Chapter 258

Faced with Kanzaki Rei’s question, the entity before him chose silence.

It said nothing—

But Kanzaki Rei could clearly sense it attempting to activate various abilities, struggling to break free from its current predicament.

However...

Its soul simply refused to obey its own will.

Again and again, it tried to escape Kanzaki Rei’s control.

Again and again, it failed.

Sensing its resistance, Kanzaki Rei spoke coldly:

"Silence won’t do you any good."

"You should already understand—your life and death are entirely at my discretion."

"If you’ve truly lived that long... you shouldn’t be so eager to die."

This time, what had come to find him was merely a soul.

And that happened to be something he completely countered.

But next time?

There was no guarantee it would be the same.

He had to determine why he was being targeted.

The entity seemed to give up resisting.

With a faint trace of resignation, it said:

"I truly didn’t expect... to fall into the hands of a mere mortal."

"Perhaps... this is my tribulation."

"As for my identity..."

"As you can see—I am Ansu."

"A Level 9 Death Master."

"Known in this era... as a Death Priest."

Level 9.

Exactly as Kanzaki Rei had suspected.

To verify the truth of its words, a faint fragment of a Core split from the void and drifted toward Ansu, making contact.

Even with full control established, Kanzaki Rei remained cautious.

After all—

A Level 9 existence might very well possess a God-Tier Talent of its own.

If that talent happened to counter his...

That would be disastrous.

The Core touched Ansu.

In that instant—

Information surfaced in Kanzaki Rei’s mind:

「Remnant Soul of Ansu」A damaged soul of a Level 9 class-holder. Separated from its body, yet still possessing unfathomable power.

「Creator: Ansu」Hidden Knowledge: Founder of Samsara. Currently undergoing the Ascension of Life and Death.

「Ascension of Life and Death」Across nine cycles of life and death, each iteration imposes increasingly harsh conditions, ascending the Death Master class to the peak of Level 9 before ending in death.Current Status: 8 deaths, 9th life.

「Cycle of Life and Death」Death within the ritual, followed by resurrection.

A remnant soul...

Yet undeniably—

A Level 9 class-holder.

This was the first time Kanzaki Rei had encountered such a being.

He had seen many Level 8 elites striving for ascension.

He had even witnessed fragments of gods.

In fact, gods were beginning to feel almost... common.

But a true Level 9?

This was the first.

And—

Founder of Samsara?

Did that mean...

There was a connection to the Samsara inheritance he possessed?

"Ascent through nine cycles of life and death..."

"So this is your ninth life after eight deaths."

Kanzaki Rei’s thoughts flickered.

Why are there so many ’ninth lives’ in this world...?

Do reincarnators never run out?

Don’t tell me he’s some kind of protagonist from a rebirth story...

Can they stop chasing me already?

Still—

This "cycle of life and death" was clearly different from his own Samsara.

His Samsara involved reincarnation.

Ansu’s method...

Allowed him to continue along the same path without restarting.

Kanzaki Rei asked calmly:

"Ansu... is that name well-known?"

Ansu no longer resisted.

He replied casually:

"In ancient times, there existed a dynasty known as Ansu."

"It ruled over the entire world."

"Even the few unconquered planes referred to this world as the Dominion of Ansu."

"That... would qualify as famous."

Kanzaki Rei frowned.

"I’ve never heard of it."

If such a vast empire had truly existed—

There should have been records.

Even lost arts like spatial magic had left traces behind.

Yet this so-called dynasty...

Had left nothing.

Hearing this, Ansu only smiled self-deprecatingly.

"Understandable."

"No one has remembered that dynasty for over five thousand years."

"Empires decay. Legends fade."

"In the tides between reality and illusion..."

"The only thing truly eternal—"

"Is me."

His tone carried a hint of mockery.

But no loneliness.

Only calm acceptance.

Kanzaki Rei replied evenly, with a trace of polite reminder:

"Senior, your life is currently in my hands."

"I wouldn’t call that eternal."

Ansu merely smiled mysteriously.

"If you truly wish to kill me... then try."

"Oh," Kanzaki Rei replied lightly.

"That won’t be necessary. We don’t have any deep grievances."

Founder of Samsara...

There was likely a connection to his own inheritance.

If killing Ansu simply triggered another cycle—

Then he might escape control entirely.

And whether soul destruction could interrupt that cycle... was uncertain.

Given Ansu’s complete lack of fear toward death—

It was wiser not to test it.

"Then tell me," Kanzaki Rei continued,

"What were you planning to do to me earlier?"

Ansu didn’t hide anything.

With a faint smile, he replied:

"The same thing you’re doing to me now."

