Another upheaval had erupted beneath the Abyssal Sea...

That overwhelming life aura—

had Sofia made her move again?

Kanzaki Rei focused on the "Cores" he had left within the Abyss.

The Core on Erelia and the one on the barren planet had both become wrapped in dense life energy.

Countless life signatures were converging toward a single point.

Eyes sprouted from the surface of the Core.

Through them, Kanzaki Rei looked into the deepest reaches of the Abyss—

and what he saw made even him pause.

Gigantic tentacles were rising from the depths.

Each one was wider than the entire continent of Ryulen.

And there were hundreds of millions of them.

Just witnessing such a sight was enough to instill primal fear.

This was no scene a normal being could ever hope to behold.

This was movement from the Lord of the Ocean.

Sofia—

was making contact with it.

The divergence from the history he had once experienced was already far too great.

It seemed he could no longer afford to assume the Secret Sea would unfold as before.

Truthfully, most Level 8 class-holders could no longer kill him directly.

And yet—

the enemies he kept encountering were Level 9 existences.

Moon Sovereigns.

April 1st.

What an exceptionally dangerous day.

But if he wanted the truth—

he had no choice but to approach danger.

After encountering the Black Secret and the Time Ruins,

Kanzaki Rei had gradually come to understand something over the long years:

The more one tried to avoid certain things—

the more likely they were to strike unexpectedly.

If Rakuya truly didn’t know she would become a monster,

then that implied something else entirely.

At last—

Kanzaki Rei reached out and touched the black substance before him.

[Dark Egg]

That was the name he received.

And its designation—

[An egg formed from the condensation of darkness and monster essence]

The instant he touched it,

it felt as though something swept through his entire mind.

A path of mutation was imprinted directly into his consciousness.

"...My monster form?"

Scales began to faintly emerge across his skin.

His lifeform was shifting.

This was evolution—

from human into monster.

He immediately recalled the fishfolk at the bottom of the Secret Sea—

those attempting to transform themselves into monsters.

Everything was connected.

Kanzaki Rei withdrew his hand.

If he maintained contact for too long,

he might truly transform.

And now—

he finally understood why Kiyohime had once encountered Rakuya in monster form.

A pity.

He had no remaining rehearsal attempts.

To reach the Third Ring Trial,

he had recreated his previous actions almost perfectly—

down to every detail.

Including all future rehearsals.

Aside from the Ansu segment—

where his status as a Level 5 Death Priest inevitably introduced slight deviations—

everything else had been replicated with absolute precision.

Even his breathing had matched.

Otherwise, there was no guarantee that Agmessa, embodiment of chaos, would have sent him here at all.

Still—

time would continue rewinding toward the past.

...

The questions in his heart now had fresh answers.

Thump—

Suddenly—

an overwhelming sense of danger struck.

This time—

it was inescapable.

The vast ocean surged violently,

its waters transforming into what looked like endless golden scales.

"Ansu."

"Do you see it?"

Kanzaki Rei stood calmly amidst the golden sea.

But internally—

his blood was boiling.

Every part of his body felt as though it was on the verge of assimilating into the ocean itself.

The Primordial Sea had appeared.

Rakuya’s face filled with terror.

But she had no time to resist.

In the boiling golden waters—

she dissolved instantly,

becoming liquid identical to the sea itself.

Shhh—

In the next instant,

Kanzaki Rei appeared high in the sky.

Below him—

the once-rising ocean had sunk.

The entire sea had turned pure gold.

The lands of the Secret Sea had vanished completely.

His perception captured it all.

The countless humans and terrestrial monsters that had existed moments earlier—

had melted into the ocean like flowing water.

Kanzaki Rei raised his right hand.

His palm, too,

was melting—

golden liquid dripping downward.

Only his absurd regenerative speed prevented him from dissolving entirely.

"The Primordial Sea... has truly appeared."

Ansu’s voice was grave.

"...Yeah."

So—

Rakuya had failed.

Which meant that triggering the Abyssal ritual early also caused the Primordial Sea’s premature descent.

He didn’t yet understand the exact connection.

But if activating the ritual before Rakuya completed her task caused this—

then the two factions clearly weren’t allied.

Or perhaps—

Rakuya’s priority was simply so low she could be discarded entirely.

Buzz—

Suddenly,

an immense pulling force seized his body.

His form inverted uncontrollably.

Without realizing it,

his head was now pointed downward—

plunging toward the sea.

Everything above the sea would fall into it.

Everything not belonging to the sea—

would be absorbed by it.

That was the Primordial Sea.

He might die.

Ordinarily—

death was the way to leave this Third Ring Trial.

But...

he had already encountered Sofia.

