Gilhause's face became bloodless as he considered the possibility.
'Is she... Meera Medinah that Goro's report talked about?'
Gilhause didn't personally know Despite her talent, she was not known to even people in army circles because of her special forces background. But Goro had shared his reports with the clan after the ambush team had a get-together to set up an agenda. Goro had conveyed the ambush team's plans along with basic details about the rankers involved in the ambush.
It took a while for Gilhause to link Meera to the reports he had received from Goro. This was because he wasn't expecting someone like her to side with Eren and fight for him.
This was still a manageable shock for Gilhause. However, he derived another grim possibility from Meera's way of fighting her opponents. Another clue was her slightly peculiar mana signature.
Gilhause looked at Eren with a mixture of madness and anger. It was as if he had started to imagine what must have happened to Goro. Gilhause had seen Goro fight. Meera's presence reminded him of Goro's human doll spell. And the more he saw her, the more suspicious he became.
By this time, Meera had finished off the last remaining army personnel from the lot that Gilhause had chosen to abandon. He considered them dead weights at this point. Since their enemy had an Expert rank member, the quantity would only slow Gilhause down.
However, Goro's death wasn't something Gilhause could brush off. Just as Meera retreated to her owner, Eren heard Gilhause calling his name with a voice imbued with mana and anger.
"EREN IDRIL!"
Gilhause approached Eren with his security detail and pointed a finger at him.
"What... what the fuck did you do Goro? She is Meera Medinah, isn't she? Why the fuck is she working for you? And why does it look like you have converted her into a human doll using Goro's spell?"
Eren was smoking another Sativa Stick to digest his heavy dinner at this point. He released a cloud of smoke from his nostrils and smirked. He looked at Meera's gravely injured body and marveled before speaking up.
"Fascinating creature, isn't she? I never knew she had this much use when I first started to preprocess her. I guess it's true what they say. Sometimes, something you do on a whim becomes artwork on its own."
Eren's cryptic answer didn't bode well for Gilhause at all. He clenched his fists and spoke in a threatening tone.
"You didn't answer any of my questions. Do not think that the Expert-ranked lady will be able to handle all of us alone. We'll make you regret ever messing with us soon enough."
Alephee kept quiet the whole time. She didn't interfere with Eren's business because it looked like she didn't have to. She watched as Eren used his summoning spell to answer Gilhause's question.
"It's because I'm not getting paid to answer you. I can understand the curiosity one would have about their opponent in a situation like this. However, I am not obliged to do anything with that understanding.
So you can go ahead and shove those questions up your ass. Meera, be a good girl and finish those guys for me. I'll give you a few henchmen."
Eren ordered Meera before looking at the dead bodies of cultists lying everywhere around him. His hair turned white and his eyes turned blue. He raised his hand and spoke in a deep voice as if he was talking to the dead bodies themselves.
"Find your eternal peace by dying for me once more. Arise!"
Eren used Goro's summoning spell on the dead bodies of victims from both sides. The bloody bodies started moving when Eren's spell gave them temporary life.
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The intact bodies became possessed by the residual souls of their owners. The souls that didn't have intact bodies were given mana bodies made of pure death-element mana, which retained their previous appearances to some degree.
Beads of sweat started running behind Gilhause's ears as he witnessed Eren using Goro's spell to summon the undead around him. The dead bodies from both sides– the cultists and the army personnel that had died ever since the raid had started– stood on their deformed feet and cried in unison.
"Screeeee!"
Eren injected the dead bodies of rankers and cultists with wrath mana at the snap of his fingers. He watched as the undead became more powerful and aggressive around him. Eren had basically recycled the dead rankers and cultists at this point.
Goro's security detail wanted to keep a neutral face. However, even the six veteran rankers had a chill run down their spine when they saw their previous colleagues start to surround them with vicious hunger in their eyes. The hunger to kill them and gouge out their organs. The undead wanted to feast on their bodies until they could eat no more.
Using their inhuman strides and twisted limbs, most of the undead began running toward Gilhause's team. Some of the undead walked and some crawled. They screeched loudly and made chattering noises with their jaws and teeth. They halted at a safe distance, waiting for their commander Meera to make her move.
Eren's act of summoning the undead was also a form of answer for Gilhause. He couldn't help mumbling to himself in his head.
'Son of a whore... he... He really uses Goro's spells.'
Gilhause had come to realize that he wouldn't get any answers from Eren no matter how many times he tried to ask him. At this point, he could only conclude. And they were telling him that he was dealing with an abomination.
Gilahuse started seeing Eren for who he was. He was someone who could escape such a solid line of rankers set up against him in the ambush team. Someone who could tame a ranker like Meera. And perhaps someone who could take Goro's achievements and spells for himself and use them better than the original ranker himself.
No further talk was necessary. Gilhause looked around and found himself surrounded by the undead who were closing in on him. He punched his right fist against his left palm before casting his earth-element summoning spell.
Goliath!