The fight, or more like the cat-and-mouse chase went on for a while till both of them were exhausted. Dom couldn’t help ask Eren in suppressed anger about his motive after they both non-verbally agreed on cooling down a bit:
“You wretched maggot. What have we ever done to you? Why did you target us? And what will you gain from all this? Is that whore Nina also included in this scheme of yours?
Naaah! I don’t think so. She’s a C Class healer. I don’t have anything that can interest her. That means it’s only you. And from the look of things, that healer doesn’t know about your true vile nature. Tell me this before I kill you, why did you put us through this hell?”
Eren didn’t run away from those questions. He maintained a safe distance from Dom and answered back:
“To tell you the truth, I envy you. Not the now-you. But the future-you. I want to possess what you should be possessing. And want to possess and indulge in more than the future-you had a chance to.
I’ve tasted being unsuccessful. I’ve tasted being poor and in misery. And I’ve tasted being hated for my lack of everything. Now I want to experience new things that belong to the other side of the extremity.
But if you ask me why I want to kill you, then it will be because our truths are different.
If I can manage to kill you, after putting so much effort into even the odds that are stacked against me, then whatever I say will be right.
If you can manage to kill me despite all my efforts with your sheer power, you will be the winner and whatever you say will be right.
This is the battle between the truths. I know you will find half of the things I said to be ridiculous and complete BS. And I won’t blame you for that. Like I said, your truth is different from mine.
A chicken doesn’t do anything to humans but humans still eat it for their sustenance and taste. Why? It’s because our truths are different.”
Eren was saying all this while preparing himself for a counterattack in case Dom strikes. And a strike did take place. Eren knew Dom not only wanted to hear his reasons but was also baiting him to pinpoint his location and attack him when he was least expecting it. The hunter was still seeing Eren as a mere teenager.
Eren decided to use Dom’s sudden attack against him. He needed the hunter to pay a hefty cost of underestimating him.
The moment Dom closed the distance between him and Eren, the latter ducked down first before launching forward in Dom’s left side. Dom couldn’t see Eren. The hunter could only target the boy using a sense of sound.
Dom did feel something move to his side. But by the time he reacted to this feedback, he felt something pierce his left glute.
The vile creature had lodged a knife in his left ass cheek. The attack was targeted where the mana layer would be at its weakest if the hunter didn’t regulate it manually.
Dom hadn’t thought that some teenager would be able to dodge his attack at the last second and target his ass. A substantial amount of battle experience was required to pull this off against him. And for Eren to manoeuvre like he did with his rankless body and mind, it was clear that he had anticipated Dom’s attack. Eren had simply used a bait thrown at him by Dom to bait the latter.
Dom realized that he had thoroughly underestimated this vile creature. He didn’t like to admit it, but Eren was a better hunter than him. He wasn’t the gullible kid they had thought him to be.
If Dom survives this ordeal and someone pays him a fortune to refer Eren by the word ‘gullible’ once, he would rather light that fortune on fire and burn himself with it before accepting that deal.
Dom was better off administering that antidote to Elena than inviting this devil to ride with him. It was better to let Elena die than forcing this devil to make a favour on him.
Dom had understood by now that the drowsiness he was feeling wasn’t something natural. That means his potions were spiked by the devil. If his potions could be spiked, Elena wouldn’t be left off either.
Eren entering the cave without Elena following him indicated that he had already finished her off. Dom didn’t completely understand what Eren’s goal was but one thing was clear to him at that moment. Eren wanted to finish him and Elena off from the very beginning.
Dom stopped running around by hearing the sound. He had learned his lesson. A sound could be a trap set for him. He needed to weigh his options before making a move. Otherwise, he would die a horrible and shameful death in the hands of someone who wasn’t even a Rank F yet.
It was better for Dom to approach Eren with caution while maintaining his guard. He knew that if he takes things slowly and not let his guard down, Eren wouldn’t be able to hurt him.
Dom was expecting Eren to make a move. What he didn’t know was that the latter had already left in silence after Dom stopped moving recklessly.
Eren manipulated Dom into making him stay still and take things slowly by launching that timed counterattack. He knew he couldn’t deal a decisive blow to Dom. So it was futile to engage with him right now. It was better to make Dom believe that Eren can launch a counterattack in response to his blind, reckless charge anytime, from anywhere, while he make his exit from the battle.
Why would Eren keep on engaging with Dom when he can use Dom’s blindness and newfound carefulness against him?
Eren went deeper into the cave. The enhancement potions were starting to wear off. So Eren’s breathing had increased pace. His body was sweating all over. His right shoulder had been dislocated, thanks to his showdown with Dom earlier. But he didn’t wait to fix it. He couldn’t. Eren had a more pressing matter to attend to: The demon beast’s evolution.
Eren walked deeper for a while before he found the Yooperlite stones that were mentioned in Dom Walker’s lucky encounter from his previous life.
Eren knew he was on the right track. He hurried forward and finally found the bodies covered in slimy stuff.
Et voila!
The bodies were almost done digesting. If Eren hadn’t withdrawn from his stalemate with Dom, the beast’s evolution would have been finished by the time he reached here.
Eren didn’t waste much time. He drew his blood and dropped it on one of the bodies that were getting digested under the slimy layer.
The drop of blood was absorbed the moment it landed on the body. Suddenly, the slimy stuff released an incomprehensible roar in a sharp pitch. The digestion accelerated and the dead bodies lost their freshness quickly until only their bones were left. The bones too were liquified after a while before the liquid was absorbed into the mass of slime.
Eren could feel an intangible wave of mental pressure being released from the mass of slime. After the mind, it seemed that it was the body’s turn to go through evolution.
Since the mental connection was established, the demon beast had recognised Eren as its kin. It made sure that the remaining evolution process didn’t harm him in the slightest.
The mass of slime expanded exponentially at a time before contracting a moment later with the same speed and zeal. It sometimes adapted to the shape of various magic beasts. Then it took on the shapes of various humans. These were the same people that Eren had seen just now getting digested by the slimy mass.
It took some time before the chaotic mana in the area was stabilized. The mass of slime stopped taking random shapes and assumed the shapelessness its species was known for.
Eren could feel a mental connection with the mass of slime that was plopping its way towards him. He could feel a child’s curiosity towards its parent and everything around him coming from that slime.
There was no exchange of words. Eren and slime could communicate with each other on a fundamental level. They could read each other’s thoughts and that helped Eren understand one thing about the slime’s current condition:
It was hungry.
And Eren knew the location of just the kind of food his new familiar would love to have.
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Author’s Note: Hi there, readers! I just wanted to ask, should I limit MC talking about the way he thinks and his deepest desires, or would you prefer that to be limited in quantity? I feel like Eren still has more things to say in that regard. But I can trim it down to make it a quick read and focus on pushing the storyline forward, if that’s what the readers want!