Vile Evil Hides Under The Veil

Eren ended up affecting the current timeline in more ways than one with his groundbreaking moves.

By curing Arizihana of the side effects of using the spiked potion, he first prevented her death. Eventually, he ended up hiring her. Arizihana had served as a very popular city protector for the city despite her relatively low-ranking status. Her absence and the absence of her iconic image prompted the city of Silvermoon to bolster its defenses.

The butcher also destroyed the Beast Bloods' hideout and weakened its influence in the region close to the city of Silvermoon. He then ended up creating a tussle between the Beast Bloods and the Illuminati after his exit from Purgatory. That affected the Beast Bloods' ability to have designs on the city of Silvermoon.

The Illuminati started studying Beast Bloods after it got into conflict. Through this study, the Illuminati also came to suspect that the city of Silvermoon was hiding the entrance to the special place that offered access to the lost path of magic.

The cultists, no matter which organization they belonged to, were crazy about the lost path of magic.

The Illuminati was no different. It also started targeting the city of Silvermoon. The strange thing was that a cultist organization followed in the Illuminati's footsteps even without knowing what the city contained. It was like a series of chain events that kept unfolding one after another.

The constant attacks on the city frustrated the city administration. The city hired prominent rankers as its city guards, which put an end to the streak of attacks. Both sides stopped escalating things any further because they both knew it wasn't in anyone's long-term interest to continue the conflict.

One could say that Jiana had saved her guild members as well as her sanity by dissolving her guild into Eren's. He did not allow the infiltrators from Layos to hurt the ex-Healers' Nirvana members. He launched preemptive strikes at Midnight Moon and caused bombing incidents in the kingdom of Layos.

The terrorist did the only thing he knew best– cause terror in the hearts of his opponents. And by doing so, he obliterated the pressure that was intended to press Jiana down.

The noblest intentions can sometimes lead to the most dreadful of outcomes. However, the opposite was true as well. Dreadful acts can sometimes prevent further escalation of violence.

***

Day 16: The graduation event was halfway over.

More than 5000 teams from all five academies had entered the Sansara World at the beginning of the event. Less than 1500 teams were still active in the separate dimension at this point. The competition would only become more difficult towards the end of the event.

A region in the Sansara World covered in ice and snow.

The sparse green vegetation as well as rocky terrain of the region were blanketed in a thick layer of ice. The scene looked frozen and timeless.

There were no participants supposed to be present in this region. Because this region was not easily accessible for them in the first place.

The region was not shown in the maps available for participants through the Sansara interface. So participants couldn't use normal ways of navigating the region.

In short, the participants refrained from setting foot in this region. And no sane ranker would try to explore an unmapped land in the Sansara World either. And yet, an elf was seen leaving footprints in the snow behind as he walked towards an unknown destination.

This elf had shoulder-length light brown hair and light gray eyes. His ears were not prominently elf-like. But nobody would confuse him for a human considering his aura.

This elf added to the stereotypes about elves in general. Meaning he had all the pretty features that were usually associated with his race. The young man also had an air of royalty around him, which set him apart from the normal elf populace.

Contrary to his gentle features, the young elf's expressions were anything but gentle and welcoming. He looked angry at someone or something. He looked everywhere around him from time to time as if searching for some sort of landmark to know where he was exactly.

"Your Highness Payir? What are you doing here? And why are you exploring the Sansara World without your mask?"

Another elf appeared behind the gray-eyed young elf. This elf looked older and sharper. He had white hair and long ears. The man looked to be in his mid-40s and had a nimble physique.

He was wearing light metallic armor and carried a long spear in his right hand. The spear had a long and curved blade attached to it.

"Oh! Uncle Lako. I'm so glad I found you. This shitty place was beginning to turn me mad with its view."

Payir walked up to Lako with hurried steps, a look of relief on his face. He sighed before answering his question.

"There's indeed a reason for me to be in this place. And that is… I am lost. Also, my mask was damaged in a recent fight. So I can't wear it. Fret not. Nobody among the participants recognized me. So it's fine I guess."

Payir pursed his lips and replied, leaving Lako speechless for a moment. It took a while for Lako to comment on Payir's condition.

"Your Highness Payir... you are a top contender for Layos' throne. You shouldn't be this careless. You have been sent here to gain experience. So you should focus on doing just that by clearing the targets off the hit list.

And you should have stayed further away from this place. I hope you remember what we discussed about our plan before infiltrating the kingdom of Edinburgh. This is the exact place we talked about in our plan."

Payir looked around himself one more time as if coming to terms with a newfound realization provided by Lako. He scratched his head and smiled awkwardly before answering.

"My bad uncle Lako. I didn't want to come here. But I guess I subconsciously started looking for this place after I was separated from my team with debuffs acting on all of us."

Payir gave Lako a brief overview of how he was separated from his team. The latter had no reason to doubt the former. He sighed as he felt that the royal scions from Layos were still a bit immature when it came to handling such tough situations.

"Anyway… now that I'm here… I might as well see you guys live in action. According to you uncle Lako, my first responsibility is to gain various types of experience. And there's no better way for me to do that than to see you kill Rufus Rodriguez with my own eyes."