"It's a strange way of calling me. But that's okay, I guess. What's up?"
A few cracking noises were heard from Eren's wrist as he rotated his newly regenerated hand. While coming to terms with what was happening around him, he greeted the new Sienna casually. Rather than asking questions now, he decided to deal with what was in front of him.
Eren's uncaring response caught Sienna tongue-tied. Suddenly, she turned to Alephee and commented.
It's you! I should have expected you to be with him. When did you realize it was me?"
The perception-altering domain that the half-slumbering consciousness had created around the region suddenly began shaking. The ground was beginning to crack and runes of unknown origin started appearing on the ground. From all directions, they broke down the domain's barrier and let the colors in.
Anfang's World Will was reacting to the new Sienna's presence. It was apparent that the domain was about to break in a matter of a few seconds. Alephee smiled as she looked around. She then focused her gaze on Sienna once again before commenting.
"I just guessed. He has met a lot of troubled women in his life. So I wasn't sure at first. But the way this shell reacted to Eren's undisguised presence made me remember you. Same facial expressions you see. Something deep within that shell was… let's say scared.
And here you are!"
The new Sienna stopped smiling when she heard her speak. She then looked at Eren and gritted her teeth before pointing a finger at him.
"I am not scared of this ant. What will he do? What can he do? I would have killed him right here if it wasn't for you."
Alephee chuckled before responding promptly.
"The fact that someone of your caliber wants to kill him when he has just started his journey tells me you are even more scared of him than I had thought."
Eren raised his eyebrows when he heard the conversation between the two ladies. He cleared his throat before speaking up.
"If you two girls like to play cryptic around me, that's fine. But finish your thing fast because I got places to be."
Alephee and Sienna both looked at Eren with blank looks on their faces. The homunculus cracked first and started laughing while the new Sienna was angrier than before.
"You! I know it's not "him" that's in front of me. Still, I had thought that the inheritor of Elder Echor would be a lot like him. But you are just… just… just not him at all."
Eren pursed his lips. "Um… sorry to disappoint!?" he replied because he wasn't sure what to reply to Sienna without more information. He then looked at Alephee before speaking up.
"Can we get anything out of her? Is this conversation really relevant? Or is it something you will pretend like it never happened until the so-called right time?"
The new Sienna was taken aback by the way Eren was dealing with her presence. She could only exert a small number of her powers in her current situation. Plus, Anfang's World Will was suppressing her. She was soon slated to be kicked out.
However, she knew that her presence alone should have been a deterrent for someone of Eren's caliber. She tried to overwhelm him using her soul sense. But for some reason, Eren's soul was not something she could intimidate even with her powers.
Eren had an awakened soul sense that helped him stay unbothered in Sienna's presence. He was curious about a lot of things. But he didn't let his curiosity or other emotions dictate his behavior.
The newly raised domain was breaking apart. The monochrome world inside the domain was shrinking as the colors of the world started seeping into it. The runes on the ground had started creating trenches and the ground itself was shaking like a mini earthquake. The mana in the surroundings had become so agitated that no spell could be cast. At least not by a normal ranker.
A more profound and omnipotent consciousness was going to arrive at the scene soon.
While the half-slumbering consciousness within Sienna was shocked by Eren's behavior, Alephee had gotten used to it. She sighed before admitting to him.
"Well… we can't get anything out of her with her current powers. And yes, it's better if you ignore her for now. But we can expect to see her again."
Alephee told Eren that she would tell him about the half-slumbering consciousness within Sienna when the time was ripe. And that's what the butcher wanted to hear.
"You carry the name of Eren Idril, right? Listen to me, Eren. If you want to live, surrender your… aaaaaaargh!"
Sienna started to threaten Eren but the latter didn't wait for her to finish. He spread his soul sense and took control of the severed hand Sienna still had lodged in her chest. He raised his hand and made a yanking motion. His chopped hand copied his action and yanked off the crushed heart. It then threw it on her face before gripping her larynx.
The butcher's fingers seeped deep into her skin and took hold of her voice box. He yanked another organ from her body before placing it in her raised hand. When Sienna's body was damaged to this extent, her role as a vessel was compromised even further.
"Hmm. I didn't think it would be this easy. I was expecting some form of basic defense from her. Did she think that I'd just get intimidated by her presence to not attack her?"
Eren asked aloud to nobody in particular before calling his chopped hand towards him. He touched it with his raised hand. And the chopped hand turned into a slimy substance before dissolving into his hand. When integration was complete, his fingers were soaked in red blood. Sienna's blood. He could start seeing colors around him because Sienna's domain was effectively shrunk to only around her body.
Eren then wiped Sienna's blood over his clothes before asking the same question to Alephee in a different way.
"Do all people outside of Anfang act like these? Careless and delusional? I would have done a better job scaring my opponent if I was in her shoes with her powers."
