"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!"
Eliza heard another of Eren's screams and opened her eyes wide open. She couldn't believe the second serpent head had also bitten Eren right after the first head was done.
'I… I should wait and see. Maybe he'll survive. I hope so.
Damn it. If the boy is gone, it'd be tough to find another suitable pawn. Or go back to my flawed vessel plan.'
Eliza cursed herself after realizing she had let the second snake bite Eren. this was not supposed to happen at all. In her era, a lot of rankers had gone through this procedure. Nobody would receive two sins marks at the same time.
But it was already too late to stop the process. Eliza saw as the runes lit up differently and foreign mana of a different origin had started to pour through the array runes. This mana was purple coloured.
It seeped into Eren's open wounds and birthed its own mystic lines over his skin. The runic symbols also spread across his torso before disappearing.
'That's it…. Right?'
Eliza asked herself… unsure of answering her own question. But then she saw the third snake moving and opened her eyes wide in surprise.
'Oh hell no!'
Eliza was on alert this time. She used her soul sense and manifested two large dragon hands. And sent them to grab Eren's body and defend him from being bitten by the snake.
The third snake hissed at the dragon hand that had come in its way and created a mana ripple that destroyed it instantly. But by that time, the other hand had managed to drag Eren out of the array and close to Eliza.
The scion of Samael saw that Eren's appearance had changed again a bit after going through the second bite. His eyes had turned purple and his hair turned whiter than before.
Eren's small stature was rapidly altered. From 5ft 7inch, he went 6ft 3inch in one go. The muscles on his body were compressed and he displayed a lean build that was devoid of any fat.
Eren had been relieved of his misery after the bites were done. At least he wasn't yelling or moving his body uncontrollably anymore. His eyes were closed shut. And he had been clenching his fist.
Eren's eyeballs were moving inside his closed eyelids– indicating that the guy was having a really disturbing dream. Pressure on Reen was relieved as soon as the array vanished and the snakes turned into statues again. She came running towards Eren and brought his head over her lap. She caressed his head, her tears falling on his cheeks and over his eyelids.
Reen called out to him. Both audibly and through her mental connection with him. But Eren remained unresponsive. She could only feel that he was safe and in no immediate danger.
She used her palm to wipe the sweat that formed on Eren's face along with her dropped tears. Then she looked at Eliza and asked in an accusing manner:
"Sage Eliza…. Wh… what have you done? Where's the rankers' code of conduct you had previously talked about? He… Eren is just an Ace ranker, you know that right?"
Eliza looked like she would pop the vein on her forehead when she heard Reen's accusatory remark. She raised her finger to speak but ultimately decided not to say anything. She sighed before bringing her hand down and started walking towards her throne.
'What… What was that? The third serpent head was ready to bite that boy too.
What kind of unique monster has this boy turned into?
Will he survive the two consecutive bites all at once? Had I not intervened…'
A swirl of thoughts started brewing inside Eliza's mind when her soul sense manifestation was moving towards her throne. She looked at Eren again and felt his vital signs. They were in disarray but he was safe. His soul was still intact. And his mana core had not been ill-affected.
But everything else about Eren had gotten foggy for Eliza now. She couldn't read his immediate thoughts anymore. Nor could she completely identify him as one like her own– a half-blood.
'Maybe I'm thinking too much. Of course, someone that was blessed by my clan's legacy was going to cause surprises like these.'
Eliza thought and vanished from her spot along with her throne and the serpent statue. She also had too many preparations to do now that her planning needed to be changed. She also needed to meet Layla and give her a specific set of instructions.
There were only three live people left in the gigantic and dimly lit hall– prisoner Ivor, stressed Reen, and sleeping Eren. The prisoner Ivor was going to stay in a separate dimension for an indefinite time.
Reen's occupancy status in Purgatory wasn't that different from the prisoner either. But fortunately or unfortunately due to her role in constructing Eliza's new vessel, she would be looked after well.
Eren on the other hand would soon leave the place along with his two henchmen– Renar and Viper. Thankfully, he had already asked Eliza to ensure their safety. They had been teleported back to the ground floor of the tower just when they were about to fail to clear the tower's first floor.
*********************************
'Erni...'
'Hehehe! It's Shamrock!'
'Don't fear the ripper.'
'Someday you are going to tell me all your secrets over a couple of beers.'
'You… you are an abomination.'
'Oh, Ronny... you are driving me crazy….'
'Listen here you brat, we don't care if your name is Tumko Darata or Humko Darata…'
'A purge will begin anew when I light my Enderflame.'
'We are different, you and me. Always remember this, my boy.'
'Look at this loser… Oi… grandpa… Why do you want to join the Escalon Guild? We don't keep any leechers in our midst.'
'I think you've got some wrong ideas, brat. We are not into young boys.'
'Remember the name that will be the reason behind your ruin. It's Sienna Slughorn.'
'Devil… Stay… stay away from me. What do you want to know? I'll tell you. But just stay the fuck away.'
'You need to learn how to torture people, do you understand?'
'Eren, stay with aunt Nina for a few days. I'll come to pick you up after I find your father, okay?'
'Eren…'
'Eren…'
'Eren…'
"Erni…"
Eren felt his consciousness gaining senses after what he felt like years had passed. It felt like he had lived his whole life once again. But the order of the events that had come to pass had gotten whack.
Even before he could open his eyes, Eren felt that he had a nasty headache. He also felt something different about his body. It didn't feel like his usual body anymore.
"Where…. the fuck…."
Eren was about to ask about his whereabouts when he saw a huge dragon head looming over him. His eyes were opened so wide that he felt that they might pop out of their eye sockets.
Screeeeee!
Eren also heard the dreaded sounds of wraiths' screeches all around him. There were also various sounds of yells and incantations mixed within them.
"I…
I'm dead."
