Vile Evil Hides Under The Veil

'He… he is baiting House Remus to send more summoners his way. So that he can claim their powers for himself.'

Goro came to a grim realization as he found himself surrounded by Eren's summoned creatures. They looked at him with anger in their eyes. As if they were angry at him for daring to stand against their summoner.

Just crossing swords was enough for Goro to figure out what Eren was trying to do to the entire House of Remus. The more he fought with him, the more he was sure of his conjecture. That's because he had sparred with Rey Remus in the past. And the woodland creatures that Eren had summoned were very familiar to him.

At first, he thought that Eren was one of the guys who can't handle the success they receive overnight. Suddenly he realized how wrong he and his entire House had been.

Screeeee!

The last undead creature died when it was overwhelmed by Eren's summons. Goro figured it was time for him to get serious.

Eren was struck once again by Goro's flying slashes, making him fall back into the distance. In response, he began retreating in another direction while destroying Eren's summons.

Goro's death-element attacks would burn Eren's life force away. The wound did not bleed. Instead, the skin around it would turn dead before rotting. The invasion of foreign mana would cause Eren to feel sick and fatigued.

Eren drank the top-notch potions he had in his storage to counter Goro's death element. His background as a potioner was getting used so thoroughly in this fight. The range of potions he had started using on himself and his weapons was in leagues of their own. They allowed him to hold his ground against an Expert ranker.

Eren saw that Goro was trying to move away from him. He figured out that the necromancer was trying to summon a stronger undead that would be different from the mob he had resurrected.

"Heh! Do you think I'll just watch as you step up your game?"

Eren defended himself against Goro's flying slashes using his all-around sword arts. He stopped retreating and started casting spells. In the next moment, a pair of Wind-Fire Wings sprouted from his back. These wings then folded forward to embrace Eren.

Wind-Fire Wings protected the butcher from Goro's death-element attacks. When he was sure that he wouldn't be disturbed, Eren cast his space-element spell.

Goro had just managed to take a breather from Eren's attacks. He was about to summon the undead he had in his collection when he sensed something really dangerous appearing above him.

Goro looked up to see Eren had appeared in the air. The latter sent a series of lightning and fire element flying slashes at him. And since he was flying above, Goro couldn't attack Eren immediately with one of his mob summons.

"Aaaaargh!"

Goro cried in pain when his back was injured by Eren's slashes. His peculiar summoning ritual was interrupted by Eren's attacks. The butcher kept on attacking him from various angles by changing his position in the air.

Goro's main problem with Eren came from the fact that Eren was not just a summoner or a close combat expert. He was both. And he put all his expertise into his attacks, giving him zero chance to come up with anything that would work on Eren.

A summoner was usually accompanied by a second ranker for this very reason. Summoning creatures takes concentration. That's why a higher INT body stat value was a necessity for a summoner.

Stronger summons take even longer. Most summoners would be able to summon their creatures while they were engaged in hand-to-hand conflict with their enemies.

Of course, Eren was an exception to this rule. He could switch between two battle styles effortlessly. Thus, Goro was prevented from retaliating against Eren with all his might.

Goro needed reinforcements more than ever at this point. At least if one of them takes the heat off of him, he could focus on his special summons. Too bad nobody came.

The injuries on Goro's body continued to accumulate. His mob summons couldn't put up a strong front against Eren's creatures. The woodland creatures that were affected by the wrath mana had gotten more aggressive with time. They had started launching kamikaze attacks on the undead and Goro as well, injuring him further.

Goro's eyes shined with hope when he finally noticed something or someone coming towards the battlefield. Upon realizing who it was, his demeanor changed for the worse.

Alephee had arrived at the scene.

She dropped the bodies she was holding in both hands as she appeared at a distance from the battlefield. One was Rehaal while the other was Meera Medinah. Just as Eren had instructed, she had spared the royal as well as the royal's hired help. Of course, she had killed the rest of the rankers that were with them.

Eren didn't get distracted by Alephee's arrival. He kept attacking Goro while shouting at Alephee.

"I thought you'd take some time to wrap up. Never mind. See if Argo needs help. That bird will do crazy things for a chunk of red meat."

Argo chuckled at Eren's comment before nodding at him. She checked the vitals of her recent victims and made sure that they wouldn't wake up. Another set of Wind-Fire Wings sprouted from her back as she took flight. Flapping her wings, she approached Argo, who was fighting Nico Chains and his demon beast.

'That woman is a different kind of monster."

Goro thought about Alephee as he looked at the states Rehaal and Meera Medinah were in. He wasn't too shocked by Rehaal being captured. However, Meera Medinah was part of Edinburgh's secret force. The fact that an Expert-ranked entity like her got beaten by an Adept-level ranker like Alephee spoke volumes about the latter's battle potential.

Plus, Alephee looked like she had taken a walk in the park instead of finishing Rehaal's entire team by herself. It meant that if she had joined hands with Eren, Goro would have been a done deal for the duo.

'I have no chance of winning this thing. I… I must escape.'