Chapter 169

Sigh...

In the Month of Death and Destruction, Kanzaki Rei truly didn’t want to stir up unnecessary trouble.

But Iz—no matter what—insisted on testing the power of the Source of Calamity. Rei simply couldn’t refuse him.

So they found a completely desolate wilderness.

Rei released the Source of Calamity from the Little Underworld.

The serpentine entity drifted through the sky like a living centipede. Under Rei’s deliberate control, however, it no longer triggered natural disasters. No earthquakes. No storms.

Instead, it continuously gathered monster tides toward its location.

Monsters began to appear.

And under the influence of the Source of Calamity, something strange happened—

These monsters no longer spawned outside one’s field of vision.

They appeared right in front of everyone’s eyes.

One after another, monsters formed out of empty space.

Bodies condensed from nothingness.

"...So this is how they’re created."

It was the first time Iz had personally witnessed the birth of monsters.

Normally, monsters never appeared within places that were being directly observed.

Why did observation affect their generation?

Did monster tides deliberately avoid the gaze of intelligent beings?

That question had been studied by countless scholars of the White Tower.

Yet to this day, there was still no definitive answer.

Or perhaps... the answer simply wasn’t something ordinary people were meant to know.

Whoosh!

Second-tier, third-tier, and fourth-tier dungeons began forming one after another.

Iz raised a single hand and condensed a rainbow-colored sphere in his palm.

With a casual flick—

The sphere split apart midair and shot toward the newly formed dungeons.

BOOM—

The spheres disappeared into the dungeon entrances. A faint glow emerged.

Ten seconds later—

The entrances collapsed completely.

Rei blinked.

...You could solve dungeons like that?

He had been thinking that dealing with so many low-tier dungeons would be tedious if they had to clear them one by one.

Now it seemed that might not be necessary.

"Rei," Iz said, glancing over, "set up that ritual that gathers monster tides again."

The surrounding monster tide was already becoming thicker.

Rei looked up at him.

"You realize it’ll attract a very dense monster tide, right?"

Iz burst into a confident laugh.

"Haha! Let them come. I’d like to see what kind of monster can get past me."

Alright then.

If you say so.

Rei casually poured out Demonic Blood onto the ground. Controlling the blood with precise movements, he completed the ritual circle in three seconds flat.

"Oh, right," Rei added, "I recently learned another ritual that forces monster tides to spawn only high-tier monsters."

"Should we use that too?"

Standing nearby, Kumironi watched silently.

...This really wasn’t a cult?

Who exactly was the person wielding the Source of Calamity while also mastering rituals that gathered monster tides?

Wasn’t that basically the High Priest of the Death Church?

Come to think of it—

Little Rei... weren’t the evil rituals you knew getting a bit excessive?

Why were you already so practiced at drawing a ritual to gather monster tides?

Just how many dark rituals had you learned?

At this rate, the only difference between Rei and the true High Priest of Death was whether he would eventually perform a final sacrifice to summon the descent of the White One.

In every other aspect... hadn’t he already surpassed the former High Priest?

Kumironi vaguely remembered—

She herself was supposed to be a high priestess of the orthodox church.

So how had the child she raised turned into... this?

Iz raised a brow.

"Oh? A ritual like that exists? Then use it too."

Rei immediately began working.

Bone powder.

Thick alchemical reagents.

Chunks of high-tier monster flesh and blood.

In less than five seconds, the Great Summoning Ritual was complete.

WHOOSH—

With the sacrifice of a soul, the surrounding region became like the eye of a hurricane, drawing in an overwhelming monster tide!

Very quickly—

The monster tide escalated from Tier 5 to Tier 6.

It grew so dense it was almost tangible. Even ordinary people might have been able to see it with the naked eye.

A thin gray mist spread outward from the ritual.

Within that mist—

Powerful monsters began to take shape.

They had appeared.

Tier-6 King-class monsters born in the wilderness.

Across the vast open plain, they all charged in the same direction.

Toward Rei and the others.

"Excellent!" Iz raised his hand to strike.

But Rei stopped him.

"Master Iz."

"Hm?"

"Could you deal with any monsters that might escape? Leave the rest to me."

Iz laughed heartily.

"Sure. Go ahead."

He lowered his hand and casually traced a circle with his finger.

BOOM!

A world-scorching inferno erupted skyward, forming a gigantic hemispherical dome of flames that trapped the monsters inside.

Rei glanced toward the edge of the barrier.

Its boundary lay beyond the horizon.

Looking up at the sky, all he could see was endless roaring fire.

Just how many tens of thousands of kilometers did that spell cover...?

Iz...

Aren’t you overestimating me a bit?

Do you really expect me to kill every monster inside this dome?

