All things in existence should have a limit—
Especially something like devouring.
Kanzaki Rei wanted to see exactly where that limit lay.
Since this wasn't a life-or-death battle, there was no need to be overly cautious or go all out from the start.
He glanced at the opponent's death timer above his head.
By now, ten years had already been shaved off.
Unlike others, this one bore no innocence—he was a follower of Elthymis. Kanzaki Rei had no intention of sparing him.
Whoooosh—
A long gale howled.
Mana poured into the Devourer like a vortex, and Kanzaki Rei could visibly sense his strength rising—
Stronger and stronger.
Kanzaki Rei watched as his spells were torn apart.
Twin curved blades formed in the Devourer's hands—razor-sharp, slicing through magic as easily as tearing canvas.
He cleaved through incoming spells head-on!
Oh?
Not just absorption—he could dispel magic too?
Kanzaki Rei raised his hand again.
More spells descended!
A storm of elements rained down from the sky!
Yet the Devourer only moved faster and faster—
His speed of shredding magic increasing in tandem!
So he could fight like this too?
Even under such overwhelming pressure, he still held his ground.
A true nemesis of mages…
If it were anyone else, they would have died long ago.
Though he appeared unyielding—
He was, in truth, still being suppressed.
Frost and flowing water had already coated his body.
His skin began to split.His flesh tore open.
This was Piercing Infiltration Water.
At the same time—
The blizzard above seemed to reflect his past.
Each shard of ice became a mirror—
Showing fragments of his former self.
Joining the Cult of the Flayed Rose.Becoming a Skin Stealer.
To become one…
He had to peel off his own skin while fully conscious.
And now—
That pain resurfaced before his eyes.
Dragging him back into endless memories.
"No… I'm not in pain anymore!"
"I'm already a Skin Stealer! I don't need to go through that again!"
"I—"
He snapped back to reality—
Only to find his body engulfed in flames!
"…Looks like this is your limit."
Kanzaki Rei's voice came from behind him.
He spun around—
Only to find Kanzaki Rei standing right beside him.
The memory surge—
Had been an illusion.
That single moment of distraction—
Was enough.
The magic he had barely been holding back finally overwhelmed him.
Flames surged across his body—
Sealing his fate.
"So, your capacity to devour magic… is ultimately limited."
"Otherwise, even the flames burning you right now… you should be able to consume them."
Kanzaki Rei observed calmly.
His tone was indifferent—
Like recording experimental data.
In that instant, the Devourer felt like nothing more than a lab rat.
The gap between them…
Was so vast it bordered on mockery.
Heh…
Mockery?
This body of yours…
Is quite suitable.
If offered to Lady Elthymis… it would make an excellent vessel for her descent into this world…
Losing to you only proves your value.
There's no loss in this defeat.
Everyone only gets one challenge attempt anyway.
Death is meaningless here—
Victory and defeat… don't truly count.
Once I return to the real world…
I'll peel your skin myself.
Kanzaki Rei watched silently as the skin he wore burned away, collapsing into ash that scattered across the ground.
Even in death—
He seemed to be smiling.
At the same time, his death timer reached zero.
Kanzaki Rei was curious—
In this space where death supposedly didn't exist…
What form would death take?
A hazy, gray figure emerged from the mist.
Agmisa raised a hand—
Attempting to revive the fallen Skin Stealer.
But this time—
A note of confusion entered its voice.
"…Hm?"
"It seems someone has intervened—he's been withdrawn from this special space."
"He has exited this event."
There was a hint of disappointment in Agmisa's tone.
Ah…
So that was what reaching one's death limit meant.
A pity.
He couldn't witness the actual death.
Kanzaki Rei lifted his gaze once more.
Aside from Agmisa—whose true body was absent, making its death unreadable—
Everyone else present bore visible countdowns to death.
If he wished…
He could kill them all here.
But simply staring at them to reduce their lifespan was inefficient.
Even an hour of observation only shaved off fifty years.
And with no personal grudges—
It wasn't worth the effort.
He withdrew his aura once more.
Three battles had already been thoroughly satisfying.
Each opponent had been a divine inheritor—
Enough to fulfill the requirements of his combat principles.
In the past, such battles alone wouldn't have been sufficient for perfect advancement.
But now—
It was more than enough.
"I challenge Elyria."
A new voice rang out.
Oh?
Not targeting him this time?
Kanzaki Rei followed the voice—
A girl with long, straight black hair stood facing Elyria.
That one…
A Dark Church inheritor? A disciple of Narak?
He had heard that the Light and Dark Churches maintained relatively good relations.
As Kanzaki Rei stepped back—
More voices rose in succession.
"I challenge Adralis!"
"I challenge Rita!"
One after another, the others began selecting their opponents.
None of them chose Kanzaki Rei.
…Seriously?
Where's your warrior spirit?
Shouldn't you be challenging the strongest?
Why are you all picking weaker targets instead?
Kanzaki Rei retreated to stand beside Kumironi.
She smiled gently.
"You've grown much stronger, Rei."
"Heh… not bad, I guess."
"Aren't you going to challenge someone? Earn some points?"
Kumironi shook her head with a soft laugh.
"I'm not suited for offensive combat."
Kanzaki Rei glanced at the score display above.
…If only he could transfer points to her.
