"Now that you’ve become a Level 2 Mage, it’s best to learn more defensive magic."

"And you should also practice Multi-Casting diligently."

"The number of spells you can cast simultaneously will also determine your upper limit... I’ll teach you some Second-Tier spells first. Take your time thinking them through."

After the advancement ceremony, Kanzaki Rei personally taught Sueharu quite a few additional spells.

Compared to the overwhelming majority of geniuses, Sueharu’s talent was already exceptional.

But in terms of learning speed, he still fell just slightly behind both Izparut and Kanzaki Rei.

So Kanzaki Rei taught him first and let him slowly digest the knowledge on his own.

Afterward, Sueharu raised more questions.

These were his own thoughts.

His own insights.

And for nearly every question, Kanzaki Rei had an answer.

Many of those things were never written in books.

As a mage, there would inevitably be painful bottlenecks—places where one simply couldn’t understand no matter how hard they tried.

Without a good mentor to guide them, the path of magic became incredibly difficult.

Compared to other professions, mages perhaps relied on teachers more than anyone else.

One full day and night passed.

Perhaps that counted as a long time.

But for the Land of Moonwatch, it was a rare period of peace.

Another quiet day had gone by.

After answering every one of Sueharu’s questions, the boy had already fallen into a deep sleep.

The all-out battle, coupled with the intense mental exertion, had drained the last of his strength.

A Level 2 Mage was not yet powerful enough to go without sleep indefinitely.

"Sleep."

"I should take care of my own matters as well."

Kanzaki Rei stretched both arms upward, his joints cracking loudly as his energy and spirit steadily rose.

One undead shadow after another split away behind him.

"You all—guard this place."

"Mmm... prioritize protecting him."

Kanzaki Rei glanced toward Sueharu.

All the undead nodded simultaneously.

They seemed to possess a certain level of intelligence—not merely puppets that moved only when directly commanded by Kanzaki Rei.

Ding!

Kanzaki Rei spread out one hand again, and countless materials flew from around him as rings of sealing barriers expanded outward!

They spread across the entire continent.

Theoretically, he could return at any time...

But ever since his experience within the Time Ruins, Kanzaki Rei had developed the habit of making preparations in case he failed to return.

This world was simply too dangerous.

What if something happened?

Whoosh!

Once the barriers had been fully established, Kanzaki Rei took another step forward.

Instantly, he arrived above a black ocean lashed by violent winds.

The dark sea surged endlessly.

Below it lay the Abyssfall.

Entering it was actually not difficult.

Kanzaki Rei had already extracted the relevant enchantments long ago. By equipping gear bearing the corresponding enchantments, he himself could completely ignore the rules of the Abyssfall and move freely up and down.

That disgusting rule—

The rule that only allowed descent and forbade ascent—

Was meaningless before him.

However, the greatest annoyance within the Abyssfall was not its laws.

It was the Abyssfall Eye dwelling inside.

A Level 9 Observer.

Kanzaki Rei had no interest in provoking someone else for no reason.

Although he possessed hidden-type talents like "Unsolvable Mystery"—

Wandering around inside someone else’s territory directly beneath the gaze of a Level 9 Observer—

That was far too conspicuous.

Still...

This thread of fate was extremely important.

This journey would allow him to find Kumironi.

And furthermore...

Kanzaki Rei had already seen that rescuing these people was a crucial turning point for the Human Expeditionary Army’s victory.

If they truly became lost within the Abyssfall, the Expeditionary Army would lose one of its decisive methods of achieving victory.

"Alright then."

"Let’s begin."

Shhk!

A black robe draped itself over Kanzaki Rei’s body.

It was an enchanted robe—an enchantment he had acquired ten years ago.

Whoosh!

He descended into the Abyssfall.

The very first thing his perception swept across was exactly as expected—

Masses upon masses of monsters.

They packed the entire space like tumors filling every cavity, spreading like metastatic cancer until every corner of the vast Abyssfall had been consumed by their flesh.

