Wind-Fire Shards!
He used the shards made from the elemental fusion of fire and wind. A cloud of elemental shards was created on either side as he flew toward the three rankers.
After controlling his shards, he moved his position so that he could attack the three rankers from different angles, preventing Lambert from changing his trajectory. The elemental shards had gotten more potent since they were created. They surrounded the three rankers from the Blood Punisher Force like a swarm of bees before attacking them all at once.
Effect Mirroring
Rupen ordered his two members to remain close to him before casting his spell. The shards were too many and attacked in various directions, so his abilities to tackle them by mirroring them were limited.
Swoosh.
Eren and Rupen's team were bathed in the explosive elemental shards at the same time. No matter how the butcher had tried to dodge the shards he had created himself, they just appeared in front of him out of thin air before attacking him.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A series of mini explosions sounded in the surroundings as various Wid-Fire Shards were set off at the same time. The inside of the entire isolated barrier lit up and drove away the night's darkness. From a distance, one could see that the semi-transparent barrier had suddenly developed a bright source of light inside it.
Eren was the first to get out of the explosive cloud that had surrounded him in midair. And he had a smile on his face while doing that. That's because he knew that he had figured out Rupen's limitations in mirroring the effects of any spell.
Only a few elemental shards directed at Eren managed to hurt him. That's because only a small number of them had a different mana signature than his own.
Rupen couldn't effectively alter the mana signatures found in the spells that were created with elemental fusion. In fact, the only way he had managed to succeed in modifying the mana signatures of the few that he could alter was because the elemental shards were small packets of explosive mana.
What was more significant was the fact that Rupen couldn't amplify the effects of Eren's spells while mirroring them on him. The elemental shards Eren had to deal with only packed half of their usual punch, not enough to slow him down at all.
"Fucccccccck!"
"Bastard, fight me face to face if you dare."
"Shiiiiit!"
Rupen and his team on the other hand were not doing so well. The elemental shards were not that powerful individually. But when Eren used them as barrage attacks for his opponents, they stung like bees and created blisters on their skin.
Swoosh. Swoosh. Swoosh.
Rupen and his team decided to change their strategy after finding out that Eren had successfully countered Rupen's spell. There was no use hiding behind him anymore.
Eren had chosen the spell for Rupen to mirror wisely. He knew that even if he failed, the amount of damage he received would be manageable. And if he succeeds, he would manage to keep the three rankers away from tag-teaming against him. After all, staying together meant allowing Eren to concentrate his attacks while not getting the advantage of erecting an effective united defense.
Krista started destroying the Earth Spikes Eren had created in the surroundings with her broadaxe. She wanted to vent the frustration that was building inside her heart for not getting back at Eren.
Eren started hovering over the elf. He dodged Lambert's spell. Rupen also tried to aim at Eren using the spells he had previously stored inside his special spatial storage. But the butcher was able to outmaneuver them all using his exceptional flight mastery. Something that he had developed himself and not through digestion of understandings that belonged to other rankers.
"Krista, my love, look what I have in my hand. A helpful tool for my various grooming needs, I must say."
Krista looked hatefully at Eren and saw that he was brandishing her chopped hand. He then proceeded to poke and clean his nostril with one of her fingers before using the same hand to scratch his posterior.
Rupen and Lambert both were shocked by Eren's nonsensical behavior. They couldn't have imagined that someone so violent would resort to mocking their enemies in this way. But then they looked at Krista and knew he was targeting the elf mentally.
Eren was about to scratch his balls with the chopped-off elf's hand. But by then, he had heard the angry voice he was waiting to hear.
"I AM GONNA KILL THIS SON OF A BITC…"
The Earth Spikes that were near Krista, Rupen, and Lambert exploded as Eren's black hair turned white out of the blue. A bunch of Adept-ranked woodland creatures appeared on the battlefield and attacked the rankers nearby them.
Krista was the most vulnerable of the three at this moment. She couldn't even sense that there was a woodland creature appearing behind her from the Earth Spike she didn't destroy.
This woodland creature was taller than Krista by a whole inch. It was a female treant that had thick tree-like branches for limbs and sharp wood-like fingers for claws. She also had razor-sharp teeth in her mouth and eyes that glowed with yellow light.
"Aaaaargh!"
The elf cried in pain and agony when the woodland creature bit her right shoulder using her sharp teeth. She embraced the elf from behind using her flexible limbs, latching herself.
Krista started to have her life essence sucked out of her at a rapid rate. Her skin started drying up at an alarming rate and she developed wrinkles on her pretty face in no time. She tried to get the woodland creature off her back.
But by this point, the female treant had started restricting the elf's movements. She did that by draping her ever-growing vines around the elf.
Krista's anger made her blind to Eren's insidious move. She was brought onto her knees within a few moments before closing her eyes in the embrace of the female treant.
Soon, Krista's body became invisible because of the wood-element nooses completely tightening around her from head to toe. The butcher had taken care of the elf without harming her.
