Vile Evil Hides Under The Veil

Failures.

Eren had faced failures in his life ever since he embarked on his journey as a Ranker in the first timeline.

In the past, these failures had left him shattered and made his life miserable. However, he had learned from his experiences and developed a mindset that allowed him to accept failures as a part of life.

Whether he was cursed by the goddess or not, Eren had made peace with the fact that success wasn't something he could easily achieve, regardless of the tasks he undertook or the fields he pursued. This was why he placed great importance on planning things, as he knew he couldn't rely on his luck.

Eren's past experiences had taught him to remain calm even when things were falling apart. It was as if he was trapped inside a burning house with no escape. Despite this, he remained patient, waiting for the house to burn down completely so he could escape. All he needed to do was outlast the flames that were trying to burn him to the cinders.

The Lazarus Project and the other side projects Eren had undertaken were no exception to this rule either. He had an abysmal rate of success, forcing him to face many failures in his projects that would have mentally frustrated any other Ranker, exhausting their patience to deal with the reality of life.

'I've failed so many times before. So this situation is no different,' Eren thought to himself. His emerald green eyes glinted with determination as he began to sort through his thoughts.

'I may not possess exceptional talents, and I may have terrible luck, and perhaps numerous other flaws, but it will not stop me from giving my utmost in everything I do. Because that's the only thing that has worked for me.'

Eren thought to himself as he watched Reen's vessel wreaking havoc around her, the Array Eye she was confined to was on the brink of complete destruction. He didn't try to dispel the Array Formation anymore even though he knew that it was on the brink of collapse.

The backlash from the Soul Seed Insertion Array's failure was no joke.

This was what Alephee feared the most. If the Array Eye was destroyed at this point, Eren would suffer from the same form of injury he had made Eliza go through by catching her off guard.

Eren's Soul Space was nowhere near as profound as the Witch of the Enderflames. He would surely be in worse condition than Eliza if Reen's Soul Seed managed to destroy the third Array Eye.

Of course, Alephee herself wouldn't be in much better condition than him either considering the improved Array Formation had two Array Eyes as its control units. It meant that she would receive the backlash from the Array Formation's sudden interoperability as well.

Eren and Alephee were already surrounded by so many enemies that were just waiting for the Birdcage Barrier to run its course and disappear on its own. Plus, they had Eliza and Demonmir to deal with. If both Eren and Alephee were to receive injuries to their souls in such a condition, their chances of surviving would be close to zero.

"EREN!"

Alephee screamed at Eren to make him snap back to reality from his chain of thoughts. But before she could plead with him to lecture him about anything, she saw him remove something from his storage.

Eren took out two ice-block-like objects that had azure blue energy stored in them. Alephee took a second to remember what those were.

Inside these ice blocks, the azure-blue flames refrained from flickering and stood still as if they were just the lifeless image of the same flames. The ice blocks looked as if they wouldn't melt no matter how much heat was provided to them.

'Divine flames from one of the monster gods!'

Alephee immediately remembered that she had helped Eren freeze these azure blue divine flames using her soul spell. It was when Eren had conquered the Oni Dungeon and established himself as the ruler of the monster army inside it.

"What… what are you planning to do?"

Alephee asked as she watched Eren start melting the ice blocks using his own spiritual force. He then sent those two divine flames floating toward the third Array Eye where Reen was at.

"Can't you tell?"

Eren asked Alephee casually as he guided the divine flames to envelope the cocoon-like layer Reen's vessel was sheathed in. The two divine flames eventually came back to life when defrosted from Alephee's soul spell. They enveloped Reen's vessel quickly by dancing over the cocoon-like mana layer she was secured in. It was as if Reen herself was burning in azure blue divine flames.

The azure blue divine flames also started burning off the excess of mana fluctuations Reen's Soul Sense was giving off. After the appearance of the divine flames, it didn't take long for the Array Formation to stabilize and get back to its previous state.

It seemed that the divine flames had some form of connection with Reen's Soul Seed. This was why they were able to have such an influence over the Soul Seed.

'Immortal magic! He is going to use these divine flames as a furnace to craft an Elder Seed Artifact.'

Alephee soon realized what Eren was up to, finding it difficult to comprehend how she should react to his decision. Still, she closed her agape mouth and took a deep breath before speaking further.

"Eren, first of all, Immortal Magic can't be cast by mortals. I'm sure you know that. Secondly, the success rate of you turning Reen into an Elder Seed Artifact is even lower than that of you turning her into a Hex artifact.

Thirdly, do you know how much spiritual force is needed to even have a chance at creating an Elder Seed Artifact? Even a sacrifice of a million lives wouldn't be enough.

Lastly, the Birdcage Barrier will soon disperse. You don't have enough time to complete the task given by Anfang's World Will. How will you spare time for creating an Elder Seed Artifact in such a situation?

You are better off turning Reen into a damaged Soul Seed using Shallot's Mirror than doing something like this."

Alephee tried to sound as patient as she could. But one could tell that she didn't want Eren to even attempt doing something like that. gm

AN: Eren acquires the first divine flame in chapter 638 while the other was acquired in chapter 677.