Confusion. Calm. Fear. Longing...
Waves of overwhelming emotion surged through Kanzaki Reiâs sea of consciousness like a raging ocean. By the time he realized his spiritual essence was being devoured, far too much of it had already been consumed.
And this timeâ
He hadnât even noticed it happening.
All he had felt was a dull sluggishness in his thoughts.Things that should have come instantly to mind... didnât.Details that should have been obvious... slipped past him entirely.
His inner world trembled.
His thoughts swayed, unstable.
"The key to mental defense is precision," Izparut said calmly. "Simply constructing barriers is the most primitive form of protection."
"Itâs not attacking your bodyâitâs attacking your emotions. Itâs rewriting your cognition."
As he spoke, magic circles began forming within the sea of consciousness.
Spells Kanzaki Rei had never seen before were being constructed by Izparut.
Dingâ
Countless motes of light filled the sky above the mindscape.
Yetâ
The massive eye in the sky narrowed slightly.
In the very next instant, Izparutâs mental defense magic exploded apart.
Seeing this, Izparut fell silent for a moment, then sighed faintly.
"...This isnât my own sea of consciousness, after all."
"But the principle is roughly the same."
"You understood it, right?"
...
Understood?Izparut, you really trust my learning ability.
...Well.
I can more or less grasp it.
Itâs just that... with so much of my spiritual essence gone, my comprehension isnât what it used to be.
But fortunatelyâ
My talent still remains.
[God-Tier Talent · Tower of All Magic] activated.
Kanzaki Rei reached out toward Izparutâ
And directly extracted the spell Izparut had just demonstrated.
"Iz... Iâm borrowing this."
Izparut felt the magic he had just created vanish from himself.
The method of casting itâgone, erased entirely.
The sensation was... strange.
ăSixth-Tier Mental Magic â Veil of Knowing (LV: 501)ă
Whooshâ
A vast, surging mist spread across the entire sea of consciousness.
BOOMâBOOMâ
The mindscape trembled violently, the fog shaking along with itâ
But the damage being inflicted had clearly lessened.
...This spell works.
"Heh... looks like itâs reaching its limit," Ansu said with a faint chuckle from the side.
"This world is constructed from your own memories and cognition... and sustaining it consumes your spiritual essence every moment."
"Youâve cut off the supply."
"It canât maintain itself much longer."
Ansu let out a cold laugh, then turned his gaze toward Izparut.
"A genius of magic... how does it feel, knowing youâre about to disappear along with someone elseâs cognition?"
Izparut simply shrugged.
"Itâs quite interesting."
"The human mind and awareness... can actually construct a complete world."
"Thatâs a fascinating direction for research."
"...The inner domain of the mind, hm?"
He murmured to himself, utterly devoid of fear, despair, or hesitation.
RUMBLEâ
Suddenly, the sea of consciousness shook again.
Within the layers of mistâ
Figures began to emerge in waves.
Countless Huang Minzhis.Countless Luluwis.Countless... versions of himself.
"...Persistent, arenât they," Kanzaki Rei muttered.
Ansu replied, "This thingâs mental attack isnât forceful in nature."
"It amplifies your confusion, your fear, your unease."
"In truth, every attack youâre experiencing... originates from yourself."
"Even the smallest inner demon will be magnified infinitely."
"If you canât face your own heart, then even if you leave this place, those seeds will remain buried within you."
"And one day... when youâre forced to confront yourself again, youâll be trapped by them all over again."
"What you need to do now... is face them."
Kanzaki Rei fell silent.
As the mindscape trembled, even Izparutâs form began to flicker, turning indistinct.
Kanzaki Rei faced forward.
Layer upon layer of figures stood before himâ
And at the very front...
Was his older self.
"Why... are you still unwilling to return?"
"Do you not know how long theyâve been waiting for you?"
"Is this world... truly worth clinging to?"
Kanzaki Rei shook his head.