But currently, the only way to exchange points seemed to be through challenges.
And he still didn't know what those points were ultimately for.
He couldn't just give them all away.
After all, the first stage had simply aligned with his strengths.
That was why he had accumulated so many points.
If later stages required things he wasn't good at…
He'd be in trouble.
Below, the battles had already begun.
The Dark Church inheritor—Loyen—also wielded a divine artifact.
Light and darkness intertwined across the battlefield.
Light struck with overwhelming aggression from all directions—
Blindingly fast, nearly impossible to react to.
Yet darkness spread like a vast, stretching web—
Covering every inch of space.
Holy flames burned fiercely—
But could never fully eradicate the endlessly regenerating darkness.
Elsewhere—
Rita, wielder of wind and lightning, was locked in combat with a summoner who had unleashed countless monsters.
A summoner?
No wonder her abilities had been so hard to discern—
Summoners revealed nothing through aura alone.
Meanwhile—
The one fighting Adralis was a half-goat humanoid wielding a massive hammer.
That profession was…
A blacksmith?
A blacksmith… fighting on the battlefield?
Not that Kanzaki Rei looked down on professions—
But blacksmiths and scholars were typically non-combat classes.
Could you really expect someone like Yuna to fight?
…Wait.
Maybe not so weak after all.
The half-goat pulled out weapon after weapon unseen before—
Even forging new ones mid-battle, using the enemy's attacks as raw material.
Even Ansu, within his consciousness, couldn't help but exclaim:
"Improvised Forging…"
"I didn't expect that ancient technique to still exist."
Kanzaki Rei asked, "Ansu, do you know who this is now?"
"…A blacksmith… wielder of forging techniques… a certain inheritance…"
"…Could it be…?"
Even before Ansu finished thinking—
Kanzaki Rei had already read his conclusion.
"The inheritance of Aromoki… God of Forging and Enhancement."
A true forging deity—
One who ascended through the blacksmith class itself.
"By the way, Ansu…"
"I never asked—what's the difference between a Level 9 class holder and a god?"
He hadn't thought about it before.
He was still far from Level 9.
But now—
With no need to fight, and his Origin resolved—
He finally had time to ask.
Ansu chuckled softly.
"The difference? Large… and small at the same time."
"In terms of power, a Level 9 class holder and a newly ascended god are no different."
"They are both the ultimate manifestation of a path taken to its limit."
"In battle… the outcome would be difficult to determine."
Hard to determine a victor…
So the rumors were true.
Level 9 truly stood on equal footing with divinity.
And Ansu couldn't lie—
This was confirmation.
"But the difference lies in this—"
"To become a god is to abandon one's origin."
"A god discards their principles, converting their class into divine authority, severing themselves from the identity of a class holder."
"They are no longer bound by those principles—becoming instead a part of the laws their class represents."
"Whereas a Level 9 class holder… continues to uphold their principles. They do not abandon their origin."
…That sounded strange.
Wasn't becoming a god the higher path?
Ansu laughed knowingly.
"I can tell what you're thinking."
"But in truth—Level 9 class holders are far more free."
"They are not heavily bound."
"They've already fulfilled their path. The only thing left…"
"…is to become the origin itself."
"As for gods…"
"Their constraints are far greater than you imagine."
He trailed off—
As if deliberately withholding the rest.
But his thoughts had already been laid bare in Kanzaki Rei's mind.
The constraint of gods…
Lay within their very nature.
By betraying their origin during ascension, they suffered backlash.
They were bound to their divine realms—
Unable to freely descend into the real world.
To break that restriction—
They would need to perform absurd, world-scale rituals.
A God of Death, for instance—
Would require the extinction of all life in the world to fully descend.
…That was an absurd level of constraint.
In contrast—
A Level 9 class holder possessed equivalent power, yet remained unbound.
So Seii had been right.
Becoming a god…
Was a trap.
If given the choice—
Better not to ascend at all.
Of course, Level 9 wasn't without flaws.
Lifespan.
Though vastly extended compared to Level 8—
It was still finite.
A mere thousand years or so…
Hardly true immortality.
Gods, on the other hand—
Possessed near-infinite lifespans.
As Kanzaki Rei conversed with Ansu internally, he continued observing the three battles.
Each battlefield was spectacular in its own way.
And the results…
Were unexpected.
The blacksmith—won.
Elyria—lost.
And the summoner defeated Rita.
Well…
They had all chosen their opponents carefully.
Avoiding Kanzaki Rei meant they were aiming to win—not fight blindly.
Given that, these outcomes weren't surprising.
Points shifted hands repeatedly.
By now, only a few participants hadn't issued challenges.
Rhine and Kumironi had no interest in fighting.
Kanzaki Rei himself also refrained.
In the end, four remained.
After some waiting, they selected their matches.
Still—
No one chose Kanzaki Rei.
Eventually, even the summoner who defeated Rita was defeated in turn.
Points circulated once more.
"Since all challenges have concluded…"
"Let us proceed to the second act of our grand spectacle."
As Agmisa spoke again—
Kanzaki Rei gradually faded into the background.
No one seemed to remember who had dominated three consecutive battles earlier.
Even the identity of first place became unclear.
But no one cared anymore.
All attention shifted back to Agmisa.
"Everyone… this world is one of chaos…"
..
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