"You need to be even more careful about protecting yourself."
"Yuna, that goes for you as well."
Yuna nodded.
"Mm. I have magical tools for self-defense too."
Since the snow had stopped, it was time to escort Yuna back.
Actually, Rei still had some theories about the Guiding Beacon he wanted to discuss with her…
He accompanied her all the way back to the White Tower.
Senior scholars of the White Tower were allowed to maintain their own residences within the tower itself.
Yuna had grown up living there.
Rei turned around, preparing to head home.
Suddenly, his Final Perception registered a faint disturbance.
Standing ahead on the street was a scholar dressed in the White Tower's uniform.
The man appeared elderly.
His hair was completely white.
Though in this world, it was hard to determine someone's true age by appearance alone.
High-level Class Users could live for a very long time.
For example, a Level 5 Class User could live well past two hundred years.
Even non-combat classes enjoyed similar lifespans.
Healers often lived even longer. Those who practiced the Doctrine of Life could reach roughly two hundred and fifty years.
If someone reached Level 6, they could supposedly live up to three hundred years.
"Sir, do you need something?"
Rei's Final Perception had not issued any warning of danger.
Outwardly, Rei appeared relaxed.
But in reality, a layer of protective aura had already enveloped his body, and an invisible barrier quietly covered his outermost layer.
If anything went wrong—
First response: defend.
Second response: escape.
Third response: immediately activate the specimen marker and teleport to Iz's residence.
However, the old man in the White Tower uniform suddenly knelt on one knee.
He bowed deeply toward Rei with utmost reverence.
Even though Rei knew he held considerable status, this level of formality seemed excessive.
"I pledge my loyalty to you."
"…Huh?"
Rei blinked in confusion.
Where had this old man come from?
Why was he suddenly pledging loyalty?
Could it be that his scholarly achievements had impressed the White Tower's scholars?
But he had never heard of scholars swearing fealty to someone.
"May I ask who you are?"
BOOM—
Suddenly, the earth shook violently.
The ground rumbled and trembled.
The entire city of Knorloya began to shudder as buildings swayed.
Faint screams and startled cries echoed from inside nearby houses.
At this hour, the only people outside were mostly patrollers of the Church of Life.
During the Month of Death and Destruction, a curfew was enforced.
Class Users below Level 4 were not permitted to wander outside at night.
Rei rose into the air and looked toward the distance.
A dense magical aura surged toward him.
In the far distance, a section of the sky had turned pure white.
But this white was not the pale whiteness of the Month of Storage and Cold.
It was a white that seemed capable of shattering the soul itself.
"Iz…"
The Abyssal Fall Valley lay in that direction.
Had the worst possible situation occurred?
Still, there was nothing Rei could do to help from here.
Buzz—
Suddenly, a very familiar fluctuation rippled through space.
In the far distance, heaven and earth seemed to peel apart, their colors vanishing instantly.
A Sixth-Tier Root Magic?
Essence Stripping?
Iz… what are you doing?
You're using your ultimate move here?
Rei remembered Iz once saying that this spell must never be used.
If it were unleashed without restraint, the entire Rellen Continent could be destroyed.
BOOM!
An indescribable wave of power erupted outward.
In an instant, it formed a spherical stripping zone.
Yet the sphere did not expand outward.
Instead, it remained tightly contained within an extremely small area.
Did she control it?
Iz had already learned to limit the range of this Root Magic.
For a moment just now, Rei's heart had nearly stopped—he thought he might be caught within the Essence Stripping field.
What kind of enemy had forced Izparult to use Essence Stripping?
BOOM—
Even the shockwaves alone tore across the land.
From this distance, Rei could see countless trees atop the mountains snapped in half and rocks collapsing.
What exactly was happening on that battlefield?
"I am Mour, a Fourth-Tier Scholar of the White Tower."
Rei turned back.
The old man below remained kneeling motionlessly, bowing devoutly.
"You—why do you want to serve me?"
"Because you are the next inheritor of the Holy Church of Death."
His voice was not loud.
Yet it struck the ground with absolute conviction.
Rei's perception immediately swept the surrounding area.
After confirming no one else was nearby, he finally relaxed slightly.
At the same time, his gaze turned sharp.
"You're a member of the Death Church?"
"Yes."
Rei very much wanted to say:
If you truly want to serve me, then go die immediately.
But the man had approached him claiming Rei was the heir of the Death Church.
There were too many suspicious points.
If he simply ordered the man to die now, he might lose valuable information.
And the man might not even obey.
Better to extract intelligence first.
"Why do you say that?"
"Because you are the person most likely to bring about the White Descent."
"And because the Blessing of Death surrounding you is the densest I have ever seen."
Rei thought briefly before asking,
"The Blessing of Death? What is that?"
"You cannot feel it?"
"It is the symbol of one who walks the Doctrine of Death—proof of recognition by the Origin of Death itself."
"The aura around you… is extraordinarily dense."
"Even upon the High Priest of our church, I have never witnessed such overwhelming Blessing of Death."
Something invisible?
Even with Rei's extremely high spiritual perception, he couldn't see it?
If he really had practiced the Doctrine of Death…
Well…
When he advanced to Level 2 Death Priest, he had sacrificed five billion Supreme Souls.
Had he accumulated it back then?
"How can someone see this Blessing of Death?"
"It requires a secret technique of our church… one must refine the eyes."
"With those eyes, one can see the souls of the dead, omens of death, soul debts, and the sins of slaughter carried by a person."
From Mour's perspective—
What he saw around the young Rei was a boundless ocean of souls.
The number of living beings Rei had killed approached one hundred billion.