"Control you."

"Then interrogate you—find out how you obtained so many pure souls."

"And make you serve me."

"I see..."

If not for his ability to control souls—

He might have fallen into that trap.

Fortunately, his instincts had warned him in advance.

The moment he sensed danger—

He acted first.

"That’s quite the coincidence," Kanzaki Rei said.

"We had the same idea."

Ansu chuckled coldly.

"To fall to a mere child... truly unexpected."

Kanzaki Rei ignored the remark.

"What do you need so many souls for?"

God-Tier Talent: Soul Sovereign could control souls—

But it couldn’t directly make them fight.

Otherwise, there would be no need for God-Tier Talent: Necromantic Rebirth.

Originally—

Kanzaki Rei had considered killing Ansu immediately.

Refining him into an undead servant—

A Level 9 combat unit.

But—

A warning surfaced from his intuition.

If he destroyed Ansu’s soul...

Something bad might happen.

He didn’t know what.

Even his foresight showed only calm outcomes.

But—

A Level 9 being might possess methods to obscure prediction.

Acting recklessly against instinct...

Could be fatal.

Better to wait until Future Simulation refreshed.

Ansu answered plainly:

"Listen to your own question."

"What is a Death Priest without souls?"

"Nothing but trash."

Fair enough.

Kanzaki Rei clarified:

"I’m asking what you intend to use them for."

Ansu replied naturally:

"To restore my full power."

"You’re not at full strength?" Kanzaki Rei asked.

Ansu sneered.

"If I were at full strength—"

"Do you think you could restrain me?"

"A mere Level 4 Death Priest?"

"Oh," Kanzaki Rei said casually.

"Hard to say."

"You claim you can defeat the War God, yet you’re not at full strength."

"Can your current self defeat Kaiga?"

Ansu chuckled.

"Give me enough souls... and I can."

"No souls, no service."

"What about your body?" Kanzaki Rei asked.

Ansu scoffed.

"This place is far removed from the material world."

"Without using the Death Origin as an anchor for my soul..."

"I couldn’t have arrived this quickly."

So—

He did have a physical body.

But only his soul had come.

And that had led him straight into this trap.

A Level 9 soul...

Killing it isn’t an option.

This was... troublesome.

"Kid," Ansu said,

"You’re full of mysteries yourself."

"From the moment we met, you were unreadable."

"I thought it was Kaiga’s protection..."

"But now, it seems those secrets are your own."

"And now that I’ve fallen into your hands..."

"...perhaps there’s some fate between us."

He talks big.

As if he wasn’t even concerned.

But Kanzaki Rei had to admit—

He didn’t yet have a perfect way to deal with him.

Sealing?

Possible.

He had mastered numerous sealing rituals and spells.

But—

Against a Level 9 existence?

Ordinary seals were unreliable.

And in his view—

Seals existed to be broken.

Even high-level seals could fail.

Let alone trying to contain a Level 9 with Level 4–5 methods.

Then... a wish?

He could use his advancement to obtain a talent suited to this situation.

He already had Soul Sovereign.

So—

What he needed now was...

Control over the mind?

But mental abilities were far removed from the domain of Death.

There was no guarantee he would obtain such a talent during advancement.

A Psychologist class?

Possible.

But completely controlling a mind—

That sounded like an upgraded version of Soul Sovereign.

Such a power would almost certainly come with conditions.

And if those conditions weren’t met—

It wouldn’t solve the current problem.

Moreover—

He couldn’t focus only on the present.

The talent had to remain useful in the future.

I need something...

That solves this now—

And remains valuable later.

Kanzaki Rei didn’t rush.

Rushing led to mistakes.

Even with high intuition—

Critical decisions required patience.

He sat down, deep in thought.

Different classes had different talents—

But beneath the surface, they shared connections.

From existing talents, one could infer the extent to which a God-Tier Talent could distort laws.

For example—

Direct soul control required conditions.

So absolute mind control would never be unconditional.

God-Tier Talents weren’t just distortions of law—

They were manifestations of absolutes.

Absolute concealment

Absolute restriction control

Absolute soul dominion

They were irresistible effects.

So far—

Kanzaki Rei had never seen a God-Tier Talent fail.

Even against Eltimis, victory had come through talent alone.

The only uncertainty—

Was Divine Authority.

The gods wielded it.

It too seemed to distort rules.

Which was stronger—

God-Tier Talents... or Divine Authority?

And Ansu—

A Level 9 existence claiming he could challenge gods—

Might possess something similar.

...

After roughly an hour—

Kanzaki Rei finally reached a conclusion.

He stood up.

And once again—

Began preparing the Death Priest advancement ritual.