"You were looking for me?"
Kanzaki Rei's tone was calm—almost curt.
Meiser paused slightly, caught off guard, before stepping out from the shadows and walking toward him.
"I've heard you're only a Level 2 mage… yet you were able to detect my presence."
"How interesting."
Kanzaki Rei replied flatly, "Let's skip the pleasantries. What exactly is your purpose in coming to me?"
Meiser interlocked his fingers. At the same time, his body—and another soul-formed duplicate—emerged from two different directions.
When Kanzaki Rei had first met him, Meiser's magic had seemed strange… mysterious.
Now?
There wasn't the slightest sense of mystery left.
"I only intended to teach you a few spells."
Kanzaki Rei remained completely unfazed. "Show me."
Meiser stopped.
He stared intently at Kanzaki Rei, his hawk-like eyes piercing straight into the boy's gaze.
But he saw nothing.
No fear. No confusion. Not even a ripple of emotion.
"…Fine."
Meiser took out three slips of paper from his storage pouch.
Kanzaki Rei's eyes swept over them once—just once—before he looked up again.
"…Alright. I've memorized them."
"You wanted me to learn these spells…"
"What exactly are you planning?"
Meiser blinked. "You've already learned them?"
Kanzaki Rei raised one hand. A flicker of crimson lightning danced at his fingertips.
At the same time, faint motes of soul-light spread around his body.
These were the minor spells Meiser had given him.
"You really are… a genius."
"Oh, right. There's also a secret scroll—"
Kanzaki Rei cut him off.
"Meiser. I know who you are."
"You came to me just for something this trivial?"
The question was direct—uncompromising.
Meiser's expression instantly hardened. Around him, faint blood-colored runes began to materialize.
Soul-based arcane magic…
A truly rare discipline.
It was said Meiser was a prodigy in the field of the soul.
"You've been contaminated. And yet… you still retain your own clarity of will."
"Even under contamination, your subconscious soul is trying to escape."
"…Am I right?"
Meiser's body suddenly began to tremble.
Both figures—before and behind Kanzaki Rei—shook uncontrollably.
"Heh…"
"Hehehe…"
"You… you're different. Not what I imagined at all."
—BOOM!
The ground split apart.
From beneath, blood-red chains erupted, dozens of them surging skyward like writhing dragons.
"You're not a child, are you?"
"Who… exactly are you?" Meiser's voice turned cold.
Kanzaki Rei glanced at the chains surrounding him.
「Bloodblade Thousand Chains (Tier 5) (LV: 15)」
So it's this spell.
"Why so angry?"
"Because I hit the mark? Your subconscious is resisting?"
It seemed his words had pushed Meiser into instability.
His emotional fluctuations were intense.
Kanzaki Rei narrowed his eyes slightly.
「Thought Invasion」
—BANG!
His consciousness shot forward like a bullet, slamming into Meiser's sea of consciousness.
…What a resilient soul.
Kanzaki Rei immediately sensed the defenses protecting Meiser's mental domain—far stronger than most.
But unfortunately for him…
He was facing Kanzaki Rei.
—BOOM!
His consciousness pierced through.
At the same moment, in the outside world, all the chains converged on him, launching forward in a concentrated barrage! Dozens of blood-red chains crashed down like raging dragons!
—BANG!
Yet Kanzaki Rei didn't move at all.
With only a few flickers of light, the incoming chains shattered into countless fragments.
"You're struggling."
Within the pitch-black sea of consciousness, there remained a single patch of purity.
The last message Meiser had left behind…
…was a plea for help.
He had wanted Kanzaki Rei to follow a certain guide—to retrieve his soul after death, and through that, eradicate the contamination completely.
Back then, Kanzaki Rei hadn't thought much of it.
As long as he avoided contamination, it wasn't something worth worrying about.
But after experiencing contamination firsthand multiple times…
He began to understand just how troublesome it truly was.
Even true gods—or Level 9 class-advancers—struggled to remove contamination.
And yet Meiser, merely a Level 6 mage…
Had found a method to completely eradicate it.
…Interesting.
He needed to have a proper conversation with him.
Even if that method came at a tremendous cost.
—BOOM!
With a casual wave of his hand, Kanzaki Rei shattered every chain in the outside world.
The torn earth and ruptured ground instantly filled and restored themselves with fresh earth elements.
Meiser gasped for breath.
"You…"
"Who… are you?"
"The soul and the body… divided, yet not fully separated. There exists a gap between them—a space through which they may be torn apart."
—HUM!
Kanzaki Rei felt a sudden jolt strike his soul.
「Soul Detonation (Tier 6)」
—BANG!
The impact exploded within his mind.
His sea of consciousness trembled slightly—nothing more.
Though he hadn't yet transformed it into the Cloud Palace Consciousness Sea—he still had concerns about potential tampering left behind by Lottie—he had nonetheless invested heavily in strengthening its defenses.
This was not something a mere Level 6 soul mage could break.
…Still can't cast without chanting?
Not quite a genius, then.
At the same time, Kanzaki Rei continued probing within Meiser's consciousness.
Gradually, he discovered it—
Deep beneath the surface, hidden within the depths—
An awareness wrapped in a cocoon.
…Found it.
But it couldn't be broken open. If it were, that consciousness would be fully contaminated.
—Shua!
In the next instant, Kanzaki Rei withdrew his awareness.
Meanwhile, Meiser continued his assault.
Several white arcane missiles shot toward him.
—Clang!
With a casual flick, Kanzaki Rei shattered the incoming projectiles—including the layered "Implosion Arcane Missiles" hidden within.
A storm of smaller missiles burst outward like a swarm of larvae, raining down upon him.
—BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!
Kanzaki Rei remained completely unharmed.
Meiser stared at him as though looking at a monster.
Kanzaki Rei let out a faint sigh.
"Meiser…"
"Back then, I was honestly terrified of you."
After the sigh, he raised one hand.
Ring after ring of sealing sigils materialized around Meiser, encasing him layer by layer until he was completely sealed inside a black cube.
Instant imprisonment.
"You won't need me to come find you later."
"You'll stay right here for now."
—
The next day…
Pali had disappeared.
It was almost as if she had already foreseen this outcome.
The monster tide, however, arrived exactly as expected.
Kanzaki Rei expanded his perception, sensing countless fissures tearing open across the southern region of Loren.
The insect nests had indeed descended.
Among them were even special monsters that possessed a degree of intelligence.
Iz and the others had already left the dungeon and were rushing back.
Their speed was astonishing—and along the way, they had casually saved hundreds of cities and towns that had been overrun by monsters.
At this point…
They could practically be called saviors.
When Kanzaki Rei had first heard them mention it, he'd assumed they had merely rescued two or three towns along the way.
Clearly—
He had underestimated them.