While strolling along, Kanzaki Rei listened as Mu spoke at length about the thousand-year legacy of the Church of Death.
How they had served the White of Death and Destruction with tireless devotion.How they offered sacrifices.How they sought to earn Her favor.
Through subtle hints and careful phrasing, Mu also revealed something else—the church had performed sacrifices for a thousand years… yet received very little in response.
But now, the true incarnation of the White had descended into the world. That, according to them, was the long-awaited answer to their millennium of loyal service.
Heh…
What an utterly fanatical church.
They had worshiped for a thousand years without any response—and yet they still risked being hunted down as heretics just to maintain that faith?
Rei couldn't quite understand that mentality.
Perhaps he would need to study their psychology slowly—understand what drove people to worship the White of Death and Destruction.
Only by diagnosing the root could he dismantle it properly.
If one wanted to eliminate a church, killing every member wasn't the real solution.
The real key was cutting the roots.
Stop new blood from joining.
A faith with no publicly recognized class advancement, one that was hunted across the entire continent—and yet its doctrines continued spreading, flourishing everywhere…
That phenomenon intrigued Rei deeply.
Just how had they managed to sustain it?
"Lord Bishop, this is the treasury of our church."
"The former Pontiff is dead. The treasury's seals are now under the control of us elders."
"Lord Bishop, please accept the mark I leave behind."
Rei extended his left hand.
A faint glow flashed across the back of his hand as a black sigil appeared.
It was merely a contract mark used to access the treasury.
His perception scanned it—no hidden traps or malicious constructs.
Still… once he returned outside, he would have Iz and Kumironi check it for concealed risks.
Better safe than sorry.
Buzz—
RUMBLE—RUMBLE—RUMBLE—
The treasury door sat along the side of a narrow corridor.
It was wrapped in a powerful perception-distortion field.
Anyone scanning the wall would only detect a solid stone barrier.
Nothing more.
If an ordinary person passed through the corridor, they would subconsciously ignore the wall and continue walking deeper down the passage.
The stone barrier opened.
Inside—
A mountain of glittering gold.
The first thing one saw was money.
But Rei had no interest in such mundane things.
Letting his perception sweep across the chamber, he quickly spotted several items far more interesting among the heaps of coins.
Secret Scrolls of the Death Priest…
Quite a few of them.
Roughly thirty.
There were also secret scrolls for classes such as Assassin, Rogue, and Destroyer.
These could definitely prove useful someday.
Still, Rei didn't rush to collect them.
Besides those, there were numerous tomes on death magic, along with well-preserved scrolls.
Some of them appeared to be Tier 6 spell scrolls.
There were also various rare materials—not monster parts, but minerals and exotic plants.
The treasure vault was surprisingly comprehensive.
While most items weren't as valuable as the corpse of a Tier 6 Submerged-Continent–level monster, the range of items available was wide. One could find something useful for almost any purpose.
But the most eye-catching object in the room…
Was the dagger embedded at the center of the chamber.
It was surrounded by a complex ritual formation.
Rei's perception extended toward it.
Inside the dagger—
A powerful malicious spirit was sealed.
Even more unsettling, dozens of bound souls were imprisoned within it.
"What is this?" Rei asked, gazing at the blade.
Now that his knowledge of the world had grown, he no longer carried the same cautious restraint he had when he first arrived.
There were countless strange things in this world. Not knowing one or two items wouldn't arouse suspicion.
Besides, Rei now possessed enough knowledge to fabricate a reasonable explanation for almost anything.
Mu replied respectfully:
"Lord Bishop, we discovered that weapon by chance in a dungeon near the Secret Sea."
"It is an extremely strange weapon. Anyone who touches it will feel their soul being pulled outward."
"If someone's control over their soul is weak, the dagger can forcibly drag their soul out of their body for a short time, leaving them completely vulnerable."
"And if their physical body is killed by the dagger while their soul is separated… the soul will be absorbed into the blade."
"However, the dagger possesses its own consciousness. If it leaves the seal, it attacks any lifeform it encounters indiscriminately."
"Dozens of our church members have died by its blade."
Rei raised an eyebrow.
That sounded like a very powerful weapon.
And if it could pull souls out…
Then perhaps he could directly absorb those souls using Soul Dominator.
Interesting…
"Who was the strongest person to die by its blade?" Rei asked.
Mu answered:
"A Level 4 Warlock named Ian."
"Level 5 class holders can resist its attacks. They wouldn't be easily struck."
"In the end, the former Pontiff sealed the dagger. Unfortunately, even he could not control it."
Rei nodded slightly.
Then—
He raised one hand.
SWISH!
A soul was violently torn from the dagger and pulled into Rei's palm at incredible speed.
"Ugh—AH!"
"AAHH!"
The malicious spirit shrieked in rage at Rei.
But it was completely useless.
Every movement of the spirit was already under Rei's control.
Mu stared in absolute shock.
He knew there was a spirit residing inside the dagger.
Extracting it was nearly impossible.
It had practically fused with the weapon itself.
