The seemingly powerful monsters stretched out their heads, curiously observing him like newborns seeing a human for the very first time.
Killing these monsters would have been easy.
But Kanzaki Rei did not act.
Instead, he simply continued forward.
Shua!
Another tiny step.
And Rei instantly returned to Yakatikto's side once more.
Meanwhile, Shin Senka had disappeared.
"Looks like you didn't encounter any danger."
Rei replied calmly,
"Was that some kind of test?"
Yakatikto smiled.
"No, it wasn't a test. We're just taking a walk."
She showed no concern whatsoever regarding Rei's disappearance.
Without even turning around, she softly asked,
"Do you think this world is beautiful?"
Rei swept his gaze across the surroundings.
"I think this world is magnificent."
"But that only applies to the strong—those capable of controlling their own fate."
"If you're weak, then there are simply too many restraints in this world."
His answer came from the heart.
"The weak are far too easily reduced to prey."
Yakatikto paused briefly before asking with a faint smile,
"And yet, before you appeared, the mortals of this world lived quite well."
"At the very least, widespread peace lasted for five thousand years."
There was clearly another meaning hidden in her words.
What did she mean by "before you appeared"?
She was making it sound as though he himself were the root cause of everything...
Even though the world's chaos and the arrival of these calamities were obviously the fault of the Nests.
"I don't really understand," Rei answered directly.
The two of them landed atop a mountain peak.
On the flat summit was a symbol identical to the Taiji diagram from Earth.
Two Yin-Yang fish divided the plateau-like mountaintop.
Yakatikto stood at the center dividing line between Yin and Yang, while Rei stood on her right side—upon the dark fish.
"Have you ever heard of balance?"
Rei answered,
"A little."
Not long ago, the Fishfolk Sage had also spoken to him about balance.
The world contained a form of equilibrium.
The rise and fall of strength, prosperity and decline—all things would gradually tend toward a balanced state.
It was as though the world itself possessed an unimaginably profound law of balance that equalized everything.
Only very few could truly understand that law.
"It's actually not complicated."
A pitch-black cube appeared in Yakatikto's left hand.
Meanwhile, a tiny light source ignited in her right hand.
The light shone upon the black cube, casting a deep shadow.
"When light grows strong, darkness also grows strong."
"When spiritual lifeforms prosper and become powerful, monsters too will grow stronger through various factors."
"That is balance."
"The strengthening of one side will inevitably cause its enemy to strengthen as well... it's just that for a very long time, everything remained evenly balanced. Even when there was slight unfairness, it only disturbed small-scale equilibrium."
Yakatikto continued,
"But one day, the world became unbalanced."
"I suspect that ten years ago, an existence that should never have been allowed to exist suddenly appeared in this world."
Ten years ago...
Heh.
That timing really was awfully convenient.
The one Yakatikto was implying could only be him.
"That existence was something the world should never have permitted."
"Because of that person's arrival, the balance gradually began to tilt."
"And in order to restore equilibrium, weight could only continue being added to the opposite side."
As Yakatikto spoke, one monstrous phantom after another began rising from the white Yin-Yang fish on her left side.
"And who is this existence that shouldn't have been permitted to exist?" Rei asked.
Yakatikto answered with another question instead.
"What do you think?"
Rei appeared thoughtful.
"The Moon Sovereigns are incomparably powerful and have existed since ancient times. My own strength is nowhere near theirs, and my influence on the world is negligible."
"So naturally, the one affecting balance couldn't possibly be me."
"If I had to choose someone... could it be Yaromochi?"
"I heard He only recently ascended as a Moon Sovereign, and it just so happens that was also ten years ago. That would fit all the conditions you mentioned."
Rei had absolutely no intention of tying himself to some concept of destabilizing balance.
Better to redirect the topic elsewhere.
But in response—
Yakatikto merely pressed a finger lightly against her lips, wearing a mysterious smile.
Then she gave the answer Rei least wanted to hear.
"No. It has nothing to do with Yaromochi."
"The one affecting balance is you."
"If I told you that the reason monsters are rampaging so wildly today, and the reason this entire world has fallen into chaos... is because you entered this world, what would you think?"
A dangerous sensation slowly spread through the air around him.
Rei's body instinctively tensed.
What Yakatikto was saying no longer sounded remotely friendly.
It felt as though she were directly targeting him.
Even though he had no desire to fight Yakatikto, if battle truly became unavoidable...
Then all he could do was fight with everything he had.
"My thoughts?"
"If I've done nothing at all, yet every disaster in this world is somehow connected to me, then that causality is a little too absurd."
"I merely want to grow stronger and live an ordinary life."
Yakatikto still smiled.
"Have you truly done nothing?"
Rei paused.
He recalled the scene from that space filled with countless names.
A single wish had affected the destinies of all living beings within that space and world.
If he claimed he had done absolutely nothing...
That really wouldn't hold up.
Rei could only sigh softly.
"Perhaps I did cause a small amount of instability."
"But to place all of this upon me... I don't think I possess influence on that scale."
Rei met Yakatikto's gaze directly.
Although his reply sounded calm and composed, every ounce of mana within his body had already begun resonating at tremendous speed.
If battle erupted immediately—
Rei could unleash all his magic in the shortest possible time.
But the one before him was a Moon Sovereign...
Rei truly did not dare claim he had any chance of victory.
"Mm~ do you really need to be that nervous?"
Yakatikto saw straight through his tension with a single glance.
Covering her mouth lightly, she chuckled.
"Relax. I have no intention of killing you."
"If you truly posed a threat to me, you would never have been able to meet me in the first place."
"Honestly, whether or not you affect balance has nothing to do with me~"
"However, there are indeed certain Moon Sovereigns searching for you right now. The current balance is like a seesaw, and you are the enormous boulder sitting on one side."
"In order to restore equilibrium, the world will inevitably influence your opposing side little by little."
"But certain individuals with ulterior motives... may profit from this process of restoring balance."
"For example, those who excel at manipulating balance itself."
Shua!
As soon as their conversation ended, Shin Senka's figure abruptly appeared on the opposite Yin-Yang fish.
The moment she appeared, Yakatikto immediately stopped discussing the topic and did not continue further.
"What I just told you is a secret between the two of us."
"Your talent is enough to affect the majority of Moon Sovereigns, but there are still a select few capable of becoming aware of your existence."
"And perhaps... some of them have already begun acting against you."
Yakatikto did not continue the topic of balance.
Instead, she turned toward both Rei and Shin Senka with a smiling expression.
"You came here for the Eighth Forbidden Magic—Fate, didn't you?"
"How about we play a coin-toss game?"
A gold-and-green coin appeared in Yakatikto's palm.
It symbolized harvest.
And it also symbolized luck.
"If you correctly guess which side lands face-up, I'll directly teach you the Eighth Forbidden Magic."