Vile Evil Hides Under The Veil

Eren could tell that Reen and Asura were different from other Elder Seed Artifacts.

Asura was a demonic saber that carried the consciousness of the Demon Prince of Wrath within it. However, for some reason, Eren could not interact with Demonmir the way he was used to interacting with Shallot or Reen, the two artifact spirits.

Demonmir had indeed been transformed into an artifact spirit by Eren. However, Samael had managed to isolate his spiritual connection from Demonmir at the very last moment, turning Demonmir's consciousness dormant.

It was as if Demonmir had been robbed off of logical thinking and all the sentiments that turned him into the existence known as Demonmir. Only his primal instincts remained with him after turning into an artifact spirit.

This was the reason Eren was trying new methods to temper his demonic saber. This was so that he could awaken Demonmir's consciousness within it completely. He did not want to only harness Wrath Mana with his demonic saber. Instead, he wanted to challenge Samael's Authority using Demonmir as leverage.

Eren wanted to wield even a fraction of Samael's powers without putting himself in danger. For some reason, he believed that his demonic saber was the key with which he could unlock a plethora of demonic abilities for himself.

Reen's case was as peculiar as Asura's as well.

Except for changing her physiological needs, the artifact creation process basically changed nothing for Reen. She could still use her bloodline powers to shapeshift into anyone she wanted. She could still merge with Eren and detach from him at her will. And she could still do everything she could before transforming into an Elder Seed Artifact.

As such, Reen did not come across as an Elder Seed Artifact like Shallot's Mirror. Instead, her existence had turned mysterious for Eren.

Eren would have consulted with Alephee regarding this issue after Reen woke up. However, Alephee and Maya were busy with a particular task. So he couldn't disturb her.

Eren knew that he had turned Reen into an ever-growing Elder Seed Artifact. However, he needed to find out what could allow her to grow first.

The worst part about this whole thing was that even as a creator Eren could not figure out what had gone wrong with Reen. it was as if he had crafted a cutting-edge creation without creating a user manual.

"You still feel hungry right? Do you seek to eat something specific? Like a magic ore or Extols?" Eren asked Reen as he lifted his head from her lap and sat straight.

Eren knew about Reen's hunger firsthand. He didn't want any complications in her growth by making her starve. No matter what kind of sustenance it was, he wanted to find it so that he could strengthen Reen as soon as possible.

"Not really," Reen responded after thinking to herself. "I don't think my hunger is related to just the physical aspect of food or items in general. I think… I think I'm hungry to devour an idea. An existing concept. Does… does that make sense?"

Reen looked at Eren intently as she asked curiously. She could not describe the kind of hunger she was feeling at the time. And her mental connection with Eren was not what it used to be like before. So she could only hope that Eren would be able to understand what she was trying to say without her having to find words to describe her vague feelings.

"Hmm. you want to devour an existing concept, you say?"

Eren scratched his chin as he pondered. He ate one more grape that Reen fed her before coming up with something. The expressions of excitement and anticipation were painted on his face abruptly as he decided to act on the idea he had come up with.

With a flick of his fingers, Eren produced a set of Artifact Set in front of him. It consisted of a breastplate, arm guards, shoulder guards, leg guards, and headgear.

The artifact set seemed to be in ruin. It was as if someone had fought a very brutal battle wearing it, turning it into an almost useless relic.

This artifact set was none other than the Hex Artifact Set with Wyvern's soul added into it as the set's artifact spirit. This was the same artifact set that had allowed Eren to turn into a dragonoid, enabling him to fight with the Witch of the Enderflames on equal grounds.

"Try devouring this," Eren asked Reen with a knowing smile on his face.

"Hmm? Are… are you sure, Erni," Reen asked as she looked at the artifact set. She could sense a wyvern's soul bound to the set with her senses. And for some reason, she wanted to tame it for herself.

"I am sure. Just give it a shot," Eren responded confidently. The latter nodded before getting up from her position. She spread her hands before turning into her usual slime-like form. She blanketed the levitating artifact set before embracing the individual parts. In the end, she returned to her usual self while the artifact set had vanished into her.

Roar!

A wyvern's roar was heard from an unknown direction as Reen started devouring the artifact set, digesting its properties and spiritual aspects. A smile crept on her lips as she finally felt like she was "eating" something.

"This wyvern's soul is tough indeed."

Reen mumbled to herself with closed eyes. Eren could tell that her consciousness was busy fighting with the wyvern's soul. One could say that a higher-grade artifact spirit was trying to devour a lower-grade artifact spirit.

However, it didn't seem like the wyvern's soul could put up much resistance against Reen. She had managed to devour the artifact spirit completely within half a minute, making it along with the artifact set vanish from existence.

"Hehe. I know what I need to do now."

Reen opened her eyes and chuckled heartily before coming close to Eren. She embraced him before turning into her slime-like form once again, this time taking the shape of the artifact set she had just devoured.