Vile Evil Hides Under The Veil - Chapter 2007: "The Trick is That There Are No Tricks"

Chapter 2007: “The Trick is That There Are No Tricks”

Azurea hesitated and glanced at the nearby bottle.

Then she looked back at Eren, who was sitting there like a smug statue, completely unaffected by the drinks he’d already had.

‘Something’s not right. Is he cheating?’

Azurea thought as she looked at Eren suspiciously. However, she had observed Eren closely ever since the game started and couldn’t find him using his mana in any form.

So she discarded the idea of Eren swindling her. Something was definitely up, but it wasn’t related to direct cheating.

“Fine,” she said, rising to her feet slowly.

No matter what kind of trick Eren had, she didn’t care. She just wanted to register her first win against him.

She concluded that she just needed to hold on for a little longer, and all of Eren’s tricks would either become useless or be revealed to her. If Eren was using some kind of underhanded means, she could still claim victory on the grounds of foul play.

Not to mention, Azurea wasn’t someone who’d quit midway. She had a competitive spirit because of her inborn pride as a prodigious dragoness.

Eren stood as well, holding out his arms slightly. “Whenever you’re ready.”

Azurea stepped forward, arms crossed at first. Then, with a huff, she unfolded them and wrapped them around him, pulling him into a proper hug.

She rested her head against his chest and closed her eyes.

Eren said nothing. He only placed his arms gently around her, returning the hug with warmth and just the right amount of pressure.

Time passed slowly. Every second felt like a minute or two.

At first, Azurea stood still, her breath steady but shallow. But after a few moments, something about the way Eren held her… it felt strangely comfortable. Safe, even.

She could hear his heartbeat—steady and calm—and for a brief moment, she forgot they were even playing a game.

For some reason, she grumbled something under her breath.

“You say something?” Eren asked doubtfully.

“Shut up,” she mumbled.

He chuckled softly.

“Thirty seconds left.”

Azurea didn’t reply. Instead, she focused on keeping her balance. The warmth of his body, the soft fabric of his coat, and the steady rise and fall of his chest—all of it made her chest tighten in a way she didn’t expect.

Finally, two minutes passed.

“Alright,” Eren said, pulling back slightly but not fully letting go. “You win. Fair and square.”

Azurea stepped back quickly and turned her head away.

“Start drinking,” she said, her voice sharp again, trying to hide the heat in her face.

Eren didn’t say anything in response but picked up the glass.

“One…”

He drank it down.

“Two…”

Another shot.

“Three…”

“Four…”

“Five…”

By the time he was done, even his breath was a little heavier. But his smile remained the same. “You did good,” he said softly.

Azurea didn’t respond right away. She sat down on the soft cushion, still holding her drink. The warm garden lights gave her hair a gentle shimmer, and the moonlight made her expression easier to read—calm, but curious.

She turned slightly to look at Eren, her eyes narrowing thoughtfully.

“Eren, what did you have in mind when you asked me to hug you?” she asked, lifting her glass and taking a small sip.

Eren had just finished his fifth drink from the previous dare. He wiped the drops from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand, then leaned back in his seat with a smile.

“It’s simple, really,” he said. “I want the three of us to form a connection with each other. And the act of touching is the fastest way in that direction.”

Azurea raised an eyebrow but didn’t interrupt.

“We didn’t meet in the best of circumstances,” Eren continued. “We started off as enemies. I am aware that I forced you to become my allies. I also know what you both are thinking of at this point. One wants to surpass her father and set herself free from his control while the other is simply waiting for his return.

It’s downright impossible for former enemies to become true allies quickly. Even now, even though we’re working together for the well-being of the White Raven Island and the seas, we’re still doubting each other.”

He reached for another glass, his voice steady and casual.

“These doubts will never go away unless someone takes the first step to clear them. If we want to build trust, we need to invest effort. Effort, emotion… intention. It usually takes time. But there are ways to speed up the process.”

Eren took a slow sip, then added, “I’m just making conscious efforts in that direction.”

He spoke as if he were discussing a plan or a method—calm, calculated, matter-of-fact. Like trust was something to be built like a tower, one brick at a time.

Azurea chuckled softly. She shook her head.

“It can’t be that easy,” she said. “I can’t just suddenly start trusting you because of a single hug. I can’t forget that we were on opposite sides when God Raashim was alive.”

She swirled the drink in her hand.

“What you’re doing is trying to manufacture emotions. Trying to build connections like it’s some formula. But is it easy to manufacture those things?

