Limbs continued to sprout and spread across his body without end. Kanzaki Rei could feel it—another "self" was about to be born from within him.

"Ansu!"

Kanzaki Rei’s voice thundered through his sea of consciousness!

At nearly the same instant, a torrent of soul essence surged forth—poured directly into Ansu!

Ansu let out a long sigh.

This kid...

had clearly figured out long ago how to make use of him.

Hu—

A shroud of deathly aura began to coil around Kanzaki Rei’s body.

"Kid."

The whites of Kanzaki Rei’s eyes turned black, and his pupils shifted from black to crimson.

"That thing isn’t something you can deal with."

"Even I... can’t kill it in its current state..."

"If you have a way to escape, you’d better retreat first."

Ansu’s voice echoed within his mind.

At last, Kanzaki Rei felt the uncontrolled growth halt—Ansu had temporarily disrupted Sofia’s invasive proliferation...

"I know."

Tap—

His figure flickered, and in the next instant, Kanzaki Rei had already arrived on an utterly desolate planet.

Sofia was nowhere to be seen.

Ansu spoke again, "What exactly were you thinking?"

Ansu’s power gradually receded.

Kanzaki Rei had only sacrificed a precise portion of his soul—not too much, not too little.

Over more than a decade of coexistence, Kanzaki Rei had come to understand many of Ansu’s applications.

Not every situation required offering up his entire soul to let Ansu act at full power.

If he only supplied a controlled portion at critical moments—

and assigned a specific task—

then everything became far more manageable.

Ansu wouldn’t slip free from his control either.

So far, the only time he had used his entire soul was when Ansu confronted the Level 9 Izparut.

In that kind of battle, Ansu had no spare capacity to even consider breaking free.

But if it retained any surplus strength—

Ansu absolutely had the means to escape his control.

At the level where it could contend, even briefly, with a Level 9 Izparut—

Kanzaki Rei couldn’t even perceive the battle clearly.

Let alone read its thoughts.

And if it wanted to break free, it didn’t even need to kill him.

In fact, attacking him would trigger Final Perception.

So instead—

it could simply destroy itself before he even realized what was happening.

Although Ansu claimed it would never commit suicide—

that suicide was a desecration of death—

whether it would and whether it could... were two entirely different matters.

At the very least—

it did possess the means to escape.

Keeping Ansu’s power within limits was the only way to ensure control.

"I just wanted to test her."

"Turns out... I can’t beat her."

Kanzaki Rei’s reply was casual, almost indifferent.

"You’re quite bold..."

"But the way you fed me soul energy just now—very practiced."

Ansu felt as though it were being treated like a mere tool—

a living reservoir of power, fed whenever needed.

Kanzaki Rei gave a self-deprecating smile.

"Yeah. I guess I am pretty bold."

At some point, encountering gods had stopped being something to avoid—

and instead became something to probe.

Dangerous, yes.

But at least he had gained some of the information he wanted.

Tap—

In another instant, Kanzaki Rei had returned to the island.

Towering walls of seawater rose around him—he was back above the ocean’s surface.

The "Core" could now persist without distance limitations.

Its greatest advantage...

was the ease of positional switching.

Even across tens of millions—hundreds of millions—of kilometers—

as long as a "Core" remained,

he could arrive instantly.

He could even leave another "Core" behind before shifting—

allowing immediate return.

Since a "Core" could be placed on Erelia,

it could naturally be placed elsewhere as well.

Although his Mage and Warrior levels hadn’t increased,

over these ten-plus years of cultivation,

Kanzaki Rei’s mastery of magic had reached a new height.

He believed that his magical proficiency now rivaled—

or even surpassed—

that of Level 5 Izparut back then.

After all, when Izparut first found him, he had only been classed for three years.

Meanwhile, the time Kanzaki Rei had spent within reset timelines

already exceeded Izparut’s entire lifespan.

"Ansu... what do you think Sofia’s goal really is?"

Ansu let out a cold snort.

"What else could it be? Didn’t it already say so itself?"

"Be more specific. I don’t want any ambiguity."

Ansu chuckled darkly.

"Have you ever heard of a game called ’big fish eats small fish’?"

"No."

Such games did exist on Earth—

but that was Earth.

"Heh. It’s an ancient game."

"There’s a kind of fish called a Devouring Kun. When it’s young, it’s tiny—but by consuming other fish, it grows at an astonishing rate."

"It devours smaller fish until it becomes the biggest one."

"Everyone raises their own Devouring Kun. Whoever grows the largest wins."

"I’d say this Sofia... wants to become that Devouring Kun."

"Revive the Lord of the Ocean—and then devour it. Make it part of itself."

So it really was that literal.

Kanzaki Rei had wondered if there was any nuance he was missing.

But no—

it matched his understanding exactly.

"Then what if... the one that awakens isn’t the Lord of the Ocean, but the Primordial Sea?"

Kanzaki Rei asked.

Ansu burst into laughter.

"Kid, what nonsense are you talking about?"

"The Primordial Sea is the origin of all oceans! If it awakens, every landmass in this world will cease to exist!"

"It represents one of the fundamental essences of the world—the essence of the sea!"

"Even Sofia couldn’t fully devour it. If it somehow did, then it would become the embodiment of all oceans."

"If Sofia itself descended in full... there might be a sliver of possibility."

"But relying on a stolen vessel—a mere Level 6 healer—to shake the Primordial Sea? That’s utterly absurd."

"Even if I’m not at the level of a true Moon Sovereign, I can still see that much clearly."

"I see..."

"But what if?"

"Ansu, if the Primordial Sea truly appeared... would the world be overturned?"

Kanzaki Rei gazed down at the vast ocean.

Ansu fell silent.

