"Only giants could put up a fight with the giants.
The alliance started asking the right questions of itself after it realized that the power of shapeshifting was the key to scoring a defined win against the Titans. And House Samael, who was the leader of the half-blood forces at the time, came up with the right set of answers.
House Samael declared that it would create an all-inclusive primer matter, which will help both regular rankers as well as half-bloods in their shapeshifting."
Eren clenched his fists as he heard Nira speak. He knew what the Sage archer was talking about. However, he kept calm and let her finish what she was saying.
"This primer matter was supposed to be made from an ever-evolving mutagen that can attune to pre-existing mutagens or regular genetic codes before strengthening them. It would allow the half-bloods to shapeshift while strengthening their bodies and bloodlines.
Regular rankers could use the same primer matter as a base to launch their body-altering spells from. In this case, it would allow their mana bodies to level up by providing them with a materialistic foundation. It would be difficult for the titans to dispel the mana bodies with their spells and attacks once the regular rankers began using the primer matter as their base for transformation.
House Samael invested almost all the resources it had in this research. It had the expertise and knowledge from its original home Labh Salem to start this research. The witches were well versed in bloodline-related projects after all. The Anfang Alliance also supported the research by providing it with the ranking resources it needed.
Shapeshifting was only one aspect of the primer matter.
It was supposed to revolutionize the field of magic with its introduction. It could be used in various ways in various fields to achieve groundbreaking results."
Eren looked down and narrowed his eyes as he confirmed his doubt.
'Yep. This is how Eliza came up with the Clean Slate project. She modified House Samael's plan for the Anfang Alliance and used it to create Reen by Arthur's hands.'
Primer matter possessed a lot of Reen's inherent qualities. One could say that the artificial demon beast's bloodline and her synthesized body were both two sides of the same coin.
Eren also started remembering what Eliza had said to him when she talked about Reen. The Witch of the Enderflame had told him that the research she had used to create Reen was supposed to help humans, demi-humans, and half-bloods in fighting the calamity of that time.
The primer matter was supposed to be used by the alliance in combat against the Titans. Eliza modified that research to create another vessel for herself. A no-conflict vessel that can host her soul and allow her to resurrect without any defects.
Eliza had also told Eren that her clan had never declared that it was successful in obtaining tangible results from the research. Meaning her clan had started suspecting Anfang Alliance's intentions after it got its hands on the derived results.
Nira Nightshade's next words proved something Eren already knew from his talk with Eliza.
"The battle with the invaders never stopped while research was going on. The alliance kept losing ground to the giants. It was also forced to deal with an ever-increasing number of casualties each day.
Years passed by and no tangible results were in sight. The alliance kept getting impatient while House Samael carried on with its research. In these desperate times, somebody else came up with a different solution that wasn't expected by the alliance."
Eren had no idea what Nira was talking about this time. So he paid extra attention to her words.
"A goddess approached the Anfang Alliance in secret via a follower. She only wanted to meet the people who were the original denizens of Anfang."
'Hmm? A goddess... don't tell me...'
Eren was reminded of the moment when he had killed Sienna Slughorn. Sienna's body had become a temporary host to some goddess before the butcher was finally able to kill her for good. He wondered if it was the same goddess both times.
Nira didn't know that she was helping Eren connect so many loose ends in one go with her information. She just wanted to be done with her end of the deal in exchange for the Spirit Beast.
"Through the blessed follower, this goddess told the upper echelons of the alliance that she could finish what God Vulcan had started and secure the continent of Anfang from invaders for good.
Meaning she could activate the continent-spanning isolation array that God Vulcan had promised the denizens of Anfang. However, there was one condition."
Nira took a brief pause and looked at Eren with pity. As if he was a victim of generational torture. She sighed before continuing.
"The goddess wanted the Anfang Alliance to betray the half-blood clans. She wanted to use all the half-bloods as a sacrifice to create the continent-encompassing isolation array.
The Anfang Alliance remained in quiet desperation even after receiving the goddess' offer. Because it had lost its trust in gods and their believers. Still, the alliance was in a desperate situation. It didn't agree with the goddess' plans right away but it didn't take the half-blood clans into confidence either.
As the alliance fought the titans, it inadvertently changed its dynamics with the half-bloods step by step. Because the goddess gave plenty of assurances to make the alliance see the feasibility of the plan.
I guess House Samael had also started doubting the alliance's intentions because of its changed behavior. They say that it never released its research to the alliance even after achieving positive results.
The goddess's plan created a rift between half-blood clans and the Anfang Alliance. And the goddess's follower widened that divide further by reaching the upper echelons of the alliance time and again.
The alliance finally took the goddess up on her offer when it realized that the titans' attacks were only going to become more dreadful with time. It started employing the goddess' strategy step by step while the half-blood clans fought for the world's survival.
The alliance initiated an all-out battle against the Titans in the end. It then deployed most half-blood forces to one location. The Titan Slayers that belonged to the half-blood clans were also part of the same deployment, which included Sage Eliza.
Do you want to know what took place at the site of the deployment?"
Eren had a solemn face when he heard Nira's question. The latter didn't wait for his reply and provided the answer herself.
"Mass annihilation of the half-blood clans from the land of Anfang. The half-bloods were tricked into becoming sacrifices to get the continent-spanning array up and running." wtt
AN: Clean Slate project was mentioned in chapters 340 and 341.
