Vile Evil Hides Under The Veil

"What are you planning to do with him?"

Altashia asked Eren while looking at Argo who was having his feast. The butcher sighed while looking at his demon beast. He ignited his smoke using his fire mana, and then took a long drag. He responded while staring blankly at the white fog he had just exhaled.

"The key question is, what will he do with me? When you lose something that matters to you, do you have the guts to seek something at the cost of being reminded that you can lose that too?"

Eren said and looked at Argo. But Altashia felt that Eren's line of thoughts had focused on someone other than his newly blood-bound demon beast. She could also feel that Eren was missing someone even when he should be happy about finding someone he could always count on. So she had to ask.

"Are we still talking about Argo, Eren?"

Altashia's question reminded Eren that he had lost track and started missing Reen because Argo reminded him of her. After he had come out of the separate dimension, his mental connection with her was not stable. He couldn't feel what she was feeling through her senses.

That worried him the most. He didn't know what Eliza was doing with her. He could only find solace in the fact that the existence of his mental connection with Reen hadn't completely vanished. But this was not something Eren would be satisfied with.

'I'll burn that mummy along with this whole kingdom down if she decides to use Reen as a sacrifice. Sages or gods, I'll find a way to chop down anyone who comes in my way.'

Whether he knew it or not, Argo's personality was resonating within Eren as he thought of something radical. He then chuckled to himself before having another thought in his head.

'Heh! They call me the butcher right? I'll be sure to live up to that name when the time comes.'

Eren then looked at Altashia who was looking at him with keen eyes. They were again left alone in the watchtower while the rest of the gathered rankers scurried about doing their duties.

Eren's distraught state had created a ripple in his mana signature and it gave off a cold feeling. His aura had become bloodthirsty for a while. Since she was so close to him, Altashia couldn't miss that. She wanted to ask him what he was thinking. But the butcher beat her to it by telling her what he was thinking at the time. He wanted her to get back to Argo's topic so that she would not ask him what he was feeling when he was giving off that aura.

"I want Argo to become like me yet I want to become like him when the dust settles around me. We are two different breeds, Altashia. Two different animals altogether.

It's not even a day since I got him and I can already feel his intense desire to stay as free as he is now. These feelings… will only grow from here. Since I'm connected to him, these feelings echo within me. I'm afraid it's me who is going to get swayed by his emotions rather than the other way around."

Eren told Altashia the truth so that she would not ask for another truth from him. He pressed on to change the topic to something that would benefit him. Since Altashai was well connected with Edinburgh and in some capacity privy to the controlled information kept hidden from most rankers, he wanted to try his luck at asking her exactly that.

"You know what it's like. What do you think?

How can the bond between us and demon beasts become so personal?

What is the blood ritual?

How can it affect us so much?

What is it about the connection with the demon beasts that have such power to capture the hearts of rankers?

What is the reason behind demon beasts being so different from mana beasts? Why do the establishments want more of them in their fold through us and yet fear them?"

Eren collected all the questions he ever had about the demon beasts in his mind and released them all at once. Because just like some of his primal emotions, the questions he had about things he barely understood were also bottled up way past his mental limit. He needed to understand the demon beast and their significance in the lives of those who were bound to them.

Altashia had realized that Eren was trying to change the subject to hide the inner agitation he had just felt. She felt that he had hoarded a lot of things in his head. But she also knew by now that the guy was tight-lipped about a lot of things. So there was no getting rid of his nature anytime soon. He won't tell her anything just because she asked him nicely or shared an intimate moment with him. In a way, she could relate to him. Because she was a lot like him.

So she patted Roo sitting over her shoulder before using a voice communication channel to speak to Eren.

'Eren, I don't need to tell you how strict Edinburgh is in controlling the flow of information regarding the demon beast. I'm one of the lucky ones who didn't have to sign a strict binding contract because of my family's connection. So I can at least talk about it to some extent.

Normally I wouldn't have told you anything. But since you have asked this after getting bound with a demon beast and struggling to make sense of it, I'll let you in on a few details. After all, I am a demon beast owner myself.'

Altashia paused and watched as Roo flew in the sky. The demon beast had changed his shape midway after he left his previous position and assumed his normal form.

Then she continued as she watched Roo flying off in a distance.

'The establishments of the Anfang don't fear the demon beasts. Not really.

I mean if it is their crowd-control ability we are talking about, then yeah, it does possess some danger. But it's nothing the establishments can't deal with using some form of preparedness.

What the establishments fear is the power of shapeshifting. Demon beasts and half-bloods fall in those categories. That's because they can tap into the power of shapeshifting and cause some severe havoc.

This fear stems from the period of Lost History of Anfang. I don't know much about Lost History myself. So your guess is as good as mine when it comes to assuming what might have happened during that time.'

Altashia paused and took a long breath before proceeding.

'But… even that is not the main reason behind why the kingdoms of Anfang fear the shapeshifters.'