At last, Rei carefully finished reading Ansei's manuscript.
The entire twenty-five years of Ansei's life replayed completely in Rei's mind.
Year 4997.
Ansei wished to become a God of Magic.
At that time, he was already Level 8, and 465 years old.
His body had begun to wither.
Even an 8th-Tier mage only lived for about 500 years.
During the final twenty years of life, all bodily functions would rapidly decline, gradually deteriorating.
It was said that gods possessed nearly endless lifespans.
Ansei did not want to die.
So he set out on the path to search for the method of ascension to godhood.
For someone like Ansei—an 8th-Tier mage—such a pursuit was only natural.
A Level-8 profession holder already stood at the very peak of the world.
Becoming a god seemed like the next logical step.
Most profession holders believed that Level 9 might itself be the threshold to godhood.
Even if Level 9 wasn't literally becoming a god, reaching it must surely be an essential requirement.
However, during his search—
Ansei discovered something troubling.
The path to godhood might not be the same as the path of leveling.
Many of the deleted passages from the manuscript had originally been his research notes on the road to divinity.
In the twilight years of the War God, there had not been a single battle recorded.
In the later years of the God of Frost, that deity had lived somewhere with eternal spring.
Between 4997 and 5005, Ansei traveled across the world.
He sought out ruins left behind by the gods, ancient legacies, and myths passed down among mortals.
He also visited several Level-7 and Level-8 profession holders, exchanging thoughts with them about ascension.
One section of the manuscript read:
"Why can no trace of a Level-9 profession holder be found?""And why can no god walking among the world be found either?""They clearly exist, and their influence upon the world is immense—yet why are they never seen?"
Another entry followed:
"When I spoke with the Level-8 Chaos Trickster, Roa, I gleaned a faint hypothesis from his absurd imagination.""The Level-9 profession may not be a path toward godhood at all."
Another line:
"Perhaps the two paths oppose each other.""Perhaps leveling and becoming a god have nothing to do with one another.""Such an idea is absurd."
And yet—
"This speculation carries a strange logic that cannot be disproven."
January 1, 5005
"Yesterday, I encountered a god walking in the mortal world.""Yet I cannot remember the god's appearance at all…""From that god, I learned the secret of ascension.""But I feel myself rapidly forgetting everything.""I must write it down immediately."
After that—
Everything he recorded had been erased.
But thanks to Rei's talent:
「God-Tier · Information Traceback」
The missing content had been completely restored.
Restored Record
"Level-9 profession holders and ascension are entirely different paths."
"Choosing to advance to Level 9 is nearly equivalent to abandoning the possibility of becoming a god."
"A Level-9 profession holder already possesses power comparable to ordinary non-Lunar gods."
"They also gain the opportunity to challenge the mysterious Level 10."
"Those who wish to ascend must make their choice at Level 8."
"At that point, they must discover their own ritual of ascension."
"They no longer need to follow the rules of their profession."
"Those who wish to reach Level 9 must instead continue fulfilling their profession's principles."
"Godhood and Level 9 are nearly opposite roads."
Another passage:
"I asked that unknown god whether a path existed that could achieve both.""To ascend to godhood while still reaching Level 9."
"The god replied: such a path exists."
"But it is nearly impossible."
Rei sighed softly.
All of those words had come directly from that forgotten god.
Yet if one heard them and immediately forgot them…
Wasn't that the same as never hearing them at all?
If that god deliberately caused the forgetting…
Then that deity truly has a strange sense of humor.
Even though Ansei forgot much of the conversation, the fragments of clues eventually led him to discover the Mage's path to godhood.
Although his search had been full of setbacks—
Ansei's talent was undeniable.
No one could reach Level 8 in the Mage profession without being a genius.
The word genius barely described someone like him.
Through deduction, Ansei concluded that ascension required two conditions.
First Requirement:Deny the Origin.
Second Requirement:Master three Primordial Forbidden Spells.
Only those two.
Yet—
To deny the Origin?
How absurd.
After verifying these conditions, Ansei ultimately made a decision.
He abandoned the path to godhood.
