Vile Evil Hides Under The Veil

'Brace yourself, Ertaur. Even with the defensive lightning cloak, it's still gonna hurt.

Bear with me.'

Eren discussed his contracted beast as he charged ahead. He was approaching Altashia from her 3 O clock while his bull was charging at her from her 6 O clock.

Altashia smiled a bit as she saw Eren using a two-pronged attack to target her. She thought she should return Eren's favor with equal fervor.

A distinct mana pulse was released from Altashia once again as she cast her spell. A spell that she had seldom demonstrated to anyone outside her clan's battleground.

Caw!

Caw!

Caw!

Animated spell.

Altashia had used a stacked animated spell. Three crows, boasting the same stature as their master, appeared around her. Two of them went towards the approaching Eren while one of them headed towards the charging bull.

Another stacked animated spell went off at that moment.

Hatchlings of the flame.

Two fire snakes appeared alongside Eren as he continued to approach Altashia. She was changing her position rapidly as she sent her animated spell forward, making it difficult for Eren to pin her down even using his exceptional speed.

Hisss!

The golden-colored flying crows tried to attack the two snakes using their vice-like grips and fire breath attacks. But the snakes had fire breaths of their own. They executed their variants and launched themselves in the air.

The two snakes wrapped their bodies around the flying crows and used their mouths to cast fire breaths on them continuously. Even with aerial advantage on their side, the animated crows became defenseless in front of the fire snakes.

'Eren's… animated spells are leagues apart.'

Altashia saw and felt her animated spell practically getting obliterated by Eren's hatchlings of the flame. The timing and pattern of attack used by the animated snakes against her golden crows were flawless. Those attacks almost felt like they were performed by real mana beasts who had a firm grip on their inherent spells and their body parts.

Eren's animated spells were livelier than Altashia's. She couldn't beat him relying on her animated spell alone.

Altashia smiled and felt rejuvenated. She was getting excited by Eren's battle potential. This was the man who made her heart beat faster every time she saw him. A part of her consciousness liked and preferred his dominant side. Her other part wanted to dominate him instead. Stuck between her two facets of thoughts, Altashia was becoming more engaged with Eren's affairs than she let on.

'Even though I have feelings for you, I'll fight this fight seriously. I am sure you want it this way too.

Surpass me with your caliber. That is if you have what it takes to surpass me, Eren Elijah Idril.'

Altashia smiled and gripped her weapon hard before throwing it over her head. A hive of chains sprouted from the palms of her hands, made from the fire and wind elements.

Those wind-element chains latched onto her scythe and allowed her enhanced maneuverability over her oversized weapon. Eren was ready for this. He didn't shy away from approaching Altashia even though she seemed twice as dangerous as she was a few moments ago.

Swoosh!

Altashia swung her weapon around her like a whip, effortlessly controlling its trajectory. As if the weapon was weightless. As if she had done this a thousand times without breaking a sweat.

But the effects of the attack were anything but normal. A subsonic sound was heard as a wind-element crescent moon blade was manifested and expanded rapidly along the lines of the weapon's trajectory.

It was as if the scythe's blade had enlarged itself before manifesting itself like this. This flying attack covered an area of 30 meters. It then grew some more before it started approaching its target at crazy speeds.

Eren could still perceive Altashia's attack with his senses enhanced and his body made to accelerate due to his time element. Therefore, he was able to cast the movement spell on time and jump 10s of meters high in the air. But Ertaur wasn't so lucky.

Slash!

The red lightning bull's body was sliced in two laterally even with Eren's defensive spell protecting him. He was already engaged with the golden crow that was sent his way by Altashia. So he didn't have the time to perceive the attack. He wouldn't have been able to dodge it even if he could.

The red lightning bull's mana body disintegrated quickly when it was injected with Altashia's foreign mana in such a heavy dose. Even his soul was affected by that attack. And that was a big feat considering it couldn't have been affected by normal attacks. Altashia's mastery over her element was not something to be scoffed at.

'This girl... just as I had expected. She didn't fight all out against Rodrick Renar.'

Eren gulped as he saw the crescent moon-shaped flying slash still wreaking havoc in its path as it traveled ahead. It had targeted both him and his bull at the same time by big crazy big. The timing and position of that attack were also flawless. This mana-dense attack left patches of ground in its wake as it traveled away from Altashia. These patches were either covered in flames or marked with visible scars.

Purple Reaver!

Invi Blaze!

Eren decided to test Altashia's defense by using his weapons' inscribed spells at once. He had already seen how Altashia would deal with such attacks by observing her battle with Rodrick. But he had decided to test the waters anyway. Two flying slashes made their way toward Altashia as she was just about to adjust her stance with her weapon.

Altashia smirked before raising her hand above her head. Since Eren had launched these attacks while being at an altitude of 10 meters from the ground, his attacks were zeroing in on her diagonally downwards.

Two giant hands made of wind elements were created by her before she sent them to intercept Eren's attacks.

"These tricks won't work on me, Eren. You already know that. Come up with something better."

Altashia spoke without any agitation in her voice. As if she was speaking basic math, like 2 plus two equals four. And Eren could see why when he comprehended her response that was acoustically stretched because of his enhanced perception.

At first, Eren would shut down his auditory senses when he was using his time-element spells. But later on, he changed his style and decided to listen to his surroundings for enhanced awareness.

Usually, he would find his opponents' speeches funny whenever they addressed him while he was using his time-element spells. That's because even the meanest of words would get dragged so much for him that their voices would usually become a joke to him.

But this time, Eren didn't find anything funny when he heard Altashia's statement that was devoid of any arrogance even though it sounded the opposite. He knew she meant it when she had said that.

Eren's slashes were dispersed in thin air when they were grabbed in the palm by Altashia's simple spell. As she squeezed both her hands in real-time, the hand manifestation mimicked her movement and squashed Eren's attack until they were no more.