Ivor felt like he was duping people by carrying the title of Osan Woods' Butcher.
He could have never believed that the Eren he knew from his academy days would turn out to be such a fearsome personality. Only now did he realize why the mummified Sage could count on Eren so much. If anyone could do the almost impossible tasks that she had listed, it would have to be him.
Ivor was not alone in feeling surprised by Eren's altered presence. Layla too felt a threatening vibe coming from him. And she had the powers of a quasi-B-rank entity to boot.
She felt threatened not only by his presence but also by his growth potential. She felt like it was only yesterday that he had broken into the Adept rank. During the time he was separated from her, the butcher had been able to rise to the pinnacle of D-Rank. This kind of progress was beyond what could be labeled as monstrous.
Eren's mastery of various elements started creating miniature mana storms in the surroundings. The winds started howling and the night's darkness seemed to have darkened a bit more. The ground quaked with subtle vibrations with Eren as the epicenter of the waves.
If one was faint of heart, they would be overwhelmed by Eren's presence alone. If they let their soul get affected by his soul sense, they would have nightmares for weeks to come if not months.
His soul sense would also make people hallucinate into believing that they were being attacked by thousands of katars, shamshirs, and hammers. Some would feel that they were getting burned in the sea of flames while others would hallucinate that they were getting lethal shock treatment.
Ivor was affected by Eren's soul sense differently. He felt like he had been summoned to the land of flesh and gore. The land and trees of this world were only composed of flesh. The giant trees had giant flesh flowers with various organs in the human body serving as their pistils.
Ivor felt like it had been a while since he was summoned to the land of flesh and gore. He also felt like he was assigned a task inside it. To pluck any flowers that were about to bloom.
Whenever Ivor slashed at the trees, flowers, and the very ground he was standing on, he felt like he was injuring a living person. That's because the wounds he inflicted on those surroundings would bleed like a normal human body.
Thankfully, Ivor was still in control of his senses. His soul was intact and left alone. Thus, he knew that whatever he saw and felt in that brief moment was merely his imagination.
Ivor snapped back into reality from his hallucination by channeling his mana and sending his mana circuits into a hyperdrive. He charged his daggers with a peculiar form of lightning as he looked at Eren wearily.
Eren enjoyed the expressions of his onlookers as he expressed his individuality out in the open. He rarely let his presence run amok. Most of those who saw this side of him never lived long enough to tell the tale of how they fought with him.
Eren did not let his bloodlust or intentions show in most of his intense fights. Because those weaker than him would never try to fight him for the most part if he did. And those who were stronger than him would start taking him seriously from the moment they were engaged in battle with him.
After all, the butcher liked to take his opponents by surprise, no matter how strong he got. He preached efficient hunting.
But now that Eren expressed his bloodlust through his soul sense, he felt he had taken off the mask he had been wearing for so long. This was a low-key liberating experience for him as well.
Eren decided to match Ivor's style and took out his katars. He spun Diceros Left and Right around him effortlessly with his light touches and hand gestures as if playing a levitating musical instrument. His seamless actions indicated his mastery of the dagger arts.
A bunch of mini slashes and piercing mana pointers started manifesting around Eren as he operated his weapons. Just by standing in his vicinity, lower-ranked entities would have their limbs hacked off.
Dhum!
Eren's malevolent presence suddenly vanished into thin air as he stopped using his dagger arts. An eerie silence suddenly dominated the surroundings.
Ivor started hearing white noise for some reason. His normal senses as well as his mana sense were affected by Eren's individuality. He felt like whatever he saw and felt just now in front of him was like a horrible dream that never happened.
Layla and Ivor thought that the butcher was more dangerous at this point than when his vile evil presence could not be felt by them. The scariest thing about him was his ability to make him seem insignificant compared to what he was.
All this took place in just a few seconds. And yet, Eren's onlookers felt like hours had passed under the effects of his soul sense.
Eren looked at Ivor's elemental manifestations with a tinge of greed in his eyes.
'He has a peculiar lightning attainment on him. Should I... devour him?'
Eren chuckled to himself before discarding that thought. At least for now.
Ivor was most affected by his predatory gaze. He felt like Eren was looking for reasons to dispose of him. He could only hope that the challenge he had initiated did not serve that purpose.
Ivor was spooked even further by it. Still, Ivor's pride wouldn't let him take back his words.
Layla felt that Eren wasn't playing around. He would attack Ivor at his peakâ€" not even allowing her to intervene if and when things turned ugly. Standing between the two men was no longer enough. She decided to intervene more forcefully.
"Wait... Eren... Ivor. Listen to me for fuck's sake. This is no time to..."
Blink.
Zoom.
Swoosh. Clash. Dhoom.
Ivor suddenly found himself flying away from his previous position. The lightning manifestations around him dimmed as he felt something on his chest.
When he looked down, his torso was inflicted with dagger slashes and deep wounds. The blood was just beginning to come out and make itself known through his slashed clothes.
