On a desolate, half-ruined field, a man played with the smoke exhaled through his nostrils.
A portion of the white smoke transformed into a miniature sparrow and took flight.
Before it could traverse the skies, a flying snake, crafted from the same white smoke, struck. It ate the bird in one gulp. The snake, in turn, was devoured by an eagle.
Ultimately, the eagle screeched before disintegrating into fragments, reverting to white smoke once again.
"You… you must be feeling pretty proud of yourself now that all your schemes have succeeded, right?" Eliza stood upright, her voice icy, finally gaining complete control over her mind and suppressing Lady Zee's consciousness temporarily.
"Hmm?" Eren halted his play with the smoke, turning to Eliza. He chuckled before responding, "I'm indeed proud of my achievements. But you are wrong about the latter half of your opinion. Not all of my 'little schemes' succeeded.
You see, one of them would have actually turned me into a Sage if things had gone my way. I was going to use that Mana Essence for myself if my artifact creation hadn't failed initially.
I believe it could have been possible. I would have, at the very least, reached the peak of the Grandmaster Rank even if my Elemental Attainments fell short in the final stage.
But things didn't go my way. Not the way I wanted them to at least. So I guess we all need to make some compromises in life," Eren sighed dramatically as he concluded.
Upon realizing the potential gains from fulfilling Anfang World Will's request, Eren's ambitions soared. The prospect of becoming a Sage loomed on the horizon, but not all of Eren's plans unfolded as intended.
Leaving Anfang after reaching the pinnacle of power had been Eren's preference. Sagehood, once an unattainable dream in his previous timeline, would have offered a profound sense of accomplishment.
Still, Eren was content with the way things had turned out to be. Rescuing Reen and making her one of his pillars of strength for the future was his priority, which was what he succeeded in. Everything else was just a bonus.
"It seems you have the guts to dare big. And look how far you've come. Your progress is indeed astounding. Too bad it came at the expense of so many lives you took."
Eliza commented while stepping forward. She told Layla and Leela to retreat to a safe distance as well. Unlike before, she was not completely sure of what would happen in her battle against Erenn. She did not want Layla and Leela to get in the crosshairs.
Though Eren had said his words casually, Eliza did not believe that they were completely fictional. She could sense his ambitions through his Individuality. This was the man who had turned the Land of the Faithless upside down to get what belonged to him. Although she hated him for messing with her soul, she had to admit that Eren was a worthy adversary that needed to be dealt with with respect.
"Coming from your mouth, those Spare me the moral high ground," Eren chuckled sardonically before speaking further.
"You killed 40,000 Rankers from both Anfang and Layos armies to get your Ranking Status back. What was that for? Your act is justified just because you were the victim of a personal tragedy?
And just because my actions led to the deaths of billions, I'm the one with "bigger ambitions? Do you think that I didn't have my share of tragedies that made me shape into who I am today?" Eren asked Eliza in a cold yet casual tone. He sighed before speaking further.
"Does the number of kills one has under their names make them come across as more evil than the rest? Even if I am to be labeled as the most evil Ranker of Anfang, I'll accept that label from anyone else but you," Eren said as he stepped forward.
"I envy you, Eren," Eliza said as she drank the potion Layla had given her before leaving. She emptied the vial in one gulp before speaking further.
"If I was born in your time, I could have achieved much more. I could have had steady growth without worrying about my future. I would have left Anfang long ago if it wasn't for the mess I had to deal with during the Calamity Era.
I say this even after considering the state half-bloods had to live in after the war with the otherworlders. Rankers who did not have to face that era would never understand how lucky they are."
Eliza spoke and summoned her sword in her hand. She gripped it tightly as she looked at Eren with a mix of emotions reflecting through her eyes.
"Hahahaha," Eren burst into laughter when he heard Eliza's words.
"Keke. This is the funniest sentence I have heard in a while. But I guess… I can understand why you would look at things this way.
I get it now. Things indeed come full circle in life," he said while activating the Asura runes spread across the length of his right arm.
Eren remembered how he felt envy while witnessing Eliza's resurrection. At that time, he felt that Eliza was blessed with all the right blessings, making her an exceptional Ranker across all generations. He envied the time she was born in which had given her more opportunities to sharpen her skills.
In the end, he had envied her for having a better start from birth than him. After all, whether successful people agree or not, one's family had a huge role to play in one's success. And as far as Eliza's starting point was considered, Eren couldn't have asked for anything better than that.
Only now did the butcher understand that the feelings of envy he had towards her were just the mental blocks in his head. He re-realized the meaning behind the statement "the grass is always greener on the other side." and why it was unavoidable sometimes no matter how "successful in life" one was.