Complex thoughts stirred within it.

Finally, it spoke:

"If what you’re saying really happens..."

"The world wouldn’t be overturned so easily."

Kanzaki Rei asked calmly, "Wouldn’t its arrival drown all land and wipe out nearly all terrestrial life?"

Ansu shook its head faintly.

"That would be the most likely outcome."

"But the world is balanced."

"In this world, there have been many existences capable of destroying everything."

"And yet..."

"The world still stands."

"There’s no way to prove it. No scholar can explain it."

"But from my experience... the fate of the world follows a kind of equilibrium."

"When destruction arises—salvation inevitably follows."

Kanzaki Rei recalled that in the original timeline, Ansu had said something similar:

"Kid... don’t think you’re the only savior."

Even without him...

would the Primordial Sea never truly appear?

Summoning White—

was that the right decision?

Or the wrong one?

Kanzaki Rei didn’t know.

But this journey—

was meant to uncover the truth.

Now that he had returned to this day,

his purpose wasn’t to repeat what had already happened—

but to explore the unknown.

Sofia didn’t pursue him.

Whether it couldn’t—

or simply didn’t bother—

he didn’t know.

...Sorry, Kumironi.

You went searching for the call—

and ended up losing your life because of it.

But if that was the case...

then the real Kumironi was in grave danger as well.

From what Sofia implied, Kumironi had essentially been cultivated as a vessel for her descent.

And even Eltimis wanted her.

Was Kumironi really that tempting to these gods?

When he returned—

he would have to warn her immediately.

Kanzaki Rei walked across the ocean, his perception spreading outward.

Monsters of the sea now roamed the sky, blurring the boundary between ocean and heavens.

He had likely shaken Sofia off.

If not...

he still had two contingencies.

One: summon "White."Two: fully release Ansu.

For now, neither was necessary.

That was the best outcome.

Kanzaki Rei sensed the positions of his other "Cores."

One was with Erelia.

One was on a barren planet in the Abyssal Sea, where he had set up the [True White Descent Ritual].

One was beside him—left on the ocean surface.

Another was with Rakuya—

the inheritor of the Dark Church.

He remembered that later, she would be killed by Kiyohime.

He was curious about her—

but compared to the Abyssal Sea,

she hadn’t been a priority.

The remaining two "Cores" he kept on himself for emergencies.

If Sofia killed him, things would become troublesome.

He might be forced into reincarnation, and the temporal curse on him would be lifted.

For now—

that was not a good outcome.

The cost would be too great.

Reincarnation carried too many uncertainties.

Even within a reset timeline—

Kanzaki Rei had no intention of dying lightly.

The Primordial Sea’s release shouldn’t be immediate.

There was still time.

Enough to finally see—

Rakuya.

The thought had barely formed—

when Kanzaki Rei vanished from where he stood.

In the next instant—

he appeared within inverted seawater, beside a woman whose bangs covered half her face.

Rakuya.

The inheritor of the Dark Church.

She was currently touching a massive black sphere.

The moment Kanzaki Rei appeared—

her pupils shrank sharply.

"You—!"

Even as she spoke—

the dark whip in her hand lashed out!

The attack carried no physical sensation.

It was like a shadow sweeping past—

something one would never consciously dodge.

Like walking forward without noticing the shadow beneath one’s feet.

That was how it felt.

Instinctively, there was no urge to defend against it.

And yet—

his intuition screamed a warning.

Final Perception surged violently.

It sensed the threat—

and revealed the solution.

In that near-frozen instant—

Kanzaki Rei drove his knee forward, piercing into her abdomen!

[Heavenly Flow — Second Form: Rupture]

Boom!

The strike tore through her!

Blood mist exploded outward!

A gaping hole burst open in Rakuya’s abdomen as blood spewed uncontrollably from her mouth!

A mere Level 6 Shadowcaster—

how could she withstand his combat technique?

Before she could retaliate—

Crack!

Kanzaki Rei snapped her arm, tore it off, and deftly dismantled the restrictions on the whip.

In less than a single exchange—

the weapon was already in his hand.

The dark whip—

was a Divine Artifact.

Rakuya, missing an arm and with her abdomen shattered, was kicked aside like a dying husk, struggling to look at him.

Only then did Kanzaki Rei take in his surroundings.

A pitch-black cavern.

Seawater filled every corner—

this was an underwater cave.

The massive darkness before him—

was the object Rakuya had been touching.

"You people in the Secret Sea... really keep busy."

It felt like everyone here had secrets.

Important things they were working toward.

"Who... are you?"

Rakuya didn’t recognize him.

Even though he had performed brilliantly during the second phase of Agmessa—

the effect of Unsolvable Mystery erased him from memory.

She had no idea who had shined in battle—

or who had taken first place.

"Just passing through."

"You attacked first. I merely defended myself."

Kanzaki Rei didn’t kill her.

Seeing her reminded him of the lightning mage he had once killed.

"This—what is it?"

He asked Rakuya—

while also asking Ansu in his mind.

At the same time, he split off a fragment of a "Core" and moved it toward the black substance.

"Don’t touch it!"

Rakuya shouted.

Kanzaki Rei paused and looked at her.

"This... is the hope of a new world."

Another new term.

Just how many things was the Secret Sea concealing?

Under his cold gaze, Rakuya realized her position—

this wasn’t a conversation between equals.

It was an interrogation.

To prevent him from interfering—

she spoke quickly:

"All intelligent life will eventually fall to monsters."

"They will become the rulers of this world."

"The only solution... is to find a way to coexist with them."

"I hope you can understand what I’m trying to do..."

"This... is the hope for the continuation of life."

Monsters becoming the rulers of the world?

What kind of claim was that?