Chapter 404 Collateral Consequences

Chapter 404 Collateral Consequences

"Finish him!"
Claho instructed the three rankers who were taking turns targeting Eren to attack at the same time. Three rankers understood their assignments and seemingly vanished from their respective positions at the same time using movement spells.
"You are dead you fucking rat!"
Eren was greeted by the berserker right in front of him. He caught both of Eren's katars with his gauntlet-protected hands and waited for his teammates to finish the job. His teammates understood his clues and launched their most powerful attacks against Eren. The swordsman targeted Eren's back while the ninja targeted his neck.
"No. You are!"
Eren said and smiled with a bloody mouth. His appearance was that of a man that was subjected to various tortures. He looked beaten and on the verge of dying. But when he stared into the berserker's eyes and spoke those words, the latter subconsciously believed him.
Claho watched as the unthinkable happened even though the element restriction array was still active. Lightning sparks bloomed in the middle of the battlefield-- prevailing over the faint moonlight and washing the surroundings in a purple hue.
Blitz Shield
Blitz Bolt
Blitz Steps
Blitz Storm
A cloak of lightning was the first cast over Eren. It rendered the two rankers' attacks ineffective. Then came the execution of Blitz Bolt. As the butcher's offensive spell ran through his weapons, it zapped the berserker that was holding them with confidence.
Eren didn't hold back with his offensive spell– fearing the guy's attack-type armour might have defensive properties as well. But contrary to his belief, the spell worked fine on him.
"Aaaargh!"
The berserker was brought down to his knees after getting electrocuted in the way he did. He opened his mouth to shout to deal with the havoc Eren's mana was creating in his body.
But maybe he shouldn't have opened his mouth to shout. Because that's what Eren used to finish the guy off.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Pinhook
Claho watched in utter horror as Eren chopped out the berserker's left cheek entirely. Eren then pierced the guy's head through his open mouth with the same form of artistic handiwork his katars had displayed so many times now.
The berserker's shout had indeed relieved him from his sufferings. But Eren made that relief permanent by finishing the guy off for good.
"Noooooo!
Andy!
You… you monster!"
The ninja woman seemed especially shaken by the berserker's death. She got into close range without worrying about anything– training to target the back of Eren's neck that didn't seem protected by his defensive spell.
Claho's heart was racing as he saw Eren being able to cast his spells even while under the constraints of the array. Now he just wanted the guy to die at the cost of any number of soldiers that was necessary to bring him down.
To accommodate Eren's wanton use of spells, Layla had created a potion that would allow his body to get attuned to a different source of mana linked to the spatial array, and also strengthen Eren's mana circuits so that they were able to sustain his spell casting. She had also added mana recovery properties to the potion, enabling him to replenish the mana reserves he was beginning to feel depleted. Now he could fight an extended battle.
"All… all of you. Attack the bastard. Kill this cultist monster and avenge our fallen brethren."
Claho ordered all of his teammates that were watching the battle taking place with equal amounts of horror and shock plastered on their faces. Even after listening to Claho's orders, none of them reacted for the time being.
This allowed Eren to take care of both the rankers that were on him. He first released his lightning element AOE and stunned the swordsman and the lady ninja. Then he swung his katars vertically upwards between the lady ranker's legs. All while his time-element spells were active.
Claho saw Eren swing his lightning-clad katar to vertically chop the lady ranker up. He had swung his katar upward from the space between her legs but couldn't go beyond the lady ranker's ribcage.
As a result, her torso was almost vertically cut in half right in the middle. Her guts and internal organs started falling. The katar was stuck in the lady's torso so the butcher let go of his weapon to deal with the swordsman.
"What kind of monster cuts someone like this?"
Claho mumbled to himself as he saw the lady ranker still trying to get close to the berserker's mutilated body in her current condition. The butcher was not there to stop the couple from having their final reunion. He focused his attacks on the swordsman next.
Only now did the swordsman realize that Eren had been fighting with him all this time without strengthening his weapons with his spells. That's why the stalemate had taken place in previous rounds of exchanges.
But now, Eren was cutting various parts of the swordsman's body with any form of opening he could find in the swordsman's defence. The only reason the swordsman was able to fight Eren was because of the cover fire provided by two rangers soon after.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
Eren dodged most of the projectiles he was being subjected to all at once. As if the rangers had just awoken from their shock at the same time. The rest were taken care of by his cloak of lightning.
Yet the void bullets still managed to hurt him since they twisted the spatial fabric around the cloak of lightning. Eren wanted to go toward Kelmar right away because he had realized that he needed to take care of the pest as soon as possible. But the guy was firing shots from a tree that was beyond the siege that he was subjected to. He would have to take care of more rankers before he could kill Kelmar.
'Fuck it.'
Eren strengthened his defensive spell even further and stopped thinking about the collateral consequences of everything else raining down on him for the time being. He ignored the projectiles coming his way and concentrated on the swordsman.
Clunk! Clunk! Clunk! Clunk! Clunk!
Pichook!'
Eren fought through another round of weapon mastery battle with the swordswoman. Then he court-martialed the soldier and relieved him of his duties for life by driving his katar through his right ear.
Eren took the swordsman's runic sword from his hand as he was shocked by how he had been killed. The butcher's katar was stuck in the lady ranker's rib cage after all. And he couldn't get it back in time due to his ongoing battle.
Eren wielded the sword in his left hand and resumed his fight. It was not how he wanted to face the battles he was struggling through. But he also couldn't face the crowd with only one katar in hand.
Pich! Pich! Pich!
A flying sword managed to lodge itself into Eren's left shoulder just when he was done dealing with the swordsman. A few void bullets had riddled his back. A cost he had to pay for ignoring the attacks of the rangers and focusing on the swordsman.
Eren didn't even bat an eye as he looked at the wound created by the sword projectile. The swordsman's body in front of him was just about to fall to the ground. His brain had been pierced but his body was alive and breathing— hinting to the butcher that he could still execute his ability on it.
Life Drain!