Reincarnated Into A World Of Elves As The Only Man-Chapter 55: Veilwalker Strength

In a heartbeat, Eren vanished.

The arena fell into stunned silence. Maria’s eyes darted frantically, her blade raised in defensive position as she pivoted in place. "Where—"

"Here."

The whisper came from directly behind her. Maria whirled, bringing her sword up in a desperate arc, but she was a fraction too late. Eren’s fist, encased in compressed earth, connected with her sternum. The impact resonated through the arena with a sickening CRACK that silenced even the most veteran warriors in the audience.

Maria skidded backward twenty feet, her heels carving trenches in the sand. Blood speckled her lips, but her eyes blazed with newfound excitement.

"Finally," she hissed through clenched teeth.

Eren stood motionless, face eerily serene. The wind around him stilled, as if the very air hesitated to intrude upon his concentration. Sand began to swirl at his feet, rising in spiraling columns that hardened into jagged spears of stone.

"He’s abandoned his blades completely," Naia whispered, leaning so far forward she nearly toppled over the railing.

Lyra’s expression had transformed from cool assessment to genuine fascination. "He’s channeling earth magic directly now."

In the arena below, Maria wiped blood from her chin and launched into motion. Her sword flashed with blinding speed as she created seven perfect copies of herself, each attacking from a different angle. The air distorted around her, reality bending to her will as the illusions solidified into near-physical forms.

"Impressive trick," seven voices taunted in unison. "But can you find me now?"

Eren remained still, head slightly tilted as if listening to voices only he could hear. The first Maria reached him, blade whistling toward his neck—

SHATTER

A column of earth erupted from beneath the sand, intercepting the blade and shattering it into glimmering fragments of light. The illusion dissipated like morning mist.

Without opening his eyes, Eren pivoted, one foot sliding forward in a stance reminiscent of the ancient earth-benders of legend. His palms thrust outward, and the arena floor responded with violent force. Waves of sand and stone surged in concentric circles, disrupting four more illusions and forcing the real Maria to leap fifteen feet into the air.

"Impossible," someone whispered from the royal box.

From across the arena, Rose watched with widening eyes, her hands gripping the stone balustrade so tightly her knuckles blanched white.

Maria twisted in mid-air, her sword transforming into a whip of pure light that lashed downward. The energy construct sliced through Eren’s stone defenses with a high-pitched WHINE, cutting a path directly toward his skull.

Eren’s eyes snapped open. With a fluid gesture, he pulled water from the underground springs beneath the arena, creating a pulsing barrier that intercepted Maria’s light whip. The energies collided with a blinding FLASH and deafening BOOM that sent spectators recoiling in their seats.

"He sees the elements beneath," Queen Elena murmured, her usual serenity replaced by intense focus.

Maria landed in a crouch, her illusion constructs dissolving as she channeled all her power into her blade. The weapon elongated, splitting into three separate swords that orbited her body like satellites, each leaving trails of crackling energy in their wake.

"Show me everything," she demanded, her voice distorted by power.

Eren’s response was brutal in its simplicity. He stomped one foot, and the arena floor beneath Maria liquefied into quicksand. As she began sinking, he clenched his fist, and the sand instantly solidified, trapping her to the knees.

CRACK-CRACK-CRACK

Three stone pillars erupted from the ground, smashing into Maria from different angles. Blood sprayed from her mouth as ribs fractured under the impact. Her orbiting swords sliced through two pillars, but the third connected with her shoulder, dislocating it with an audible POP.

The crowd gasped in collective shock as Maria roared—not in pain, but in savage delight. Though physically trapped, her powers of illusion remained unhindered. The air around her flickered and warped as she projected a perfect copy of herself standing free beside her imprisoned form.

"Is this real?" the free illusion-Maria taunted, circling Eren with predatory grace. "Or is this?" The trapped Maria echoed, blood streaming from her lips.

Eren didn’t hesitate. His hands swept upward, and water surged from below the arena—tapping into underground reservoirs that no one had known existed. The torrent smashed into both Marias with devastating force. The illusory copy dissolved immediately, while the real Commander was torn from her earthen prison and slammed against the arena wall with bone-crushing impact.

SPLASH-CRACK

"Stop this madness!" Naia shouted, half-rising from her seat.

Lyra placed a restraining hand on her shoulder. "Wait."

