Bzzzz. Woosh. Splash.
A wave of water-element mana suddenly appeared out of nowhere. It doused off the fire Eren's flying snakes had rained down on the land almost instantly, leaving behind wooden pieces, big and small, charcoaled with various degrees of burn.
Rey had cast his water element spell to take care of Eren's fire. By now, Eren's summoned creatures had served their purpose and were about to disappear. So this was the right time for Rey to launch his retaliation.
He quickly extinguished the fire by creating a giant pool of water. He then cast a dome of water element mana shield around him. The old man fortified it with green vines that could stay immersed in water. First and foremost, the summoners had to ensure their safety.
There were only two D-Rank woodland creatures left when the fire was set off. They too had half-burnt bodies, indicating that they were on their way to join their brethren before the water's timely intervention.
"Brat, it's not easy to get rid of my summons."
Old Rey laughed as he followed his water spell with additional summoning class spells. A moment later, the earth, which had been irrigated by water and fresh ash from woodland creatures, started sprouting more plants.
The ground around Rey was covered in green fields once again. This was as if the fire and ash had only made things better in the end by providing the soil with the necessary nourishment. The half-burnt pieces of wood started growing saplings on them which eventually developed into lush plants.
"Skreeehaaaa!"
Twenty new D-Rank plant monsters emerged from the wreck the sea of fire unleashed on previous woodland creatures. The butcher knew that Rey had made use of the destruction caused by fire as a natural phenomenon in his summoning spells. So when he summoned the creatures again, they were more resistant to fire.
Unlike the previous creatures, these green plant monsters seemed more resistant to fire. They were also blessed with high regenerative powers.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
The plant monsters shot various water spells at the already-fading snakes. Their range of spells was also more extensive and could reach the flying snake just fine. It was apparent that Eren didn't have the advantage anymore.
The battle raged on between the two groups of summoned creatures. Eren's flying snakes fought well. But they couldn't keep up with the regenerative powers of green plant monsters who kept attacking them with water element spells.
Before long, only three D-ranked flying snakes remained flying in the air. Their mana bodies were about to disintegrate unless Eren provided them with additional mana.
'This old man is just making it all the more tempting for me to devour him.'
Eren thought to himself as he watched Rey take countermeasures against his flying snakes. He smiled before casting another spell on the three fading flying snakes.
Fireball!
The flying snakes generated three fireballs in their expanded maws and launched a kamikaze attack on Rey's shield. A brilliant detonation took place when three D-Ranked fireballs were detonated at the same time along with the bodies of the three summoned creatures.
Boom!
A large chunk of the water shield was evaporated in the blast, creating a small opening. A Solis Spark was sent inside the opening that struck old Rey right in his chest.
"Aaaaagh!"
Rey Remus dropped to the ground when Eren's lightning-element attack struck him. Thanks to the armor he was wearing underneath his clothes, he wasn't seriously injured. However, the impact was still enough to cause him injury.
Rey gritted his teeth and stood up. He had already closed the opening in his dome-shaped shield even when he was processing the pain he was feeling in his chest. He looked at Eren with a bit of fear in his eyes.
'For… for a moment, I thought it was game over for me. What is taking that lad so long?'
Rey and Eren both could feel the mana fluctuations of Expert ranked spells bouncing off not too far away from them. It wasn't clear who was winning. But from the looks of things, the Expert rankers would wrap up battles sooner than Eren and Rey.
'I'm sure Janos would win. I just need to bide my time.'
Rey came to a decision and started working on it. By this time, half of his mana reserves were expended on summoning and maintaining the woodland creatures. He decided to draw the fight out.
Rey sent his woodland creatures to target Eren. but this time, he took flight with his Wind-Fire Wings. The butcher had no problem dodging the water element spells hurled at him from the ground.
Making his summoned creatures airborne was a revolutionary change for Eren. it allowed him to keep his summoned creatures out of harm's way for longer and made their attacks more effective and difficult to dodge. As a result, his enchanted creatures could keep on fighting for longer with minimal mana consumption.
Rey and Eren both knew that provided no interference occurs, Eren was determined to win the fight no matter if it gets expedited or dragged on. It was only a matter of when.
"That defensive spell is not too bad. But since it uses water, I wonder what would happen when I do this…"
Eren said this and changed his position in the air. He raised his hands and cast the spell that Alephee had taught him.
Twenty clusters of red lightning mana suddenly appeared on the battlefield that slowly started taking shape. They metamorphosed into bulls with their mana bodies made from red lightning. They also had purple-colored limbs, indicating that Blitz Steps had been integrated into them.
Eren also made Ertaur come out to lead the horde of bulls he had summoned. He also granted him the effects of Blitz Steps on his limbs. The contracted beast was elated when he was given a horde to lead.
"You better not hold back, Ertaur. I want that shield destroyed by any means."
Eren looked at Rey sadly and commanded his contracted beast. The Red Lightning bull released a gush of breath through his nose before nodding his head. He dug the ground beneath him with his front hooves before sending a simple command to his red soldiers behind him.
Blitz Steps + Red Bull Rush
