LIGHTNOVELSTORY Chapter 52: Scuffle
Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction based on multiple existing anime/manga series. The characters and settings used in this story belong to their respective owners and creators, and no copyright infringement is intended. This story is purely for entertainment purposes and is not intended to infringe upon any existing intellectual property. I do not own any of the original works that inspired this fanfiction, and I fully support the original creators and their works.
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-Story Start-
The stench of burning flora permeated the environment, only adding to the tense and charged atmosphere of the surrounded carriage.
A lone knight heading the carriage jumped into its interior chamber; his blade drawn and standing guard dutifully.
The panicked neigh of the mighty steads was the only sound that reverberated following the 6th Great Power's threatening tone.
...
It was thirty against one.
Yet, none dared to move in the face of Gojo Satoru.
Even those still hidden in the far-off shrubbery, felt a sharp gaze settling on them.
A cold sweat trickled down their faces, as they displayed impressive calmness and self-control.
Despite how their experienced intuitions begged for escape.
"Gojo Satoru, we are not your enemies." A steady voice cut through the uneasy stillness, garnering the attention of the irritated Satoru.
A balding, muscular man approached Satoru from the middle of the formation of the assaulting force.
He held two short blades in each hand with a tight grip; their steel glistened under the sun.
Satoru's lips twisted into an amused and cocky smirk, "I see, so was that spell how you Asurans greet people~?"
The balding man, seemingly the leader, shook his head, "Our business is not with you, but with the treacherous Second Princess. Whatever she had offered you for your services, our employer will triple." His offer echoed loudly amid the empty road and surrounding forest, the flames did little to muffle his voice.
Tilting his head to consider it for a moment, Satoru's attention was seized once more by a voice from the carriage.
Opening the window, Ariel's face peeked out of it, a serene calmness and amusement on her face.
Kleene's protests went unheard, "Lady Ariel! Do not look until Sir Gojo is done wi-"
Ariel chuckled, "My, my. Elder Brother indeed spared no resources." Her eyes counted heads, noting that all present looked like experienced fighters.
"I'm quite flattered, was this Prime Minister Darius's scheme?" She inquired.
Giving it another thinking over, she shook her head, "No, he might be a depraved man, but he isn't ignorant enough to try and assassinate me in these circumstances."
A wicked grin formed on her face.
"Is Elder Brother that unnerved that Gojo Satoru is on my side~?"
Suddenly, a screeching sound resonated as something sliced through the air with blinding speed.
Ariel hadn't managed to react, but her expression morphed from a confident smile to shock as an arrow stopped just a few inches from her face, floating in the air as if it had stopped in time.
"L-Lady Ariel!" Kleene screeched in a panic as she batted the arrow away with her hand.
A loud sigh reverberated, as Satoru's irritated tone grew and his hand was directed at the arrow that Kleene batted away, "Don't make my babysitting any harder. Keep your head down in your carriage like a good girl and don't ruin my fun." He ordered.
He then turned his back to the 'Enemies' without a care in the world to lecture Luke, "As for you, next time you let her do something that stupid I'm twisting them off!" He gleefully announced.
Flashing an awkward yet practiced smile, Ariel could only nod apologetically, "Right, thank you."
Luke promptly closed the window in a panic and forced Ariel to lie down with Kleene as he stood guard.
Nodding to himself in satisfaction, Satoru turned back to the ambushers.
"You know, you could have started with that instead of shooting a cute fireball." He shook his head in dismay.
He patted his 'Secret Agent Suit', "Tsk, tsk, you almost dirtied it." He clicked his tongue.
Shrugging, he quickly offered, "But! I'm told that I am an infinitely kind and charitable person, so! If you drop on your knees and beg for forgiveness I'll let you go~" He grinned maniacally as he pointed at them haughtily.
The leader kept composure, internally bewildered by Satoru's self-assured and casual tone to his threat, retorting, "Did you not hear my offer?"
Satoru's snort echoed loudly, as he waved his hand, "Yeah, yeah don't worry I heard you loud and clear. I'm just not interested."
"But did you hear my offer? I'm not going to repeat myself." Satoru countered coldly, he wasn't fooling around this time.
His Six Eyes settled on all present, as the ambushers felt the cold and foreign glare settling on their figures.
