"Aaaaargh! Fuccccccck!"
"You monsterrrrr!"
"Helllp…. Somebody… fucking kill this vile… Aaaargh!"
Several screams could be heard when Eren's attacks landed on many rankers at the same time. Meeshah was one of the victims. She had lost 5 members of her team forever within a few minutes of the butcher's attack. She knew the team was bound to face a complete wipeout if she stayed in the same place. She needed to use the strategy that worked for Ken differently for Eren.
"Run. We need to run."
Meeshah mumbled to herself. It took her a while to realize that nobody among the survivors had heard her command because she only mumbled her words. She clenched her last sword in both hands before screaming out loud.
"Fucking run away from this maniac."
***
"Hey! Hey! Hey!"
Meeshah had goosebumps on her skin as she heard Eren calling out from behind her.
She and the survivors of her team were running away and the butcher was on their trail. He was just a shout's distance from them. He was able to do that despite being affected by the movement debuff Meeshah had applied.
The butcher's voice reeked of casual friendliness as he spoke his next words.
"That's not fair, you guys. I waited for you. Remember? And you are not returning the favor.
What's wrong with you? What did I do to receive such harsh treatment?"
Eren's visage was bloody as he chased after Meeshah's team. However, most of the blood splatter came from his victims. He had already healed himself enough using the Instant Reset Ability. He would have caught up with the nearest elf at this point if it wasn't for the debuff acting on him.
Eren's voice was crystal clear despite the fact that all of them were using their movement spells.
"Whatever happened to your resolve to tick my name off your hit list? Take me down and shame the kingdom of Edinburgh. Conquer my city by taking me down. And your achievements shall inspire the citizens of Layos for generations."
For some reason, the butcher's provocation started sounding tempting to Meeshah's teammates. Eren's voice suddenly turned grim and demonical as he spoke his next words.
"You know…. I might start hurting you even more if you make me chase you this much. I hate it when people make me create multiple kill sites."
A cold chill ran down Meeshah's spine as she heard Eren's simple but effective threat mixed with his soul sense. She knew that if it could affect her, it could affect the rest of the rankers escaping with her as well.
"Don't listen to him. Just ru…"
"Aaaaaargh!"
Another painful cry was heard before Meeshah could finish her sentence. It seemed that someone had fallen prey to the butcher's devilish whisper.
Meeshah didn't stop. She and the remaining survivors didn't even turn around to look at which of their comrades had fallen. They just kept running. Some of them were glad that the butcher had kept his word and ended the fallen comrade's misery in a jiffy.
After a couple of minutes, another life was lost during a chase.
The butcher started huffing and puffing. He spat in annoyance after chopping the head of the ranker he just caught up to.
'Makes me remember Marla's daily routine. I… I hated cardio. Haash!'
Eren continued his chase begrudgingly. The effects of the debuff were beginning to wear down. But he had overexerted himself to kill so many rankers from Meeshah's team. The long chase had made his job even more difficult.
He regretted the fact that he had made them run away from him. Maybe he should have given them false hope by letting them slip past his defenses once or twice. That way, he wouldn't come across as someone undefeatable to them.
The butcher could have made his job a bit easier with his summons. But even his normal summoning spells started having peculiar mana signatures on them. And he didn't want to expose the fact that he had a summoner class.
The Wind-Fire Wings didn't let him take a sustainable flight either because he was technically a Novice ranker at this point. The low ranks didn't allow such fancy moves. Thus, he was forced to chase after his potential victims on foot.
"Helpppp! These bastards from Layos are trying to kill me."
The butcher was getting close to one of Meeshah's members from behind when he heard a scream from the northeast direction. He saw a frail-looking girl approaching him with expressions of fear and panic written all over her face.
The girl looked childish as if she had stopped growing physically after turning 16. It added to her pitiful looks and made her look even more helpless against a rowdy bunch of bloodthirsty elves following right after her.
Even one of the most stonehearted men would find it difficult to ignore a girl's pleas for help in such situations.
It was as if this mysterious girl and the bunch of elves chasing her had appeared out of thin air. The girl looked like she was hurt and would get caught by her pursuers any second.
Eren stopped following Meeshah's team and headed straight toward the frail-looking girl. He made his Shamshirs disappear from his hands. A pair of daggers appeared to take their place. His completely black daggers were almost invisible in his hands due to their matte finish.
The girl's face was painted with expressions of hope as she saw her potential rescuer coming to save her. It was as if she found the last vestiges of strength within her to speed up and get close to Eren. As if all her prayers were answered the moment she laid eyes on Eren.
A damsel in distress. A bunch of goons pursued her with ill intentions. And all of a sudden, her prince charming came to save her.
A cult classic scene.
If Layla was here, she would have recorded the moment on an array disk for her entertainment. She practically lived her near-immortal life in anticipation of watching scenes like these unfold in front of her.
However…
Bzzt. Swoosh. Chop.
