Although Ansu posed an enormous threat, the help he had given Kanzaki Rei had pulled him out of life-and-death situations more than once.
Now that he knew Ansu was gone, Kanzaki Rei could not help but feel a trace of melancholy.
But if Ansu had truly remained with him all this time, then the one who should have been worried would have been Kanzaki Rei himself.
After all, who knew what a being with such profound understanding of death and souls might do after living, fully conscious, within his sea of consciousness for ten years?
He did not even dare imagine whether, in the end, this body would still belong to him.
Aside from that—
In every other respect, the past ten years had brought immense accumulation.
His Warrior level and Oracle level were both ready to advance.
As for his Blacksmith, Alchemist, and Enchanter levels, because no real products had been created within the reset timeline, Kanzaki Rei still needed some time to physically forge actual items before he could promote those three professions.
However, that would happen very quickly.
As for Death Priest...
Kanzaki Rei believed he would soon create a large-scale massacre in full view of the vast majority of people.
And regarding the whereabouts of Izparut, Luluwi, and the others—
Kanzaki Rei naturally intended to gather information about them as well.
They had originally agreed to meet at the World Tree at the Center of the World, but after everything that had happened, ten years had passed.
They should have reached the World Tree long ago...
He wondered what level of mage Iz was now.
He also wondered whether Kumironi had managed to escape Sophia's clutches.
Why had ten years passed?
Kanzaki Rei had several theories.
The Blessing of Eternal Time might have counted even the time spent in future simulations.
Of course, that was only one possibility.
There were other guesses as well.
For example, differences in the flow of time...
There were simply too many variables that could have affected it.
According to their agreement, finding Iz and the others was certainly important.
But even more important was improving his own strength.
"The Abyss..."
The range of the Mana Sea was still expanding.
In just a few short minutes, its radius had already spread to more than a billion kilometers.
Vast expanses of ocean now lay entirely under Kanzaki Rei's control.
Even without relying on Phase Traverse, he could still reach any location within the Mana Sea's domain.
Although the Mana Sea itself formed a hemispherical area of coverage, the mana evaporating and rising from its surface had created a secondary field.
Even in the sky above the Mana Sea—
One would still be surrounded by Kanzaki Rei's mana.
"Abyssal monsters... Eighth-tier monsters."
"One, two, three..."
Kanzaki Rei closed his eyes.
Through Absolute Mana Sea, the ocean itself had replaced his senses, expanding his perception to an almost inconceivable degree.
Within this range, every secret was laid bare before him.
There were actually that many eighth-tier monsters?
But they did not appear to be true eighth-tier entities.
They were different from Lomo.
The aura they emitted only felt slightly stronger than the Golden Dragon had been at the seventh tier.
Compared to a normal Level 8 class-advanced professional, they were likely far weaker.
Even so...
Their numbers were staggering.
Kanzaki Rei swept his perception across the area and made a rough estimate.
Within the region covered by Absolute Mana Sea, there were one hundred and twenty-two such monsters.
Meanwhile, in Moonwatch Territory—
Counting both the forces visible on the surface and the hidden trump cards, whether they were currently fighting overseas or resting in the city...
There were, at most, only seventeen people.
Seventeen Level 7 combat-class professionals.
...
And as for Level 8s—
In the entire city of Moonwatch Territory, there was only a single Level 8 Warrior...
Ruga.
Although the truly decisive power in this world lay in top-tier combatants, and no amount of lower-level forces could matter—one hundred million Level 1 mages would still be slaughtered by a Level 8 mage—
The key issue was not merely the difference in quality.
It was the overwhelming imbalance.
The enemy's numbers had already far surpassed the advantage of superior individual strength.
"Lothdan..."
"You really are fortunate."
Kanzaki Rei let out a soft sigh.
Whoosh!
His perception spread into the distance...
On the surface of the sea, three hundred million kilometers away, a creature with a face resembling a fly asked in confusion,
"My lord, why haven't we completely conquered Moonwatch Territory yet?"
"With our strength, shouldn't taking Moonwatch Territory be effortless?"
The one being addressed was a figure wearing a gray mask, with six bone spears protruding from his back.
The gray-masked figure glanced disdainfully at the fly-faced creature beside him.
"Heh. I can see you don't understand the pleasure in all this."
"Do you know how humans play with ants after capturing them?"
The fly-faced monster looked bewildered.
Rubbing its hands nervously, it asked with utmost caution,
"I don't know, my lord. Do you?"
The gray mask sneered.
"They lock the ants up and torture them in every way they can, observing their reactions."
"That is the arrogance of higher life forms."
The compound eyes on the fly-face spun rapidly as it rubbed its hands and fawned,
"My lord truly is incomparably learned. Even more knowledgeable and intelligent than humans. To know such things so thoroughly—your wisdom is unmatched."
The gray-masked figure let out another cold laugh.
Whether he was pleased or merely disgusted by such blatant flattery was impossible to tell.
He continued,
"Humans, elves, beastfolk, demons, even fishfolk... all of them have always considered themselves the intelligence of this world, beings inherently superior to monsters."
"They use our blood and corpses for research, and in their arenas they turn killing our kind into entertainment."
"But now... everything must be reversed!"
"It is all because of Lord Euinri's research. He allowed us to step onto the ladder of evolution and truly come alive!"
"We will make those arrogant creatures understand—"
"Now!"
"We are the rulers of this world!"
"Their lives and deaths will be decided by us!"
"Compound Eye, don't you agree? Watching them remain unaware as doom closes in, struggling desperately before being forced to embrace despair..."
"Isn't that incredibly entertaining?"
Whoosh—
The conversation from three hundred million kilometers away echoed in Kanzaki Rei's mind with absolute clarity.
These monsters had truly gained intelligence.
Not only could they kill, but they had learned to torture.
They had learned to indulge their own twisted desires.
Their killings were no longer driven by pure instinct.
They had even begun to pursue psychological satisfaction.
For monsters, this should have been utterly abnormal.
Their instinct was to kill.
Yet for the sake of emotional pleasure, they chose to kill slowly—to torture.
The thought alone was chilling.
And it seemed he had just heard a name of extraordinary significance.
Euinri?
Judging from what the monster had said, could it be that Euinri was the true mastermind behind the awakening of intelligence in all the Abyssal monsters across the Moon Sea?