Trap Studies, Avian Acoustics, Combat Psychology, Ritual Theory…
A flood of different doctrines and bodies of knowledge rapidly passed through Kanzaki Rei's mind.
First, he needed to calculate her maximum attack range.
…Although, speaking of which, that distance was already absurd.
All he could see was a tiny black speck in the sky. If his Spirituality hadn't been high enough—combined with his enhanced vision and the exceptional calculation ability granted by the Cipher Scholar profession—he might not even have been able to estimate the distance between them.
"550 kilometers."
It had increased again.
Coincidentally, that was roughly the distance between Qingdao and Shanghai.
Rei had been familiar with both cities in his previous life, so he knew their approximate distance.
No wonder no one had managed to defeat her until now.
If an enemy could run several hundred kilometers away within three seconds of the match starting, who could possibly reach them?
And on top of that, Luluvi's attack power wasn't merely decent.
If anything, it was terrifying.
Even from such an extreme distance, Rei could still sense that without Final Sense warning him, many of the killing blows hidden within her endless rain of arrows would have been impossible to detect.
If he slipped up even once, he could easily suffer a devastating hit.
It probably wouldn't kill him outright—but it would definitely expose the true durability of his body.
His warrior-level physical toughness was supposed to be a hidden trump card.
But…
She seemed to have stopped moving.
Which meant—
550 kilometers was likely her current maximum effective range.
Or perhaps more precisely, the limit of her optimal attack range. After all, different skills had different maximum distances.
"In that case…"
「Source Body · Instant White Flash」
Whoosh!
Rei immediately fled in the opposite direction.
RUMBLE—
At the same moment, space itself tore open.
Hundreds of multicolored rifts spread across the sky.
A total of 340 Nation-Destroyer-class Void summons poured out.
「Source · Awaken the Void」
Rei expended four Sources in one go.
Void creatures appeared in orderly ranks—an immense army pouring from the dimensional fissures. Among them, the Void Pillar Wardens stood in dense rows like towering fortress walls, completely shielding Rei's body.
Then—
Thick mist rose.
Shadows spread.
One illusionary Rei after another appeared, concealed within the fog.
"Nation-Destroyer-class monsters?"
"Tier-4?"
"So many?"
For the first time, Luluvi froze briefly in surprise.
She had watched the earlier matches.
One of them had featured a summoner fighting the turtle-shell warrior. Even at his peak, that summoner had only managed to call forth:
Three Tier-4 Monarch-class creatures
Two Lord-class creatures
Plus numerous lesser minions
With the help of a Commander profession, careful coordination had barely allowed them to exert combat power comparable to a single Nation-Destroyer-class monster.
But this…
"A Level-3 mage…"
"…Interesting."
"So this is your Origin Magic?"
Luluvi's perception pierced through the fog.
She ignored the illusions and immediately locked onto the real Rei, who was rapidly retreating deeper into the mist.
And since Rei was retreating as well, the distance between them continued to widen.
Just as Rei had guessed—
Her optimal attack distance was 550 kilometers.
Her absolute maximum range was 1,000 kilometers, but at that distance she could no longer use most of her bow techniques.
「Arrow Control · Heavenly Roaming Feathers (Tier-4) (LV:40)」
Luluvi fired an arrow into the sky.
Immediately—
The arrow split apart violently in midair.
Within seconds it transformed into hundreds of thousands of arrows, swirling like tadpoles circling above the battlefield.
「Bow Technique · Tracking Guiding Arrow (Tier-4) (LV:50)」
She drew her bow again.
「Bow Technique · Burst Shot」
BOOM!
The instant the bowstring snapped—
The hundreds of thousands of arrows that had been circling overhead instantly appeared behind Rei.
"…What a nuisance."
Rei spun around.
His staff swept outward.
A tidal wave of magic erupted forward, smashing and destroying countless arrows!
Magic and arrows collided violently in midair.
Even so—
Dozens of the Void summons positioned in front had already been destroyed.
A Tier-4 archer capable of instantly killing Nation-Destroyer-class monsters of the same tier…
Truly worthy of someone who had cleared the 100th floor of the War God Tower.
Whoosh!
But then—
From the corner of his eye, Rei glanced toward the barely visible black speck at the horizon.
She was chasing him.
