Chapter 216

However, the entire city had already witnessed the disturbance.

Kanzaki Rei’s gaze turned slightly cold.

In the next instant, the city’s barrier activated.

Everyone within was sealed inside—no one could leave.

All exit routes were shut.

At the same time, beside Kanzaki—

Kyoya’s undead form had already manifested.

「Kyoya」「Level 5 Death Priest」「Constitution: Embrace of Death」「Talent: Pure Soul (Supreme)」

So he had a Supreme-tier Pure Soul talent.

No wonder he possessed so many refined souls.

Even so, to obtain souls of higher purity than his own, he still had to kill beings with exceptionally high spiritual essence.

Even Kyoya had only managed to gather a little over a thousand such souls.

A thousand...

That was already an enormous number.

As for Embrace of Death, it allowed him to transform into an undead state—both living and dead simultaneously.

In that state, he could cast unique necromantic death spells.

Heh...

Using his undead form like this wouldn’t raise suspicion at all.

After all, Kyoya himself could become undead.

If others sensed undead energy from him, they’d simply assume he had activated his constitution.

"What’s going on?!"

"We can’t get out!"

"The barrier—it’s been activated!"

"What was that soul explosion just now? Was it the Death Church again?!"

"Death Church! What are you trying to do?!"

The entire cult-filled city descended into chaos!

And then—

Kyoya’s voice echoed from the sky.

"Everyone... when the Death Church acts, we have no obligation to explain ourselves."

"Today, I—Kyoya—have obtained the Death Inheritance."

"I am now one of the Apostles."

"On such a joyous occasion..."

"Why not all of you... celebrate for me?"

Boom!!!

The earth split apart!

Gigantic blood-filled maws burst from beneath the ground, lunging upward!

One bite—

An entire building vanished.

Along with all the cultists inside.

「Bloodfiend Devour (Fifth Tier) (LV: 401)」

"Kyoya!"

"Do you really think becoming a Death Apostle makes you untouchable?!"

Boom!!!

The sky tore open—

Millions of deep green, rotting strands of light descended like hair, converging toward Kyoya!

「Sixth-Tier Disease Magic: Touch of Eternal Plague Mutation」

A Level 6 powerhouse.

If given the chance to fight—

They were formidable.

But...

Kanzaki stood atop a rooftop, looking up calmly at those ascending figures.

「Time of Death: 1 day >> 0」

"Ugh—!"

"AAAAAA—!"

"No!"

"Why—what’s happening?!"

Screams filled the sky.

Pfft!

Before they could even unleash attacks befitting their level—

Kanzaki silently settled their deaths one by one.

Pfft—

Their bodies exploded midair for no apparent reason.

One suffered backlash from forbidden arts.

Another succumbed to disease, instantly deteriorating.

A Skinstealer lost compatibility with its host—

And died.

One after another—

Level 6 elites perished.

Without landing a single meaningful attack.

The only thing that struck Kyoya—

Was the cascade of green light.

It passed through him, infecting his undead body with countless diseases.

But—

Undead did not fear illness.

The effects took hold—

But Kyoya remained completely unaffected.

He simply hovered, following Kanzaki’s will, looking down upon the city.

The Level 6 threats were gone.

All that remained were insignificant stragglers.

Kanzaki had no intention of completely annihilating the city.

Instead, he entered restricted zones.

"Living Furnace..."

"Quite a few forging techniques... Eizen would love these."

"...Though letting Uncle Eizen learn this kind of thing... is that really a good idea?"

It felt like opening a dangerous door.

A faint sense of unease flickered in Kanzaki’s mind.

There were also materials—

Skins, bones, eyeballs—

All processed into items.

He opened a manual.

"Using the body as a vessel... forging oneself..."

"Eyes, teeth, skin, hair, nails..."

"All refined into equipment..."

"Truly heretical."

"...But perhaps useful someday."

Kanzaki didn’t reject it outright.

After all—

In cultivation novels, wasn’t there something similar?

Refining the body.

Engraving formations onto flesh.

It wasn’t that different from enchanting the body.

So even if it seemed grotesque—

He didn’t resist the idea.

The key question was side effects.

