.
The leader pinched the bridge of his nose out of exasperation.
"Hmmm... alright. Use your detecting skills as we search the forest together. They abandoned their carriage, it should be easier to find them now since they're on foot."
His subordinates nodded as they proceeded to followed his orders.
The two of them motioned their fingers and gathered Qi. Simultaneously, they released it while thinking of the technique.
[Irradiant Hawk: Vision]
[Pious Bee Seeker]
One of his subbordinate's aura grew as fierce as a hawk while his eyes turned similar to a bird's. The other one's eyes turned into multi hexagonal, similar to the pattern of a honeycomb.
This was another unique power of Core Formation Realm. It allowed the martial artists to incorporate the characteristics of a beast into their techniques.
"This is going to be hard..." Lan'er whispered, while watching from afar.
Meixiang, Jinfei, and their escorts were gathered around as they looked at their pursuer's group as they began to travel.
Meixiang was busy trying to wrack her head for ideas. Zed provided them multiple opportunities, but it required their pursuers to be separated.
But now that their opponents know that their plan was to separate them, and then take them out one by one, they stuck together.
They might have had a chance to beat two of them, but definitely not three.
Tang Xiurong immediately realized this so she spoke to her disciple.
"I'll allow you to use Bloodseeker."
'You mean my Brotherseeker.' Lan'er corrected.
She vetoed it. "Rejected. Always will be rejected. Jokes aside.."
'Hey I wasn't joking!'
Tang Xiurong ignores her. "You're allowed to use Bloodseeker only if you face the leader."
'...But he's a peak core formation master?' Lan'er asked unsure.
"And you're using my sword technique. If you can't beat someone who's three realms above you then how can you ever become an immortal?" Tang Xiurong asked with a matter of fact tone.
Lan'er smiled grimly. 'I have a feeling that master sets her expectations too high for me.'
"And I have a feeling that my disciple is still underestimating her master's prestige. But I suppose, that's reasonable. Considering you haven't reached the immortal planes yet."
Either way it doesn't matter. Beat him and prove that you are a disciple that is worth being under my tutelage."
The look in Tang Xiurong's eyes was enough for Lan'er to know that she was serious.
Lan'er took a deep breath and spoke to the group.
"I will create the opportunity. I will take on their leader and you guys will take care of his subordinates."
They didn't reject her immediately, but sent doubtful gazes at her. They know that she wasn't stupid, but facing a Peak Core Formation Expert despite being a mortal?
One needed to question her sanity.
Even Meixiang was doubtful because, even though she knew that Lan'er had a powerful Immortal for a master, it was still impossible to fight against a cultivator that was three realms above a mortal.
But Lan'er didn't explain as she unwrapped the sword on her back. Everyone had noticed the sword before, but they had never gotten a clear view of it until now.
Showing Bloodseeker's full beauty, everyone around her was mesmerized.
Lan'er held the blade by its hilt and she could feel the faint beating of her heart. Soon, the voices came.
"I want to see brother."
"I wonder what brother is doing?"
"I want to sleep with brother."
"Brother. Brother. Brother. Brother."
"My master has a lot of expectations for me."
"I need to meet her expectations, as the very least I could do to repay her."
"I love brother's pats."
Hearing that her heart was still the same as ever, she felt happy as she formed a stance.
"Back away."
Lan'er said as held the blade two handedly, and started to take a deep breath.
Although the target was still 50 to 70 meters away from them, it didn't matter to Lan'er.
The muscles in her legs flexed greatly and even the ground made a cobweb shaped crack as she-
ZOOM!
[Empress's Conquest: 6th technique]
A trace of wind could be seen from the blade of her sword as she advanced at an inhumane speed.
The pursuer subordinates immediately detected her, but failed to react because she was simply too fast.
The leader, who was the target of the attack, was able to defend himself as he drew his sword and-
Clang!
Shhhhhhhh!
The two swords grazed each other as sparks appeared upon contact.
The impact of Lan'er's attack pushed both her and the leader far away from the group.
Meixiang, Jingfei, and their escorts didn't waste this opportunity and immediately rushed towards the two dazed Core formation experts.
Lan'er jumped away from the leader as the latter stood on his injured horse.
They both made eye contact and Lan'er's eyes flashed with killing intent.
The leader's eyes sharpened as he realized that his opponent was a little girl. Much worse, she wasn't a cultivator at all.
He was inwardly surprised at the prowess of such a mortal and wondered what was the secret behind it.
Plus, the sword in her hand looked unique. He could only speculate that it was a treasure weapon. He grinned to himself as he thought that this was his lucky day.
"What will you do now? Your legs are only capable of 60% usage. Any more than that and the veins in your legs will pop."
Tang Xiurong appeared on the side of the battlefield, she remained leaning on one of the trees to Lan'er's right.
Lan'er felt the earth, the breeze of the forest, the rustling of the leaves, and the noises made by the creatures of the forest.
Remembering this nostalgic feeling, her mind calmed as she faced her dangerous opponent.
Grip.
Her hands tightened around the hilt of the sword.
"Kill him..."
"He's threatening us... must eliminate."
"...I can't die, right? I'm scared..."
"I wanna see brother...."
"Will brother be sad if I die?"
"Yes he will! I can't die!"
"I need to live and see him again!"
Her heart felt like a wreck of emotions, but in the end, she used them all to enhance her strength.
Lan'er's eyes flashed as her opponent began to move.
Edited By: WorthyAdversary