Vile Evil Hides Under The Veil

"Is there anything else?"

Eren asked after dropping the Astral Projection Potion's scroll on the table. Layla looked at his behaviour and looked at his smoke with keen interest. The butcher laughed when he saw that.

"Hahaha! Don't worry. It's not the high-me talking. I have a plan to get the potion. But we might need to go back to the Lionheart duchy for it. In any case, obtaining the potion isn't our priority as of now.

But as I said. Give me a detailed breakdown of everything that we have to do to execute this project. I need to see the whole picture before we start with anything."

Layla looked at Eren in the eyes and realized that he was speaking as he meant it. She sighed and nodded before responding. Her voice had gotten more serious this time.

"Eren, this project has been created after taking into account the resources that are available in this era. I have also taken your capabilities as a ranker into account before zeroing in on alternatives.

But I have my limitations too. This project also needs one vital ingredient that you won't find discussed in any of my research. That's because I couldn't find it. Or more like locate "them"."

Layla looked at Eren thoughtfully after she said this. The latter processed her words slowly. At first, he didn't get what she meant. Eventually, he put all the pieces together and concluded. He spoke in a low voice and voiced his conjecture.

"Eliza needs a vessel! Is… is that right?"

Layla smirked at Eren before nodding her head. As she sat in the chair in front of him on the other side of the desk, she expanded her conversation.

"Sometimes your genius is almost frightening.

That's right. Master Eliza needs a vessel. A fire-element female ranker who has progressed at least till D-Rank, preferably C-Rank so that her body can sustain the process.

What's more! She needs to be especially attuned to the way of fire. Only then can we use a sample from Reen's constitution as a primer to make the vessel completely compatible with my master's soul."

Eren smirked at Layla when she finished explaining. After considering what the effects of the things that the project needed would be as a whole, the vessel part was obvious.

Simbelmyne's flower was made for Eliza so that her soul would stay in harmony with the world. Any anomalies that she might have developed due to the use of abnormal means to prolong her life would get eliminated because of the herb.

Shallot's Mirror was meant to be used as a temporary abode for her vessel when she leaves her natal body willingly. The treasure would keep her soul safe till the final process was completed.

The Astral Projection Potion was not meant for Eliza. It was meant to be consumed by her newly acquired body's existing owner so that her soul would leave the body without there being any damage to it.

Finally, Eliza would make Layla use samples taken from Reen as a primer, making the soulless body compatible with Sage's soul. Eliza would be revived with a new body at the end of the project's completion.

The existing vessel owner's compatibility with the fire element and her special attunement to the element would assure that Eliza would be able to use her Enderflames with the newly acquired body. This was her ability after all. She couldn't leave it behind and let it disperse with her original body.

"Hahahahaha! Hahahahaha! Hahahahaha!"

Eren started laughing loudly when he saw the whole picture for himself. His laughter sounded downright maniacal to Layla's ears.

"That's why she didn't kill me or Reen back then.

No matter how carefully she did everything, Sage Eliza would have encountered anomalies in her new existence if she had relied solely on Reen's constitution. Although she did tell me that she had a plan B she preferred, she made it sound like she could do things either way.

But now I understand why she chose to wait instead of getting revived right then and there, killing Reen. Heh! Plan B my ass. This was your plan fucking A all along."

Layla didn't show any expressions when she saw Eren making his claim. Her blank look soon took a sharp turn as she flashed a wicked smile of her own before responding.

"Always keep your hand hidden from the other players at the table, Eren. I hope you don't mind. It wasn't personal. It was just something my master did as an assurance.

After all, she is a perfectionist.

Hehehe! You'll see her grandeur when she starts walking on the earth with a brand-new vessel."

Eren chuckled some more and looked at the smoke that he was holding between his fingers. Meeting with Eliza had traumatized him. But now he had come to realize that her dependence on him was more than he had given himself credit for. Had he known this sooner, the mental stress he had suffered and was still suffering till this point could have been lessened.

'Sage Eliza. You played well. But there will be a day when my play starts.'

Eren praised Eliza while laughing instead of feeling dejected. He had already hit rock bottom in this timeline, after experiencing nightmares. He had become immune to such insights that were intended to mock him for his breakdown. Instead, he started coming up with his own schemes.

Eliza's dependence on Eren's involvement in the Lazarus project worked both in his favour and against him. In favour, because now he could rest assured that Reen wouldn't be mortally harmed by Eliza at this point. She was only going to be used as a part of the process after all.

Reen was being experimented on by the Sage to extract the primer needed for her upcoming vessel. It was preferable for the Sage to have Reen alive in case there was an anomaly in the primer when it was applied to the vessel.

But the necessity of his involvement also held negative connotations. Eliza was willing to extend to extreme lengths to make this plan come to fruition. And she only had Reen as her bargaining chip against Eren. The butcher could imagine that Eliza wouldn't shy away from killing Reen after extracting everything from her to make a statement for him.

AN: The word primer shouldn't be confused with anything related to paints, Lol. In biochemistry, it is a molecule that serves as a starting material for a polymerization process. Basically, a primer can act as the bridge between two different DNA modules.