Vile Evil Hides Under The Veil - Chapter 1933

While Eren and Marina stood in silence, Osha and Roza arrived at their location.

Eren acknowledged them with a nod before directing their attention to Naya, who had fallen into an Epiphany after successfully advancing to S-Rank.

At any other time, Azurea would have stepped in if Osha and Roza tried to secure Naya. But with Eren and Marina present, she hesitated, choosing not to act recklessly.

She watched as the two Sages retrieved Naya and swam toward the surface, heading back to Eren’s defense line.

One had to say that Naya benefited a lot from the way Eren handled things. He secured her just at the right time. Even if she didn’t get to stabilize her state right away, she was finally safe from any kind of danger. Plus, her breakthrough was smooth and seamless thanks to the pressure she was put into.

Turning back, Azurea clenched her fists as she observed the barrier weakening, its seal runes fading one by one. She wanted to approach Marina but remained wary of Eren.

Still, she was relieved her sister was there when the seal finally broke—because she knew the sea monster would target them first for their role in its imprisonment. They were stronger when they acted together.

"Hm? Where’s that madman?"

However, when she glanced back at Marina, she realized Eren was gone. Just as she wondered if he had fled from the incoming calamity, her breath caught in her throat—Eren was standing right beside the barrier.

"Wh– what the fuck is he doing there?"

Startled, Azurea instinctively wanted to pull Eren away before strangling him by his neck, but then she reconsidered. No matter what he did now, he couldn’t stop the inevitable. The barrier was already on the verge of collapse—there was no reversing the process.

Swoosh. Zoom. Appear.

"Sister… that madman… what is he doing?"

Azurea quickly approached Marina, her voice tense. She also quickly scanned her sister while at it, relieved to see she wasn’t seriously injured or under any sort of spell or enslavement by Eren.

"I… I don’t know," Marina shook her head. "At first, he was going to abandon this place and leave Raashim Temple to deal with the aftermath. But then he changed his mind on the way here."

"This bastard…" Azurea cursed under her breath. "Doing reckless things as he pleases… and then he wants to quit to avoid consequences of his actions? … he… he is not just a lunatic, but a coward."

Hearing that Eren had considered leaving Baga Island because of the sea monster’s impending arrival infuriated her.

He was the reason for Raashim Temple’s downfall. Even if the Templars had ultimately caused the seal to break, Eren’s raid had set everything in motion. He had disrupted the ritual just enough to throw everything into chaos.

Starting conflicts to seize control of territory was one thing—Azurea could understand that, having fought for her own land before.

But walking away after setting Baga Island on the path to destruction? That was beyond ruthless—it was shameless.

Moreover, Azurea could sense that Eren had affected Marina on a psychological level. Her sister no longer harbored any resentment toward him. The fire of anger that once burned inside her had vanished, no longer reflected in her eyes.

Azurea was highly attuned to such subtle changes, and an uneasy feeling crept over her. She had a bad premonition about Marina and Eren.

It wasn’t just that Eren had "conquered" her sister—she suspected he had his sights set on her as well, using Marina as leverage to get to her.

That realization only made Azurea even more furious.

***

[Azurea holds feelings of anger toward you. You have earned 40 Origin Force Points.]

Through a Demigod-specific function available in the Menaks’s Mesh, Eren was suddenly notified of Azurea’s emotions while he was busy analyzing the crumbling barrier. He looked puzzled, then turned to glance at Azurea in the distance, unsure why the dragoness was so angry with him.

"Strange. I didn’t even do anything to her," Eren muttered, furrowing his brows as he met Azurea’s gaze filled with contempt and scorn. He recalled being polite when greeting her—and he even came to help. While she had every reason to hold a grudge for the chaos he caused on Baga Island, her anger felt... personal. Especially given the number of Origin Force Points she was handing out.

"Really strange. Why is she this pissed at me? And why is she giving me double the Origin Points I usually get? Is it because she’s a true dragon?"

