Chapter 402

Kanzaki Rei gazed into the future and performed a divination.

What he saw were countless versions of himself across endless possibilities.

A self standing in the Land of Empty Valleys.

A self on other scattered islands.

A self still lingering in this corridor.

A self trapped in the darkness.

But—

He did not see a single future in which he pushed open the door.

"If I open this door..."

The future beyond opening it was a complete enigma.

As long as he waited here for some time, he would naturally return to the real world...

And one of his wishes had already been fulfilled.

If he waited a little longer,

He should reach Level 3 Prophet.

Then he could unlock the second wish.

That would be enough.

Rei did not want to become the kind of villain despised by Iz.

At the very least—

He wanted to struggle not to move toward that future.

Iz probably thought the same.

That was why his killing intent toward him had not been absolute.

Perhaps he had hoped to change him through this very method.

And Rei...

Should not betray those expectations.

Rei gave up pressing further.

He did not continue trying to open the door.

Tick—

Time reset once more.

This time, it rewound even farther.

It should be...

The moment he had just entered this space.

Ansu was still writhing and groaning in torment.

Still being tortured...

And Rei had only just obtained—

[Seventh Forbidden Magic — Element]

"Ansu, I just experienced a time reset..."

Rei no longer wanted to open that door.

Better to leave this ruin instead.

The way out should be simply waiting...

Perhaps waiting until the reset itself expelled him.

Tick—

"Rei."

A whisper.

The scenery before him shifted once more.

Iz Palt appeared again before his eyes.

Even though he had long since separated from Iz Palt—

Even though he had reached the Sea of Moon—

Iz Palt’s shadow was still everywhere.

Without question,

After arriving in this world,

No one had influenced him more deeply.

Even knowing his own growth potential was terrifying,

Knowing his rate of advancement was monstrous—

There had always been one target in his heart he wanted to surpass.

Iz Palt.

He had truly become something like an inner demon.

And now—

He saw him again.

"Iz..."

Rei felt the magic he now possessed.

The Seventh Forbidden Magic still existed.

Once magic was learned—

As long as memory remained—

It could never be lost.

Just like Seiichi.

Eight reincarnations.

But magic learned was magic learned.

No matter how many reincarnations—

There was no need to learn it a second time.

Unless someone like Rei directly extracted another person’s magic.

Erasing their very knowledge of how it was cast.

"It seems..."

Iz Palt spoke.

"This is the second time you’ve met me."

Iz...

Sharp as ever.

By "second time," he naturally meant the second encounter with him in this place.

Otherwise, if counting meetings in total—

There had been thousands.

"Then you should know what happens next."

"Iz... you should also know you can’t kill me."

"Even if you kill me, it won’t change anything."

This time, Rei’s voice held none of the lingering fear from before.

Only calm.

"Can you tell me why?"

"I genuinely don’t understand."

Iz Palt raised his staff horizontally with one hand.

"Rei, you misunderstand one thing."

"The reason I did not kill you..."

"Is not because I cannot kill you."

Then—

A faint trace of realization crossed his expression.

"However..."

"It seems I already have my answer."

He had to try to kill me... to obtain the answer.

—

"Master Iz..."

"You were testing me."

Rei reached the conclusion.

Only at the edge of life and death

Could certain answers be genuine.

People could disguise themselves.

They could lie.

Especially someone like Rei—

An unsolvable mystery who concealed everything.

From Iz Palt’s perspective,

There had been no way to know whether Rei’s words or behavior were true.

But the instincts Rei displayed when fighting to survive—

Those were difficult to fake.

"Master Iz..."

"What answer did you get?"

Seeing the other man no longer had any desire to attack him,

Rei finally breathed easier.

Because times had changed.

The situation was different now.

Iz sat cross-legged on the ground.

Then, very seriously, he said,

"You already know you’ve been contaminated, don’t you?"

Rei nodded.

"I’ve suspected as much."

"But it doesn’t seem severe yet."

"I don’t know when it began..."

"Or how I was affected."

"But for now, I think I may have a way to suppress the contamination."

"Maybe even remove it entirely."

"If I find Kumironi as soon as possible..."

"Could she do something?"

Iz gently shook his head.

"Contamination that has already taken root completely..."

"Even Kumironi has no cure for it."

Then Iz looked faintly helpless.

But he still spoke.

"Rei..."

"Can you leave a flaw in your talent?"

Rei paused.

"A flaw?"

Iz answered,

"That talent of yours."

Eternal Erasure.

"The talent that can truly kill someone."

"Erase reincarnation itself."

Rei fell silent for a moment.

"...For Akasei?"

Iz nodded.

"Yes."

"If he hadn’t been killed by that talent..."

"Kumironi should have been able to revive him."

Leave a flaw in his talent...

But Eternal Erasure was not merely a weapon.

It was also what kept Ansu in check.

It was Rei’s only true trump card capable of killing Ansu permanently.

Without that talent—

Ansu dying would just be death.

A rotten life thrown away.

He would reincarnate.

And catching him again afterward?

That would be difficult.

And Ansu truly did possess secret arts.

Methods to recover temporary peak strength after reincarnation.

If he returned seeking revenge—

That would be a serious problem.

"If your talent contains a flaw..."

"Then Akasei can still be revived."

Rei sensed Ansu within his sea of consciousness.

Then looked at Iz before him.

He had already sealed his mindscape.

Ansu could no longer share external information through him.

Finally—

Rei answered.

"...Alright."

"Master Iz."

"What should I do?"

In the past—

Change one tiny detail.

That was Iz’s method.

Not truly altering established history.

Just introducing a subtle detail

That had originally been overlooked.

"Let me see your talent."

"I should be able to use magic to alter it to some extent..."

"And create a flaw so subtle..."

"That even I would struggle to detect it."

Displaying one’s talent for another to modify...

No matter how one looked at it—

That was absolute taboo.

Forget allowing someone to alter it—

Even revealing it to another was exposing one’s ultimate trump card.

And who knew what hidden tampering another might perform?

Why trust him? Have I forgotten that not long ago he wanted me dead? He wanted my life.

If I let him tamper with my talent, who knows if this is just a way to kill me?

He may not be able to erase me directly in this era...

But planting a trap from a Ninth-Tier Mage inside my talent?

That would be effortless for him.