Vile Evil Hides Under The Veil

While Jolly Jalen was busy in the Darkmoon Fellowship, Eren's other clones had their own missions lined up. They all worked silently and diligently to help Eren complete some of his most crucial tasks.

For example, Rolce Zurich had successfully established contact with Minerva. He first met up with Meeli before visiting Minerva's place.

Minerva had become a half-step Saint at this point. Although she couldn't spare more time for Rolce, she welcomed him and allowed him to stay in her domain.

Initially, Rolce had a hard time convincing Minerva that he was the one who had obtained her partial legacy in Anfang. But after some investigation, Minerva managed to confirm his claim.

Of course, Minerva could still sense that there was something different about Rolce, and he hid many things from her. However, she knew very well that all the Rankers from Anfang were more or less like that. Rankers had their own secrets, and prying too deep into them wouldn't be good for any of them.

Rolce started working under Minerva in her domain, a giant city famous for its potion-making and artifact-enchanting capabilities. As Minerva's partial legacy holder, Rolce didn't take long to prove his expertise in potion-making.

Minerva's expertise in potion-making had extended to enchanting artifacts with them. Although Rolce had a hard time bridging the gap between the two distinct fields, he had Eren's knowledge related to Hex artifact creation at his disposal, allowing him to make quick progress.

After working under Minerva's remote guidance and producing excellent products in her domain, Rolce eventually managed to get the recipe needed for the Borrowed Might potions from her. These were the same potions Eren had used to defeat Sage-ranked opponents after stacking multiple advantages together.

Rolce was already in possession of the Andrium Radix that Eren had given him. Using it as a base and the resources available in Minerva's domain, he started making Hex artifacts for Eren's allies and followers. He began selling them through the Mesh soon, providing premium access and reduced prices to the supporters of the Elder Ichor faction.

Rolce also aimed to produce Borrowed Might potions and sell them on the Mesh in exchange for Menaka's Runes. However, making these potions proved to be more challenging than he initially thought.

The recipe for Borrowed Might potions was straightforward, with not many pre-concoction processes involved. However, the concoction process required a substantial amount of mana to support it. It seemed as if the potions demanded one to put their own mana reserves on the line for a chance at a successful concoction.

If Rolce wasn't careful and his mana reserves were depleted before the potion stabilized, the entire concoction process would fail, and he would have to start from scratch. This not only consumed time but was also physically and mentally exhausting.

Furthermore, the mana-rich resources required as ingredients for the recipe were not easy to obtain. They were not only expensive but also rarely appeared in the market. Typically, they could only be acquired through Menaka's Market whenever someone's private greenhouse released a batch of ingredients on the Mesh.

As a result, even after acquiring the recipe for Borrowed Might potions, the actual production and sale of the potions were not as fast as Eren wanted. Nevertheless, he didn't complain and allowed Rolce to make progress at a steady pace.

By this point, Rolce had established a firm foothold in Minerva's city. The city itself resembled the isolated inheritance grounds she had created for her potential legacy holders back in Anfang. Thus, Rolce easily established his separate base of operations.

Minerva's city was well-protected and, for the most part, insulated from the conflicts between the divine and demonic factions. Simultaneously, nobody in the city knew about Rolce or his past. Therefore, Eren's pseudo-avatar stayed safe from trouble, having all the time, resources, and a conducive environment to focus on manufacturing potions and enchanted artifacts.

During this time, Eren didn't have to possess Rolce for the most part. The latter took care of almost everything on his own, and Eren only needed to ensure he had enough Menaka's Runes and raw ingredients to support the continuous production of various potions and Hex artifacts.

After Rolce took over the production tasks, Eren's own burden of concocting potions and creating Hex artifacts was significantly reduced. He sent a few of his fiends to Rolce and asked him to use them as his subordinates in his tasks. Eventually, he intended to outsource all of his production tasks to Rolce so that he would be free to take on other challenges.

After all, Eren's time in Sunhaven was limited, ending after his on-field mission to tackle a demonic Kaiser, which he believed wouldn't take a very long time. He couldn't stay in one place and keep producing things for his followers continually. Therefore, Rolce's role in taking on that responsibility was crucial.

Eren had spent more than five years in a mortal city, amassing wealth, followers, and Origin Force Points in secret. He knew that he needed to act prudently yet decisively during this time when the arrival of the Hvergelmir Springs was imminent.

Rolce also helped Eren stabilize and temper a few particular aspects of his Individuality. Serving as a Potioner and having access to the Sin of Sloth powers, he managed to obtain three Virtue Series Marks for Eren through his connection to Minerva.

At this point, including the Virtue Series Mark he had obtained in Goddess Sekhmet's temple, Eren had strengthened and sharpened four out of seven Sin Series Marks by using their corresponding Virtue Series Marks as whetstones.

He only needed access to the remaining Virtue Series Marks to completely unlock the true potential of his Sin Series powers.

The butcher couldn't believe that something he had decided to do on a whim could turn out to be so potent. Although he hadn't tried the effects of the strengthened Sin Series Marks against his opponents in a real fight, he was already quite satisfied with the derived lab results.

Rolce Rahgal Zurich was introduced in chapter 1792.