Madness and mayhem intensified.
The battlefield was already spiraling into chaos, and Rodrick's secret orders to some key Edinburgh Rankers only worsened the situation.
These high-ranking Rankers were leading their teams and units, so when they were pulled away and asked to return to Edinburgh's army base, it left their teams without leaders.
Other Edinburgh Rankers, who hadn't been informed of these orders, suddenly found themselves under pressure from the Layos Rankers. With the loss of their leaders, the Edinburgh Rankers couldn't coordinate effectively, and they too began to retreat.
While the Edinburgh Rankers were struggling with chaos and a lack of leadership, the Layos Rankers were highly motivated. Eren and his allies, abandoned by the Edinburgh Rankers, now faced their enemies from Layos.
"Hahaha! Look at these cowards!" One elf Ranker from Layos laughed hysterically as he observed the disarray in the enemy ranks.
"Slaughter them! Move forward," commanded another Layos Ranker, a Berserker woman who advanced with her team, cutting down and injuring any Edinburgh Ranker in their path.
"House Horin will avenge Carvel and Hamang's deaths. My men, let's attack Grimdawn together," declared an elderly man from House Horin.
The bald old elf had been in a battle with an Edinburgh Ranker at the time. But his opponent abruptly withdrew upon receiving Rodrick's orders. This allowed the old elf from Layos to break through the enemy forces and approach the circle of fiends and Corpse-Dance-powered deceased Rankers inside which Eren and his core members were situated.
With the mounting pressure, Eren allowed his subordinates to transform into their fiend forms. He assigned these fiends to deal with the elves who were attempting to personally target him. Meanwhile, he selected a few of his teammates to accompany him, his target still the same as ever– the epicenter of the battlefield.
"Grimdawn! You coward. Why are you avoiding me? Did you not think a redemption would come your way when you killed Hamang and Carvel? Did you think House Horin will let things go after you tried to fuck with all of us?
ANSWER ME!"
Shouted the bald old man from House Horin in frustration. He was angered that Eren wasn't engaging him directly and was instead sending his subordinates. However, his cries fell on deaf ears as Eren advanced. He had already destroyed House Horin with his preemptive strike in advance. The residual forces of the once-a-prominent clan were not powerful enough for him to pay attention.
No amount of taunts or battle cries were enough for Eren to spare his attention. He was fine with his enemies dissing his mother and cursing her as well. He dealt with anyone who could be dealt with within a few seconds and spared the rest for his subordinates to deal with.
"Hmph! Don't try to push your luck, baldy. My lord is occupied with other matters. You're not worthy of facing him," Hilda responded with a mocking voice before transforming into her fiend form. This transformation shocked the old man more than his anger at Eren's absence.
Hilda underwent a remarkable transformation after receiving Eren's demonic gift. Two horns sprouted from her forehead, drawing attention to her snow-white skin, which soon shifted to a pale purple hue.
Her eyes emitted a unique bluish-purple radiance, and sharp fangs gleamed in her mouth. Her mana signature underwent a complete overhaul, signaling that she was no longer an ordinary Ranker.
Her physical abilities received a substantial boost, and her presence on the battlefield became palpably weighty, impossible for her approaching enemies to ignore. She felt an unbridled surge of power that she had never experienced in her past life. This feeling alone was enough for her to feel extreme loyalty towards her new master– Eren.
Joining Hilda in the battle against House Horin's Rankers was her lover and fellow fiend, Ashton, who had also tapped into his fiend form before entering the fray.
The bald old man from House Horin couldn't contain his terror upon sensing Hilda's monstrous presence. He then watched others beside Hilda transforming into their fiend forms and screamed with all that he got.
"This! She... she's a cultist! They all are. This fucking coward… this motherfucking Grimdawn is collaborating with cultist Rankers," he shrieked upon seeing the transformed fiend, finally taking her seriously.
The Rankers from Anfang, unfamiliar with demonic transformations, tended to label anything extraordinary as the work of cultists.
'Hehe. Cultist, he says. Ignorance is bliss!'
Hilda found the old man's words amusing. She contemplated telling him that she had indeed been a cultist in her previous life before Eren had killed her.
However, she had been resurrected by him, imbued with powers beyond those of any mere cultist. In fact, the cultists from her past life would have done anything to attain the level of power Eren had granted her.
She chose not to correct the old man, allowing him to assume what he wished. After all, she understood Eren's intentions perfectly well. These intentions were resonating in her mind, urging her to attack first and engage in silly conversations later.
Hilda and her team clashed with the old man's group, leaving Eren and a few of his subordinates to advance further on the battlefield. Hilda skillfully eliminated enemy Rankers with her crossbow and arrows.
Her fiend form allowed her to participate in personal combat as well. But it wasn't necessary at this moment, as Ashton, her partner and close combat expert from the past life, skillfully handled such confrontations, while she provided support.
Ashton exhibited flawless mastery of his dual spears, dispatching three Layos Rankers in mere seconds. His Dual Spear Arts had gained a deadly edge due to his fiendish transformation, enabling him to execute attacks more lethal than ever before.
Meanwhile, Hilda's arrows had become so corrosive that they dissolved the armor worn by enemy Rankers before striking them and ending their lives. Her targets' bodies disintegrated under the assault of her highly corrosive arrows.
Ashton and Hilda had once posed a formidable challenge to Eren with their teamwork. Now, by a twist of fate, this fiendish duo was fighting on his side. The Ashilda pair had effectively halted House Horin's advance toward Eren.
AN: Ashton and Hilda's teamplay was first described in Chapter 304: Ronny Vs. Ashilda.
