So many people… arriving the moment the teleportation channel closed.
The efficiency. The seamless coordination.
Clearly… this had been planned for a long time.
Kanzaki Rei questioned himself.
If it were him—if he knew someone was coming to hunt him down—what would he do?
The answer… became crystal clear.
If he had the strength to turn the tables, he would use the opportunity of being hunted… to counter-kill his pursuers.
If he didn't…
He would exhaust every possible means to escape alive.
He had been arrogant.
Arrogant enough to believe that with Akagi, Kumironi, and himself…
The three of them together were already invincible on this continent.
There was simply no room for error.
Any enemy who faced them… would only be forced into a desperate retreat.
The final outcome should have always been total victory—returning fully laden with spoils.
He hadn't even truly considered the possibility of being counter-killed.
"Careless."
"Utterly careless."
Boom!
Kanzaki Rei shot into the sky!
Swish! Swish swish swish swish swish—
And almost immediately—
Figures filled the sky above Sel City from every direction.
Kanzaki Rei's gaze swept across them.
At a glance—there were thousands.
Not all of them were above Level 5. Most were still Level 4.
Even so…
On the Ruilen Continent, that number was terrifying.
Level 4 was already a dividing line. Level 5 was rarer still—one in hundreds of millions.
Out of tens of billions of people, barely over two hundred Level 5s existed openly.
And now—
No one knew exactly how many had surrounded Sel City.
But one thing was certain…
There were many.
Their clothing was distinct.
"Tengor… Shanya… Tarabella…"
And many others he didn't recognize.
So they weren't from the Ruilen Continent.
"Of course…"
If that one who summoned monsters to attack Ruijia could escape to Tarabella…
Why couldn't people from other continents come here?
He had always assumed every battle was confined to Ruilen.
He had completely overlooked the existence of other continents.
Just because he hadn't left Ruilen…
Didn't mean his enemies were limited to it.
Kanzaki Rei's gaze turned cold.
"My own ignorance."
A phantom ring formed in his right hand—the Star Spirit War Spear materialized.
He stood still, not making the first move.
The crowd surrounded him, their thoughts chaotic and noisy.
"That guy!"
"It's that Lu Cang!"
"Why is he outside?!"
"Heh—who cares why? He's alone out here!"
"Loren's Chief Mage! Second only to Izparut—the greatest magical prodigy!"
"If we can get his skin—"
Crack—
A flash of extreme light exploded.
The speaker didn't even finish his sentence.
A child in the distance had already grabbed his head with one hand.
"Is that so."
His name—Nicody. From Tarabella.
Level 4 Skin Stealer.
His parents… also from Tarabella.
Killed by his own hands.
That was the initiation test for Skin Stealers in Tarabella.
Truly…
A church that had abandoned all humanity.
Bang!
Kanzaki Rei clenched his hand—
And the man's head exploded instantly.
Kanzaki Rei looked out at the crowd.
Their time of death…
Was short. Less than thirty minutes.
That countdown assumed a world where Kanzaki Rei didn't exist.
Without him, they might have lived that long.
But now—
Even if he didn't kill them, they wouldn't last much longer.
"Kill him!"
Swish!
Dozens of spells formed above Sel City!
Thunder roared—lightning split the sky!
Dozens of violent Wind Howl Cannons blasted toward Kanzaki Rei!
Fourth-tier wind magic—highly versatile, one of the most widely used spells of its tier.
Snap—
Kanzaki Rei vanished instantly.
How insulting.
To think such inferior magic would be used against him.
He spun his spear casually—
Boom!
Source: Heaven-Shaking Wind Roar (Fourth Tier) (LV: 301)
A violent shockwave of wind exploded outward—
Covering most of the sky in an instant!
Countless figures dropped from the heavens in unison.
Their souls scattered—collected effortlessly into Kanzaki Rei's grasp.
He glanced at the countdown timers above their heads.
When death was strongly tied to him…
The timers were remarkably accurate.
With a single strike—
The advancing elites halted.
They hesitated.
Weighing whether charging first…
Would simply mean becoming his next kill.
In that brief pause—
Kanzaki Rei noticed one man.
Time of death: 2 hours.
Two hours?
Everyone else had thirty minutes—why did he have so much longer?
Kanzaki Rei focused his gaze.
"Time of Death: 2:00:00 → 0"
"Ah—AAARGH!"
The man suddenly clutched his throat in agony.
His skin began to melt.
"No! Why—why is this happening?!"
His struggle lasted only moments.
His skin dissolved completely.
The flesh beneath turned black, lifeless—falling toward the ground.
"Skin… melting?"
"Why?! Why would the Elder suddenly suffer skin dissolution?!"
"The Grand Elder cherished his skin like his own life—why is it devouring him?!"
"With our Level 6 Grand Elder gone… how do we fight that monster?!"
Kanzaki Rei's perception shifted downward.
You churches…
Playing dead?
And Ruijia—where are your guards?
Whoosh—
Suddenly—violent winds surged!
