Vile Evil Hides Under The Veil

‘Maybe you should listen to her story when she tries to tell that to you the next time.’

Alephee suggested Eren nonchalantly. The latter was so shocked that he forgot to greet Altashia even though she had come to stand in front of him, flashing a smile.

‘That spell she performed in front of us… that gave her away?’

Alphee pondered a bit before responding.

‘More like… I didn’t pay much attention to her until she performed that spell. And her status as a half-blood was apparent as soon as I did.’

Eren regretted not letting Agatha explain how and why she had joined the Beast Bloods. Now he wanted her to tell him everything he needed to know about her past.

Eren had planned on contacting half-blood forces in the future that were hiding from the normal populace somewhere. He had been wanting to do it ever since he realised how necessary it was to know about Eliza. They must have a lot of information about her.

‘Hmm. If she doesn’t know about her half-blood status do I assume that half-bloods live their lives without knowing about their roots?’

Eren asked this question before shaking his head in denial. Alphee had shared another crucial piece of information that told a different story. Masking magic altered a person’s mana signature. It also had some other features. But for the most part, it was used by really cautious high-ranked entities to hide in the shadows for whatever reasons.

A low-ranked entity using masking magic was unheard of because they weren’t capable of casting them. Only high-ranked entities would dabble in these forms of magic that played with the very existence of a ranker.

The fact that someone had used this magic on Agatha indicated two major things. One was that at least her parents or someone she knew were aware of her status as half-blood. They had used the therianthrope transformation as a medium to hide her half-blood powers in plain sight.

Second, since even Agatha wasn’t aware of her status as a half-blood as per Alephee’s deductions, it could be safe to assume that her parents, like the rest of the half-blood community, wanted it that way. The community must have come up with a set of guidelines that they were supposed to follow. It meant that something must have happened to Agatha’s family before she was given the rite of passage to know about these things.

Eren realized that the conclusions he had reached so far must have been very close to reality, despite the large gaps left by Agatha’s untold history. He was about to ask more about Agatha to Alphee when he felt a series of taps on his left shoulder.

“Eren…. Eren… why are you zoned out like that? Everything alright? Where’s Agatha?”

Altashia had been trying to talk with Eren for a while now. And she had thought that he was listening at first. But then she realized that the butcher wasn’t paying attention to her when she asked him a couple of questions but got no response from him.

“Oh? Hmmm… sorry. My bad, Al. I was thinking of something else. Agatha had her work lined up so she left early in the morning. What were you saying?”

Eren spoke quickly after recovering from his unresponsive state. Al felt like she wanted to ask him something else but decided not to. She sighed and repeated her previous question.

“I was asking if you would like to come with me to the Arangar Colosseum or do you have any other plans? You are not obliged to return the favour just because I accompanied you yesterday, you know.”

Eren raised his eyebrows when he heard the term Arangar Colosseum. This was the top attraction point of the city and its major source of income. He had heard of the place in his past. But at that time, he was too poor to get in as a spectator and too weak to participate as a contestant.

“Heh! The Arangar Colosseum is one of the main reasons I came to this city. Of course, I’m coming with you.”

Eren tapped Al’s shoulders in a friendly gesture. He then hinted at Al to lead the way with a smirk and an elegant bow.

*************************

“Ladies, gentlemen, and rankers of all kinds, welcome to the Arangar Colosseum. Just like every week, we have something special planned for you this weekend. But before that, let’s start with today’s scheduled matches.

First, we will have….”

Eren had found himself inside a big amphitheatre. Measuring 588 metres in length, 556 metres in width and 457 metres in height, this multi-storey architecture looked eye-catching. It was capable of housing a large crowd comfortably.

The architecture of the Arangar Colosseum blended with the visual style of the overall city. Built of limestone, it boasted a sturdy construction. And with the strategic engraving of runes and arrays, the colosseum would ensure that plenty of light and fresh air gets summoned to make spectators’ viewing a pleasurable experience.

There was heavy security all over the place. Rankers ranging from Rank F to Rank D were serving as security detail at various entry points of the colosseum. One could imagine that there would be additional security that included even more powerful ranking entities, which wouldn’t be visible to the spectators.

The spectator’s seats were arranged in such a way that they would be easily able to see what was happening on the centre stage. Plus, big spectral screens were projected in the air, covering multiple POVs, to allow an immersive experience for viewers sitting anywhere.

The noises of cheers and jeers were coming from every corner of the colosseum. The food vendors would add to that noise by shouting about what they were serving and delivering them to their customers’ seats with even greater zeal.

One could imagine that this setting had become a norm for the audience of the Arangar Colosseum. Everybody in the amphitheatre was able to talk to their neighbours amid the cacophony of noises.