Vile Evil Hides Under The Veil

"Steve! Now!"

Shouted Eren and executed his movement spell.

Steve heard Eren's call from behind him and flashed a wicked smile towards his opponent without looking back. He retrieved another vial of berserking potions and used his berserking charge that aimed straight for Veronica.

Veronica heard Eren's shout too. She was taken aback by Eren's speed to take care of the cannon fodder she had in her team. It wasn't that she was expecting them to neutralize Eren completely. But she had thought that they would be able to at least hold the close combat expert off for a reasonable amount of time.

She had thought wrong. Or maybe she underestimated her opponent thoroughly. Either way, she was under immediate pressure from two fronts.

Veronica saw the enemy berserker drink probably his last vial of berserking potion and knew that things were about to get serious. She had also realized that the first threat would come from Steve. Even if he fails, the incoming enemy can use the time to close in on her and force her to join a close combat battle. That would be a game over for her.

Therefore, she needed to take care of the charging berserker first. She raised both of her hands in front of Steve and waved them as if guiding the lava whips born from the lava pond.

Steve saw a barrage of incoming lava whips closing in on him. He couldn't help smiling after looking at the reddish-orange whips heading his way at breakneck speeds.

'Eren was right. Even a tough game becomes fun to play against stronger opponents if you know how you can play your strengths.'

Steve thought and cast his other spell.

Earth Spike!

Veronica was ready as soon as she sensed the mana fluctuations in her surroundings. She started looking around her with the corner of her eyes, anticipating an incoming attack from Steve.

Veronica's alert reactions made the berserker more fearsome as he charged toward her. While under the effect of the berserking potion, he remembered Eren's words about voicing his attacks with zeal to get the most out of them. So he followed his leader's advice.

"Earth Spike!"

Said Steve out loud. Veronica heard the guy's shout and balled her fists in anticipation, seemingly preparing for a dodge-and-counter strategy. But alas, White Raven Crew's berserker had picked up a thing or two from their shadow leader.

Steve had been told by Eren that berserker's in-battle shouts would sometimes fool the enemy into thinking the attack was coming, regardless of whether it was true or not. Even if the opponents knew that there's a chance the berserker was just bluffing, their subconscious mind would always think about the countermeasure to the enemy attack they had just shouted the name of.

Steve employed Eren's trick and decided to use it against over alert Veronica, making for a convincing bluff. The Earth Spike he had executed was not for her. It was for him.

That's right. Steve fired his Earth Spike right in the middle of his path toward Veronica. His feet were thrust into the air when he stepped on the ground outside the latter's lava pond due to the spike forming immediately beneath them.

The size, speed of formation, and the direction of the spike had all been adjusted to suit Steve's berserking charge. Like this, an earth element berserker seemed to have found an invisible pair of wings to complete his charge in the air. Without worrying about what was happening on the ground below him.

The lava whips missed their mark. In response, they attacked the spike that sent Steve in the air, and it soon crumpled. But Steve had no use for it anyway. He appreciated Veronica's panic after she saw him seemingly flying towards her.

Veronica retracted the lava whips she had sent towards the spike and was getting ready to tackle the flying berserker who had his limbs coated in the earthen armour again.

Veronica stopped caring about the opponent's life and launched an all-out offensive against Steve with numerous lava whips targeting him from all directions. The mage was confident her attack this time would produce results as Steve had no manoeuvrability while in the air.

She thought wrong. Because Steve executed Earth Spikes again and created a new, bigger spike in his path just before the whips hit him. This time he didn't step on the tip but caught the spike with his hands. He manoeuvred his body such that it would change position and launched himself in the opposite direction of where he was heading in just now.

Steve retreated using a last-minute manoeuvre. Veronica couldn't help cursing after she saw the berserker keeping his emotions in check and displaying exceptional control and skill to get the most out of his simple spells.

"Fu*ck…. You... Steve or something. Fight me as you mean it, I dare you."

Veronica gave Steve a naked threat. But he was all smiles after looking at his opponent seething in rage like boiling lava. She was so preoccupied with obsessing over Steve's retreat that she had forgotten his charge was only a decoy to buy time.

The real attack on Stormborn's lava mage was going to come from White Raven Crew's close combat expert. When Steve retreated safely from the whips, Eren had launched his spell combo and accelerated towards the lava mage.

Eren used the spell combo of Sedated Perception, Stunning Speed, and Blitz Steps. He felt like his entire body was as light as a feather as he approached the lava mage in the seemingly stagnated world. The spell combo made him too fast to be recognised by an F-ranker's mana sense, much less the visual perception done by the eyes.

So when Steve retreated to a safe zone from Veronica's attack, the latter almost didn't anticipate Eren coming her way. Almost.

Veronica didn't anticipate Eren getting close to her in such a short time right after Steve's retreat. Even so, she had anticipated that sooner or later one of her opponents would make her fight close range.

Therefore as soon as she saw Steve flash a smile towards her, Veronica knew something was up. She didn't waste any time and raised her hands in urgency.

"Lava Shell!"

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AN: This bonus chapter is dedicated to all those who sent gifts to support this novel. Thank you! ;)

VEH is almost about to have its 200th chapter. Our book has progressed far ahead in every type of ranking category WN has than I anticipated as a newbie author. This is thanks to all the readers who have spent their time and resources on this project.

I also have an announcement to make. There might not be a regular chapter release at the start of the next month for 2-3 days since I'll be uploading the privileged chapters first. I'll try to be as fast as I can with my release rate. But with the new year celebration approaching, it seems highly unlikely that I can get all the tiers running on the first day of the month.

That being said, enjoy this whole week with your friends and family. VEH is not going anywhere. It'll have a stockpile in abundance once you are done socializing.

See you in 2022!

Happy new year and have a prosperous time ahead!