Iz looked at the thick stack of blueprints Kanzaki Rei had tossed out and fell silent for a moment.
A fleeting doubt crossed his mind.
Could it be… that Rei's magical talent is actually slightly superior to mine?
But the thought vanished almost instantly.
Impossible.
As for why… there was no reason. It was simply impossible.
An absolute, unquestioned confidence.
Call it blind arrogance or pure pride—Iz had never believed that anyone could rival him in magical attainment.
Swish!
All twenty-five thousand draft sheets rose into the air, circling around him.
They formed a cylindrical vortex, enclosing him like a towering chimney of paper.
"Oh!"
"Mm!"
"Tsk tsk… yes, it should be like this."
As he connected one diagram to another, Izpalut couldn't help but click his tongue in admiration.
Brilliant.
Absolutely brilliant!
To think he hadn't come up with this in such a short time!
As expected of my disciple!
For Rei to reach such heights in magic… it truly filled him with satisfaction.
Heh, Akasei.
You kept insisting Rei had a talent for being a warrior—but from what I see, compared to his talent as a mage, all that time spent on combat was nothing but wasted effort.
Iz's heart brimmed with praise and admiration.
Yet not a trace of self-doubt appeared.
No inferiority. No hesitation.
"Rei, how did you come up with these ideas?"
Rei scratched his head.
"Inspiration, huh… well, inspiration is just… something that suddenly comes to you."
He had no intention of revealing his "Future Simulation" talent.
Not even to the closest people around him—Kumironi or Izpalut.
At most, he would let them sense something unusual.
But he would never let them know that he could fully simulate an entire day of the future.
This trump card was far too important.
It wasn't that he thought Iz would leak it.
It was just that this world was too strange, too unpredictable.
Sometimes, it felt like simply speaking certain truths would leave a trace behind.
Better to say less.
Iz nodded thoughtfully.
"Mm… that makes sense."
"But this magic array still has plenty of room for refinement."
Rei's lips twitched slightly.
Still refining it?
Just how far are you planning to take this spell?
Iz studied the array closely.
"You've managed to resolve part of the randomness… interesting."
"But you still haven't touched the core."
Resolved… randomness?
Rei paused at that explanation.
Then he consumed spiritual energy and peered into his own future.
Fate unfolded like a dense fog around him—
And then gradually became clear.
He saw himself appearing in the future…
The Chaotic Sea.The Boundless Mountain.The Moon Sea.The Pale White Continent.
No longer chaotic.
The destinations had narrowed down to just four.
But…
Can we remove the Moon Sea?
I really don't want to go there.
Aelthemis was waiting for him there.
If teleportation was inevitable, he'd rather end up as far away from the Moon Sea as possible.
And there was also that enemy—the one whose Reincarnation Body he had stolen—watching him like a predator.
Even if that former Reincarnation Body likely couldn't defeat him now…
Rei had no desire to provoke them.
Most importantly—
The Moon Sea was their home ground.
Who knew how many traps had already been set?
"Iz."
"This teleportation array… it seems like it'll send me to one of four locations—the Chaotic Sea, Boundless Mountain, Moon Sea, or the Pale White Continent."
Iz tilted his head.
"Mm… you can determine the final destination of a random teleportation spell?"
"I foresaw it."
Being a seer wasn't exactly a secret.
"Oh, I see."
So you didn't know before, huh…
"In that case," Iz continued, "randomness isn't entirely random. It's influenced by certain underlying factors."
"If you can identify those variables, you can exploit them in reverse."
"Using randomness to cancel out randomness… and arrive at a stable outcome."
He turned to Rei, eyes full of approval.
"A truly genius concept. Or should I say—genius inspiration?"
You sound like you're praising me, Rei thought, but you're really praising yourself.
"Iz," Rei asked, "is there a way to avoid the Moon Sea?"
Iz blinked.
"Avoid the Moon Sea?"
"If anything, you should want to go there the most."
"Out of all those locations, the Moon Sea should be the safest."
Safe?
Safe where?
If he showed up there now, Aelthemis would skin him alive.
And yet…
From his future simulations, the Moon Sea appeared most frequently.
Roughly two out of five times.
Forty percent.
At first glance, it didn't seem that high.
But considering the sheer number of possible locations across the entire world—
Countless seas, mountains, continents—
The probability of landing specifically in the Moon Sea should be infinitesimal.
