Chapter 407 Demanding Sacrifices
Eren"s heart was pierced by a s.p.a.ce-element dagger.
Eren looked down when he felt an unbelievable amount of pain in his chest. He could feel that the dagger had pierced about three inches into his heart. It would have completely pierced his chest and came out from the other end had it not been for the enhanced protection his cloak of lightning had granted him.
"Hahahahahahahahahaha!"
Claho let out a burst of cheerful laughter when he saw Eren"s current condition. Within that joyous laughter, there was a feeling of relief mixed in.
The other rankers surrounding Eren also breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that the dagger had pierced Eren"s heart. It should only be a matter of time before the guy drops dead on his own. There was no need to face his suicidal attacks anymore.
Kelmar also shot another bullet right at the hilt of the dagger to show off his marksmans.h.i.+p. He had stopped targeting Eren"s vital spots because his guard used to be always up. Plus, his cloak of lightning was something he couldn"t easily get rid of using his long-range attacks. For that, he needed to close the distance. But Kelmar knew that as soon as he entered the battlefield, the butcher was about to target him.
But now that Eren seemed frozen in his steps, it gave him the chance to target the guy again.
Zoom!
The flying sword zipped through the air and cut off Eren"s right hand from its joint. She saw that Eren"s cloak of lightning was fluctuating because of his current condition. She saw the chance and took it.
"d.a.m.n it, Eren. You couldn"t even handle these low lives. I"ll stop maintaining the array and come…"
Layla wanted to stop maintaining the array and come out of her personal s.p.a.ce to help him. He was an extremely crucial piece in her master"s plan after all. She couldn"t let him die. And the way he was heading, it wouldn"t be long before he hit the dust. Therefore, she grabbed a unique potion from her collection intending to use it on him as soon as she got out.
"There"
"Hehehehehe! Hahahahahaha! This is fun. Never did I imagine the feeling of anger could be so addicting.
If indulging in this feeling is sinful, so be it.
If indulging in this feeling is evil, so be it."
Layla was stopped by Eren. She didn"t understand what the guy was thinking. Any more delay and he"d drop dead. Yet she sensed something really strange. His pierced heart was pounding more than usual. It was not oozing out blood like it was supposed to.
Thump!
Thump!
Thump!
Thump!
The stabbed heart that was supposed to pour out gallons of blood was now beating more aggressively than before. Layla felt that if one was within a meter"s distance away from Eren, they could hear his heartbeats.
Eren"s aura kept on changing as the heartbeats grew louder.
Eren started hearing foreign chants spoken by various voices in various ways as he felt the ache in his heart. But he could tell that there were other emotions mixed with the feeling of pain.
He remembered Nina"s description of foreign mana sources, spells, and abilities. He subconsciously processed that information along with the feelings in his heart and got a hint of what he was supposed to do.
Slowly the foreign chants started to make sense to Eren in his subconscious mind. They were asking something from him.
Eren closed his eyes and concentrated on the chants. He felt everything around him go black the next moment. Suddenly, he found himself in an ethereal place where he saw a giant heart beating with war-drum-like thumps.
The sound each of the thumps made was very intimidating. Yet, Eren didn"t feel threatened by it. He felt that it was something that belonged to him.
The void didn"t contain anything. Or more precisely, Eren couldn"t see anything in s.p.a.ce apart from the giant heart.
Now that his consciousness was summoned into this place, the butcher could hear the chants clearly. He could understand their meaning on a deeper level.
"These voices. They are talking to me. They are asking me if I"m ready to bear this sin and all that it means. They are asking me if I"m ready to bind this power to my existence."
Eren mumbled to himself as he listened to the chants. He also understood what he needed to do at that time.
"Let my wrath scare them beyond anything they"ve ever felt.
Let them come within the measure of my wrath
And burn to cinders, illuminating my path.
This ability…
This binding…
I accept it."
The surroundings resonated with Eren"s voice with an unnatural echo. The next thing he did was to drive the dagger deeper into his heart with his own hand.
BZZZZZZZZT!
An otherworldly mana pulse was released into the surroundings with Eren acting as its origin. Rankers surrounding him were blown tens of meters from their previous position by the release of that mana pulse.
Layla understood what had happened the moment she felt the changes happening outside. Eren had awakened one of the seven sin marks. The dagger was driven into his heart to bind his ability with this act of self-harm.
Eren"s heart was chained into various runes when he drove the dagger deeper. In the next moment, he opened his eyes as he pulled out the dagger.
Eren realized how the ability would work the moment it was bound to him. It was now bound by the action of his heart getting pierced. It meant that he needed to pierce his heart and experience the pain the action entailed every time he wanted to use the ability.
"You… You are a m.a.s.o.c.h.i.s.t, Eren. Why did you bind your ability like this?"
Eren ignored Layla"s question and looked at his surroundings. He wondered why n.o.body had attacked him while he was standing still with his eyes closed. So he checked up on Claho and his team as well as himself. And he finally understood the reason behind it.
All of the rankers had been driven away by the mana pulse that was released from him. The rankers were stunned, shocked and were beginning to dread Eren even before that. His presence now had become so ominous that they were subconsciously scared of closing in on him.
Eren saw Claho"s dagger in his hand that was now coated with his blood. Then he felt the wound that was made by it with his own hands. The gaping wound was still there. The pain was still there. But the blood didn"t come out of it anymore.
Eren shook his head when he understood what he had done. Maybe he truly was a m.a.s.o.c.h.i.s.t. But he kept those thoughts aside and concentrated on his current tasks at hand.
Now that Eren had gained this otherworldly power and understood how to activate it, he needed test subjects to use it. And they gathered around him.
Eren caressed the wound on his chest as he looked around trying to find Claho. He chuckled when he found him lying on the ground with his legs spread out. The guy was using his hands to crawl away from Eren as he watched him with horror-filled eyes. The leader of his team had come to realize that he along with all his teammates were going to be put in mortal danger soon.
"You lot… Didn"t you want to meet G.o.d?"
Maybe it was because of the ability"s binding effect. Or maybe because of the otherworldly mana pulse that was released not too long ago. But Eren"s voice somehow sounded deeper than it was supposed to. Claho and his teammates were frightened by his question, which sounded like the voice of something sinister.
Only his spectators felt this change though. The butcher raised his hands and spread them to both sides as he spoke his next words.
"In this place… At this moment…
I AM YOUR G.o.d!
And I demand sacrifice.
Mark of the Seven Sins: Domain of Wrath!"