Vile Evil Hides Under The Veil - Chapter 1968

Eren didn’t even look in the direction his four S-Ranked companions flew.

The automatons were tough but they weren’t life threatening to Osha, Marina, and Azurea.

Of course, Naya was no match for the automaton as she had only recently ascended to her Sagehood. Still, she could buy time for other S-Ranked entities to help her.

At this point, the butcher’s focus had already shifted to the altar being built in the distance.

It was nearly done.

The golden platform was glowing, runes spinning above it in the air. The pyramid that acted as its foundation was covered in mystical runes. But they lacked a certain energy for some reason.

It seemed that even if the pyramid was built, as long as the mystical runes weren’t activated, contacting God Raashim would turn out to be a nearly impossible task.

Of course, Eren had seen something like this before—back when he infiltrated the Oni Dungeon in Anfang using his monster identity and disrupted a divine ritual for the first time. One could say this wasn’t Eren’s first faith-destroying raid.

However, the divine ritual Eren had interrupted back then was related to one of the monster gods. The faith of the monster gods was a bit corrupted in the sense that it required live sacrifices of faithful devotees. This was why the monster tribes battled each other for supremacy every few years—it was to justify the sacrifices.

The power of sacrifices.

What was Shir doing by copying the methods of the monster gods? Eren knew the answer. Shir wanted to rely on his divine backer to get rid of his troubles. For that, he was even willing to damage the faith of millions of God Raashim’s followers over a long period of time.

Ideally, the power of faith would gradually return to normalcy after a long period of peace. The followers of any god were forgetful. They would soon forget about God Raashim’s cruelty and come to worship him once again. They would even call the sacrifices just, saying things like the faith needed cleansing through blood.

But this was also the perfect time for Eren to make an appearance in the hearts of God Raashim’s followers. He wanted to make use of that opportunity.

Of course, it wasn’t like Shir was doing something wrong or that he was a fool being played by Eren. In fact, his actions were correct given the situation he was in.

What Shir didn’t know was that Eren had already anticipated his move. Eren was willing to let Shir win small in order to win big and take everything from him in the next round.

However, things weren’t as simple as they sounded. The power of sacrifice was indeed more potent than any regular form of worship. It generated insane amounts of Origin Force compared to other methods of faith. One could say that the power of sacrifice was the reason monster gods could project their will into various worlds more easily than most of their immortal companions from different pantheons.

Of course, the act of sacrifice also had its downsides in the long run. It was like cutting a golden goose for its feathers instead of raising it for multiple golden eggs over time.

Still, when it came to gaining large amounts of Origin Force Points quickly, no other method came close to sacrifice.

Eren already knew everything about these methods of gaining Origin Force Points. After seeing the state of the battlefield, he was sure that Shir would resort to the power of sacrifices sooner or later. He just needed to push the man to the edge—make him act on that decision faster.

Sacred energy rose from the ground in waves, flowing into the altar like rivers into a sea. Divine power gathered in a quiet storm around it. It seemed that for every Templar that got killed, a strand of potent faith energy would be generated before it was siphoned away by the altar.

’It is happening. Still some time left.’

Eren looked up at the sky. The three moons of Labh Salem floated above the battlefield, shining faintly. He narrowed his eyes.

Ten minutes… maybe nine. Let’s push the guy even further.

He then raised his hand.

"Charge!" he ordered.

All across the battlefield, demon beasts roared in unison. Soldiers of every kind surged forward—winged, scaled, horned, armored. Like a rising tide, they pushed ahead, eyes burning with rage and purpose.

The Empusas, silent and graceful, moved alongside them. They didn’t charge—they supported instead of merely acting as the decoys. Healing the wounded. Casting barriers. Pulling soldiers out of danger and throwing poison darts from a distance.

They were like living serpent ghosts on the battlefield—always where they needed to be.

Plus, Eren had buffed all of the nearby Empusas and demons using his Sin Series Domains. Even without making moves personally Eren was responsible for a lot of enemy casualties. And he did that while lowering casualties of his own side.

Eren watched, then gave more orders. His voice was calm, steady, but full of power.

Every order was sharp. Every choice was perfect.

Sifrona stood behind him, watching with wide eyes.

"My liege," she whispered, almost breathless. "You truly are worthy of being ruler of all demons."

Eren glanced at her, and for a moment, smiled.

But he didn’t say anything.

His gaze was still fixed on the altar.

Apart from Reen, Asurea, Marina, and the sea monster, nobody knew that Eren wasn’t trying to stop the altar’s construction. He wanted it to be completed.

He was letting Shir play his hand—trusting his enemy to do everything he could to protect it. He knew Shir would waste his strongest cards now, just to make sure the altar survived.

And that was exactly what Eren wanted.

Sifrona stepped forward, her face pale.

"My liege, you have to stop the altar from getting made," she said, her voice full of worry.

Eren looked at her, quiet. Then he asked instead, "Are you scared of God Raashim?"

Sifrona blinked. She opened her mouth to answer, but nothing came out right away.

She looked down, her fists clenched. After a moment, she was about to speak again when Eren interrupted.

"Don’t worry," he said, his tone soft but firm. "You don’t have to worry about that god."

He stepped closer, and the wind picked up around them.

"If everything goes right," he added, "all the gods will fear me instead."

===

AN1: There’s a batch of chapters called "Espying: The Glimpses of Future" (from 664 to 677) that really dive into how faith energy and sacrifices play a huge role in divine rituals—especially when it comes to summoning a god’s will.