Chapter 316

A strange, grotesque creature reached into a dull gray heart and pulled out a spiraling, drill-like blade.

Its body resembled a helix of genes rising from the earth—twisting, coiling, endlessly rotating.

"Atlassimo."

"And you just killed Lomo like that? Was that really a good idea?"

"He was the first of our kind to possess true intelligence at the eighth tier."

Shhh—

A spherical being appeared—its entire form constantly folding inward, warping and twisting into itself—as it addressed the spiral entity.

The creature known as Atlassimo paused its rotation.

Then replied:

"The only ones who need intelligence... are beings like us."

"The weak do not deserve it."

"Godo."

"You’re not here to stop me, are you?"

Godo’s tone remained indifferent as he answered:

"Since it’s already happened, there’s no need for me to intervene."

"The Master would never allow a great ninth-tier existence... to be buried alongside an eighth-tier inferior."

"Since I failed to stop it, then this is simply his fate..."

"However, he still had unfinished research projects. And he carried a mission in the Secret Sea. Now that you’ve killed him, that responsibility falls to you."

Atlassimo ceased its rotation.

"...Understood."

"I’ll take over the matters of the Secret Sea. As for the research on turning humans into monsters... I’ve already acquired all of his experimental data."

"It’s mine now."

The helix-like creature slowly spiraled downward.

Then, after sinking into the earth, it vanished completely.

Godo stared at the place where it disappeared.

"How convenient."

"But the law of the jungle... is the privilege of monsters."

"Lomo... you can only blame your own weakness."

With that, Godo vanished as well.

All that remained... was a lifeless gray heart, shriveling into something like a discarded rag.

Kanzaki Rei looked at Lomo.

Its body was changing.

Gradually... it transformed into Roa’s appearance.

Rei had no idea what had truly caused its death.

A destined end had guided it toward death... yet the direct cause was not Rei himself.

It was like a name written in a Death Note.

"Wow... it’s really dead."

Lomo’s form continued to mutate until it fully became Roa.

At this point, it was impossible to tell whether this was Lomo’s body... or Roa’s original one.

All that remained was that familiar brown-haired man with curly hair.

Rei’s battle with Lomo... had ended.

He exited combat with Lomo.

The condition to exit combat against a single enemy was either three minutes without contact... or death.

Rei could clearly feel it.

The opponent was dead.

And yet...

The sensation of being in combat had not disappeared.

There were still enemies.

All the surrounding tendrils had stopped spreading. The shattered void still remained—that was the passage leading to the eighth-layer nest.

Rei had the distinct feeling... that he could step directly into the eighth-layer nest from here.

But...

Too dangerous.

And the source of the enemy presence... was not coming from there.

Then where was it coming from?

Rei changed into a fresh set of clothes.

This battle had dropped quite a bit of equipment.

What a pity... he hadn’t been the one to truly kill that creature. Its true body was somewhere far away in an unknown nest.

Otherwise... he could have harvested its soul.

Splash—

Even without obtaining the soul, the battle experience flooded into his mind like a raging tide.

After defeating the opponent, [Ascension to the Pinnacle] granted its feedback.

Rei obtained the entirety of the opponent’s lifetime of combat experience...

"Mutation."

Rei slightly raised his hand.

A mass of liquid formed in his palm. It gradually turned crimson... then thickened, forming into a clump resembling coagulated blood.

Rei raised his other hand.

Beside him, an undead appeared—this was the seventh-tier oceanic monster he had previously subdued: [Parasitic Sea].

Rei merged the faint blood-clot mass into it.

Glurp~

Gurglegurglegurgle~

The Parasitic Sea instantly bubbled violently. Its iridescent colors shifted... transforming into a deep blood-red.

Rei could feel it—this entity was undergoing a mutation, gaining a new, special property.

It had acquired the trait: [Permeating Spike Water].

So it worked.

Rei had learned how to grant special properties to monsters through mutation.

Gradually, he realized...

The transformation of matter was not limited to magic alone—it could also be applied to life itself.

Or rather, this had always been an idea.

It was only now, after killing Lomo and gaining experience through [Ascension to the Pinnacle], that Rei truly understood how to execute it.

Transforming matter within living beings... was also part of the laws of mutation.

"Kid."

Just as Rei was still absorbing the battle experience, the brown-haired man had already appeared in front of him.

Rei’s entire body tensed as he met the man’s gaze.

This person... was named Roa.

An eighth-tier class-advanced individual.

He had appeared here suddenly, and after only a brief exchange, struck a deal with Rei.

He would intercept Lomo.

Rei would kill Lomo—for him to see.

But in truth, Rei had no idea about his motives... or what he was really thinking.

The only thing he knew was that Roa had someone beside him—someone unfamiliar, yet vaguely recognizable.

Rhein.

Rei didn’t sense much danger from him.

As one’s level increased, sometimes you could instinctively tell whether someone was an enemy or an ally. Enemies carried a distinct aura of danger.

Still, high-level class-advanced individuals were rare to begin with.

"Haha, I didn’t expect you to actually kill him."

"Impressive~"

"Though it didn’t look like he died because of you... dead is dead."

"How did you do it? Can you teach me?"

Rei smiled modestly.

"Just luck."

By now, Rei was fully dressed.

There were spare clothes in the Ten-Thousand Skin Bag, so at least he wasn’t running around naked anymore.

As for the storage pouch that had exploded earlier... maybe it could be recovered.

Looks like he really needed to find a better one.

Otherwise, in high-level battles, once a storage pouch exploded... there was nothing you could do.

Exhale...

With his revenge fulfilled, Rei felt the hatred in his heart ease slightly.

But what followed... was a faint sense of emptiness.

The revenge was complete.

But what he had lost...

Rei thought of the humans from Earth who had been turned into monsters.

Better go back and take another look.

There should still be more information to uncover on Earth.

It felt like Earth held far more secrets than he had uncovered so far.

Even more unfortunate—

[Destined Death’s End] was a form of death that could only be predicted through intuition.

It wasn’t like beating someone to death or forcing them into submission.

Otherwise... he could have used death as leverage to extract more information.

"Rei."

Kumironi approached.

"Kumironi." Rei smiled faintly.

Rei had truly killed an eighth-tier monster...

At this point, Kumironi could no longer comprehend Rei’s strength at all.

"Let’s head back—"

Buzz—

Just as Rei began to speak, his perception suddenly screamed!

An overwhelming pressure descended!

A true fear of death surged within his heart!

Thud—

Rei’s gaze locked onto the scene before him.

It was an enormous... "pupil."

At least, from its outline, it resembled one.

Even within the vast abyssal sea, this colossal pupil stretched from the far left edge of his vision... all the way to the far right.

[Time of Death: 19999 years]