"Ugh!" Eren coughed as his eyes snapped open, finding himself in what appeared to be a forest—or rather, what remained of one. The surrounding trees were charred beyond recognition, and the ground resembled a site where a nuclear experiment had gone horribly wrong. There was hardly anything recognizable in the area, which made Eren frown in contemplation.
"What happened…?" he asked aloud, directing the question to no one but himself as he looked around.
Then, suddenly—
"!"
He remembered.
"So, he really was a demon... but how?" Eren thought. No matter how much he pondered, it didn't make sense. Bloodline Heritage was said to be a blessing bestowed upon the beings of this world by the old gods in their greatest time of need, to prevent their extinction. This belief tied into the era of the gods' extinction. While it was widely believed that all gods had perished during that time, many, especially followers of the Order, still held that these Heritages were gifts from the gods, provided in the most desperate of times.
But beyond these beliefs, there were deeper, more obscure truths that few knew about. Some believed that Bloodline Heritage was a manifestation of each god's return to the world of the living. If this were true, it would imply that those who possessed a Heritage were merely vessels for the gods' return from the dead. However, like many other beliefs, there was no substantial evidence to support this.
Throughout history, there had never been a manifestation of a demon's heritage. It was... unheard of. Demons, while immensely powerful, were not gods. They weren't believed to be powerful enough to have a heritage to pass down—or at least, that's what the ancient records led people to believe. So, if demons had no heritage, how was it that Eren bore a demon's heritage?
"The one who once bore the WILL," Eren muttered, recalling one of the titles associated with Eren from the game. His mind was working overtime, trying to piece together this puzzle. Eren, as the one who once bore the WILL... But what was the WILL in the first place?
In the game, the WILL had been mentioned countless times, so frequently that he had lost track. Yet, never once did the game explain what the WILL actually was. There was something more to all of this... something the Order was hiding.
"But if Eren bore the so-called WILL, does that mean he did something to lose it?" Eren squinted as he processed the thought. There was something the game didn't reveal, something more to Eren than just being the villain he was portrayed as.
"Tsk," he clicked his tongue, frustrated with the lack of progress his thoughts were making.
"Wait a minute…" A realization struck him, a thought he should have had the moment he awoke in this forest. "What happened to that demon?" he asked himself. His eyes widened as another thought came to mind. He quickly looked down, his gaze falling on his pendant.
"No…" he muttered.
The realization hit him like a ton of bricks. His only hope of escaping this forest had been shattered.
"No, FUCKING NO!" he cried out, staring at the broken, shattered remains of his only protection in this cursed forest.
...He was utterly screwed, beyond measure.