Chapter 147

It felt like... if monsters possessed even a tiny bit of intelligence, they might actually be easier to deal with.

At the very least, you could trick them.

But creatures that only knew how to charge forward and attack mindlessly—there was no room for negotiation with those at all.

Sometimes, being stupid to the extreme might not be such a bad survival trait after all.

If they were even slightly smarter, it might actually make survival harder for them.

"Heh. It’s not like just because you say the questioning is over, it’s actually over."

Kanzaki Rei smiled faintly.

"You mentioned encountering it. What exactly is it?"

"Of course... the ruler of this place!"

"The sovereign of the Sixth-Level Nest, the great apostle of Source-Evil, the magnificent Lord of Ten Thousand True Souls!"

Oh?

From its rambling... Rei had finally extracted a piece of real information.

An apostle of Source-Evil...

"Source-Evil" seemed to be the name of the lord of the nest.

The "Sixth-Level Nest" it mentioned likely referred to this location—the sixth-tier dungeon corresponding to this area.

"Oh? Is it strong?"

"To become an apostle of Source-Evil naturally means possessing supreme power."

"It is the most perfect and powerful existence within the current level of life."

"Even we must look up to it."

So... it really was something formidable.

"Isabelle, let’s head back."

Rei turned toward Isabelle.

She could also understand the Ancient Ansu language, but among everyone present, only Rei and Isabelle understood it.

"What? Why are we suddenly leaving?" Akagi asked, puzzled.

Rei explained calmly.

"According to what it said, there seems to be an extremely powerful monster inside this dungeon. Its strength is unknown, but it should be above the Sinking-Continent tier."

"I think it’s better not to take unnecessary risks for now."

"If we really want to eliminate it, we should return after gathering enough information."

Luluvi looked at Rei.

He was clearly far younger than her, yet he showed zero appetite for reckless adventure.

If anything... he was almost excessively cautious.

Rei’s tone even carried a trace of urgency.

Isabelle and Akagi exchanged a glance.

Akagi shrugged.

"Alright then."

Rei extended his hand, and a delicate cage appeared.

[Soul-Imprisoning Cage]

Rei had purchased all kinds of strange and unusual items. As for when they would actually be useful—he never worried about that.

He placed the soul inside the cage.

Even though the thing was pitifully stupid, it still counted as a significant discovery.

This place had now been confirmed to be a Nest.

The theoretical models described in books had just been verified in reality.

This soul might prove useful later.

It could provide more intelligence through interrogation, and it might also serve as a test subject for various experiments.

In any case, they could question it further after leaving.

For now, the most important thing was to get out first.

And right then—

Obadus raised his head.

Akagi also looked up at the sky.

Akagi spoke with a crooked grin.

"Brother... I feel a little bad for you."

"Looks like... we ran a bit too late."

Rei sighed.

He immediately understood what Akagi meant.

Originally, he had stopped asking further questions because he wanted to escape immediately. He was worried that if they lingered too long, they would encounter the final boss mentioned by the soul.

But unexpectedly—

Even leaving the moment they got the information... still wasn’t fast enough.

Isabelle shook her head slightly.

"I doubt it’s a coincidence."

"That aura is the same one we felt when we first entered this place."

"I thought it was simply the natural atmosphere of the dungeon... but apparently something has been watching us the entire time."

"It’s my first time coming to a place like this. Seems I lack experience."

Her tone remained perfectly calm.

Rei asked quietly,

"So... what do we do now?"

He raised his head.

In the sky appeared a massive human face, constantly shifting through different expressions.

Floating around it were countless soul-like figures whose faces twisted like spiraling vortices, their forms vaguely humanoid.

These souls hovered high in the air, resembling people who had once existed.

This... must be the so-called Lord of Ten Thousand True Souls.

The moment Rei saw these creatures appear, he could already infer much about their combat style.

Perhaps it commanded the souls of enemies it had killed to fight for it?

Perhaps its true body had no physical form, making it immune to ordinary physical attacks?

Perhaps its soul was hidden somewhere difficult to detect, or sealed inside some unknown container?

And most likely... it possessed numerous soul-based attack methods.

Without even seeing it attack yet, Rei could already form multiple hypotheses.

