Vile Evil Hides Under The Veil

"Don't think of doing anything stupid, little kitten."

Eliza looked at Eren before calmly speaking further.

"If you decide to lower the Birdcage Barrier thinking that our common enemy will target me first, I will kill Reen first and foremost before running away. I have already neutralized the homunculus aid you have. I'll kill her too along with Reen if you bother me too much."

Eliza said while looking in Alephee's direction. She was wary of Alephee because she could sense a subtle form of danger from her. This was why she neutralized the homunculus when the time was ripe to do so. 

The Witch of the Enderflames was a bit irritated by how calmly Eren was taking things considering she had blocked all his ways to rescue Reen. She narrowed her eyes on him before speaking further.

"Umm… I'm not sure about killing you since you still have those space-element runes on you, Eren. But I'll assure you that I'll try my best to not let you go unscathed."

Eliza said while continuing to operate on the Array Formation. Due to this operation, the slime-like mass obtained from Reen's severed and melted limbs was being used on Eliza's real body like an all-body mask.

"Even if you somehow manage to take Reen away from me through sheer luck and planning, which I think is highly improbable, I will still kill Reen through the Voodoo Magic.

I spent enough time with her to set up these countermeasures after all. I'll be sure to use them if you give me a reason to."

Eliza said confidently as she looked at Eren as if reading his inner thoughts.

"Let me tell you in case you didn't know. I can always track Reen because of the seal I had entrusted Arthur to imprint on her soul at the time of her creation in the Osan Woods' lab.

So even if you manage to break the voodoo magic through some special means, I will still be able to track Reen and get to her. Through her, I could get to you as well, ensuring that I uprooted all future troubles.

This is nothing personal, Eren, even if you might not see it that way. Just like you, I'm simply prioritizing what is best for me at this point."

Eliza said while letting the Primer obtained from Reen dissolve into her flesh and bones.

Eren's guess was proven to be right with Eliza's confession. He had assumed that Eliza had her way to keep track of Reen. This was when Eren and Eliza had met in her castle inside her Purgatory for the very first time.

Eren had drawn this conclusion because Eliza had managed to remain calm even after she found out that Arthur had lost track of her due to the lab accident. This behavior was unnatural in Eren's eyes because of the kind of efforts and resources she had invested in her and Arthur's combined project.

It seemed that Eliza could still make use of this seal to keep track of her whenever she wanted to. Meaning there was no way for Eren to run away with Reen and hide from her.

Even if he managed to leave the world Anfang behind, the Witch of the Enderflames would forever remain a threat to him as well as Reen. This was because Eren didn't think even Eliza would stay in Anfang for long after she had successfully achieved her resurrection.

Eliza's family was from Labh Salem after all. Eren could guess that she had all the knowledge and means necessary to traverse the Immortal Planes of demonic affiliations.

She had just decided to not put her already fragile life at risk by exploring the dangerous Immortal Planes. But now that she had been resurrected in a new body, the Immortal Planes were not so dangerous for her anymore. Or rather, she wouldn't necessarily die after she decided to explore the Immortal Planes in her current form.

Unbeknownst to Eren, there was another reason why Eliza or her clan didn't want to leave the Land of the Faithless even during the Calamity Era. It was the bloodline shackles that no member of House Samael present in Anfang could break free from because these shackles were rooted in their very existence.

***

Incidentally, the seal Eliza had Arthur imprint on the artificial demon beast was the reason why Reen couldn't get in touch with the slumbering demonic soul fragment she had within her.

For the most part, Reen remained oblivious to her innate demonic heritage because the seal interfered with her demonic awakening. Unlike Argo or Naya, she wasn't even innately aware of the fact that she was a demon.

As such, the personality Reen developed was devoid of any past influence of the demonic soul residing within her. The bloodline powers she discovered along the way were through a rigorous learning curve. 

Of course, Eliza was serious about not wanting to kill either Eren or Reen if they didn't bother her. She gained nothing by killing the duo after all. If anything, she wanted to keep Reen alive for as long as possible. She would have preferred Reen stayed with her even after the Lazarus project ended.

Although Reen's Ranking Status was bound to regress due to Eliza's sudden change of plans, it wouldn't necessarily endanger her life. Or rather, Eliza hadn't launched this new project to break free from her bloodline shackles just so she could kill Reen. 

As for Eren, Eliza appreciated all the things he had done for her. He was the high-functioning psychopath she had chosen to do her bidding. And he had done it so masterfully that even she was shocked by his planning and cunning.

However, the feelings of appreciation she felt weren't enough to make her stop about her own well-being and choose what was best for her.

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AN: Chapter 345 hints at the fact that Eliza could track Reen using the seal she had imprinted on Reen's soul.