Witnessing Origin Magic was like witnessing thought itself.
Yet as Kanzaki Rei stared at the chaotic colors rising endlessly into the sky, he found that he couldn't resonate with it intellectually at all.
What… is this?
It was something that could not be recognized.
Something that could not be understood.
All around them, matter began to collapse. Everything in existence started to undergo separation.
No…
There was no point trying to analyze it. With his current knowledge, understanding it was impossible.
He had to feel it, not think about it.
Matter wasn't simply being broken down—it was being stripped apart.
A rock decomposed into solidity, earth elements, and the concept of cohesion. Those concepts then separated further, breaking down again.
Color was stripped into light, and light was divided into individual hues.
The entire world seemed to collapse into twisted chaos.
Even the Sea of Souls began to overturn.
Destruction.
Tearing.
After that point, what the naked eye saw could no longer be comprehended at all.
Rei couldn't even describe the scene before him.
Everything had become disordered—like the world had turned into a surreal abstract painting.
No…
Even more abstract than anything Picasso had ever painted.
Everything flowed and warped in chaotic currents.
The only thing he could sense was that something was constantly being extracted.
How long did this spectacle last?
Rei didn't know.
His perception of time itself had become distorted.
Perhaps ten minutes had passed.
Perhaps only a single instant.
Or maybe ten days… half a month.
He couldn't tell.
All he could do was quietly absorb the overwhelming impact of this Origin Magic.
So this was the power of the mage the world acknowledged as the greatest of all.
This was the first time Rei had ever seen Izparult fight seriously.
—
HUM—
His mind snapped back to clarity.
His consciousness returned.
Color returned to the world.
Rei suddenly realized his sense of time and space had recovered.
His awareness was no longer hazy.
Looking around again—
He saw only a bottomless abyss.
As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but emptiness.
The Sea of Souls had clearly been annihilated.
The power of that single attack…
Could it have destroyed the entire Rylen Continent?
Rei wasn't sure.
Because he couldn't perceive the limit of its destructive power.
Luluvi's perception returned as well.
When Rei looked at her face, he saw the emotion in her eyes.
Shock.
Perhaps his own expression carried the same look.
Rei took a deep breath.
He calmed himself.
He absolutely could not become arrogant.
Compared to Izparult, he still had an extremely long road ahead.
At his current strength, producing destruction on that scale was impossible.
And Akasei was incredibly powerful as well.
Until he surpassed every powerful figure he had ever seen, it was better to remain cautious and humble.
"Iz…"
A resentful voice suddenly interrupted.
Akasei stared at Izparult with a gaze full of grievance.
"What do you think the purpose of killing monsters is?"
Izparult fell silent.
Akasei grabbed the air dramatically and leaned in close to Izparult, his expression dark.
"To collect loot!"
"Look at what you just did!"
"Not even a single scrap left!"
"A Continental-Sinking monster! A Tier-6 monster that only appears once in a thousand years! And there's not even a speck of dust left!"
Nearby, Kumironi rubbed her forehead helplessly.
It seemed she had witnessed this situation more than once before.
"It was the same last time when you killed the Lord of the Holy Spirits. You didn't even leave any ashes behind…"
"Do you think we raid Tier-7 dungeons for charity?" Akasei demanded, leaning in face-to-face.
Izparult retreated repeatedly.
It was rare to see Akasei interrogating Izparult like this.
Rei thought to himself—if he were the team's gatherer, seeing a monster disappear without leaving a single drop of loot would probably make him feel the same way.
"You know, Iz," Akasei continued bitterly, "when I saw there was another Continental-Sinking monster here, I thought today would finally be a huge harvest."
Izparult could only smile awkwardly.
Meanwhile, Rei shared perception with Luluvi and surveyed the surroundings.
Everywhere their senses reached, there was nothing but a hollow abyss.
His perception extended thirty thousand kilometers downward, yet still couldn't find the bottom.
Not a single drop of seawater remained.
Outside the island they stood on was nothing but pure emptiness.
The island itself rested on a single pillar of earth, like a pencil suspended in the void.
Rei wanted to use the attack to estimate Izparult's upper limit of power.
But he realized that even determining the extent of the destruction was extremely difficult.
"Well… I didn't destroy everything."
"I did hold back a little and leave something behind."
Izparult gestured.
A cluster of seawater wrapped in countless souls floated toward them.
"I think this is probably the core part of the ocean."
"So I deliberately left… a little."
