Oslo's head was turned at an unnatural angle by someone who had appeared behind him like a ghost.
Oslo saw that the young man had shoulder-length voluminous black hair. His green eyes stared at him pensively. As if he was thinking about what he would have for dinner tonight.
"You…"
Oslo exclaimed. Due to his twisted vocal cords, his voice sounded odd and unusual. His eyes had become red because of the blood flow trying to burst his head.
"Yes. Me."
Eren replied nonchalantly before turning Oslo's head in a clockwise direction again, completing a 360-degree round motion. The skin of Oslo's neck tore because it was strained to such a degree. His neck got smaller because of the twist and started looking like he had been choked by a harness.
Oslo closed his eyes forever when he got to see Shalen once again. He could only process the fact that he had been killed by his target.
Eren took hold of the Ice Fairy's Kiss from Oslo's hand before pushing his dead body to the ground. He shook the contents of the vial gently and observed its shade before commenting to himself.
'Oh! They managed to get my premium-grade products for their use. Heh! They wanted to battle me using my products, it seems. Bite the hand that feeds you, won't you?'
Eren chuckled at the thought of facing the repercussions of his potions' commercialization. He watched as Oslo's body fell flat on his face.
"Aaaaaaah! Lord Oslo!"
Aqua Blades!
Eren used a water-element Adept-ranked sword to launch a series of flying slashes at the remaining two rankers. One of them managed to get away in time. But the other ranker had to deal with Eren's powerful water-element attacks tearing through the air at breakneck speeds. They landed on his torso all at once and injured him severely.
The injured Adept ranker didn't even stand a chance to put up a defensive front against Eren's attacks. It was like the chasm between his Adept rank and Eren's Adept rank was so big that no defensive measure could put up a front. His life was cut short by a series of surprise attacks coupled with Eren's profound elemental attainment.
The last remaining Adept ranker watched as Oslo's entire team was destroyed in less than a minute. He was too stunned to speak and felt fear. He just wanted to get away from the carnage that unfolded all around him. He wished he could start his day over without this quest.
'Maybe I should have asked her out.'
That's what the last ranker thought before Shalen closed in on him and launched her attack from behind. One had to say he died relatively peacefully as he didn't put up resistance and his head was chopped clean off by Shalen's dagger.
"In the end, we only regret the chances we didn't take."
Eren sighed as he watched the ranker's body drop to the ground. He scrunched his nose before looking at Shalen.
"She's damaged goods, isn't she?"
Alephee appeared beside Eren and nodded at his judgment.
"She can still be helpful if you use that thing on her. Meanwhile, I'll get the replacement doll ready for the Corpse Dance."
Alephee pointed at the vial of Ice Fairy's Kiss Eren was holding before approaching Oslo's corpse. She stood over the masked man's body and started chanting something inaudibly from her grimoire. It appeared she was trying to use Oslo's body in the same way she used Shalen's.
It looked like she was about to have some difficulties maintaining Corpse Dance for two Adept rankers. However, things were still manageable since Shalen wouldn't hold out for long.
Oslo's body was not ideal for Corpse Dance since it looked like Eren had damaged it too severely. And Alephee could understand why. Eren didn't underestimate Oslo even when he was in complete control of the situation.
A prominent ranker in Demonmir's faction certainly had some tricks up his sleeves. He died easily because he was caught off guard. Thus, Alephee didn't criticize Eren's way of prioritizing safety over getting a better human doll.
Eren threw the vial of Ice Fairy's Kiss at Shalen, who caught it in her partially exposed denture. She lifted her neck and let the contents of the vial enter her body.
Alephee was done with her ritual of making a human doll. Then she made Oslo use his array tattoo to erect an isolation barrier over a second crime scene.
***
'Goro, how far away are you from Oslo's team?'
Goro heard a voice through his voice communication channel. He knew it belonged to Nico Chains– the condor-type demon beast owner from Demonmir's faction.
Nico was waiting at a distance from Goro and the other teams at the time. If and when Eren used his demon beast to fly through the journey, Nico was supposed to intercept him using his mount. As such he wasn't involved in the groups that were assigned to attack Eren.
'Hmm? Not that far, Sir Nico. We are all following the caravan at a set distance from each other. What happened? Did Eren make his move?'
Goro asked Nico while traversing through the forest using his movement spell, maintaining a safe distance from the caravan's current location.
'I am not sure about Eren making his move. But I have lost contact with Oslo's team. The isolation array tattoo we are using for this job is not that reliable. Especially when it comes to maintaining voice communication.
Plus, Oslo is not well versed in maintaining arrays.'
Goro understood what Nico was getting at and replied to him right away.
'I'll check on Oslo right away, Sir Nico. Even if Eren has attacked, I refuse to believe that we couldn't even hear a peep from any of the groups that have dropped off the grid. So a malfunction of the isolation array would be the most likely scenario.
However, it is better to be safe than sorry. I'll keep you posted. Prepare to come here if and when I call you.'
Goro said as he marched towards Oslo's group. Unaware of the fact that Eren had managed to pull off the exact thing he deemed impossible in his eyes.
