Vile Evil Hides Under The Veil

"What was that you were trying to teach me again?"

Eren asked sarcastically as he stepped forward, heading towards Eliza.

"No amount of cunning works against an overwhelming might, right? Well, of course, I know that. My old man taught me many things and this was one of them. This sounds like a profound statement but it's really not.

It's the reality of life that comes naturally to everybody sane enough to look inside themselves for answers. Why do you think Rankers pursue higher Ranking Status than their peers? Why do mortals want to become Rankers and Rankers like us want to become gods?

It's because we know that no trick would work against an overwhelming might and we don't want to be on the receiving end when it happens to us. Who would?

But let me ask you something, Eliza. Do you think a guy like me, who has sent his entire homeworld into chaos just for the sake of his own goals, wouldn't be bothered to do something so obvious? Are you underestimating me or are you just delusional?

How many sleepless nights do you think I had because of you? What do you think I was doing all these years? Only think of your well-being like those two little servants of yours?"

As he walked toward Elize, Eren took his time in verbally hurting Eliza in every way he could.

"What the fuck did you do to… aaaargh!" was what Eliza could muster as a response. 

The Witch of the Enderflames was in no situation to process Eren's sarcastic remarks. She felt as if she was trying to fight an invisible battle inside her head against someone who had become a part of herself.

She also raised her hands in front of her and looked at the black flames that were dancing all over her skin, making her realize that there was some kind of anomaly with the way she wielded her Elemental Attainments.

Swoosh. Zoom. Slap.

Eren decided to use Eliza's vulnerability. He appeared right in front of Eliza and slapped her so hard that she was sent flying a few meters away from her position. Her screams started sounding distant the more area she covered with her trajectory.

"EREN IDRIL…"

Eliza's voice started sounding strange as if there was a default echo attached to it. Her left eye turned pitch black and the left side of her face started morphing into an entirely different woman.

Eliza was about to charge at Eren once more in her rage. However, before she could do so, there was another part hidden within the depths of her soul that took over her body and spoke up.

"Guild… Guild Master… what… What am I doing here? Take… take me with you… aaaaah!"

Eliza had a somewhat shocked expressions on her face and she processed the words that came out of her mouth. Only now did she realize that there was the soul of someone else who had been merged with hers.

Eliza managed to wrestle control away from the other soul. She regained control over her body before speaking up.

"You… I understand now! That vessel! You merged her soul with mine. H… how?"

"Haah! If I had an Extol for every time someone asked me how I did things," Eren said and sighed while looking at his hand which he had used to slap Eliza with.

"Master!"

Layla approached Eliza quickly while being wary of Eren who was in front of her. She supported Eliza somehow despite her small stature and created a safe distance from Eren once again.

Surprisingly, Eren didn't try to stop Layla or target Eliza again. He watched them both with a stern gaze before speaking up.

"Like I said, I'm a bit busy with my affairs right now. So we will settle this after I'm done with them," Eren said before turning around. He was sure that Eliza wouldn't come to bother him while he was busy within the Soul Seed Insertion Array Formation anymore. 

The trick he had used against her was enough to scare her into keeping her distance from him. But now her pride won't allow her to leave things either. So she was stuck in limbo, unable to deal with the root cause of her problem.

Thus, he had bought himself enough time to finish his two crucial projects. His version of the Lazarus Project that he had been planning for so long.

***

Lady Zee's soul was supposed to disperse on its own in the original Lazarus Project. Both Layla and Eliza had ignored her soul after it was successfully severed from her natal body.

However, they didn't realize that Shallot's Mirror had pulled the soul into its space without Leela realizing it even though she was in charge of the Array Eye that handled the artifact. This did not happen because Layla, Leela, or Eliza were careless. But it happened because they were not aware of the true capabilities of Shallot's Mirror.

The Shallot's Mirror didn't necessarily need to manifest spiritual tentacle-like limbs to pull a free soul inside it. It could also attract a soul inside discreetly if the owner wished for it.

The fusion of two souls took place when Eliza's Soul Seed was secured inside the Shallot's Mirror. As Eliza's soul was transformed into a Soul Seed, her consciousness was forced to slumber away inside it. She was not aware that Eren had planned such a trap for her inside an artifact that was supposed to be a safe place for her.

Of course, Eren knew that Eliza's soul was too powerful. The fusion of two souls wouldn't have been made possible if Lady Zee's soul was extremely weak. Or rather, even if the fusion took place in such a situation, the fusion itself wouldn't bring any benefit to Eren as Eliza's soul would instantly overwhelm Lady Zee's soul.

Thus, Eren had been strengthening Lady Zee's soul for the last decade with various precious and expensive soul-related potions and resources. This was so that her soul could survive the fusion process.

Eren had made a lot of moves against Eliza like these. This was just one of them that had panned out. After all, when he had made this move against her, he was not sure if he would actually be able to pull it off. This was just a possibility he wanted to exist at the time. However, his ownership of the Shallot's Mirror actually made it happen.

As for why Eren was able to awaken Lady Zee's merged soul? The answer lay in the fact that he had enslaved her soul with his Sin Series Ability. It was just that he had never triggered the Brand on her soul.

One could say that Eren had planted a surefire landmine inside Eliza's soul that he could detonate anytime he wanted. This move of his had made her suffer from a mild case of split personality disorder.

Eren was sure that Eliza would eventually be able to wrestle control away from Lady Zee and use her force to keep the second soul suppressed. She would be able to treat the symptoms using her overwhelming Spiritual Force but not treat the cause.

In short, there was no permanent cure for Eliza's current situation anymore. At least not in Anfang.

===

AN: Eren's preparations for Lady Zee's soul strengthening were hinted at in Chapter 1380: Lady Zee's Acquisition Of Soul-Nourishing Rewards. Eren plants an untriggered Sin of Lust branding on Lady Zee's soul in chapter 792.

Can be skipped.

We had a lot of things planned for Eliza's supposed split personality disorder. This was why I had bothered to give her a unique laugh (fufufufu) right from her introduction in the early chapters, which was supposed to be used as a distinguishing factor to recognize when she was in charge of the body shared by two souls. She was supposed to wreak havoc on Anfang with her split personality disorder and also cause a few personal mishaps.

But it looks like we would have to postpone that stuff. Now, I just want Eren to wrap things up nicely and leave Anfang behind. So let's just say for almost all major characters those things will happen in the backdrop now as the story progresses forward with Eren at its focus. ;)