Vile Evil Hides Under The Veil

"Hmm. This arrogant aunt wants you to defeat her first before she says yes to your proposal, Erni."

Reen chuckled, watching Marina's actions with gleeful delight. It seemed that her little trick to anger Marina had really worked.

Despite the effort Marina had put into summoning such a devastating skill, Reen knew the only reason she could even cast it inside Unreal Reflection was because Eren had allowed it.

Without Eren's permission, Marina likely wouldn't have been able to pull off such a stunt — even after burning her dragonblood. If Marina was in the same A-Rank as him, the butcher would have prevented her from casting her skill entirely if he wanted to.

Eren smiled as he looked up at the massive water dragon staring down at him from the blood-red sky.

"If that's what it takes to convince my bride, so be it," he said, stepping forward just as the water dragon began descending toward him at breakneck speed.

"Hehehe. You're too arrogant, boy. Even though you are the true inheritor of the Elder Ichor, you have yet to claim its divine throne. Otherwise all the Demon Princes would have been under your command.

Someone like you can act arrogant in front of others, but you're in for a rude awakening if you act the same way in front of a dragon. I'm not some ignorant and naive little lady that you can swindle easily. Both of you, watch me carefully as I destroy that smugness of yours."

Marina spoke confidently as she watched Eren stand his ground instead of dodging her skill. As long as Eren didn't have some hidden trick to completely evade the skill's effects, she was sure she could deal a severe blow to him if not outright kill him.

Marina's eyes widened in joy as she watched the impending destruction — not just of Eren, but of the entire island. She prepared to distance herself from the island by riding the shockwave and heavy quantities of dispersed water.

Although she would take some damage from the destruction, her dragon body was more than capable of withstanding such an impact. She needed to put as much distance between herself and the epicenter as possible to minimize the repercussions.

However, just as Marina was about to leap into the air, something unexpected happened. The massive water dragon hovering in front of Eren — mere meters away from devouring him — suddenly vanished into thin air.

What baffled Marina even more was that she hadn't sensed Eren activating any counter-skill to neutralize the sentient water dragon. He simply snapped his fingers, and the water dragon disappeared, as if it had never existed.

Before Marina could even ask how Eren had managed such a bizarre feat, she felt an overwhelming pressure bearing down on her. She looked up in alarm, only to find that Eren had somehow recreated her own skill.

However, the water dragon Eren had summoned wasn't nearly as large. In fact, it was only about twice the size of a boa constrictor. Its form was also different — it didn't have the typical build of a dragon. Instead, it resembled a newly hatched, serpentine water dragon.

But Marina wasn't fooled by the smaller size. The creature radiated an astonishing concentration of mana, infused with her own mana signature. It was as if Eren had not only reflected her skill back at her, but had also enhanced it using his own elemental attainments and battle experience.

That wasn't all. The water dragon summoned under the effects of Unreal Reflection carried Eren's divine aura as a demigod, making it far more potent than Marina's original creation.

"Don't worry. I won't kill you before hearing your decision. Now… brace yourself," Eren said, lowering his hand with a casual gesture.

The water dragon took his command as its cue, descending upon Marina with such blinding speed that it was instantaneous — leaving her with no time to mount any countermeasure.

Unlike the prolonged battle earlier, the final confrontation between Eren and Marina didn't take that long. It only took barely a minute for the confrontation to reach its conclusion.

***

Finally, the battle ended with Eren's victory.

The unknown island was no more. Only a few small patches of land remained in the middle of the boundless sea.

If Eren's ocular skill hadn't been blessed with such heaven-defying abilities that allowed him to alter the natural laws within the active skill zone to some extent, even the debris and those few patches of land wouldn't have survived.

After all, water — when unleashed at full force — was even more capable of catastrophic destruction than fire.

Marina slowly opened her eyes when Reen grabbed her nose with one hand and pinched her cheeks with the other. Only then did she realize that she had passed out after Eren reflected her own skill back at her using Unreal Reflection's unique properties.

As soon as Marina remembered what had happened, a flood of emotions overwhelmed her. Running away from Eren was pointless. Even though he had deactivated Unreal Reflection for the time being, he could unleash it again whenever he wanted.

Marina felt like every bone in her body was either cracked or broken. Her muscles had lost all strength, leaving her barely able to move her eyelids or even breathe properly. It was only thanks to her immense vitality and draconic lineage that she had survived Eren's counterattack at all.

Plus, could she really run away?

She was completely paralyzed from the waist down, her arms barely responsive. Her vision was blurred, and her lungs felt as though they were filled with water.