And the divine authority that prevented death within the Third Ring Trial—

had come from Sofia herself.

At least, according to what Agmessa had implied.

Which introduced a problem.

He could no longer be certain that dying here meant safe exit.

Still—

his intuition sensed no extreme danger.

Sofia likely hadn’t discovered him.

Unsolvable Mystery was still active.

That divine authority should still function.

Even the foresight granted by the Prophet class showed no sign of fatal risk.

So—

was this rewind already at its end?

At the very least,

he had learned many things he never could have otherwise.

The only true anomaly—

was Sofia’s appearance.

Kanzaki Rei remained perfectly calm.

And then—

his perception suddenly registered another violent fluctuation.

The force dragging him into the sea vanished.

A beam of light descended from the heavens!

Brilliant.

Scorching.

It slashed across the endless ocean in an instant,

carving a massive golden trench through its surface.

Kanzaki Rei looked toward it—

and what he saw left him stunned.

A familiar—

yet strangely unfamiliar figure.

Brown curls.

A young man gripping a weapon Kanzaki Rei knew all too well:

The Sword of Purifying Flame Judgment.

At this moment,

the man was still in the aftermath of his strike—

breathing heavily.

The path carved by his sword was ablaze with sacred golden fire.

...Roya?

Wasn’t he only Level 8?

No—

why was he wielding the Sword of Purifying Flame Judgment?

That weapon was sealed.

How could he use it?

And more importantly—

how had he split apart a force that even Ansu considered terrifying?

What kind of mystery was this?

Boom!

The very next instant—

the ocean erupted.

A colossal tidal wave surged upward,

crashing toward Roya!

The moment he saw it—

Roya turned and fled.

He even discarded his armor—

and threw away the sword without hesitation as he ran.

...

Well.

That definitely didn’t look evenly matched.

Hu—

Roya vanished.

But the sacred flames he had left behind continued burning.

In fact—

they blazed even brighter.

Boom!

The ocean churned once more.

It was as though the sea possessed two sides.

The golden surface flipped downward—

like a black-and-white game board turning over.

And what rose in its place—

was another ocean.

A sea of writhing tentacles and gelatinous mass.

At its center stood a familiar young woman.

Her feet rooted into the ocean like plant tendrils.

This was—

Kumironi.

No.

It should be Sofia now.

"Heh... so they’ve truly begun fighting."

"In that case, this Primordial Sea was nothing more than stored nourishment."

"Kid, it seems your hope of seeing the Primordial Sea destroy the world is unlikely to come true."

Kanzaki Rei replied flatly,

"I never hoped for that."

Ansu only sneered.

"If not that... then what about the other thing?"

It guided his perception.

Kanzaki Rei followed it toward Kumironi’s direction.

Strangely—

despite the impossible distance between them—

hundreds of billions of kilometers at least—

he could still see her clearly.

As though she were the very center of the ocean.

No matter how far away—

so long as one stood upon the sea,

she remained visible.

And then—

looking closer—

he noticed something.

The expression on Kumironi’s face was nothing like Sofia’s eternal compassion.

Instead—

it was filled with pain.

And sorrow.

As though...

it were the real Kumironi.

Ansu sighed internally.

"That girl..."

"She’s made a truly astonishing move."

"If she was destined to become another’s vessel..."

"Then rather than becoming the vessel of the enemy stealing her body—"

"she chose to become the vessel of that enemy’s enemy."

"When Sofia tried devouring the Lord of the Ocean..."

"she must have found her opening."

"Such tenacious vitality..."

"I’ve never seen anything like it."

"This is no longer something you can interfere with."

"That girl likely intends to use the Lord of the Ocean to suppress the Primordial Sea."

"The Secret Sea may collapse into chaos—

but it probably won’t spread to the other seas."

Boom!

The ocean roared with endless resonance!

The golden rise of the Primordial Sea merged with the body of the Lord of the Ocean—

sea crashing against sea.

The world overturned.

In the far distance—

Kanzaki Rei could vaguely see flames rising to the heavens.

War spreading.

Countless armies charging.

The Secret Sea had become a battlefield.

...

So even without him—

the world would not be destroyed.

Did that mean everything he had done...

had no meaning at all?

At this moment,

Kanzaki Rei was merely an observer.

Not a participant.

Watching from outside the game,

everything seemed world-shaking—

yet utterly unrelated to him.

Had he entered the board,

perhaps he could have stirred the situation.

Perhaps he could have thrown everything into chaos.

But when the dust finally settled—

the outcome might still have been the same:

The Secret Sea destroyed.

The world at peace.

As for who saved it,

who destroyed it,

who played what role—

those details suddenly felt meaningless.