"Keke. You don't need to thank me, Nysa."
Eren's emerald green eyes exuded a faint light as he eyed the beauty in front of her.
"There's a reason I didn't experiment with you. You will be known as the winner of the Sansara Sage's Legacy in the outside world. I want you to be as spotless as possible in serving in that role.
You were not as efficient as Gondel in cracking array-related puzzles. But you still did better than most rankers. Plus, your class as an array master will make you a more believable winner of the Legacy."
Eren could understand Nysa's intentions fine. The girl was probably embarrassed about the kind of experience Eren had put her through. Being a virgin, she had never allowed herself to be so vulnerable in front of another person.
However, Nysa quickly overcame the embarrassment. She didn't regret her decision in wanting to stay alive at the cost of getting branded by Eren. She just hoped that her ranking journey wouldn't get hampered by that decision.
Nysa liked to stay affiliated with the kingdom of Edinburgh because of the opportunities it provided for high-ranking entities. However, she wouldn't mind getting into Eren's camp if he could offer her the same thing.
Eren could understand what was happening inside Nysa's mind. He could only laugh in his head because of how lightly she had taken the branding process.
Eren's brand would influence her to stay loyal to him irrespective of what transpired between them. She hadn't realized it yet. One could say that Eren's Lust branding was so fine-tuned this time that neither the subjects nor the ones observing them would be able to tell if they were controlled unless they really dug deep.
The brand on Nysa's soul will ensure that Eren's will get carried out with or without the benefits Eren might offer to her. However, some things didn't need to be said. The butcher clapped his hands and continued.
"Let's not waste any more time claiming Sansara Sage Legacy. I will pick what I like before letting you keep what I don't."
Nysa was about to say something. But the butcher didn't let her speak. Lightning struck and Nysa found herself standing close to her master. His one hand was placed across her shoulder while his other hand was holding onto the array key.
Eren inhaled Nysa's bodily smell and her hair. It was as if she had just taken a bath somewhere using a Sansara Perk. As he led Nysa towards Maya standing in the distance, he brought his lips close to her ears before whispering.
"Don't worry. We will get to know each other better when we step out of Sansara World. We have to do something about your "inexperience", after all."
Nysa Nael looked at Eren with a slightly reddish face as she walked alongside him. The competition at Royal Ren was fierce. So she didn't have much of a personal life. However, she was looking forward to her alone time with Eren. She started seeing it as part of her graduation reward.
***
"Here's the array key you asked for, Lady Maya."
Eren handed the array key to Maya with a bright smile on his face.
The butcher had cleaned himself up after the battle, changing into new clothes. He looked innocent and his presence exuded effortless elegance. It was as if the person who created the vile creatures of gluttony wasn't him but someone else.
Maya, Darven, and Harja Mel were standing behind Eren. Maya looked at them intently before fixing her eyes on Eren. She sighed before speaking up.
"You have surpassed my expectations, Eren. I don't know how my father would feel about his Legacy not really getting claimed by an array master. But you have done so within the rules he has set. So it is only fair that I declare you to be the winner of the test at least inside the Sansara World."
Maya said and finally put a smile on her face. She imbued her mana into the array key and a cracking sound from within it was heard. She then handed the array key back to Eren.
"Here. You will find Sansara Sage's Legacy inside the very thing you were asked to hand over."
Eren was a bit taken aback as he received the array key back from Maya. Upon her instructions, he drew a drop of blood from his right index finger's tip using the Wind Shard as a scalpel. He then let the blood drop onto the array key, binding the artifact to himself.
Eren couldn't help smiling as soon as he understood what the array key was. It was a transcendent-grade spatial artifact. And it contained a world of its own within it.
This was the reason why the array key looked like a miniature version of the sphere of the Sansara World levitating over the Edinnica Arena. The spatial dimension the artifact in Eren's hand contained was a huge contrast to its actual size.
The world inside the array key was smaller in dimensions. The butcher, however, felt the world to be very different from Sansara World as soon as he sent his soul sense inside. He looked at Maya only to hear her say her next set of words.
"This is my father's second attempt at creating an artificial worldâ€" Sansara World V2.0. It doesn't have the Sansara interface and it is not as big as this spatial dimension is. This artifact, however, has exceeded the Sansara World V1.0 in its ability to incorporate the Way of the Elements.
As I said, don't count my father's Legacy to be on the same level as the rest of his colleagues. You will find out what you are..."
The butcher disappeared from his place before Maya could continue her speech. He left the array key floating in its place.
Maya was a bit annoyed by Eren's impatience. However, she sighed and didn't say anything. She could understand how excited Eren must have been to have received a Legacy of this caliber.
Eren took his time exploring Sansara World 2.0. He was all smiles when he came out, indicating that he had found a lot of things for use inside the special dimension that the Sansara Sage had left behind for his successor.
"Here. Take these things. This is enough for you to call yourself the successor to Sansara Sage's Legacy."
After coming out of Sansara World V2.0, Eren took out lots of stuff from his Sansara Storage and dumped them in front of Nysa. Nysa saw loads of array scrolls and spell scrolls, a huge pile of Extols, and various Expert and Master ranked artifacts.
Nysa also found an array disk inside the lot that could refine her mana circuits as an array master. However, she found that it had already been used once.
Nysa wondered what kind of things Eren had found inside the Sansara World 2.0 that he was ready to give away treasures like these even as a cover. However, she neither asked nor complained about the things she had been given. She was ready to be in the limelight for Eren if the act could reward her like this.