Which meant his earlier guess had been correct.
550 kilometers truly was her limit—or at least the range where she felt most comfortable fighting.
Pop!
Brilliant multicolored light burst out.
Rei stomped on the ground.
A brown speck of light, identical to the color of the soil, sank deep into the earth beneath his boots.
Next…
He needed to figure out how to break that escape skill of hers.
It could even evade curses and locked-on magic.
Any skill powerful enough to violate the laws of the world should carry some kind of cost.
For example—
The cost of Death Exchange was preparing a corpse and a soul of equal Spirituality beforehand.
To completely negate such a heavy price would require something like a God-tier talent.
Rei refused to believe that her escape technique had no limits whatsoever.
His intuition whispered a faint possibility.
Maybe—
She couldn't escape direct physical grabs.
"Though… her pursuit speed isn't as fast anymore."
Rei noticed her attacks gradually slowing.
Running away was faster than chasing.
Which suggested that when she escaped earlier, she might have been using his attacks as momentum to move.
Or perhaps she used a mobility-boosting skill only while retreating, not while pursuing.
Either way—
That meant the ability had restrictions.
Rei's mind raced.
If her pursuit speed wasn't enough…
Then he would simply increase his own speed further.
「Mana-Tempering Combat Flow — Fourth Form: Phantom Step (LV:301)」
WHOOSH!
Rei rushed back into the ruined city.
This time—
Terrifying amounts of mana overflowed outward.
In an instant, the entire city was flooded with his magic power.
"Externalized mana?"
Luluvi frowned in confusion.
What was he doing?
His mana pool was absurdly massive, almost comparable to Izparut's.
But releasing it like this—
Wasn't it simply wasting mana?
She didn't recognize the phenomenon of Mana Tides. She had only fought Izparut once during a challenge attempt, and their interaction had been brief.
Meanwhile—
The destroyed Void Pillar Wardens regenerated.
If Luluvi wanted to pursue Rei, she would have to break through the wall-like formation of more than three hundred Void summons.
"...Tch."
"If I don't finish this beautifully, people will really look down on me."
After all—
She was Level 4, fighting a Level-3 mage.
If the battle dragged on like this…
She could already imagine the spectators whispering.
Bullying someone weaker.Only winning because of the level difference.Afraid to fight directly, so she runs to maximum distance.
The strongest Level-4 archer?
Can't even defeat a Level-3 mage.
And she thinks she can challenge Izparut?
Luluvi had an extremely sensitive personality.
She cared deeply about other people's opinions.
Even worse—
A stray thought had appeared in her mind.
What if I lose?
Lose to this mage?
Impossible.
She would not lose.
Not only would she win—
She would win flawlessly and spectacularly.
A trace of anger rose within her.
Her emotions began interfering with the perfect rationality she normally maintained in battle.
"Tch."
WHOOSH—
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Nine beams of light blasted forward, instantly destroying the foremost Void Pillar Wardens as Luluvi surged ahead at explosive speed.
Yet the shattered Void summons regenerated instantly.
After mastering 「Source · Body as Spell」, Rei's regeneration speed for summons had drastically increased.
Just like his rapidly regenerating shield layers.
The summons were restored instantly.
Even so—
Luluvi fired a few more arrows and destroyed them again.
Was his speed always this fast?
At this moment, Rei had pushed his movement speed to the absolute limit.
He was nothing more than a streak of light flashing through the ruined city.
"Big Sister Luluvi… why not just surrender?"
"If we keep fighting like this, you'll never be able to kill me."
Luluvi's face remained cold.
But anger flickered in her heart.
Surrender?
No one had ever said such a thing to her before.
Was he deliberately provoking her?
Trying to lure her closer?
Just because he had managed to escape for a while, did he really think she couldn't kill him?
Her perception swept across the entire land.
Nothing unusual appeared.
「Tracking Arrow」「Scatter Arrow」「Hasty Barrage」「Break-Boost Arrow」「Explosive Flame Shot」「Piercing Light Line」「Annihilation Strike」
WHOOSH!
Arrows rained down in chaotic bursts.
The strikes arrived instantaneously.
How could any normal person react to something like this?
Yet Rei's responses looked almost like precognition.
Was this mage really reacting after seeing the attacks?