Instead—
He returned to pursuing the Origin itself.
The remaining manuscripts were filled with his deep reflections on the nature of Origin.
But they were far too profound.
Rei could barely understand them.
The writings seemed to attempt proving that Origin was absolute and immutable—the complete opposite of what the godhood path required.
Afterward, Ansei repeatedly attempted to reach Level 9.
Every attempt failed.
His mind suffered severe damage along the way.
The final step of proving the Origin remained forever out of reach.
Failing to reach Level 9—
He once again tried to deny the Origin and walk the divine path.
But neither road accepted him.
Year after year, frustration consumed him.
Every January, memories vanished again.
Once the manuscript was fully restored, it documented multiple attempts at ascension, alongside countless speculations about Origin.
Rei copied the manuscript's contents onto fire-writing paper.
He planned to discuss it with Izparut in the future.
The current year was 5025.
That meant Ansei was now 493 years old—already near the end of his life.
No wonder Izparut had once said that Ansei was the most powerful mage alive.
If Ansei's body had weakened enough—
Izparut might truly have become the strongest mage now.
Rei closed the manuscript.
With the remaining time that night, he lay on his bed studying Ritual Theory.
The Next Morning
"Kumironi."
"Mm-hm~ I heard you defeated Luluvi."
Kumironi sat in the dining hall.
Nearby, Obades was grilling drake steak.
Rei grinned.
"Hehe, I just got lucky. I happened to learn spatial magic during the match."
Kumironi smiled.
"Luck is also part of strength."
Rei asked:
"Kumironi, how's the situation with the Death Church?"
"The purge has gone very smoothly."
"Thanks to the intelligence you uncovered, we raided many of their bases."
"We captured and eliminated many of their members, including several high-ranking figures."
"We also rescued many civilians they had imprisoned."
Rei took a sip of a sweet drink he didn't recognize.
That outcome sounded excellent.
"Can I join your operations?"
"Hmm… actually, the cleanup around the City of the Circle is almost complete."
"We'll be departing soon for Knoroya, the capital of Loren."
"Along the way, we'll eliminate several more Death Church outposts."
So they were leaving soon.
Originally, their stop in the City of the Circle had only been to forge a new staff.
They had planned to leave immediately afterward.
But the Death Church incident had delayed them a few days.
"Oh, right," Rei added.
"Luluvi said she wants to join us."
"I already heard."
Kumironi replied:
"Her strength is solid. She won't hold us back."
"If she joins, that would actually be quite good."
Days in the City of the Circle
Rei returned once more to the sealed site of the Thousand-Army Ant Mountain.
Desk out.
Books open.
Summon Monster Tide.
Feed souls.
Strengthen the Ant Mountain.
The process had become second nature.
But the more he looked at the Ant Mountain, the harder it became to part with it.
If he left the City of the Circle—
He would have to kill it.
Otherwise it would remain a ticking time bomb.
Rei couldn't guarantee someone wouldn't eventually break the seal.
And sealed monsters always seemed destined to be unsealed.
Why seal something instead of killing it outright…
Just so villains can release it later?
Rumors in the City
While walking through the city, Rei heard people discussing Luluvi everywhere.
Apparently she had already advanced to Level 5 Archer.
The next day, the Universal Goods Market held an auction featuring equipment crafted from Nation-Destroying monsters.
Rei attended.
The prices were absurd.
Instead of spending millions of gold coins buying those items—
He'd rather hunt the monsters himself and commission a blacksmith.
Still, it showed how enormously profitable the monster trade was.
Rei Studies Fate
That day, Rei began studying Fate Studies.
In a single day he read over one hundred books on the subject.
He couldn't say he fully understood fate yet—
But he grasped many of its key principles.
The deeper he understood fate—
The less frightening it became.
Yet simultaneously—
Countless new questions about fate appeared.
Day Three
That day, Aizen underwent his Enchanter advancement ceremony.
A phenomenon shook the heavens.
Complex runic circles filled the sky, engraving faint patterns throughout the City of the Circle.
Aizen had succeeded.
