Bzzzz—
From the ocean below to the clouds in the sky, to the streaking meteors cutting across the heavens, and even the stars scattered across the night—
The void flickered.
In that instant, the entire cylindrical column of space was extracted into nothingness.
Only an empty, colorless region remained.
It was a spell Messiah had never heard of—something he could not even begin to understand.
No… could this truly be called magic?
Calling it a miracle would not be an exaggeration.
Iz's gaze shifted slightly to the side.
There stood another Messiah.
"Storing your soul across different bodies… that's certainly an interesting spell," Iz remarked calmly. "If you had devoted yourself fully to researching soul magic, you might have become quite a competent soul mage."
Messiah stared at the body that had just been reduced to absolute nothingness.
He could no longer sense it at all.
His face twisted as he roared at Iz.
"IZ!"
"You're not even curious about anything?!"
"If you kill me like this, what do you think you'll gain?!"
"Yes, there is something I want to ask you," Iz replied. "That's precisely why I left 'you' alive."
"Now—"
Tap.
Just as Iz began to respond—
The ocean beneath his feet—what little had not been erased—suddenly lit up with layer after layer of magic circles.
Bzzzzzzzzzz—
Thousands of circles ignited in succession.
Messiah had constructed an enormous spell formation across this entire sea region.
Hundreds of magic arrays linked together, interacting and interlocking like the gears of a perfectly engineered machine.
And the remaining Messiah stood outside the formation's area of influence.
Iz glanced down at the array.
"A soul-transfer spell."
"So… you've been preparing for this day for quite a long time."
Messiah's expression turned cold as he pressed his hand against his chest.
"My body… has already endured too much."
"In order to prove the truth of the Origin, my life is nearly exhausted."
"Iz… after thinking it through again and again, you are the optimal choice I could find."
"Only the greatest magical prodigy can allow me to truly reach the Origin."
"This… is my only solution."
Iz Palut shook his head slightly.
"It seems you've made the wrong choice."
BOOM!
Countless radiant elemental lights surged into the sky.
The entire world churned under the pressure of overwhelming mana.
Iz did not move even a single step.
Yet beneath him, the grand formation Messiah had painstakingly constructed began to reverse itself.
It was unraveling.
Breaking apart.
Even worse—one by one, the magic arrays Messiah had been controlling lost their authority, gradually shifting under Iz's control instead.
Weightless.
Powerless.
That was how Messiah felt at that moment.
Years of meticulous preparation.
All those elaborate arrangements.
Yet before Iz, it was like loose sand that shattered at the slightest touch.
As long as one stood before him directly—
Winning against him in magic was impossible.
"Your spells are like castles built in the air," Iz said calmly.
"With such an unstable foundation, trying to pursue the Origin is already a misguided path."
"Messiah… you were wrong from the very beginning."
Messiah stared blankly at the reversed formation.
Completely ineffective?
He had imagined failure.
Imagined the path to be perilous, full of hardships, with survival odds slim.
But this result—
It was still unbearable.
"Why…"
"Why didn't it work?"
"Perhaps," Iz replied evenly, "because my mastery of soul magic is slightly superior to yours."
No.
It wasn't just "slightly."
To dismantle a pre-constructed formation so effortlessly…
That was not something achievable by being merely a little better.
His mastery of magic had reached a realm Messiah could never touch.
But I was a genius…
At least… I used to be.
Bzzzz—
Suddenly—
His soul felt as if it had been struck by a heavy blow.
Iz's voice echoed directly within his mind.
"Now… I ask. You answer."
Messiah's consciousness blurred.
He could only follow Iz's commands involuntarily.
"Was Messiah strong?" Rei asked.
Iz replied casually.
"Not particularly strong. His ability was about the level of an average mage."
Rei had no idea what Iz considered "average."
But judging from the situation, Iz had clearly won effortlessly.
And that opponent had been the most infamous criminal on the continent.
Iz suddenly asked another question.
"Rei… if one day you discovered that pursuing the ultimate Origin required violating your own principles… what would you do?"
Rei thought about it for a moment before answering.
"I'd probably switch paths. Become a warrior, or maybe an assassin."
