"Ansu, what is that thing? Do you recognize it?"
Kanzaki Reiâs Sea of Consciousness was steadily being stained black.
He could clearly feel itâcorruption was spreading through him. His emotions were growing colder, duller. And it wasnât just himâLeng Qingying, who had been on the verge of madness moments ago, was also beginning to calm down unnaturally.
Above them, countless strands of hair cascaded down from the sky like a waterfall.
Zzzztâ
The sky flickered faintly, like fragments glitching between reality and illusion.
Kanzaki Reiâs gaze gradually sank. The divine light within his pupils dulled, settling into the stillness of dead water.
Luluviâs corpse lay limp on the bed, blood soaking the sheets in vivid red.
"...This? I really donât recognize it," Ansu replied.
In the sky, a pupil opened like a massive gate. As it unfolded, Kanzaki Rei could vaguely see fissures splitting open all around it.
Within those cracks, different figures began to emerge.
One after another, presences rose into the air, staring upward with vacant, confused expressions.
"Ansu, it seems your suggestion was wrong."
"Killing Luluvi only made things worse."
Ansu let out a cold laugh.
"As long as someone is sane, their first instinct is to eliminate the danger at their side."
"But kid... your Sea of Consciousness is being corrupted."
Kanzaki Rei cast a cold glance around him.
In an instant, he equipped his enchanted gear.
Bang!
In the blink of an eye, he had already moved millions of kilometers away.
This was the spatial trajectory used by Moonsea vesselsâtraveling along it allowed for speeds that defied common sense.
Crackâ
He halted at an extreme distance from Fallen Moon Island and looked back.
The enormous eye... had turned toward him.
From beginning to end, it had been watching him.
...Of course. He was the one who killed Luluvi.
That thingâs original host had been Luluvi as well.
Even though he had used an unsolvable enigma to obscure information, it hadnât blocked the creatureâs sight.
And yetâ
To track him at that speed, without losing him even for a moment...
Its power likely far exceeded anything he had imagined.
Meanwhile, his Sea of Consciousness continued to darken.
Kanzaki Rei began splitting his consciousness, severing and discarding the portions that had already been tainted.
Just as he was considering whether to use this Future Simulation opportunity to fight it head-onâ
Splashâ
The gate within the eye opened.
The door rotated into view.
Behind it... stood a Luluvi covered entirely in black, viscous fluid.
Thumpâ
A violent tremor surged through Kanzaki Reiâs Sea of Consciousness.
Impossible!
How is that possible?!
It actually brought something out of the Deep Ground!
"Ansu... are you saying thatâs Luluvi from the Deep Ground?"
"...No. I canât be certain."
How could something from the Deep Ground be brought out...?
Shhkâ
The slime-covered Luluvi slowly opened her eyes.
Seeing that cold, lifeless gaze, Ansu seemedâstrangelyâto relax slightly.
At the same time, Kanzaki Rei received a feedback signal that left him with a faint sense of resignation.
Both he and Ansu realized the same thing.
This Luluvi... had no soul.
"Lu... Cang?"
"...Kanzaki Rei."
Her voice sounded like an animal mimicking human speechâawkward, distorted.
"Kanzaki Rei?"
Again.
And again.
"You... why did you kill me?"
"Arenât... we... companions?"
Shrrrkâ
From behind the pupil, countless black insects began raining down toward Fallen Moon Island.
Kanzaki Rei recognized them.
Filth Worms.
Creatures born from the Source Nest of Filth.
"Why?"
"What... did I do wrong?"
"Do you... hate me that much?"
The massive eye hovering above the island locked onto Kanzaki Rei from afar.
A flicker of irritation rose within him.
I just wanted to reach the Land of Seeing the Moon.
I never intended to provoke anything.
So why does trouble always come looking for me?
Is this world really that dangerous?
Will it ever give me time to grow?
"Drop the act."
"No matter how well you imitate her, you wonât shake me."
Yet the Luluvi stuck to the pupil tilted her head, confusion plain on her face.
"Kanzaki... Rei?"
"Was I... not good enough?"
"Kanzaki Rei?"
"Kanzaki Rei."
"Kanzaki Reiâ"
"Kanzaki Rei..."
Her voice repeated endlessly.
At the same time, Kanzaki Rei saw an overwhelming tide of black spreading toward him.
Centered on the eye, space itself was being dyed into a filthy darkness.
The ocean around Fallen Moon Island turned pitch black, teeming with countless writhing black insects leaping toward him in dense swarms.
Kanzaki Rei exhaled slowly.
Boom!
In the next instant, he vanished from the surface of the sea.
At blinding speed, he charged straight toward the eye.
His earlier retreat hadnât been an attempt to escapeâit had been to buy time.
Time to stack Ascension Beyond Limits.
Boom!
The ocean split apart!
A path stretching hundreds of kilometers carved through the sea, towering waves forced aside like parted heavens!
Skyfall Flow â Eighth Form: Motion · Halt in a Single Instant
Shhk!
At the moment of contactâ
The corrupted seawater was instantly dyed in a deep violet hue.
God-Tier Talent · Calamity of Poison
You can corrupt?
Fine.
Letâs see who corrupts better.
"Kanzaki Rei?"
Leaving took but an instant.
Returning to Fallen Moon Island took but another.
A speed that defied all logicâmillions of kilometers crossed in less than the blink of an eye.
A figure shot upward into the sky.
A war spear raised high in his hand.
The next momentâ
It would strike the eye.
He had no idea what this entity truly was.
A monster?
A classed being?
Or something beyond classification?
But none of that mattered.
This was a Future Simulation.
He had to fight to know.
Andâ
It didnât feel invincible.
It didnât radiate the crushing pressure of a Level 9 classed being.
If it was Level 8â
Then by stacking Ascension Beyond Limits, he could fight it.
Shhkâ
But just as Kanzaki Rei prepared to sacrifice hundreds of billions of souls to unleash overwhelming power in his opening strikeâ
The world shifted.
The massive, gate-like eye vanished from his vision.
In its placeâ
A familiar, gentle voice.
"...Son?"
Time slowed to a crawl.
"Son, Iâve been calling you. Why arenât you answering? What are you thinking about?"
Memories that didnât exist surfaced in his mind.
"You finally got some time off, and now that youâre home, your mind isnât even here?"
Kanzaki Rei shook his head violently.
His vision snapped back into focus.
And what he sawâ
Was a kind, familiar face.
His mother.
Reika Kanzaki.
Standing right before him.
Below him... was no monster.
Only his mother, looking up at him with warmth and concern.
You think mimicking my family will make me hesitate?
Boom!
Rage surged within him.
The war spear in his hand came crashing down!
Skyfall Flow â Second Form: Rend
Enchantment (LV: 4 Enhancement) â Enhanced Cleave: Increases the power of cleaving attacks by 300x
BOOM!!
The strike landed directly.
The figure before himâ
His "mother"â
Exploded into a cloud of blood and shattered flesh.
...
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