Vile Evil Hides Under The Veil

"Demon Spell: Burning Abode!"

Altashia's flames that had spread all over the battlefield due to her flying slashes started converging in the airspace of the battle ring. They quickly closed in on Eren as he was getting closer to Altashia.

Altashia had dispersed her black wings because she couldn't have maintained them for a long time anyway. The second reason was that she wanted to cast this spell.

She wanted to create a space between him and the approaching Eren while he came close to the ground. This was so that she could control her stray flames in the vicinity. Her Demon spell was fueled by the existence of her stray flames in the vicinity after all.

The flames changed their shade to a golden hue as they converged around the falling Eren. Their temperature also seemed to have shot up due to the demon spell's amplifying effects.

Typically, a demon spell would require the demon beast tamer and their demon beast both to work in unison to cast it. But there were a few ways around it. By using Demon Beast Transformation, the ranker had all the power.

"Mother…"

Eren was consumed by the sea of golden flames before he could curse to his heart's content. That sea of fire quickly took the shape of a small cabin before starting to lose altitude at the same pace as Eren had been.

Altashia controlled her descent with her wind-element mana. She then easily found her footing on the other end of her weapon's snath. Then she used her feet to jump while using the snath as a platform and side-stepped. She also stored her weapon in her storage before using her movement spell to create a distance from the about-to-be-impacted ground. A series of actions took place seamlessly and were completed before a moment had passed.

Boom!

The ground shook a bit as the Burning Abode crashed onto the ground while still retaining its shape. A series of crackling sounds were heard as the flames spread in the nearby area once more. Altashia watched with concerned eyes as the destruction of the battle ring caused by her started unfolding in front of her eyes.

It felt like she had won even though she did not even have a shred of mana to fight the battle anymore. But she did not find joy in that part. She was worried about Eren's safety and criticized herself for overdoing on her part.

****

A few moments before Eren was engulfed by Burning Abode.

The butcher felt a unique yet familiar mana pulse when he approached Altashia. He searched his memories and quickly narrowed the possibility down to the execution of one spell he had seen Altashia cast once.

Eren couldn't believe that Altashia could also cast Demon spells when she was in the Demon Beast Transformation. This level of proficiency in spells she had displayed was far beyond Eren's expertise. Despite his previous timeline experience, he was unable to overcome it.

Eren began cursing out loud and then in his head as he was being consumed by golden flames. Due to the enclosed burning environment in which he found himself, he thought his skin would liquidate and burn away. So he cast his defensive spell and shrank his body into a ball-like form by hugging his knees.

Blitz Shield

Fire Wings

Wind Blades Tornado

Playing defensive for a while allowed Eren to cast such spells even when he was running low on mana.

First, he cast his defensive spell. Second, he executed Fire Wings and wrapped them around him as he hugged his knees. Third, he deployed Wind Blades Tornado to surround him.

"This… fucking… Fuck... Fuck... Fuck!"

Eren cursed some more as he felt like his skin would get burnt to a crisp before crumbling down in front of him. This was when he was surrounded by three layers of defense. Although the attacks in the outer perimeter weren't defensive, they had done their part in filtering the damage that would have otherwise fallen on the butcher had he only relied on his defensive spell.

'Eren, don't play defensive for long. Altashia is not keeping this spell active. Additionally, she lacks the mana to forcefully dispel it. You'll be toast soon if the healer on standby doesn't come to save you.'

Alephee reminded Eren to act despite his first instinct to play defensive inside the Burning Abode. He came to know that there was a healer outside waiting on them in case things go south. The healer's intervention would mean he had lost the duel he had fought so long to win.

'Damn it.'

The butcher's eyes shined with cruel light as his expressions turned bitter. He gritted his teeth and decided to fight back against the odds stacked against him.

Eren had another episode of soul sense awakening at that time. But he gritted his teeth and subconsciously prevented himself from getting immersed in that feeling. Losing sense of being this time meant he would be severely injured even if the healer does decide to intervene.

'This house of flames isn't enough to stop me. I'll rise above every flame that tries to burn me.'

Eren's closed eyes widened, reflecting the sea of fire that he was surrounded by. His eagle-like pupils were shining with a light of their own as he looked upwards.

Kiyeeeh!

A few moments ago, Argo had responded to Eren's strong emotions of triumph over adversity. He flapped his wings from inside the beast space created by the transcendent-grade spell and sent an eagle cry into his master's mind.

Eren's skin started exuding smoke and his defense mana layer started chipping away due to Bruning Abode's DoT. He gritted his teeth and released his two spells that were acting as the first and second line of defense. He concentrated only on maintaining his purple lightning cloak.

That's because he was preparing to cast a unique fusion of spells that he hadn't cast before.

'That's right, bud. Our freedom… nobody should be allowed to take that away from us.'

At this precise moment, Eren had an epiphany to perform elemental fusion due to his budding soul sense and the stress he was under. That too, using a demon spell he had just gotten access to.

"Elemental Fusion: Wind-Fire Wings!"

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AN: Elemental fusion was first explained in chapters 286 and 287. Wind Wings was first introduced in chapter 457. Lastly, Fire Wings was first mentioned in chapter 477.