Chapter 357: Chapter 357: The gift

Eren was momentarily stunned. He had a lot of questions he wanted to ask the man, but an overwhelming sense of sleepiness suddenly overcame him.

His eyelids grew heavy, and he found it increasingly difficult to maintain his focus. It was as if an unseen force was pulling him into a deep slumber.

"It is going to be painful. So you better sleep for now," the man said, his voice fading into the distance.

Eren's eyes slowly closed, and the world around him descended into complete silence as he fell asleep.

....

"'Wait, I have something to ask!' Eren suddenly exclaimed as he came to his senses.

Reaching out his hand, he sat up. Unfortunately, he was only able to catch thin air and nothing else.

Opening his eyes, he found himself in a completely different place. The barren world was nowhere to be seen. Instead, he was inside the room where he remembered sleeping initially.

He was inside the Holy Emperor's Palace where he was a guest. Looking around, he found Yu Lin and Zia looking at him.

"Are you alright?" Zia asked, looking at him weirdly.

Eren didn't respond. He was at a loss of words, appearing even more confused. Was that barren world truly nothing but a dream? Did he fail to recognise a dream?

"But it felt so real." he mumbled, rubbing his forehead while getting off the bed. He felt covered in sweat even though the room wasn't hot. Was it because of the nightmare? He wasn't sure.

Confused, he walked in the shower to freshen up and calm his head. He took off his robe and walked under the cold shower, letting water droplets trickle down his body.

"Even my dreams are getting weirder now." Shaking his head, he decided to come to terms with it. There was no other justification.

After a long and cold shower, he used the Dragon Tongue Magic to dry his body. Now that he could use the Dragon Tongue again, it felt truly like a blessing. He never wanted to go back to being unable to use his skills.

"No, no, no!" Eren repeated as he used his bloodline abilities to change his looks again but that mark remained the same.

Even the Bloodline Ability couldn't hide that mark for some reason, creating a big flaw in his disguise that could help it easier to identify him.

Fortunately, it was on his upper arm. With proper clothing, he could hide that mark but it was still a flaw nonetheless. It was the same as his Sword Emperor's Aura. If other personalities used that aura, it could easily link back to him.

"Wait a minute. Sword Emperor's Aura... That dream... Sword Mark..."

Eren's expressions darkened as he thought of something. What if that actually wasn't a dream? And what if this mark wasn't actually a simple mark?

....

While Eren was growing concerned about the mark on his arm, there were people who were panicking.

The people who were responsible for keeping an eye on the Sword Emperor's Sword came to observe the sword as was their duty. Unfortunately, the sword was nowhere to be found.

All the shackles around the sword were found broken. The barrier around the hall was still intact but the sword was nowhere to be found.

The Guards quickly ran out to inform the Holy Emperor and the Holy Church simultaneously. The most terrifying weapon in the history of the Holy Empire had disappeared.

If it wasn't recovered, then they could only imagine their fates.

....

In the unknown barren world, a man was sitting at the edge of the crater, looking at the sky that was a lot clearer.

The red hue around the world had reduced by a lot but the world was still just as lifeless.

"Are you here to scold me because I interfered?" the man asked.

Following his question, the sound of footsteps appeared behind him. A man, holding an umbrella walked closer to the green haired man, stopping only one step behind.