Vile Evil Hides Under The Veil

'Hehe. It is you.

You are the villain behind the scenes.'

Alephee said something mischievous to Eren without alerting Nira Nightshade. Incidentally, she wasn't in her pendant abode. She was exploring the Sage's Abode while the latter was busy talking with Eren.

***

Eren couldn't deny Alephee's "accusations".

The Osan Woods' Butcher fiasco served as the spark to light the fire that already existed between the two kingdoms. He then injected massive amounts of weapons and potion bombs into the open market - supplying both sides with weapons to fill up the White Raven Guild's coffers.

The butcher appointed Kaalmahen to act as his proxy to form a supply-and-distribution chain inside the Badlands. He supplied the kingdom of Layos directly. He also used Serius Fenris' connections to supply other establishments as well– arming anyone he could find to their teeth.

Eren was involved in the Delva Gorge incident as well. It had allowed the spies and cultists of Midnight Moon to infiltrate the kingdom of Edinburgh.

For the kingdom of Edinburgh, Eren created royal conspiracies that were suspected to have foreign hands. And he literally sponsored a series of bombing incidents in the kingdom of Layos, spreading terrorism that had obvious links with the kingdom of Edinburgh. The fact that he had killed many royal scions from both sides was a separate matter altogether.

The actions he had taken inside the Sansara World were going to be the final nail in the coffin. With the history of violence already existing between the two kingdoms, the butcher was surprised that the two kingdoms were not at each other's throats.

Eren's direct and indirect involvement in many such incidents became the reason for the worsening of ties between the two kingdoms. Not that the butcher cared. In fact, he couldn't wait for the war to start. He had invested so much of his resources to benefit from the wartime economy.

Nira Nightshade only knew about Eren's achievements that were already public. Had she known what the butcher had done to cause the war-like situation between the two kingdoms, she would have seen Eren in a different light.

***

'Hey! Mind your language, Miss Timeless.

I don't consider myself to be a hero or a villain. I'm just doing what's right for me. As simple as that. So cut me some slack here.'

Eren replied to Alephee's comment as he was seen pondering Nira Nightshade's revelations. He sounded dramatically hurt to Alephee as if she had accused him of something he didn't do. The homunculus chuckled before responding.

'Hehe. The fact that you don't see anything wrong with what you have done makes you even more of a villain. At least that's how the definition of a villain works anyway. They think everything that they do is fine and justified.'

Alephee said before taking a short pause. She changed her tone this time before speaking up.

'Not that I'm complaining. No idle concept that gets written in books is without its flaws when it comes to reality. And war is one of the eternal truths of life.

As long as there are living beings, there will be wars somewhere.'

Eren smiled in his head when he heard Alephee's way of making it up to him for her earlier "accusations." His voice sounded serious to Alephee when he asked his next question.

'Did you find what you were looking for?'

Alephee seemed busy with something. She replied after a brief pause.

'No. I'll need some more time.'

'Alright.'

Eren said and cut off his mental connection with Alephee before looking up. He met Nira Nightshade's inquisitive eyes before asking her another question.

"Sage Nira, can you tell me why the continent-encompassing array exists? And who put something like that up and running in the first place?"

Eren decided to push his luck.

He finally asked what he had been meaning to ask someone like Nira all along. The Sage seemed to be outside the range of the continent-spanning array. Or at least she could use some loopholes in it under some special circumstances.

Eren could tell that Nira was trying to get him to her side for some reason. She obviously had something planned for him. The butcher decided to use that to his advantage.

Nira was unsure at first. But she thought of something and activated the isolation array inside the hall. Eren felt like his mental connection with Alephee had been affected ever since the runic details on the pillars and the ground lit up.

However, he felt glad that the isolation array was raised. It could only mean one thing. That Nira had decided to answer him.

"The presence of demons is not healthy for any world, Eren. Especially Demon Princes who are considered the rulers of all the demons.

Demonic powers have a certain pull. Those who have experienced that pull will always be tempted to use them at any cost."

Nira was speaking from experience, of course. Her eyes shined when she spoke of demonic powers. It looked like she was proud of the path she had chosen for herself.

The Sage narrowed her eyes on Eren before adding further.

"I'm sure you understand what I'm talking about. I can smell at least one Sin Series Mark on you."

'This damn sniffer dog…'

Eren cursed Nira in his head before jumbling up his thoughts. He sighed before nodding at her. The latter chuckled and continued.

"The land of Anfang is closed to all outsiders.

It doesn't suffer from demonic rituals anymore. Most people don't even know that demons exist. Only high-ranking entities like you get to know about their existence eventually. Even then, they cannot use the limited knowledge they have to cause chaos.

Even the altar for the Prince of Gluttony that the Sansara World hosts are subject to various restrictions. It only uses the participants' blood to stay functional."

The fact Alephee had shared with Eren was reiterated by Nira Nightshade. However, the butcher looked like he was hearing everything for the first time. He had years of experience to pull this off in front of Sage's vestige of a soul.

Nira didn't mind that Eren's curiosity was reaching its peak about everything she was saying to him. She expected reactions like these to be invoked in him from the beginning.

The Sage archer got up from her throne-like seating arrangement and spoke further.

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