Sacrifice death in exchange for power.
That was the creed of a Death Priest.
Rei felt his spirituality boiling within him.
And it was at the exact moment the class advancement completed—
That Rei finally understood what spirituality truly was.
It allowed him to see more than ordinary people could see.
It granted him deeper levels of thought.
It was a quality that separated the extraordinary from the mundane.
To perceive what ordinary people could not perceive.
To contemplate what ordinary people could not comprehend.
Something that transcended the ordinary.
Something that rose above the vulgar and commonplace.
Spirituality.
Restless.
Uneasy.
Active.
Surging.
It was the reason he was a genius.
The reason his mind worked so quickly.
What truly separated him from others?
Was it really just the [God-Tier · Proficiency Evolution] talent?
Yet Rei had always vaguely felt—
It wasn't just his proficiency.
In many other aspects, he seemed more sensitive and sharper than the people of this world.
Now that he had obtained the Death Priest class—
With his spirituality elevated for the second time—
Rei finally understood the answer.
Everything originated from his active spirituality.
Ah…
At that moment, a thought flashed through his mind.
Perhaps Messer had been right.
Failing to cherish one's spirituality was truly the greatest loss.
Because that was how people became mediocre.
Rei raised his hand!
Countless souls rose into the air from the distance!
They were the souls of the thousands of monsters he had killed earlier.
The Death Priest was classified as a forbidden class because the souls it used were not just any dead souls—
They could only be the souls of creatures killed by the caster themselves.
Bring death.
Cause death.
The class itself was practically an embodiment of death.
[Talent Acquired — God-Tier · Exalted Soul]
[Death Spell Learned: Corpse Substitution][Death Spell Learned: Corpse-Soul Explosion][Death Spell Learned: Soul Extraction][Death Spell Learned: Devouring Soul Curse]
[Death Priest Specialty Learned: Sacrifice][Death Priest Specialty Learned: Dead Soul Storage]
These abilities were engraved directly into Rei's mind the moment his class advanced.
Thump.
Nyera's heart contracted.
It looked down at Rei below.
Why?
Why would this Level 2 mage child make its heart tremble?
What had that strange celestial phenomenon earlier been?
For a moment, it had felt as though something connected to death itself had glanced at it.
What exactly had he done?
That scroll in his hand—
Was it a Class Secret Scroll?
A class advancement?
What was the point of changing classes right now?
It would only give him a Level 1 secondary class!
How could that possibly be a match for Lord Nyera?!
Thoughts exploded through its mind!
The irritation grew unbearable!
It no longer wanted to wait!
BOOM!
It raised its hand and swung!
SHING—
A ground-splitting slash erupted instantly!
So fast…
And yet—
So slow.
Rei could clearly see the opponent's movements.
Compared to the terrifying speed earlier, the monster's motions now seemed almost like slow motion.
Still extremely fast—
But now within the range he could react to.
His body couldn't keep up.
His physical abilities had only increased slightly.
Was it because Death Priest was also a magic-based class?
However—
His thinking speed had increased dramatically.
This was the return brought by spirituality.
Even if his body couldn't keep up, it didn't matter.
Spellcasting only required that his mind could keep up.
[Corpse Substitution]
BOOM!
The ground split open with a massive trench!
The place where Rei had just been standing was instantly cleaved apart!
But the thing that had been cut—
Wasn't Rei.
Instead…
It was a flattened corpse.
The body of some unknown monster from earlier on the battlefield.
[Corpse Substitution]Dead Soul Cost: 1
Swap positions with any corpse of a creature you personally killed within the last 24 hours, within a 10 km radius.
WHOOSH!
In almost an instant—
Rei appeared on the outer edge of the battlefield.
[Corpse Substitution — EXP +200,000]
[Corpse Substitution (LV: 13) — Greater swap distance]
All skills belonging to the Death Priest were innately instant-cast.
And they all fell under the category of spells.
However—
This spell did not consume mana.
Instead, it consumed Dead Souls.
And they had to be souls of enemies personally killed by Rei.
No wonder it was classified as a forbidden class.
His attack had been dodged.
Nyera turned its head sharply and sensed Rei's aura already three kilometers away.
BOOM!
The creature exploded forward!
Charging straight toward him in an instant!
[Extreme-Speed Ice Shard]
Rei raised his hand.
Ice shards materialized directly along the monster's inevitable trajectory.
BOOM!
They collided midair!
An explosion of icy mist burst into the sky!
Honestly, Rei would much rather continue running.
But the problem was—
In terms of speed, he was still slower than it.
And the Random Teleportation Scroll had already been destroyed.
The creature was relentlessly chasing him.
That meant only one option remained.
Fight.
Sure enough, even Tier 2 Transcendent Magic barely affected it.
A slash swept past!
[Corpse Substitution (LV: 25)]Phantom Substitute, more forgiving swap zones, greater range.
Proficiency Evolution worked on Death Priest skills as well.
After all, the talent affected skills, not just mage spells.
Which meant every class skill benefited from the effect.
His mind was faster now.
Dodging the monster's slashes had become easier.
As long as he saw the attack coming—
He could instantly swap to the farthest corpse location.
And the corpses he had created earlier—
Were scattered across the battlefield.
While he had originally killed monsters within a one-kilometer radius…
A one-kilometer radius meant a two-kilometer diameter.
On top of that—
That Level 4 mage guy had used tornadoes earlier, blowing corpses everywhere.
Which meant the corpse distribution now covered an absurdly large area.
Heh.
Who would've thought that guy's tornado would help in a moment like this?
Friend, you really are useful in the strangest situations.
Right now, the real concern was—
If the monster turned around and slaughtered the town's civilians.
But…
If it really decided to do that, Rei couldn't stop it anyway.
A Death Priest was not a Life Priest.
He had no way to save people.
BOOM!
SHING SHING SHING SHING!
The monster's speed increased again!
Rei swapped positions five times in an instant!
Elemental afterimages exploded along the path!
Even while swapping positions, Rei continued bombarding it with spells.
At nearly the same moment—
Slashes erupted from five different directions!
[Corpse Substitution — Proficiency EXP +1,500,000][Corpse Substitution — Proficiency EXP +1,620,000][Corpse Substitution — Proficiency EXP +1,420,000]
…
[Corpse Substitution (LV: 87)]
Heh.
Sure enough—
When using skills during life-and-death crises, proficiency skyrocketed.
Back when he fought the giant serpent, Ice Spike had grown like this too.
But this time—
Corpse Substitution's growth was especially dramatic.
His Ice Shards and Ice Blades struck the monster—
Yet they caused almost no damage at all.
They didn't even slow its movements.
However—
Deep Curse Arrows did pierce into its body.
And they did indeed produce a weakening effect.
"You slippery human…"
"Running around everywhere, making things troublesome."
"Why can't you just stay still and let me crush you?"
Ah…
So it had really locked onto him.
But why?
I didn't even taunt you.
Rei felt somewhat conflicted.
The good news—
The townspeople probably wouldn't be casually slaughtered now.
Rei didn't want to see anyone die if it could be avoided.
The bad news—
The monster was completely fixated on him.
And the thing Rei hated the most—
Was gambling with his own life.