"Don't go souring a whole string of prosperous prophecies."
When Kanzaki Rei saw that prediction, his expression barely shifted. He only let out a faint sigh.
So… trouble had still found its way to him.
The good news was that there were still a full twenty-eight days before the apocalypse.
He had more than enough time to run.
The other piece of good news was that prophecies weren't guaranteed to come true.
The creed of a Doomsday Prophet was to issue a prophecy—and then make it happen.
Compared to true prophecy, what they released was closer to a declaration. Like a phantom thief announcing a heist before stealing something, such "prophecies" naturally carried far more uncertainty than genuine foresight.
"Since I'm already simulating the future… just thinking about running away would be pretty stupid."
He liked staying alive—but not to the point of fleeing twenty-nine days in advance over something that wasn't even certain.
If escape was impossible, a day or two wouldn't matter.
If escape was possible, a day or two wouldn't matter either.
In short…
Whoosh!
Kanzaki Rei took a step and reappeared outside the city of Knulloria.
Originally, he had planned to use this future simulation to steal more knowledge.
But then he realized—
He had already "borrowed" everything in Knulloria.
The White Tower, the Church, the Forbidden Archives, even the Combat Academy's techniques.
The entire city… had nothing left for him to steal.
To think he'd cleaned it out this thoroughly…
Even he felt a bit impressed.
Whoosh—
Since his plan was to avoid interfering with events as much as possible, Kanzaki Rei didn't intend to show himself anywhere.
Instead, he slipped into a dim, secluded chamber without alerting anyone, and took out a book from his storage space:
The First Ten Forbidden Spells.
Now that he possessed [Divine Talent · Perfect Method], he no longer risked fainting just from reading. Even the forbidden texts he previously couldn't access in Loren were now open to him.
He simply hadn't had time to study them before, as he'd been focused entirely on Origin research.
Besides, he couldn't let Yuna read these.
He was immune to knowledge corruption—she wasn't.
If she turned into some grotesque tentacled monstrosity, that would be a problem.
Though honestly… her intense pace of absorbing knowledge was worrying in its own right.
Scholars who accidentally stumbled into forbidden knowledge weren't uncommon. Even without being combat classes, their mortality rate rivaled—or even exceeded—that of fighters.
It usually started innocently:
This book feels a little strange… just one glance.
If something's wrong, I'll stop immediately.
Two glances seem fine… maybe I'll just finish the page…
And by the time they snapped out of it—
Hair would be sprouting all over their bodies, and their flesh would have twisted into writhing tendrils.
"Forbidden spells…"
Flame-script paper appeared in Kanzaki Rei's hand. A flicker of fire passed over it, leaving behind faint, barely visible markings.
Good enough. A trace was all he needed.
After all, this was just a simulated future—there was no need to be overly meticulous.
Simply experiencing the future like this was already an absurd advantage.
In fact, Future Simulation could even be used to save time.
Even without simulating a specific day, just spending a full day studying here was equivalent to splitting time into three.
Others had 24 hours a day.
He had 72.
Triple the effort.
So this was what his childhood teachers meant by—
A monster with both talent and seventy-two hours of study a day.
Tap… tap… tap…
Time passed steadily.
The "First Forbidden Spells" in the book were not something that could be deciphered casually.
Their decryption difficulty was Level 7.
Right now, he was only a Level 4 Decryption Scholar. He still lacked several prerequisite conditions to solve them.
Still, familiarizing himself with the book would definitely help later.
After skimming through the entire text, Kanzaki Rei felt his spirituality being contaminated.
Yet the corruption didn't truly invade—it transformed into pure knowledge and was absorbed.
"So this is what corruption feels like…"
Corruption merged into one's spirituality.
The author of the book was someone named Noctis Moth, located in the Moon Sea—likely a high-tier mage.
Probably around Level 7.
As for the book itself, it had connections to the Origin Source.
Nothing about it was simple.
Who would've thought that ordinary things encountered daily could all trace back to various fundamental origins?
