Chapter 356

A soft step echoed.

In an instant, the collapse of the entire sea of consciousness came to a halt.

Kanzaki Rei’s eyes snapped out of their haze, clarity returning for a fleeting moment.

What... am I doing?

"Are you planning to deny your own decision, Kanzaki Rei...?"

"You finally made up your mind, and now you’re going to regret it? How long are you going to keep wavering?"

The questions reverberated throughout the sea of consciousness.

But the presence beside him merely lifted its gaze toward the sky of that inner world...

"I see now."

"The mind... truly is a fragile place."

Kanzaki Rei looked at the figure next to him. Even within his still-clouded thoughts, a trace of confusion surfaced.

"Iz...?"

"How are you... here?"

Izparut replied calmly, "You’re asking how I entered your sea of consciousness?"

"You are undoubtedly guilty of unforgivable acts. But the magic you wield... it interests me greatly."

"And just now, you weren’t fighting at all."

"Even if I’m to judge you, I should at least understand the truth first."

"And... it seems you know me."

At this point in time, Izparut had never met Kanzaki Rei.

Their actual encounter should only happen a year later.

Yet even so, Kanzaki Rei could feel a faint, intangible bond connecting them...

A bond unique to mages.

Even without ever meeting, the magic they wielded spoke volumes about who they were.

The spells Kanzaki Rei used had already told Izparut one thing clearly—

This was not a man driven by wanton cruelty.

So why would someone like him abduct a young girl?

Why would he destroy an entire continent?

It didn’t add up.

And now...

Izparut felt as though he had grasped a fragment of the truth.

Even though he could only see the fissure before him, his comprehension alone allowed him to pierce through deeper layers.

The Duality of Void and Reality.

This was originally Izparut’s own Fourth-Tier Origin Magic.

Someone who understood the relationship between the void realm and the material realm would naturally not struggle to interpret the crack that appeared between them.

"Izparut..."

Pff—

A figure manifested before him once more—

Luluwi.

"You do realize," she said with a teasing tone, "that intruding into someone else’s sea of consciousness is incredibly rude."

"For something that’s merely been simulated, you’re stepping far out of line."

Standing within Kanzaki Rei’s consciousness, Izparut glanced down at his own hands.

"You’re saying... I’m a simulation?"

Luluwi’s smile grew more playful.

"Of course. You’re nothing more than a projection within my domain."

"A domain, you say?"

"...Ah. Now that you mention it, it does feel that way."

Izparut’s tone remained calm and unshaken.

Whether he was real or fabricated didn’t seem to disturb him in the slightest.

His mere presence alone steadied Kanzaki Rei’s mind.

"From the looks of it," Izparut suddenly said, "you haven’t seriously studied mental magic, have you?"

Kanzaki Rei replied, "I’ve learned some..."

"Some?"

"...Yeah."

There was simply too much to learn.

Even with far greater efficiency than most, Kanzaki Rei couldn’t master everything.

Especially magic.

Ever since acquiring the ability to steal spells through the Tower of All Magic, his motivation to deeply study magic had waned.

His innate comprehension was already exceptional.

Creating spells came easily.

And he could obtain countless spells directly from others.

Because of that, he had never needed to meticulously study every branch of magic.

Otherwise... even just a few major schools would have taken an enormous amount of time.

Izparut let out a faint chuckle.

"Heh... a weak foundation leads to a collapsing structure."

"You are my disciple, aren’t you?"

"...Yeah."

Despite never having met, Izparut had already deduced Kanzaki Rei’s identity.

"The mind is the most vulnerable point," Izparut continued. "No matter how strong your body is, no matter how masterfully you wield the elements—if your mind is unstable, there will always be an opening to exploit."

"Are you done?" Luluwi cut in.

Izparut turned to look at her.

"If you truly had complete control over me, you wouldn’t be asking that."

"I assume your domain still has to follow certain rules you’ve set, doesn’t it?"

At that moment—

The long-silent Ansu finally spoke.

"Kanzaki Rei."

"I’ve figured out the rules of this domain."

As more voices broke into the chaos, Kanzaki Rei’s awareness gradually sharpened.

Though his sea of consciousness remained fractured and unstable, he could at least think coherently again.

"Ansu... why didn’t you wake me earlier?"

Ansu let out a dry laugh.

"Heh. If I woke you too soon, how would I observe the enemy’s behavior?"

"And without understanding their logic, how could we break this domain?"

Buzz—

Just as Kanzaki Rei was about to respond, his consciousness trembled violently again.

"Look carefully!" Ansu suddenly barked.

Kanzaki Rei focused.

Following Ansu’s guidance, he locked his gaze onto the fissure—

And this time...

He saw something he hadn’t noticed before.

A mist-like substance within his sea of consciousness was continuously being drawn into the crack.

That mist—

It was his spiritual essence.

Damn it!

So that’s what it was!

This thing was draining his spirit!

No wonder his thinking had become sluggish!

"Control your spiritual essence! Don’t let it keep flowing in!"

Kanzaki Rei snapped fully awake.

Once seen, it could be sensed.

He immediately exerted conscious control over the flow of his essence—

And the mist streaming into the fissure abruptly stopped.

Rumble—

The next instant, his sea of consciousness shook violently once more!

The sky split open—

And a massive eye descended, gazing down upon everything.

That eye.

The one with the door within its pupil.

"Awakening?"

"Why cling to awareness?"

"Why resist?"

BOOM—

The entire sea of consciousness convulsed!

Spell formations ignited, weaving together into a massive mental barrier that covered everything!

But—

CRACK!

A deafening impact resounded!

Fractures spread rapidly across the barrier!

Yet in the next moment—

They were instantly repaired.

Kanzaki Rei wielded the Origin Magic of Restoration, allowing him to rapidly recover any damage dealt to magic itself. As long as it wasn’t completely destroyed, it would be restored in an instant.

BOOM!

But then—

The door within the eye opened once more.

In that instant—

Hundreds of new cracks spread across the barrier!

He had already layered hundreds of mental defense spells over it—

And still, it wasn’t enough?

But at least one thing was now certain.

This entity...

Its attacks were entirely focused on the mind.

Watching Kanzaki Rei reinforce his defenses with magic, Izparut shook his head.

"These mental defense spells of yours... are far too crude."

"You really haven’t studied mental magic at all."

"...Are you seriously my disciple?"