The former Pontiff had attempted many times to purge the spirit—
All attempts had failed.
And yet now…
This man had merely lifted a hand.
He had bypassed the seal and extracted the spirit directly.
Was it really something that could be done so effortlessly?
Rei glanced at the spirit in his palm.
Then he casually lifted his hand again.
The dozens of remaining souls inside the dagger were pulled out as well.
"Remove the seal," Rei commanded.
Mu stood frozen.
Only after several seconds did he finally react.
"Yes—yes! At once!"
His mind raced wildly.
Pulling souls out with a flick of the hand.
Such defiance of natural law…
What else could it be if not the incarnation of the White?
Everything Rei said and did pointed toward the same conclusion.
He truly was the Avatar of the White.
There could be no deception.
If anyone else wanted to fake such a role, they would first need to possess this kind of overwhelming power.
Mu hurriedly dismantled the sealing formation.
Without the malicious spirit, the dagger no longer lashed out uncontrollably.
A black handkerchief appeared in Rei's hand.
He wrapped it around the dagger before picking it up.
Unfortunately…
It was already a fully formed weapon, not raw material.
Otherwise, he could have integrated it into his Void-Spirit Ringstar Staff.
Using this dagger meant switching weapons in combat.
Slightly inconvenient.
Still—
Equipment like this was incredibly rare.
Just encountering it was already a stroke of luck.
After observing it briefly, Rei stored the handkerchief in his storage space and grasped the dagger directly.
The blade felt ice-cold.
The moment he held it—
He felt his soul being pulled.
However, he possessed the God-Tier Talent: Absolute War Body.
His soul and body were completely fused.
If his physical body remained intact, his soul could never be destroyed or replaced.
As for being dragged out of his body—
That was simply impossible.
Just holding the dagger produced an incredibly strong soul-pulling force.
Rei suddenly felt curious.
What would happen if he used it against monsters?
Could it rip their souls out and bring them under his control?
Besides the dagger, there were several other ceremonial weapons and robes displayed in the treasury.
Blade of DisassemblyA weapon capable of effortlessly severing joints and dismembering limbs.
Heart-Piercing ThornA dagger spike that could transmit force directly into the body—even if blocked by hard armor—piercing straight into the heart.
Quite suitable for assassins with weak armor penetration.
Living-Soul Bewilderment Array
A ritual formation used to create a pre-arranged illusion field.
Such rituals allowed sacrifices to be prepared in advance and activated instantly when needed.
It reminded Rei of the formation diagrams used by cultivators in the cultivation novels from his previous life.
Interestingly, this world possessed quite a few similar systems.
There were plenty of good items here.
But taking everything at once in front of Mu wouldn't match the persona Rei was playing.
Now that he had permission to access the treasury, he could return later.
Rei nodded lightly.
"Not bad."
"Resources in Rylun are scarce. Collecting all this… shows dedication."
Two souls suddenly flew from Rei's hand.
They landed in Mu's palm.
Mu felt the souls enter his body and trembled with excitement.
"Thank you for the reward, Lord Pontiff!"
Heh…
Getting this excited over two souls.
But to them, such souls were extremely rare.
Rei could understand the reaction.
"Our church has suffered great losses," Rei said calmly.
"I also require time to grow."
"During this period, you will remain dormant."
"Cause no trouble. Create no incidents."
"Anyone who does… execute them immediately."
His tone was calm.
Yet absolute.
Mu bowed deeply.
"As you command. Your recovery to supreme power is naturally our church's highest priority."
"All other matters are insignificant."
Rei nodded.
"Good. You may leave now."
"I'll look around a bit more and see what interesting things that old man left behind."
The "old man" he referred to was the former Pontiff.
Mu thought silently:
By age… aren't you far older than the old Pontiff?
But the thought vanished instantly.
Blasphemy.
Utter blasphemy.
Mu turned and left.
Before he disappeared, Rei spoke again.
"Remember—create no incidents."
"If I hear that our church has leaked any information…"
"Especially my name…"
"If you cannot even handle something so simple—"
"Then perhaps the Church of Death has no reason to exist in Rylun."
His voice was calm.
Cold.
But Mu felt deep terror.
This being would absolutely do it.
To him, the Church of Death in Rylun was truly disposable.
Mu departed.
Rei's perception could no longer detect him.
WHOOSH!
A figure landed beside Rei.
Only then did Rei close the book he had been holding and place it back on the shelf.
His entire body relaxed.
"Iz."
Iz bowed politely.
"Lord Death Bishop, do you have any instructions?"
"Yes."
"Teach me your Origin Magic."
Iz replied respectfully:
"I'm afraid I must refuse. Origin arises from personal cultivation. I cannot pass my Origin to you."
Rei sighed.
"You're getting addicted to acting."
"Alright… Iz."
Iz straightened and laughed.
"Honestly, I didn't expect you to have such talent for acting, little Rei."
"Perfect, right? I studied for it."
Over the past few days, Rei had deliberately studied books like:
On ActingThe Aura and Bearing of High AuthorityHow the Superior Should Interact With the InferiorPsychology of DeathSecrets of Human Nature
Now, playing the role felt effortless.
