"Osan Woods' Butcher and Eren Idril!
What… What the fuck are you two doing here?"
Oliver finally deciphered the identities of his attackers, thanks to his preparations and his prior one-sided interactions with them. And he couldn't have been more surprised to find out that Osan Woods Butcher was working with Layla.
Of course, Oliver couldn't find anything wrong with Eren even after using the monocle. because his bodily transformation wasn't dependent on external factors. However, Ivor's real appearance was identified by the monocle. Plus, the addition of the butcher's live demo in front of him at this point and in his academic days allowed Oliver to connect the dots and decipher Eren's identity as well.
Eren and Ivor looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders as if giving up. They both reverted to their original appearances in the next moment, giving Oliver another visible shock.
The rankers in Oliver's forces also started mumbling to each other when they saw Eren and Ivor's real appearances for the first time.
"Hold up… where have I seen this guy…"
"Hmm? Yeah. now that you mention it…"
"I… I remember seeing bounty posters throughout Edinburgh… this… this is that infamous Osan Woods' Butcher… Ivor Osan!"
"No way…."
"Yes way…"
Ivor had a green vein pop on his forehead when the rankers started identifying him as the Osan Woods' Butcher. He pointed at Eren before almost yelling at them.
"That guy... that green-eyed bastard is the real Osan Woods' Butcher. Not me.
NOT ME… DO YOU GET IT?"
Oliver and his team members were stunned by his proclamation. They all turned towards Eren in unison and then started chatting among them in chatters right away.
"I didn't know the fabled butcher is also a liar…"
"Isn't that the White Raven city's founder or something…"
"Yes. As the captain said, his name should be Eren Idril. I knew he must have himself involved in a lot of shady deals. But to form a connection with such a radical person and fight with him is a bit…"
"What the fuck is going on? Weren't we supposed to chase a homunculus that used to host Purgatory? How did we find ourselves in front of Osan Woods Butcher and Eren Idril fighting for the same homunculus? Can somebody fill me in on details I missed?"
Ivor clenched his fists when he heard the rankers' whispers clearly in his ears. He didn't know how to prove to them that he was framed by his circumstances to carry the mantle of Osan Woods' Butcher. In the end, he just dropped his shoulders and gave up.
The rankers were so shocked that they forgot to use their voice communication channels and said things openly. At this point, there was no need to hide the surprise or conundrum they felt in their hearts anyway.
Oliver didn't speak after he voiced his conjectures. He just observed the two rankers silently as he processed the details in his mind.
'This is too big to pretend it never happened. I must tell Sir Arthur immediately. He must have come out of his secluded ranking practice by now. He'll want to hear about Ivor Osan the most– the most wanted man on his list.'
Oliver also looked at Eren with malicious intent. He didn't know about the connection Eren shared with Layla and Ivor. But he could guess that he would never come to Arthur's side. And anyone who was not on Arthur's side was their enemy.
Eren chuckled when he read the things going on in Oliver's mind. The guy was picturing his city's ruin after the news was out that he had collaborated with the so-called "Osan Woods' butcher."
Eren stepped forward a bit and observed Oliver's forces getting tensed. He observed every single one of them with a single glance and found them to be most prepared for his attacks.
Eren immediately realized that Oliver had practiced a battle formation with his members. A battle formation was a lot like a non-elemental array except it used rankers as its nodes and array eyes.
A strong battle formation would allow a group of rankers to challenge and overcome their opponents stronger than them. They increased the group's attacking and defensive capabilities as a whole, preventing them from being killed by their opponents randomly.
The presence of battle formation meant that Eren and Ivor could not casually attack Oliver's rankers individually. They would have to face severe consequences if they tried to attack any of the rankers carelessly.
Ivor had also come to realize the presence of battle formation from the slight mana ripples he felt coming from Oliver's group. That and the way Eren had stopped attacking made this thing obvious to Oliver.
Even though he had dropped out of LA, Ivor was very studious and knew about the academic curriculum. Battle formations were one of the most important subjects in the final year of the academy. After all, academies were created so that they could give trained rankers to kingdom-run organizations.
'What should we do now? I heard you bomb people in cases like these. Now might be a good time to…'
Ivor asked Eren while fixing his eyes on the group. He must have been filled in the details by a certain young witch who was nowhere to be found at the scene. So the butcher wasn't surprised when Ivor knew a few things about how he fought.
Eren quickly thought of many possibilities at once after looking at Oliver's team. He then shook his head visibly before responding.
'Nah. Potion bombs can't be used everywhere. They need to have an element of surprise to them. Otherwise, a blast would backfire on us. Especially against a battle formation.
We weren't in the academy to study this shit. I don't think you, I or even that brat will be able to crack the formation.'
Eren sighed and finally regretted the fact that he had opted out of a lot of courses in the academy to prioritize his personal growth. Ivor regretted the fact that he never even got to complete his studies in the academy.
This thing called higher education had the habit of showing its importance unexpectedly in one's life on rare occasions.
