Vile Evil Hides Under The Veil

Marina's eyes narrowed as she hovered above the barren island, her draconic wings creating gusts of wind with each powerful beat.

She landed gracefully, her gaze locked onto Eren, who stood with a relaxed posture, his hands in his pockets.

"Who are you really, Eren? And what do you want with the sea god Raashim's temple?" Marina demanded.

Eren smirked, tilting his head slightly as if considering her question. "Kekeke. Just a wanderer, seeking to test my limits," he replied vaguely, his emerald green eyes gleaming with mischief.

Marina's patience was wearing thin.

"Do not play games with me, Eren. Your actions have serious consequences. You can't possibly think that your little misadventure is enough to shake the temple's foundations in the Labh Salem's seas, do you?

Tell me what else you might have planned and I might offer you an easy death. I could even ask the temple to forgive your sins if you decide to join the temple.

I'm sure god Raashim wouldn't mind accepting someone like you in his ranks. He will forgive your sins as long as you cooperate with us. But things will get very difficult for you and your subordinates if you manage to release that monster from its cage. I don't know how the sea god's temple will act.

But… But I can assure you that I'll take this offense very personally. I'll chase you down to the end of the world if I have to. If you manage to escape from my clutches this time with sheer luck that is.

Now… tell me. Why are you here? What do you hope to achieve?"

Eren chuckled, shrugging nonchalantly.

"Maybe I'm here for the adventure. Maybe I'm here to see if the legends about the sea god's power are true. Or perhaps I just enjoy causing a little chaos now and then."

Marina's frustration boiled over. She realized Eren wasn't taking her seriously, despite her being an S-Rank dragon and him merely an A-Rank.

Her eyes blazed with determination as she spread her wings wide, summoning her draconic magic. "Enough of this nonsense. If you won't take this seriously, then I'll end you right here and now."

Eren's playful grin didn't falter as Marina began to gather her magical energy, preparing to unleash her most devastating spells. He raised his hands slowly, a confident smile playing on his lips. "Oh, you want to play, miss dragoness? Fine, let's play."

Channeling his will through his God Spark, Eren called forth the power of the sea.

"Come forth and act as my ally."

The waters around the island responded to his command, rising and churning violently. A colossal wave began to form behind him, growing taller and more imposing with each passing second.

'This man's God Spark… It's… it's not a faith-based God Spark. I don't think Labh Salem has produced a God Spark related to water from the last millenia. This… This means he is an otherworlder.'

Marina's eyes widened in surprise, but she quickly masked it with fierce determination.

She unleashed a torrent of draconic energy, a blazing beam of destructive power aimed straight at Eren. The ground shook as her spell tore through the air, heading directly for him.

"Kekeke. I always wanted to fight a real dragon after defeating that half-blood witch. Let me see what the progenitor level draconic lineage can do."

Eren laughed, his voice carrying over the roar of the rising sea. He thrust his hands forward, and the gigantic wave surged ahead, meeting Marina's attack head-on.

Swoosh. Clash. Boom.

The collision of their powers created a deafening explosion, sending shockwaves across the island and stirring up a maelstrom of wind and water.

Through the chaos, Eren's playful gaze never wavered. He stood firm, his confidence in his divine powers and intent-driven magic unshaken.

The wave, imbued with his will, began to envelop Marina's attack, swallowing it whole and dissipating the destructive energy.

Eren only needed to shape his will to control the water. The water responded to his thoughts and voice, turning into a spell on its own. The spell broke through the traditional ranking barriers when the divine might was added in.

Eren's confidence in his divine might propelled the effects even further. It was as if any kind of water-element spell he could think of was possible to be cast when he was wielding his divine might. And he loved the fact that it felt so powerful despite the burden his mortal vessel had to face.

Marina had genuine S-Ranked draconic might. Even her casual attack should have been able to overpower someone like Eren, who was still in the Grandmaster Rank.

However, Eren had something that Marina didn't. It was his divine might that leveled the playing field for him.

He had changed his Ranking Technique to bolster the overall stats of his body. As such, it acted as a better vessel for his God Spark, allowing him to tap more into his divine powers without putting himself at risk.

This was perhaps the first time Eren was using his divine powers in such a way without worrying about the immediate consequences. He felt liberated.

Of course, it was not like his body had turned completely compatible with his divine powers. No matter how strong it got, it was still a mortal vessel that was trying to hold the spark of immortality within it.

As such, Eren still felt a bit of stress while channeling his divine might. However, compared to the last time, this stress wasn't much. He just felt a bit dizzy and his bones started creaking.

His entire body felt as if it was being pressed by something from all directions and his soul felt like it was being stretched from all ends. Considering the fact that Eren was almost incapacitated when he used his divine powers extensively for the first time, the way he felt while battling against Marina was still a lot better.

He was glad that he had changed his Ranking Technique to bolster his Body Stats at the cost of delaying his Ranking Journey a bit.

'My divine powers are my real trump card. I'd be foolish not to use it when there's such a huge opportunity for me to do so,' Eren thought to himself as he nullified Marina's powers just by commanding the water with his voice and will alone.

***

Marina stared in disbelief as her spell was neutralized by the sheer force of Eren's command over the sea.

'This… this is not normal no matter how I look at it. From where did he obtain such a potent God Spark? Or… is it him who's talented to make use of it in such a way? Or is he some Immortal's incarnation?'

Marina realized then that this was no ordinary opponent. Eren's connection to the sea was more profound than she had anticipated, and his confidence was not just bravado.

"Is that all you've got, miss sea dragon?" Eren taunted, his voice dripping with mockery. "Come on, show me what you're really made of. Or are all dragons nothing but overhyped lizards?"

Of course, Marina could see that Eren had a bit of trouble after unleashing his divine powers. But that only raised her vigilance even further.

She could see his struggles in controlling his divine might despite his act. However, the fact that he had enough mental fortitude to put an act of casualness told her that he was a real threat.

She also dismissed the idea that Eren was the incarnation of an Immortal who had ascended from the mortal realm and sent a part of him to Labh Salem. Aksai was genuinely struggling to control his divine might despite the fact that he had successfully stopped her casual attack. He lacked experience in handling his divine might, which was difficult to fake.

Plus, there was no way an Immortal would risk handing his incarnation a genuine God Spark.

Although it was quite difficult once a God Spark had integrated with someone, it was not completely impossible to steal it from someone mortal like Eren who still had a mortal vessel. Which idiot immortal put his biggest asset up for a display so that other immortals could steal it from them?

"Don't… don't act tough with me, you foul-mouthed brat. Do you think I was born yesterday? Did… did you just try to provoke me to sharpen your skills on your divine powers? Do You look at me like I'm some sort of your sparring partner? How impudent!"

For some reason, Marina was thoroughly annoyed when Eren called her an overhyped lizard. Even though she knew Eren had said those words to provoke her, it didn't stop her from being provoked nonetheless.

Marina's rage intensified, but so did her resolve. She wouldn't be underestimated by this madman who had decided to spoil her plans of keeping the sea monster caged.

"Don't get cocky with me just because you have a divine might. You are still a greenhorn when it comes to handling it. I'll show you what the dragons are capable of."

Roar!

With a roar, she prepared to unleash even more of her draconic might, determined to show Eren the true power of an S-Rank dragon.

The battle had only just begun, and the island trembled under the weight of their clashing forces.

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