"Reen… is connected to my existence.
She… she is someone I can't live without. Before you do anything to us, please tell me the whole story. I wish to know."
He bowed to Eliza and spoke tremblingly. Unbeknownst to him, tears were forming in his eyes. They rolled down on his cheeks and onto his clothes. And new tears kept taking their place.
It was more terrifying than dying a meaningless death to feel separated from the only person who knew about his new start and cared for him. Reen was equally afraid of being separated from him. She felt her survival was meaningless if she didn't have Eren.
Only now did the butcher realize the importance of someone or something other than his goals in his new life. He worked tirelessly every day to improve his ranking status. Never realizing what he already had was an equally crucial part of his life.
Eliza thought it was only fair that she fulfilled Eren's request before carrying on with her next set of plans. She nodded lightly at him even when his head was down and continued speaking:
"The concept of creating an artificial demon beast was something my half-blood clan had come up with when it was at its peak. It was supposed to strengthen the half-bloods, humans, and all the other races involved in the calamity of that time."
Eliza said until here and her expression changed. She closed her eyes and replayed all the scenes from her past in her mind. It took a while before she picked up from where she had left off:
"However, things happened, and my clan decided not to reveal their research to the public. I had vehemently opposed that seemingly selfish decision. But it turned out I was not as prodigal as people had made me believe.
That decision turned out to be right when the half-blood clans were betrayed by all the other races in the alliance. Our fates had been sealed at that point. But we at least prevented ourselves from making our backstabbers even more powerful than they already were."
Eliza tried not to let her emotions influence the surroundings around her while she was saying that. She had advanced so much in the way of her element, that the surrounding mana itself wanted to bend to her will. As a result of which, green flames suddenly appeared around the duo and encircled them inside it.
*****************
Eren could feel that the green flames produced by the Draconic Lizards would pale in comparison to the flames he was witnessing right now. The beasts' flames displayed enhanced damage potential because of their higher-than-normal temperature values. But they lacked a certain intent in them.
Of course, the green flames Eren was currently encircled with didn't hurt him. He did not use his mana sense to check out. He feared even his intangible mana sense would get affected after coming in contact with something like this.
The flames unintentionally produced by the Sage ranker were now carrying an intent. An intent of corrosion. An intent of total annihilation.
Eren could feel that as long as the Sage ranker wished, even the high-ranked entities of her level would find it difficult to extinguish these flames with any normal means. They would only get extinguished after their target ends its existence. Hence, the name Enderflame was an apt fit.
********************
Neither Eliza nor Eren paid attention to the flames surrounding them. Sage continued after getting her emotions in check:
"Long story short, I was stabbed in the back along with all the rest of the half-blood rankers. I was injured and almost on the verge of dying, but I managed to run away. I have been biding my time in this place ever since."
Eliza started pacing around the hall for a while as if to gather her train of thoughts. She took her time and continued with stoic expressions on her face:
"When I came here, I was helpless and distraught because of the annihilating tragedy that had happened to me. I was dying.
But on my deathbed, I entered a state of epiphany and found a way to survive. I found a way to bid my time and wait. My epiphany had also blessed me with more than my temporary fix. It also enabled me to see a way to craft a vessel for myself.
There was only one thing left for me to do: rework my clan's ambitious project that had never been finished before. But to do that I needed to go outside this separate dimension. Something that wasn't possible for me anymore."
Eliza was seen clenching her fists as she said all this. She continued right afterwards:
"I was frustrated and angry at the game I was forced into by my fate. I had a way to come back stronger than before. And exact vengeance on those who had harmed me and my clan. But I couldn't use it if I wanted to stay alive.
Have you ever experienced something like this? When the frustration of this level lasts as long as mine did, it becomes easy to take your own life. It can be easy to give up.
But I did not do that. You know why?"
Eren knew the question was rhetorical. He just sat there and listened. His tears had dried up, but his eyes were still red. Yet surprisingly, there was a certain clarity to his face. That clarity made him grasp and etch into his memory every word the Sage ranker had said till now as well as the one she continued speaking:
"Because I was part of the reason the half-blood clans faced their doom. I had to carry this burden. Otherwise, who would avenge them if I, supposedly the last surviving Sage from their side, decides to call it quits?
But do you know, Eren? Even the shittiest of luck comes with an expiry date. Mine did when a certain someone stumbled into this separate dimension."
AN: There'll be peace when you are done…