And yet, it was forty percent.
"That's because," Iz explained, "the Chaotic Sea is a domain of madness and disorder. It's filled with chaos. There are ancient opportunities hidden there, but the danger is equally immense."
"The Pale White Continent belongs to Purity—it symbolizes death and destruction."
"As for Boundless Mountain… it's filled with forbidden zones and is the closest place to the gods. There have been multiple divine descents recorded there."
…
Rei fell silent after hearing this.
What the hell are these places?
Back when he read geographical records in the White Tower, none of this was mentioned.
The Chaotic Sea was described as turbulent, sure—but only in terms of its islands, nations, and marine monsters.
Nothing about it being this dangerous.
The Pale White Continent? Occasionally mentioned as a land of pure white—
But nowhere did it say it represented death and destruction.
Boundless Mountain… divine descents?
Seriously…
Why is every place in this world so dangerous?
It felt like nowhere was safe.
No—if anything, the Secret Sea itself was a death trap.
Who would've thought that a perfectly stable sea would suddenly face total annihilation?
If he hadn't foreseen it…
Would he have survived?
"And as for avoiding the Moon Sea…"
Iz frowned slightly as he examined the twenty-five thousand diagrams.
"That might be difficult."
"Rather than eliminating randomness, the more you refine it, the more it converges toward the Moon Sea."
"In fact, instead of randomly reaching the Moon Sea, it's more accurate to say that randomness originates from the Moon Sea and disperses outward."
"So if you remove randomness…" Iz shrugged helplessly.
Rei tilted his head back and sighed deeply.
Damn it… I don't want to switch maps.
Can't I just stay in Kronoa forever?
"…Fine. I'll think of another solution."
First priority—
Don't walk straight into Aelthemis's line of fire.
"Iz, I'm feeling a bit tired…"
"I'll head back and rest for a while."
"Haha, go ahead. If I had inspiration like yours, I'd be exhausted too."
Rei vanished.
But Iz immediately turned back, brimming with excitement as he resumed studying the diagrams.
"Inspiration, huh? Fascinating!"
"It seems I still have room to improve! I need to think faster… stimulate my inspiration even more!"
It had been a long time since he'd encountered someone who could match him intellectually.
And to think he found that in Rei…
How delightful.
What had begun as a tragic, inevitable apocalypse…
Was now becoming strangely addictive.
—
Rei appeared on an empty street.
His perception swept back toward the research chamber.
Iz… you're not competing with me.
You're competing with yourself.
Watching Iz's intense enthusiasm was almost unsettling.
That unwavering conviction—
Was nothing like Xu Zhou, who fell into self-doubt after a single defeat.
Xu Zhou, you should learn from Iz.
If you crumble that easily, what kind of Origin Mage are you?
—
Rei found a shop and grabbed a late-night meal.
Kronoa didn't enforce a curfew outside the Month of Death.
At night, shops remained open.
…Come to think of it, I haven't visited Yuna in a while.
Since returning yesterday, he had gone straight to Kumironi, then helped Iz refine magic, and then studied a new Origin spell.
Running back and forth like this—
He had been away from Kronoa for nine days without seeing her even once.
But now it was late.
Disturbing a little girl's sleep didn't seem right.
Tomorrow, then.
As for tonight…
Swish—
His figure flickered—
And appeared on Luluvi's windowsill.
"Ah—!"
Fresh out of the bath, Luluvi opened the door—
Only to see a small boy standing at her window.
…
A beam of light shot out instantly!
But it was deflected skyward in a split second!
BOOM!
The beam exploded in the sky, forming a massive cloud sphere.
Rei tilted his head.
"Luluvi, firing a [Annihilation Arrow] inside the city isn't a good idea. You might hurt civilians."
Her face flushed red as she gripped her bow.
"Little Rei… why don't you guess why I fired it?"
"I'm not sure, Luluvi-sis."
"But… don't you think you should put some clothes on first?"
"Tch. You've already seen it—might as well let you see your fill."
Rei stared calmly, completely focused.
"Luluvi-sis, I'm not that kind of person."
She snorted, then finally summoned her battle attire in a flash of light.
"Alright. Say it—you definitely didn't come here without trouble."
"Didn't you say I could look as much as I wanted?"
Her fist clenched.
