Chapter 17: Legion of Thunder

The second bandit group lay in ashes in front of the Lightning Dragon Slayer as he walked slowly over the flesh that was turned to simple white and dark ash that began to get mix with the muddy ground. His jacket fluttered slightly as he used it like a cape. The townsfolk were slowly coming out in pairs and groups to see what has befallen on their dammed town now.

The leader, Looney Dagger's body, correction, ashes were piled up at the very spot in the middle of town where there was a fountain which had his statue that had his two half burned daggers penetrated deep into the throat and abdomen. With his victory, three more towns were liberated along with the fifteen that were under the control of Spandan.

The small support group that he formed out of the first few towns he attacked, provided the newly liberated towns with medical help and ration control and the more towns he free, the more he was worshipped, much to his disdain. These people needed to know how to stand up against tyranny and to make strength to fight of their oppressors, not to be lazy and believe in the muscle provided by the Dragon Slayer.

"This is pathetic; I am looking for challenges, not absolute pieces of trash." Laxus muttered under his breath as he stood with his top off, exposing his well built bulky mass of pure muscles. He took a cigar from his small pouch on his hip and lit it with a small spark of lightning. The cold certainly didn't affect any of the Dragon Slayers.

He turned around to the sound of hooves stamping on the ground and was met with the sight of his dark haired friend who was riding on a Colchis Bull, the animal was clearly larger than the regular bull, with brown fur and long horns. "Laxus, did you get what I asked for?" Violet asked as she jumped off the six foot tall animal that had a bored expression.

The Dragon Slayer didn't respond immediately as he stared at the woman who was now clearly nourished and in great shape and clothes. He let out a grunt and pulled out a small flat green object in the shape of a square. It could have easily been mistaken for a candy from its appearance. "This it?" He tossed the piece at the woman who caught it with glee in her eyes.

"Good job! Now we can track all of these bandits without damaging a lot of public property." She cheerfully spoke. She was telling the truth, Even though Laxus seemed to get the job done without getting injured or challenged in the least way, he still used brute force on every building that he scented a bandit. Then the question will be, how does he smell a bandit? The scent of the tortured men and women was always there on these bastareds.

"Hey you cheeky brat, show some respect." The dragon slayer spoke with his teeth biting on to the cigarette. After the initiation of his conquest of the villages held by the bandits, Laxus began to become a propaganda figure in some regards. He didn't find it nice though, in fact he felt like ripping the head of anyone who showed up with 'Laxus badges' or 'shirts' with his face. 'How the hell are these people doing all this?' He wondered with annoyance as the "Thunder Guards", as the civilian militia calls itself, worked with the current town's people.

But what annoyed him most about these people was what they called him. "Commander Laxus, sir, we found the loot of the Looney bandits, it was kept in this town. What should we do sir?" A man wearing an armoured top with metal gauntlets and black pants with the symbol of a yellow dragon on his chest asked the boss man.

The Lightning Dragon Slayer was of course annoyed at the self proclaimed law enforcement unit of his 'regime'. 'How many times do I have to disband these guys?' He thought furiously. And the only reason why he held back from shouting at his followers was that because of a little girl who said this was the only way for the oppressed people to come out of their shells and be independent from the need of using his strength.

"Transfer it to the treasury and repair all damages done to the town and make sure to give the injured and the starving first preference." Sometime between the liberation campaign of the Lightning Dragon Slayer, the raven haired woman has become his political advisor. Oh he hated the title that the people gave her.

The guard looked at her for a moment before looking back at his 'commander'. "Do as she says..." Laxus grunted out as he folded his arms and walked over to his coat on the bull that Violet brought. He heard the sound of the armoured boot hitting the ground as the soldier shouted 'yes sir' and left to inform the others. "Bastards..." He muttered in annoyance.

Giggling softly at the grumpy blonde, Violet walked over to him. "You know they respect you." She said as she took the bag which contained his coat from the side of the animal and tossed it to him. Grabbing the small duffle bag, he extracted his purple coat and threw back the bag.

Holding the collar of the coat he shook it and it unfolded, but before he placed it over his shoulder, his eyes caught something. "Seriously?" There was a yellow thunderbolt stitched at the middle of his coat's back.

