Instantly breaking the ward would have been far too unbelievable.
It was better to hide it a little.
As for the egg-like object inside, even with Rei's current knowledge he couldn't determine exactly what it was.
[Secret: Cocoon of Ruin][Hidden Object: Ancient Forbidden Creature — Source of Calamity]
Activation Method 1:Offer souls as sacrifice — provide a sufficient number of souls.
Activation Method 2:Wait for it to mature naturally.
When it came down to it, monsters simply appeared naturally in this world.
When had monsters ever been born from eggs?
Even in areas covered by perception, if one wasn't paying attention to some forgotten corner, a new monster could quietly appear there without anyone noticing.
But the thing hidden here…
Was not a monster.
It was a living creature.
Kumironi stepped forward and touched the barrier.
"It really has been opened."
"Little Rei, how did you do it?"
Rei grinned.
"Hehe, I happened to comprehend a special way of breaking wards. Most barriers in this world probably weren't designed to guard against my particular method."
What he said was actually true.
There really was no encryption designed to resist a God-Tier Talent.
"Rei, you're an even greater genius than Iz," Kumironi said.
Iz immediately protested.
"Kumironi, I believe you are speaking too soon. In terms of magic, he is still inferior to me."
Kumironi paused for a moment before replying:
"Mm… perhaps we shouldn't discuss this."
Iz's lips twitched.
Having no one more talented than oneself was indeed lonely.
But if someone truly was more talented—
It still felt a little hard to accept.
Forget it…
After all, he was my disciple.
If I had possessed a teacher like myself back then, my achievements certainly wouldn't have been inferior to his.
Besides, true genius lies in depth, not breadth.
In the field of magic, my mastery should still surpass the sum of all his domains combined.
That was enough.
Iz quickly dismissed the earlier feeling.
Let him be strong if he is strong. I walk my own path toward the Root.
And besides—
If Rei truly reached the point where he could stand beside him someday…
That would actually be quite enjoyable.
Rei asked,
"Big Sister Kumironi, Master Iz, what do you think about the thing inside?"
Now that the ward had been broken, both Kumironi and Iz could extend their perception inside.
The ground was covered with thick black blood.
At the center of the chamber sat a pulsating egg.
It looked like an egg…
Yet also resembled a grotesque placenta.
Just looking at it caused a physiological sense of disgust.
"There's extremely vigorous life energy inside," Kumironi sensed.
"There's also a powerful fluctuation of magical power within the egg," Iz added.
"The ground beneath the black blood contains ritual markings. It appears to be a sacrificial formation, meant to offer sacrifices to the egg at the center."
"However, judging by its aura, the creature inside shouldn't exceed a Tier-6 Nation-Destroying Monster."
A Tier-6 Nation-Destroying Monster already represented an extremely high level of power on the Ruilun Continent.
Previously, encountering Continental-Sinking monsters had only happened because of massive sacrifices.
Under normal circumstances, within the Cavern of Despairing Wails, those monsters remained sealed unless the powerful restraints were removed.
They wouldn't normally appear.
"Hmm…"
After hearing their responses, Rei understood something.
The hidden information within the egg seemed to have been detected only by him.
"Big Sister Kumironi, I have an idea."
"Hmm?"
"This ritual seems to be one that sacrifices souls to it. The offering process isn't complete yet—I should be able to finish it."
"But directly completing the sacrifice would be too dangerous."
"I want to try controlling it first, then completing the sacrifice."
"Maybe we can find out what conspiracy is hidden here."
"Mm…" Kumironi glanced at Iz.
To be honest, she didn't particularly like this proposal.
Iz, however, laughed casually.
"Then follow your plan. If danger appears, we'll simply destroy it."
Kumironi sighed.
"If Iz says so… then let's proceed."
Rei grinned.
"Alright. Then I'll be counting on you, Master Iz."
Having someone backing him up definitely gave him confidence.
If he had come here alone, he probably wouldn't have touched the egg at all. He would have called for backup first.
Before advancing earlier, Rei would have leaned toward simply destroying the egg outright without investigating the hidden object.
But after becoming a Level-3 Death Priest, his enhanced spirituality gave him a faint premonition.
This thing…
Could be used by him.
[Premonition: The Compass of Fate]
When reason cannot determine a choice, trust the intuition born from instinct.— Awareness and Foresight
It was said that high-level Observers, Warriors, and Diviners all developed different types of premonition abilities.
Rei opened the seal fully.
