Vile Evil Hides Under The Veil

"A purge will begin anew

When I light my Enderflame!"

The green flames that were wrapped around and dancing over Eliza's hand suddenly shot up in the sky and created a domain around her. The flames started morphing into a beast after they completely engulfed Eliza's visage in them.

First to form were huge wings that remained open. Then a serpent-like torso appeared. The torso sprouted four distinct limbs that were equally intimidating as the overall size of the beast because of their girth.

The limbs started forming razor-sharp talons. The back of the beast's crown and neck started growing horn-like protrusions. The rugged dragon scales soon covered the beast's entire body. The long tail also had a series of protrusions over it.

The beast looked small when it was compared to the overly exaggerated, grand scale hall it had manifested itself in. However, it was still too big for the human teenager who was sitting ducks in front of it.

This was a green dragon that stood 70 meters in height. Its long torso and huge wings made it look even more intimidating.

"ROARRRRRR!"

The acoustic vibrations and mana ripples of a dragon's cry permeated the surrounding area and penetrated the ground the beast stood on, causing them to travel long distances. The cry was followed by a breath attack that was aimed at the sky. A large cloud of green flames was created in the air that released a menacing mana pulse.

"You…. you are a dragon half-blood?"

Eren asked with his trembling voice. His body had goosebumps all over it just by being close to this thing. Nevertheless, it seemed that Eliza had taken conscious efforts not to hurt Eren physically.

Eliza looked down and gazed at an ant-like existence that was Eren. She stretched her neck and brought her dragon-face only a few meters away from him before stopping.

The size of her maws was enough for her to eat twenty Erens in one go. Maybe more. She breathed through her large nostrils and released a dense blast of warm air before replying in a reptile grunt:

"Yes, Eren. The house of Samael was a dragon-half blood clan.

Heh! At one point, we were regarded as one of the strongest forces of rankers present on the continent of Anfang."

Eren could see the insides of Eliza's maws as she talked while keeping her huge beastly countenance near him. He could see that her huge pinkish green tongue also had a barb-like protrusion on it. Whether or not she decides to swallow them whole, the way down her throat won't be pleasant to her victim.

Eren knew that part of the reason Eliza had displayed her dragon manifestation was that the excitement she had felt after knowing the fruits of her labour were almost in her hands. And the other part of the reason was that she wanted to intimidate him. Because it was the same scare tactic Eren would come up with against someone.

The most difficult part about this realization was that even when he knew that Eliza was using psychological pressure on him, he had to admit that it was working. It was chipping away at the defences set around his psyche bit by bit.

When Eren blinked again, Eliza's dragon manifestation was over. A slightly seductive yet dignified looking young woman stood in its place. She looked at him with her hands folded under her chest and said in a determined voice:

"But the house of Samael is no more. So it doesn't matter how my clan was and what its achievements were in the past. What matters is what I do from now on. And I intend to settle scores with all my debtors.

You know a thing or two about revenge, right? I'm sure you can understand how I feel."

Eliza smirked at him before continuing:

"I don't want to harm you, Eren. Even if you were created using an experiment that was aimed at something entirely different, you are still technically a half-blood. I don't want to erase you if I can avoid it. So you just need to hand over the demon beast that rightfully belongs to me. No harm will come to you.

But before you answer, let me clarify this. What you say or decide won't change the outcome for me. It'd only change the outcome you'd have. Because I'm getting what I want either way."

Eliza declared her domineering policy plainly while looking at Eren with eyes that were devoid of any sympathy. The latter had too many shocking experiences in a day. So his deadpan expressions had stopped reflecting the conundrum his mind had found itself in.

Eren was also tired of being toyed around with. Just when he was about to voice his anger, a weak yet determined voice was heard in his consciousness:

'Erni. Don't say anything stupid. The situation is beyond our control.

Don't worry.

I'll… I'll be fine. Maybe we could meet in the future. Just take care of yourself, okay?'

Using their mental connection, Reen communicated with Eren and morphed out of his body. She had come to realize that it was practically impossible to stay close to Eren when a Sage ranker wanted to draw her out. Moreover, she could end up hurting Eren before getting the results she always wanted.

So Reen decided to show herself without waiting for the Sage ranker to drag her out. She had taken the appearance of Elena. Her eyes had gotten red. Stress, sadness, and fear could still be seen on her face. Most of all, her presence felt so feeble than before because of her mana core still being restricted by the tower's restrictions placed on her.

Reen started walking towards the stoic-looking Eliza when she heard a trembling voice from behind that she almost couldn't recognize.

"Reen… wait. Don't go.

Sage Eliza, I'm sure you'd have countless methods up your sleeve to achieve the same results differently. Please spare Reen.

It… it may sound presumptuous coming from a nobody like me in your eyes, but I can do anything you ask for as long as you assure her safety."

Reen heard Eren's voice and turned around to see his humbled visage. She couldn't believe it was the same Eren she had known all these months and grew fond of.

Then she recalled it was the same desperate Eren she had seen in his past timeline. She felt happy that Eren cared about her this much. And worried that her absence might leave him broken again.

The series of mental traumas Eren had faced today had made him regress into his former self. The dried lines of tears were moistened once again as he saw the tears in Reen's eyes.

"Erni, take better care of yourself, okay? I'll… I'll be leaving."

Reen continued to walk towards the Sage ranker after she said this. Eren saw that and his heart felt like it had been pierced by a thousand swords all at once. He tried to get up and run towards his companion but soon found out that a huge yet intangible force kept him seated on the ground.

Eren couldn't get up. He was unable to change the outcome due to his insufficient strength against the Sage ranker. The only thing he could do was to verbally vent out the feeling of despair that had overwhelmed his entire being."

"Aaaaaaaaaaaargh!"

Eren let all his emotions run amok inside his mind and cried with all his might. His bloodshot eyes and running tears erased the halo that surrounded an exceptional ranker.

Eren had gone back to being a pitiful figure who was drowning in his hopelessness and anguish.

======================

AN: Don't you cry no more…