Levine forced herself to calm down. She would rather die than be controlled by Demonmir in any way.
By the time Eren finished consoling Levine, Demonmir finished providing "first aid" to Reva Rain. The usurper and the usurped looked at each other stoically.
Demonmir decided to kill Eren before he grew any bigger and became a problem for him. He stepped forward, intending to use one of his Trump cards to finish off all four opponents at the same time.
Ottoman, however, was frozen in his place the next moment when he saw a Grandmaster ranker appear beside Eren like an apparition of fire. This hooded Grandmaster ranker held the chopped head of a Grandmaster elf in his hands. There was still a look of extreme fright on the chopped head's face.
It seemed that this Grandmaster had just finished killing the infiltrator as fresh blood dripped from the muscle cords hanging down the chopped head. The droplets of blood created various abstract wind element manifestations because it was the blood of a Grandmaster-ranked entity.
The hooded Grandmaster tossed the chopped head aside after appearing beside Eren, treating it as trash. Despite the supposedly gruesome fight against a Grandmaster ranker, he looked casual and unhurt. It was as if he had just walked into nature.
His aura, however, was not casual. For some reason, everyone in the vicinity felt like the ambient temperature had risen to an absurd degree. The hooded Grandmaster ranker's mere presence forced Demonmir to rethink his moves.
Crimson Ghost appeared at the scene.
He decided to kill Demonmir with his own hands.
Altair Argas nodded to Eren and the rest, indicating that he would face off Ottoman. The butcher bowed to the Grandmaster ranker before stepping back. He was more than glad to outsource his problems to someone capable of "manhandling" Demonmir.
No trickery, no cunning works against overwhelming power. Unfortunately for Demonmir, Altair had just that.
Furthermore, Altair didn't even care about Gregory's retaliation or any other ill consequences of apprehending Demonmir. It seemed that he could handle his own against a Sage.
"Where's Al?"
Eren asked Altair while standing behind him. The latter took a deep breath before answering.
"I sent her away. She is a capable ranker. But someone might use her to get to me. I have many enemies among our uninvited guests after all.
Hmm… how should I say this? Not everyone is capable of acting heartless like you, boy."
Eren was tongue-tied when he heard Altair's words. Before he could come up with a valid response, the Crimson Ghost spoke further,
"Don't worry. I'm not criticizing your move. I can totally see why you did that. I am just admitting that I wouldn't be able to do what you did if I were in your shoes.
That's because some ideas are easy to think of and understand but difficult to execute.
Anyway, Tashi asked me to look after you before leaving. This brings me here."
Eren smiled mirthlessly at Altair's words. He didn't respond. Sometimes silence is the right answer in certain situations.
Only now did Eren feel that taking Altashia on an expensive date was worth every penny. The crazy expenditure, which he had blatantly called an investment in Agatha's face, ended up being just that.
Altair walked towards Demonmir. A burning sword appeared in his hand. He looked at Demonmir with eyes devoid of any expressions and spoke up.
"Demonmir… Heh!
I always knew you were the kind of dog who wouldn't stay loyal to the hand that threw you bones. In fact, comparing you to a dog might be disrespectful towards dogs."
The air around Altair turned crimson-- a crimson haze. A scorching atmosphere was created without a visibly substantial fire source.
Crimson Ghost's voice turned deep as he continued.
"I had told those old foggies to kill you as soon as your demonic possession was confirmed. One shouldn't try to control something they don't fully understand. But they didn't listen to me.
And now… here you are– turning my grim predictions about you right.
The flames of war are easy to light but difficult to extinguish. What's done is done, I guess. We cannot rewrite the past for it's already been written. But we can write about the future with our actions in the present."
Demonmir looked at Altair Argas carefully. He knew that the man in front of him could seriously hurt him if not outright kill him. He clenched his fists before addressing the Crimson Ghost.
"Grandmaster Altair... Greetings! Um… Someone of your ranking status is trying to get rid of a Master-ranked nobody like me? People will not be able to look at you in the same way if…."
"Haha!"
Crimson Ghost laughed at Demonmir, not allowing him to finish his sentence.
"Do you expect me to follow the rankers' code of conduct while you are out here shitting all over it?
Infamy? Prestige? Reputation?
I didn't care about reputation when I started as a ranker. I certainly wouldn't care now.
People can call me the guild master of the Firebrand, Crimson Ghost, The Child of Fire, or any other titles they like. They can curse me all they want as well.
But I don't care about those titles.
My name is Altair…
Altair Argas.
I consider my name to be the only property I'll ever truly need."
Saying this, Altair spread his soul sense and changed the battlefield atmosphere. Nina, Levine, and Jiana found it difficult to breathe because they felt the air they were inhaling had turned into a crimson haze. It created a burning sensation in their windpipes and lungs. This was when they were not even the target of Altair's soul sense attack.
The trio looked at each other before retreating from the battlefield. The butcher chose to remain behind. He protected himself with his own soul sense. With Altair taking care of Demonmir, he had nothing to fear.
The butcher thought he might as well use this opportunity to harvest more organs from his living and breathing "organ dispensing machine."
