In the depths of his fractured consciousness, Eren knelt in an endless darkness. His mind, once a fortress of determination, now lay in ruins – a battlefield of memories that threatened to overwhelm him. The weight of countless possibilities crushed down on his shoulders, each one a story of failure, of watching his friends fall again and again.

"Heh... haha... HAHAHA!" Eren's laughter echoed through the void, hollow and broken. "I'm really losing it now, aren't I?" He clutched his head, fingers digging into his scalp. "How many times? How many times have I watched them die? Are any of these memories even real anymore?"

A voice called out from the darkness. "It's unlike you to stay down this long."

Eren looked up, his eyes catching a peculiar light – a crystalline shard floating in the void. It pulsed with an otherworldly glow, fragments of light dancing around it like scattered memories. The shard began to take shape, light coalescing into a familiar form that made Eren's breath catch in his throat.

There, standing before him, was Soren Valestix – the Dark Emperor. His father.

"Father?" Eren whispered, disbelief and hope warring in his voice. But as quickly as the hope came, it shattered. "No... no, you can't be. You're not real. None of this is real!" His voice rose to a shout, echoing through the darkness. "Who are you? WHAT are you?"

The figure that wore his father's face gave a slight smile. "Well, I tried to uplift your spirits, but let's go with the form you know the most." Light shimmered around the shape, and where Soren had stood, there was now another Eren – but different. Calmer. Steadier. A version of himself that seemed to carry both wisdom and weariness in equal measure.

Eren let out a broken laugh. "Haha... did you come back to mock me? Is that it? Another version of me here to show me how I failed?"

The other Eren just stood there, a knowing look in his eyes. "No, I'm not him."

"What do you mean you're not him?" Eren demanded, his voice cracking. "How can I trust you? How can I trust anything anymore? My memories... they're all fragments now. Pieces that don't fit together. Different versions of the same moments, all ending in failure..."

"What... what am I?" Eren suddenly asked, his voice barely a whisper. "Just what is the Regressor's Return? What does it all mean?"

The other Eren's expression grew grave. "We don't have much time," he said urgently, "but we're all you – created from the fragmented memories of your regressions."

"Regressions? What do you mean regressions? I thought... before I entered the trial, I had only regressed once..."

The other Eren remained quiet, his expression troubled as he glanced at something Eren couldn't see.

"What?" Eren demanded, his voice cracking. "What do you mean? Answer me!"

"I don't have much time left," his double said, tension evident in his voice. "If I spend it talking, your mana might go haywire as well. I can hold him off until you gain control, but—"

Through a window to reality, they watched as Eren's possessed body launched another devastating attack at his friends. Jin barely managed to deflect it, his golden energy flickering weakly. Nova's shield cracked under the pressure, while Lira's flames seemed to dim against the onslaught of darkness.

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"Are you... him?" Eren asked suddenly, realization dawning. "He doesn't know there's another one too, does he?"

"Why is he like that?" Eren asked, watching his body wreak havoc. "What happened to make another version of me so... dangerous? Where did he come from?"

His double's expression grew troubled, eyes fixed on the battle raging outside. "He manifested during that illusion when you were lost in the memories. His methods are far more extreme than anything we've seen."

"But why—"

"Listen," his double cut him off, his form already beginning to fade into motes of light. "Remember – the stronger you get, the stronger he gets. And more versions will appear. You need to—"

He paused, his form growing more transparent with each passing moment. "I'll hopefully meet you again," he said softly, a sad smile crossing his face. "But pondering over the deaths that happened in another time doesn't make anything better. Get stronger and change it. Do what we couldn't..." His voice grew distant as his form continued to dissolve. "Eren... it's up to you now..."

Before Eren could reach out, his double vanished completely. But in his place, a sword materialized – a blade of pure light that seemed to push back against the darkness of the void. As Eren reached for it, the weapon pulsed with familiar energy.

In the real world, his possessed body suddenly staggered. "What?" the dark version snarled, clutching his head. "No... it can't be... that brat... is it that other one? AUGHHH!"

The moment Eren's fingers wrapped around the sword's hilt, excruciating pain shot through his consciousness. The void around him cracked like glass, light pouring through the fissures. He felt himself being pulled, dragged, thrust back toward reality through a tunnel of searing brightness.

His possessed body convulsed, dark energy crackling erratically. "No... NO!"

Then suddenly, everything went still.

"Finally," Aria breathed, her healing light pulsing tentatively. "He's back."

Jin remained tense, golden energy still crackling around his fists. He couldn't risk this being another trick, another trap set by whatever had possessed his friend.

Eren looked at Jin and managed a weak smile. "You haven't forgotten about our 1v1 match, have you?"

Jin relaxed slightly, letting out a short laugh. "God, it really is you." His expression quickly turned serious again. "But what was that, Eren? What happened in there?"

Eren gripped the sword of light tighter, feeling its warmth pulse through him. "I don't quite know," he said, choosing his words carefully. Internally, he knew he was lying – but how could he explain something he barely understood himself? That moment of questioning his very nature as the Regressor still echoed in his mind. "Best I can tell, during the trial, my shadow mana took control and created some kind of split personality based on my trial."

"Your trial?" Jin asked, brow furrowed. "What was it?"

Eren's grip on the sword tightened. "I fought myself."

The chamber trembled before anyone could question him further. The trial wasn't over, and they all knew there would be time for explanations later – if they survived.

[System Alert: Fourth Trial continuing. Anomaly stabilized. Difficulty adjusting.]

"We need to focus on surviving this first," Eren said, raising the sword of light. The remaining monsters skittered away from its glow, but new shadows were already gathering at the edges of the chamber.

"Just promise me one thing," Jin said, moving to stand beside him. "If that thing tries to take control again..."

"You'll stop me," Eren finished. "Whatever it takes."

The chamber's walls pulsed with ominous light. The Fourth Trial was about to truly begin, and this time, Eren would face it as himself – even if he wasn't entirely sure what that meant anymore. The question still burned in his mind: Just what was the Regressor's Return, and how many times had he truly lived through this?

To be continued...