As Kanzaki Rei touched the four doors, his thoughts were still racing—
Suddenly, the boy beside him stepped forward.
"Oh, I can read the text on these too."
Kanzaki Rei glanced at him, slightly surprised.
"Light… you can read Chaotic Script as well?"
That was new. In all his previous future simulations, this detail had never surfaced.
Chaotic Script was an obscure language—something only specialists or obsessively learned scholars would bother with. In this world, unless one possessed exceptional intellect, affinity, or a profession that enhanced learning, acquiring a new language was painfully slow.
A Level 6 warrior, for instance, might spend over a year and still fail to grasp one.
Light smiled casually.
"Yeah. Picked up a bit."
Of course… this wasn't even his real body.
Or perhaps it was—given his God-tier talent, "God-Level · All Things Are Me," even his puppets could function as extensions of himself.
Kanzaki Rei couldn't help but compare it to Kiyomi's Infinite Phantom. Similar in concept, yet fundamentally different in application.
Light stroked his chin, narrowing his eyes at the door.
"This one… 'Gate to Immortality,' huh?"
Then he turned to Kanzaki Rei.
"What do you think?"
Kanzaki Rei answered flatly,
"Feels like a trap."
"…Hmm."
A pause.
Then—
"Alright, I'm going in."
Before the words had even fully settled in the air, Light had already pushed open the door and vanished inside.
Kanzaki Rei's lips twitched.
…What?
You're just going in like that?
Did you even consider your teammates are still out here?
Am I supposed to follow you?
His pupils shrank slightly as his mind snapped into motion.
Good.
He hadn't used any of today's simulation charges yet. He'd deliberately saved all four—for exactly this kind of chaotic, unpredictable scenario.
Future Simulation—Activate.
In an instant, Kanzaki Rei entered the simulated timeline.
He glanced around.
Elyria wore a faintly exasperated expression. Rhine scratched his head awkwardly.
"I'll go in with him."
Kanzaki Rei heard himself say.
The moment those words fell, he reached out and touched the door.
—
The instant contact was made, a faint resonance echoed through his consciousness.
He stepped through.
Before him stretched an endless golden staircase.
Behind him—nothing but an empty expanse of clouds.
The door he had entered through… was gone.
No retreat.
As expected.
Not a good sign.
Kanzaki Rei moved forward, stepping onto the staircase.
The moment his foot touched it, information flooded into his mind.
Creator: Di Fu
Level 10 Grand Wonder: Stairway to Immortality
Each step ascended grants true immortality.
…What?
Wait.
Level 10?
That level… actually exists?
And again—Di Fu.
The same name tied to the Battle Arena and the Tower of War.
Kanzaki Rei had verified it personally. Through his God-tier talent "Hidden Origin," both structures had revealed the same creator.
Di Fu.
Rumored to reside somewhere called the Sea of Severance—a place unimaginably distant from here.
But—
Level 10.
The Battle Arena and Tower of War were Level 8 Wonders.
Their complete interconnected system—spanning the entire world—barely qualified as a Level 9 construct.
And this staircase…
Level 10?
Kanzaki Rei felt a flicker of disbelief as he continued upward.
His perception extended ahead.
Where was Light?
He had entered first, yet there was no trace of him.
After climbing several hundred steps, Kanzaki Rei stopped.
If reaching the top truly granted immortality…
Then it was obvious.
There was no way this staircase could be completed in a single day.
At minimum—decades.
At worst—centuries.
Perhaps even a lifetime wouldn't suffice.
Grinding endlessly here was pointless.
Even if he reached the end in the simulation, it would amount to nothing more than a dream upon returning.
A cruel illusion.
Kanzaki Rei stepped off the staircase, descending onto the cloud layer below.
The clouds were thick—dense and springy, like tightly packed cotton. They supported his weight perfectly.
Information surfaced again.
Heavenly Firmament
…The roof of Heaven?
So Heaven actually exists.
And above it… a ceiling?
Kanzaki Rei recalled the conflicting theories.
One claimed that beyond the sky lay the Astral Realm—that by ascending high enough, one would reach the stars.
Another, rooted in the doctrines of the Church of Light, spoke of Heaven—a divine realm inhabited by luminous beings and angels, blessed by the deity Jua.
Two skies.
Two truths.
Contradictory.
Yet now—
Reality confirmed at least one of them.
Kanzaki Rei extended his perception downward.
The clouds were too thick.
Far beyond six hundred kilometers in depth.
He couldn't see through them.
…Then I'll break through.
Without hesitation, Kanzaki Rei drew the Void Spirit Ring-Star War Spear.
Sacrifice.
He glanced back once at the endless staircase.
Then—
Firmament Style — Sixth Form: Extreme · Purge (Sacrifice: 2 Trillion Souls)
He thrust the spear downward.
BOOM!
The weapon shattered instantly.
The recoil exploded outward with catastrophic force—
A strike powerful enough to sink an entire continent.
And yet—
When it collided with the translucent staircase—
It didn't move.
Not even a fraction.
Only the spear broke.
Only the white soul-light of Purge erupted outward—
Tearing through the cloud layer in a violent explosion!
When the aftershock faded—
Kanzaki Rei stood above the clouds.
Below him yawned a vast, gaping void carved into the cloud sea.
But what truly shocked him wasn't the destructive power he had unleashed—
It was what lay beneath.
The clouds… were still there.
Still dense.
Still endless.
Just… deeper.
…How deep is this?
Thousands of kilometers?
Tens of thousands?
He looked in every direction.
Clouds.
Nothing but clouds.
And aside from that—
Only the staircase.
Endless.
Unknown.
Stretching toward a destination that might not even exist.