"Aaaaaaaaaaaargh!"
Eren let all his emotions run amok inside his mind and cried with all his might. His bloodshot eyes and running tears erased the halo that surrounded an exceptional ranker.
Eren had gone back to being a pitiful figure who was drowning in his hopelessness and anguish.
In the next moment, Eren's hair started turning white and his skin turned pale as he entered the Life Drain enhancement mode. Elise furrowed her brows when she noticed a strange ripple emanating from him.
The ripple of the strange mana pulse reached the seven-headed serpent's statue and all of the serpent heads came back to life. They raised their heads and hissed at the origin of that mana pulse.
'Perhaps…'
The strange mana pulse and the even stranger reaction of the statue serpents did not go unnoticed by the Sage ranker. She raised her eyebrows and thought of something.
As a result of which, she quickly thought of something and recalled the force that was keeping the newly advanced Ace ranker pinned down to his current position.
"Eren… Eren… Eren!"
Eliza tried to call the Ace ranker but it seemed he couldn't hear her. So she waved her hand and made Eren stand up on his feet. Then she got near to him and slapped him:
Thaaaaap!
A slap sound got mixed into Eren's cry and the butcher was brought back to reality. His crying stopped as a result. His hair and his overall appearance returned to normal. Then he was made to look in Eliza's direction before the latter spoke up:
"Eren, I didn't mean to imply that you won't ever have your companion back. I'm saying she would stay with me until my experiments on her are completed. In exchange, you'd have to do my bidding on the outside though. Do you understand what I'm saying here?"
Eren stared blankly at Eliza's eyes. Sage ranker no longer held any respect in his eyes. But when Eliza gave him hope, some clarity was injected into them instead. A cold-blooded clarity that he had come to cultivate because of his past experiences.
'This kid… he holds a grudge. Maybe as much as me, if not more.'
Eliza thought. There was a part of her that wanted to kill the Ace ranker for showing her impudence. A part recognized him as trouble. Then another part of her laughed at herself for being intimidated by an Ace ranker. This was, in ranking terms, someone who had just started walking on his two legs after all. How dangerous could he be?
She was finally snapped back when she heard Eren's hoarse voice that had gotten devoid of any fear:
"What do you mean?"
Eliza retracted her force and stared into Eren's eyes. She could see the guy had stopped caring about what happened to him anymore after his separation from Reen.
Eliza couldn't intimidate a broken man. She had no use for someone who lacked the sense of personal safety. Because using guys like these was more harmful than using someone mediocre. So she had to give him hope and keep him invested in her cause.
So she decided to not push Eren off his edge anymore and spoke in a clear voice:
"I'll be honest with you, Eren. I would have killed this demon beast to make a suitable vessel had she been delivered to me the way I had wanted her to. I would have also been fine if she had been experimented on by Arthur for profit because he couldn't have introduced irreversible changes with his calibre.
But there's something unique that has happened in your case. There may be a lot of factors attached to it. I am a Sage ranker, yes. But I'm not omnipotent. And my powers are especially limited in my current state.
That's why, since you've formed a connection with her and made her your companion, things have gotten a little complicated.
Her no-elemental-conflict trait has been made restricted to you exclusively ever since you formed the bond with her. Though I have methods to erase your influence from the artificial…"
Eren interrupted the sage ranker out of the blue when she was speaking to him:
"She has a name, Sage Eliza. Please call her Reen from now on."
Eren spoke callously. Although he had included the word "please", Eliza knew that it lacked the anxiety and helplessness from before.
'That white-haired transformation has made him even more of an abomination than he was before.'
Eliza thought and revised her statements:
"Hmm. I do have methods to erase your influence on Reen. But it would be easier for me to use her constitution sample differently. If I proceed with the troublesome but more sought-after route, I would have the most suitable vessel, Reen would be saved, and you would have your companion back.
Are you in?"
Eliza spoke, keeping her voice steady and her face expressionless. Eren had come to realize that it was the Sage ranker's plan all along to make him her next pawn like Arthur. Someone with fewer resources, and no backers. But someone who was less suspicious and more liberated.
Eren Reen was standing behind Eliza. She was looking at him with guilt written all over her face. But within that guilt, there were also hints of gratitude and hope mixed in. Gratitude because she had come to realize that he would go to any lengths to protect her. And hope that she will be able to be with him if and when the dust settles.
Eren had realized that dealing with a Sage ranker was a lot tougher than he could even think of. An old monster like her wasn't someone he could easily hoodwink of. In the most likely case, he would end up with the short end of the stick in dealing with her. Just like Arther had been, even if he wasn't aware.
'Desperate times, desperate deals.'
Eren finally made up his mind before speaking up
"I'm just getting dragged into another mess I never intended to be part of. Nothing new for me. Tell me what do you want me to do?"
