Vile Evil Hides Under The Veil

Eren processed every detail of the Lazarus Project along with the implications it held in his head as he smoked. When he finished his smoke, the butcher felt like a buzzing noise in his head had finally been put to rest. Like he had shed a skin.

He felt like he didn't need the smoke to deal with his nightmares. In fact, he didn't feel like he would have nightmares at all.

'Don't worry. I'll not abandon you. A necessity has become a choice. That's all.'

The butcher looked at the smoke he was holding and began to speak to it. Contrary to the indications, he was perfectly sober when he said it.

He looked at Layla who was looking at him with keen interest and a mild smile plastered on her face. As he drew the last breath from him almost burned out Stellar Sativa roll, the butcher addressed her.

"It seems you couldn't find such a vessel. Aren't there any arrays or potions you can use to find the right one for your needs? Then we can worry about how to take her hostage."

Eren placed an order for breakfast through his spectral screen after he said that. He had to pay Extols to have food delivered to his place. But he was too invested in listening to the project to go out and have food at the canteen. So he decided to indulge himself by paying for his food.

Eren didn't care about the fate of the one who gets chosen as the vessel as long as it didn't come back to bite him in the ass. If sacrificing an unknown fire-element female ranker would allow him to get Reen back, he would not hesitate to kill loads of such rankers at a moment's notice.

Layla sighed and looked outside the window from her seat before commenting.

"The problem with locating a suitable vessel is that there are too many samples. There are a lot of female rankers who are up to 90% compatible with being my master's vessel. But I want that number to rise.

I can't decide because there are too many choices to choose from. So I've increased my criterion level to make sense of my aversion to choosing a vessel myself."

Eren could see that Layla was suffering from an abundance of choices. This must have been due to the adaptability of the primer derived from Reen's constitution. Having too many choices was equally stressful as having no choice at all.

"What do you want me to do then?"

Eren said while staring at the closed door of his room. He was anticipating the arrival of the food he had ordered for himself.

Layla shrugged her shoulders before replying.

"I want you to look for a compatible vessel. I know it won't be easy. But I'm too close to choosing one myself. I know I'll hesitate before and after I make up my mind about it. So it's better that you do it."

Eren had to say that Layla was extremely loyal to Eliza. He was ready to do that job for her. That way, he could control and minimize the fallout that may potentially hit him. But before he could convey his agreement, he received a prompt on his spectral screen. The man hurriedly took the food basket inside after rushing to the door.

Eren ate his breakfast at the desk - poached eggs and cinnamon rolls. The eggs used for the former cuisine were the eggs of a ranked, flying mana beast. The cinnamon rolls were mortal food that Eren had ordered as a dessert.

Eren started eating the poached eggs as he addressed Layla once again.

"Just tell me the method for finding the suitable vessel and I shall see if anyone fits our bill. We can then plan how to make her disappear without raising any alarms.

Though the D-Rank is the minimum requirement for the vessel, it is bound to create some ripples. Plus, it won't be easy for me to take down an Adept at a frontal clash even with my Sins abilities. We'll have to use shady means to make that happen."

Layla nodded her head in response to Eren. She took out a vial of potion from her storage and threw it in Eren's direction. The latter caught it easily and kept it in front of his food. He stared at the vial that had water-like colourless liquid in it while eating.

"This vial of potion will change colour when any compatible fire-element female ranker comes into your vicinity. Depending on the intensity of the red colour, the vessel will have varying degrees of compatibility. A faint-red colour would indicate the lowest compatibility while a dark blood hue will indicate close to 100 per cent compatibility.

We are aiming for the colour of the vial to be at least sangria red. When that happens, we can start planning our next move. Let's test the vial on all the fire-element rankers we have encountered or surrounded ourselves with at the time.

Who knows? We might get lucky."

Layla didn't sound too optimistic when she said this. Eren guessed that Layla was looking for a sangria red, but was being met with a palate that was lower than that.

"Lucky? Hahaha! There's no such thing as…"

Eren was about to complete his sentence when he froze in his speech. He stopped eating and recalled Layla's requirements and found out that most of them were a match for a certain ranker he had already interacted with.

"Hehe! I think I know who could be the appropriate vessel for the project. We just need to get her at the right time."

Eren chuckled before continuing to eat. He then narrowed his eyes when he thought about that person.

Layla sighed when she looked at Eren's confidence. She then braced herself before continuing.

"There is also one other requirement. We need sacrifices Eren. A lot of them. After all, my master's will start at D-Rank, depending upon the vessel's ranking status. But there is one one-time method in the project we can use to make her shoot up to her current Sage rank in one go."

Eren narrowed his eyes when he heard more people needed to die for Eliza to completely revive herself. He addressed the young witch in a low voice while staring at the colourless content of the vial that was slowly changing colour in his presence as well.

"Let there be sacrifices then."

Eren said casually.

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AN: A compatible vessel for Eliza has already been introduced. Let's say that her name foreshadows her role as Eliza's vessel. ;)