From the four cardinal directions—
Four crimson creatures appeared.
They resembled upright walking flowers—
But entirely blood-red, with muscle-like textures.
"Kanzaki Rei? You're Loren's Chief Mage?"
"This has nothing to do with you today."
"Since you've escaped, don't seek death."
"You think standing in our way can save those trapped inside?"
"If you leave quietly now, we'll overlook your interference."
"Otherwise—even if Izparut himself comes…"
"We'll kill him too!"
Kanzaki Rei narrowed his eyes.
He read their mental fluctuations.
They weren't confident at all.
Bold words… for beings like this.
To claim they could kill even Izparut.
Still—
He had already suffered once from underestimating the enemy.
He wouldn't make that mistake again.
He had no intention of entering reincarnation.
A hundred layers of shields rose around him.
These four flower-like monsters—
Also had a two-hour death timer.
Kanzaki Rei paused briefly.
Then replied:
"Oh… then I'll leave."
He vanished instantly.
Everyone present—
Forgot who they had just been speaking to.
Only a vague sense remained—
That someone had been standing in front of them.
The next moment—
Kanzaki Rei appeared silently beside one of the flower monsters!
Battle Essence—Quadruple Activation!
In an instant, all four layers activated!
His movements became slow, drifting—like a sleepwalker.
Skyflow Style—Third Form: Phantom Strike
Combat arts and magic erupted simultaneously!
Ten thousand strikes in an instant!
Bang!
The flower monster exploded into a mass of blood midair.
Kanzaki Rei raised his hand—
And extracted its soul.
"You—!"
His hand pressed onto the corpse as he simultaneously stripped a storage petal from its body.
Information flooded into his mind.
"Die."
Boom—
The ground trembled!
Countless vines burst upward—
Blood-devouring flowers.
A race that fed exclusively on intelligent beings—
Especially fresh, living flesh.
But before the vines could reach the sky—
A streak of light flashed across the heavens!
Bang—
The remaining three flower monsters were pierced through instantly.
Kanzaki Rei hovered in the sky—
Watching their corpses fall.
As he killed them, he had also gathered more information.
A crimson leaf flickered in his hand—
Transforming into a blood-skin-like secret order.
Creator: God of Skinning and Shapeshifting — Aelthymia
A nameless, insignificant god.
No records of it existed in the White Tower.
Kanzaki Rei scanned the order instantly.
Restrictions. Encryption.
All broken in a moment.
"Capture Kumironi alive. Deliver to the Blood and Continuation Sanctuary."
That was the only content.
But the order itself—
Was genuine.
Issued by a being called a god.
From the flower monsters, he learned more—
The Church of Molting Rose wasn't confined to Ruilen.
Its roots spread across the entire world.
In some regions, it was even considered an orthodox religion.
Its influence extended beyond the Secret Sea—
Into the Turbid Sea, the Moon Sea—even the Boundless Mountains.
And above the church…
There were gods.
Active ones.
For the sake of capturing Kumironi—
For two years, elites had been continuously sent to Ruilen.
And more truths about Ruijia surfaced in his mind…
"So that's how it is."
Kanzaki Rei suddenly twisted his body—
Slash!
A freezing dagger grazed past him.
His eyes turned icy.
An assassin had appeared without a sound.
Boom!
Kanzaki Rei brought his leg down—
Crushing the assassin into the earth.
With a flick—
Another soul entered his grasp.
"So this is… a god's scheme?"
It had always sounded distant.
Irrelevant.
Something only heard in passing—
Like when Kumironi once told Chum:
"This is all Lady Sophia's design."
But it had never felt real.
Yet now—
After killing six Level 6 class users—
Seven, if including the one who died from his gaze—
The sense of danger…
Did not diminish.
It grew stronger.
Looking around again—
More figures were rising from the forests beyond Sel City.
More enemies.
What he had just faced…
Was only a probe.
Countless eyes still watched him.
Waiting.
His perception range was only 200 kilometers.
From the center of Sel City—
He couldn't reach beyond its borders.
Only his eyes could see—
Endless forests, with flesh-colored figures rising one after another.
And many things…
That weren't even human.
His perception turned downward.
Within the churches—
Clergy removed their robes.
Then—
Their skin.
City guards on patrol—
Pulled their own faces off.
In one squad—
Only one soldier didn't.
He stared in horror as his comrades—
With blank expressions—
Tore off their faces in unison.
He collapsed to the ground in terror.
Blacksmiths.
Arena receptionists.
War academy instructors—
One after another—
They shed their skin.
All of it—
Flooded Kanzaki Rei's mind.
As if the entire city—
Had been peeled.
Unknowingly—
The mist of the Month of Forgetting shifted—
From faint pink…
To a rust-scented crimson.
The bright sun in the sky—
Slowly sank.
As if its outer layer had been stripped away—
Revealing a mass of flesh beneath.
Sel City…
It wasn't just officials or key figures who had been replaced by Skin Stealers.
It was—
The entire city.
The entire capital—
Had already been replaced.