Marina felt like she had been turned into a fragile mortal girl, forced to endure a drowning experiment against her will. Powerless and defenseless, she couldn't even shift back into her original form for some reason.

Unreal Reflection was too powerful — so much so that not even a combined effort from her and Azurea would have been enough to guarantee victory if Eren had activated it at the very start.

Marina realized she had underestimated both Eren's unique skill and Eren himself, despite her best efforts not to.

"Miss Marina, welcome back," Eren greeted her with a calm smile as he sat down beside her, while Reen stood behind him, looking at Marina smugly. Marina could practically feel Reen's eyes screaming "I told you so" at her.

"So, what's your answer? Is it a yes or a no?" Eren asked seriously.

Marina channeled her mana and tapped into her bloodline powers, forcing herself to sit up slowly. She then looked at Eren with a complicated expression before asking:

"What… what if I say no?" she asked, clenching her fists.

"Then I'm afraid I'll have to kill you," Eren said matter-of-factly.

Even though he liked Marina and wanted her to join his side, he wasn't naive enough to set her free. Inviting Marina had only been a last-minute plan — his true purpose was to remove Raashim's influence from Labh Salem's sea. There could be no remnant force of the Raashim's temple in any form after this war.

Marina was left speechless by Eren's blunt threat but then it all made sense.

Through Unreal Reflection's environment, she had seen Eren's Individuality with her own eyes and felt it up close. She clenched her hands in frustration before asking another question.

"I… I need some time to think about it," Marina tried to buy time with a delaying tactic. Unfortunately, Eren wasn't in the mood to drag things out.

"I'm sorry, Miss Marina. You either say yes to my marriage proposal now, or you die. There's no third option," Eren said as he summoned a dagger into his hand.

Marina glared at Eren angrily. "You… you're forcing me to marry you."

"Indeed," Eren nodded casually, as if he saw nothing wrong with his actions. He took a deep breath before speaking further.

"Miss Marina, why are you so willing to die for Raashim's temple? Weren't you just allies, bound by a common cause? Either that sea monster gets released today and destroys Raashim's temple, or I keep attacking the temple and destroying it myself eventually. In both cases, your so-called ally won't survive the outcome.

Didn't you want to become an Immortal and join a pantheon? I'm not only offering you a way to survive but also a way to grow stronger. If you die here, all your dreams will end.

Why not take my hand instead? Do you really want to throw everything away for someone else's cause?" he asked her in a soothing, almost gentle voice.

Marina stayed quiet for a while after hearing Eren's explanation. In the end, she looked him directly in the eyes before asking, "Can… can you activate that weird skill again? I want to confirm something," she said seriously. Experience exclusive tales on My Virtual Library Empire

Eren raised an eyebrow in surprise at her peculiar request. However, he decided to grant her wish. Since he was already forced to spend his Origin Force Points, using a few more wouldn't hurt his plans too much.

Once again, Marina found herself inside Eren's skill zone. She carefully examined her surroundings before closing her eyes. Her attention had been too divided during their battle to fully analyze Eren's peculiar skill. Now, with the battle over, she could finally take the time to study it properly.

"I… I wasn't wrong," Marina mumbled to herself. "No ordinary skill should be able to defeat me. Your skill… no… your power wasn't just spell or skill related. This skill… This is a divine skill. Or more like a pseudo divine skill." she then looked at Eren in the eyes before saying. "This skill of yours– it uses Origin Force doesn't it?"

"Yes," Eren didn't see the point to hide this fact from Marina. "What of it?"

Marina looked at Eren's enchanting emerald green eyes before speaking further.

"This skill is a precursor to your Immortal Domain. The Origin Force is literally used to create worlds and Immortal domains. That's where the name "Origin" comes from.

This Immortal Domain… no… Since you are a demigod with worshippers, it can be called as the precursor of your Divine Kingdom."

Marina didn't feel aggravated for losing to Eren anymore. She then clenched her fists in determination before speaking, "provided you let me join your pantheon when the time comes… your marriage proposal… I… I accept it."

Marina finally said yes to Eren, bringing a smile to the latter's face. He could tell that Marina had only said yes because she wanted to grow under his shadow in the future.

But that was all fine for him. She would use his powers for herself in future. However, he could make use of her at this point. It was a win-win. A marriage would allow for seamless cooperation.

Of course, Eren was also interested in knowing more about the Divine Kingdom. He could have never guessed that his ocular skill hid such a great detail.

However, this was not the right time or place to ask such questions to his soon-to-be wife. He then looked in the direction of Baga Island's direction before speaking to Marina.

"Let me give you some first-aid treatment. We are short on time. That seal on the sea monster is about to break. I hope my second dragon wife is not too hurt."