The sudden turn of events made all three of them shrink back, pupils contracting sharply!

Kanzaki Rei had already been difficult enough to handle at 7th Rank, carrying the bearing of someone half a step into Moon-level.

Now he had stepped straight into full 8th Rank!

And it was double 8th Rank!

This level of strength... a serious estimate would place him on par with a true Moon-level existence!

"Loti! Is it not ready yet?!" Akaren roared.

A lazy, coquettish voice came from behind, "You’ll have to wait a little longer..."

Whoosh!

But in the next second, a black-and-gold sword blasted straight through Akaren’s body!

BOOM!

Kanzaki Rei’s direct thrust completely pierced Eubades’ defense!

It went on to run through Akaren behind him.

"So that’s what the prophecy meant."

The moment he unleashed this sword strike, Kanzaki Rei recalled the warning given to him by the 9th Rank Izparut.

He would kill Akaren in the future.

It had actually come true.

Yet in his heart, there was not the slightest sorrow or pity.

Because...

Kanzaki Rei was no longer the same person he used to be.

Piercing through!

Destruction of vitality, severing of lifespan, erasure at the root—this strike landed solidly...

In the earlier exchanges, every blow had been blocked or guarded against at the level of life essence, and Eubades had always taken the damage for them.

But now Kanzaki Rei had completely penetrated Eubades!

He had struck Akaren directly.

Yomei’s pupils contracted as he stared at the scene in disbelief...

A 9th Rank warrior possessed an extremely keen perception of life.

Kanzaki Rei’s strike made Yomei clearly sense Akaren’s life force scattering!

It had been erased straight from its origin!

"Fuck! Do you even know what you’ve done?!"

Yomei raised his hand in furious rage!

But in the next instant, the arm he lifted was severed by an extremely fast sword light!

Both arms were cut clean off in a flash!

In Kanzaki Rei’s eyes, one could simultaneously see狂热 fervor and icy indifference—two completely opposing emotions.

Eubades’ body trembled.

Its usually steady emotions now radiated intense fury!

In the distance, Loti watched the scene, her eyelids lowering slightly as a trace of sorrow rose in her heart.

Yet she could only bring her hands together.

"Fictional truth is still another kind of truth..."

Kanzaki Rei’s gaze turned toward Loti!

And exactly one second after he looked at her, a blood-colored war spear pierced through her chest.

[Sacrificial Spear +4]

It was also a divine weapon—one capable of instantly offering a person as a living sacrifice!

Combined with Kanzaki Rei’s Death Priest talent,

it could almost instantly turn a god into pure sacrificial offerings!

「Crimson Path—Path Three: Cause of Fate」

This spear had already hit its mark before it was even thrown.

Blood spilled from the corner of Loti’s mouth.

Her life was sacrificed in an instant.

Yet a trace of a smile lingered in her eyes.

"Kanzaki Rei, think very carefully about whether you truly are the Corruption Source Nest."

Puff!

Loti’s body exploded!

The countless splashes of blood from the explosion converged, ultimately forming a blood-white folding fan—this was the divine weapon Loti had become!

Kanzaki Rei reached out and grabbed it.

The fan returned to his hand. At the same time, Loti’s undead appeared behind him.

"Playing god with cheap tricks."

"Awaken Kanzaki Rei? What a boring ploy. I am Kanzaki Rei. I am myself."

"Do I need to be told who I am?"

To the Corruption Source Nest, Kanzaki Rei’s less-than-hundred-year life on Earth was so brief it was like a single breath.

Who would remember a particular breath they once took?

Who would develop extra feelings toward an inadvertent breath?

Kanzaki Rei turned his eyes toward Eubades and Yomei once more.

At this moment, Yomei gripped a battle axe in his right hand and clenched his left into a fist, his face full of rage.

Kanzaki Rei’s expression remained indifferent. He casually waved his hand.

In that wave,

another Promotion Ritual was inscribed.

Thud!

A resounding echo rang between heaven and earth.

A prophetic gaze shone down from above.

[Prophet—5th Rank]

Then he took another step forward. One divine weapon after another circled around Kanzaki Rei like flying feathers.

[Blacksmith—7th Rank]

With just two more steps, Kanzaki Rei completed two more promotions.

Materials manifested out of thin air, naturally combining to form brand-new divine weapons.

Kanzaki Rei witnessed new laws.

And forged new divine weapons himself!

At this point, even his breathing was growing stronger with every moment.

Becoming the current Kanzaki Rei had indeed caused him to lose some of his original essence as the Corruption Source Nest. Yet with such supreme spirituality now in his possession, those so-called essences no longer mattered.