And the souls he had harvested were Supreme and utterly pure.
The first time Mour had seen Rei was at the White Tower.
At that moment, he could not comprehend how such overwhelming karmic slaughter could exist within a mere child.
But later—
Mour thought of reincarnation.
If reincarnation existed, then the debts of souls and sins committed in previous lives could carry over.
In that case, it explained how Rei had achieved so much at only eight years old.
Perhaps Rei was the reincarnation of some supreme deity.
No…
Perhaps Rei himself was the reincarnation of the White One of Death and Destruction.
Or perhaps he was the mortal vessel chosen by that entity.
Regardless—
A normal child could never bear such immense soul debt.
Nor could they possess such overwhelming Blessing of Death.
Therefore, the conclusion was simple.
Rei must be the inheritor of the Holy Church of Death.
"How many people know this secret technique?" Rei asked.
"It requires at least Level 4 and a profession related to death. Therefore, not many within the church have mastered it."
Hearing this, Rei finally felt relieved.
If most people could see the death-related aura around him, that would create countless problems.
Rei adopted a cold expression, one tinged with indifference toward life itself.
With his hands behind his back, he walked forward slowly.
"Speak."
"Come with me."
"Tell me everything—why you approached me, and everything you know about the Death Church."
"Understood."
Rei's voice was low as he led Mour toward Iz's residence.
Fourth-Tier Scholar.
Fifth-Tier Warlock.
Those were Mour's classes.
After reaching Level 5 Warlock, he realized advancing to Level 6 Warlock was hopeless.
So he devoted the rest of his life to the Scholar class.
At the same time, he infiltrated the White Tower, secretly delivering the latest intelligence to the Death Church and helping establish connections.
The White Tower… truly was a place where hidden dragons and crouching tigers lurked.
As the saying went—
If you found one cockroach, it meant there was already a nest somewhere.
Who knew how many other cult infiltrators were hidden within the White Tower?
The two arrived at Iz's palace.
Rei pushed the door open.
Inside, he could activate the magic array Iz had left behind at any time.
According to Iz, it could easily kill a Sixth-Tier Land-Sinking monster.
Against a Level 6 Class User, as long as they weren't absurdly powerful, the formation could suppress—or even kill—them with ease.
Mour's words didn't seem like deception.
Rei could read fragments of the man's mental fluctuations.
If he were lying, his mind would betray him.
Though since Mour was also a Scholar, some degree of psychological masking wasn't impossible.
Rei sat in the main seat.
Mour knelt before him respectfully and began reporting.
"So you're saying… that in the past two months, nearly ninety percent of the main church's bases have been eradicated?"
It seemed the joint efforts of the Church of Life and Lorren had indeed been very effective.
Of course, part of that success also came from Rei deciphering the locations of many bases himself.
Along the way, Rei had also learned why Mour believed him to be the inheritor of the Death Church.
"Now then," Rei said.
"What do you have to say about the phenomenon at the Abyssal Fall Valley?"
"The old High Priest spent his entire life trying to bring about the White Descent."
"He must have taken the holy relic of the church with him…"
"But the ritual was incomplete."
"I fear it will be difficult for him to defeat Izparult and the other demon-like figures."
…
You've got some nerve calling them demons.
Rei tapped his fingers lightly against the armrest as he pondered.
If this identity truly existed…
Could the Death Church be used by him?
But becoming the leader of the Death Church would make him a target hated by everyone.
If the identity remained hidden, it might be useful.
But if it were exposed, it would bring nothing but disadvantages.
And if Kumironi returned victorious and discovered that little Rei had become the leader of the Death Church…
He would probably faint from rage.
Hiding it from Iz and the others was impossible.
Their perception abilities were far too strong, and Rei interacted with them constantly.
If he truly engaged with the Death Church, they would inevitably discover it.
Better to discuss the matter openly with them first.
Given their intelligence, they wouldn't blindly treat him like a real cult leader and execute him without hearing his explanation.
"Continue your report," Rei said casually.
Mour's heart skipped a beat.
Truthfully, he didn't know exactly what Rei wanted to hear…
But he steeled himself and continued sharing the information he knew.
From deep midnight until the faint dawn light appeared on the horizon—
Rei listened.
The secrets of the Death Church were far more complicated—and far more numerous—than he had imagined.
Within the White Tower alone, there were at least ten hidden members of the Death Church.
Within Knorloya, there were roughly one thousand followers.
This was a forbidden cult punishable by execution.
Yet it had over a thousand members in the capital?
And apparently, the Death Church didn't exist only on the Rellen Continent.
Across the six continents of the Mysterious Sand Archipelago, branches existed as well.
Mour had proposed Rei as the leader of the Rellen branch of the Death Church.
And now—
The Rellen branch was practically on the verge of extinction.
"But if you are willing to reveal your Blessing of Death and display even a small portion of your divine power…"
"I believe the Death Churches across the other five continents will submit to you as well."
Those were Mour's exact words.
Rei raised a finger.
A tiny Origin point appeared at its tip.
He flicked it forward—
It entered Mour's body.
"Alright. You may return now."
"I will summon you again after some time."
"As for the position of Church Leader, I will give you my answer later."
"Until then, inform the others not to act recklessly."
"And absolutely do not create unnecessary slaughter."
"And above all… do not reveal anything related to my identity."
"You may leave."
Rei waved his hand.
Mour bowed deeply.
"As you command."
Then he rose and departed.
Rei watched his departing figure.
It was only the first day of the Month of Death and Destruction, yet something like this had already occurred.
It felt as though—
A storm was gathering before the rain.