Akasei stared.
"A little? How big was it originally?"
Izparult looked away into the distance.
So even Izparult could feel guilty sometimes.
But this revealed something else.
Even Izparult might not be able to perfectly control his magic yet.
Otherwise, he might have restrained the destructive power more precisely.
Then again, this was likely the first time he had ever cast this spell.
Given Izparult's incredible learning ability, who knew how precisely he would control it next time?
After all, magic was a discipline that advanced through trial and error.
One real-world experiment was worth a thousand theoretical studies.
Akasei sighed.
"Fine."
"Then this thing is yours."
He played with the clump of water for a moment before tossing it back to Izparult.
By their team's rules, the monster had been instantly killed by Izparult, so the spoils belonged to him.
Besides, Kumironi and Obades clearly had no interest.
As for the one who opened the door—Rei…
Izparult looked at him.
"This Soul Water seems interesting. I'll study it for a couple days and give it to you later."
"Alright," Rei replied.
He didn't really mind.
He didn't even know what Soul Water was useful for.
If Izparult wanted to keep it for now, Rei had no objections.
After all, it was technically his loot.
After destroying the Sea of Souls, Izparult behaved like nothing had happened.
Rei wondered whether that Origin Magic had consumed any energy at all.
From appearances, probably not much.
The most terrifying thing wasn't a powerful spell.
The most terrifying thing was when a devastating spell felt like a basic attack to the caster.
As someone with Multi-Casting and permanently full mana, Rei understood that feeling very well.
—
When they returned to the Cavern of Despairing Wails, it felt like stepping back into another dimension entirely.
Izparult touched the edge of the door they had opened earlier.
His eyes shone with excitement.
"I never expected the structure of this door to be so exquisite."
Rei touched it as well, but felt nothing special.
"Ah, what a pity," Izparult sighed.
"Your understanding of space is still too shallow to sense its intricacies."
"If you were a Tier-4 mage, you'd be able to appreciate it."
Iz…
I already know my level is low. You don't need to stab me again.
Today alone, several Ancient Lost Magics and soul spells had dropped that he couldn't learn because of his level.
Now there was even knowledge he couldn't perceive simply because he lacked spatial understanding.
Sigh.
For a mage, level really was everything.
"Iz," Rei asked suddenly.
"Do you think this dungeon can be sacrificed?"
Akasei immediately looked toward Izparult as well.
For Rei, safety always came first.
But after what he had just seen, even a Tier-6 Continental-Sinking monster could be easily handled by Izparult alone.
Akasei, Kumironi, and Obades hadn't even needed to act.
"It should be fine," Izparult replied.
"Even if dozens more appeared… it shouldn't be much of a concern."
Heh…
Dozens?
If anyone else had said that, Rei would never believe it.
"Exactly, brother," Akasei said, slinging an arm around Rei's shoulders.
"Think about it. Across the entire Rylen Continent, this is the only Tier-6 dungeon left. After this, even Tier-5 dungeons will be hard to find."
"Remember—just a Tier-4 Nation-Destroying monster can sell for hundreds of thousands of gold."
"So how much do you think a Tier-6 Continental-Sinking monster is worth?"
"I know you're not short on money," Akasei continued.
"But think about it. Materials from a Tier-6 monster could craft incredible equipment and artifacts. If you face danger in the future, that gear might save your life."
"And besides…"
Akasei glanced at Izparult before leaning close to Rei's ear.
"Iz invested Tier-7 materials to forge your Void Ring Star Staff, right?"
"How are you going to repay that with ordinary gold coins?"
"But if you repay him with the corpse of a Tier-6 monster, wouldn't that be equivalent?"
"And another thing…"
"You wanted a battle spear, didn't you? The Void Ring Star Staff isn't sturdy enough yet, right?"
"Wouldn't it be perfect to reinforce it with additional materials so it becomes an indestructible spear?"
"You wouldn't want your precious staff to shatter in close combat, would you?"
…A demon.
This was truly the whisper of a demon.
Rei was deeply conflicted.
A Tier-6 dungeon was still extremely dangerous to him.
Even if Izparult and the others were reliable, Rei personally preferred avoiding any risk at all unless his strength overwhelmingly surpassed the danger.
But Akasei's arguments…
Sigh.
He did owe Izparult a tremendous favor.
And if they didn't clear this Tier-6 dungeon now, who knew when another chance would come?
He couldn't repay Tier-7 materials with the corpse of a Tier-5 monster.
