Vile Evil Hides Under The Veil

Eren knew that Eliza wouldn't be able to reply to him.

Just like the nightmares he used to see in the past, the Eliza he saw was not real. She was just a figment of his imagination generated by the Life Death Altar using his own memories.

Within the special place created by the Life and Death Altar, Eren did not have a physical body. Only his consciousness had been pulled into the nightmare world. His real body was recuperating inside an isolated healing array, tending to his fatal injury.

Eren could see a grand domain being created around him and his opponents. This was the Nightmare Domain.

Eren was provided with information about the Life and Death Altar the moment he opened his eyes here. He needed to survive inside the Nightmare world for seven days straight to qualify for revival.

The butcher didn't have a physical body inside the nightmare world. So technically, he couldn't die no matter what his opponents did to him. But he could feel pain and other shades of emotion just like in the real world. It also meant that he would have to face a constant barrage of attacks from his opponents and bear the suffering that comes with it.

This was an open battlefield with no space to hide for defense or launch gorilla attacks from. Eren had to face his opponents head-on– all of them– all at once. A perfect way to make any normal participant see the much-needed respite in quitting.

The area outside the domain was foggy and difficult to see through. It seemed that the Life And Death Altar didn't bother rendering the rest of Eren's nightmares.

Eren could opt out of being judged by the Life and Death Altar anytime he wanted. He just needed to step out of the Nightmare Domain and his miseries would end. However, it also meant that he had forfeited his claim to be in the Sansara World.

Eren's body would be regenerated even after stepping out of the Nightmare Domain. However, he would be sent outside the Sansara World, making him give up on Sage Loxley's test by default. He also wouldn't be able to participate in the tests that would be conducted by the remaining two Grand Dukes of the kingdom.

"Seven days, huh? Yeah. I can do that."

Eren said to himself and smiled despite feeling nervous about the whole thing. He wasn't scared of his nightmare anymore. At least not enough to stop him from moving.

However, there was a nagging in his brain that told him to run away from this fight. His instincts told him that his efforts would be futile. And he couldn't shut those instincts up in his head.

***

There were no Sansara Perks inside the Life and Death Altar. However, participants could use their own imaginations to craft support items for themselves. Of course, this allowance had its limits.

Eren closed his eyes and pictured two Shamshirs in his head. He held the swords he knew well enough at this point- the Rigour Mortis Set. He swung them around him and charged them with his imaginary mana to get a feel. He found that the laws inside the Nightmare Domain were mostly the same as in the real world.

It meant that he could use his attacks and spells inside the Nightmare Domain. He could choose to fight as a Novice, Ace, Adept, or Expert and his opponents would match his rank.

Even though he couldn't die inside the Nightmare Domain, he could feel the same level of exhaustion as in real life. He could also run out of mana, preventing him from casting spells. In such a case, he would become a live and harmless target for imaginary opponents.

The Life and Death Altar would send his body back to Sage Loxley's test after Eren completed seven days inside the Nightmare Domain. And he would find that only a few seconds had passed outside. It meant that as long as the participants cleared the Life and Death Altar conditions, there was practically no time loss.

There was a catch to using the Nightmare Domain as a safe zone. The time required for one to spend inside the Life and Death Altar would only increase if and when their consciousness was brought there for the second time. Participants would only see an exponential increase in the required time to be spent inside the Nightmare Domain if they kept on dying in the Sansara World.

The default period of seven days was already too long for most participants. They couldn't live in their nightmares for more than a few hours. As a result, most of them who forced themselves to stay inside the Nightmare Domain eventually became insane when they got out of it.

This was the warning Hansen had given to all the participants at the beginning. The Sansara World's true dreadfulness lay in how difficult it was for the participants to clear the Life and Death Altar and make a comeback.

Those who were judged by the Life and Death Altar and succeeded in clearing its conditions would have no problem gaining the exceptional rewards and glory the Sansara World had to offer. And those who didn't know about their limits and forced themselves to get the desired rewards would eventually be driven mad.

Nobody really knew their own limits until they were put in difficult situations like these. And the most talented rankers participating in the event were curious by nature. So being sent to the Life and Death Altar was going to leave some sort of mental trauma for all of them.

***

"No… this is not just a fight for Sage's legacy."

Eren mumbled to himself, walking towards Eliza. All his opponents were closing in on him. Eliza stood at her place as if knowing full well that she was the butcher's first target of attack.

"This… this is an opportunity."

Eren clenched his grip around his charged Shamshir set. Red and violet lightning sparks and orange flames started manifesting all over his body. The Wind-Fire Wings were spread behind his back.

"This is an opportunity for me to see where my efforts are lacking. An opportunity to see if the Trump cards I have gathered are enough or not. I should make use of this Life and Death Altar to its fullest to sandbox all my plans against her."