Chapter 364

The Filth Ant Mountain produced one trillion souls every single day.

Over the past few dozen days, Kanzaki Rei had already stockpiled tens of trillions of souls—and barely spent any of them.

Even if he used them to summon White, he could do it hundreds of times over.

But White... was far too unpredictable.

Even now, thinking back to the last summoning left lingering unease.

He still didn’t know what side effects it might carry.

And every time it appeared, an entire sea region risked being dragged into destruction.

Kanzaki Rei didn’t bear that much hatred toward the Moon Sea.

In most cases... better not to summon it unless absolutely necessary.

At the tip of his staff—

a death spell condensed.

「Death Spell: Void Nihility」

A spell that had evolved step by step from Soul Burst—and the one he wielded most fluently.

Whenever his Mage or Death Priest level increased, the first spells he learned were always these—

Pure sacrificial spells.

Convert souls into destruction.

Bzzzz—

A violent fluctuation formed within the six Cores.

And beyond them—

Twelve Sources split off in each of six directions around him.

"Who’s there?!"

Almost the instant the fluctuation appeared—

Kanzaki Rei felt a vast, terrifying aura surge into the sky!

Like a blazing sun rising!

In that moment, an overwhelming magical pressure crashed down on him!

High above—

A bald figure covered in runes appeared, countless arcane sigils revolving behind him. They imprinted themselves into the void, flickering in and out of existence.

But—

Kanzaki Rei had already acted.

At the same instant—

Across the entire island, terrifying clusters of light ignited!

Compared to previous death spells like Purging End, True Soul Detonation, Convergent Explosion, and Soul Burst—

Void Nihility had no special gimmick.

It was simply—

Stronger.

So strong that—

BOOM!!!

In an instant—

The world was filled with drifting souls.

Sound itself seemed to vanish.

Fwoosh!

Across the island, every Skin-Flayer within his perception melted like wax!

Only one figure remained standing in the sky.

Runes spun around him, isolating him completely from the destruction.

...Ardelios.

Once the strongest mage in the Moon Sea, thousands of years ago.

An 8th-tier Root Mage.

Kanzaki Rei looked at his body—

It shone like a miniature sun.

But his remaining lifespan...

Just over three hundred years.

...So short.

After constantly facing entities with lifespans of thousands of years, seeing someone with only three hundred...

felt almost trivial.

This—

was the natural lifespan of an 8th-tier class.

Even An Zheng could not escape that limit.

To transcend it—

One must abandon humanity and become a monster.

Or ascend to Level 9.

Or become a god.

Otherwise, one could only cling to life through rare longevity treasures—

Immortality Blossoms, Ageless Springs...

But even those lost effectiveness after repeated use.

...

"You—"

Whoosh!

Kanzaki Rei’s perception flared—

Flash!

In the next instant, he vanished from his original position!

Snap—

Where he had just stood—

The ground beneath him rose up, the layers of skin twisting, almost wrapping around him entirely.

"Oh?"

Kanzaki Rei felt the feedback from Void Nihility.

The destruction had... occurred.

But also—

Not quite.

Unlike his earlier spells, the aftershock of Void Nihility faded within two breaths.

Like a dispersing shockwave.

And yet—

Even after the aftermath vanished—

The island remained intact.

Unchanged.

Meanwhile—

The surrounding ocean had been completely erased, forming a massive spherical void.

Kanzaki Rei stood within that empty cavity.

Only the island...

Himself...

And four others remained.

...That texture.

It felt familiar.

He remembered.

This skin—

was Aelthymis’ Undying Flesh.

No matter how you killed her—

She wouldn’t die.

Not something that could be defeated through conventional means.

Tap—

In the next moment—

From four directions, overwhelming pressure descended.

"As Lady Aelthymis predicted..."

"She ordered us to guard this place—for a reason."

"Looks like we’ve hooked quite the catch."

"With power like yours... you’ll make an excellent skin."

Voices echoed from three directions—four figures speaking.

The rune-covered mage descended in front of Kanzaki Rei, arcane patterns swirling within his eyes.

His Root Magic... was clearly focused on the Arcane Path.

Arcane.

The discipline Kanzaki Rei had explored the least.

Unlike elemental, mental, spatial, or summoning magic—which relied on observation, experimentation, and derived understanding—

Arcane magic was different.

Pure theory.

No reliance on observation.

No experimentation.

Only deduction—

built from fundamental axioms, extended infinitely.

That—

was Arcane magic.

The most complex, most difficult, and most dreaded branch among mages.

Fortunately—

It was optional.

And at lower mastery, it wasn’t necessarily stronger than other paths.

So Kanzaki Rei hadn’t delved deeply into it.

Only under Iz’s strict supervision had he studied the basics:

Advanced Arcana, Arcane Analysis, Arcane Theory...

Even with his immense spiritual aptitude—and bonuses from being a Decipherer Scholar—

those texts had been a headache.

Still—

Arcane had its advantages.

It could serve as a universal framework to analyze other forms of magic.

And in mage combat—

An Arcane mage could often understand others’ spells.

But others... could rarely understand Arcane.

...Now that he thought about it—

Ever since leaving Knorloia—and Iz’s supervision—

he hadn’t touched Arcane magic again.

Yet here—

he faced a specialist.

A foundational rune Arcane mage.

But unfortunately...

This was only a skin.

Behind him—

was Ansu’s disciple. Kanzaki Rei could sense the lingering scent of souls.

To his right—

a warrior holding a single blade, radiating killing intent.

To his left—

nothing.

But a chilling sensation crawled up his spine.

The assassin—

was already moving.

"Kid—" the warrior on his right began.

But before he could finish—

Kanzaki Rei vanished.

「Skyflow Style — Eighth Form: Step · Instant Halt」

Boom!

A streak of light shot away at extreme speed!

And yet—

Even at that speed—

Kanzaki Rei saw it.

A figure moving in perfect sync with him.

The one wielding the single blade.

"Why the hurry?"