'No… I can't let that happen to me. I'll fight with all my might.'
Gilhause thought to himself as he looked at Eren with determination. The time for testing each other out was over.
He geared up his Behemoth for Eren's summons. It would kill his summons as well. However, that did not matter to him much if he was able to target Eren after destroying his summons.
Gilhause's security detail observed the fight between two rankers as mute spectators. They were also shocked by the woodland creatures Eren had summoned.
The butcher could feel what he was thinking. So he made a few things clear to Gilhause while smiling subtly.
"Hehe. Those two Remus clan members who fought before you had the same determination as well. What you have thought of isn't really revolutionary."
Eren looked down and found out that his woodland creatures had almost destroyed all the earth's golems except for a damaged-looking Scorpio. The Behemoth was kept away from the battle, so it wasn't included in the count.
The butcher pursed his lips and shrugged his shoulders before adding further.
"Alas! I'm afraid I won't be able to entertain you by allowing you to show me all your "might." This won't turn into a long and arduous battle for both of us.
I can prove that even that massive tank you have under your feet isn't helpful to you if I attack you personally. I can prove that I am not just a summoner or a close combat expert. That I am all of those things and more.
But what will it do?
Fighting with two summoners in death duels is enough for me at this point to know the ins and outs of the class. And I have seen how you use your spells as well. So there's nothing to see. Nothing to experiment with."
Eren took a long breath and looked at Gilhause with a tinge of disinterest. He just paced around a bit before adding more.
"I don't have to prove my might all over again to myself or my opponent. Why should I take the toil of killing you personally at the cost of injuring myself when I know the result?
So this time, I'll just cheat my way instead. I'll use the simplest way to dispose of you and claim your achievements for myself."
Eren said and smiled before turning towards Alephee. He bowed and pointed to Gilhause as if ushering Alephee into a room.
"Please do the honors."
Alephee chuckled when she saw Eren's gesture. It was as though he was using her as one of his lackeys to get rid of a minor nuisance. However, he did it elegantly. So she had to give him some brownie points.
"Alright. I'll just start training you more thoroughly from tonight onwards as my compensation."
Eren shook his head and smiled mirthlessly. He didn't mind getting grilled if the process was worth it. But he thought that he had hit a ceiling when it came to handling pain. It turns out he'll have to up the scales soon.
Gilhause wasn't sure what Eren was thinking or talking about. But at this point, he didn't care. He commanded the Behemoth to charge. The mini-mountain-like creature stepped forward and started running. Each of his steps caused a small tremor in the surroundings. And his momentum was strong enough to agitate the winds around him.
The woodland creatures along with what remained of earth golems were destroyed when the Behemoth used his arms to smash them into the ground.
The giant earth-element creature also destroyed the quickly growing vegetation on the battlefield. It also used a peculiar spell to imbue the very ground with its mana, making it difficult for the summoned creatures to use the ground as their foundation.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The Behemoth got rid of all the small fries within a few seconds before focusing his gaze on Eren who was standing at a distance. He charged towards Eren with its master and his security detail on its back.
Gilhause gave a heads-up to the rankers assigned to protect him. And he started casting a defensive spell around him, as he watched himself getting close to Eren. However, he saw the Gothic girl standing beside Eren disappear into thin air.
The next thing Gilhause knew, this Gothic girl was standing in front of him, inside the perimeter created by his security detail. She did it so flawlessly that Gilhause's security detail was yet to catch up.
Alephee raised her hand and cast her spell. And et voila. The security detail around him all mysteriously died. Their bodies crashed to the ground as if they had lost all control over them. It was as if they had died in their sleep while standing up.
Gilhause wasn't spared from this phenomenon either. He had his heart removed from his chest without there being a single wound on his torso.
After Alephee held his heart in her petite-looking hands, the Expert-ranked clan member's tank spell came to a halt. There were no signs of blood leaking from the heart as if it were still doing what it was supposed to do. The spatial fabric around it was lucid and rippling like the water surface.
The butcher appeared beside Alephee and raised his hand– his empty palm demanding something. Under Gilhause's horrified gaze, Eren took hold of his heart and crushed it without a moment's delay.
Drop. Squeeze. Squirt.
Blood spewed from the major arteries and only then did Gilhause feel pain in his heart. The spatial ripples around the heart were stabilized when that happened.
Gilhause was brought to his knees and the Behemoth started losing form. It crashed to the ground before turning into the mini-mountain it was. The butcher, Alephee, and the dying Gilhause were now seen on the peak of another small hill surrounded by recently destroyed vegetation.
"Thanks for saving me the trouble, Alephee."
Eren said to the homunculus before transforming his hands into slimy blobs. He narrowed his eyes at Gilhause's ashen face before speaking up.
"Thank you for living a good life and collecting experiences. Rest well knowing your mantle will be carried on by me.
And say hi to those two for me, would you? Fret not. I'll send some more Remus clan members your way if and when I get the chance. Bye!"
AN: Please note that I'll be taking a short break from writing VEH. Regular releases will resume at the start of the new month. ;)