The stone wall rumbled as it rose.
As the wall lifted, the black blood-like liquid began flowing out through the opening.
Soon it spread across the surrounding area.
Iz and Kumironi floated in midair, their feet never touching the ground—they had no intention of stepping in that filthy blood.
Rei also waited until the entrance was fully open before floating inside.
He maintained control of the barrier so the door wouldn't close.
A small silver dagger appeared in Rei's right hand.
Even after he entered, the egg continued beating rhythmically.
Rei could feel a powerful soul within it.
The soul was completely fused with the egg.
It couldn't be directly controlled.
Rei raised the dagger high, its tip pointed downward.
Power gathered continuously along with his mana.
Whoosh—
Holy flames condensed around the blade.
Holy Radiant Flame — Invincible Style
Sixth Form: Focused Will — Heaven-Splitting Descent
The dagger struck downward like a heavy greatsword.
Blazing holy light and scorching flames smashed against the pulsating shell.
BOOM!
At the instant of impact—
A phantom soul silhouette was blasted outward.
Rei immediately reached out his hand.
Shhh!
The soul, forced out of the body, was instantly pulled into his palm.
Success.
It actually worked.
The Soul-Devouring Dagger, combined with his Soul Sovereignty, had forcibly extracted the target's soul in one move.
In the future, if he encountered enemies he normally couldn't defeat, he might use this trick to catch them off guard.
And forcing a soul out didn't even seem that difficult.
The dagger itself wasn't as overwhelmingly powerful as rumored.
It could probably only knock the soul out for three or four seconds.
But three or four seconds of immobility was enough to kill most fragile spellcasters multiple times over.
For monsters, though…
Three or four seconds of immobility might not necessarily be fatal.
Monsters were usually far tougher to kill than humans.
After extracting the soul, Rei immediately felt he could convert it into an undead.
Meanwhile, the egg shell continued beating.
Except now—
It was merely an empty shell.
"Did it work?" Iz and Kumironi asked from outside.
"Yes," Rei replied with a nod.
"I'm going to try completing the sacrifice now."
Both of them nodded slightly. They roughly understood what Rei intended.
Rei raised his hand.
A soul flew out from his body.
Whoosh—
Then dozens.
Hundreds.
Thousands.
Soul after soul flowed into the ritual circle carved into the ground.
The chamber gradually filled with glowing soul light.
The giant egg continued beating.
But Rei's intuition never gave any warning.
That meant his actions would not bring him danger.
Even though the soul had been removed—
The egg still retained basic neural reactions.
Thump—
Thump—
THUMP!
Finally, after sacrificing 10,000 souls—
Crack!
A fissure appeared on the giant egg.
Iz casually pressed his hand downward.
In an instant, the earth lit up with layer upon layer of magic formations.
Centered around him, thousands of overlapping magic arrays emerged, completely enveloping the mountain.
Crack—
Crack—
Crack-crack-crack—
The shell shattered continuously.
Finally, a purple-black enormous worm-like creature, resembling a giant centipede, slid out of the broken shell.
It contained no life at all.
Thud.
The creature collapsed into the black pool of blood, unmoving.
Just a lump of dead flesh.
This… is the Source of Calamity?
Rei scanned it with his perception.
"It's not a monster."
It was a wild creature.
In this world, there were three categories of beings:
Intelligent life
Monsters
Wild creatures
Wild creatures had spiritual energy similar to monsters—sometimes even slightly higher—but they didn't necessarily hold hostility toward humans.
They could even be domesticated.
For example, the Dimensional Messenger Pigeon used for sending messages belonged to this category.
Even livestock raised by humans were classified as wild creatures.
Intelligent life possessed language, culture, and inheritance—like humans.
As for monsters…
Those were the things everyone killed daily.
Once encountered, they were absolute enemies.
Actually, Rei had already known it wasn't a monster when he read the hidden information.
But to be safe—
He had still extracted its soul.
Something called the Source of Calamity clearly didn't sound like a good thing.
Trusting that it was harmless would be about as believable as assuming the members of the Death Church devoted themselves to charity.
Iz scanned it as well.
"Mm… it seems there's no threat anymore."
"The creature's soul is dead. We'll probably have to take the body back so the scholars can study it."
A pity.
If it had been alive, they might have tested its abilities directly.
But just as Iz thought this—
He suddenly noticed something strange.
The old eggshell had vanished.
In its place appeared another egg.
This one was deep green.
