Eren couldn't stop cursing his luck when he saw the flying slash closing the distance between them at a rapid pace. By now his arm had been tightly grasped by the old hag despite the lightning-element mana invading her body and doing damage.
'Eren, I… I can't keep my consciousness active any… more. The rest of… the fight… you… need… too…'
'Alephee? Alephee! Fucccccck!'
Alephee's feeble voice sounded in Eren's head. She had been put to sleep due to the overuse of her soul sense.
The butcher realized the most horrible day in his life since his rebirth had gotten even more unbearable after the soul sense protection offered by Alephee was retired. This was perhaps the biggest danger he had found himself to be in ever since his new lease on life had begun.
Eren's movement spell couldn't be executed properly due to the netherworld-ice element pervading his right leg. He could only do two things at this point: strengthen his defensive spell and use his right hand's palm as a defensive weapon.
It would be necessary for him to use a combination of fire and lightning elements to kill the flying slash's momentum and lethality. Then he would have to sustain the rest of the flying slash with his defensive spell. Plus, his vitality would keep on getting drained by the old hag as he tried to prioritize his safety.
Eren did exactly that and followed his makeshift plan to a T. He first executed the Blitz Bolt and maintained its form without releasing it. He then fired a fireball as well. He sent both of them towards the flying slash at the same time when it got within striking range.
Swoosh!
Fire and lightning attacks caused some damage to the flying slash. Mostly due to the Blitz Bolt, the fireball spell was spread over a large area– decreasing its potency. Lightning element spells were good enough. But they had terrible compatibility with the netherworld-ice element.
Still, every reduction of the slash's potency counted in Eren's situation.
The next couple of moments were driven by Eren's instinct to survive. That moment of danger had helped him revisit his primal sense.
Just when it was about to hit him, Eren dared to touch the old hag with his own accord and pulled her in between the attack and him. His vitality was drained at a rapid rate as a result of his bold attack.
The better half of the slash travelled through the left side of the female wraith's west while the other half was yet to make contact. Even after travelling through the old hag's body, the slash hardly lost any momentum.
"Screeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"
The old hag became ecstatic when she received Eren's life force in abundance after he touched her directly. The butcher was about to lose consciousness as well due to too much of his vitality getting zapped from him. This was also due to the invasion of foreign mana in his system.
The slash landed on Eren's waist too because he was about the same height as the old hag. The right side of his waist had its outer layer breached. It managed to decrease the flying slash's potency even more. He suffered severe injuries to his waist as a result of the slash. But the attack didn't make it past the waist.
"Aaaaaaaargh!"
Still, the flying slash managed to open Eren's waist 5 inches deep before it was dispersed. Its consequences would be equally horrible.
The pain finally snapped Eren and gave him momentary clarity. He had come to realize by now that the feeling of pain would soon be stopped by the netherworld-ice element invading his body from multiple points of origin.
He probably only had a few moments to initiate a counterattack and get through this life-threatening ordeal. Otherwise, he would have to say goodbye to the second chance life had thrown at him. There probably won't be a third.
"Screeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"
Eren's skin tingled with one more round of soul-shaking sound as the old hag felt ecstatic despite the left part of her waist getting completely slashed open. Eren watched to his horror as the rotten flesh began to regenerate itself.
'My vitality! This bitch is using my vitality to heal herself.'
Eren's healthy cheeks had started to shrivel by now. His cheekbones were starting to become prominent as his vitality was draining at a rapid rate from him.
Eren saw the old hag flash him a hideous smile as if she was mocking him for his poor efforts to avoid his fate. The primal instincts that had been awoken due to the flying slash were rekindled when he saw the old hag's eyes start producing more tears.
The old hag stuck her abnormally long tongue out and was about to savor her nectar. But soon she felt her tongue being grabbed by a half-shrivelled hand.
Swish!
Eren drew out the katar from his storage and cut off the old hag's tongue. He knew the time was of the essence. The elf swordsman would soon reach his position. It'd be game over for him if things kept progressing the way they were progressing.
That's why the butcher stopped caring about the increment of his vitality drain and let his instincts take over him. He first got close to the hag's face and stuck his tongue out. He licked both the lines of tears that were running down the old hag's cheeks.
Eren felt energized right away when the two small drops of the hag's tears ran down his throats. The clarity of his mind returned for good– no longer dependent on the feeling of pain. Even his wounds started mending at an unnatural rate.
Eren saw with the corner of his eyes that the sword wraith was about to reach his place. The elf had already assumed a position to attack him and the hag from his swing.
Eren stopped caring about his injury and ignored the old hag's angry veils. He looked at her almost ripped-in-half waist that was getting mended at a rapid pace.
"You will love the way I make you open up! Hehe."
The butcher chuckled to himself before driving one of his katars into the old hag's still-open waist injury.