Iz nodded approvingly.
"Well done."
"Actually—better than I expected."
Rei's excuse was flawless.
He was the incarnation of a god, but still in a growth phase.
Therefore he required time to develop.
During this time, the Church of Death had to remain low-profile.
Even completely inactive.
No one could find fault in that reasoning.
Why did a god need time to grow?
That was a divine secret.
And Rei had already demonstrated enough power through subtle hints to prove his identity.
The elders were thoroughly intimidated.
With their lives implicitly on the line, they would naturally restrain their subordinates.
Although Rei never explicitly banned all church activities…
When someone faced an unpredictable divine being, would they loosen restrictions?
Or enforce them strictly?
Any rational person would choose strict enforcement.
Better to shut down everything completely.
Of course, Rei also considered the possibility that cult members weren't exactly rational.
If they wanted to do something, they would likely report it to him first.
And if some idiot caused trouble without asking?
Heh…
Then Rei would have the perfect excuse to enforce the church's laws.
No matter what—
The Church of Death's activities were now tightly controlled.
Every move they made was under his supervision.
"Iz, there are so many death spells here."
"I noticed them earlier outside. Let me see…"
Iz pulled a book from the shelf and began flipping through the spells.
After becoming Pontiff, Rei's daily life didn't change much.
The two surviving elders divided up the resources of the one-armed elder who had died.
Interestingly, they even left a share for Mu.
Rei arranged to hear Mu's reports once every week.
If something urgent happened, Mu could visit the White Tower under the pretense of academic exchange.
But he was absolutely forbidden from visiting Rei's residence.
As for the Soul-Devouring Dagger—
Rei tested it using black ants.
At the very least, ants' souls could be pulled out instantly.
Just touching them was enough.
And once extracted, the souls could be directly absorbed by Soul Dominator.
Against stronger monsters, though…
Rei hadn't tested it yet.
Technically, he could already kill Tier 6 King-level monsters.
The kind of enemy that truly required the Soul-Devouring Dagger would probably be Tier 6 Nation-Destroyer level or higher.
But where would he even find a monster like that?
Besides—
Rei had no intention of provoking terrifying monsters during the Month of Death and Destruction.
If he had to choose a month…
He'd prefer the Month of Life and Growth—Sofia's Month.
During that time, it was extremely hard to die.
The safest period of the year.
The next best choice would be Harvest Month.
December 6th.
The requirements for advancing Cryptology Scholar Level 3 had finally been met.
As Rei spent more time practicing the class daily, the required score had actually decreased slightly.
From 150 points…
To 148 points.
…Well.
Not much difference.
Still, it proved something interesting.
Advancement requirements weren't fixed.
If one consistently practiced the principles of a class, the requirement could gradually decrease.
Finally—
He could advance to Level 3 Cryptology Scholar.
After completing this advancement, the next step should be Level 3 Death Priest.
Extract souls.
Offer them to Death.
Granted… most of them were ants.
But Rei figured that killing hundreds of millions of lifeforms daily probably counted as fulfilling the doctrine of death quite thoroughly.
And if not—
The souls he had sacrificed should be more than sufficient.
He had killed.
He had sacrificed.
That should count as perfect practice of the doctrine.
In the philosophy of death, the target didn't matter.
A monster's death was death.
A human's death was death.
Death treated all equally.
The death of a maggot and the death of a human—
Were theoretically equivalent under the law of death.
The only difference lay in soul quality.
And in Rei's case…
They were practically equal anyway.
Thinking about it carefully—
Perhaps he had practiced the doctrine of death more perfectly than any other class.
…Could it be he was actually the God of Death?
The thought made him laugh.
Rei stepped into the Advancement Hall.
Kumironi was already waiting in the chamber.
Secret-scroll classes required advancement inside sealed rooms.
Cryptology Scholar wasn't a forbidden class, but it was still required under Loren Law.
Rei could technically ignore it using his authority as Chief Mage.
But there was no need.
Advancement.
Decryption.
The puzzle for advancing from Level 2 to Level 3 was far more complex.
Not just logically difficult—
It also tested knowledge across multiple cryptographic disciplines.
Without the intensive studying he had done recently, achieving perfect performance would have been difficult.
Fortunately—
He understood every piece of knowledge required.
The advancement went smoothly.
As his Spirituality rose once more, Rei realized something.
The Spirituality gained from leveling seemed to scale with the Spirituality he already possessed.
The higher his current Spirituality—
The greater the increase upon leveling.
There was no way a normal Cryptology Scholar would gain this much Spirituality during a Level 2 → 3 advancement.
This time, Rei clearly saw it.
A new mass of Spirituality had grown directly from his existing Spirituality.
By intuition alone, Rei estimated the increase was about one-third of the Spirituality he possessed when he first arrived in this world.
Could a normal Cryptology Scholar really gain that much?
As the ritual concluded—
Rei clearly felt it.
He had become a Level 3 Cryptology Scholar.