Vile Evil Hides Under The Veil
chapter-948

"A fusion spell derived from lightning and water…

This… This is something alright."

Eren commented as he made an "I'm impressed" face looking at Ivor's self-created spell. He knew that Ivor had created this spell on his own inside Purgatory because the guy just told him proudly about his achievements a moment ago.

"Hahaha. Impressive, isn't it?"

Ivor laughed as he traveled through the contracted beast's belly as if it was a freeway. The contracted beast was almost 20 meters long, allowing Ivor to cover the entire battlefield while being protected inside its belly.

Layla spoke first before Eren had a chance to reply.

"Don't tempt him into devouring you. Just get this fight over with already."

Eren smiled mirthlessly when Layla read his state of mind like an open book. Ivor was making it difficult for Eren not to think of killing him and devouring his spells for himself.

Eren had to say that the fusion between lightning and water looked harmonious and powerful. Ivor's elemental attainment had allowed him to alter the aspect of his lightning first. Afterward, he could pursue water element attainment individually until he could perform elemental fusion.

This was one of the biggest advantages of creating one's spells. The growth potential of such spells was unimaginable by normal standards. Plus, it allowed the caster to explore more avenues in terms of the spell's effects and uses.

Ivor wasn't aware of what Layla was talking about. But he decided to follow her suggestion all the same.

Lightning vines sprouted from the green water and tried to catch Eren off guard. The latter flew even higher and in the opposite direction while locking his gaze on Ivor. He felt that the guy was waiting for him to come close to him.

Ivor had basically stopped being an expert in close combat at this point. The spells he had unlocked for himself allowed him to take different roles, allowing him to get rid of his mid and long-range weaknesses.

For a short period of time, Eren could dive into elemental water without experiencing any damage over time. His body enhanced by the beastly transformation could handle such exposure. But the real problem was the guy's contract beast which was also staring at him.

This green eel was also in the D-Rank, thanks to the peculiarity of the beast contract spell. It seemed to have lightning scales on its body which made it difficult for Eren to penetrate them. Eren guessed it would also have its inmate spells.

After water, and the contract beast, Eren had to deal with Ivor's golden armor too. Only after passing through such hurdles could he hope to hurt Osan Junior in the end.

Eren would have relied on Blink if it wasn't for the lightning water. With Ivor summoning such a dense form of mana in the surroundings, Eren could not use Blink effectively since its accuracy had been compromised. After all, he was not an assassin.

'This… this is more difficult than I thought.'

Eren had stress lines on his forehead as he kept on dodging the lightning vines that would come for him from time to time. He was extending the battle by trying to think of a breakthrough.

Eren thought of using his summoning spells at first. His earth element summons would allow him to trample Ivor. The woodland creatures also had an inborn resistance to lightning, which they could use against Ivor.

But Eren thought of something different and changed his mind. He decided to try a different way of attacking. Something that would let him target Ivor precisely from a distance and chip into his defenses.

Eren took out a runic crossbow after placing Harjahar's hammer back in his storage. He flew even higher while closing his eyes to concentrate.

Eren got out of the forest zone, getting a bird's eye view of the battlefield. He was safe here with Ivor glued to the ground. But he could also not attack using any of his spells.

Or so Ivor thought.

Streaks of red lightning clouds were summoned around Eren as he activated the runes on the crossbow. He had hunted for wrath flames while he was inside the Oni dungeon.

Sharog, Lasha, and Luna had helped him hunt various monsters ranging from Monster Leaders to Monster Lords. He had experience using crossbows from that expedition.

After getting out of the Oni dungeon, Eren obtained ranger-like spells he could use to cultivate his newly digested experiences. He would fine-tune their castings during his practice sessions.

The only problem with using these experiences was the fact that he had to face the synchronicity issue if Eren was not in his monster form. He had practiced a lot to resolve the issue and had seen tremendous progress over the months. Still, this would be his first time using a crossbow in a real fight.

Layla was metaphorically smacked in the face once again when she saw Eren holding a crossbow. She flew higher and matched his altitude on her Hexen Bee, wanting to see what he could do while handling a completely different weapon.

Eren's eagle eyes granted him enhanced vision even from a long distance. He narrowed those eyes to Ivor before aiming.

Ivor was helpless when he saw Eren out of his spell's range. He could only tackle whatever Eren was throwing his way. Thankfully, he could see it coming for him in advance.

The first batch of projectiles Eren was about to shoot at Ivor were miniature Blitz Bolts. He had used them with the crossbow instead of using them for his free throws.

The crossbow was one of Alephee's creations using the Andrium Eren had extracted from Minerva's Utopia. This artifact allowed him to increase the spell's mana density, which in turn made the spell more lethal. It also made casting spells easier while allowing Eren to hit the target more precisely.

Plus, the Blitz Bolt launch was streamlined in such a way that it increased their speed by a huge margin. If Eren's opponents couldn't see the Blitz Bolts thrown by him before, it was made more difficult now.

The bolts were made from red lightning which gave them an added edge.

However, the Blitz Bolts were not the only projectiles Eren had shot at Ivor. Two seemingly new spells were set to make their on-field debut soon.

Lightning Seed!

Lightning Tree!

Charge. Swoosh. Boom.

AN: Eren hunts for wrath flames in chapter 683. Lightning Seed and Lightning Tree were first mentioned in chapter 714.