Or did Kumironi hurt your pride earlier, and now you’re trying to show off in front of your disciple?

Rei sighed softly.

The next instant—

He removed his outer robe.

Beneath it was a cloak covered in countless rotating eyes.

Whoosh!

In another instant—

Rei was already standing atop the head of a Faceless Monster, gripping the Phantom Ring Star War Spear.

His mind instantly recalled the relevant Monsterology knowledge.

Spinal-type Faceless MonsterNo vision, hearing, or smell.Extremely sensitive perception and touch.Detects enemies through tiny air vibrations.Powerful arms. High reaction speed.Thick, resilient skin.

Weakness: back of the neck.

The thinnest part of its hide.

Its spinal column was the central control structure—similar to a human’s.

Also sensitive to cold.

Weak to Ice.

Electric shocks caused muscular spasms.

Weak to Lightning.

The moment Rei stepped on its head—

The monster clapped both arms together, trying to smash him like a mosquito.

Rei’s leg exploded with force.

Demonic Tempering Combat Art — Second Form: Piercing Void Kick

BOOM!

His kick drove the creature straight into the ground, cracking its skull.

At the same moment—

Rei thrust his spear downward.

Piercing Thunder Burst (Tier 4)Holy Battle Light Style — Second Form: Heavenly Punishment Piercing Radiance

BOOM!

Lightning and holy light exploded along the spear as it pierced through the back of the monster’s neck—straight through its spine.

Then Rei twisted the spear inside its body.

The weapon shifted elements.

Bone-Freezing Ice Penetration (Tier 4)War Staff Style — Second Form: Shattering Whirl Strike

SWISH—

With a spinning motion, Rei ripped the creature’s entire frozen head off its body.

CLANG!

The head slammed into the ground, shattering ice everywhere.

The instant the monster died—

Rei extracted its soul.

A flash of light.

He instantly appeared before the next monster.

A three-headed serpent.

Multi-headed serpentine type.

Two small heads, one large.

The large head contained a venom sac.

Three heads fused together—possible regenerative ability.

Maybe all three heads had to be severed simultaneously to kill it.

...Cutting all three heads at once would be annoying.

One small head spat blue flames.

The other released razor winds.

Rei’s figure lifted into the air, dodging both attacks.

Then—

A massive shard of ice containing a silver dagger shot toward the central head.

Halfway there—

The ice shattered.

Leaving only the dagger.

CLANG!

The blade struck the serpent’s skull—

But merely shook its soul slightly without ejecting it.

Tsk...

Too weak an attack couldn’t dislodge the soul.

The moment the dagger rebounded from the hard scales—

Rei caught it.

Positioning himself beneath the serpent’s jaw, he reversed his grip and struck upward.

Invincible Style — Fifth Form: Ascending Heaven Slash

BOOM!

He swung the dagger like a greatsword.

Among all the combat arts Rei had learned, the Invincible Style created by Akagi possessed the greatest power.

Far beyond the others.

The blow smashed the serpent’s head backward.

Its soul burst out.

Still ridiculously tough...

After all, it was a Tier-6 King-class monster.

So far, Rei had only killed monsters of this tier by exploiting their weakest points.

If he had to brute-force through that entire armored serpent head...

He could do it.

But it would be a huge hassle.

The moment the soul emerged—

Rei captured it.

In less than ten seconds, he had already killed two King-class monsters.

When the third appeared—

A petal-faced plant monster walking on roots—

The faceless brute and the giant serpent appeared on its flanks.

And Rei charged straight at it.

Plant-type.

Brain-core organism.

Need to find the central brain-stem root controlling the body—

Crunch.

Step.

Pierce.

Rip.

A flawless instant kill.

Sure enough...

Once you mastered Monsterology, hunting monsters felt like a master butcher carving an ox.

Effortless.

And now Rei could also judge the material value of each body part.

In just over one minute—

Corpses covered the ground.

Rei had killed thirteen King-class monsters.

The only problem was that the monster tide approached from all directions.

Monsters formed everywhere.

Kill one in the east.

Another in the west.

Travel time wasted precious seconds.

Unfortunately, monster tides weren’t the same as dungeons.

Even with such dense energy—

Only thirteen Tier-6 King-class monsters had formed.

Now those thirteen monsters stood beside Rei as loyal undead servants.

Kumironi watched them form.

A thought surfaced in her mind.

What exactly was the limitation of this ability?

She hadn’t seen any.

Still...

At this point, she wasn’t even that surprised.

That was precisely why Rei had demonstrated the ability early on.

Psychologically, gradual exposure made it easier for people to accept.

This power was impossible to hide forever.

Sooner or later someone would see it.