That was the advantage granted by knowledge in Monsterology.

However—

Rei felt the face in the sky probably wasn’t the true body.

And besides...

He had the strange sense that this so-called Lord of Ten Thousand True Souls might itself be a pure soul entity without a physical body.

Originally, Rei thought that even if the boss appeared, escape might still be possible.

If they forced their way out, with Obadus and Kumironi protecting them, there was a good chance they could still get away.

But after seeing the boss...

Rei suddenly felt something strange.

Isn’t that boss HP bar... kind of short?

For him... this thing might actually be instantly killable.

"Kehehe! Kehahahaha!"

"Ah! Lord True Soul, you’ve finally revealed yourself! Supreme ruler clad in endless skins, commander of countless souls! I worship you!"

"Please tear apart these oath-breaking humans who refuse to honor their promises!"

Rei snorted inwardly.

Who would actually keep such a ridiculous promise?

"Damn... am I about to be killed?"

"If I could see Lord True Soul’s real body before dying, I would kneel before it and deeply regret not honoring my promise to you."

Rei recited flatly.

"Kehehehe! Human! Realizing your mistake now is too late!"

"Lord True Soul lies in that direction! If you go beg for mercy now, you might still earn yourself an intact corpse!"

Rei pointed toward the southwest.

"You mean that direction?"

"That’s right! Going to beg now, are you?!"

Rei nodded.

"Yes, thank you. I was just about to rush over and throw myself at its mercy."

"Tremble with fear, human! I look forward to seeing you beg!"

Rei glanced at Isabelle.

She immediately understood.

Shua!

The surrounding scenery changed instantly.

In the blink of an eye, Rei found himself standing atop a mountain peak, with Luluvi beside him.

Looking back—

Akagi and the others were already far beyond visual range.

Only through Luluvi’s perception could they sense them, roughly ten thousand kilometers away.

BOOM!

The sky erupted with soul-light.

Akagi had already begun battling the swarming spirits.

Luluvi extended her senses toward the direction indicated by the soul.

"Are you sure it’s this direction?"

"Kehehe! Absolutely!"

"Lord True Soul cannot move! If I say it’s this direction, then it’s this direction! You’ll soon witness Lord True Soul’s majestic form!"

"What kind of existence is it?" Rei asked.

"Heh... it is the greatest masterpiece of our Nest, and the ultimate evolutionary path we revere."

"If we ever evolve again, we too must become beings like it."

Evolutionary path...

A masterpiece...

This idiot seemed to know quite a lot despite its stupidity.

Once they left, Rei definitely intended to study it thoroughly.

"Oh? How great exactly? What kind of lifeform is it?"

Shua!

Isabelle teleported them further along the direction again.

In an instant, they arrived somewhere else.

"It wears the skins of the strong as clothing!"

"It uses the bones of the powerful as its tower’s foundation!"

"It fills its hollow body with the flesh and blood of the mighty!"

"Everything it possesses allows it to ignore all magic—blades cannot cut it, spears cannot pierce it! No matter what you try, it will be futile!"

Shua!

Another shift in position.

Finally, through Luluvi’s perception, Rei saw the location of the so-called Lord of Ten Thousand True Souls.

It was a twisted tower, built from countless skins and bones.

Crooked and warped—barely resembling a tower at all.

The skins covering it were stitched with numerous eyes.

There were also scattered arms and legs—some human, some belonging to other races, even monsters.

It was a grotesque structure composed entirely of stitched-together organs.

Yet it radiated a terrifyingly evil pressure.

Curses. Malice. Dark intent.

Simply approaching it made one feel on the verge of madness.

Even from twenty thousand kilometers away, Rei could feel his soul being pulled toward it.

It was like a tower that constantly devoured souls.

Anyone with weaker soul control might have already had their spirit ripped away.

Though its size wasn’t enormous, based on its presence alone, its threat level was at least Sinking-Continent tier.

Possibly even beyond it.

"Rei, can you handle it?" Luluvi asked.

Rei frowned slightly.

"I think so."

"But I don’t know how to get close to it."

"You just need to get close?"

"Within two hundred kilometers. If that’s not enough... maybe fifty."