Eren quickly pieced together a theory. As a dragonkin, Azurea was naturally attuned to mana and intent-based magic. Beings like her influenced the Origin Force more profoundly than others. Especially if they held such a high rank as mana practioners. It was even possible that Azurea could wield Origin Force in her abilities.

He had also received Origin Force Points from Marina, and hers had been higher than usual as well. At first, he assumed it was because her wrath was more personal.

But seeing Azurea’s yield even greater points—despite the absence of a direct personal conflict—led him to believe it was due to the sisters’ racial identity as true dragonesses.

’Dragons really are built differently,’ Eren mused. ’I wonder if there are other races in the cosmos that also provide elevated Origin Force Points than regular races. I’ll have to explore that possibility once I get the chance.’

He sighed and shrugged. This younger dragoness was proving to be far more difficult to deal with than her elder sister. Plus, she was a little too perceptive for her own good.

’Women… no matter the race, they’re always a handful,’ he chuckled before shifting his focus back to the task at hand.

"Erni, what are you planning to do?" Reen’s voice echoed in his mind. "The ritual has already been disrupted. Not even that brute Shir or Azurea can reverse the process anymore. You shouldn’t waste time—"

Eren cut her off with a shake of his head.

"I’m not trying to buy us time. I may have the Sansara Sage’s legacy, which covers barriers, but I know my knowledge and power aren’t enough to rebuild something like this."

Reen frowned as she stood beside him, her brows furrowed in contemplation.

"If you’re not reinforcing the barrier, then why are we even here? We might as well wait for it to break on its own."

She glanced toward Azurea and Marina. While she had advised Eren to meet the sea monster before leaving, that didn’t mean she was confident in their ability to handle it.

Reen had a contingency plan—using Azurea and Marina as baits to ensure a safe escape if negotiations failed.

As soft-spoken as she was, she carried her master’s ruthless nature. She understood that some creatures simply wouldn’t listen to reason, no matter how lucrative the deal. And in such cases, it was always better to flee first and deal with the consequences later.

The potential deal with the sea monster was a gamble. Reen wanted Eren to take that gamble, but she didn’t want him to get hurt in the process.

Eren didn’t respond to her immediately. Instead, he raised his right hand and pressed it against the barrier. The moment his skin made contact, his hand turned wrinkled and aged as the barrier began draining his vitality. Even though it was on the verge of breaking, it still functioned as intended.

’Damn… Such an insidious barrier,’ Eren sucked in a sharp breath, biting his tongue. ’No wonder they managed to keep this big guy locked up for so long.’

He was well aware of his own monstrous vitality. If any regular A-Ranker had touched the barrier, they would have suffered severe injuries just from making contact. This was a truly unique application of barrier-type magic.

In fact, it intrigued him—he wanted to learn the principles behind it and incorporate them into his own techniques. He also wondered if he could merge these concepts with the ones from the Sansara Sage’s legacy to create something entirely his own.

’Kekeke. No need to rush,’ Eren smirked as he pulled his hand back. With a flick of his wrist, he activated his bloodline powers, casting a healing skill to quickly undo the damage.

’I’ll naturally claim everything that belongs to Raashim Temple once I take over their territory and establish my foothold here.’

Eren narrowed his eyes and drew his swords. Channeling his lightning-element mana, he infused his weapons with power, surrounding himself with a dense cluster of purple, red, and blue lightning streaks that coiled around him like serpents.

At the same time, he activated his God Spark and water-element mana. Taking a deep breath, he smirked before raising his swords.

"Why mend a failing barrier when you can just break it? Kekeke," he said, laughing as he unleashed two devastating sword strikes infused with divine might.

Marina and Azurea had been watching him the entire time. When they saw his attack land, their eyes widened in shock.

"Madman… he really is a madman," Azurea muttered under her breath. She felt goosebumps on her skin.

Before their very eyes, Eren’s strikes shattered the barrier as if it were nothing more than fragile glass.

The seal was finally broken.

Eren gazed into the abyss that had been hidden from view just moments ago, his expression unusually warm.

"Brother, I came to save you," he said affectionately, as if he were reuniting with a long-lost sibling who had been cruelly separated from him by the vile evil Raashim Temple.