Vile Evil Hides Under The Veil

Profundity in simplicity. Life lessons in obvious truths.

Eren felt like he had gained such a deep understanding of the water element so instantly. He felt that he could fuse it with any other element he had sufficient control over. He knew in his heart at this moment that he could try elemental fusion with lightning, fire, and even his wind element.

When he opened his eyes, the elemental manifestations around him stopped. The blue-scaled fish was nowhere to be seen. But a runic tattoo had appeared on the back of his right hand. It had the shape of a blue-scaled fish and minute runic engravings that represented elemental attainment.

Eren's vision was a bit blurry at first. He rubbed his eyes and felt that his eyes had turned watery for some reason. He wiped them and shook his head before looking around him.

It was still daytime. But Eren felt like things were not adding up. He looked at his pendant and tried to contact Alephee.

"You there?"

Eren asked in an inquisitive tone. In the next moment, a young girl in a sophisticated Gothic outfit appeared beside him. She was busy writing something in her grimoire.

"You were out for nine days. I told Kirin to proceed ahead without you."

Alephee answered Eren's question without him having to ask. The latter nodded at her and stretched his limbs.

Kirin had decided to do Eren's bidding. She was preparing to gather a small party under her lead and conquer Bigua's tribe. The butcher wasn't worried about Kirin's success. However, he hoped that the thing Bigua had in his tribe would remain safe in the aftermath of the battle.

He manifested a shapeless blob of water over his stretched right palm and decided to apply his Chill Aspect to it. In the next moment, the blob shrunk in size and started looking a deeper shade of blue. It did not turn into ice but it had become heavy and its viscosity had been altered.

The blob also became less agitated and almost came to a standstill. The water felt like it had lost all its vitality.

Eren stretched his other palm and applied the Boil Aspect of water to the manifested blob. Following that, it started expanding. It started displaying weird shapes and forms and became more agitated with time. As if it was trying to throw something out.

Eren combined the two blobs of water that were representing two different Aspects by bringing his palms closer. The two blobs merged seamlessly as soon as they came in contact. Despite their differences, they did not repel each other.

A peaceful mass of water was now suspended over Eren's palms. This was the normal form of water, which carried within it the Aspect fusion.

'Hmm. Every element is mysterious if one thinks about them. Each element can act like water. And water can act like every other element. It depends upon the person who is wielding the element.'

Eren thought to himself before dispersing the mass of water he had conjured. He then looked around before speaking to Alephee.

"We should go as well."

The lightning struck and Eren disappeared. Alephee vanished into thin air along with him.

***

A forest region outside the city of New Beginnings.

The evening sky was soon about to be studded with countless stars and a crescent moon, which had shown itself. The autumn air had dropped in temperature even further. The evening fog was starting to spread around the forest, slowly taking the entire region under its domain.

A nice autumn evening for ambush and assassination.

"It's been days since he dropped off the grid. When will he arrive? And how do we know he hasn't slipped past us?"

An irritated manly voice of unknown origin resounded in seemingly inhabited surroundings. Another feminine voice answered him with equal irritation.

"You keep asking the same thing over and over again. What part of "be patient" did you not understand the last time?

My sources tell me he has finally come out of the Moonlight Forest Death. We don't know what he was doing inside for so many days. But it doesn't matter.

He'll leave the city soon. And he'll come this way judging by the direction he is heading.

Anyway, it's not our job to intercept him first. Our job is to provide backup. Of course, we'll get to see the fun from here without being discovered. So just be quiet."

The feminine voice decided to divulge the information that her spies had informed her of. But it seemed that the man was done playing hide-and-seek with someone who hadn't even arrived to play the game with him for nine days straight.

The man decided to show himself over a large tree's thick and long branch. He was none other than Goro Jaan Remus– the man dispatched by House Remus to take care of Eren.

Goro Jaan Remus had a mix of black and brown hair with white highlights in between. He had large black eyes and a pronounced nose. His lips were a bit wider than usual. So whenever he smiled, his expression looked creepy.

Goro was a very tall man. He was 8 ft tall and had a lean but muscular build. He wore nothing covering his torso, exposing his abs and chest. He had strong and veiny arms. Plus, he wore two black arm guards.

He also wore a shoulder guard on his right shoulder, which was strapped around his chest. He wore a red hood over his head but did not make any attempts to hide his face.

Goro had a sheathed sword strapped to his waist. A black chain was wrapped along the length of the weapon sheathed in a red scabbard.

Goro gave off deathly vibes around him. The autumn leaves in his vicinity turned to ash and dispersed because of the death energy he was giving off. The tree's branch on which he was standing was starting to lose the life it had in it. It was slowly crumbling– its wooden scales chipping away.

"Tch. I can't just stay still for nine days, can I? I hope the guy doesn't disappoint me. He has killed two members of the Remus family. I have high hopes from this jackass since he made such a show of confidence. Hehehe."

Goro laughed as he talked about the deaths of his two clan members. He seemed excited to meet the butcher.