Muscles tensed as the Leader gulped but raised his hand.
Uneasy determination crossed his features as he steeled himself.
He gave the signal with a loud reverberating announcement, "ATTACK!"
With his announcement, twenty armed men and women charged toward Satoru; swords, spears, polearms, and otherwise drawn with the bald Leader at the head of the charge.
In the back, hidden in the shrubbery were the other ten heads - bows, crossbows, and staves drawn as Satoru's Six Eyes noted the hushed casting and charging of mana.
Extending his right hand forward, uncaring of the dozen individuals charging towards him and the carriage beside him, a palm-sized Blue Orb formed, dragging the very air with crushing gravitational pull into it.
With blinding speed, Satoru flicked it forward in the direction of the ambushers and beyond - the spell casters and archers.
The mages immediately ceased their casting to escape whilst the archers expertly continued their offensive while making sure to avoid being the Orb's gravitational pull range.
Arrows flew at blinding speed in a great volley, only stopped by Satoru's calm expression and extended left palm.
Two of the closed-ranged fighters ignorantly rolled aside from its trajectory - but not enough.
Trying their best to resist the pull with their measly Battle Aura and strength, it wasn't enough as they got pulled in - with a bloody explosion their organs and bodies compressed into the orb, its gravity not allowing the spray of blood to stain anything as the liquid was compressed into it as well.
The Leader roared out, "YOU FOOLS! IT'S THE BLUE ORB! MERELY DODGING IT WON'T STOP YOU FROM BEING PU-"
He couldn't complete his sentence as Satoru met his charge in a sudden blur of a movement, the ground having cracked in a delay at the speed of his movement, "You forgot I'm a Sword Emperor as well~?" His grin was downright sadistic as he teased his superior speed grabbing the Leader's face with his hand.
The Leader did his best to react to try and deal some damage before being taken down, his dual shortswords primed for Satoru's abdomen in a cross-stab.
Only to fail to reach him due to the infamous barrier he held.
Nevertheless, they were prepared for this as well.
With a resonating explosion, Satoru slammed the Leader's face into the ground, ignoring the arrows bouncing off with Infinity as three close fighters tried to strike Satoru at the opportunity of him taking down their leader.
One of them drew out a scroll with a Magic Circle and directed it at the grinning Satoru.
With an arched eyebrow, Satoru rose up and drew back his arm from the unconscious Leader's pummeled expression, looking leisurely at the glowing scroll.
"NOW!" The man who held it roared as everyone charged toward the 6th Great Power from all directions.
No longer were there any arrows as all close-ranged fighters charged toward Satoru, and the strongest fighter with the thickest Battle Aura revealed himself at this chance, launching a Longsword Of Light from behind.
Whilst that was going on, the mages were charging all their mana, and the archers primed arrows for the unguarded carriage.
...
"W-What?" The lone Sword Saint among the ambushers mumbled out in dismay, as none of their attacks, especially his reached Satoru - once again stopped by that blasted invisible barrier.
Satoru's cheerful tone reverberated and sent chills down their spines, "Barrier Disabling Magic was inscribed in that scroll. You didn't come with a half-assed attempt, I'll give you that... But too bad~!" He announced as he suddenly disappeared from their view.
"WHERE DID HE G-" Bewilderment enveloped the ambushers at his sudden disappearance.
Only to be answered by the screeching cries of agony from the distant flora that was unscathed by the ever-growing flame that ate away at the beautiful forest.
Whatever was happening back there, all managed to conclude it was a slaughter happening at breakneck speeds, as each panicked cry of agony increased in volume and ceased an instant later.
"FUCK! JUST GO FOR THE CARRIAGE, NOW!" The Sword Saint among the seventeen fighters left charged for the carriage with a sword drawn, ready to launch a Longsword of Light to slice the carriage and the occupants in two.
Only to be met with an unscathed and undirtied Satoru seemingly teleporting in front of him.
The man hadn't dallied as he launched a Longsword Of Light at Satoru in front of him.
Satoru drew his right hand faster, as he charged it with Cursed Energy, a blue glow enveloping his hand.
Faster than the blink of an eye, the Sword Saint's strike was Reversed by Satoru's superior Sword God Technique - Light Reversal.
And in that same instant, he launched his own exceptional Longsword Of Light at the Sword Saint.