"Who just said they weren't that kind of person?! That's it—I'm telling Kumironi…"
"Didn't expect you to turn bad this quickly."
"Cough… actually, Luluvi-sis, I do have something important."
Though his body was still that of an eight-year-old—
Some sights…
Even now, were worth appreciating.
Nothing to do with desire.
Just pure appreciation of art.
…Though misunderstandings would definitely be troublesome.
Swish—
With a wave of his hand, a radiant bow and a shadowed bow appeared before her.
Along with them—
A collection of light and dark archery skills.
Methods for crafting light arrows and dark arrows.
And several Observer-class abilities:
[Observation Skill: Piercing Vision][Perception Skill: Invasive Perception][Perception Skill: Radiant Awareness][Perception Enhancement: Luminous Sight]
"These…!"
Even with her current equipment forged from Submerged-Continent-tier monsters—
She could immediately sense their superiority.
"You… borrowed these again?" she asked in shock.
Rei shook his head firmly.
"Picked them up outside."
"…Picked them up?"
What are you even saying?
Things radiating this much light and darkness—just lying around?
These are obviously stolen goods!
"Luluvi-sis, take them. It's a gift."
Her face flushed deeper.
Before, it had been embarrassment.
Now…
Her heart was actually racing.
But—
He was still just a child.
There was an eleven-year age gap between them.
Even if her lifespan would extend to three hundred years or more—
Even if Rei would reach similar heights—
In that scale of time, twelve years meant nothing.
But…
What am I even thinking?
He was still a child.
Rei grinned.
"If you take them, we're accomplices."
That snapped her out of her thoughts instantly.
Who's your accomplice?!
…But still.
She couldn't refuse.
The equipment, the skills, the enhancements—
They were too valuable.
After a long internal struggle, she accepted them.
Closing her eyes, she exhaled deeply.
"…Fine. What do you need me to do?"
Rei smiled.
"Luluvi-sis, I want…"
—
[Secret Sea]
Rei and Luluvi stood on a deserted shoreline.
No one else was around.
"So… what exactly are we doing?"
He said they were going to the beach.
…Maybe I should've worn a swimsuit, Luluvi thought.
"…Mm."
[Divine-Level · Future Simulation]
Rei activated it immediately.
"Luluvi-sis, can you help me check what's deep within the Secret Sea?"
His own perception range was only 600 kilometers.
Luluvi's—
When she first reached Tier 5 Observer, it was 30,000 kilometers.
Now—
It had expanded to 50,000.
Even at Rei's speed, it would take around twenty seconds to exit her detection range.
Twenty seconds.
That was a long time.
"Just scouting the sea?"
She extended her perception into the depths, sharing it with him—
Swish—
Her awareness pierced through layers of ocean.
The Secret Sea did interfere with perception—
But not enough to stop her.
She reached roughly 45,000 kilometers deep.
Within that range—
Countless marine monsters roamed.
Marine monsters were unique.
They rarely appeared in dungeons.
Most dungeons were land-based.
So these creatures existed almost exclusively in the ocean.
The deeper you went, the stronger they became—
Though most capped around Tier 5.
And worse—
Fighting underwater was severely restricted.
Movement slowed.
Perception weakened.
The water itself grew thick and viscous.
By the time you reached Tier 5 zones—
Even Tier 5 adventurers were heavily hindered.
All magic and combat techniques were weakened.
Assassins couldn't hide—
Ocean creatures were extremely sensitive to water flow.
Even the slightest movement gave them away.
Combat underwater was extremely difficult.
Wounds worsened rapidly.
Healing became far less effective.
Meanwhile—
Marine monsters thrived.
Their combat power in water far exceeded land monsters on land.
For all these reasons—
No one willingly ventured into the deep sea to fight them.
And yet—
Luluvi's perception reached straight into Tier 5 territory.
"Luluvi-sis, wait a moment."
Rei stepped toward the shore.
Raising one hand—
Streams of soul-light poured into the ocean.
Hum—
The sea began to glow faintly.
This time, he didn't inject all his souls at once.
That outcome was… too extreme.
He only infused 500,000 souls.
The surface showed little change—
But deeper down—
Tier 5 monsters began rising.
And below them—
Tier 6 creatures started appearing.
It was as if…
An entire layer of the ocean had shifted upward.
...
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