Outside the mysterious realm, a middle-aged man dressed in luxurious attire with golden details wore an anxious expression on his face as he watched the gruesome scene that was about to take place. This man was none other than the runesmith who had built the mysterious realm.
His name was Ivan, and he was pretty famous throughout the eastern region, known for crafting pocket dimensions for high-class nobles. He was invited here by the duke and paid handsomely to create the mysterious realm to host the tournament.
Currently, Ivan was pacing back and forth with furrowed brows. 'I didn't include something happening when I created this realm,' he thought. 'If that kid doesn't stop his attack anytime soon, I'm afraid the other one will suffer major damage by the time he's evicted from the realm.'
When one stepped into the mysterious realm, they inherited artificial/fake Health Points. When a participant took damage, it would only affect their fake HP. Once that HP hit zero, the realm would eject them safely, leaving their real body unharmed. It was a clever system, meant to make fights intense without putting lives at risk.
'But…who would have thought this kid would show up with such abominable weapon?' Ivan thought. 'I need to act fast before things get even messier... that wouldn't be good for my business.'
However, there was a loophole in this mechanism. Ivan knew about this, but he hadn't thought about it before and never anticipated something happening.
Even though Hendrix's fake HP had already dropped to zero, he wasn't ejected. Instead, he was stuck in a loop, his wounds opening and closing repeatedly, each cycle causing real pain. Somehow, Nox's attack was bypassing the realm's protections, slowly eating away at Hendrix's real HP instead.
If even his real HP hit zero, then...Hendrix would really die for real.
Ivan had several customers inside and outside the Vermilion kingdom, especially the academies. If Hendrix died here and word about it spread, he would be in big trouble.
'I need to find a way to eject him out,' Ivan thought as he strode forward.
However, before he could reach the platform where the swirling portal—the gateway to the mysterious realm—was located, someone stepped in front of him. It was a tall, beautiful woman with ruby-like glittering eyes.
Her beauty momentarily stunned Ivan, but as soon as he recognized who this person was, his breathing became fast. W-what was this person doing here?
"Calm down. I'm not here to hurt you," the woman said.
"L-lady Eve, fancy meeting you again," Ivan stuttered with great difficulty. The last time he had met this woman was when she had commissioned him to make the inside of her manor larger than it actually appeared. It was the reason a large training arena could be fitted inside her castle. He had seen some strange stuff in her manor and had a vague idea of who she might be.
Even with all his wealth, this person was someone he couldn't afford to mess with. The warning she had given him was still very vivid in his mind, after all.
"I have been watching you for a while, and from your expression alone, I can tell you're about to interfere with the pocket realm."
"Y-yes, that's true." Ivan stammered as he proceeded to explain everything.
Eve listened attentively, and when she was done, she said, "I don't care. Wait a couple more minutes, and they'll be done." As she said this, she began to walk away, leaving Ivan standing there.
"But…" He wanted to say something, but he immediately kept quiet as he remembered those red eyes. Ivan let out a heavy sigh and walked back to his seat, holding his head down.
He could only pray that Hendrix survives.
Inside the mysterious realm…
"I'll go first." The first person to speak up was Rab. Nyx and Cole wanted to go first, but they held back, knowing that Rab had a personal history with Hendrix.
After all, he was the one who had bumped into Hendrix and apologized, even offering to watch his clothes, which the latter turned down and gave him the beating of his life.
"Here, have this." Nox handed his Oblivion Edge dagger to Rab, who took it without hesitation. Then he said with a light smile, "Channel a bit of your mana into it and watch him suffer."
Towards the end, Nox's voice was dark and even scared Rab slightly.
"Thank you." Rab took the weapon, his eyes widened when he saw the description of the dagger, and he turned to Nox, who simply smiled. Rab wanted to ask how Nox had gotten his hands on something as powerful as this, but he put it aside and focused on the task at hand.
Coming close to Hendrix, Rab channeled his mana into the dagger as Nox had instructed him. Because he hadn't fought much, he still had more than enough mana points to activate the dagger.
With the dagger shining with a purple glow, Rab lifted his gaze and met Hendrix. The latter stood awkwardly, as if having a seizure while standing, as the wound running down his chest to stomach opened and closed.
"That day, I begged you, but what did you do?" Rab roared in anger as he thrust forward, burying the dagger into Hendrix's abdomen before pulling it out.
"Aghhhhhh!!!!!" Hendrix roared in pain. Similar to what had happened before, the injuries began to close and open once more, each time it opened, it dyed the ground with blood. Beneath his mask, Hendrix's eyes were bloodshot as he roared in pain. There was now only a thin line away from madness.
After mutilating his cut, Rab turned around and handed the weapon to Cole, who took it and strode forward. "This is for my grandma, Percy!" he shouted as he buried the weapon in Hendrix's ribs.
Wendy chose not to participate and simply watched, and then it reached Nyx's turn… A cruel, macabre gleam appeared in her lightless eyes.
While the torture session was taking place… In an underground cavern with murky water pooling around the stone floor, thousands of beasts had gathered. Each beast was restless, as if the final restraint holding them back would break and they'd trample everything in their path. At the center of this swarm was a cloaked figure, their robe adorned with a flaming rose symbol that glowed faintly. The beasts sniffed the air, shuffling and growling as they surrounded the cloaked figure.
The beasts let out guttural growls as their eyes flickered with madness. Normally, they would have torn through any barrier to devour this human, but something about this figure kept them in line. At that moment, the figure raised one gloved hand and silenced the growls of the beasts. Then he stared into the glowing eyes of the beasts and declared, "It's time."