—Boom!
They passed through the phase corridor.
In the blink of an eye, they had crossed hundreds of millions of kilometers.
Spatial traversal.
This was the brand-new magic Iz Parult had developed.
"…Still not enough."
After arriving on the far side of the Hive using [Phase Traverse], Iz frowned slightly, clearly reflecting on something.
"Kanzaki Rei."
"Besides the Phase Spider you mentioned… and this Phase Mantis—are there other phase-type monsters?"
Kanzaki Rei gave a slight nod. "There are."
"But I'm not sure if there are others within this Hive."
Iz inclined her head. "I see."
"Let's find that Phase Spider first."
"I feel like… I'm on the verge of a breakthrough."
Guided by [Hidden Origin], they continuously activated [Phase Traverse], moving toward the central nest suspended in the sky.
—Buzz—
In just a few breaths, they had already crossed tens of billions of kilometers.
All around them now were viscous, secretion-coated walls.
They had entered the aerial Hive itself.
Countless insect-type monsters clung to the walls, and large numbers of them seemed to receive sudden commands—leaping off and diving into newly opened rifts.
Kanzaki Rei and Iz adjusted their auras.
Mimicking the presence of the surrounding creatures.
Once the simulation was complete—
No monster paid them any attention.
No attacks.
This Hive…
Even after witnessing the vastness of the world, even after watching the Secret Sea collapse again and again—
Still inspired awe.
Even with Phase Traverse, they had yet to reach its end after traveling hundreds of billions of kilometers.
Only now—
Moving through it directly—
Did its scale truly become apparent.
Before, when observing from afar, there had been too many obstructions, too few reference points.
Even knowing it blotted out the sky, stretching to the horizon—
It was impossible to grasp its true size.
But now—
Traveling alongside Iz's magic—
Its enormity became overwhelming.
The destruction Iz had wrought earlier—
Seemed massive at the time.
But compared to this colossal structure…
It felt insignificant.
And more troubling—
This might not even be the only Hive.
There could be many more like it.
Buzzzzzzzzz—
They were getting close.
Ahead—
The space itself was threaded with crystalline, translucent filaments.
Each strand, when plucked—
Drew out a tiny slit in empty space, as if pulling silk from nothingness.
Then—
Countless insects surged into those slits.
As they filled and widened, the slits gradually expanded—
Becoming the same rifts they had seen before, connecting to distant regions.
—Buzz!
Another traversal.
This time—
Only about five million kilometers.
As Kanzaki Rei's perception swept the area, he sensed countless shimmering threads.
And when they emerged from space—
He and Iz found themselves inside a vast, transparent web.
—Boom!
Their arrival was abrupt.
Like the Phase Mantis—
A sudden burst, instant manifestation.
"Humans?"
Before them—
The Phase Spider.
The moment it sensed spatial fluctuations—
Kanzaki Rei and Iz had already appeared in front of it.
—Slash!
In the next instant—
Kanzaki Rei felt his body tighten as the surrounding space compressed!
—Pfft!
A cutting sensation tore through him—
As though invisible threads had sliced across his flesh.
But—
His body was too strong.
So strong that the sudden phase-cut failed to sever him.
Beside him, Iz Parult seemed to let out a small sigh of relief.
"Good thing I encountered your kin earlier," she said casually. "Otherwise, I'd probably be sliced into neat little pieces by now."
There was no trace of concern in her tone.
"It has intelligence too?" Iz asked, turning to Kanzaki Rei.
"Yeah. Looks like it."
Another intelligent monster.
The Hive… these aberrant nests…
They were clearly researching something along those lines.
Monsters striving to gain intelligence.
While—
The Dark Church was researching how to turn humans into monsters.
The two paths…
Were completely reversed.
Neither Kanzaki Rei nor Iz attacked immediately.
Both fell into thought instead.
The Phase Spider, of course, had no idea what they were thinking.
It only knew—
An enemy had appeared.
Humans.
—Flash!
In the next moment—
It blinked behind Kanzaki Rei.
Its long legs raised high—
—Boom!
Before it could strike—
Both raised legs shattered into fragments.
It didn't even realize what had happened.
Who attacked?
How?
Kanzaki Rei glanced back slightly.
…Oh.
Its strength was mediocre.
Phase blink. Phase web. Web manipulation. Phase slash…
Within frozen time—
Kanzaki Rei had already analyzed all of its abilities.
And learned its origin.
It too—
Was created by the Phase Grandmother.
Phase Spiders were born with the specifications of Ninth-Tier monsters—
But their combat power was barely at the level of Eighth-Tier.
Their primary function—
Was weaving.
Constructing the Hive's pathways.
And creating the channels through which it invaded the real world.
—Boom!
While Kanzaki Rei gathered information—
The Phase Spider radiated shock and fear.
This human…
Was unfathomable.
Before even engaging, two of its legs had already been destroyed.
This was not an opponent it could fight.
It had to escape immediately!
—Buzz!
Spatial fluctuations surged—
The Phase Spider prepared to flee.
However—
—Clang!
Its body failed to complete the transition.
At the very moment it tried to leave—
It slammed into an invisible barrier.
Iz Parult raised one hand.
"I came all this way to find you," she said lightly. "Leaving just like that would be rather rude, wouldn't it?"
Kanzaki Rei noticed—
In that brief exchange alone—
Several new spells had already appeared on her.
He turned as well—
Facing the Phase Spider.
"Perfect. You seem to have even higher intelligence than the one we encountered earlier."
"I have a few questions for you."
Kanzaki Rei and Iz flanked it—front and back.
All surrounding space had been sealed.
Ordinary mages…
Rarely mastered spatial magic.
It was incomplete, fragmented—
Most couldn't even learn it, let alone fight with it.
But the ones standing here now—
Were anything but ordinary.