The domain was broken even before Anfang's World Will had a chance to arrive.
Sienna's body stopped levitating when Eren finished speaking. It was unclear if the half-slumbering consciousness became powerless after Eren's attack or if she was so enraged by his act that she lost control over herself.
Sienna had a shocked look on her face when she died for good this time. And one could see that there remained a hint of fear in her eyes. She was terrified of someone who had killed her without caring about her origins or her relationship with him.
'This "version" of him! He'll be an unstoppable threat to all of us if we let him grow. I'll have to do something about it. I… I'll have to wake up soon from my slumber to…'
The half-slumbering consciousness had this thought as she left the reaches of Anfang's World Will after her shell died. She seemed desperate to wake up from her supposed slumber after witnessing how steadily Eren was growing.
Everything returned to normal when the domain was broken. Sienna's dead-than-dead body lay on the ground with her heart and larynx yanked off from the inside.
Only now did Eren allow himself to have the shakes. He raised his hands in front of him and saw them shaking like he was feeling the chills. The blood in his body had been agitated and his mana circuits were affected as well. His skin turned red and his eyes turned bloodshot.
The butcher had increased heartbeats. He had started hearing white noise and seeing things in a blur. He had prevented himself from having these symptoms in his half-slumbering consciousness's presence. So they all showed up on him at once when he let loose.
When he was talking like a big shot in front of half-asleep consciousness, he was just pretending. He had come to realize that whatever was inside Sienna was many times more powerful and terrifying than Eliza.
The situation was more serious than when Eren had his mental breakdown in front of Eliza. It was just that he was in a better position to tackle the fear that was creeping into him. He kept it at bay using his absolute control, unwavering intent, and unsuppressed soul sense. He only allowed himself to feel fear when the situation was over.
Alephee looked at Eren and chuckled. She was shaken by "her" presence as well. Still, she was in better condition than Eren.
"Hehe. Eren, you just disrespected a bonafide goddess. And I couldn't have been prouder."
The look Alephee gave was usually associated with giving someone a thumbs up. She then sighed before continuing.
"Just know that you couldn't have avoided her messing up with you. She had set the cycle of cause and effect that way.
The shakes are your body's natural response. There's some part of you that's scared. But let me ask you. Are you "scared" scared?"
While trying to control the shakes, Eren looked at Alephee with a "the what now?" expression. Instead of replying to her right away, he sat crossed-legged straight away before closing his eyes. He took a long breath before channeling the Rootless ranking technique.
The butcher's blood flow returned to normal and his mana circuits were pacified as he continued practicing his technique. It took him a while to get rid of the shakes completely.
Eren rubbed his palms over each other before placing them over his face. He could still smell Sienna's blood on his right hand. But he ignored it and used his hands as face warmers for a few moments. After getting up, he stretched his hands and rotated his torso from his waist from right to left and then from left to right. He spoke up only after he made sure that things were in his complete control once again.
"Goddess, huh? There's no point denying the fact that I felt fear. But it can't overwhelm me to the point of no return any more. I can now function normally while feeling fear."
Eren said as he placed his right hand over his chest and felt his heartbeats. They were a bit rapid but returned to normal after some time. He smiled at himself before continuing.
"I don't know what her deal is or where I fit into her affairs. But if it's not in my hands to deal with her, I frankly don't care. I already have too many things to do to care about her in advance.
I think we both were scared of each other. It's just as you made her realize. That goddess fears me. Or the potential I carry and the possibility of a threat I might pose to her in the future."
Eren said as he looked up. The small encounter with the so-called goddess had skewed the passage of time for him. He felt that only a few minutes had passed since he had killed Sienna for all time when it was in fact hours. The sun was about to set. And it was time for him to move.
Eren walked towards Sienna's dead body and looked at her face keenly before speaking up.
"I could tell that she was scared of me by looking her in the eyes. And she could do the same by looking into mine. But we were scared for different reasons.
I was scared that I would be prevented from becoming what I intended to be. And she was scared of what I could become.
I could sense her intentions just as she could sense mine. She wants to nip the bud from its roots. Or she wants to make it so that I don't grow at all.
Too bad for her, I am in the land of Anfang.
I won't let myself finish where I began. I won't let myself end where I started. I know what is within me, even if I can't see it yet.
Fear? Who cares about fear or the courage it takes to face it? I have something more significant than courage. I have persistence. I will become what I need to be under any circumstances."
Eren stated his feelings before snapping his fingers. A spark of fire landed on Sienna's dead body when he did that. It caught fire right away and started burning at an accelerated rate. That too without generating any smell or smoke.
The butcher stood motionless at his place as his emerald green eyes reflected the dancing orange flames Sienna's body was burning in.
