Eren used Life Drain on the swordsman to recover some of his stamina and mana back. His injuries would heal as well after using the ability. But he felt like he wasn’t utilizing the Life Drain to his fullest potential. Plus, the two rangers were making it difficult to exercise his power in peace.
Claho was terrified after seeing Eren’s battle presence and the way he had handled the whole thing. Technically, Claho held all the advantages. And yet, Eren was beginning to fight back in such a way that he ignored most of those odds that were against him.
“Attack… Fucking attack him, damn it. Kill him using whatever gears you have been given. Bring me the guy’s head. That’s an order.”
As Claho shouted in real-time as well as in voice communication, the remaining rankers surrounding Eren snapped back to reality. The rankers looked at each other and then toward where their rangers were placed. They were looking for some kind of assurance and support as they faced what they believed to be a cultist monster.
Then most of them attacked Eren at once after making a quick decision. Their army training kicked in and allowed them to come up with a solid strategy to battle the monster as a group. Some of the rankers still stayed behind and spread around. They were now either trying to help the ones already attacking Eren, supporting them, or trying to find an opportunity to join the battle.
Eren had made full use of all his spells. The Hatchlings of the Flame spell he had executed at the right time allowed him to kill three more rankers and injuring three more. The Solid Spark spell enabled him to prevent his enemies from casually approaching him.
His other spells also made their due appearance at the right time at the cost of damaging his mana circuits and straining his mana core. The mana core was now beginning to develop a tolerance to the mana recovery potion. As such, the concoctions were bound to become less effective the more he used them.
Yet, Eren didn’t stop. He couldn’t stop. He shut off his thoughts and completely depended on his instincts and his experiences so far to guide him.
He killed another two rankers using his close-combat moves. Then injured some more while facing injuries himself. The more he killed, the more furious the soldiers would get at him. They also had let go of their safety net and were attacking Eren based on their styles and openings.
But there was only so much one Ace ranker could do against an army squad of Ace rankers who were equipped with all sorts of artefacts.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
Kelmar finally found a clear shot of Eren’s legs and took it. By firing at the correct timing, the latter struck both of his calves with void bullets. Furthermore, a flying sword had pierced his right forearm.
Eren’s injuries finally accumulated on his body. He prevented himself from completely falling to his knees by planting the sword he had borrowed from his victim into the ground. He looked to be in a terrible state. But his presence felt even more dangerous than before.
“Wait!”
Claho’s order was heard by his teammates who were about to resume their attacks on Eren. The guy used his movement spell and approached Eren while keeping his guard up. He stopped once he concluded that the distance was ideal for him to talk with the target.
“Heh! So you are not invincible after all. Eren Idril, you are a calamity for the mortals and rankers around you, the city of Osan, and the entire kingdom itself. We deem you too dangerous to be left alive.
Team Claho has exceeded expectations in all its missions. Many of them were not what one would call morally correct. But we did them anyway for the kingdom’s safety. Although our intentions at first didn’t align with that goal, killing you would help assure that all the same. You are a cultist after all.
Any last words before you are sent on your final journey?”
Claho questioned Eren and drew a runic dagger from its sheath. This was also a unique, army-issued artefact that could be used by rankers of any element, thanks to the runic inscriptions etched on it. The team leader had saved the most unique artefact for himself.
Eren didn’t bother accepting or denying Claho’s claims that he was a cultist. He just narrowed his eyes on Claho and his dagger while taking deep breaths. He couldn’t sense anything about the dagger but figured out it too would be something special.
He coughed and spat blood. Then he chuckled loud before responding.
“Hahahaha! Not invincible? Danger to the city of Osan and the entire kingdom? I thought I was the master of bullshittery. But you sir, put me to shame. I humbly admit my defeat if it’s the contest of shamelessness between us.”
Eren said and started laughing. That made him cough out more blood, which he spat out again. Claho was getting angry at the butcher for Eren pointing out the statements that didn’t sit well with him. But he kept quiet and started running his unelementalized mana through the dagger.
Everyone in the vicinity was waiting for Eren to get killed at this point. The target, surrounded by many injured rankers, continued speaking.
“Last words? We’ll see who else gets to have the last words. Heh! If I can’t win, so be it. I’ll just make sure that the survivors will remember me forever. Hahaha!”
Eren laughed and looked around him. His intentions were as clear as day. The first person to approach him will face his kamikaze attacks. He continued speaking after he got the effect he was hoping for.
“I’m not angry at you guys for ambushing me just for a hunting game masked under the garb of petty revenge. I’m not even angry at my situation or my luck. The one who can kill people without any reason shouldn’t be shocked when someone tries to do the same thing to him.”
Eren said this and shook his head as if he was disappointed with someone before continuing.
“I’m angry at myself for overthinking things because of my distraught mental state. Like some naive ranker who hadn’t seen the world, I was pondering whether I did the right thing by taking revenge on people who hadn’t done me any harm in my second chance at life. I wondered if it would have been better if I had just let things be instead of trying to pacify my old self.
I started doubting the most ideal image of a successful ranker that I had created for myself.
Was it correct?
Did I achieve anything worth being proud of?
Or was I just being a douche like you guys are?”