Rei remembered every kindness shown to him.
If he had the opportunity to repay it, he would.
And…
Rei looked down at the staff in his hand.
The Void Ring Star Staff truly wasn't durable enough.
Even Eijin, the craftsman, had said that when it was originally designed, it was meant for mage combat only, not close-quarters fighting.
Later reinforcements had only slightly improved its durability.
It still couldn't withstand intense melee combat.
He had even emphasized:
Never use the staff to block enemy attacks.
"…Alright, Brother Akasei."
"We'll leave and perform the dungeon sacrifice."
Rei finally relented.
"Haha! That's my brother!"
Akasei slapped Rei's back with booming laughter.
"You handle the buffs. We'll handle the slaughter!"
"Everything we kill counts for you too! We're brothers!"
Rei looked toward Kumironi and Obades.
Kumironi looked slightly helpless but didn't object.
Clearly, she trusted Izparult and Akasei's strength.
"Relax," Akasei said confidently.
"Iz and I together are invincible among Tier-6. Even the strongest Tier-6 monster would be smashed into mud."
"One warrior, one mage—unstoppable. You get it?"
Izparult didn't disagree.
He simply smiled confidently.
"Actually… I'm already unstoppable by myself."
Right.
Each one more arrogant than the last.
Teams like this usually die the fastest.
Rei couldn't help imagining the scene—
Someone boasting they were invincible…
…and then getting cut in half the next second.
Hopefully they really were invincible.
He didn't want the trust he had just given them to collapse immediately.
—
They left the Cavern of Despairing Wails through another branching path.
Along the way they killed several Tier-6 King-class monsters.
This time, Rei remembered to sense battle intent.
He fought countless Tier-6 King monsters.
But that elusive battle instinct felt like constipation.
It always felt like it was about to emerge—
Yet it never quite did.
Fortunately, Rei wasn't in a hurry.
After all, he probably wouldn't be the main combatant in this dungeon anyway.
"I'll try first."
Rei stood before the dungeon entrance and extended one hand.
Knowledge he had studied yesterday surfaced in his mind.
All dungeons were part of a nest.
Sacrificing a dungeon was essentially changing the region of the nest it connected to.
It could be interpreted through vertical depth and horizontal depth.
Vertical depth represented tier level.
Horizontal depth represented the sacrifice you offered.
"So… where will this sacrifice lead?"
Rei raised his hand and injected 50,000 souls into the dungeon.
The black entrance shifted slightly.
But the change was minimal.
Akasei stared at the almost unchanged corridor.
"That's it?"
"For now, let's just try it."
"Fair enough."
Now that Rei had become a Level-2 Death Priest, sacrifices yielded greater returns, and the diminishing effects on soul quantity were weaker.
He suspected that 50,000 souls now might equal 500,000 souls before.
But sacrificing a Tier-6 dungeon might still require more.
If it wasn't enough…
He could simply add more later.
After exchanging glances, the group nodded.
One by one, they entered the dungeon.
This time, the scene before them was no longer a cave.
It was an ocean.
Luluvi's perception linked to Rei's.
Instantly, he sensed numerous Nation-Destroying monsters.
Tier-4, Tier-5, even Tier-6 variants.
All were scattered across the distant sea.
But the ocean itself wasn't a monster.
It was simply a normal sea filled with souls.
Akasei rested his greatsword on his shoulder.
His face was filled with disappointment.
"Sigh… no Continental-Sinking monsters."
"Brother, looks like the sacrifice wasn't enough."
Indeed.
There was no trace of such a monster in their perception.
"Then I'll kill a few King-class monsters and try sacrificing again."
Rei's body turned into a flash of white light and vanished.
The others remained on the beach.
Obades, Akasei, and Izparult pulled out a deck of playing cards.
Akasei: "Pair of sixes."
Obades: "Pair of nines."
Izparult: "Joker bomb."
"What the hell, Iz? Are you secretly using magic to peek at our cards?"
"Haha. I would never do something like that."
While Rei hunted monsters…
Luluvi practiced her newly acquired bow technique beside Obades.
Kumironi stayed nearby, watching Rei carefully.
She still wasn't entirely reassured.
About two hours later—
Rei returned, his body drenched in blood.
Akasei's eyes lit up instantly.
He could feel the ultimate essence of combat radiating from Rei.
After battling countless Tier-6 King-class monsters—
Kanzaki Rei had finally awakened his own Combat Intent.