So it was better if they simply grew accustomed to it.

"Oh..."

Iz nodded approvingly.

"Not bad. That’s quite an interesting ability."

He accepted it remarkably quickly.

Then again—

Iz was the type who never seemed shocked by anything.

Instead, he looked curious.

Thoughtful.

Amused.

As though constantly pondering something deeper.

"Oh... there it is."

High in the sky, the centipede-like Source of Calamity swam through the air.

A pitch-black passage began forming.

Condensing.

A Tier-6 dungeon had appeared.

It seemed the Source of Calamity could only generate Tier-6 dungeons when the monster tide itself reached Tier 6.

Rei asked,

"But there are only three of us. Are we really going to explore it?"

"It’s still the Month of Death. Should we call Akagi and the others first?"

Even after forming, a dungeon needed a long time before threatening the world.

There was plenty of time to gather allies.

Iz stroked his chin theatrically.

"Well, theoretically we should proceed cautiously."

Then he grinned confidently.

"But honestly, I can’t wait."

"If the monsters are only Tier 6, I should be invincible."

"Sorry. Let me be reckless for once."

Before Rei or Kumironi could say anything—

Iz had already stepped into the dungeon.

Rei’s lips twitched.

...Well.

Given Iz’s strength, there was really nothing he could say.

A Level-6 Iz entering a Tier-6 dungeon...

Was probably like Rei entering a Tier-3 dungeon at Level 3.

If Rei needed a full party for a Tier-3 dungeon now—

He’d laugh at himself.

Besides, this dungeon hadn’t been strengthened through sacrifices yet.

Kumironi shrugged helplessly and followed Iz inside.

Rei thought for a moment.

...Fine.

Might as well take a look.

The moment he entered—

He saw corpses still evaporating.

Not completely reduced to ashes.

So Iz had held back.

Rei extended his perception.

BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!

Deafening explosions echoed ahead.

This dungeon contained a vast forest.

Elemental blasts erupted everywhere.

Rei rose into the sky.

Ahead lay nothing but enormous craters.

Moments later—

A streak of light shot toward him.

Iz returned.

"Haha! Definitely a Tier-6 dungeon!"

"Unfortunately, the final guardian was only a King-class monster... just slightly stronger than a normal one."

"What a shame."

King-class...

Yeah, that was pretty weak.

Seems like dungeons created by the Source of Calamity still needed sacrificial upgrades to become worthwhile.

"Well... let’s stop here for now," Iz said.

"We’ll have plenty of time to explore later."

Rei nodded.

The three of them turned to leave.

Without its final guardian, the dungeon gradually crumbled into dust.

After exiting, Rei stored all the undead within his vast Little Underworld.

They began flying back the way they came.

But before long—

Iz suddenly stopped.

"Another monster tide invasion?" Rei asked.

Iz nodded slightly.

"And it’s not small."

He looked toward the distance.

"That direction... is Regia’s territory."

"The scale of this monster tide..."

"Let’s go take a look."

With that, Iz turned and accelerated toward it.

In just a few breaths, the landscape blurred past.

When they stopped—

Rei saw monsters covering mountains and plains.

From several thousand meters in the air, the horizon itself seemed filled with a rolling sea of monsters.

Far away stood dozens of cities.

Rei glanced at the terrain and mentally compared it with the map of the Ruilen Continent he had studied.

Those cities...

All belonged to Regia.

Regia was under massive monster invasion.

"The scale of this monster tide..." Rei frowned, raising his hand to measure distance.

From the southern horizon to the northern horizon—

Everything was covered in monsters.

Thousands...

Perhaps nearly ten thousand kilometers wide.

If Luluwi were here, they could calculate the size precisely instead of estimating.

"Can Regia hold?"

Regia had three Level-6 class holders.

Based on Rei’s experience with Level-6 fighters, the situation looked terrifying—but not impossible.

Yet Iz answered without hesitation.

"They can’t."

"These monsters are organized."

"And among them... there are Tier-6 monsters."

"This is a premeditated nest invasion."

Rei narrowed his eyes, staring down.

From this altitude his perception only extended about 200 kilometers.

Even with direct vision, it was impossible to gauge the strength of the entire army.

Iz sighed softly.

"If no one intervenes... Regia will fall."

Rei froze slightly.

He hadn’t expected that.

While Lorren and Regia were locked in fierce competition for dominance over the continent—

This powerful nation might instead be destroyed by monsters.

He suddenly recalled all the kingdoms, towns, and villages he had seen along the way—

Places wiped out by monster tides.

This world...

Was far more dangerous than he had imagined.

Monsters were never merely livestock harvested for materials.

They were a true existential threat—

Capable of destroying nations and overturning the balance of the entire continent.