After Suei was led away, Lothdan finally spoke again.
"Kanzaki Rei, it seems you've taken quite a liking to that child."
"Does he possess some extraordinary quality?"
Kanzaki Rei watched Suei's departing figure with his perception and replied to Lothdan:
"He should have some exceptional traits."
"But more than that… he reminded me of certain things from the past."
Kanzaki Rei turned calmly.
And vanished from the grand hall.
Only then did the assembled ministers finally exhale, releasing the breath they had unconsciously been holding.
Even within the palace, Ruga stood with both arms folded across his chest, every muscle taut.
He was the Level 8 Warrior stationed in the Land of Moonwatch.
A warrior who had advanced to Level 8 only in recent years.
The invasion from the Abyssfall had given warriors far more opportunities to temper themselves, allowing Ruga to complete his advancement amid this age of chaos.
A Level 8 Warrior—
In times of peace, such an existence would be regarded as the sovereign of an entire sea region.
Across that vast domain, it would be nearly impossible to find an equal.
The gods could not leave their divine kingdoms.
And Level 9 was an almost unreachable realm.
When the gods did not descend and Level 9 class holders did not walk the mortal world, Level 8 stood as the strongest rank beneath divinity.
Even when facing opponents of the same tier,
there was nothing to fear.
And yet…
When Kanzaki Rei had appeared here moments ago, merely standing before Ruga had filled him with an overwhelming sense of danger.
As a tiger beastman, every hair on his body had stood on end.
His instincts screamed warnings.
His body had tightened involuntarily.
Everything in him was telling him one thing:
The man before him… possessed the power to kill him in an instant.
Yet Kanzaki Rei had simply exchanged a few casual words with Lothdan.
Then turned and left.
Only after watching him disappear with his own eyes did Ruga's body begin trembling as it slowly relaxed.
When he finally came back to himself,
he discovered that the floor beneath him was covered in droplets.
Only then did Ruga realize that he had broken out in a cold sweat, the perspiration dripping down like rain.
…
Upon the throne, Lothdan looked toward Ruga.
"Ruga, you have now seen him with your own eyes."
"What do you think?"
Ruga gazed at the imperial throne with a complicated expression and reported respectfully with cupped hands.
"Even if he is not a god…"
"He is already no different from one."
Whoosh—
With a single step, Kanzaki Rei left the palace.
With his second step, he was already hundreds of billions of kilometers away.
Even so, his perception still encompassed Loren in the Land of Moonwatch.
He saw Suei being settled into a comfortable and luxurious residence.
He saw the boy alone.
He saw him break down into loud, uncontrollable sobs.
"…Sigh."
Though he had spent his time repeatedly cycling through reset timelines, for Kanzaki Rei himself, those years had truly passed.
None of that time had been wasted.
It had all become experience.
Wisdom.
Understanding.
By now, he was more of a native to this world than those born within it.
He knew more than they did.
He understood more of the world's hidden truths than anyone else.
"Cry."
"These emotions are yours alone to process."
"And after the pain… embrace your growth."
Whoosh—
Another step.
Kanzaki Rei vanished from the Moon Sea and returned to Boundless Mountain.
Across the vast Boundless Mountain, bones littered the earth.
The Absolute Mana Sea continued spreading outward from beneath his feet.
Unlike the Moon Sea, Boundless Mountain had not been destroyed quite so completely.
Cities and nations still survived in many places.
But they were scattered and isolated.
Many kingdoms did not even know of each other's existence.
They could not support one another.
They could barely communicate.
If they emitted signals that were too conspicuous, they would only attract monsters.
And invite even greater swarms.
"What a truly…"
"Hellish sight."
Kanzaki Rei let out a soft sigh.
At the same time, he raised his right hand slightly.
A violet-black core, like a miniature black hole, spun in his palm.
Air currents from every direction spiraled toward it.
Crackle—
Within the dark core, sparks of fractured light flickered.
"Disintegration. Collapse. Ruin."
"Origin Art—Core of Universal Dissolution."
The violet-black core rose into the sky.
Its radiance blotted out the heavens, spreading across the entire range covered by the Absolute Mana Sea.
Flash!
Every monster living throughout Boundless Mountain froze where it stood.
As if compelled by some invisible force, they all looked up toward the core in the sky.
And then—
Splurt!
Their bodies burst apart from within.
Their very existence disintegrated outward.
By reversing Origin itself,
and deriving the antithesis of the Core of All Things,
Kanzaki Rei had created:
Core of Universal Dissolution.
He could feel himself drawing closer and closer to the realm once occupied by Izparut.
The things Izparut had once been capable of—
Kanzaki Rei was now gradually beginning to understand.
After stepping onto the Path, what one could comprehend was fundamentally different.
But this was not "magic."
It was "Origin Art."
A new discipline akin to Dao Techniques.
Something ordinary magic alone could never achieve.
Whoosh—
The countless monsters of Boundless Mountain melted like snow exposed to sunlight.
Touched by the radiance of the Core of Universal Dissolution, they dissolved into putrid sludge.
Kanzaki Rei walked high above Boundless Mountain.
Holding the core in his hand,
he looked down upon the mortal world.
Across the land, people who had been struggling desperately against the monsters stared upward in stunned silence.
They gazed toward the heavenly light and saw, in the far distance, a tiny dark figure.
Even without knowing the cause, it was not difficult to infer that the monster hordes—which only moments ago had surged like an endless tide—had suddenly collapsed into rivers of blood because of this divine light.
Many people fell to their knees.
They bowed in worship toward Kanzaki Rei.
His ears heard their hymns.
Their gratitude.
Their confusion.
Whoosh—
Kanzaki Rei took several more steps in succession.
With each stride, he passed through phase corridors.
In the blink of an eye, he crossed hundreds of billions of kilometers.
Wherever he went, monsters dissolved.
His gaze swept across the land.
One dungeon after another, newly manifested throughout the world, exploded and shattered instantly.
Kanzaki Rei showed the monsters no mercy.
No matter how open-minded one might be.
No matter how neutral one's stance.
He was still human.
A member of intelligent life.
When monsters invaded and oppressed the world in this manner, he had never intended to stand by and watch.
He wanted to live in a world inhabited by people.
Not in a world overrun by monsters.
And besides—
Whether he attacked them or not,
they would still come to kill him.
In the past, whenever he encountered monsters, his first instinct had always been to flee.
Because he believed he might not be strong enough.
Because a more powerful enemy might appear.
But now…
Below the gods, who could threaten him?
Looking into the future, Kanzaki Rei saw no divine descent.
No Level 9 class holders.
No Rank 9 monsters coming to stop him.
Precognition could contain errors.
But he now possessed a Destiny that allowed him to perceive dangerous enemies before they discovered him.
And Destiny was absolute.
On May 24th,
the disaster-stricken Boundless Mountain seemed to welcome a savior.
A violet sun illuminated vast swaths of the land.
Wherever its light reached, every monster melted into rotting sludge.
In the depths of their despair, the people could just barely make out the figure holding that radiant light aloft.
A majestic existence—
As great as a god.