The moment that sensation appeared, Kanzaki Rei considered attempting another future simulation.

But his intuition immediately sent him a warning.

His instincts told him that if he used Future Simulation at this moment, the outcome would only be the same as before—

He would once again fall into the resetting timeline.

This was not the time to use Future Simulation...

That was the warning rising from deep within him.

Buzzz—

Runes symbolizing the endless cycle of time connected one after another, forming rings as the magic of the Leap Through Time Ring activated.

"So this means you can finally return," Echkatel said softly.

Kanzaki Rei asked,

"What about you?"

Echkatel’s tone carried a trace of helplessness.

"You know this already. I don’t belong to the spacetime you come from. I have my own place in time to return to."

"Of course, it’s not here either."

"It’s somewhere else. A place that belongs to me."

Echkatel brushed back her ivory-white hair, tucking the pale strands behind her ear. Her snow-white translucent eyelashes made her seem incomparably pure and sacred.

"Although our time together was short, I’ll definitely remember you forever—the person who brought me out from behind that door."

"And of course, I won’t forget your companions either," Echkatel said with a faint smile.

Kanzaki Rei nodded.

"Yeah. I’ll remember you too."

"You really did help me a lot. If we ever meet again in the future, I’ll definitely treat you properly."

Without Echkatel, he probably would have needed far, far more time to reach this place.

At minimum, it would have meant enduring another twenty-eight years.

That kind of time was difficult even to imagine.

Pfft—

"You humans really have loved saying polite formalities since ancient times."

Kanzaki Rei looked slightly puzzled.

"Formalities? So humans were already saying things like that a hundred million years ago?"

"More or less. At least, that’s how humans have always been in my memory," Echkatel replied casually.

"It’s getting late."

"You should get going."

Kanzaki Rei looked up toward the sky while simultaneously sensing the current flow of time.

There truly wasn’t any time left.

"Then... goodbye."

Kanzaki Rei waved toward Echkatel.

A final farewell.

Tick—

That extremely familiar sound rang out beside his ears once more.

The sound of a clock reversing.

It was the same sound he heard every time spacetime reset before.

But this time, it sounded slightly different.

This time, the sound was clearer.

It no longer carried that forced, rigid feeling.

If he had to describe the difference—

It was like the distinction between forcibly turning clock hands and a clock naturally operating on its own.

The scenery before his eyes was no longer any landscape he had seen before.

Only endless azure blue remained.

Kanzaki Rei stood alone upon a vast expanse of empty blue water. Ahead of him stretched a wide, radiant passageway.

"I..."

Kanzaki Rei slowly opened his mouth.

The moment he spoke, he realized his voice had become far more mature.

He lowered his head to examine his hands while his perception swept across his entire body.

Only then did he realize—

He was no longer the child he once was.

He had become a handsome young man.

One hundred eighty-five centimeters tall.

His hair had grown long enough to reach his waist.

The youthful softness had vanished from his features, replaced instead by sharp, defined edges and a resolute aura.

He was no longer a child.

And this appearance was not created through any spell.

Nor had he altered the structure of his body.

This—

Was his true self.

Kanzaki Rei activated his God-Tier Talent—

Deepest Reality.

He could clearly determine that everything before him at this moment was completely real.

And both of his wishes had fully returned.

The wish to return to the normal timeline had been fulfilled.

"So time in the real world really did pass..."

Kanzaki Rei’s perception probed his own bones, calculating his age.

Eighteen years old.

His current self was an eighteen-year-old young man.

If judged purely by physical age—

Did that mean ten years had already passed?

Even though, counting everything, he had spent less than four years within the resetting timeline.

Was there a temporal discrepancy causing the flow rates between the two sides to become unequal?

Or—

Had the time spent in Future Simulations also been counted?

No...

Not necessarily.

His body’s age did not automatically equal the amount of time that had passed.

Perhaps he had simply grown older physically.

That didn’t necessarily mean ten years had truly elapsed.

Kanzaki Rei looked toward the door ahead of him.

He stepped forward.

Almost instantly, he adapted to the new body.

And this adaptation did not merely refer to ordinary movement.

It also included his combat techniques and control over magic.

Different body structures naturally required adjustments to combat arts.

Even magical mana circuits required modification.

That was precisely why combat techniques and spells could never simply be copied perfectly.

Even if someone completely learned them, they still could not unleash the creator’s full power.

Because those techniques and spells had originally been created according to the creator’s own body and condition.

Slash—

A faint wind blade swept past.

Kanzaki Rei cut away his overly long hair, leaving only the portion reaching his waist.

Then he walked toward the passage before him.

His perception had already touched the corridor.

That perception was practically tangible now, like extensions of his own limbs.

At the same time, it triggered the Hidden Origin talent and returned feedback.

This—

Was the passage leading to the outside world.

The Blessing of Temporal Immortality had ended.

Leaving through here meant returning to the outside world.

However, while still standing here, Future Simulation remained unusable.

Kanzaki Rei stepped directly through the passage.

Crash—

Sea water.

Cold wind.

Bright moonlight.

The moment he emerged from the passage, he found himself standing alone upon the ocean surface.

This place should originally have been the Hollow Valley Region.

But now—

It had completely disappeared.

Had the location of the relic shifted?

Or had the island itself vanished entirely?

Kanzaki Rei slowly shook his head.

At the same time, he looked down over the sea.

This ocean should once have been bright and clear.

Under moonlight, it should have reflected the silver glow of the moon.

But now—

All he saw was endless blackness.

The ocean had turned dark and abyssal.

A faint stench of decay even seeped from the sea itself.

Was this really still the ocean?

No...

Based on the knowledge Kanzaki Rei possessed—

Based on the theories of Abyssology—

This sea had already been contaminated by the Abyss.

The disaster feared by that Level 8 Scholar had ultimately happened after all.

The Abyssal Collapse had fully erupted and polluted the Moon Sea.

And the moment Kanzaki Rei appeared—

He vaguely sensed waves of agitation rising from below.

Splash!

Large numbers of monsters burst forth from the pitch-black ocean.

They raised their heads to stare at Kanzaki Rei.

Wild arrogance filled their expressions.

Yet mixed within that madness was unmistakable conceit.

Unlike the primitive instincts of ordinary monsters, this sort of arrogance should only appear in intelligent lifeforms.

One of the creatures had the head of a toad and the tail of a tadpole trailing behind it.

"A human?"

"Weak! Submissive! Defeated race!"

"A human actually came here to die!"

"Hahaha—! Kneel and beg for mercy right now! Entertain me a little, and maybe I’ll spare the worthless life of your human kind!"

...

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