"Oh? That's quite a decisive abandonment!"
Rei replied calmly.
"Because the reason for pursuing the Origin is to better uphold one's own principles."
"If I had to betray my own heart in exchange for power… then what meaning would that power have?"
"Iz… I would never stray down the same path Messiah did."
Iz laughed heartily.
"As expected of my disciple! That's an excellent answer."
"Exactly. The Origin is the Origin, and you are you."
"Our goal is to explore the Origin—but that doesn't mean we should lose ourselves along the way."
"Now tell me. What insights have you gained recently?"
"I heard you've already comprehended Origin Magic. Let me see your Origin."
Reuniting with Iz made Rei feel like he had endless things to say.
After all, the progress he had made recently was enormous.
Flesh magic.
Void magic.
Self-created spells.
Newly discovered rituals…
Having a master you could speak with openly like this was wonderful.
Rei didn't have to worry about Iz killing him to seize his treasures.
Nor did he fear being imprisoned for studying forbidden techniques.
Iz was simply someone who inspired that level of trust.
He had crossed millions of kilometers just to hunt down Messiah for threatening his disciple.
His very existence gave people a terrifying sense of reassurance.
A master who truly never disappointed.
As Rei shared his insights from the past few days, Iz responded with incredibly unique perspectives.
New sparks of inspiration quickly emerged.
However—
They hadn't spoken for long when a crimson figure suddenly descended beside them.
"Iz. You're finally back."
Oh.
Akasei had arrived.
"Yes. I heard from Obades about what happened," Iz said. "You discovered traces of the Church of Death, correct?"
Akasei shook his head.
"Kumironi uncovered it."
"More precisely… Rei noticed the initial signs."
Iz glanced at Rei, surprise and approval flashing in his eyes.
Akasei continued.
"Let's head there now. There are several rather delicate magical restrictions we haven't been able to break."
The two paused.
Then they both looked toward Rei.
Akasei grinned.
"Hey Rei, want to come along?"
"Me?"
"Yeah. We cleared out one of the Church of Death's hidden bases. It doesn't seem to be their main headquarters—the core members probably already evacuated."
"I want Iz to check if any clues remain."
Iz added,
"If we still can't find anything, I'll ask Beatrice to perform a divination."
Rei understood immediately.
Iz only wanted to resort to divination as a last option.
Perhaps that was a good habit to learn.
"Sure," Rei replied.
He didn't have anything else planned anyway.
And traveling with Iz meant the danger level was practically nonexistent.
If even they encountered danger—
Then the City Within the Circle probably wouldn't be safe either.
As they spoke, the three stepped onto the Heaven-Link Bridge.
Flying inside the city was forbidden.
Soon they left the city limits.
Rei rode on Akasei's back.
Akasei wasn't flying—he was running.
But with each step he took, the ground shattered beneath his feet as he leapt dozens of kilometers at a time.
His speed was absurd.
Now that Rei's strength had increased again, he could finally barely perceive how Akasei traveled.
Even at such speed—
It still took nearly half an hour to arrive.
"This area is no longer part of the Kingdom of Loren," Akasei said. "It's unclaimed wilderness."
"Be careful with fire."
He stopped before a cave.
Dense forest surrounded the area.
Judging from appearances, the cave was clearly the Church of Death's base.
There were obvious signs of battle.
Following Akasei inside, Rei saw blood splattered along the cave walls.
Fortunately, after experiencing enough dungeons, he had built a certain tolerance for such scenes.
The cave structure was simple.
However, it was clear the entrance had originally been protected by magical restrictions—now destroyed.
Extending his perception inward, Rei detected quite a lot inside.
Sacrificial ritual altars.
Archive rooms storing documents.
Prison cells.
A chamber filled with books clearly meant for proselytizing.
And everywhere—
Dry bones and internal organs.
It truly was a cult stronghold.
Now, however, it had been occupied by priests wearing emerald-green robes.
"Kumironi."
"I brought Iz—and little Rei."
Akasei called out from several corridors away.
"You finally returned."
