Without a doubt, the "Sanctuary" was a legacy left behind by the Gray Fox for the purpose of saving lives.
After all, trapping people for thousands or tens of thousands of years to perform live killings wasn't something Mages wouldn't do because of their twisted nature, but to create something almost miragelike just to satisfy such a perverse urge would likely be too boring even for the Divine Lord, let alone the dreamers of the Gray Fox Holy Land.
Thus, the original intention of the "Sanctuary" must have been to extend a person's sensory time in the face of danger, giving them enough time to discover and avoid it.
For instance, encountering a gunshot at close range would trigger the advanced level of "1 second = 1 hour"; whereas merely being tripped over by a chubby passerby would only trigger the normal tier of "1 second = 1 minute."
Therefore, now that Ash and his companions had triggered the ultimate level of "1 second = 1 month/1 year," it could only mean one thing—