He had become one of the rare Level-6 Enchanters on the continent.
Rei visited to congratulate him.
Aizen gifted him a pendant enchanted with minor luck enhancement.
During their conversation, Rei cautiously asked Aizen what he thought about rituals that sacrificed living people.
Unexpectedly—
Aizen was very interested.
According to him:
"At higher levels, ordinary enchantment methods can't fulfill the profession's principles anymore."
"You must create things no one has attempted before."
"Or produce legendary treasures."
"That's the only way to advance."
"So… Uncle Aizen, you're willing to try such methods?"
Aizen sighed.
"What's evil about it?"
"If those scum sacrifice innocent people to dark gods, why can't we use them for crafting?"
"They should be prepared to face the same fate."
"If they simply die normally, what does that solve?"
"The people they murdered won't come back."
"Better to make use of them."
Rei liked that reasoning.
But when he asked Kumironi for permission—
She refused.
"Life should never be treated as a tool."
"They will be punished for their crimes."
"But they are not materials for someone's desires."
"At least… not human life."
However, she added quietly:
"If you truly need such things… try the Tribunal."
Rei understood the meaning.
Some actions simply had to be done out of sight.
The Tribunal
Aizen and Rei went to the Tribunal.
Once they heard Aizen was a new Level-6 Enchanter and Rei was the War God Cup champion, their attitude changed instantly.
They allowed them inside.
Soon they selected a prisoner:
Yagese.
A notorious Level-4 Warlock priest of the Death Church.
His crimes were horrifying.
One example recorded in the tribunal book:
He murdered the parents of ten children in front of them, driving the children into madness.
And that was listed as one of his lighter crimes.
Aizen slapped the prisoner's shoulder like selecting merchandise.
"Someone like this deserves any death imaginable."
The tribunal judge chuckled while smoking a black cigar.
"Take him."
"Officially, he committed suicide during interrogation."
A bribe of over one hundred thousand gold coins ensured everything went smoothly.
Rei couldn't help thinking afterward:
If I wanted to rescue him instead of kill him…
Wouldn't it have been just as easy?
The thought sent chills down his spine.
Two Days of Crafting
For two days, Rei assisted Aizen.
They performed a forbidden enchantment ritual.
Rei supplied soul energy.
They melted the prisoner's living body into blood-black runic symbols.
At the moment life vanished—
Rei questioned himself.
Was this wrong?
But then he remembered the man's crimes.
"I'm not pursuing absolute goodness."
"As long as my actions align with my own principles."
"That's enough."
Completion
With the final rune embedded into the bracelet—
The emerald-colored object twitched like living flesh.
Then it went still.
[Bracelet of Living Storage]
Aizen wiped sweat from his forehead.
"I made the space extremely large."
"It should meet your requirements."
The bracelet contained space equivalent to an entire town.
And it could store living beings.
Rei finally relaxed.
At last…
I don't have to abandon the Thousand-Army Ant Mountain.
Later
Soon after, Izparut and Akasei returned.
They had completely destroyed the most dangerous Death Church strongholds.
On October 20, 5025, Luluvi officially joined the Legendary Adventure Party.
Rei stored the Thousand-Army Ant Mountain inside the bracelet.
Unexpectedly—
Even inside the bracelet, it continued absorbing Monster Tides from the outside world.
It looked as though Rei himself was purifying the monster waves.
The party finally departed the City of the Circle.
They headed north toward Knoroya, the capital of Loren.
Along the journey they eliminated several Death Church outposts and explored wild dungeons.
One dungeon spawned twelve Nation-Destroying monsters at once.
Even Izparut stared in shock.
November 1
The Month of Storage and Cold arrived.
Snow covered the world.
The cold wasn't only physical.
It seemed to freeze the soul itself.
A few days later—
Through the blizzard, they finally saw it.
A magnificent city towering above the snow.
Even larger than the City of the Circle.
Several enormous magical towers stood within it.
Rei could feel immense elemental energy radiating from them.
They had arrived at their destination.
Knoroya — Capital of the Loren Kingdom.
..
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