However...
Fifteen of the seventeen fighters including the Sword Saint were drawn by a powerful force of gravity towards Satoru's Longsword Of Light and...
"Longsword Of Blue."
A shower of blood covered the open road and rained down on Satoru, not staining him due to Infinity, as the ambushers hadn't even had the time to compute the fact they had been sliced apart.
Their bodies severed, and a moment later crushed finely as Satoru quickly dismissed the Blue.
Without further delay, he turned his head to coldly look at the final two lucky ambushers who were spared from any of Satoru's retaliations by sheer virtue of attacking the carriage from the back.
They froze in place, a few mere feet from reaching the carriage.
Gulping, they stood still with horrified expressions at the sight of their entire force being dismantled nigh instantaneously by one, single man.
...But they should have expected this.
Tears formed in the man and woman duo, as they dropped their flash bombs, poison canisters, and tiny blades characteristic of North God Style practitioners deciding to go with the wiser decision.
Begging for mercy:
"SPARE US! ATTEMPTING SUCH A BOLD AMBUSH IN THE PRESENCE OF ONE SUCH AS YOU WAS A GRAVE MISJUDGMENT! WE SINCERELY APOLOGIZE!" Their heads dropped to the dirt and muck beneath, uncaring of dirtying it as long as their life was spared, doing their best to stroke his ego.
Humming, Satoru approached the remnants of the ambushers unbothered by his bloodied visage.
Looking down at their pleading figures, he genuinely inquired, "What was the plan here? On what presumption did you guys think the anti-barrier spell would work on my Technique when you don't even know what it is?"
Snorting he added, "I could have easily evaded your little joint attack if I wanted to anyway~" He felt the need to rub salt to injury.
The woman raised her head as she gritted her teeth, "W-We were provided with a lot of information about you and a guarantee it would work. At worst, the goal was to delay you and eliminate the Princess in the process, run away if need be after that."
Silence enveloped them as Satoru blinked, admitting, "What a shitty plan. You guys are just sad." He shook his head in disappointment.
They grit their teeth at Satoru's utterance of the cold, hard truth.
Ariel's voice resonated as she left the carriage with Luke's permission, having noticed that the fighting was over.
"I think you are gravely underestimating the preparation that likely went into this." She chuckled.
Satoru retorted with a shrug, pulling out his shades to finally block his overworked Six Eyes, "They were gravely underestimating me, that wasn't nearly enough to be considered a problem... maybe slightly annoying."
With a more pleasant and giddy tone, Satoru turned to the poor sods begging for their lives, "On that note! A promise is a promise, you're free to go~!" He lowered himself to pat their shoulders in encouragement.
Those hands felt like a titanic weight on their shoulders; as despite Satoru's casual tone they knew from experience it was never that easy.
Noting their frustration and fear, Satoru added, "Oh? Do you think I'm lying? Go on right ah-" Only for his kind gesture to be interrupted by Ariel's voice.
"A moment of their time before we let them go." She offered with a reassuring smile.
In stark contrast, Luke stood by her side protectively with a snarl plastered on his face, whilst Kleene wasn't far off given the subdued fury on her face.
"Are we letting them go? I get the bandits on the way here, they were ignorant but these wretches, Lady Ariel they are-" Luke stated with a cold glare settling on the duo of man and woman.
Ariel promptly ignored him as she approached with a gentle air, her charisma and bell-like voice easing the air, "You don't appear to be from Asura. Are you local Mercenaries? Adventurers?"
She fiddled with the options as she arrived to stand beside Satoru who was glaring at her with a clear judgmental look.
"Anything wrong? You're not one to curb your tongue, Satoru." She smiled at the taller man.
"Your sudden close proximity disgusted me for a second." He teased, chuckling good-naturedly.
The two uneasy duo at the mercy of Ariel's Party could only ignore the casual air of those in front of them; those who so nonchalantly ignored the fact a bloodbath and wild flames surrounded them to joke around.
The man answered this time, "Mercenaries from the northern part of this No Man's Land." He confirmed.
Ariel turned with a smile, "What about the rest of you?" She gestured calmly at the sliced corpses and blood behind her.
"A couple of the others are hires from Biheiril whilst the Sword Saint, Leader and the mages were from Asura." The man informed.
