Vile Evil Hides Under The Veil

"Destruction births life indeed."

Maya said to herself as she watched the conclusion of Eren's project with her own eyes. As she sensed the aftermath of Eren's deeds happening all across Anfang, she could not help but remember the words he had spoken to her in passing.

One had to say that Maya had played a huge role in making Eren's project a success. Her involvement had allowed Eren to act bolder and take bigger risks, ultimately winning a bigger reward.

Of course, Maya did not feel like she was the cause of calamities happening all across the Land of the Faithless. This was because she knew that the world itself was fine and it was only the living beings, especially the mortals, who were caught in the crossfire.

As far as the world of Anfang was concerned, the deterioration of the divine formation was a good thing. Even if the giant continent was in the process of splitting into multiple pieces of land, the world itself was bound to come to normalcy eventually. In fact, after a certain period, the world will flourish with new life because of the diversity of life it would create, which would be the result of today's destruction.

"He was right. He'll eventually find a way to make me a living breathing human again if I stay with him," Maya thought to herself before deciding to retreat from the battlefield as well.

***

Eren had succeeded in getting Reen back.

He had turned her into an ever-growing, ever-evolving Elder Seed Artifact.

The Mana Essence sphere that he had robbed from Layla and Eliza had been completely consumed in making the two artifacts. The demonic saber did not consume too much of Eren's time or resources in its creation. However, the artifact creation for Reen's soul had been a pretty hectic experience for Eren and Alephee.

Even after the involvement of the Mana Essence derived from more than 40,000 Rankers' deaths and the Spiritual Force acquired from billions of souls in her vessel's creation, Reen did not have any Ranking Status attached to her. She had lost her mana core in the process of turning into an Elder Seed Artifact.

Or more like, she did not need a mana core anymore. So anything that was not needed was discarded in her rebirth. It was almost like an evolution process where the living beings acquired the characteristics for things that would help them survive.

Elder Seed Artifacts had no definite Ranks to begin with. They were as strong as their wielders were. Crafted from immortal magic, they did not work on the laws of mana. And yet, they adhered to the limits assigned to them by the Creation.

Reen slept in Eren's arms after her form was stabilized and her soul was rooted firmly in her current vessel. She closed her eyes and slept like she had been starving for a rest like this for decades on end. A light smile graced her lips as she embraced a peaceful slumber and indulged in a much-needed respite.

One couldn't blame Reen for sleeping right in the middle of nowhere. She was mentally exhausted and spiritually shaken. It was as if there was some void in her soul that needed filling.

Reen was in such a condition mentally because the goddess Echidna's consciousness had completely retracted its presence from Reen's soul, giving her complete autonomy. She was not the goddess' incarnation anymore. She couldn't be called the soul fragment of a higher being anymore.

Reen had established herself as a completely separate entity that was not related to the goddess Echidna or Demon Princes. And as long as she was not completely destroyed by someone powerful, she could be said to be immortal as well. As such, she could be said to be walking on the path that would eventually set her free from the circle of life and death.

Alephee was spiritually and physically drained because of operating on the Soul Seed Insertion Array Formation as well. She had practically faced the entire burden of operating on the array formation from its start to conclusion. Thus, she needed a respite as well.

So Eren asked Alephee to take charge of Reen's well-being and retreat to a safe distance, away from the battlefield. He also asked Ivor and the rest of his fiends who had survived till this stage to retreat along with them.

***

When every one of his allies was out of his eyesight, Eren stood on the battlefield devoid of any supporters. He stood at a distance from where Eliza was, waiting patiently for her to face him.

Eren lit one of his Sativa Sticks and indulged in the peaceful feeling it brought him. He smoked right in front of Eliza while seeing her struggle to suppress the anomalies in her soul.

Eliza felt like her blood was boiling seeing Eren subtly make fun of her. Yet, she did not attack him prematurely and decided to prioritize the well-being of her soul first.

"What is he doing? Why doesn't he attack those witches and finish them off once and for all?"

Osha asked as she watched Eren from a distance. She had stress lines on her forehead looking at Eren's mood. As far as she knew, Eren liked taking his enemies by surprise or when they were at their weakest. And Eliza Samael was as weak as she could get at this point.

Under normal circumstances, Eren would have attacked Eliza after he got done with concluding his version of the Lazarus Project. So Osha did not understand what was stopping Eren from acting on his rules.

Eren's survival was necessary for Osha and Altair. This was because they had already renounced their allegiances to the Anfang Alliance by partnering up with Eren. At this point, both of them wanted to leave Anfang to facilitate their growth as Rankers. And Eren was their best bet.

Even as a Sage Ranker herself, Osha was fearful of Eliza Samael who had only managed to regain her Ranking Status as a Grandmaster. After all, she had witnessed the might of the Enderflames with her own eyes. Only now did she believe that the records related to the Witch of the Enderflames were not exaggerated at all. She could really kill Sage Rankers while being a Grandmaster.

"He wants to break her pride," Altair answered Osha in a serious tone while looking at Eren's spectral image. He had heard what Eren had said to the Witch of the Enderflames.

"Let's return to the City of White Raven. We are not needed to assist him anymore. He wants to face that witch all by himself," Altair said before disappearing from his position.

"Your summit is only a stepping stone for me…"

Osha mumbled a verse from Eren's poem that he had said to her in the poetry challenge. The more she recalled Eren's piece, the more moved she was while looking at the aftermath of his deeds all around her. She realized that Eren had not only broken Eliza's pride but her as well by mocking her for having low ambitions.

In the end, she sighed and left Eren alone, following Altair closely behind.