This was the first time they had directly sacrificed one million souls to a dungeon.
Even Kanzaki Rei had no idea where this passage would ultimately lead.
Nor what kind of monsters would spawn inside.
Sunken-Continent Class was the upper limit of Tier-5 monsters.
But it was not necessarily the upper limit of Tier-6 monsters.
If every tier of monster truly possessed a higher evolutionary rank beyond the previous…
Then above Sunken-Continent Class, Tier-6 monsters should theoretically possess an even higher classification.
Akasei's expression turned serious as well. He clearly wasn't treating this operation as a casual joke.
He jabbed Obades in the lower back with his elbow.
"Stone Bro."
"Go in first and take a look. Come back and tell us what's inside. After that, we'll enter."
Obades gave a heavy nod.
Then Izparut raised a hand.
"Wait."
"The restrictions inside are probably difficult to break."
As he spoke, Izparut traced symbols in the air, inscribing a magical formation directly onto Obades' body.
"Obades. After you finish scouting, you can use the magic I left on you to break open an exit from inside the dungeon."
Obades nodded again.
Kumironi also added something onto Obades' body, though Rei couldn't recognize what it was.
Once everything was prepared, Obades stepped inside.
The rest of them simply stood guard by the portal and waited.
Luluvi's gaze drifted toward the distance.
Using her perception as a medium, Rei followed her line of sight.
Across layer upon layer of mountain ranges.
Through the swirling blizzard.
Far in the northwest, an army was slowly advancing through the heavy snow.
The Month of War and Fire had already passed.
Yet the war itself had never ended.
Judging by their uniforms, the army Luluvi was observing seemed to belong to Loren.
About five hundred kilometers away from them, there was a brightly lit military camp.
It appeared they were preparing a surprise assault against Riga's forces.
The strongest fighter in Loren's army was only a Level-4 Class Advancer.
High-tier Class Advancers were already extremely rare—and even fewer were willing to join the military.
But inside Riga's camp…
There was a Level-5 warrior stationed there.
If Loren's army launched their attack without discovering that fact first…
That Level-5 warrior might deal them a fatal blow.
A trace of pity flickered across Rei's mind.
No matter what happened, this battle would surely end in rivers of blood.
Here they were, challenging a Tier-6 dungeon, while far away war still raged.
In this world…
Everyone had their own battles to fight.
Rei had no interest in the distant war.
Even though he was technically now a citizen of Loren, his attitude toward war was the same as Izparut's—
Stay out of it.
These conflicts were born from humanity's greed.
Even if Loren unified the entire Ruilen Continent, they would simply expand outward and start new wars on other continents.
And if Loren didn't do it?
Then East Loren, West Loren, Riga, or someone else would.
Trying to intervene in wars—or even national policy—would change nothing.
If you didn't invade others…
Others would invade you.
Or they would expand somewhere else.
So in the end—
There was no real meaning in interfering.
Obades had already entered.
…
The group waited quietly in the vast snowfield.
About five minutes later, Obades finally emerged from the passage completely unharmed.
"Many… monsters… no danger."
Akasei rested his sword on his shoulder and laughed.
"Haha! Then that means we can go in and have some fun!"
After confirming things with him, everyone followed behind Obades.
One by one, they stepped inside.
Darkness.
Evil.
A shrill, chaotic noise echoed constantly in the air, making Rei frown.
The environment was surreal and distorted.
This place was already completely unrelated to the Cavern of Despairing Wails.
But there was no denying it—
It was still an evil-aligned dungeon.
The air was saturated with souls, pain, and sinister monsters.
Whoooosh—
In the distance, Rei saw rolling clouds of dense fog sweeping toward them.
His instincts immediately told him something.
That wasn't real fog.
It was a monster.
Being swallowed by that fog meant being dragged directly into its body.
"So that's also a Sunken-Continent-Class monster."
Rei showed no panic.
Because the teammates beside him were completely reliable.
[God-Tier · Soul Sovereign]
Rei lifted his hand and pulled.
The fog—containing countless souls—was suddenly drained like water being siphoned out.
"Soul-Devouring Evil Mist."
"Huh? Big Sister Luluvi actually knows its name?"
Rei turned his head toward her.
But due to their height difference, what he saw first were the proud twin peaks of her chest.
Only after raising his gaze further did he see her face.
"Of course."
Luluvi's tone carried a hint of pride.
"I'm not some idiot who only knows how to fight."
Luluvi… Akasei isn't just someone who only knows how to fight either.
If you name him specifically, I'll have to defend him.
She continued.
"This creature only exists in hypothetical constructs."
"I didn't expect to see one for real today."
"Those biologists are quite capable."
So they had predicted this creature's existence without ever seeing it?