"And you brought little Rei too? Why bring him to a place like this…"
"Rei isn't a child anymore," Akasei replied. "And he has the Cipher Scholar class. Maybe he can discover something useful."
Well… physically I'm still a child, Rei thought.
Kumironi sighed.
"…Fine."
The Cipher Scholar was a Secret-Scroll class, extremely rare in the world.
Sometimes tasks that level-5 or level-6 classes couldn't handle could be solved easily by a level-1 Secret-Scroll class.
Just like how even the strongest level-6 warrior wouldn't farm better than a level-1 Planter.
Every profession had its specialization.
In fact—
During the walk here, Rei's perception had already detected countless hidden secrets.
This cave was packed with concealed things.
Especially those cult-like books…
Rei stopped before a statue in the central chamber.
The statue's face was blurred.
But it vaguely resembled a young girl.
Though it had no decorations and was merely humanoid, it radiated an overwhelming aura of death and destruction.
There was no need to guess.
It clearly represented the White of Death and Destruction.
A forbidden god.
However—
Rei also noticed a hidden secret within the statue.
Secret: Statue of Death
Hidden Object: A concealed space located 20 kilometers away
Activation Method 1: Inject 1 Soul as a sacrifice
Activation Method 2: Locate the hidden spatial node and break it
"Kumironi," Rei said.
"I sense something unusual about this statue."
"It seems connected to a door that hasn't been opened yet."
Kumironi's perception immediately swept across the statue again.
"A door?"
Indeed… something was different.
Upon closer inspection, the statue seemed connected to another location through space.
Very well hidden.
"Oh. Found it," Iz suddenly said.
The next moment—
His figure flickered.
He vanished from beside them.
It seemed Rei wouldn't need to intervene much.
Rei shifted his attention to other objects in the cave.
There were even more secrets here than when he first awakened the Cipher Scholar class.
Secret: Trapped Within DeathHidden Knowledge: A method to extract the soul from a living being without killing it
Secret: Prayer of Borrowed DeathHidden Knowledge: A secret ritual for praying to the White of Death and Destruction
Secret: Birth of the ConsecratedHidden Function: A ritual that temporarily increases spiritual intensity through soul sacrifice
So many secrets.
Nearly all related to death.
Various rituals.
Forbidden techniques.
Most of them revolved around sacrifice.
Well… that certainly fit the Church of Death.
"Little Rei."
"We found these letters."
Rei accepted the papers from Kumironi's slender jade-like hand.
The pages were torn, the handwriting messy and sharp.
Secret: Letter to Myles
Hidden Object: Discussion regarding the Final Sacrifice
Activation Method 1: Master Ancient Ansu Cipher LanguageRequired Knowledge: Ono Transcoding
The language on the letter wasn't the common tongue.
Instead, it consisted of strange symbols.
Clearly—
It needed decoding.
Even the knowledgeable Kumironi couldn't decipher it easily.
"Any ideas?" she asked expectantly.
"I have a slight lead," Rei replied.
"But fully deciphering it might take some time…"
His gaze shifted toward a nearby bookshelf.
There sat a book titled:
"On the Ancient Ansu Cipher Language."
And beside it—
"Interpretations of Several Ancient Languages."
Within that second book was the hidden knowledge:
Ono Transcoding.
Just like the saying—
The antidote to a snake's venom can always be found within seven steps.
The key to decoding the letter was right here in this small room.
Rei turned to Kumironi.
"Kumironi… may I read these books?"
"I think the key to deciphering the letter might be inside them."
She hesitated briefly before nodding.
"The contents of these books might challenge your worldview."
"But I believe that as a mage pursuing the Origin… you should be able to distinguish right from wrong."
Good.
Rei had been worried she might treat them as forbidden texts and refuse.
Seeing so many secrets but being unable to unlock them would feel like a huge loss.
Many powerful discoveries had come from decoding secrets.
Not being tempted was impossible.
Especially since some of the hidden knowledge here looked extremely valuable.
And more importantly—
The strongest healer on the continent was currently standing right beside him.
If reading these books exposed him to forbidden knowledge or triggered some dangerous backlash…
Kumironi could still save him in time.
..
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