Lagartha had appeared at the scene unannounced.

Gian narrowed his eyes before addressing Lagartha.

“What are you doing here?”

Lagartha chuckled before answering.

“To end the cold war between us once and for all, Gian. Tell me. What is your problem with me?’

Lagartha asked while folding her arms under her bosom. She oozed confidence with every move. As if she was in complete control of the situation. Gian wasn’t sure what Lagartha was doing at the scene of his mission site. But now that she was in front of him, he decided to ask her the most pertinent question he wanted to ask her.

“What happened that day? Tell me exactly how my brother died and why you survived. No lies.”

Lagartha smirked before nodding. She pursed her lips and collected her thoughts before commenting.

“That day, we came across Eren and Mia and decided to ambush them. Your brother led the charge. We used a debuff on both of our targets. But Eren managed to get over it using the tools at his disposal.”

Gian didn’t find any subtle mana fluctuations in Lagartha’s presence that would let him know that she was lying. Her version of the story was the same as the official records anyway. So he let her continue to speak.

“From here on out, things diverge from what is a popular theory and submitted reports. Mia wasn’t involved in the party wipeout at all. It was Eren– all him and nobody else.

He let Mia escape and literally butchered everyone except me. That includes your brother as well. I did not share the same fate as them because I managed to keep my cool.

Gian, let me tell you that it wasn’t your brother’s fault that he passed away. It was nobody’s fault that he died. He died because of the consequences of picking a side.

I don’t know why you feel anger towards me for surviving that incident. But let me be clear that if given the same choice today, I would do exactly what I did back then.”

Lagartha said this with an unwavering attitude. She knew that Gian wasn’t a normal Awakened. Moreover, she knew that he was in the solid stage of the Awakened rank, just a few steps from breaking into Arch rank. However, she didn’t feel like she should back away from her stance just because Gian was stronger than her.

“Consequences of picking a side, huh? That means you also find that the bastard you wiped out didn’t do anything wrong. After all, he too had just picked a side and was playing his role as a Stardust guild member.”

The air around Gian fluctuated as he responded to Lagartha’s comment. A mist formed around the Awakened rank close combat expert, as he was trying to keep his anger under control. Soon that mist started getting charged with micro lightning strikes. His elemental attainments were manifesting around him.

Lagartha nodded at Gian and confirmed his sarcastic remarks for real.

“That’s right. The members of the wiped-out party, your brother, I, and even Eren did nothing wrong. And you shouldn’t blame him when he comes for you either. And I won’t blame you if you decide to retaliate against him as well.”

Lagartha narrowed her eyes and smiled deviously before commenting

“In fact, he is already here!”

A distinct mana pulse came from Lagartha as she cast her spell and disappeared along with Yeti. The wood-element ranker had used a spatial array disk Eren had provided her to separate Yeti from Gian.

Gian was stunned by Lagartha’s sudden move. It took him a while to figure out that someone had appeared on the other side of the round cliff surrounding the small valley.

“Sir Gian…”

“Who the fuck…”

“Who is this bastard…”

Gian’s team members were subjected to the same fate as Ekay, Rhea, Litho, and Reece appeared near them. They all vanished from the recently active battle scene, leaving only Gian and Eren at the scene.

Eren had even managed to separate the two Awakened rankers Gian had placed in the shadows. He had acted on the information provided to him by Ariadne and Lagartha to set this trap.

The two Awakened rankers were separated from Gian by Ariadne and Mia. Eren had made sure that the guy and he were totally left alone for his mano-e-mano showdown against him.

Gian was left speechless. Not by the fact that Eren had decided to attack him of course. At least that was not the main reason. He was shocked by the level of pre-planning done by Eren. The execution of his plan was so flawless that Gian concluded that he could do nothing to stop Eren and his team members from doing exactly what they did just now.

However, Gian wasn’t too bothered by the fact that he was left alone with Eren. He was still in Meta rank. If nothing else, Gian appreciated the guts Eren had to face him using his minuscule ranking status in front of him.

“So you are Eren Idril? I have heard a lot about you in recent days. It seems you also managed to sway two of the Spiders to your side after battling with them. Should I call it your charisma? Or should I call you a conniving son of a bitch?”

Gian playfully asked Eren. But Eren could tell that there was a hint of anger and hatred mixed in that voice. He just shrugged his shoulders before responding.

“Call me whatever you want. It doesn’t change what I did in the past. And it won’t change what I do next. Feel free to take comfort in cursing me as I send you on your merry way to meet your brother.

I was the reason behind the two brothers separating from each other. So it’s only fair that I should be the reason for their eventual reunion in the afterlife.”

Eren provoked Gian with his words. To be honest, he was a bit stressed facing Gian. So by saying things like these, he was actually trying to self-motivate himself.

Tiamat’s spectral manifestation was still in the realm of Rank-1 when he fought it. Yes, the beast’s presence was overwhelming. However, a ranker in the Awakened rank had more options and flexibility in fighting Eren. As such, Gian posed a more serious danger to the battlemage.

Eren could tell that Gian wasn’t like his brother Geer. He hadn’t gained his position because someone had backed him up. The man had exceptional elemental abilities in water and lightning. And through the intel, he knew that Gian had also mastered mana-based sword arts.

Gian was quite proficient at martial arts as well. It could be said that he was one of the rare rankers who thought that having better and more explosive spells wasn’t everything. Just like Eren, the guy also believed in refining his battle style using mana-based martial arts.

Gian’s martial arts had sharpened his aura. In comparison to a wyvern, he seemed like a sheathed sword. However, he poses an even greater danger of harming Eren.

“Hahahaha!”

Gian could feel that Eren was a bit nervous about facing him. He looked at Eren amusingly before asking him.

“Why are you so eager to die? You could have lived for a few days more had you just stayed put. And you also subjected your friends to the same fate as you. Heh!

I think I can finally let go of my brother’s death after killing you. It feels like you are also sorry for killing him and want to commit suicide to make up for it.”

Gian spoke and the lightning-charged mist around him intensified. He didn’t care about any of the traps Eren had set. He was about to attack Eren with all his might.

Eren liked the fact that he could feel the tension in the air. It looked like he was enjoying the thrill of a tough battle ahead of him. He looked at Gian and clenched his fist. His fingers cracked when he did that. The jittery feelings left his body as they were replaced by feelings of excitement.

“I just want to sharpen my skills using a better whetstone, Gian. Don’t mind me I see you as just that.”

Eren said and lightning struck. The battlemage disappeared from his position shortly afterwards. The lightning-charged mist that surrounded Gian also blurred when he cast his movement spell. Both rankers jumped into the valley, unanimously deciding on a ruined battlefield as their venue for the showdown.

Clang!

Eren’s axe met Gian’s weapon and a metallic clash ensued. The former’s arms felt like they had been stabbed with a thousand needles when the clash took place. He felt like his arms’ bones would get chipped away by the vibration he was experiencing while trying to hold his weapon.

“Not bad. You want to test your limits, right? I don’t want to do any favors to the killer of my brother. But I’ll consider this as your last request and indulge you in it anyway.

Entertain me well, young man.”

Gian chose to fight Eren solely using his martial arts. The latter also understood Gian’s intentions and was happy to play along with it.

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