After going through the entire book once, Kanzaki Rei stopped.
Without meeting the decryption conditions, there was no point continuing.
Instead, he pulled out several ancient tomes on spatial magic and began studying incomplete space spells that normal people couldn't learn.
Would learning in a simulated future even matter?
Magic was the manifestation of knowledge and application.
Even without physically touching a spellbook, one could still cast spells after gaining the appropriate class level—so long as the knowledge existed.
Which meant—
Knowledge alone was enough.
「Spatial Fragment Flow (Tier 5) (LV: 401)」「Solidified Spatial Lock (Tier 5) (LV: 401)」「Sealed Domain (Tier 5) (LV: 401)」「Spatial Scale Shift (Tier 5) (LV: 401)」「Instant Flash (Tier 5) (LV: 401)」
Beyond ancient spatial magic, Kanzaki Rei naturally learned modern spatial spells as well.
Teleportation—Flash—was already within his grasp.
But compared to Origin Magic, Flash could only move himself.
It couldn't reposition objects.
It couldn't move others.
In the end, it fell far short.
Learning ancient spatial magic required decoding, translation, and comprehension.
Most importantly, it required law completion.
This wasn't instantaneous.
At first, a conceptual framework of the spell would form in his mind—but incomplete, missing key laws.
Over time, under the influence of his talent, the spell would naturally grow and complete itself.
And as it did, the missing Origin Laws would be filled in simultaneously.
Unlike ordinary magic, which could be learned at a glance, each ancient spatial spell took at least ten minutes to grasp.
It was a strange sensation.
Like being used to having two arms and two legs—
Only to gradually realize that the ultimate form had ten arms and ten legs, each with unique functions.
Now, he was in the process of rediscovering those functions—and regrowing the limbs themselves.
And once they grew back…
He realized just how incomplete he had been before.
Kanzaki Rei was deeply immersed in his research—
When suddenly, a premonition struck.
The Void Ring Star Spear appeared in his hand.
His perception surged toward the royal palace.
At the same time, layers upon layers of shields activated around him.
「Tier 5 Origin Magic: Immutable Eternal Preservation」
An Zheng's Origin Magic.
Instantly, Kanzaki Rei stacked layer after layer of indestructible shields onto himself.
As soon as one layer formed, the next followed.
Because the shields did not disappear—
He could stack them indefinitely.
To be safe, he applied a full 100,000 layers in one go…
Eventually, he couldn't stack any more.
Reluctantly, he stopped.
But then—
He raised his spear again.
「Deep Condensed Barrier (Tier 5) (LV: 401) — Stacking condensation, massive barrier, extreme hardness, invisible transparency, strength scales with mana input, stackable, absorbs mana, absorbs impact」
Whoosh!
Rows upon rows of barriers manifested across the sky, blanketing the heavens.
There was no room left around him…
So he built the defenses up there instead.
Would this level of defense work against an 8th-tier mage?
Who knew.
But even if it only bought him a little time, that was enough.
He wanted to see what would happen.
Whoosh—
At the same time, his five cores shot out in different directions—this time all in defensive mode.
Ten "Origins" began orbiting around him as well.
Ready for anything.
Time: 23:55.
Five minutes remained until the end of the Month of Knowledge.
And thirty minutes…
Until An Zheng's death.
Hooo—
The wind began to surge unnaturally.
Not natural wind—
A storm formed from condensed mana.
Kanzaki Rei rose into the sky, watching as dense mana twisted into a massive vortex.
The sheer volume…
Far exceeded his own.
Even the mere gathering of mana had already stirred the distant Secret Sea into towering waves—
Lightning tore purple fractures across the clear night sky!
The bright blue moon sank lower.
The stars dimmed.
Kanzaki Rei's perception locked onto the continent—
But suddenly—
BOOM!
Two figures appeared high in the sky.
One was a man with slightly curly brown hair, wearing sunglasses and a modern-style jacket, hands in his pockets, blowing bubble gum.
The other had long black hair, his entire body wrapped in bandages, only half his face exposed.
