Chapter 1616 Reen's Rebirth
Eren's words were akin to a spell.
The immortal magic reached its peak when he expressed his feelings through his actions. And it started working when he verbalized what he felt at the time.
Reen's unstable form showed signs of change. Her Soul Seed started spreading its spiritual roots once again with a newfound vigor right after Eren's heart vanished into the vessel.
Skreeeeeeeee!
The world of Anfang was shaken once again as the soul fragment's alter ego took control of Reen's vessel. When Reen opened her eyes, they exuded a divine might that Eren was not personally familiar with. Yet, he could sense a familiarity coming from it.
A sky-piercing manifestation of a cosmic entity was formed above the sky of the battlefield. This manifestation was so big that it could not be fully seen by Eren and others around him completely.
This manifestation of the goddess had reddish-golden eyes that exuded light like two new bright suns had appeared in the Anfang's sky for the first time. She had a beautiful face and two horns protruding from her forehead. She had blue skin and a primal feminine form.
This was the goddess who had separated herself from the demonic pantheon after forming her own divinity.
This was the goddess who had formed her own pantheon, claiming her own throne in the celestial court.
This was the goddess who was the chief deity of monsters across the boundless cosmos where monsters existed. She ruled over the monster gods and all those mortals who called themselves the Children of Echidna.
This was the goddess Echidna herself.
The manifestation of the goddess looked down and stared at Eren. In the next moment, it shrunk from its cosmic size and became human-sized before approaching Eren.
"You… Inheritor of Elder Ichor," the manifestation of the goddess came very close to Eren and spoke. She touched Eren's face with both her hands, cradling it with affection as she spoke in the divine tongue that Eren could understand because of his demi-god status.
"From now on, you shall be my liege," the manifestation of the goddess spoke in affection before resting her head over Eren's chest.
"No. not you. I want my Reen back."
Eren said in a serious voice. He allowed the goddess Echidna's manifestation to come near him because he did not sense any ill will from her. However, he did not let her influence in any way.
Though Reen's origin was Goddess Echidna, he still preferred the version of Reen that he had left behind in the Purgatory. After all, that's why he had been working hard for the last decade. To save her.
If Reen as Eren knew her to be didn't survive the project's conclusion, Eren was ready to discard it and start anew after labeling it as a failure. He didn't want the goddess Echidna's original consciousness replacing Reen even if it came with potential benefits to him.
"Reen…" the manifestation of Goddess Echidna mumbled to herself as if trying to remember the name of the alter ego her soul fragment had developed. She lifted her head and smiled at Eren before speaking up.
"Reen… she's like a child born between us. I can understand why you are so protective of her. Very well, my liege. I shall follow your wishes," the goddess Echidna spoke calmly and smiled at Eren for the last time before vanishing from the world of Anfang. She pulled out her consciousness from the world of Anfang before Anfang's World Will could do something about it.
As soon as the Goddess Echidna's manifestation vanished, Reen's Soul Seed stabilized in her vessel completely. It accepted the vessel it was in, setting the stage for Reen's consciousness to wake up in her not-so-new body.
Kiiiiii!
Eren felt like something in his ID Storage was trying to resonate with Reen who had stabilized her soul within her new vessel. He didn't think twice and pulled that item out of his storage.
This was a crown.
Echidna's Authority.
This was the same crown Eren had obtained from Har Jahar inside the Oni dungeon. Back in the Monster Continent in the past, Goddess Echidna had blessed the artifact herself to be used by some of her steadfast followers.
The crown was the representation of her Authority as the chief goddess of all the monster gods and their mortal descendants. The monster gods themselves were created from Echidna's Placenta, which was an Existential Concept that supported Echidna's divinity.
The crown eventually ended up in the continent of Anfang because it was used as a way to suppress the Children of Echidna. After all, no matter who the myriad monsters worshiped as their gods, the chief goddess Echidna's Authority was unchallenged.
The same crown, which had its own profound history, was trying to break from Eren as Reen's form became increasingly definite. He let go of the crown and it flew towards Reen like it was being pulled by a very strong attraction force.
The crown disappeared into Reen's form before it spectrally appeared over Reen's head. It was as if the monster artifact itself wanted to crown her as the queen of all the monsters.
In the next moment, the Array Eyes was destroyed completely and the Soul Seed Insertion Array Formation broke from within. Alephee was also relieved from her responsibilities at this point.
It didn't take long for Reen to open her eyes and look around. She was searching for a familiar figure. And that familiar figure appeared right in front of her as soon as her rebirth was concluded.
"Erni… I missed you," Reen said while pulling Eren into his embrace. Her voice was tinged with a mix of emotions. The emotions of happiness and relief were dominant in that mix.
"Didn't I tell you to have your faith in me?" Eren said and smiled as he caressed Reen's head. At this point, he felt all the troubles he had gone through to get her back were worth it.
Another Elder Seed Artifact was born in the boundless cosmos at this point. One that had unlimited room for growth.
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