Chapter Seventy-Five: Grim Reaper’s Scythe

Receiving Vilyric’s straight hit of the “Soul,” there was no such expected anger, confusion, or bewilderment on his face. Instead, it felt more like… a satisfied understanding after having guessed it right?

Just as the Priestess was puzzling over what this guy was up to, a man with seven swords hanging from his waist suddenly took a step back and bowed respectfully.

“I understand, my apologies for the abrupt offense, I hope Miss Vilyric can bear with me.”

“Ah? Oh, fine…”

Though still somewhat confused, Vilyric couldn’t be bothered to get hung up on such minor details since the other party was being so sincerely apologetic.

“So what’s going on now? Did you block the Ghost Thieves? What about the Internal Guard?”

Recognizing Vilyric’s prior implied support, there was a flicker of gratitude in Mona’s eyes, but she said nothing more, only continuing to explain in line with her words.

“Actually, we weren’t the first to arrive. By the time we traced the Ghost Thieves’ remnants, they had already been intercepted here. I’ve heard of the leader of this troop—Lan Tuls, the third-generation solitary daughter of the Tuls Family. I’ve heard she’s quite the unique woman, and indeed, she’s impressive.”

“Oh really… This shouldn’t be a trap, right? I mean, they’re not splitting up and fleeing or anything?”

“Don’t worry, Miss Vilyric. Unless there were people who weren’t supposed to withdraw from the base from the beginning, there’s no way they could escape. We’ve basically gotten all the high-ranking information about the Ghost Thieves.”

“Hmm, okay… Do you need my help?”

Still a bit puzzled without answers, but anyway, it was better to wait for the battle to wrap up first.

Hearing this, the blue-haired one gave a confident smile and shook his head slightly.

“With the Shadow People’s number of personnel, we have more than enough to crush these fugitives. However, ensuring none escape will indeed take some effort. But with the support of the Internal Guard led by Lan, as long as there are no major surprises, it’s already a guaranteed victory.”

“Why does it feel like you’re planting a flag?”

Though she was teasing with incomprehensible words that made the little princess tilt her head in confusion, Vilyric knew that if Mona—the Seer—was this assured, then it truly meant there were no uncertainties.

Vilyric didn’t believe for a second that Mona wouldn’t have a backup plan for such an important operation.

Since that’s the case, let’s just watch for now. After all, she had already made it to the scene, and if any unexpected changes occurred, she could still intervene in time.

Initially thinking the Shadow People would be the main force in taking care of this batch of remnants, Vilyric stood by and, after watching for a moment, unexpectedly discovered that the troops led by Lan, whom she had thought were just slightly more elite royal guards, showed astonishing battle prowess.

They had formed a formation that the Priestess was somewhat familiar with: shield bearers in front, spearmen behind, with mages and archers providing remote cover, steadily and progressively advancing, constantly eroding the Ghost Thieves’ resistance.

However, this troop did not contain those demon hunters Vilyric had dealt with outside the mountain at that time. Instead, they were a group of light-armored soldiers wearing casual clothes and white conical hats, wielding blades similar to Lan’s.

There were roughly over twenty of them, made up of both men and women, weaving through the formation to deal with those troublesome enemies that regular soldiers found difficult to handle, displaying high combat proficiency. From what Vilyric observed, their strength was completely on par with the Shadow People.

These casual soldiers didn’t truly use the sword techniques from the “Phantom World” like Lan; instead, it seemed like the latter had innovated a different martial art of sorts, resulting in somewhat lower power but simplified techniques that didn’t require too much talent to master.

So, Lan had actually trained such a group of subordinates?

No wonder she was able to buy time to hold off this fleeing elite of the Ghost Thieves until Mona and the others arrived.

Because Lan was so forceful in her display, the Shadow People, who had arrived a bit later and were still on the periphery of the battle formation, found it difficult to step in, becoming more like a contingent supporting the frontlines.

It was probably because Vilyric had come so close that Mona, deep in thought as she observed the battlefield, turned and nodded toward the four members of the “Grim Reaper’s Scythe.” The latter instantly grasped the princess’s meaning and scattered, heading straight for the battlefield.

Captain “Soul” was still charging at the forefront. He once again drew a completely black sword from his waist but didn’t use it to kill. Instead, just before arriving at the battlefield, he suddenly stopped, knelt, and forcefully thrust the sword into the ground before him.

“Sixth sword! Guide the souls!”

“Voom ~”

The longsword emitted dark, formless waves that, while hardly noticeable in the night, quickly enveloped the entire battlefield of nearly a thousand people in just a few seconds.

That black light climbed up the bodies of everyone within the range, yet it didn’t seem to show any real effect.

At that moment, the next member of the team, clad in a raincoat and conical hat, suddenly leapt into the air. In a strange posture, they balanced on the hilt of the black sword, pulling out a pitch-black jade flute and began to play with closed eyes.

The low, mournful melody seemed to come from the underworld, love-lorn and heart-wrenching, yet it contained some indescribable, strange power. Meanwhile, the last two members of the team, twin girls named “Dark Lotus” and “Dark Spirit,” stood on either side of the black sword, clasping their hands together.

“Voom!”

The “Guide the Souls” sword also bestowed a similar black glow upon their bodies, flaring up like a lit flame. Suddenly, the black light extended and coiled into the air, forming a three-meter-high blurred figure brandishing a black scythe above the Ferryman!

“Hmm?”

Vilyric, observing from a distance, slightly raised her brow.

This is rather interesting. Averaged out, these four could barely qualify as legendary humans; how could they combine to unleash such a level of power?

It couldn’t be wrong; this is a spirit summoning, a lower version of Divine Descent.

Its concept is similar to the little fox from the Beast Kingdom named Meivys, which once summoned the “Death Spirit” at the cost of her life.

The “Spirit” represents the concept of rules and lacks a clear individual or logic, while a God is essentially a “Spirit” that has evolved self-consciousness and become more powerful.

However, this isn’t the “Death” law; if anything, it resembles powers like “Underworld.” That spectral figure wielding a black scythe is the conceptual manifestation corresponding to that law.

Though merely a faint manifestation of the power of laws, it was still quite an impressive achievement for humans.

So that’s what the “Grim Reaper’s Scythe” means; it might have been better named “Underworld Scythe.” The real question is how proficient they are at wielding this power.

Interesting…

Though it seemed like just a sword stuck in the ground at first, it appeared that “Soul” was the true controller of this combined technique standing firm on the ground. In front of the shadow, he raised his hands, as if holding an intangible sword in his grip.

Then, he shouted,

“Exorcise!”

The blurred phantom materialized on the “Guide the Souls” sword and swung its long black scythe.

“Shing!!!”

No gleaming sword light, nor any earth-shattering phenomena, yet over half of the Ghost Thieves’ beleaguered team, especially those particularly troublesome strong foes, suddenly found themselves rigid in that same instant.

After that, the black light adhering to their bodies slowly dissipated like extinguished embers, their eyes losing their light, and their bodies collapsed to the ground, unable to rise again.

   

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