That meant the birth of monsters followed certain rules.
A casual remark—but it revealed deeper truths.
Akasei, however, didn't care about any of that.
With a single swing of his sword, he cleaved apart the dense evil fog.
Then he dashed forward at incredible speed, charging straight into the mist.
Kumironi said calmly,
"All monsters possess a core."
"All living beings rely on something to sustain their life."
"So every creature has a weakness."
"No matter what form it takes, no matter how it exists… there will always be a core that cannot be destroyed."
Within the endless fog—
A streak of crimson light moved like a dragon!
Wherever it passed, the mist scattered.
The countless drifting strands of fog began converging toward Akasei.
It had sensed a threat.
Within the dense mist, the Corrupt Condensed Core frantically shifted its position.
In truth, it looked no different from the rest of the fog.
If ordinary people saw it, even if two clouds of mist appeared right in front of them, they would never notice any difference.
But Akasei noticed it instantly.
A Tier-6 Sunken-Continent-Class monster was clearly more perceptive as well.
Inside the fog, it rapidly moved its core, trying to escape the terrifying warrior's lock-on.
But Akasei's relentless pursuit made it clear—
Resistance was meaningless.
BOOM!
A crimson flash swept through the fog.
The fleeing core was instantly shattered.
"Hah… what a complicated monster."
If ordinary adventurers encountered it—unable to identify its true body or location—
They would probably drown in the endless fog and be devoured alive.
As the core shattered…
The vast sea of mist began collapsing inward, retracting toward Akasei.
Gradually it condensed.
Akasei pulled out a bottle.
The bottle began absorbing the shrinking mist.
As a Gatherer, he had truly prepared all kinds of tools.
"Done."
Akasei shook the bottle.
It really had been quite easy.
Rei extended his perception outward.
This area resembled a bizarre forest.
There was no moon in the sky.
No snow falling either.
But the air still carried a bitter chill.
Was that simply the nature of this dungeon?
Or was it influenced by the Month of Storage and Cold?
If the dungeon wasn't affected by that month…
Did that mean this place was beyond the reach of Moon Deity authority?
They continued moving toward areas where monsters were present.
Suddenly—
The pitch-black sky opened.
And multiple eyes appeared.
Izparut and Kumironi raised their hands simultaneously.
A green barrier of light enveloped everyone.
At the same time, Izparut's staff lit up with a magic formation.
Rei couldn't even see what spell he launched.
But the eyes in the sky began vibrating violently.
Bzzzzzzzz—
BOOM!
Akasei leapt into the air.
Yet—
In the next instant, the eyes snapped shut.
Akasei's sword slash cut through the spot where the eye had just appeared—
But struck nothing but empty air.
SWOOSH!
The eyes opened again.
This time—
Thousands appeared across different parts of the sky.
BOOM!
The ground where Akasei had just stood erupted with explosive bursts.
In the next moment—
Forty or fifty newly manifested eyes around him exploded one after another.
That speed…
Even Rei couldn't clearly perceive it.
Yet despite so many eyes being destroyed—
The remaining ones closed again and disappeared from the sky.
"Izparut, looks like there are monsters even you can't deal with."
Izparut smirked proudly.
"A warrior relying only on brute strength can never match a mage's precision."
He raised his staff.
Lightning gathered in the sky.
Soon it formed an ocean of purple-silver thunder.
"Tier-6 Lightning Magic."
"Cataclysmic Sea of Thunder."
BOOM!
The entire sky filled with violent silver-purple lightning!
Thunder roared endlessly.
Every eye that opened was immediately struck and annihilated by lightning.
Precision?
Where exactly is the precision?
All I see is brute force, Izparut.
Still…
Rei could tell this spell contained more than just lightning.
It also involved spatial rules.
That monster seemed somewhat similar to void creatures.
But not completely.
When threatened, it could hide within its own dimension.
Yet Izparut's magic forced it back into reality.
Another Sunken-Continent-Class monster eliminated.
As they ventured deeper…
They saw their own shadows.
Ah.
Was the classic scenario about to happen?
Fighting ourselves?
But…
Rei looked at the projections floating in mid-air.
And realized something.
He could simply absorb their souls directly.
Akasei's projection charged forward!
A devastating sword strike cloaked in soul energy.
Its speed was incredible.
Rei couldn't tell if it matched the real Akasei.
But somehow—
Obades had already raised his hand.
An invisible barrier formed before his stone arm.
BOOM!
The heavy sword slammed into the barrier.
It didn't move even slightly.
Meanwhile, Rei simply reached out his hand.
The projection of Akasei instantly dissolved into countless souls that flowed into Rei.
Instant kill via Soul Sovereign.
There were also projections of Luluvi, Rei himself, Izparut, Kumironi, and Obades.