Satoru's eyes narrowed beneath his shades, 'Something isn't right.'
Lowering her head in thought, Ariel inquired, "Do you know if they were stationed around these parts for a long time?"
Exchanging looks, the duo shook their head, "We weren't given many details, but as far as we're aware there was no group this strong stationed long term."
Luke approached, offering with a grave expression, "Even with advance information and our lacking subtlety... they couldn't have mobilized a powerful hit squad and caught up to us all the way from Asura." He presented the facts, his mind racing with options.
Ariel nodded, "That's what I can't figure out. I would have understood being stationed with clear orders or a Magic Tool allowing for long-distance communication, however... is there a shortcut here?" She hazarded a guess.
"Teleportation." Satoru's voice caught their attention as all turned to him.
"You mean to say they teleported here? No Mage in Asura knows proper utilization of such magic and even so, it is taboo that is-" Luke denied the claim.
"Possible, taboo isn't in their dictionary, Luke." Ariel shook her head and stated firmly.
Turning to Satoru she inquired, "What makes you so certain?"
He hummed, stating nonchalantly, "Shizuka-chan circled the world with the help of Teleportation Magic Circles. As far as I know, only she and Dragon God Orsted are aware of their locations."
He dropped a literal bombshell on them.
Luke's eyes widened as he mumbled out, "D-Dragon God... Orsted?"
Ariel turned to look at Satoru with a more composed expression, "Silent Seven Stars is acquainted with the Dragon God?"
"Yup."
...
"Could you find them with your eyes?" Ariel offered.
"Probably, but that's a tall order." He shrugged dismissively and quickly denied her offer.
It's not like it'll ruin the whole adventure... or something.
Sighing audibly, Ariel shook her head and turned to the unnerved duo with a few final questions, "It might seem obvious, but why not strike us when we are in Biheiril or even prior to this place... the choice seems rather impromptu?"
The woman answered with a note of frustration, "Your travel speed was rather sporadic, the agreed-upon location was either here or a two-week distance from Biheiril so that you could not predict a sudden ambush and lower your guard since bandit attacks are less frequent on the roads this close to Queen Marcella's domain."
"I see... anything else? Any other attacks planned?"
"I don't know... I wouldn't let my guard down even in Biheiril, Your Highness." She suggested honestly to Ariel.
"Can we please leave?" The man kindly requested.
"Shoo, shoo." Satoru motioned with his hand for them to leave, the very same hand he used to slice apart their comrades, and without a moment's delay, they bolted out of there.
Their steps were muffled by the frustrated neigh of the horses and trickling flames around them.
Yet, at the mention of Queen Marcella, Satoru's expression soured, to which Ariel noted.
"Do you have a universal dislike of royalty, Satoru?" She inquired as she quietly watched the lucky duo's distancing backs.
"He has a universal dislike of being a cordial human being." Luke retorted dryly.
Satoru scoffed, "How rude! Don't you see their little legs wobbling in that direction? I think I've been extra nice today." He pointed at the runaway duo with a firm nod.
"That's not being nice, that's being irresponsible with your role. You should have finished them off."
"Stop being so lazy. If you want to, go chase after them... though you're probably too slow to catch up to them. I'd wager in a fight they'd give you some trouble BAHAHAHHAHAHA!" He chortled loudly.
Shaking his head, Luke asserted, "This and that are different Gojo-"
"Blah blah blah! Quit with the moral argument, they're harmless you insecure prat!"
Luke's eyes twitched as he held his tongue this time.
Nodding to himself at the easy victory, Satoru replied to Ariel's question, "Nah, I don't have a problem with royalty. From what I've heard she reminds me of the old bastards from back home." He stated with clear disdain.
Blinking, Kleene expressed her curiosity, "Are you from one of the fallen houses of Biheiril, Sir Gojo?" She hazarded an educated guess.
"Nope~! But she's on the same level as them."
After all...
Selling your own children to others isn't foreign to one who lived in Jujutsu Society.
To Be Continued!
-Author Note Start-
Next chappie's an interlude of the upcoming arc.
I'll be introducing new characters that'll be vital for the Arc and some of them will be vital for the future as well.
On that note, Love ya and hope the chapter's been to your liking!
Appreciate your patience!
Have a good one!
Bu Bye!
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