Vile Evil Hides Under The Veil

Eren was seen lying on his back on a makeshift wooden bed that was placed in the middle of a green field, which stretched for miles on end from all directions.

This green field was one of the farmlands on Ravendale that Eren's guild had decided to cultivate for its populace. After the calamity, for some reason, the crops and Ranking Resources grew at an expedited rate. It was as if the very calamity was the nutrition the world of Anfang needed to welcome a new green revolution.

Reen was with Eren. The latter had used Reen's thighs as a pillow, resting on the bed as his gaze stared at the blue sky. Reen was seen feeding him the fresh green grapes that the farmlands produced, plucking a grape from the cluster, and sending one grape at a time.

As he enjoyed eating the grapes, Eren raised his right hand and twisted it in a half-lotus manner. In the next moment, his right hand was engulfed in bright green flames that seemed to be hungry to burn everything that came within their grasp. These were the Enderflames.

"Hmm. They are not as useful for me as I thought they would be."

Eren commented as he observed the Enderflames up close. He could tell that his version of the Enderflames didn't pack as much punch as Eliza's. He could increase the intensity of the flames upon his will but doing so put a greater burden on his Spiritual Force.

"These flames are Spiritual Force hoggers," Eren mumbled to himself as he analyzed the flames. "That witch had made use of her Sin of Pride Ability to sustain these flames. With her never-ending Spiritual Force, using these flames was no biggie for her. But I don't have that advantage. If I used these flames too much, I might end up hurting myself more than the enemies my attacks are meant for," Eren concluded and sighed.

Eren dispersed the Enderflames and let the matter go for now. He wanted to unlock Eliza's Sin Series Ability for himself as well so that he could make effective use of the Enderflames.

With an always-active Sin Series Ability like Eliza's, Eren could do so much more. His artifact creation progress would improve by leaps and bounds if he were to get his hands on it. His potion-making process would also get streamlined. Eren's intent-based magic and his Sin Series domain usage would also benefit from it.

Eren eventually came to understand why Alephee had stopped him from killing Eliza right away. There were so many things he could take from her. There were so many lessons he could learn from her. It would have been a waste if he had proceeded to act upon his instincts.

"Reen, how do you feel about letting Eliza live?"

Eren asked with a curious voice as he opened his mouth to receive a grape from her. The latter pondered a bit before responding. She was unconscious when he and Alephee had decided to spare Eliza and her two homunculi. It was only recently that he had filled her in on the details.

"Um… I am fine with whatever you decide, Erni," Reen said calmly as she kept on feeding Eren one grape after the other.

"I indeed had some personal grievances with her. But those don't matter anymore. I already died once and came back to life. Why should I carry the burden from my past life?

I'd rather focus on what's ahead of us. And I'm excited to leave Anfang and see other worlds with you," she said and smiled.

Eren nodded at Reen as he processed her words. He had to say that Reen's mindset had changed a bit after she turned into an Elder Seed Artifact. He could sense that she was exposed to a greater truth about herself and the Goddess Echidna during the time she was in a death-like slumber. As such, her perspective had broadened a lot, allowing her to see things in a way that wasn't quite like her from the past.

Even though Reen's perspective on things had changed a bit, Eren was glad that it was still her and not the consciousness of some goddess she was once part of. He could tell that Goddess Echidna was on his side because of her connections with God Aleph.

However, he preferred Reen to stay as Reen. This was why he had gone to such extreme lengths to preserve her personality during the time of the artifact creation. This was why he had asked the goddess' consciousness to sever herself from Reen, turning her from a soul fragment to an individual soul itself.

***

"Here. Eat some grapes too."

Eren plucked a grape from the cluster beside him and tried to feed Reen the same way she had been feeding him. However, the latter shook her head before responding.

"I don't think I'm hungry for this type of food, Erni," Reen replied in a downcast voice. "I can feel that this is no longer the right supplement for me," she said before receiving the green grape from Eren.

Reen could still eat food like regular Rankers and mortals. However, she no longer felt any joy from eating such food. Though she could feel its taste in her mouth, she could no longer feel satiated eating it.

In the past, Eren was used to carrying a ton of food on him in his ID Storage at all times to keep Reen's hunger in control. Later on, when Argo was with him, this habit continued.

However, Eren could have never imagined that Reen's fundamental trait would change upon turning into an artifact creation. Or rather, he was so focused on turning Reen into an Elder Seed Artifact at that time that he did not care about what came after it.

Eren had tried to resolve Reen's hunger issue during the last couple of days. However, he could not find the kind of food she wanted no matter what he offered her. He was stumped by the way his own artifact creation had turned Reen into.