Luluvi's projection drew her bow and fired arrows filled with soul energy into the sky.
"Just the appearance."
Rei lifted his hand again.
All the soul arrows were absorbed into him.
Meanwhile Izparut's projection formed spells out of countless souls.
"Using souls to simulate magic?"
Izparut's eyes lit up with interest.
Even though it was imitation, the method was unique.
Today's adventure was becoming more interesting by the minute.
He exchanged several spells with his projection.
The magical bombardment shook the heavens.
Clearly the imitation enemies couldn't use true origin magic.
The imitation Obades used soul energy for defense.
The imitation Kumironi could only perform soul-based healing.
These pure soul bodies…
Were basically Rei's personal resource pool.
With a simple gesture, he absorbed them all.
After mastering the ultimate principle of Battle-Magic Metamorphosis, even the activation of God-Tier · Soul Sovereign had become far more versatile.
Previously, Rei could only directly absorb souls within 50 kilometers.
Now he could extract souls through magic or martial techniques.
His maximum range had expanded to over 200 kilometers.
After more than half a month of practice, his casting range had improved again.
With one motion, Rei collected the souls of:
Projection Kumironi
Projection Obades
Projection Rei
The projection of Luluvi was slightly too far away.
Meanwhile Izparut was still enjoying sparring with his own projection.
Although the dungeon sky was gloomy and oppressive…
The relaxed atmosphere made Rei sigh internally.
Is this a sightseeing trip?
No wonder they dared challenge a Tier-7 dungeon at Level 5.
These projections posed almost no real threat.
But after they were absorbed—
Not long later…
A new batch appeared.
Thinking about it, these projections must have a source.
So Luluvi began searching.
Soon she discovered it.
The source was actually a mirror.
Inside the mirror, distant reflections of Rei, Izparut, Akasei, and the others continuously appeared.
Then those reflections gradually formed soul projections identical to them.
Once the source was identified—
The solution was simple.
Destroy it.
Izparut carried everyone through the sky.
His speed was beyond comprehension.
Mountains and landscapes flashed past.
In the blink of an eye—
They had traveled over ten thousand kilometers.
The mirror itself was hidden 15,000 kilometers away, endlessly reflecting people's images and producing soul copies.
If they hadn't discovered it…
Who knew how long it would have drained them?
Even if the projections were weaker than the originals—
What if there were ten… twenty… a hundred fighting a war of attrition?
Unthinkable.
After finding the mirror, Rei sensed something.
A foreign soul resided inside it.
It met the conditions for God-Tier · Soul Sovereign.
So he casually absorbed it.
A simple, unadorned soul instant-kill.
No damage was inflicted on the body, leaving the corpse perfectly intact.
Probably the favorite type of kill for Gatherers.
Compared to previous monsters, this one was actually quite small.
Sunken-Continent-Class monsters truly came in all shapes and forms.
Izparut stood before the mirror, lightly tapping it with his knuckles.
Rei examined its internal structure using the techniques of a Puzzle Scholar.
Izparut looked at Kumironi.
"Does this count as another miracle of life?"
Kumironi nodded.
"Yes. As long as something is alive, it should count."
Even Kumironi couldn't resist touching such a strange creature.
He analyzed it.
"Through the mirror surface, it reflects impressions of creatures, then projects those impressions through the soul."
"How fascinating…"
Rei also compared the creature to his knowledge of Monster Studies.
Previously he had only read books.
But exploring a Tier-6 dungeon personally brought entirely new insights.
"Too bad. This material still isn't suitable for making a war spear."
Akasei patted the armored shell covering the mirror.
"But seriously… how big is this place?"
"Is this even still a dungeon?"
It felt like walking through another world entirely.
Mountains.
Forests.
Plains.
Even streams flowing with soul currents.
Howling soul winds.
Ghostly green auroras.
It was practically another bizarre realm.
"Maybe this is inside the Nest."
"I heard every dungeon is part of a Nest."
Akasei scratched his head.
"Huh. Never heard that one before."
"Brother, you're surprisingly knowledgeable."
Rei chuckled modestly.
"Haha, Brother Akasei, I just happened to read about it."
"But I've also heard something else."
"Every Nest has its Nest Lord."
Akasei slung an arm over Rei's shoulder.
"Haha, Little Rei, what if we run into this so-called Nest Lord?"
Rei forced an awkward smile.
No… please don't.
Those were legendary beings comparable to gods.
He absolutely did not want to encounter one.
The War God was fine—at least that one seemed friendly.
But the lord of a monster nest?
There was no way that would be benevolent.
"Probably… best if we don't meet it."
Akasei laughed.
"Relax! I'm just messing with you!"
