Aden stared at Eren, but he wasn’t seeing the boy anymore. He was seeing his Master in the jungle. He remembered the smell of the damp earth and the weight of the axe. But when he tried to look at his Master’s face… it was a blur of black mist.

“Everything is a blur,” Aden whispered, his voice barely audible.

“What?” Eren asked, his amber-red eyes narrowing. The friction sparks on his skin were subsiding, replaced by a dull, smoldering heat. “What are you talking about?”

Aden snapped back to the present. He forced the nausea down, burying the memory-void under a layer of cold iron.

“Nothing,” Aden said, his eyes regaining their obsidian sharpness. “It doesn’t matter how you awakened. All that matters is that you don’t burn out.”

He stepped forward, forcing Eren’s hand open and pressing the Violet Shard into his palm.

“This is your Container. It’s a fragment of the men who took everything from you. It’s filled with their desperation and their death.” Aden leaned in, his shadow eclipsing the boy. “If you want to live, you have to eat their power. Use your flames to grind their energy into something you can swallow. If the shard turns orange you’ve succeeded. If it stays violet… you’ll die when the sun reaches its peak.”

Eren looked at the shard. The violet light was fighting his red glow, hissing like water on a hot pan. He looked at the younger kids—Armin and Reiner—still asleep, oblivious to the fact that their brother was holding a literal soul-bomb.

“I won’t die,” Eren said, his voice hardening. “I have too much to do.”

Aden turned away, his silver hair catching the morning light. ‘Lorelei. Zero. Monitor him. If he begins to liquefy, take the younger ones and move to the second sanctuary.’

‘And you, Master?’ Lorelei asked.

‘I need to talk to the Entity,’ Aden thought, his gaze fixed on his own hands. ‘I need to know whose life I’m actually living.’

Despite not fully understanding the meaning of his last statement, the both of them nodded respectfully and guided Eren to a room adjacent to Aden.

Letting the silence drown out the screams of doubt in his head, Aden sat cross-legged and called out to the depths of his immensely vast soul.

‘Hey, can you hear me?’ Aden’s voice echoed.

No response came.

His eyebrows furrowed, then he called out again.

The result was the same.

Apart from the dull suffocating hum of the Void energy within his soul, there was no other sound to signify life.

‘What are you doing screaming my name like that?’

A low groan sounded in Aden’s head and bounced around his skull annoyingly.

‘Where the hell did you go? I called more than once,’ Aden replied with a hint of anger.

‘You forget that I am not one of your Vassals,’ the Entity shot back. ‘And I’m definitely not going to be answering to you at the lightest whisper of my name.’

Aden groaned. Having a fight with a walking bag of pride would never end well for either party, so he decided to cut it short.

‘Fine. What were you doing?’ he questioned.

Silence stretched between them before the Entity spoke.

‘What are you nervous about this time?’

Aden scoffed at the smug, knowing tone of the Entity, obviously there was nothing bothering him.

‘I’m not bothered by anything you soul-dweller. I’m just curious as to why you’ve been strangely quiet since we left the cave. You didn’t even say anything about my battle earlier.’

‘I’m not your friend or companion, Aden. You always seem to forget that,’ the Entity replied calmly.

Aden’s fists clenched deep into the floorboard of the old home. The low screams and short waves of heat that followed made no effect on the weird sense of frustration brewing within him.

But nevertheless, he didn’t let the Entity’s words cloud his perception.

‘You didn’t answer my question though. Where were you?’

‘I was sleeping. Is that enough of an answer for you?’ the Entity mocked.

Aden’s lips twisted in a snarl. ‘Since when did you sleep? Aren’t you some fragment of the Void with a memory—?’

‘How… How did you know that?’ the Entity replied slowly, borderline carefully as a small tremor in his voice could be sensed.

Aden’s heart skipped a beat. His mind raced, trying to recall when Zero had ever mentioned such a thing—but the more he thought about it, the less sense it made. Even Zero had been confused about the Entity’s existence.

Lorelei had only encountered it once or twice, if his memory served him correctly.

Which, lately, he was beginning to suspect it didn’t.

But before he could voice any of his concerns, a cold, invasive energy flooded every corner of his soul. His body reacted instantly, preparing to counter the perceived threat.

Yet the moment he sensed the source was the Entity, he forced himself to relax—if only slightly.

Even then, a trace of skepticism remained.

Only the muffled screams of frustration and growing intensity of heat waves from the other room served to shatter the eerie atmosphere that was beginning to form.

After a few minutes, the Entity’s voice rang.

‘Stage 3 inversion…’

‘What is that?’ Aden questioned immediately as he forced the growing sense of unease to disappear.

The Entity ignored the question and continued, ‘When we left the cave, you were barely at the threshold of Stage 1 inversion. What were you doing when I went to sleep?’

‘Why would you suddenly decide to go to sleep?! You’re not a human being for god’s sake!’

‘The Void energy you so generously use to strengthen yourself, your Vassals and support the ones in your ring… where did you think it came from? And even as i rested to replenish myself, I could still feel even greater amounts leave my body every passing moment,’ the Entity replied calmly, though cold fury could be sensed in his tone.

Aden grew quiet. Who could’ve predicted that the Entity was the one supporting most of his actions from the shadows all this time?

‘That’s besides the point,’ Aden deflected. ‘What is this Stage Inversions you speak of?’

The Entity clicked its tongue before replying. ‘I don’t think you’ll remember, but tell me the Resonance Cultivators’ Rankings first.’

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep