"I choose to trade for the [Broken Anchor]."
Though the [Broken Anchor] didn't have the unparalleled defensive power of the [Guardian Barrier], and even carried a terrifying curse that could erupt at any time—it seemed full of hidden dangers.
But it had a unique ability that neither the [Guardian Barrier] nor the [Voidbane Stone] possessed—it could distinguish friend from foe.
At the same time, it didn't carry the hidden risk of becoming unusable once its energy was depleted, unlike the [Guardian Barrier].
Thus—
It wasn't strange that Eren would choose the [Broken Anchor] among the three options.
Of course, what tempted Eren the most was the [Broken Anchor]'s potential—once repaired, it could lock onto space and carry an object for dimensional teleportation.
If his home could evolve into a mobile fortress like that—
It would greatly enhance Eren's capabilities.
And it would significantly increase his survivability as well.
·········
With Eren's decision made—
The two other silhouettes on the opposite side of the Scale of Fate instantly vanished, and the rusted, massive anchor silhouette was shrouded in a thick fog of fate.
Once the fog cleared—
A colossal anchor, now made manifest, appeared before Eren.
Transformed from illusion to reality, the anchor seemed even larger in size.
Even when slanted against the ground, the anchor—missing one of its flukes—was still taller than Eren himself.
Its surface was covered in verdigris, corroded by time, giving it a distinct air of ancient decay.
At the jagged break on the right fluke of the anchor, several small black spots dotted the exposed surface.
The moment he saw those tiny black dots, Eren's vision blurred slightly—as if he saw a hazy illusion.
Above the endless Sea of Chaos—
A gargantuan green-black anchor that blotted out the sky pierced the void, shattering space as it descended with a destructive force that threatened to obliterate everything.
But just before it struck—
A massive blue-green fist burst forth from the void and, with a single blow, shattered the anchor into two pieces and sent it flying.
Under that punch—
The world-shrouding green-black anchor had its very core destroyed, its body splintered into fragments.
Battered by that overwhelming power, it tumbled like a kite with its string cut, crashing through one world barrier after another—
Until finally, it came to rest on the edge of a shattered world. By then, the once enormous anchor had somehow shrunk by hundreds or even thousands of times.
However—
As it was blown apart and sent flying, that massive anchor had also managed to leave a gruesome wound on the blue-green fist.
Countless drops of green-black blood sprayed into the air—
And one of those blood droplets splashed directly onto the fracture in the anchor's fluke.
Staining the anchor with a number of blackish-green spots.
Just one punch had been enough to shatter a ghost ship's anchor that spanned the heavens and pierced through countless worlds—
Then just how powerful must the owner of that blood be?
Even if they were among the weaker ones—
Eren figured the blood's owner must be a true deity.
And by deity, Eren didn't mean those so-called cosmic gods in the Marvel Universe.
Even someone like Odin, who had forged a mighty name across the Nine Realms, was still far from being a true god in Eren's eyes.
Let alone those other hollow names in the cosmic pantheon.
·····················
As Eren quietly stared at that bloodstain—
The dried blood suddenly twisted faintly, as if coming alive.
"Hm?"
Eren instantly tensed, thinking his gaze might have triggered something. Just as he prepared to act, the anomaly vanished without a trace, and the dried blood remained where it had been—unchanged, like nothing had ever happened.
It was as if what he'd seen was merely a hallucination.
"How bizarre…"
Eren didn't believe he was seeing things.
Still, he hadn't felt the slightest hint of a curse during that moment, which suggested that the curse embedded in the [Broken Anchor] hadn't been triggered—at least not yet.
Comforted by that thought, Eren nonetheless heightened his vigilance toward the anchor.
····························
Because of what had just happened—
Eren didn't return to the real world immediately after acquiring the [Broken Anchor].
Instead, he used his knowledge of the arcane to inscribe a series of ritual arrays upon the anchor itself.
These rituals had a sealing effect against curses, suppressing their "activity," and prolonging the time before a curse might erupt.
They also served as an early warning system, giving Eren advance notice in the event the curse did activate—so he wouldn't be caught off guard.
To prevent direct eye contact with the bloodstain from affecting him, Eren also arranged a visual-shielding ritual array that blocked his line of sight from the cursed area.
"All done."
Over an hour later, Eren clapped his hands and exhaled softly.
With all the preparations and contingencies in place, Eren brought the [Broken Anchor] back with him to the real world.
Of course—
Not only was the [Broken Anchor] enormous in size, but its weight was also staggering. By Eren's estimation, it weighed dozens—maybe even hundreds—of tons.
Eren wasn't physically strong enough to lift it.
So in the end, he simply placed his hand on it and relied on the power of the Scale of Fate to bring it back.
Fortunately, since the [Broken Anchor] was something he'd traded for through the Scale of Fate, the scale still retained a connection to it—otherwise, it wouldn't have helped at all.
Without the scale's help, Eren would never have been able to haul that monstrosity back on his own.
BOOM!
Almost the moment he returned to the real world, a deep thud echoed through Eren's bedroom.
