Even a child… and they still went straight for the kill. That's truly ruthless.
Kanzaki Rei looked at the corpse lying on the ground.
If it were him, he definitely wouldn't be capable of something that cruel.
Of course—if that "child" had the soul of some reincarnated archdemon inside… that would be a different story.
Rei stepped over the body and continued forward, searching.
The Tier 6 King-class undead he had sent out to scout had already expanded his field of vision.
They had flown far into the distance, yet still maintained a perceptual link with him.
However, they didn't possess his divine-grade terminal perception.
Their senses were heavily suppressed within the dense fog.
"A battlefield covered in corpses…"
"Why does this feel so familiar?"
A scene flashed through Rei's mind.
Back when he fought the War God Kaiga, the battlefield had looked just like this—littered with corpses.
"Could it be the same place?"
"No… hard to say."
After all, a battlefield full of corpses was hardly unusual.
Rei quickened his pace.
After walking for some time, his perception swept across something that seemed valuable—
In the hand of a corpse, there was a gray seed, still shedding faint embers.
Whoosh!
Rei turned into a streak of light, instantly closing the distance.
He landed before the corpse, crouched slightly, and used Mage Hand to retrieve the seed.
"Hey."
A voice called out beside him.
"That item—I saw it first."
Rei ignored him and turned to leave.
"Brat! You've got some nerve!"
"Do you think awakening early makes you untouchable?!"
Whoosh—
The surrounding mist parted, and a surge of pressure rolled in from behind.
Rei turned to look at the man.
He had indeed been approaching the corpse—so Rei had accelerated and taken the item first.
"I think… an ownerless item belongs to whoever picks it up first."
"Are you really going to fight me over it?" Rei asked calmly.
The man before him had a single eye.
He held a black blade in one hand and locked eyes with Rei.
"Hey, hey… I saw it first. You're the one who rushed in and stole it, right?"
"You could've just been faster," Rei replied.
"Heh. You're an early awakener at such a young age, and your family actually let you enter the Land of Forgetting?"
"In here, if you die, no one will remember you."
"You're a genius, aren't you?"
"More or less."
"Where are you from, mister?"
At Rei's response, the one-eyed man let out a cold laugh.
"Heh… a genius?"
"Let me tell you something—in the Land of Forgetting, geniuses are the most common thing there is!"
"Kid, hand over that gray seed, or you're going to suffer."
"I'm not exactly fond of beating up children."
He stabbed his black blade into the ground and cracked his knuckles.
Genius… huh?
Rei remained cautious.
After all, he didn't want to run into someone like Luluvia again.
A Level 5 like her would be troublesome.
Bang!
The man vanished instantly and reappeared mid-strike, throwing a punch straight at Rei!
Boom!
Just before the punch connected, he slightly pulled back his strength—
But the moment it should have landed—
Something felt off.
Fwoosh—
The "Rei" in front of him dissolved like a bubble.
An illusion?
When?!
Rei stood within the dense mist, watching calmly.
His hundred-layer shield had long since been activated.
If someone couldn't even see through a simple illusion…
Could they really be strong?
From the moment the man started talking, Rei had never relaxed his guard.
"…Still, doesn't seem like he actually intended to kill me."
The man instantly realized something was wrong and tried to retreat for his blade.
But the moment he turned—
Rei was already behind him.
Demonic Tempering Arts — Second Form: Ascending Demon Sky-Shatter Strike
Bang!
A knee slammed into the man's chest.
His body shot upward like a projectile—
His ribcage completely shattered.
Enduring the pain, he tried to twist his body midair—
But suddenly—
A tremendous force struck his back!
Boom!
A downward axe kick sent him crashing back to the ground like a falling comet!
Invincible Flow — Sixth Form: Unintentional Heaven-Cleave Descent
Boom!
The man slammed into the earth.
Genius?
Where?
Rei landed beside him.
If this counted as a "genius," wasn't that title being insulted?
"Hey."
Rei picked up the black blade.
There was actually a fairly powerful spirit sealed within it.
He didn't extract it.
It seemed to be an integral part of the weapon—removing it would greatly reduce its power.
Like his staff, this blade had exclusive restrictions.
Without unlocking them, no one else could fully utilize it.
Otherwise, in combat, if your weapon got knocked away and your opponent used it against you—
That would just be stupid.
But the moment Rei grabbed it, he had already unraveled its unique seal and replaced it with his own restriction.
