Swoosh. Zoom. Parry.
A pair of matte-finish daggers appeared in Eren's hands all of a sudden.
A defensive stance was taken in response to the puppet's attack. Eren didn't manage to parry the attack completely. But he was able to deflect it in such a way that his heart was spared from being stabbed by a hair's breadth.
Eren winced in pain. He almost cried in agony when the puppet twisted his anelace inside his chest. However, this wasn't the time to indulge in pain-relieving activities.
The daggers in Eren's hands disappeared as he grabbed onto the puppet's wrists. He couldn't overpower the puppet no matter how much he tried. However, he didn't have to. His job was to find the location of the real Sage. And that's what he intended to do all along by acting as bait.
Eren sent his soul sense inside the puppet's alchemic body and located the array on which it was operating. He forcefully breached the array's basic defense system and followed the trace of consciousness it contained.
The vestige of Loxley's soul hiding inside the den felt as if two emerald green eyes were looking at him from behind. The Sage made an expression of irritation when the fun was over.
"Found… I found you."
The butcher said and smiled wickedly. A trail of blood escaped from the corner of his lips when he did that. The puppet made exceptionally fast moves and took care of Eren in the next moment.
One could say that Sage Loxley liked playing the game of tag. But he didn't like being caught. He killed the butcher for the seventh time, even after he had fulfilled his condition and cleared his test.
***
Eren appeared at ground zero once again after clearing the Nightmare Domain for the seventh time. He had lost count of how many months his consciousness had been sent inside the Nightmare Domain in total. He even stopped seeing the conditional period after his fourth attempt. That was because he started dreading the period after his fourth attempt. So it was better that he just kept fighting inside the Nightmare Domain and lost track of time.
The butcher was sure that he had been fighting with the illusory Eliza and wraiths for more than two years on his seventh attempt. His body hadn't aged in the real world. But his mind felt like he had been given this test for eternity.
Eren's jaded emotions also affected his bodily functions. He suddenly developed dark patches under his eyes. His presence felt as if he hadn't slept for a very long time despite his body being in the prime condition of its life.
Nightmare Domain was more brutal than Eren's time in Purgatory in more ways than one. However, it didn't feel like that for the butcher because he had stepped into it with a different mindset.
Nightmare Domain also had its advantages.
Eren felt like he had conducted all the tests and combinations he could against the illusory Eliza. He improved a lot of his battle styles and also practiced various classes intermittently.
Eren's soul also had been strengthened to an absurd degree by such a long period spent inside the Nightmare Domain. His bloodlust had become even more potent than it already was. And it was apparent for everyone to see and feel despite the butcher's attempts to mask his presence.
Eren looked at the hive of cave entrances with disinterest after appearing at ground zero of the test. He clenched his fists and started walking in the opposite direction.
There were only a few participants present at this time– all waiting for something to take place. They just wanted to find solace in knowing that nobody could clear Sage Loxley's Legacy until the test's end.
When Eren started walking in the opposite direction, he grabbed attention. The participants looked at each other with puzzled expressions before looking at Eren with pity. They all came to the same conclusion: the butcher had lost his mind after spending his time inside the Nightmare Domain.
All the participants that were present at this time were extraordinary rankers in their own regard. All of them had survived the Nightmare Domain at least once. However, neither of them wanted to visit that place again.
That's why it was easier for them to assume that Eren had lost his mind. They would have stopped paying attention to him and focused on looking intently at the hive of the cave entrances. Suddenly, the butcher did something that shocked them.
He walked towards a seemingly insignificant corner and stopped in his steps. He charged his fists with lightning and fire element mana before landing a punch on the stone wall. In the next moment, the wall crumbled away and revealed a cave entrance.
This cave looked just like the other cave entrances that were behind Eren's back. However, it just felt different to everybody. As if a powerful entity was waiting at the other end of the cave passage.
"I… I remember him."
"Isn't it Eren Idril? The guy who…"
"He… did he find Sage Loxley?"
"No fucking way. I refuse to believe that…"
"Shut the fuck up, Darven. Nobody asked you."
"I… I'll just follow him and see if he has really found Sage Loxley or is he just… bluffing."
"Hahaha. Don't play smart, Harja. Let's all follow him and see who finds Sage Loxley in the end. The test is about finding him, after all. Not the way we used to track him down."
"Let's … let's fucking follow him then."
Eren heard noises coming from behind him after he broke the wall. He wasn't in the mood to play around with these participants. He turned around and looked at them with a deadpan expression before speaking up in a voice coated in menacing dread.
"I am tired. And I feel like it's been ages since I had an actual conversation with normal people. So let me give you a simple and clear-cut disclaimer.
Be prepared to visit the Nightmare Domain once again if any of you tries to take a single step inside this cave. I might just go ahead and kill all of you for real if you try to attack me in a group.
Capeesh? Meanwhile, I'll go inside."