Yakartikto was being held back by the two Moon-level beings.

It was wrapped inside a mass of gray mist.

Inside the divine kingdom, Aegimira had also activated her own divine kingdom.

Yakartikto’s luck was undoubtedly powerful, but Aegimira was a Moon-level existence that countered him, and Lorna was likewise in the Moon-level ranks.

Under the suppression of the two of them,

Yakartikto was unable to interfere with Kanzaki Rei’s side.

Having grown to this degree, Kanzaki Rei could no longer be killed.

Kanzaki Rei looked down coldly and arrogantly at the last two remaining opponents.

Then, he slowly raised his hand.

Surging spirituality was being dyed black by corruptive spirituality.

There was no saving them anymore.

...

Kanzaki Rei continued to advance!

「Crypt Scholar Promotion—8th Rank Crypt Scholar」

「God-Tier Talent Acquired」

「God-Tier · Perception Segmentation」

Ding!

The instant this talent was born,

Kanzaki Rei’s entire body froze for a moment.

Inside his sea of consciousness,

Kanzaki Rei’s conscious form lifted its head and stared at the black version of himself before him. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Crack!

Countless mirror-like shattering sounds rang out within his sea of consciousness!

「God-Tier · Perception Segmentation—Divides one’s own memories, experiences, and knowledge into different portions, turning them into independent versions of oneself, with one portion dominating all the rest.」

This talent...

The moment it awakened, it sliced all of Kanzaki Rei’s past experiences into countless fragments.

At the same time, within his sea of consciousness,

countless different versions of Kanzaki Rei were born—each one an independent individual encompassing a specific segment of his past!

This talent was indeed God-Tier.

But it was a God-Tier talent with horrifically terrifying negative effects. It was essentially turning a person into a case of extreme dissociative identity disorder, then having one of the split consciousnesses dominate all the others.

Under normal circumstances, awakening this talent would have been an absolute disaster.

It could even be considered direct loss of part of one’s self.

Of course... there were benefits as well.

The talent granted extremely powerful strength. Every consciousness became an independent individual equal to the original, essentially creating many, many additional versions of himself.

Still, among God-Tier talents, this was one where the drawbacks far outweighed the advantages.

But at this very moment—

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh—

As his consciousness was segmented, only Kanzaki Rei’s core consciousness remained at the center of his sea of consciousness.

The segmented consciousnesses

just so happened to be the portion from his birth on Earth up until the moment he learned he was the Corruption Source Nest.

Bang!

As for the other consciousnesses belonging to the Corruption Source Nest itself, they fell into sealed dust like idle thoughts.

「Divine Kingdom · Great Absurd World」

「Miracle Descent」

Yakartikto had triggered a miracle!

It made this tiny, almost impossible probability event—among countless coincidences—actually occur.

Whoosh!

Almost simultaneously,

Kanzaki Rei’s eyes suddenly became clear.

But right after, his right eye was once again dyed with darkness.

"What are you running from!"

"You are me! You have always been me! Are you really going to abandon the self you’ve held for so long and fall into their trap?!"

Cold sweat broke out on Kanzaki Rei’s forehead.

At this moment,

his consciousness was awake.

But the vast memories spanning hundreds of millions of years in his heart had not truly disappeared!

Two conflicting thoughts waged war inside him.

The Corruption Source Nest was right. He was the Corruption Source Nest. His fundamental essence was the Corruption Source Nest. Thinking of himself as human was like a human briefly possessing the memories of a fish and then believing himself to be a fish,

living out a fish’s life.

「Are you Kanzaki Rei, or are you the Corruption Source Nest?」

「If a person gains memories of a previous life, is he his previous life, or is he himself?」

「Who you are depends on who you want to be.」

「Not on who wants to be you.」

A voice exploded in Kanzaki Rei’s mind.

He turned around and saw a girl with short purple hair. She leaned on a purple wooden staff, walking through the sky.

Pari.

"You are Kanzaki Rei."

"Even if you are an empty shell, you are the aggregation of all spirituality, and the essence of the Corruption Source Nest exists within you."

"Then you are yourself."

"Who you are does not depend on what exists inside you, but on what kind of existence you ultimately wish to become."

As Pari spoke, chaos suddenly manifested behind her!

"You talk too much, woman!"

A massive chaotic maw descended toward Pari!

Kanzaki Rei was the key card needed to defeat Aegimira!

Just as the maw was about to bite down, Kanzaki Rei fiercely raised his hand. The golden sword lifted, and a swift, brilliant slash instantly tore apart Aegimira’s chaos!