"You said I should have fought you in the real world because I can't use my own strength in this place," Eren told the Left Guardian, as if taunting her words. "On the contrary, entering this place willingly was your mistake. You should have killed me in the real world."
In this world, the Sword Guardian was likely the strongest. In the mind realm, he was not the one at a disadvantage. Instead, it was the girl who thought he had no hidden cards up his sleeve.
If anything, he was safer in the mind realm than in the real world, thanks to the Sword Emperor's essence.
"This isn't possible. He was killed long ago. How could you have experienced his mind realm? Even if you did that, how could you have emerged alive?'
The more Kelia thought about it, the more absurd she found out. She knew all too well just what kind of terror this person had in this world in the era where there were no Overlords.
It was the era in which the Celestial Dragon ruled over the ocean and the Sword Emperor ruled over the land.
That era only came to an end with the Celestial Dragon's death painting the ocean red, followed by the death of the Sword Emperor.
It was also because of that, the era of the four Overlords came, starting a new beginning for this world.
She looked back at Eren, asking, "Who exactly are you?"
"Why don't you tell me who I am?" Eren asked the Left Guardian, walking closer to her.
As he stepped closer, his body started transforming back to his real self. It was the identity that he had kept hidden from everyone. Even Xiu Ying didn't know about his real identity.
His face started transforming, as if a layer of illusion was being removed. The moment he returned to his real self, Kelia's pupils trembled.
Kelia didn't answer. Instead, she conjured a dagger in her hand. Now that he was within her range, she took the opportunity and threw the dagger straight at Eren's chest.
The dagger reached Eren's chest, but it stopped merely a few inches away from it. The dagger fell on the ground, followed by Kelia's finger.
Poisonous green lines appeared all around Kelia's body, as if a thin thread was wrapping around her body. The thread sliced her body. One after another, the pieces fell on the ground.
The consciousness of Kelia was completely obliterated by the Sword Emperor who wasn't his real self. It was nothing more than a false avatar created by the essence who was only responsible for protecting Eren in this place.
Eren looked at the pieces of Kelia's remains, still lost in thought. He could never understand why this girl chose to attack him, instead of simply answering him. Was she truly craving death or did she simply forget who was the summoned avatar?
He shook his head in disappointment, watching the remnants consciousness of Kelia disappear. The summoned avatar of the Sword Emperor also disappeared now that all threats were gone.
Eren glanced back at the door that remained unmoving since the beginning. There were a lot of things that he wanted to know, but no way to find out yet.
He left behind a sigh as he left his mind realm and the gateway to his consciousness.
He opened his eyes in the real world, watching the body of Kelia which was lying at his feet. Ruby was nowhere to be seen here and the metallic door was still open.
"Did she rush out to inform the guards?" He wondered, gazing at the wooden mask which was shining as brightly as it could.
"It looks like this thing is ready now." He went down on his knees, opening his fist. The small wooden mask started getting bigger and bigger until it was the size of a regular face mask, still appearing wooden.
Eren looked at the lifeless body of Kelia, blood trickling out of her eyes, nose and mouth. He extended his hand and placed the wooden mask on the woman's face.
"Isn't it time for you to wake up?" he asked.