Flat-chested—probably a man.
"Who're you?" the curly-haired man asked, blowing a bubble as he glanced sideways.
The bandaged man didn't respond, only casting him a cold look.
The bubble grew larger.
"Why so cold? You're obviously my partner, right? Not even gonna say hi?"
"…Hmph."
"No greeting, no communication. My class is kinda special, you know. If you don't talk, don't blame me for dragging you down in a fight."
The bandaged man's face twitched.
"Death Church. First Executor. Samu."
The curly-haired man perked up.
"Ohhh?"
"So you're that Samu?"
"Heard about you for ages—first time seeing you! Hahaha! Thought mummy types like you only existed in gag comics!"
"Oh, you know what comics are? They're entertainment from my country."
Samu's wrinkled face twitched violently.
What the hell is this guy even here for?
"You still haven't said who you are," Samu said coldly.
"Oh? You wanted to know?"
Samu's bandages tightened.
Before killing Izparut… maybe I should kill you first.
The curly-haired man grinned.
"My name's Roya."
"Class: Tier 8 — Chaos Trickster. Never heard of it, right? It's a unique hidden class."
Samu paused.
Tier 8… unique class?
He had never heard of this person before.
An Zheng had really brought in someone extraordinary.
"You're here to kill Izparut and Kumi Roni too?"
Roya laughed.
"Nah, not really. I owe An Zheng a favor. He asked me to protect him, so… here I am."
"Of course, if someone tries to kill him, I'll help out."
Roya glanced around.
"…Though these ordinary people seem kinda innocent, don't they?"
Whoosh!
He raised a hand.
Kanzaki Rei's pupils shrank!
The entire vast Ruilen Continent—
Vanished in an instant.
What remained was only the boundless Secret Sea.
Like a massive basin had been carved out, seawater rushed inward to fill the void.
"There's one more in the sky," Samu said coldly.
"That one…"
Roya looked up—meeting Kanzaki Rei's gaze.
Pop—
The bubble burst.
He blinked, then broke into a bright, cheerful smile and waved.
…Why are you waving at me?
"That one doesn't matter," Roya said casually.
Samu paused.
For some reason…
He suddenly felt the same.
And abandoned the thought of killing Kanzaki Rei.
Facing beings who could erase an entire continent with a gesture—
Kanzaki Rei had zero intention of fighting.
The outcome was obvious.
Charging in would only get him instantly killed.
Better to pretend he didn't exist.
Observe quietly.
Gather as much information as possible before being wiped out by the aftershock.
Tier 8.
That must be the Chaos Trickster Roya mentioned in An Zheng's notes.
And Samu, standing beside him, was likely also Tier 8.
He'd walked straight into a nest of monsters.
And on this very day, two reinforcements had appeared out of nowhere.
Izparut was a mage, not a diviner.
Even he couldn't have predicted this variable.
At this moment—
Izparut's palace had been displaced.
Standing within the raging storm of mana, his hat brim fluttered, shadowing half his face.
"Three Tier 8 classes…"
"How interesting."
His staff appeared in his right hand.
With his left, he adjusted his hat.
Beside him, An Zheng stood—his withered body clutching a radiant staff.
His signature weapon.
His greatest creation.
"Izparut!" his aged voice boomed with amplified mana.
"I admit—you may be the stronger mage now."
"My body is decaying. My life is nearing its end."
"But your mistake…"
"Was thinking I stood alone."
"You never considered how many allies I made traveling the world."
Izparut's gaze was calm.
"Those allies… include the Death Church?"
An Zheng replied:
"Izparut… one day, you too will rely on such power."
"When your life reaches its end…"
"You will embrace death."
Samu stepped forward, placing a hand on An Zheng's body.
His decayed flesh peeled away like scabs, turning to ash—
As fresh, pale skin regenerated beneath.
"Izparut…"
"Do you still think you can stop me now?"
Izparut only shook his head slightly.
Then raised his left hand.
"Tier 6 Origin Magic…"
"Essence Stripping."