They stay superficial unless they go through time and trouble. Unless they’re soaked in… well, the wet passage of time.”

She looked at Eren again, her smirk growing a bit playful.

“I didn’t think you were so hopelessly romantic, Eren. You think we’ll fall for a few good laughs and soft moments? That you can manipulate two dragons into trusting you just like that? Now that I know what you’re doing, won’t I be more guarded against it?”

Eren didn’t look offended.

Instead, he gently traced the rim of his glass with one finger, watching the shiny liquid inside. He looked into it for a few moments, seeing his reflection shimmer back at him.

The butcher smiled faintly as if finding his own appearance pleasing to the eye.

“Our conscious thoughts are silly when you think about them,” he said seriously.

“We can be smart, clever, even genius at times. But our minds still fall for the same tricks, again and again.

The puzzle of the mind is simple and profound at the same time. Sometimes, the trick is that there are no tricks.”

Grimdawn looked up at Azurea as he continued further.

“You see my pretty Lizzy, there are some mental tricks that work no matter how much you think you’re aware of them.

In fact, the more we try to resist them, the more we end up falling into them.”

He chuckled, then added.

“It’s like if I told you—don’t think about a five-legged horse.”

He paused, watching her face.

“Now tell me—what did you just think about?”

He tilted his head with a knowing smirk, his voice calm and teasing.

Azurea blinked once. Then she looked away, a small scoff escaping her lips.

“…That doesn’t count,” she muttered. But her smirk hadn’t faded.

However, Azurea narrowed her eyes all of a sudden as she thought of something and looked at Eren with suspicion.

“Wait a minute… Are there actually five-legged horses in Labh Salem?” she asked.

Eren let out a soft chuckle and nodded.

“Yes. In fact, most male horses are five-legged in Labh Salem,” he said casually.

Azurea blinked. “Huh? What do you mean?”

She leaned back slightly, her brows furrowed in confusion as she started to think.\

She had travelled many corners of Labh Salem’s seas and even visited a few remote coastal regions. She’d seen all kinds of beasts—normal and magical—but no five-legged horses ever came to mind.

“I don’t think I’ve seen any,” she said. “Where exactly did you see one?”

Marina, who had been quietly sipping her drink, suddenly started coughing. She pressed her hand over her mouth, trying her best to hide her laughter and the slight blush forming on her cheeks. She shot Eren a look of fake disapproval.

Eren kept his face straight, but there was a mischievous glint in his eyes. He slowly turned to Azurea, who was now staring at him more seriously.

“Well,” Eren began, “all male horses in Labh Salem become five-legged horses when they get a little… excited.”

He grinned.

There was a brief pause.

Azurea tilted her head, puzzled. But then, a beat later, her eyes widened as understanding hit her like a spell gone wrong.

Her face turned red.

“You…!”

She picked up her glass and threw it at Eren with a sharp flick of her arm.

Eren moved his head to the side, effortlessly dodging it. It was as if he wasnt drunk at all.

The glass whooshed past his ear and flew out of the gazebo, crashing onto the stone garden floor. It shattered with a sharp bang, and a small puff of smoke rose from the crater it left behind.

“You pervert!” Azurea shouted, her nostrils flaring as she glared at him.

Eren only laughed harder.

“Hey. don’t blame me. I said NOT to think about five-legged horses. But it seems you kept on thinking about them anyway,” he said with a wink.

Marina covered her face, shaking her head with a sigh as she chuckled softly.

“Why are we drinking with this mannerless man again?” Azurea grumbled, crossing her arms tightly over her chest.

“Because it’s more fun than drinking alone.”

Eren answered in Marina’s place with a calm smile. But that smile froze the very next second as a sudden ripple ran through his soul.

His grip over the Sin Series Greater Skill faltered for a split moment, loosened by the effects of the liquor.

There was a reason why Eren could never get truly drunk, no matter how much he drank.

It wasn’t his tolerance—it was the pressure his Greater Skills exerted on his soul. That weight kept him grounded, forcibly sobering him.

To manage it, Eren regularly paid a set amount of Origin Force Points into Menaka’s Mesh, keeping the passive effects of his Greater Skills tightly sealed.

But the restrictions of the Mesh had their limits. Once a certain threshold was crossed—especially if external influences or debuffs were involved—the seal could weaken, allowing the passive effects to leak out on their own.

And that’s exactly what happened at this point.

The passive force of his Greater Skills slipped free, and in the next moment, the twin dragonesses were caught in its influence.

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AN: The Sin Series Greater Skills’ passive effects were explained in chapter 1690.