"Hahaha. By the time we are done with these fuckers, they won't even have intact bodies that they can call their own."
The male ranker wanted to vent a bit after getting the upper hand. So he did just that. The female ranker beside the ranker who just spoke voiced her intentions next.
"Captain, I would like to chop that Ivor guy into two just for targeting my face too many times. I would like to see his soul leaving his body right in front of my eyes."
The female ranker had a huge slash wound on her pretty cheeks that was clearly caused by Ivor's daggers. She also had other similar injuries to her neck and arms. But the slash wound on her face stood out because she couldn't get rid of Ivor's pride mana. As a result, her wound was getting more severe and painful, turning her cheeks red now and then.
Ivor scoffed at the lady ranker and spat in contempt when her words reached his ears. The guy had just started her face because she was most concerned about that part of her body when they were dueling.
Osan Jr. noticed that very quickly and targeted her face to throw her off her game. It was evident by the wounds the lady ranker had on other parts of her body despite being in the D-Rank solid stage that Ivor had been successful in what he had planned to do.
Ivor regretted the fact that he couldn't finish this lady ranker on time. A feat he would have achieved easily if he wasn't interrupted by the lady ranker's other friends fighting beside her.
Another ranker looked at Eren and laughed like a maniac before commenting.
"Hahahaha. Just imagine how much Sir Arthur will reward us when we tell him the news and show him the chopped heads of Eren and Ivor.
The mystery will finally be put to rest. Just imagining the amount he will give me makes me feel rich already."
Oliver looked at the man who had just spoken with a look of pity. That's because he knew Arthur's financial situation well. Arthur would surely reward the rankers for bringing the dead bodies of Ivor and Eren and catching Layla alive. But it was not going to be anything too incredible.
The artificial demon beast projects had depleted a major part of Arthur's wealth. A huge part of his remaining sum was spent chasing Layla and doing things related to his breakthrough into Grandmaster rank. The guy was broke by Duke's standards these days. Oliver guessed that Eren would have more than Arthur at this point.
Still, Oliver didn't try to burst the guy's bubble. The reward will come after the task is completed. Consequently, Oliver looked at Eren and used his actions to warn him.
Oliver raised his hands and concentrated. He controlled the array disk he was using to maintain the battle formation before commencing his attack.
Layla and Ivor felt a threatening vibe coming from the sword just before it was about to make a move. The blood inside their veins churned and their faces turned ashen. They looked at each other and then at Eren's back before deciding to bolt from their stance.
Arthur used his lightning movement spell to get away from Eren whereas Layla used Hexen Bee to fly away. Only Eren, Kirin, and Argo remained glued to their spot with the dead body of a royal elf behind them.
Eren watched as the 50-meter-long sword came for him tearing through the skies. The wind pressure it generated was enough to depress the ground and crush the people under it.
Argo had appeared in his lion form. He put one of his front paws on the dead elf to make him stick to the ground and not get flown away in the air. He then roared at the incoming sword without even moving an inch from his place.
Kirin was intimidated by the sword's pressure too. She felt that this was the most threatening situation she had come across in her entire life. Never did she have to worry about her safety to this extent as she did now.
But then the half-elf looked at her husband and gained some mental strength from him. Looking at him, she wondered if what they were doing was bravery or stupidity. In the next moment, however, she corrected her own thought process.
'In the end, bravery and stupidity are just perspectives. Those who can weather their storms are brave. Those who cannot are labeled as stupid.'
And then there are those who just don't give a damn about anyone's perspective...'
Kirin smiled as she looked at Eren. Eren hadn't stopped her from running away from the place but she decided to stick close to him nonetheless. She stood by him and let the sword approach her.
Eren looked up and smiled crookedly as he felt a natural disaster-like attack approach him. He felt like he was receiving divine punishment for all the so-called wrong deeds he committed so far.
Argo's fearless lion roar was drowned out by deafening white noise when the sword finally swooshed down.
Zoom. Swoosh. Cut.
The large elemental sword cut through the ground like a hot knife would cut through a slab of butter. It struck twice in quick succession before resuming its resting position above Oliver's head once again.
It was as if the earth itself had been split in anticipation of the sword's attack. Hence, the attacks generated relatively less damage than was expected of them.
Still, the mana pulse the sword gave off when the attack was launched was quite something. One could say that the way Ivor and Layla reacted to the potential attack was a natural course of action for most rankers in their shoes.
A dust storm had been generated by the sword's attack. The surroundings were clearly compromised and the mana in the surroundings got too agitated for anyone to use their mana sense normally.
The ground Eren stood on became a blackout zone for his allies-in-combat as well as his foes.