Maria pushed herself from the wall, blood streaming from a gash on her forehead. Her right arm hung useless at her side, but her left still gripped her sword with unwavering determination. With a grimace of pain, she channeled energy into her injured shoulder, temporarily numbing the nerves to regain limited movement. Her illusions flickered back to life—now twenty identical copies, each moving with perfect synchronization to mask which was real.

"You see too much," they hissed in unison, "but seeing isn’t enough."

The Marias attacked as one, a storm of blades converging from all directions. Eren stood motionless, seeing something beyond the physical world. At the last possible instant, he moved.

His movements weren’t human anymore. Each gesture flowed with impossible precision as he manipulated earth and water simultaneously. Stone gauntlets formed around his fists while water whips extended from his forearms. He struck with methodical brutality, each blow connecting with devastating force.

CRACK-SPLASH-THUD-CRACK

The illusions dissipated one by one as Eren’s water whips sliced through them. The real Maria received a stone-encased fist to her already injured ribs, the impact lifting her completely off her feet. Blood exploded from her mouth in a crimson spray that spattered across the sand.

"YES!" she screamed through bloodied teeth, her eyes alight with battle-madness. "MORE!" ƒгeewёbnovel.com

She landed in a crouch, forcing her injured arm into position through sheer willpower. Pain registered on her face briefly before determination and ecstatic joy overwhelmed it. Her sword transformed again, this time becoming a curved blade of pure darkness that seemed to devour light itself.

"Illusion beyond illusion," she whispered, her voice resonating from multiple locations.

The arena darkened as reality fractured around them. The spectators gasped as their surroundings wavered, the boundaries between real and unreal dissolving under Maria’s unprecedented power. The ground beneath Eren’s feet transformed into writhing serpents while the air filled with floating blades.

Eren remained unmoved, his eyes piercing through the elaborate deception. He raised his hands, and the entire arena floor responded. Not just sand now, but bedrock itself cracked and heaved upward in massive slabs. Simultaneously, he drew water from every available source—underground springs, moisture in the air—forming it into a swirling vortex around his body.

"The elements themselves answer to him," Queen Elena whispered, rising to her feet.

Maria launched forward, her dark blade carving through stone barriers with impossible ease. Her illusions multiplied exponentially, filling the arena with hundreds of identical copies, each wielding a blade of shadow. They converged on Eren from all sides, a tsunami of lethal intent.

Eren slammed both palms into the ground. The arena floor buckled, then exploded upward in a perfect circle around him. Rocks became projectiles, water became cutting blades. The combined elemental assault tore through Maria’s illusion army, reducing them to fragments of light that dissolved into nothingness.

The real Maria appeared directly above him, descending with her shadow blade aimed at his heart. Blood streamed from multiple wounds on her body, but she moved with undiminished speed and power.

SHHHHHHINK

The sound of metal piercing flesh echoed through the suddenly silent arena. Maria hung suspended in air, her eyes wide with shock. Eren stood beneath her, one hand raised—and through that hand protruded a spear of pure stone that had impaled Maria’s shoulder, stopping her blade mere inches from his chest.

Maria looked up, blood trickling from a cut above her eye. For a moment, rage and frustration battled across her features. Then, surprisingly, she laughed—a sound of genuine delight.

"I surrender," she announced, loud enough for all to hear.

The crowd erupted in thunderous applause and disbelieving cheers. In the royal box, Queen Elena smiled fully for the first time, nodding in satisfaction.

Eren released his elemental hold, allowing Maria to stand. The sand receded and the water dispersed, returning to their natural states.

"You were holding back until the end," Maria observed, wiping blood from her brow.

"As were you," Eren replied quietly.

Maria’s eyes gleamed with newfound respect. "Few have seen my true capability and remained standing."

Eren extended his hand, not to shake but to help her rise. "Get yourself treated," he said, his voice carrying a gentle authority that seemed new even to him. "Then meet me in my chambers."

Maria raised an eyebrow but accepted both his help and his instruction with a nod. "As you wish, Veilwalker."

As attendants rushed forward to assist the Commander, Eren walked back to where his twin blades lay in the sand. He picked them up with reverence, acknowledging the lessons they had helped him learn, before turning to face the royal box. Queen Elena inclined her head in acknowledgment while Naia beamed with undisguised pride. Lyra’s expression remained controlled, but approval shone in her eyes.

From her position at the edge of the arena, Rose watched with shining eyes, her heart racing with devotion and awe. ’The Veilwalker’s power is beyond anything the stories told,’ she thought, clutching her hands to her chest. ’And I will be by his side to witness it all.’