With that thunderous sound, the floor of his room instantly cracked apart. Even the concrete beneath the floorboards split into rings of spiderweb-like fractures.
If Eren hadn't had every part of the house reinforced by Oddball…
Given the typical construction quality of US housing, that impact could've broken through the floor of the third story, crashed through the second and first floors, and ended up in the basement—and Eren wouldn't even be surprised.
"Thank goodness Oddball reinforced everything. Otherwise, I'd be shopping for a new bedroom."
As Eren winced and shook his head at the damage—
A square-shaped head suddenly popped up beside the shattered floor as if emerging from a ripple in water.
Oddball had tunneled up through the floor and was now glaring mournfully at the culprit that had just flattened part of its body.
That pitiful look in its little eyes clearly asked, Why would Master throw such a huge iron lump at me?
That seriously hurt!
"Sorry, Oddball. I didn't expect it to be that heavy either."
Eren offered an apologetic smile and patted Gobbler's head to soothe it.
After calming Oddball down, Eren looked at it, then at the massive [Broken Anchor], and suddenly had a thought.
"Oddball, can you… like with those other weapons and furniture, swallow this anchor and absorb its abilities into your own?"
??????
Master wants me to eat this giant chunk of iron?
Gobbler blinked in confusion, question marks practically floating above its head.
After a stunned second, it opened its mouth wide and gulped down the massive rusted anchor in one go.
The effort made Gobbler's belly balloon out into several bulges.
Digesting such a hefty object clearly gave it some indigestion.
After squirming in place for a moment, Oddball suddenly went "BLEH" and spat the anchor back out.
BOOM!
Another deep thud sounded, and another section of the bedroom floor was pulverized.
But right after spitting out the anchor—
A mental message reached Eren's mind.
"Master, I can eat it, but…"
From Oddball's broken-up message, Eren slowly understood its meaning.
If given enough time, Oddball could indeed digest the [Broken Anchor] and assimilate it into the house.
But the anchor's level was too high. Oddball had no idea how long it might take to fully digest it.
And worse yet, while it could absorb the [Imprisonment] ability…
The anchor's hidden spatial jump ability would be lost.
Any object assimilated by Oddball would lose the potential for self-evolution.
Even if Oddball —and the entire house—evolved in the future, the [Broken Anchor] would already be fused into Oddball's system.
By then, the anchor might never regain its dimensional teleportation power.
Because after assimilation, all objects inside Oddball would evolve along its path—eventually becoming part of a unified whole.
"I see…"
After receiving the message, Eren rubbed his temples with a hint of frustration.
The long digestion time didn't bother him. He could wait.
But losing the teleportation ability would defeat the whole point of exchanging for the [Broken Anchor].
After all, that was what Eren had valued most.
"In that case, we'll hold off on letting Oddball eat it. Not until I've restored its dimensional ability."
With that decision made—
Eren had Oddball move the anchor into the basement.
Once the anchor was relocated—
The shattered bedroom floor began to glow with eerie light and quickly repaired itself.
Before long, the room was back to normal.
···························
At the same time—
Following the instructions from the Compass of Fate, Eren designated his home as the [Imprisonment Zone], and began testing the anchor's [Imprisonment] ability.
Snap!
With a snap of his fingers, Eren attempted to use Flame Jump to teleport ten meters away to a nearby flame.
But his body remained rooted in place.
Snap snap snap!
Even after several more attempts, he didn't move an inch.
The space that would normally twist and allow his jump was now like a bronze wall, firmly sealing him in.
The instant he tried to use Flame Jump—
A powerful imprisoning force bound him where he stood, giving him no chance to escape.
Eren nodded in satisfaction.
Even though Flame Jump had a short range, his grasp of space rules was likely no weaker than Kamar-Taj's portal magic.
If even Flame Jump didn't work—
Then not even the Sorcerer Supreme's portals would be able to breach this space imprisoned by the [Broken Anchor].
"Whew…"
He exhaled softly in relief.
Then, his thoughts turned to the Philosopher's Stone he'd once dismissed.
Being able to exchange something as valuable as the [Broken Anchor] from the Scale of Fate—
It seemed the Philosopher's Stone was even more precious than he'd thought.
Its value might not even be far from that of the [Byron Transmutation Array].
In that sense—
The Ancient One hadn't been exaggerating.
However—
None of this changed Eren's view of her.
In fact, it only solidified a certain thought in his mind.
After testing the anchor's [Imprisonment] power—
Eren infused his aura into the anchor.
With his energy flowing in, the binding space around him quickly returned to normal.
He snapped his fingers again and instantly teleported to the flame ten meters away.
Everything seemed to return to the way it was before. But Eren knew—his home was no longer the same.
Even the Ancient One could no longer step foot into his domain through a portal.
After all this, Eren was feeling a bit hungry.
He walked into the kitchen and cooked up a hearty meal.
In addition to a nutritious energy-rich main course, he also made a few of his favorite dishes.
As he quietly enjoyed his meal—
Eren's gaze drifted beyond the dark night outside his window—
Toward the Hell's Kitchen, where his clone currently resided.
(End of Chapter)
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