Eren was panting.
He had sent his mana circuits on overdrive to achieve this kill. Something he only learned recently.
One could amplify their spell's effect or boost their body's stats temporarily by sending their mana circuits on overdrive. It meant closing the mana points that were not useful and directing the compressed mana flow towards the mana points that were in use.
The spells would receive enhanced mana because of this, resulting in their effects getting amplified. If one did this while keeping a particular muscle group in their mind, then that muscle group would deliver more power and performance than usual as well.
The rankers who had sufficient control over their mana circuits could make use of this technique to provide an extra edge to their most potent attacks. Or to simply get out of a pinch.
The overdrive provided a boost to the spell and body stats. There was one more level of the same act that could provide an even greater boost. It was known as the hyperdrive technique.
The hyperdrive technique would put a greater strain on one's mana circuits as well as mana points at the same time. Interfering with the natural workings of mana circuits was not easy. One needed extreme mastery over their mana circuits to pull this off.
Using the mana circuit hyperdrive, however, was even more harmful. It negatively affects one's constitution. It could make them unable to fight after using the technique. Therefore, even those who knew how to employ the hyperdrive technique would only employ it as a last resort.
Even overdrive had its downsides. It would put a substantial strain on one's constitution. However, the fatigue and strain one feels after using the overdrive technique could be easily handled when the ranker was given some time to recover.
Eren was breathing heavily because his internal organs and his mana circuits were feeling the burn of using the technique. His face had turned red, indicating that his blood flow and blood pressure had been altered.
Eren's breaths were warmer than usual. His eyes felt hot as if he was having a fever. And his heartbeats were erratic. But it was all worth it. Because he had taken care of someone who was just a step away from entering the Awakened rank.
Blood started spilling out as Jario's body pumped out all that it had outward. His odd-looking skull shrank and turned into a regular human shape when it was separated from his body. There were no horns over his head anymore.
"You bastard! I'll kill you."
Someone shouted from behind Eren. With turning back, he spread his mana sense and found out that it was Ekay's opponent who was trying to get close to him after seeing he had killed Jario. He was currently in a vulnerable position.
Thankfully, Eren didn't need to do much.
"My man, don't ignore me like that. It hurts when you do that, you know."
Ekay said while sounding really upset. He intercepted his opponent and prevented him from approaching Eren. Eren's other team members did the same.
By this point, a lot of rankers who had been put to forced slumber had been woken up by Reece. As her own mana is inserted into the rankers' bodies, their natural defenses kick in, forcing them to wake up.
Only Ekay and Eren had decided to fight alone. The rest were fighting in pairs. Mia was not a frontline fighter anyway. She had already overexerted herself by spell spamming her long-range attacks to kill and injure demonic rankers in the surprise attack. As a result, some rankers were assigned to protect her.
The ongoing battles were under control. Nobody had tried to get close to Eren and Jario's fight though. The guy was scary and gave off an extremely dominant aura. Plus, he was close to achieving an Awakened rank. Only Eren was confident enough to fight him.
Even Eren would not have taken Jario on by himself if he did not have his ring to rely on. And he could only take the demonic ranker down because he had set a multi-layered trap for him. Otherwise, things would have gotten much more serious.
Eren's fight with Jario only lasted a few minutes. Despite this, it was the most strenuous battle in the city hall.
Eren was still out of breath as he took Jario's corpse and his two axes into his storage. He would take a look at his spoils of war later on. At this point, he had a more crucial thing to do.
Eren was going through a multi-stage breakthrough once again.
His battle with Jario and his use of the overdrive technique had helped him dig up his dormant potential. A cloud of Rank 1 mana surrounded him as his two mana cores spun around in their positions. They started absorbing the mana that was surrounding Eren at rapid space while transitioning from sparse to dense liquid state at the same time.
Eren felt a pleasant sensation wash over him as his fatigue from using the overdrive technique was relieved. The wound on his back started healing as well. He was fed with newfound power and stamina as his body naturally strengthened.
Eren's mana pathways expanded as well. Their connections with various mana points became more complex as new mana pathways kept being created while the existing ones were getting strengthened.
Just like the previous time, Eren's infinite mana core kept on feeding itself with more mana like an endless pit. The cloud of Rank 1 mana kept on getting generated as a result. This in turn allowed his body to experience multi-stage breakthroughs.
An event that was supposed to be rare happened again to Eren. Regardless of what it looked like, he was sure it was not Gilaahan's Blessing.
Eren's team members and demonic rankers were keeping an eye on Eren, who was almost in the middle of city hall. They were all shocked when Eren's ranking status changed from the fourth to the sixth stage of the Meta Rank. Both of his mana cores had reached the solid state of Rank 1.
Eren's mana cores were stabilized after entering the solid stage. He smiled to himself when he processed all his gains. A life-threatening duel with Jario had profited him in more ways than one.
"Now… where were we?"
As Eren gripped his Tachi, he said. He looked around himself and pondered who needed his help the most. Then he disappeared from his position, leaving the sparks of lightning behind him.
A dying shrill was heard in the next instant.
The source of this c𝐨ntent is fre𝒆w(e)bn(o)vel