From this point on—
He was the blade's master.
…What an idiot.
Who throws their weapon aside during a fight?
At worst, you could just store it in your inventory.
Rei stepped on the man's back and pressed the blade against his neck.
"Name. Where you're from. Class. Why you came here. The rules of this place. Everything."
Finally, someone he could interrogate without hesitation.
He couldn't exactly beat up Shumi earlier for answers.
She had helped him, after all.
"Oh—and don't lie."
"I can tell. If you lie, I'll…"
Rei paused.
"…cut off your fingers."
"If you lie too much, I'll just kill you."
His tone was calm, almost childish—
But the man felt a chilling, indifferent killing intent.
"I—I'm Sarek… from the Shara Continent in the Moon Sea… a Ghostblade…"
Rei froze for a moment.
Ghostblade?
Like from that game?
So what are you—Phantom Slayer or Blade Master?
"Reason for coming here… isn't it obvious? Treasure hunting."
"As for the rules… best not to kill too many people."
Slash!
A spray of blood shot out.
Rei cut off his ring finger.
"You lied."
His mental fluctuations had clearly indicated deception.
"Next time, I take your whole hand. After that, I kill you."
Rei's voice remained soft and even.
"You can keep testing whether I can detect lies."
Cold sweat poured down the man's face.
"This… this is a trial ground!"
"After some time, the three strongest individuals who died here will awaken! If you kill them, you can split their treasures!"
"When you leave this place, all memories of it will be erased! Any records will disappear too!"
"I don't know any other rules!"
He gasped for breath—but this time, he wasn't lying.
Rei loosened the blade from his neck.
"Then how do you know all this?"
Shumi knew. This man knew.
"This is a well-known legend across the Moon Sea."
"As long as you carry a Moon Token, you can enter the Land of Forgetting on January 1st of a leap year."
"Moon Tokens are proof granted to the strong in the Moon Sea."
"I heard they let us pass through the wall because of some deep connection between the Moon Sea and this battlefield…"
The Moon Sea…
Just how vast was it?
How many people had these tokens?
There were quite a lot of entrants here.
"Strong?"
"All Level 5?"
"You mentioned 'early awakeners.' What does that mean?"
"You… you don't know?"
Rei pressed the blade closer again.
"You're not the one asking questions."
The man swallowed hard.
"Early awakeners are those who awaken their class before the age of 16!"
"Any restrictions?"
"Yes!"
He was full of confusion—this child clearly looked like one, yet didn't know?
But he didn't dare question it.
"In the Moon Sea, only three children awaken early each year! They're said to be the most outstanding geniuses!"
"The limitation is… very few awaken each year!"
Rei almost laughed.
That's not what I meant.
"I really don't know any other restrictions!"
Rei sighed lightly.
"Who came here this time?"
"You're asking me?"
"I don't know! Probably all the strong people from the Moon Sea…"
"But not just us—people from other seas too. Maybe the Secret Sea, the Turbid Sea… and others I don't know."
A detailed answer.
He clearly didn't want to die.
Rei asked a few more questions, extracting everything useful.
Finally—
"That's all."
"Hand over everything valuable. Including your Moon Token."
"Then get lost."
Rei stepped off him.
The man hurriedly stripped off his equipment, dropped his storage bag, and handed everything over with trembling hands—
Then immediately fled toward the wall.
Rei watched his retreating back.
…Fast runner.
If he had tried to retaliate, Rei wouldn't have hesitated to kill him.
But since he actually ran—
Fine.
He hadn't intended to kill from the start anyway. He didn't even use his blade.
Show-off or not—
Rei allowed him to live.
…Too merciful.
Even if memories would be erased after leaving—
Killing to silence witnesses would still be safer.
Rei knew it himself.
He simply wasn't ruthless enough.
He continued searching alone.
Most corpses only had Tier 4 or Tier 5 equipment.
Not very important.
What interested him more were combat techniques and magic.
Whenever he felt like he had forgotten something, he would take out his stack of notes and review them.
Suddenly—
His perception stirred violently!
In the distance, blazing light erupted into the sky!
A man engulfed in crimson flames slammed another by the head—
Boom!
Like a comet, he drove him from the sky into the ground!
Boom boom boom boom boom—!
Molten shockwaves rippled outward in all directions!
Another fight.
But this one—
Worth watching.
The man on the ground was charred black, smoke rising from his body.
