"You don't necessarily have to win against all of the wraiths. As I said earlier, you just need to survive the seven days on the first floor. Hehe! Isn't it easy? Do your best.'
Layla finished her speech on a cheering note. That certainly relieved some pressure off of the butcher's psyche. But the black lines on his forehead didn't disappear as he realized the much-needed respite was still ten hours away from him.
'Easy? Easy? This fucking brat….'
Eren wanted to curse Layla for her easy remarks. But he stopped himself and tried to self motivate himself instead:
'Heh! It'll become impossible to clear the floor at this rate if I just get scared at the beginning. Snap out of it, Eren fucking Idril. You are better than this.
Just 10 hours, right? I can do this.'
Eren said to himself something he didn't truly believe. The odds were still stacked against him. He needed a trick that could work against the wraiths while enabling him to face the least amount of repercussions.
But first, he needed to take care of the three immediate opponents he was about to face all at once. He thought about it and activated another spell:
Blitz Shield!
A layer of lightning appeared around Eren's body and was converted into a lightning overcoat. It had fewer runic patterns than he previously had when he was in the ethereal state while in the underground dungeon. Still, it was a huge improvement over the normal defensive spell he was used to.
Eren had not yet gotten attuned to all the insights he gained after consuming the Potion of Serenity. However, he was able to accomplish this in an expedited manner due to the constant battles he was having.
Eren used his movement spell to his fullest and approached the dwarf first who looked the weakest among the trio. He employed the fire snakes that protected him to attack the other two. He sent one snake towards the old hag. The other two were assigned to deal with the elf sword warrior.
"Breath of fire."
Eren used the fire-element spell through his mouth as soon as he got close to the dwarf wraith. The dwarf wraith screeched when he was subjected to the fire. He repelled it by condensing a layer of dark blue ice on his body.
'This is the netherworld ice element Alephee talked about.'
Eren thought to himself before he stopped executing the spell. He used his weapons arts on the dwarf just as he was repositioning himself after being subjected to the fire.
'Swoosh.'
Eren chopped off the wraith's axe-holding hand before aiming his next attack on his eyes. But the wraith was unfazed even after the separation of his limb. He spun around quickly and ducked. Then he picked up the dropped axe using his other hand and spun it towards Eren's legs while still maintaining his close-to-the-ground position.
'These fucking dwarfs are nimble with their weapons even after they die it seems.'
Eren cursed and hastily jumped using his quick movements. This time, the jump wasn't as high. But it gave him the altitude he needed to cast another fireball spell on the dwarf.
'Screeeeeeee!'
The dwarf screeched as he was subjected to an even more fire-element attack.
'Destroy their hearts and brains. They are anchored to their mortal bodies because of those two organs. As long as those organs are intact, you won't be able to destroy them in one go.'
Eren heard Alephee's suggestion as he was about to fall to the ground. He had a light of hope in his eyes when he heard the information.
'Information like this..'
Eren redirected his stance and headed towards the dwarf wraith. He tightened the grip around his weapon and spun in the air. By now, the monster had stood on its own. But before it could look up, it felt something landing on either side of his shoulders with a significant force.
Eren had placed his feet right over the dwarf's shoulders. The momentum of his fall hadn't slowed down. It passed through his body and was exerted on the dwarf, causing him to be on his knees as a result.
The butcher didn't waste time. He squatted and ran one of his katars directly through the monster's cranium from above. Then he grabbed the monster's shoulder with his hands and stood on it, allowing his legs to swing vertically and generate momentum behind the monster's back.
Eren ran his lightning element movement spell to its fullest to increase the right leg's speed and penetrating power. Then he used the same leg to puncture-kick the dwarf from behind– just where his heart was supposed to be.
Picheeui!
The right leg was through the monster's body as soon as the attack landed. It also damaged the heart in the process. From the dwarf's front, the rotten black blood was dripping with dark blue mana residue. And when Eren took his right leg back with equal speed, the same blood was spurted on the ground behind the monster as well.
'(Information like this) ... should have been given as soon as the fight had started.'
Eren finished his sentence only after he had defeated the monster. He had destroyed its brain and heart simultaneously with one attack. He had come to realize that attacking the wraiths this way, using fire-element spells first and then following them with attacks on their hearts and brains, would give him the maximum battle efficiency.
Eren jumped and landed on all fours to see that the dwarf wraith's body had started crumbling– turning into dust before disappearing into thin air. He was just about to get up from his position when he sensed a threat coming from where the dwarf's body was.
The dwarf's apparition appears from the crumbling dust that was once his body. It screeched even louder than it could while it had a mortal body and flew towards its enemy at an alarming rate.
Eren was about to execute his breath of fire again when he heard Alephee's voice in his head:
'Eren, remember when I told you the lightning-element spells wouldn't be useful? That was before you destroyed their bodies. You have to use them on the wraith's spectral form to deal with them.'
It was Alephee's warning that made Eren smile in mirthless amusement. His companion had a serious problem streamlining the information she was supposed to provide him. But he didn't let it get to him and changed his spell:
"Blitz Bolt!"