There was a bit of a dilemma in cultivating the Sin of Pride Mark that Eliza had to face.
It made her stand at the crossroads.
Each of Eren's words made sense to Eliza in some way. However, she had started to see Eren as one of her mental blocks in life. His very existence was a threat to her prideful nature. So she had to deny him and his opinions to validate her pride.
And yet, having pride did not mean that Eliza had to be completely dense about how Eren had waited for her to gain her bearing back, even if he had done it to hurt her pride. She decided to pay her due diligence so that Eren's act would not become one of her mental blocks in the future.
"I have to thank you for waiting for me to recover and get back to my senses, Eren," in a rare display of sincerity, Eliza conveyed her gratitude to Eren.
Elize decided to convey her gratitude to Eren so that the incident wouldn't become a blemish on her pride.
"Even if we were to battle each other to our deaths, I'd prefer if there was some dignity in the way we acted on our enmity. I have decided to give you the last rites that you deserve. I'll also not target Reen or any of your allies after your death. As long as they don't get it my way, I'll not meddle with their affairs.
However, I hope you don't hold me responsible for not returning the favor to you personally. This is because I can't let you live. You are perhaps the most interesting and also most dreadful chapter I have in my life.
I'll make sure that you are completely eliminated from the face of this world just so I can finally move on. That is if you don't run away from the battlefield and carry on the battle to its end."
The Sin of Pride acting on her soul was indeed her shackle. She had to face Eren and kill him without using any tricks to soothe her agitated soul. So she stated what she thought was a fair deal to him.
After saying what she had to say, the Witch of the Enderflames raised her right hand. She made a half-lotus sign with her hand before twisting it, conjuring the Enderflames all around her. After all, if Eren somehow managed to use his space-element runes by some miracle during their upcoming battle, there was nothing she could do.
Eren narrowed his eyes on Eliza as he looked at her and processed her words. "I think you're mistaken about something. You have managed to get your dignity back only because I allowed you to do so.
Do you think I gave you time to recover just so I could run away from you in the end? Do you think I need to be as pretentious as you?
I can take back what I have given you in a split second," Eren said and activated one of his Sin Series Authorities once again.
Authority: Domain of Lust
In the next moment, a domain of Sin Series formed taking Eren and Eliza inside it. Immediately after that, Eliza's suppression of Lady Zee's consciousness started to get challenged. Eliza's face turned pale when she realized Eren still had the power to cause severe split personality symptoms in her.
Eren snapped his fingers and the Sin Series domain vanished into thin air. This time, he had used his divinity to cast the domain, which put a visible strain on his body. So he had a bit of a problem maintaining it as well. However, one could easily identify that Eliza had it worse.
The Enderflames she had summoned all around her and in the surroundings turned black. They lost their previous might and affected the very nature of the residual Enderflames as well. It was as if the black flames were detonating and consuming the Enderflames that were known for being untamable and highly incinerating.
"This is how easy it is for me to pull the rug under your feet, Miss Witch of the Enderflames," Eren said as made use of his self-created demonic saber in a unique way.
Both of his arms grew saber-edge-like protrusions along their length. Eren mixed his bloodline Ability along with the demonic saber's unique form, making his arms slender and a bit elongated. It was as if he had turned both of his arms into foldable-sword-like weapons.
As soon as Eren dispersed his Authority, Eliza managed to get her split thoughts in check. She looked at Eren warily. For the first time since she had received it, her always-active Sin Series Ability was showing signs of going haywire. She felt that a backlash would erupt within her soul if she didn't do something about it.
"Eren Idril… No… no more tricks," Eliza said while taking a deep breath and massaging her forehead with her free hand.
"If you can defeat me, I promise to never get in your way. If you manage to kill me right here, I promise that Layla and Leela will not bother you as well. Is this… is this enough for you to fight a fair fight with me? Or do you want to add anything else?" Eliza asked in a serious tone.
Eren shook his head before responding.
"I don't want to strike deals with you. The task I did for you was the last. There shall be no more dealings with you," Eren said as he swung his arms around, trying to feel the arms he had converted into his dual blades.
Eren was experimenting with Asura at this point. As an Elder Seed Artifact, Asura gave more freedom to Eren when it came to its operability. So he wanted to see how imaginative he could get with his demonic saber.
"That being said," Eren spoke casually. "I assure you that I won't use the Lust Mark as a trigger against you in our battle. I never intended to do that in the first place. We'll have our fair fight. Even I want to see how it feels to fight with someone like you."
"Very… very well then," Eliza said before activating her Movement Spell. She also turned into her dragonoid form, intending to dominate Eren from the get-go.
Eren emerald green eyes shone with anticipation and excitement as he sensed Eliza's approach. He smiled wickedly before meeting Eliza's charge head-on.
Swoosh. Clash. Boom.