The red-skinned man stood there, ferocious, staring at the crowd behind him.
Many had gathered.
Their perception ranges were limited—they had to approach to see what was happening.
Whoosh!
A shockwave burst outward from the red man—
Blowing away the surrounding mist!
"Hah…"
"So many people showing up… perfect."
"I'll kill all of you together."
…Well.
There really are people like that.
Rei had wondered earlier—
In a lawless zone like this, would someone try to wipe everyone out?
Turns out—
Yes.
Should I hide? Or watch?
…Doesn't matter.
If his perception range exceeds mine, I can't hide anyway.
Rei probed the fluctuations.
About twenty kilometers.
Impressive.
In this fog, even he only had two hundred kilometers of unaffected perception.
For someone suppressed to still reach twenty—
Not bad.
Rei stayed put, observing.
Then—
From the crowd, a man stepped forward.
Eyes closed. Sword held calmly in his arms.
"…Killing everyone at the drop of a hat."
"Your killing intent is excessive."
…This one's not simple either.
Rei cleared the nearby corpses, set up a reclining chair and a small table—
And pulled out a bag of melon seeds.
Crunch.
He opened his mouth, and the chilled drink on the table flowed into it.
Ice?
For a mage, chilling a drink was trivial.
"Oh… that sword."
"Haha… are you the Sword Saint?"
High status, huh?
Rei cracked seeds thoughtfully.
"Interesting! I've heard no one in the Moon Sea can defeat you—not even the War God's successor!"
"I want to see just how strong this so-called Sword Saint is!"
So these are the "heavenly geniuses"?
Big talk.
But honestly…
You sound like cannon fodder.
Makes you look like the challenger.
Boom!
Flames surged skyward, clearing a wide space.
The weaker ones had already fled.
Fast, too.
Everyone here had good survival instincts.
If Rei ever decided to kill—
He'd need to be careful not to let anyone escape.
Boom!
The pillar of fire condensed into a blazing arc, rushing toward the Sword Saint!
He didn't move.
At the moment of impact—
Half the flames exploded outward!
He simply blocked with the sheath.
Didn't even step back.
"Still not drawing your sword? Stop pretending!"
Boom!
The red man launched a barrage of punches at close range!
Bang!
The Sword Saint countered with a single strike of his sheath—
The flames were blasted apart instantly!
"You're not worthy of seeing my blade."
Whoosh—
The sheath rose—
Then slammed down!
Boom!
The red man was smashed straight into the ground.
"…That's it?"
Rei finished his seeds.
Didn't even get to see his full strength.
But—
Definitely not weak.
From what the red man said, he might be one of the strongest in the Moon Sea.
There was also another at his level—
The War God's successor.
As for "Sword Saint"—
Was that just a title?
Or the unique class [Sword Saint]?
He had heard that class required mastery of over a hundred sword techniques—all at maximum proficiency.
If it was that one—
Then he was truly dangerous.
So there are real powerhouses here.
And since he protected others—
His moral alignment wasn't too low.
An unknown strong opponent…
Better to treat him as someone on Izparut's level.
Rei didn't put away his chair or table.
He simply turned to another direction.
On the other side of the wall—
Two more were fighting midair.
An assassin versus a warrior.
The warrior kept shouting things like—
"Sixteenth strongest in the Moon Sea!""Strongest of the younger generation in Shara!"
So many prodigies.
But…
Feels like I queued into the wrong server.
All Moon Sea players.
"Oh…"
Rei's perception shifted—
And he saw a familiar figure.
Shumi.
Dragging a corpse behind her, casually strolling along.
Whistling.
Relaxed.
She had clearly just killed someone.
Was she ranked among the Moon Sea's elites?
Rei originally intended to keep exploring.
But—
Observing these people's strength was just as important.
Know yourself, know your enemy.
That assassin? Trash.That ninth-ranked warrior? Trash.Those two mages? Also trash.
…What's that class? Why is he carrying so many weapons?
A puppet master?
…And that guy planting traps everywhere—what a rat.
Wait—someone's poisoning corpses?!
What the—
Hold on.
What is that guy doing with the corpse?!
What class even is that?!
…Wait.
Are you Indian?!
Rei was stunned.
He hadn't paid close attention before.
Now, scanning carefully within his two-hundred-kilometer range—
He realized something.
The place was absolutely packed with all kinds of lunatics.
Just how chaotic is the Moon Sea?