"A Nest Lord appearing in a Tier-6 dungeon would be ridiculous."
Akasei, please stop talking.
The reason I didn't say "impossible" was because I didn't want to raise a flag!
Please stop!
Still…
A Tier-6 dungeon shouldn't turn into Tier-7 just because of a sacrifice.
With that rule in place, they probably wouldn't encounter a Nest Lord.
Those final-boss-like beings should only appear in the deepest layers of the Nest.
They stored the mirror—about three stories tall—into spatial storage.
For a Sunken-Continent-Class monster, that size was actually quite small.
Then they continued exploring.
The density of monsters here was extremely high.
Yet no low-tier monsters existed.
Every creature they encountered was Sunken-Continent Class.
Unlike earlier areas where a Nation-Destroyer Class monster might appear alongside groups of King-Class or Lord-Class minions.
Sometimes even Tier-1 or Tier-2 cannon fodder.
Here—
There wasn't a single one.
Did Sunken-Continent-Class monsters naturally repel weaker monsters?
Eventually they encountered something rare.
A monster that could speak.
Besides the Bloodsource Sovereign and the Insect King, this was the third talking monster Rei had ever seen.
It held a withered staff.
Its face looked like melting wax, dripping black substance.
Its hunched body resembled a decaying elder.
"Humans?"
Akasei blinked.
"Whoa… it can talk."
"That's rare."
The monster cackled.
"Kehehe… kehehehe!"
"Humans have appeared here!"
"Great Source-Evil Lord, does this mean you will lead us out of this miserable realm?!"
"Kehe! Kehe! Kehe!"
Dark green and black evil souls swirled violently around its body.
Rei stared at its filthy soul and grotesque appearance.
His pupils contracted in shock.
Someone… actually laughs like that?
While still stunned, Rei raised his hand.
[God-Tier · Soul Sovereign]
SWOOSH!
"AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"
"NO!!"
"WHAT—DID—YOU—DO?!"
A shrill scream erupted as the monster's pitch-black soul was violently ripped out through the wax-covered face.
It struggled desperately.
But it was useless.
Soul Sovereign was truly convenient.
After all—
Why weren't you staying inside your original body?
Then again, evil soul-type monsters were usually like this.
The soul floated in Rei's palm.
Though completely controlled, it still struggled frantically.
"You… what did you do?!"
"Why can you control my soul?!"
"Damn you!"
Akasei and the others gathered around.
Akasei exclaimed in amazement.
"Whoa…"
"So it can still talk like that?"
"And you counter this too?"
"What language is it babbling in?"
It was speaking Ancient Ansu Whisper-Script.
If Rei hadn't specifically studied the language, he wouldn't understand it.
The Death Church loved using that language.
Considering this dungeon was filled with souls and evil, it was hard not to suspect the language had some connection to soul-type magic.
Rei answered modestly.
"Just a lucky counter."
"It's speaking Ancient Ansu Whisper-Script—a very old language."
"Human!"
"Shh—"
Rei made a quiet gesture toward the soul.
"I'll ask you something."
"Why can you speak?"
"Why? Because it's my innate talent!"
The monster sounded extremely proud.
Clearly it believed its talent far surpassed most monsters in existence.
Good.
That meant Rei could obtain information normally impossible to learn.
Izparut, Kumironi, Luluvi, and Rei exchanged glances.
A silent consensus formed.
Meanwhile Akasei scratched his head and examined the monster's soulless corpse.
Rei continued questioning the soul.
"Where is this place?"
"Human! Why should I answer you?!"
"Human! You should die!"
"Human! Release me!"
Rei was silent for a moment.
Then he said calmly:
"As long as you answer my questions, I'll release you."
"And then I'll go die."
The soul paused.
"…You're serious?"
Rei nodded sincerely.
"Serious."
"Haha! Then ask!"
"After you finish asking, go die obediently!"
Hmm…
Its intelligence is about the same as the Border Collie I raised in my previous life.
No… actually worse.
Rei continued.
"What else could this place be?"
"It's our home!"
Alright.
Now the real question was—
How do you communicate with an idiot?
"How many monsters here are as strong as you?"
"It's huge here! I don't know!"
"How big is this place?"
"How would I know?!"
"Do you remember how you were born?"
"Haha, that I remember! I was born one month ago. Then I killed them all and ate them!"
"Have you met any other monsters that can talk like you?"
"No! I'm the only one! Obviously I'm a unique supreme being!"
"Why did you want to kill us?"
"I thought of it the moment I saw you."
Instinct…
The soul sneered.
"Heh. You're lucky you met me."
"If you go deeper and meet it…"
"You'll know what real despair feels like."
"Human. You've asked enough questions."
"I've answered plenty."
"Release me now."
"And then go die peacefully."