Vile Evil Hides Under The Veil

Blitz. Clang. Swoosh.

Eren's body flew in the air like an uncontrollable kite before crashing down like a meteor. His frontal clash with Demonmir led to this.

The elemental fusion of wind and lightning harmed him even more, rupturing his skin and burning fresh wounds at the same time. The butcher landed about 300 feet from his initial position.

The participants and infiltrators who were battling each other at Eren's updated position decided to split and run away at the same time. The butcher's appearance made them understand that sometimes it is better to run away from the battlefield.

Of course, they didn't run away because Eren scared them. They were scared of the person who injured him. Lightning struck and Demonmir appeared. By this time, the butcher had also gotten up from his position.

Eren's face and body were covered in various wounds. Being in the same vicinity as Demonmir when he attacked was harmful to his opponents and allies even if his attacks didn't land on them. Plus, one had to note that Eren was an Expert ranker whereas Demonmir was a Master ranker.

This entire fight was against the rankers' code of conduct. However, Eren didn't complain or run away because he knew there was no use. Demonmir's lackeys appeared. They secured a perimeter, allowing him to finish his deal with Eren.

Incidentally, there was nobody from House Montmorency present with Demonmir. The lackeys were newly recruited.

Snap.

Instant Reset kicked in and allowed Eren to heal from major injuries in the blink of an eye. He wiped his face and rubbed his eyes to get rid of the residual blood blocking his vision.

Even after injuring Eren to this degree, Demonmir was impressed with Eren's handling of his attacks. If there was any other ranker in Eren's place with the same ranking status as him, he would have died facing Demonmir as soon as they clashed.

Eren narrowed his eyes and looked at Demonmir. He adjusted his stance and felt the weight of his weapons. They were slightly damaged from a single clash. The butcher realized that Rigor Mortis and Anduril wouldn't last long if he kept clashing with Demonmir for another minute or two.

An ax for an ax.

Eren's blades disappeared from his hands. In their place, a huge labrys appeared, a double headed axe. This was a transcendent-grade weapon Eren received when he played Tuan in the Titus tournament. This was the same ax he used to kill Har Jahar.

Swoosh. Swoosh. Swoosh.

The labrys danced around the butcher as he effortlessly handled it. Its runic blade cut through the air and dispersed Eren's wind and fire elemental fusion shards. He modified the broad axe a little with Alephee's help. It could now support Eren's multi-element compatibility at the cost of lowering its performance a bit.

"Hmm. This is good. I'll fight with this."

Eren was happy with his choice of weapon despite the difficult situation he found himself in. He also had sufficient ax mastery for his rank even though he had seldom used it. The butcher decided to polish his ax skills since he was fighting Demonmir who was known as an exceptional ax wielder.

"Hahaha. You are bold. I'll give you that."

Demonmir laughed looking at Eren. He had to say that he could not see even a hint of fear in Eren's eyes.

"No wonder you could establish the city of White Raven for yourself. One needs this level of bravery and calm to do what you did in Anfang."

The butcher didn't pay attention to Demonmir's words. He was too busy talking with his teammates, Nina, and the rest through voice communication. He told them not to worry about him before closing the communication channel for good. After all, the butcher didn't want distractions in his fight against Demonmir.

"I'm sorry. What were you saying?"

Eren said while looking Demonmir in the eyes. A Stellar Sativa was conjured out of thin air in Eren's hands the next moment. He lit it up and drank half of the Sativa in one go, filling his lungs to the brim.

The butcher shook his head as he released smoke through his nostrils. The kicked-in Sativa effect was so potent this time that Eren's mana circuits were stimulated. As a result, he started producing various elemental manifestations around him.

The butcher's eyes turned red and watery and his nostrils flared up. He almost lost grip on his broadaxe before lifting it with both hands. He experienced an exceptional amount of calm at this point, which was dangerous for the kind of situation he was in.

But the butcher figured that fighting Demonmir in his current condition would be dangerous anyway. So he might as well take the risk and try to benefit from this fight by entering a special state known to rankers– Battle Trance.

Battle trance was similar to the State of Epiphany. It could even be called another side of the same coin. However, Battle Trance could only be achieved when one battled for their life.

Battle Trance allowed the rankers to bring out all of their potential in their fight. In certain situations, the rankers exceeded their limits and achieve breakthroughs of various forms due to the state of Battle Trance.

Demonmir could understand what Eren was trying to do. He had read Eren's background report after all. The guy was addicted to his vices but not stupid. He laughed before speaking up.

"Hahaha. How bold of you to use me as a grindstone for your growth. Unfortunately, you wouldn't survive long enough to enter the Battle Trance.

Let me prove it to you."

Blitz. Swoosh. Clang.

A clash between axes.

The ground was cracked.

The sparks flew.

Two ax wielders clashed and shook the ground they were standing on.

The elemental fusion between lightning and wind hurt Eren's skin again by rupturing it. However, the butcher kept Instant Reset active, preventing himself from getting hindered by the same type of damage.

The elemental fusion between wind and fire manifested itself in the form of elemental shards. They shouldn't have hurt Demonmir's Master-ranked body. But, a third element was added to the elemental fusion and increased the lethality of Eren's attacks.