And it sat at the center of the ritual formation.
The eggshell radiated a powerful aura of death.
Iz's eyelid twitched slightly.
Meanwhile—
Rei had already raised his hand again.
Souls poured forth once more.
WHOOSH!
The ritual formation ignited again.
But this time—
The light flowed into the green eggshell.
It can even work like this?
The principles of Death were truly intricate.
The eggshell began glowing.
BOOM!
A violent cracking sound echoed—completely different from before.
BANG!
The shell exploded instantly.
A long, winding creature spiraled upward through the cavern.
Rei said immediately,
"Iz, I can control it!"
Iz nodded calmly.
"Yes, I can tell."
The creature displayed no hostility whatsoever.
So this is the Source of Calamity?
The moment it appeared, Rei felt monster tides surging toward the area.
With a thought—
WHOOSH!
The worm burst out of the cave and soared into the sky.
Monster hordes began gathering around it.
Iz suddenly spoke.
"The monster tide is converging… and nearby dungeons are starting to form."
His perception extended far beyond Rei's.
"Is that creature causing it?" Iz asked.
Rei was still familiarizing himself with the being.
"I'm not completely certain yet… but probably."
The three of them immediately flew out of the cave.
The gloomy sky above was filling with rolling storm clouds.
Rei carefully sensed the creature's abilities.
Gradually he understood its bloodline talents.
Bloodline Talent — Source of Heavenly CalamitySummons natural disasters such as lightning, falling fire, and meteors.
Bloodline Talent — Source of Earthly CalamityTriggers earthquakes, landslides, avalanches, and volcanic eruptions.
Bloodline Talent — Source of Monster CalamityAttracts monster tides and forms pathways for dungeon nests.
Rei nodded slowly.
The name Source of Calamity truly lived up to its reputation.
Finally he said with certainty,
"Yes. It's this creature."
"It possesses innate bloodlines capable of creating heavenly disasters, earthly disasters, and monster catastrophes."
"It may be the legendary creature known as the Source of Calamity."
Of course—
The "legend" part was something Rei completely made up.
He had never actually read about such a legend.
"But these bloodline talents can all be controlled."
With a thought, the massive worm hovering in the sky suddenly stopped.
The dark storm clouds gradually dissipated.
The trembling earth calmed.
The monster tide stopped surging and slowly dispersed.
Only the dungeons that had already formed remained.
Iz stroked his chin.
"What an interesting creature."
He felt no fear toward it.
Only intense curiosity.
"You can truly control it completely?"
Rei nodded.
"If that's the case…"
Iz rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"Doesn't that mean we could create dungeons out of thin air?"
Rei and Iz looked at each other.
Both of them revealed faint, mysterious smiles.
Only Kumironi pressed her hand against her forehead.
What exactly have I allowed to be released…?
Good heavens…
This was the Source of Calamity.
According to records in the Life Church, it was an evil creature that must be eliminated.
Should I stop them?
First a Death Priest advancement.
Now releasing the Source of Calamity.
Just as Kumironi opened her mouth—
Iz turned toward her and said solemnly,
"Kumironi, power itself is not frightening. What is frightening is its master."
"The true Source of Calamity is already dead."
"What Rei controls now is merely a soul perfectly bound under his control."
"If we use this power properly, it might actually save even more lives."
Iz said seriously,
"I will keep watching over Rei."
"Besides, this creature itself isn't particularly powerful. The disasters it can create are still insignificant compared to our own strength."
Kumironi hesitated.
Then she sighed.
"…Fine."
"But it must never be used to cause real disasters. It may only be used to catalyze dungeon creation."
"And once those dungeons appear, you must completely clear every one of them."
Before Rei could answer, Iz had already nodded seriously.
"Of course. Rei and I will use this power on the proper path."
Rei had originally planned to explain things himself.
If Kumironi had insisted, he might have had no choice but to destroy the undead out of respect for her wishes.
Unexpectedly—
Before he could even speak, Iz Parult had already defended him.
Truly… a great scholar arguing on my behalf.
It seemed Iz wanted to experiment with the Source of Calamity even more than Rei did.
Kumironi turned to Rei.
"Rei… this Source of Calamity won't escape your control, right?"
Rei answered immediately.
"It won't."
"Absolutely won't?"
Rei replied with absolute certainty.
"Absolutely not."
His tone left no room for doubt.
If someone could actually break his God-Tier Talent…
Then worrying about the Source of Calamity going out of control would be the least of their problems.