Vile Evil Hides Under The Veil

The trapped Rankers screamed in agony, their voices echoing in despair.

"Help... help me... these flames… they won't die..."

"Sages, you useless cunts, save us… Aaaaargh!"

The Sages attacking the Birdcage Barriers from the outside froze in shock as the green flames erupted inside the trapped space. They exchanged bewildered glances, feeling the powerful mana emanating from the green flames.

Layla selectively targeted low-ranked individuals, subjecting them to slow and agonizing deaths to extract the purest Mana Essence. The more experienced and higher-ranked Rankers remained unharmed for the moment, spared from the hellfire torment inflicted upon the lesser entities.

Since Lady Zee's soul departure from her mortal coil was a lengthy process, Layla prioritized efficiency in drawing out the Mana Essence from the trapped Rankers rather than incinerating them all at once. The burning inferno was now going to last for more than a day.

Terrified, the trapped Rankers frantically unleashed elemental spells, primarily water-based, in an attempt to quell the green flames. Yet, it was akin to dousing a raging inferno with a mere drop of water.

Plus, the Enderflames did not look like they had their elemental weakness exposed when they came in contact with the water-element mana. They change the state of water instantly, making the top of the Birdcage Barrier get accumulated with white clouds of steam.

The Enderflames burned with such intensity that even a collective effort of Grandmasters couldn't diminish their fierce power. The Rankers resorted to curses, directed at Eren, Eliza, and the Sages outside the barrier, as well as their own ill-fated circumstances.

Eren watched this nightmarish scene unfold, his demeanor that of a detached observer, seemingly unfazed by both the commencement of the Lazarus Project and the suffering of the trapped Rankers.

***

'It.. it has finally begun.'

Reen watched the green flames with an anxious expression on her face. Her concern wasn't for the trapped Rankers but for her own destiny.

Eren's presence by her side offered her a measure of solace. She clung to it while remaining seated within the eastern Array Eye.

Something within the Array Eye seemed to beckon her to assume her slime-beast form, but she knew it wasn't the right time for her to participate in the Lazarus Project.

'With the way I am now, I'm helpless to change anything. I can only trust him.'

Reen was resolute in adhering to Eren's directives. She knew him well and was certain he'd considered every facet of the Lazarus Project meticulously.

Her past had been spent in Eliza's Purgatory, and she trusted Eren to navigate the complex situation. Once a C-Rank demon beast more powerful than Eren, she'd separated from him when he was just an Ace Ranker. Over a decade, their roles had reversed, with Eren now gaining a higher Rank than her.

During that time, Reen's own progress had stagnated, and her Rank had regressed due to the experiments inflicted upon her by the Witch of the Enderflames.

Unfamiliar with the political dynamics between the kingdoms of Edinburgh and Layos, and possessing only scant knowledge of the Anfang Alliance, Reen remained essentially a blank slate. The dormant demon soul fragment within her provided no infernal insights as well. It was as if she was not capable of wielding the might of the soul fragment that was part of herself. At least not the current-her.

Reen recognized that the best course of action was to heed Eren's guidance and await his instructions. This was crucial to ensure they didn't merely become pawns in the Witch of the Enderflames' scheme.

Of course, her worry for Eren's safety overshadowed her apprehensions about her own.

***

"Enderflames... She really is the Witch of the Enderflames!"

The leader Sage from the Anfang Alliance murmured to himself. He observed the green flames wreaking havoc within the enclosed space where both factions' Rankers were trapped. The Alliance's library contained detailed ancient records about the flames conjured by Eliza Samael.

Initially, when he first read about these green flames, the leader Sage dismissed them as exaggerations. He was a fire-element Ranker, well-versed in the depths of fire Elemental Attainments. Therefore, he found it hard to believe that a lady Grandmaster Ranker from the Calamity Era, known as the Witch of the Enderflames, could challenge a Sage with those legendary green flames.

The Sage Rank was the pinnacle of power in Anfang, and the gap between Grandmasters and Sages was seemingly insurmountable. He surmised that either the ancient records about the Witch of the Enderflames had been tampered with by the half-bloods of that era to excessively glorify her role in the Calamity War, or she had received substantial assistance from her fellow draconic Rankers belonging to House Samael.

As a fire-element Sage himself, he knew that dealing with the green flames before him would be a daunting task, even if the caster appeared on the brink of death.

"Hurry! It's the Witch of the Enderflames! We must speed up our efforts to break this damned barrier."

The leader Sage shouted at his fellow Sages. He urged them to concentrate all their power into dismantling the Birdcage Barrier, with the intention of defeating Eliza when she was at her most vulnerable.

***

It had been over a day since the Birdcage Barrier was first erected.

The suffering of the trapped Rankers had come to an end.

They all perished, leaving behind pure Mana Essence. This Mana Essence resembled a colorless, highly viscous liquid, about the size of a sphere with a radius of 20 meters. It looked harmless. However, it emitted a potent mana pulse.

Eren fixated his gaze on the sphere of Mana Essence, knowing it was the substance to restore Eliza's Sage Rank after her revival. This sphere had been placed inside an extension of the isolating Array Eye, just outside the modified Soul Seed Insertion Array formation.

It was evident to any Array Expert that this extra Array Eye was an addition to the original Array layout. It served as a one-time means for Eliza to regain her S-Ranker status upon assuming her new vessel.