Swoosh. Zoom. Boom.
Oslo tried to defend himself against the undead that had encircled him. But there was only so much a human doll could do when it was faced with so many attacks simultaneously. Despite his defensive measures, he was attacked multiple times.
These attacks managed to harm Oslo's body in such a way that by the time Oslo managed to get out of the trap, his body was bleeding and mangled in various places. Goro watched as his opponent got beaten by his summons in the distance.
The necromancer figured out that the operators behind the human doll would show themselves soon.
***
Tia let the Adept-ranked ranker from her guild die to escape the sudden death sentence she was subjected to. However, she wasn't totally unscathed from the sudden attack launched on her and her entire group by Shalen blowing herself up.
As a result, the ranger elf was angry at Eren and his supposed security detail. She was angry at herself as well for letting her guard down. A ranger like her shouldn't have tried to handle things on a personal level in the first place, no matter how the situation influenced her to do so.
Tia created a distance from ground zero of the explosion. The flames had stopped expanding. However, there was still a strong cloud of flames in the area, ensuring that those who had died in the explosion would be cremated completely.
There were a few people other than Tia who had managed to get out of the RDX trap Eren and Alephee had placed for them. In addition to being severely injured, they also suffered various burns all over their bodies.
RDX detonation didn't just affect rankers. The elemental fusion involved in the detonation also affected the surroundings, making it difficult for rankers to cast any spell related to fire or light for some time. Only rankers with sufficient elemental attainment could cast such spells normally without getting impacted by the turmoil caused by the surrounding mana.
Tia and her team members looked at each other and decided to group together. They knew that their problems didn't vanish because Shalen Craft was blasted away. The main players behind the detonation were about to show up.
Things were bound to get even more difficult for them because of their injuries. So Tia and her team members started to go towards Goro who was also almost done with his opponent.
Goro didn't make any rash decisions. But Tia and her team created a slight loophole in their defense by collectively deciding to join Goro. The butcher would never pass up an opportunity like that.
All of a sudden, warning bells rang in Tia's head as she sensed someone had appeared behind her out of thin air. She executed her movement spell right away while using the defensive artifact on her. The space-element ring she was wearing tried to alter the space around her to save her from imminent attacks.
Eren appeared behind Tia in the blink of an eye. He attacked her using Rigor Mortis. But since space was twisted around her, his attack landed on the back of her right thigh instead of her neck.
A huge chunk of meat was severed from Tia's right leg when Eren attacked her from behind. A huge scream filled with pain resounded in the distance as Tia vanished from her spot and appeared at a distance from Eren.
The space around Eren was twisted and Alephee appeared beside him. The Perfect Paradox had allowed her to copy all of Eren's spells after all.
"Eren Idril!"
Tia spoke Eren's name in a voice coated in hatefulness and agony when her eyes landed on him. She acted like it was his fault for not retaliating against their ambush.
"That's me. Flesh and soul."
Eren said this as he was removing blood stains from his sword with the help of his lightning mana. After the blood evaporated, the sword was good as new and could be used right away for more chopping and killing.
Eren smiled subtly at Tia before speaking up.
"I would have said, "nice to meet you". But I don't think you would reciprocate my feelings, even if they are superficial on both sides. And I refuse to invest in something that gives me zero return. So I'll just greet you by waving my hand like this."
Eren waved his free hand at Tia with a sophisticated smile on his face. There was a look on the butcher's face as if he was greeting an acquaintance after a long time.
Tia felt extreme pain because of the injuries inflicted on her body. The burn wounds from the RDX detonation hadn't healed completely. After the sword slash Eren inflicted on her, she suffered even more. It cauterized the wound partially while ensuring that it bled at a consistent pace. It made her suffer from a foreign mana invasion. And the surprise attack made her more apprehensive about Eren's sudden presence.
"Don't… don't get cocky Eren Idril. You and your forces will soon meet a just end. I have already informed the other groups. It's only a matter of time before they all arrive here and…"
Tia attempted to motivate herself by giving Eren unfounded threats. Too bad the latter wasn't in the mood to entertain her on that front.
Blink!
Swoosh. Zoom. Chop.
Eren chopped Tia vertically while she was trying to intimidate him. She was still looking at Eren's previous position when Eren's vertical chop landed on her.
Tia was still using a defensive artifact on her. Thus, Eren's random attack turned into a vertical chop before it managed to break free from spatial restrictions and split her into two. The two chopped pierces of Tia's body were uneven in nature because the attack was jagged in the middle.
"It's fine to get a little cocky, Miss. It's a form of self-confidence. You just have to earn the right to get cocky about it."
Eren said a few words to Tia's body nonchalantly. The elf's body spilled guts, kidneys, and other internal organs onto the ground as well as blood. Her good-looking body was no longer good-looking.
Eren turned around to find that Alephee had moved on to taking care of the rest of the injured rankers. He looked at the scene with impartial vision before commenting.
"Heh! Done already? This is why I love bombing people.
A huge mess, but with instant results. I should try carpet bombing next time."
The terrorist decided to terrorize his potential victims even more in the future by stepping up his bombing game.
