Eren concluded his hypothesis and looked at Alephee with a smile on his face. The latter was again impressed by how the butcher was able to connect the majority of the dots even after providing fragmented information.
'He was very naive in his past life. Very trusting and benevolent, I would say. But this version of Elder Seed….'
Alphee shook her head and smiled. Of course, she wasn't only talking about Eren's disposition in the past timeline.
The homunculus then narrowed her eyes before speaking up.
'What are the intruders looking for on the continent of Anfang, you ask? Why would intruders invade a foreign land in the first place? Because they believe that there are better opportunities for their growth in the land they are trying to intrude on.
There's no exception in this case either. All of them are looking for something precious. Something that they have possibly run out of in their respective worlds.'
Eren felt like Alephee had strengthened the barrier using her powers. She also started using mana from his mana core through Perfect Paradox to maintain the barrier.
They are looking for God Sparks, Eren. Something that the World's Will births for the chosen ones of its natives.'
Alephee's answers made Eren more curious about the past. He had decided that he would try to get more answers regarding them from Sirius when they meet up personally.
Eren had these thoughts in his head as he continued to listen to Alephee's explanation.
"Why would monsters send their denizens here, and why would the demon continent's denizens be interested in demon possession if God Sparks were easily accessible? They'll keep on knocking on the closed door because they know what is hidden on the other side of the door.
Anyway. It is too early for you to dabble in the game meant for Sages and above. You have already made full use of this opportunity. Now let us turn our attention to the Spirit Beasts.
Spirit Beasts are more relevant to us than God Sparks. I suggest we concentrate on the current tasks at hand.'
Saying that Alephee released her time-element spell. She started looking like she was out of breath all of a sudden. Her face became pale and she was about to lose her footing. Nevertheless, she was able to stay on her feet and look around.
Alephee told Eren and Kirin that they needed to move away from their current position once again. She also raised her hands and cast another spell to erase the signs of their presence from the surroundings.
The homunculus was worried about the Spirit Beast getting targeted by a high-ranking entity. She believed that the signs of a Spirit beast being bred in the surroundings were already there. It just decided to show itself when Eren and Kirin were around by chance. So the rankers who were aware of the signs must be keeping an eye on the place. This is in case the spirit beast manifests and shows up out in the open.
Eren agreed to Alephee's suggestion and quickly decided to follow through. He had Kirin summon a large flying cloud for all three of them. Soon, the trio disappeared from their spot along with the spirit beast Eren had captured for himself.
Alephee's suggestion turned out to be right. That's because a shadow appeared out of thin air over Lake Moonlight Death's surface a few minutes after the trio disappeared.
This seemed to be a man whose face had been covered by a hood. He had a tall and lean build. This man was wearing dark clothes and had a strong presence around him. His aura was intense and suffocating. His brown eyes glowed in the reflection over the surface of the lake he was standing on.
His presence was agitating the water, creating small whirlpools on its surface. This was just the man's water-element attainment manifesting around him because of the surprise he was feeling.
"Hmm? These signs… the spirit beast was taken away?"
The hooded man mumbled to himself in a voice coated in surprise. It looked like he had been waiting for the spirit beast to show itself for a very long time. But someone else managed to locate and claim the beast before him. That too without leaving behind any traces.
The lake's water started shaking when the hooded man's emotions of shock and surprise started turning into anger. The whirlpools were raised over the lake's surface and the masses of water used in them began boiling.
A distinct mana pulse was released from the man before the lake's peaceful atmosphere changed into something dangerous. The air in the region also started having water-like properties and created a watery suffocation effect.
Unbeknownst to Eren, the man had cultivated the spirit beast for over three centuries. He had created a favorable environment for it using the means available to him. And just when he thought that he would reap the benefits of his diligent work, the butcher had gone ahead and claimed his price for himself.
It was safe to say that the man was angry.
The man shook his head when he realized that he couldn't do anything to get the spirit beast back. It was most likely contaminated by supposedly a higher-ranked entity using its mana signature. So pursuing the matter wasn't worth it.
'Who's this damned lucky bastard who screwed around and got his hands on my spirit beast by chance? I swear I'll wring him dry of his luck if and when I find him.'
The man could still sense the obvious signs of the activity even when he couldn't recognize the identities of the people involved. It was as if the water element itself was trying to tell him last night's story.
The man knew there was no use crying over spilled milk. He sighed before disappearing into thin air like a mist.
From this day forward, there would be no chill-inducing anomalies in the Lake Moonlight Death. The phenomenon ceased to exist when the spirit beast was taken away from its environment.