And how were they born?

Kanzaki Rei saw proliferation.

New flesh birthed from old flesh.

New flesh born from the void itself.

The flesh became life.

Monster life.

"Ughhh—"

"Ghh!"

"Skrrrkkk—"

The instant Kanzaki Rei appeared, countless masses of flesh stretched toward him!

Psychic fluctuations, shrieking screams, and mind-rending noises all assaulted him simultaneously.

"What a revolting sight."

"As expected... I really hate grotesque things."

"Can’t there be something children could safely look at for once?"

Kanzaki Rei raised one hand and clenched it.

Bang!

Multicolored fluids exploded everywhere!

Yet despite standing amid the densely packed flesh, not a single drop splashed onto him.

Instead, all the monsters filling the entire space had already begun withering away.

"Let’s use a slightly more environmentally friendly method..."

Whoosh!

The Absolute Mana Sea expanded outward, rapidly spreading downward through the Abyssfall.

The rules of the Abyssfall truly were strange.

Even the Absolute Mana Sea could not expand upward.

Only sideways or downward.

Fortunately, this was a sea of mana—not a physical body.

Even under such restrictions, its expansion was practically unaffected.

Whoosh!

Wherever the Mana Sea spread—

Every monster’s body gradually became translucent.

Then slowly transformed into dazzling multicolored hues.

They possessed no capacity for thought and never realized that as they became transparent, their bodies were simultaneously disintegrating.

They had already become elements.

Eventually dispersing into emptiness itself.

"Elemental Primogenesis"

When using the Seventh Forbidden Elemental Magic, it was not necessary to employ a Full Invocation Formula.

Even the Initiation Formula alone was already powerful enough.

Combined with the Absolute Mana Sea, "Elemental Primogenesis" turned the expanding Mana Sea into an unstoppable tide of annihilation.

Any monster that touched the Mana Sea was transformed into pure elemental matter.

It was indeed possible to resist "Elemental Primogenesis".

If one possessed sufficiently powerful control over their own body—

Or desperately struggled to prevent their bodily elements from being assimilated—

Or possessed a comprehension similar to Origin Magic itself, allowing them to reinterpret their physical form through another framework and escape elemental control—

Then resistance was possible.

Otherwise, assimilation was inevitable.

And even meeting those conditions did not guarantee survival.

If one’s resistance failed—

Assimilation still occurred.

Which meant that merely touching "Elemental Primogenesis" was effectively an instant kill.

"Much cleaner now."

"Though... it seems they’ve noticed me."

Kanzaki Rei saw distant eyeballs observing his Absolute Mana Sea from countless directions.

Many of those eyes had already been assimilated.

But even if one section was consumed, more eyes appeared farther away.

There was no point trying to kill them all.

Those eyeballs had likely already spread throughout every corner of the Abyssfall.

Kanzaki Rei couldn’t be bothered dealing with them.

Instead, he opened a Phase Rift before himself.

"Their location..."

"Should be this direction."

"I remember there being a kingdom here..."

Kanzaki Rei slid both hands into the pockets of his robe.

One step later, he arrived upon a dark brown continent floating in midair.

And on this continent—

There truly were beings resembling humans.

Bustling streets.

Gray-skinned races moving endlessly through the city.

A thriving humanoid civilization existed here.

The moment Kanzaki Rei appeared, two gray-skinned horned creatures immediately approached him with broad smiles.

"A human?"

"How did you end up here? Humans are ex—"

Splurt!

Before the two gray-skinned creatures could finish speaking, they suddenly felt the world spin violently around them.

Turning back instinctively—

They saw their own bodies.

Confusion.

Disbelief.

They had no idea what had happened.

All they saw was Kanzaki Rei completely ignoring them as he calmly walked toward the tallest tower in the city.

Thud. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Two severed heads hit the ground.

Only then did they realize—

They had been killed.

But...

Why had this unfamiliar human killed them?