Rei thought for a moment.

Then he summoned a Void creature.

A rift in space opened, and the Void entity appeared before him.

But the moment the Void Pillar Guardian materialized—

It collapsed to its knees and fell lifeless.

Its soul had been instantly sucked away.

Soul absorption again.

Brutal.

Even a fourth-tier nation-destroying monster was killed instantly.

Rei realized he was probably still standing only because Isabelle had been protecting him.

He quickly cast multiple spells on himself—mental stabilization shields and soul-protection barriers.

Death magic also contained spells specifically meant to guard one’s soul.

Rei sacrificed souls to strengthen those protective spells further.

"I’ll bring Obadus here," Isabelle said.

"He should be able to protect you perfectly up to that distance."

She stood atop the mountain.

This monster was truly unusual.

If they fought it directly, it would probably be quite entertaining.

But since her disciple had an idea, she would let him try.

Isabelle was curious to see where Rei’s limits truly lay.

The soul-extraction ability he possessed could instantly kill countless sixth-tier Sinking-Continent monsters.

Just seeing him use it sparked numerous ideas in her mind.

Extracting a soul from a body that didn’t suit it...

Perhaps soul magic could accomplish something similar?

After all, Messer had been extremely skilled in soul magic.

A pity.

If only he had used it for the right purposes.

If Rei failed to kill the Lord of Ten Thousand True Souls, Isabelle planned to initiate Plan B.

First, have Obadus escort Rei away.

Then she would personally test herself against the creature.

And if she couldn’t win...

Honestly—

If she couldn’t defeat it, the consequences wouldn’t just fall on them.

The entire continent of Rellen might be doomed.

Still, even if they couldn’t win immediately, escaping shouldn’t be a problem.

With Obadus and Kumironi protecting them, they could leave no matter what.

Even if they died... their corpses could still be carried away.

"Wait for me."

Isabelle vanished instantly.

Rei honestly couldn’t tell how she moved.

Was it extreme speed?

Or spatial magic?

But according to common knowledge, long-distance teleportation magic was nearly extinct.

Only short-range fifth-tier spells like Blink remained.

Even that only moved about 50 meters, required a long chant, and was difficult to use in battle.

If that spell were upgraded to no-chant... it would be incredibly useful.

Apparently every fifth-tier mage dreamed of mastering that.

Rei made a mental note to ask Isabelle about it later.

Sigh...

His level was still too low, yet there were too many things he wanted to learn.

So many forbidden books to read.

Entire disciplines like Fate Studies, Chronology, and Future Theory.

Even with extremely high spirituality, those fields were towering mountains of knowledge.

And he wasn’t even a divination-type class.

Understanding them wouldn’t happen overnight.

Then there were combat techniques.

Once he formed his own ultimate style, he would have to create his own combat system.

He also needed to determine his second Origin Magic.

Sigh.

One step at a time.

Soon after, Isabelle returned with Obadus.

After hearing the situation, Obadus thumped his chest confidently.

"Leave it to me."

Rei nodded.

"I’ll rely on you, Stone Bro."

Originally Rei had still felt a bit uneasy.

But the moment Obadus arrived, that anxiety completely disappeared.

Everything suddenly felt stable and secure.

Isabelle spoke again.

"There are restrictions outside."

"I’ll break them. You go inside."

She flashed once more.

The three of them appeared on the plains below the mountain.

Isabelle casually swung her staff.

BOOM!

A shockwave exploded in the air.

At the same time, countless soul-formed eyes surrounded her from every angle.

"Oh!"

"What an interesting use of souls!"

BOOOOM—

A wave of holy judgment radiated outward from Isabelle.

In an instant, it annihilated countless incoming spirits.

"Obadus! Just run forward!"

"I won’t escort you any further!"

"Let me see what kind of delight this creature can bring me!"

Rei sighed internally.

...You could at least take us a little closer.

Why start fighting on your own?

Isabelle really resembled the kind of character who causes problems for the sake of excitement.

Rei was already starting to regret it.

"Stone Bro... I’m counting on you."

Rei climbed onto Obadus’s back.

Obadus gave a thumbs-up made of stone.

"I’m here."

Good.

If you’re here, I feel safe.