"No."
"Iâm not going back."
"Reality is reality. Escaping it is nothing but self-deception."
"I donât believe the life within the Deep Earth belongs to me."
"I know Iâm often conflicted, often awkward... but no matter what, I follow my own heart."
"Itâs not as if only decisiveness is correct."
"Even Kumironi hesitates because Iâm a Death Priest. Even Izparut sighs when he sees me practice martial techniques."
"How could there be anyone who never feels lost?"
"I do feel sorrow for what happened to Earth. I do feel regret."
"And I also cherish this opportunity... to stand beyond the world."
He turned his gaze toward Huang Minzhi.
"...Brother. Your death... it hurts me deeply."
"But pure grief changes nothing."
"More than grieving... I want to save you all."
"My heart has many flaws. Iâm far from a perfect personâmorally or otherwise."
"But everything I do... I can at least face myself without shame."
"If you ask me about my choices... I wonât feel any regret."
As Kanzaki Rei spokeâ
The trembling of the sea of consciousness grew more and more violent.
Yet at the same timeâ
The shrinking mindscape began expanding again, swelling outward like a storm-tossed ocean.
A realization slowly dawned within him.
The knots that had long entangled his heart... began to unravel.
...Of course.
Ever since returning from Earth, this had been buried deep inside him, refusing to fade.
Time had passed.
He thought he had forgotten everything that happened there.
Thought he had sealed away his emotions.
Even in dreams... Earth had stopped appearing.
But nowâ
He realized.
He had never truly let it go.
Everything that happened that day in the Secret Sea still echoed in his ears.
Kanzaki Rei slowly closed his eyes.
"...So thatâs how it is."
Thenâ
He opened them again.
And in that instantâ
He found himself sitting on a calm, unmoving ship.
The sea was tranquil.
The bench beneath him was cold.
Everything that had just happened felt like nothing more than a fleeting dream.
Even Ansuâs voiceâ
Felt like something imagined within that dream.
"Kid. Youâre finally awake."
Ansuâs voice echoed clearly in his mind.
Kanzaki Rei opened his eyes fully and gave a faint nod.
His perception swept outwardâ
And soon, he saw it.
A massive eye floating in the sky, staring directly at him from afar.
Beside himâ
Luluwi and Kiyomi lay slumped on either side of the bench, unconscious, as if in a deep sleep.
...So this is a battle of the mind?
He couldnât even tell whether the scene before him was real or illusion.
How many layers deep was this now?
Am I in reality...
Or still inside its domain?
At this point, Kanzaki Rei couldnât even determine whether his future simulation was real or false.
Or worseâ
When exactly had he been ensnared?
Was it really during the investigation of Luluwiâs consciousness on Fallen Moon Island?
Or... had it begun even earlier?
Each environmentâ
Just as it became familiarâ
Would suddenly shift.
Exactly like now.
Like waking from one dream, only to fall into an even deeper one.
And the worst partâ
That transition...
Had been initiated by himself.
He thought he had understood something.
Thought he had seen through the enemyâs intent.
And thenâ
He "woke up."
Only to realizeâ
He had entered an even greater illusion.
Recalling everything that had happened moments ago, Kanzaki Rei frowned.
Entering Luluwiâs consciousness.Finding the Deep Earth.Killing Luluwi.Releasing this unknown entity.Choosing to test its strength.Falling into its domain...
The scene kept changing.
Every time he adjustedâ
It shifted again.
...Could it beâ
This wasnât the beginning at all?
He exhaled slowly.
First time Iâve encountered an enemy this troublesome.
The scenes kept cycling.
Again and again.
Kanzaki Rei could no longer distinguish truth from illusion.
Am I truly awake now?
Or still trapped inside its domain?
Or worseâ
A chilling thought surfaced.
Kanzaki Rei decidedâ
To end this simulation.
If he ended it...
He would finally knowâ
Whether this was truly a future simulation... or not.