When Eren and Altair's auras clashed, it created an extremely tense atmosphere that put everyone on edge. This was because what was also clashing at this point were the soul senses of these two rankers.
The mana in the area swelled as if the eye of the storm had been summoned. It was as if the sun had dimmed a bit and the winds had shifted.
People started having trouble breathing. They also started hearing white noises in their heads as if someone was speaking something to them in an alien language.
This was the first time the name Eren Idril made a deep impression in people's psyches for standing up to Crimson Ghost as if it was no big deal. And this was because his name was already known as the founder of his city.
"Heh! Good… good… Boy… you really are something. Let me test you some more."
Altair's crimson eyes shone when he felt Eren's soul sense affect him up close. He put the rankers' code of conduct on the sidelines and decided to find out what the butcher was made of. Of course, he stopped caring about the people surrounding him.
Eren felt like his body was being roasted to perfection just by standing close to the Crimson Ghost. And this was when Altair was trying to pull punches. In addition to his soul sense, the Grandmaster used some expressions of his elemental attainments.
Eren's heartbeat became erratic, and blood rushed to his head. As a result of being exposed to Altair's soul sense, his mana core was also agitated.
"Sir Altair…"
Rufus was about to intervene in Eren and Altair's spat. But he suddenly found out that the space around him had been locked and he couldn't move. Rufus looked at Hansen in disbelief only to receive a simple command from him.
'It's just one ranker he is messing with. It's fine. Let little Altair deal with this issue.'
Eren's condition started getting worse. And it seemed no help was coming in.
Eren's green eyes shone with determination even when his mana circuits were trying to rebel against him. He started thinking about countless escape plans and soon figured out there were none.
Eren felt like his bones were about to pop from the dry heat that he could feel. The flaky skin on his body had turned red all over with green and blue veins showing prominently.
'To hell with this form of bullying. Altair… fuck you!'
When he was backed into a corner, Eren decided to play offensively for real. He poured his emotions into his soul sense and everything in his spectators' vision changed.
Bzzzt!
Lightning crackled everywhere and fire erupted from random spots. Lightning and wind shards started to form in the surrounding area before they were randomly fused.
The Wind-Fire shards started attacking anything and everything in the surroundings. Under Hansen's control of space, nobody could get hurt physically. But Sage's powers weren't enough to relieve the spectators mentally. Most of them felt like they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Some of them started cursing Eren for daring to fight against a Grandmaster.
It seemed like someone had replaced the morning sun with the red moon that could do nothing but spread its sangria illuminance around.
The spectators who weren't unconscious yet started smelling blood. They started having a metallic taste in their mouths as if they had bit their tongue. They felt like all their organs would either get crushed or punctured inside their bodies.
Some of the weak-minded Adept rankers were already brought to their knees when Eren and Altair's soul senses clashed with each other. They lost consciousness when Altair intensified the effects of his presence.
The rankers started seeing nightmares and daylight hallucinations when the butcher's soul sense started contending with Altair's presence. The Crimson Ghost wasn't expecting a development like this. Saying that he was shocked would be an understatement.
"Oh! We have a diamond in the rough here!"
Hansen commented with an expression that said "I'm impressed" looking at Eren. He had seen many prodigies in his long lifetime. And he could say that Eren had just made it into the top 100 on Hansen's list of them.
Hansen immediately retreated to his policy of not caring about Eren. He decided that he would intervene if and when Altair decides to take things too far.
"This…"
Becky and the rest were shocked as they looked at Eren from a distance. Now they realized that rank had become a misleading factor in judging one's growth after entering high ranks.
For example, technically, Eren and Steve belong to the same rank. However, the similarity between Eren and Steve ends there. Steve was having a hard time trying to keep his senses in check at this point. He could never imagine himself taking the full brunt of Altair's soul sense.
Ramy and the rest also had tense expressions on their faces. Only now did they realize how much Eren had progressed over the years. Ramy couldn't help getting excited seeing Eren standing up against a Grandmaster ranker. He was so enthused that he started cheering for him, forgetting to add the speech impediment camouflage.
"Hahahaha! GO FORTH…. EREN!"
As if responding to Ramy's call, the butcher stepped forward, holding Diceros Left and Right in both hands. He had summoned them not to attack but to take some kind of mental respite from them.
Eren's weapon comprehension started manifesting through his soul sense. Altair smiled when he started feeling pressured by Eren for the first time.
The Crimson Ghost felt an itching sensation under his neck. As if a mosquito had bitten him. So he subconsciously scratched his skin. He was about to say something to Eren. But when he looked at the palm of his hand, he could see traces of some red liquid on them.
Altair could only draw one conclusion after seeing the tiny spot of blood on his palm. Eren's weapon comprehension had penetrated his defense.