Hopefully you can withstand soul-level attacks.

Whoosh—

Countless spirits surged toward Rei like a storm.

After only a few steps forward, the world around him transformed into a grotesque ocean of writhing souls.

It looked... disturbingly like millions of swimming sperm.

Honestly, it was a little nauseating.

Obadus sprinted forward at incredible speed.

Souls dove toward them from every direction.

At the same time, Rei sensed countless soul-based spells and combat techniques flying toward him.

He activated his perception.

「Divine-Tier · Information Tracing」

Instantly, he learned the past identities of those souls.

They had once been people.

People killed by this monster—former inhabitants of regions that had once existed somewhere in the world.

The Lord of Ten Thousand True Souls had not appeared for the first time here.

It had descended upon many places before.

Entire continents had been destroyed by its arrival.

Just not the continent of Rellen.

So it was true...

There really were monsters capable of annihilating entire continents.

Rei raised his hand.

Shua!

Every soul within a 50-kilometer radius vanished instantly.

Behind him, the aftershocks of Isabelle’s battle continued.

She seemed to be having the time of her life.

Obadus carried Rei closer and closer to the tower.

The nearer they approached, the more violent the attacks became.

Soul attacks weren’t a problem.

Rei could absorb them completely, ignoring them entirely.

But attacks that weren’t soul-based were another matter.

Sixth-tier magic.

Sixth-tier combat techniques.

Soul arts.

Monster instincts.

Each one possessed devastating power.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOOOM—

Yet every attack slammed into an invisible barrier surrounding them.

None could penetrate it.

Rei’s Ultimate Perception never triggered.

He felt zero danger.

So the backup escape route he prepared was unnecessary.

Every few hundred meters he had left a corpse.

If something killed him, he could chain-revive backward like dominoes.

A literal death-relay escape system.

500 km.

400 km.

250 km.

200 km!

Even Obadus, the most cumbersome among them, could sprint thousands of kilometers with ease at sixth-tier speed.

The moment they crossed the threshold—

Rei raised his staff.

Like casting a fishing line, he flicked it forward.

A tremendous suction force erupted through wind magic.

He combined magic with his talent.

「Divine-Tier · Soul Sovereign」

In an instant—

The heavens and earth roared as ten thousand souls boiled into chaos.

From the grotesque tower of skins and bones, the monster’s soul was violently yanked out like a fish caught on a hook.

Countless enslaved spirits across the sky trembled violently and scattered.

From the tower came endless screams of hatred and rage.

Yet the monster’s soul was dragged out without the slightest resistance.

Like a streak of light, it shot toward Rei.

No matter how fiercely it struggled—

No matter how furious or unwilling it felt—

It could not resist even the slightest fraction of this power.

Finally, it landed obediently in Rei’s hand.

Completely under his control.

The moment he seized it—

The dark, oppressive sky suddenly turned clear and bright.

The world that had been filled with wandering souls became peaceful and silent.

With his heightened spirituality, Rei sensed something profound.

This dungeon... had been ended.

No—

Not just this dungeon.

Killing this monster might have caused consequences far beyond imagination.

Rei looked at the captured soul.

"Can you speak?"

He tried communicating with it.

But the only response was furious howling, devoid of reason.

It seemed intelligent monsters were extremely rare.

And based on his experiences so far, intelligence and power weren’t necessarily related.

A pity.

The dungeon had ended after all.

Originally, Rei wanted to keep it around to farm repeatedly.

Maybe ignoring its interference and leaving earlier would have been the better choice.

Though perhaps not.

After leaving, he would probably have tried researching the boss anyway before sacrificing more souls.

And if the sacrifices continued...

Where would they lead?

If this monster truly ruled the Sixth-Level Nest, was there still a path beyond?

Would further sacrifices open the Seventh-Level Nest?

Or had previous dungeons failed to advance tiers simply because not enough souls were sacrificed?

Solving one mystery only created dozens more.

Countless hypothetical possibilities filled Rei’s mind.

But eventually, all thoughts returned to the present.

He looked at the enormous corpse before him.

Without its soul, it was now nothing more than an empty shell of flesh.

The pure spoils of victory belonging to the winner.