No.
He had already begun countermeasures before her attacks even completed.
He could predict exactly what she was about to do.
Battle instinct?
How can a mage possess battle instincts this sharp?
That was something usually only warriors had.
Warriors lacked Spirituality, so they were compensated with enhanced combat intuition.
But Rei…
"Running all over the place…"
It wasn't that she couldn't hit him at all.
But Rei's defense was equally formidable.
Arrows strong enough to land hits couldn't break his defenses.
Arrows capable of piercing his defenses he dodged perfectly.
「Tracking · Charged Divine Destruction Arrow」
WHOOSH!
Ten terrifying arrows mixed into tens of thousands of ordinary arrows.
To the naked eye, they looked identical.
Yet Rei instantly identified which arrows were truly lethal.
He endured the weaker arrows.
Dodged the Charged Divine Destruction Arrows hidden within the "safe zones."
At the same time—
His magic roared out.
Destroying them in midair.
"…That was close."
Rei knew that if he had been hit by one of those arrows—
He would truly have been finished.
Unless he revealed the Death Priest's ability and used Death Exchange to substitute his death.
But with countless spectators watching, he had no intention of exposing those abilities unless absolutely necessary.
It wasn't merely about reputation.
Though the Death Priest profession was technically legitimate…
Most of its powers were his hidden trump cards.
If rumors spread—
People might start saying that Kumironi was protecting a Death Priest.
Rumors were troublesome.
Once misunderstandings formed, clarifying them later became even harder.
So—
Better to hide it while he could.
Thanks to Final Sense, he could detect the difference between the arrows.
To ordinary perception, every arrow looked identical.
Even with high Spirituality, distinguishing them mid-battle would have been nearly impossible.
But then—
Rei glanced behind him.
Luluvi… you finally chased close enough.
You really made me run a long time.
Maintaining such distance…
What an invincible tactic.
HUM—
High in the sky, the previously shattered Thousand-Sight Void Eyes suddenly regenerated.
They immediately unleashed a massive psychic shockwave.
Luluvi's eyes widened.
She had destroyed those eyes earlier, and they hadn't regenerated then—so she assumed they were gone permanently.
She had expected only the Void Pillar Wardens to regenerate.
But—
These eyes regenerated too.
The psychic attack slammed toward her—
But the pendant at her chest glowed, blocking the mental assault.
After all, powerful individuals rarely lacked mental defense tools.
Yet at that exact moment—
「Source · Mind Sever」
BOOM!
Another mental attack detonated.
This one shook Luluvi's consciousness slightly, though she didn't lose awareness.
It wasn't that she lacked mental defenses.
But—
Rei was so far away.
None of his magic should have been able to reach her.
So why—
Had a mental attack suddenly struck her?
Before she could understand—
「Source · Transposition Shift」
SWISH!
Origin Magic activated.
The Origin Magic Rei had copied earlier from Muen.
In an instant—
Rei appeared directly behind Luluvi, grabbing her ankle with one hand.
「Transposition Shift」
"Mark two locations in space and exchange all matter within them, or add/remove a segment of spatial distance."
A spatial Origin Magic.
Rei had placed the second location marker earlier while fleeing.
A single Source particle hidden among countless natural elements.
Impossible to detect.
One Source had been used to launch Mind Sever, catching Luluvi off guard.
Another activated Transposition Shift at the same moment.
If spells couldn't grab you…
Then what about my body?
SWISH!
The scenery around them suddenly changed.
Yet Luluvi had not escaped Rei's grip.
So—
His guess had been correct.
She could escape spells and lock-on effects.
But she couldn't break free from physical grappling techniques.
「Mana-Tempering Combat Flow — Sixth Form: Grapple Technique — Demon-Binding Lock」
Luluvi turned in shock.
Her ankle was firmly held by a young hand, yet the strength behind it was immovable.
Her bow rose toward Rei's head—
But Rei yanked her downward.
His body surged upward.
His knee lifted, pulling massive mana upward with the motion.
「Mana-Tempering Combat Flow — Second Form: Ascending Heaven-Shattering Strike」
Luluvi—
If you can't escape like this…
Then the battle becomes close-quarters combat.
And I won't let go.
Rei dragged Luluvi toward him—
And drove his knee upward.