“Al… Alright!”
That was all Almera could muster before turning her attention to the enemy E-Ranker. She felt awkward fighting the guy now. Because it felt like her team was on the wrong side because of the poor fates her team member had dished out for the enemy.
“You little rat…”
The E-Ranker was about to spit fire with his words but he was interrupted by the terrorist again:
“Also, don’t call me a little rat. First, I’m very sensitive about my height. And second, I only allow one person to call me that.”
The E-Ranker was speechless after hearing about Eren’s rebuttal. Was it even a rebuttal in the first place when you don’t even let your opponent talk?
The E-Ranker got so mad that his eyes turned red. He was about to attack this little vile menace. But this time, Almera was prepared.
She quickly took out a rune-printed crossbow from her storage and aimed at the E-Ranker before firing a mana arrow. She kept on shooting more mana arrows in rapid succession to attack her opponent from various angles.
The targeted E-Ranker had very good agility. The mana arrows couldn’t touch him for the most part. And those which did only gave him slight injuries.
But Almera had it covered when it came to the security of her members. The E-Ranker couldn’t touch the two Novices without putting himself in danger due to the ranger’s accuracy.
That gave Ken enough time to tackle the two guys he was assigned with. One had to admit. The protagonist was strong.
He was so strong that he could handle the two young rankers simultaneously without breaking a sweat. Plus, his custom-made gauntlets did half the work.
Ken could have finished the fight within a few moments if he wanted to. But he would retract his attack every time it was about to land on the opponents’ vital spots.
That dragged the fight more than it needed to. Eren had a headache watching Ken’s battle. He wanted to chop all three of them in half for wasting time on silly charades.
The outcome had already been decided the moment Eren had decided to reveal his potion bombs. The enemy team wouldn’t have attacked a group with such a vile creature as its member.
Marla showed up only when the enemy E-Rankers was about to run away. She dealt with them effortlessly and made him follow the same fate as Eren’s mutilated victim. Forced slumber.
The sudden battle was a wrap. Now comes the aftermath.
“Eren, you performed splendidly. Your presence of mind impresses me the most. And where did you get your hands on the potion bombs?
But I hope you understand that this is not how close combat experts fight. We do not deal in explosives. And there’s a reason for that.
And you had the guy under control. You could have taken him captive as a whole instead of amputating three of his limbs.
Remember this. Criminals would be seen as victims if you deal more damage to them than they ever could to you. Your case becomes weak at that point even when you have been in the right all along.”
Marla didn’t hold back from praising her apprentice while criticizing some of his actions. The guy had almost bombed the close combat style by using a potion bomb on his opponent.
Normally, close combat experts wouldn’t handle anything explosive. Because they were required to approach their opponents and engage with them by breaching their personal space.
That would make them the targets of their own attack if the timing goes off. Putting at risk the personal space you are going to barge into was an absolute madness no close combat expert was willing to commit.
But Eren was an exception. He had Sedated Perception as his go-to supporting spell. It allowed him to change his speed, direction, and orientation however he wanted to in the middle of the fight. As if he had all the time in the world to do that. That’s how Eren was confident in using potion bombs in his close combat style in the first place.
But just because he could doesn’t mean he should. Or that’s how Marla interpreted it.
Rankers had a few unwritten rules collectively known as Rankers’ Codes. Most of them dictated how a ranker was supposed to fight with another ranker in a non-war-like situation.
The way Eren fought broke most of the Rankers’ codes. He first used potion bombs as a means to deal with his opponent when he should have been engaging with them in close range.
And Eren attacked a woman first before anyone else. Most male rankers would have considered it shameful behavior.
But the butcher didn’t feel even a shred of guilt.
Because he had to die once to understand that everything was a fair game when it came to his interests. And sadly for his victims, his interests lied in them getting bombed and mutilated.
And rankers had a silent agreement with others in the community. That they wouldn’t incapacitate their opponents the way Eren did unless it was a last resort.
That’s why the enemy E-Ranker was so mad at Eren. The guy didn’t follow the script. He just went ahead and started dishing out violence with that irritatingly expressionless look on his face.
“Eren, I think you’ve gone overboard, buddy. And why did you use a potion bomb on a girl? We could have…”
Eren’s team was converging at Marla standing in the middle. Ken asked the question as soon as he got close.
Being women themselves, Marla and Almera wanted to hear Eren’s explanation too. They wanted to see what kind of rare creature they were dealing with.
‘Ugh! This guy’s a headache. But I have to answer. Marla and Almera are listening.’
Eren took a long sigh before replying to Ken:
“Um… I attacked her because I could? Isn’t that reason enough? I mean they were the ones who asked for it.
I bet she wasn’t expecting to get attacked first. Her brain had been trained as per the Ranker’s Code. I used that against her to catch her off guard.
And the second reason I attacked her was that she looked like the weak link among those guys. It’s best to take care of the weak link first when you are outnumbered.”
Eren cursed the white knight a million times before replying. He knew the justice maniac’s two opponents were safe and in one piece. He had just knocked them out with his punches.
The whole reason Ken had taken up fist saint as his ranking path was so that he could kill less and bore more after all. At least that’s what the butcher thought about his battle buddy.