If minimal—

It might be worth experimenting.

Though being labeled heretical likely meant hidden risks.

He touched the items.

Connections and traces flooded his perception.

Too many links.

Too many people.

Some even tied to orthodox factions.

So the divide wasn’t absolute.

And Peace City...

Clearly connected.

Many threads pointed toward its ruler.

Kanzaki’s ear twitched.

"Please—no!"

"I don’t want to die!"

"Why are you doing this?! Aren’t you afraid of retaliation from the Shedding Rose?!"

"Kyoya! Do you really intend to stand against all factions alone?!"

"Spare me! Please—!"

Boom—

The noise outside grew chaotic.

Kanzaki walked through the streets, blinking from place to place, collecting anything of interest.

Their screaming was irritating.

Some might not deserve death...

But once they joined cults—

They should have expected this.

Guilt by association.

Kanzaki wasn’t a judge.

He wouldn’t weigh every sin.

Death was enforced.

Life was erased.

His storage bags filled rapidly.

The entire city was stripped clean.

Cults had deep reserves.

With a flick of his hand—

Items appeared before him.

「Rod of Extreme Chaos: When casting a spell, an additional random spell of equal tier (below Tier 5) is cast at a random target.」

「Veil of Disappearance: Crafted from the skin of a silent assassin. Greatly reduces presence and eliminates all sound from movement.」

「Jarred Sage Brain: A brain preserving vast forbidden knowledge. The body was discarded due to corruption.」

「Plague Vessel Set: Contains multiple plague strains. Difficult to cure via life magic.」

「Tome of Agony: Sacrifice pain to cast specialized agony spells.」

"...What kind of nonsense is this?"

Requires pain?

Painkillers don’t work?

Self-harm alone isn’t enough?

No thanks.

He already had more than enough powerful abilities.

Why add self-torture?

There were many items—

But few truly valuable ones.

Even Tier 6 abyssal-grade items barely interested him anymore.

If it was easy to farm—

It was common.

Only rare techniques and strange knowledge intrigued him.

As long as no Level 7 appeared—

He was invincible.

Even Eltimi—

If she returned now, he was confident he could win.

Though...

He’d still rely on 「God-Tier: Inevitable Death’s End」.

As for Level 7...

Hard to say.

If he couldn’t suppress them immediately—

Seventh-Tier Origin Magic...

Just imagining it was terrifying.

...

Silence fell.

The city was dead.

Even the slaves—

Had perished in the aftermath.

Kanzaki hadn’t tried to save them.

Their fate had been sealed.

Most had only days left anyway.

At least—

This avenged them.

Nothing remained here.

He equipped the Veil of Disappearance.

His presence faded.

Kyoya’s undead form donned a similar cloak, walking ahead.

Kanzaki followed behind—

Like a subordinate.

They passed through the portal.

The moment they emerged—

Whoosh—

Both vanished.

A cold wind blew.

Kyoya hadn’t even had time to digest the Death Inheritance—

Before Kanzaki took everything.

"Forbidden Death Codex"

Contained a Primal Death Taboo—

Similar to the foundational forbidden spells of magic.

And—

Five thousand pure, supreme souls.

Locked in a cage.

Unlike Kanzaki’s generated ones—

These were genuine.

Too bad Kyoya never used them.

Even if he had—

It would’ve only delayed his death.

Everything had been prearranged.

From Kyoya’s perspective—

It was an inexplicable death.

「Soul Prison Cage」

A rare item.

Preserved souls without degradation.

With this—

He could gift souls to others.

If it could be mass-produced...

He’d ask Eizen.

A Level 6 enchanter might reverse-engineer it.

...

Midnight.

Future Simulation refreshed.

Two uses available again.

At the same time—

Kanzaki had already entered the domain of the Light Church.

Effortlessly slipping into the highest sanctum.

Whoosh—

With a wave—

All treasures were taken.

Then—

He reinforced the barriers.

Revoked access permissions.

00:00:02 — Entry.

00:00:06 — Exit.

"...Maybe I should switch to a thief class."

"Feels like leveling would be even faster."

00:35:21—

Kanzaki exited the Dark Church’s highest sanctum.

"...I might need more storage space."