"What?" The woman coyly asked as she leaned in to observe the symbol. "Blue definitely liked it, so she took the time to stitch this one on to your new coat." He grumbled quietly as he placed the coat over his shoulder. Violet seemed to be abusing the little hold her little sister has on this powerful monster. Hope he doesn't snap any time soon.

"Whatever..." Laxus muttered before staring at her. "So are you gonna do something with that piece of crap or is it the old fashioned way again?" He was down with the plan of storming in on every house without any strategy other than the one he uses, which was plain brute strength.

"No, I highly recommend you stop doing that, the funds are now mostly going for the treatment and care of a lot of homeless people. And, with this strategy in motion, you will get what you want." Violet looked at the blonde who raised his eyebrow. "To let these people work on their own, or as you said, fight on their own." She then took out a small notepad. "Anyway, with this, there are eighteen towns and the forest and mountains in between under the Liberation Army's control and a sum total of nine hundred thirty six square miles under our control."

"Hmmm..." Laxus was clearly uninterested in all this well laid plans. "Whatever, just don't expect me to give a victory speech to motivate these people." He grumbled as he very well knew himself that he will be forced to do so, one way or the other. Giggling nervously at the thoughtof Laxus's victory speech, Violet went over to the gathered military might.

"Captain Rico." The woman addressed the man dressed in the mixed up armor. It had the chest plates of one type, the metallic gloves of another, the knee guards of another. The reason for the mix was due to the lack of their own weaponry and the use of the enemy's captured weapon depots. Still the man was clearly well built and had a long broad sword on his hip with the only common mark was the yellow thunderbolt.

"Yes, ma'am?" The Captain asked dutifully.

The woman extended the object Laxus gave her to the Knight. "This has all the details required to plan an assault on the Kuro Neko Bandits. Their meeting spots, weapon depots, such details." The man gave a nod but uncertainty was obvious on his face as he looked over her side to the Dragon Slayer who was leaning on the bull with his eyes casted far off. "Ahem." Violet cleared her throat in annoyance.

"But won't he-" The Knight began.

"No. Involving him will cause extreme property damage." That wasn't enough to motivate the man to take matters into his and the Thunder Guards hands. Immediately she took a new approach. "So in order to test the Thunder Guards efficiency, Laxus wants to see if you all can at least liberate one village." Violet knew she won the argument. Pride wad always the stimulus for men and women knew exactly how to use it.

28 towns and four bandit groups

Snow Blade bandits: 15

Looney Dagger Bandits: 3

Kuro Neko Bandits: 5

Snow Dragon Bandits: 5

The twenty eight villages that were in the region were once again free. And they were more than happy to follow their savior...much to his protest. At the same time, Laxus knew this has become hid responsibility and until the day these people were able to stand up on their own(which he hoped would be soon), he would protect them and 'lead' them.

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He felt pain...no...actually it was like his blood was boiling. Not in a figure of speech way, but literally. Especially the blood inside his arms, more particularly, the blood beneath those glowing red tattoos that he covered with bandages...well actually that nice lady from the station did. "Great...now I am also getting burned..." He grumbled as he placed his hands on his knees as he sat on the stump of a tree. The area around him was a winter garden with long snow capped pine trees, with some cut while leaving their stumps, like the one he sat on. He already tried sticking his hands in the snow and letting the Ice Mage free his arms, bit it didn't do anything. The last one greatly insulted Gray and it pleased him more.

It has been around a month since he took his two best buddies for some serious training. The ice mage and the Dragon Slayer were beneath so much in strength. This didn't make him want to taunt them, it made him push them harder. To say the least the now escaped mages were leagues stronger than what they were in the past. "Argh!" He suddenly fell from the stump and on to the bed of snow that began to melt rapidly.

His body glowed red. Heat radiated in expanding circular rings from his body. He turned to his side and curled up as he gritted his teeth to silence the unbearable pain that threatened to come out as a roar. The snow vaporized at a rapid rate, the ground beneath him cracked in heat and the frozen trees nearby caught fire. Within a matter of minute a total radius of five hundred meters of snow covered landscape turned into a dry desert.

But the situation only grew dire. The Dragon Slayer's body moved in a series of convulsion. His fingers dug into the dry earth beneath him. His face began to evolve, scales started to appear on either sides and his fangs grew a little. But that should be the least of his worries. The tribal tattoos on his arms began to grow more and reached over his elbows.

XxxX

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