Eren and other survivors would soon get kicked out of Sansara World. It was only a matter of time.
While Nysa was checking out her newfound fortune, the butcher decided to take a moment to relax. Under Maya's control, the fountain was kept safe and intact despite what happened on the battlefield. Lightning struck and Eren appeared seated on the fountain ledge.
Eren decided to check his status screen on a whim. He had devoured some participants inside Sansara World. As a result, he could feel that his ranking status and his body stats had increased a bit. This was a good time to check on the progress he had made.
***
Name- Eren Elijah Idril (Verified)
Organizations- Edinburgh Army (Former), Lionhearts Adventurers' Academy (Participating in Graduation Event)
Academic Status- TBA
Ranking Technique- Rootless (Custom Name)
Base Stats:
HP- 61 / 61 (?)
MP- 61 / 61 (?)
STR- 61 (?)
AGI- 61 (?)
INT- 61 (?)
BTP~ 305 (?)
BTP Visibility- Private
Ranking Status: C-Rank (Vapour Core State)
Abilities (custom): Sin of Gluttony (Domain of Gluttony), Sin of Wrath (Domain of Wrath), Sin of Lust (Mist of Lust), Sedating Gaze, Life Drain, Hero's Heart, Instant Reset, Expedited Regeneration (Bloodline), Memory Extraction, Devour (Bloodline), Shapeshift (Bloodline)
Self-created spells: Wind-Fire Shards
Lightning-element spells: Blitz Steps, Blitz Heal, Blitz Storm, Blitz Shield, Blitz Bolt, Solid Spark, Lightning Seed, Lightning Tree
Fire-element spells: Fireball, Firebreath, Hatching of the Flame (variations), Fire Wings, Rain of Fire, Crimson Storm, Igni Chains, Igni Steps
Time-element spells: Sedated Perception, Stunning Speed, Total Control, Age Expedite, Age Reverse, Motion Manipulation
Space-element spells: Blink, Dynamic Distance, Perfect Projection
Wind-element spells: Wind Wings, Wind-blade Tornado, Wind Steps, Wind Wall, Wind Shards
Water-element spells: Aqua Hammer, Aqua Heal, Aqua Blades, Aqua Wall, Aqua Steps, Aqua Storm, Aqua Whips
Wood-element spells: Green Prison, Vicious Vines, Healing Vines, Wood Life Control
Earth-element spells: Earth Wall, Earth Steps, Earth Manipulation, Earth Spikes
Death-element spells: Death Wave, Death Rot, Shadow of Death
Miscellaneous spells: Beast Contract Spell, Demon Beast Transformation Spell, Wind-fire Wings, Wind-Fire Shards
Summoning Spells: Fire snakes (variations), Purple Lightning Snakes, Red Lightning Bull (Contract beast summoning), Griffin, Woodland Summon, Woodland Wonderland, Army of the Dead, Contract Undead, Living Undead, Goliath, Earth Arachnids, Behemoth (calibrating new entries)
***
Eren knew that the ID-Stone had a problem quantifying his body stats properly because they would change as per the class he was in. His base stats, however, were uniform due to the effects of his Rootless ranking technique.
The butcher closed the spectral window and turned to his right to see Maya sitting beside him.
"Do we stick to our plan?"
Maya asked hesitantly. It could be seen that she was struggling to do what Eren expected her to do if she wanted to get out of her cage. The butcher chuckled before responding.
"What are you scared of? We already have a better Sansara World for ourselves. Don't you want to cultivate a soul?
Sometimes risks like these make us living beings come alive. You wouldn't get it now. But you would... eventually. Your journey to come alive has to start with destruction as well.
After all... destruction births life."
Eren's body started shining when he finished speaking. Nysa, Darven, and Harja Mel's bodies also started getting enveloped in a peculiar spatial magic. Those inside the testing grounds, along with their teammates waiting outside, would be kicked out of Sasara World.
While his figure faded, Eren gazed at Maya before leaving her with his parting words.
"Destroy this damn cage and set yourself free. I will be waiting for you outside."
Saying this, the butcher disappeared. And Maya was left with nobody but herself inside the Sansara World yet again. As loneliness started to close in on her again, she decided that it was time to take action.
"Destruction births life."
Maya mumbled to herself and stayed motionless for a while. In the end, she sighed before summoning a massive array around her. She was about to activate the array eye and destroy one of her father's legacies with her own hands.
Eren and Maya did not know that chaos was waiting for them outside Sansara World.
===
AN: Can be skipped.
VEH Volume 05: Domineering Evil concludes with this chapter. This volume tries to answer all the questions we had at the beginning of the novel.
Volume 06: Advent of War is intended to be relatively short but action-packed. We will start with the ambitious Lazarus Project in the seventh volume.
It was taxing writing Domineering Evil. I had to pause other projects' releases because of it. Yet, it was also quite fun because a lot of Eren's investments came to fruition. His start was shaky. His first few steps were average at best. However, his persistence has allowed him to reach where he has reached.
Eren still has a lot to work on. But I think it is safe to say that his progress has put smiles on our faces nonetheless.
Thanking all the readers who have stayed with Eren. Special thanks to the top contributors.
Recently, I learned that one of the VEH readers named their newborn pet Argo. I think that's one of the nicest accolades any author could receive about their work. I also chuckled thinking the pup might grow up to be quite a handful. ;)
Share your expectations about the upcoming volume or retrospection on Domineering Evil in the comment section if you want to. Also, please note that the next chapter release might get a bit delayed.
That's about it. See you in the next volume. Cheers! :)
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