When the witches laid eyes on Eren once again, they were not sure what they were looking at.
Eren's body had been coated in a slime-like substance that seemed to even devour the moonlight falling over it. His facial features and bodily details had been blurred.
Due to the effects of the Life Drain, the nails of his fingers had been turned into claws. His mana signatures had been altered and his body stats had been enhanced to the next level. It was thanks to the body stat-enhancement offered by Reen that he was able to exert so much of his physical strength to get rid of his enemies.
Of course, this was not the first time Eren had used this enhancement mode. He had used this mode many times in the past when Reen was with him before she was taken as a prisoner by Eliza.
He looked like an unknown demonic being himself, the kind the people of Labh Salem had never come across with ever in their lives.
"Keke. This form. It reminds me of the day when we tag-teamed for the first time to deal with some brats in the Osan Woods'. Do you remember, Reen?"
Eren revealed his facial features and asked Reen, cherishing the past he had left behind in Anfang. The latter's face appeared where Eren's heart was. She chuckled before speaking up.
"Hehe. yes. And we are kind of in a similar situation as well, Erni." Reen said while looking at the witches as if they were nothing more than minor hurdles for her.
"Naah. there's a huge difference this time," Eren shook his head and corrected Reen. "you know what that is?"
"Um… in the past, we had to silence Isaac and his party to get rid of the trouble heading our way. And this time it's the witches we have to silence. I don't see any other difference. Not distinct enough at least," she said while staring at the witches with her inspecting gaze.
"Keke. you are forgetting something very important," Eren said. He started walking towards the agitated witches while speaking with his Elder Seed Artifact whose face he was donning on his chest.
"First, unlike what happened to us in Osan Woods, we are in the middle of nowhere with nobody chasing us," Eren's eyes turned cold as he looked at the witches. He flashed an evil smile as he continued. "And secondly and most importantly, there are no Historians in Labh Salem. You know what that means?"
"Aaaah! I get it now," Reen said as if she just had an "eureka" moment. "This indeed a liberating experience, Erni. As long as we remain a bit careful, we are basically free to do whatever we want here."
"That's right. Keke. I guess Bel would be jobless if he were to come here. But I have to enjoy my time here. Without any shackles placed on me," Eren said as he kept walking towards the witches who had now gathered around each other into one group.
***
A world without Historians. This was one of the most important reasons why Eren was looking forward to his trip to Labh Salem. He had dared to test the effects of Clauria's Skills on him because of this reason as well.
Labh Salem was backward compared to Anfang when it came to tracking someone using their residual mana signatures. This was because tracing someone was not something the people of Labh Salem focused on.
Of course, Labh Salem also had tracking-type Skills. But they were nowhere as effective as the spells of Historians. Plus, tracking-type Skills also consumed a limited number of Skill Slots one had access to through Menaka's Blessing. Nobody in Labh Salem was willing to engage their limited number of Skill Slots on tracking-type Skills, which were basically useless in terms of battle-oriented or profession-centric needs.
The culture and practices of Labh Salem were completely different from what Eren had experienced in Anfang. In Anfang, the Historian Class was widely used to track down and neutralize the half-blood population. This had been the case until he had caused the Great Shattering in his homeworld.
However, in Labh Salem, the half-bloods were as common as regular beings. Hence, the mana-harnessing entities here didn't have any need to focus their time and efforts on tracking someone.
Eren was not the only Ranker who had felt liberated after visiting Labh Salem. Every other Ranker from Anfang, who had managed to step into this world despite the odds placed against them, had felt the same type of liberation.
They went wild after finding out that there were no Historians. To the denizens of Anfang, Labh Salem was almost like a lawless world where they were free to do practically anything they wanted. Sometimes they overused this "perk" and acted unchecked. As such, the original denizens of Labh Salem were used to calling the Rankers from Anfang wild hyenas.
Of course, Eren had extracted this information about Labh Salem from the three witches and Hettie. He knew that as long as gods and prophecies were not involved in his affairs, he could do whatever he wanted here, provided he was careful with choosing the right kind of environment.
***
"You…. who are you?"
Clauria asked in a shaky voice as she looked at Eren who kept on walking towards them with a casual stride. She and the other witches would have run away at this point. However, they had seen the man deploy the demonic domain as easily as he breathed, all by himself, without using any Skill, Greater Skill, or artifact Perks.
It meant that Eren could get rid of his enemies just as easily. All he needed to do was expand his demonic domain and cover an entire city square with it. They could be easily killed by him when that happened. Or worse, they would be turned into demonic creatures, forever enslaved to him.
The witches subjected their subordinates to the fate of enslavement through the use of the Faustian Contracts. However, they weren't willing to sign the contract themselves. Especially when the contract owner was someone like Eren.
"Who am I?" Eren flashed a graceful smile at the witches before answering. "I am what I need to be."
