"You were looking for ?"
Kanzaki Rei’s tone was calm—almost curt.
iser 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 ?"
iser interlocked his fingers. At the sa ti, his body—and another soul-ford duplicate—erged from two different directions.
When Kanzaki Rei had first t him, iser’s magic had seed 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 ."
iser 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."
iser 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 morized them."
"You wanted to learn these spells..."
"What exactly are you planning?"
iser blinked. "You’ve already learned them?"
Kanzaki Rei raised one hand. A flicker of crimson lightning danced at his fingertips.
At the sa ti, faint motes of soul-light spread around his body.
These were the minor spells iser had given him.
"You really are... a genius."
"Oh, right. There’s also a secret scroll—"
Kanzaki Rei cut him off.
"iser. I know who you are."
"You ca to just for sothing this trivial?"
The question was direct—uncompromising.
iser’s expression instantly hardened. Around him, faint blood-colored runes began to materialize.
Soul-based arcane magic...
A truly rare discipline.
It was said iser 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?"
iser’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?" iser’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 seed his words had pushed iser 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 iser’s sea of consciousness.
...What a resilient soul.
Kanzaki Rei imdiately sensed the defenses protecting iser’s ntal domain—far stronger than most.
But unfortunately for him...
He was facing Kanzaki Rei.
—BOOM!
His consciousness pierced through.
At the sa mont, 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 fragnts.
"You’re struggling."
Within the pitch-black sea of consciousness, there remained a single patch of purity.
The last ssage iser 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 sothing worth worrying about.
But after experiencing contamination firsthand multiple tis...
He began to understand just how troubleso it truly was.
Even true gods—or Level 9 class-advancers—struggled to remove contamination.
And yet iser, rely a Level 6 mage...
Had found a thod to completely eradicate it.
...Interesting.
He needed to have a proper conversation with him.
Even if that thod ca at a trendous 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 elents.
iser 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 transford 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 sothing a re Level 6 soul mage could break.
...Still can’t cast without chanting?
Not quite a genius, then.
At the sa ti, Kanzaki Rei continued probing within iser’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.
anwhile, iser 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 unhard.
iser stared at him as though looking at a monster.
Kanzaki Rei let out a faint sigh.
"iser..."
"Back then, I was honestly terrified of you."
After the sigh, he raised one hand.
Ring after ring of sealing sigils materialized around iser, encasing him layer by layer until he was completely sealed inside a black cube.
Instant imprisonnt.
"You won’t need to co 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 outco.
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 ntion it, he’d assud they had rely rescued two or three towns along the way.
Clearly—
He had underestimated them.
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