Chapter 268

Fusion!

The bone-piercing, body-penetrating water was never something a human body should be able to endure—let alone absorb into itself.

To forcefully integrate it would be no different from swallowing steel nails whole.

And that viscous, adhesive earth? It was something meant to exist within the ground itself. To fuse it directly into one’s body was no different from pouring wet clay into one’s veins.

Not to mention the Molten Sanctified Flame, capable of incinerating even hardened steel—something that could burn a person to death instantly.

Fusion.

It had never meant simply stuffing something into your body and calling it integration.

True fusion was a process of digestion, absorption, refinement—extracting its essence and inheriting its unique properties.

But an ordinary human—

How could they possibly acquire the properties of earth, fire, wind, light, or water?

Even beings with elemental bodies could only slightly align with their corresponding element. They had no authority to fuse everything.

Which meant—

This was something the laws themselves forbade. A feat the rules of the world explicitly deemed impossible.

And to achieve such a thing...

For Kanzaki Rei, there were only two paths.

One was to comprehend a corresponding God-Tier Talent.

The other—

Was Origin Magic.

And as it happened, this seemingly impossible problem...

Was precisely the "origin" he had been contemplating all along.

All things evolve.I am the vessel of everything.

Fusion is not fusion.

It is understanding structure—Deciphering formation.

"...So that’s how it is."

Not long ago, Kanzaki Rei had wondered:

How were these special elemental substances formed in the first place?

Now, he finally had his answer.

The so-called Molten Sanctified Flame, Piercing Infiltration Water, and Un戒 Heart Lightning...

Were akin to isomers.

Just as water had variants—heavy water, superheavy water.

Protium. Deuterium. Tritium.

...Damn chemistry.

Even in another world, it seemed he couldn’t escape the knowledge of his past life.

But with this understanding—

Everything became clear.

What people called "fusion" was, in truth, the act of comprehending these structures, then reconfiguring elemental composition to reproduce their properties.

Within a single unit of water element...

There existed deeper internal structures.

At this moment—

As these special elemental substances interacted within Kanzaki Rei’s body, he felt their properties vividly. He resonated with them.

And ultimately—

He perceived their deepest structural layers.

His consciousness simultaneously acted upon two separate units of water element.

One was Piercing Infiltration Water.The other, an ordinary water element.

「Fifth-Tier Origin Magic: Omni-Structured Transformation」「Complete elementalization of the self, freely altering the structure and state of all elements.」

The Piercing Infiltration Water began to transform.

Its internal structure rearranged.

After restructuring—

That single unit of water was no longer the same.

It now possessed the exact properties of Piercing Infiltration Water.

Or rather—

It was Piercing Infiltration Water.

"Next."

Gulp—

A mass of water formed in Kanzaki Rei’s hand.

Moments later, the entire mass shifted—

Acquiring the properties of Piercing Infiltration Water in its entirety.

This... could finally be called fusion.

Next—fire.

Whoosh!

Molten Sanctified Flame surged in his left palm, while in his right hand burned an ordinary, unremarkable flame.

With a slight shift of will—

The flame rose, gradually turning a deep brown-gold hue.

Fwoosh—

It transformed into Molten Sanctified Flame.

Dozens of fireballs materialized around him.

Every single one was composed of Molten Sanctified Flame.

Then, a flaming shield formed around his body—

And the fire of that shield was also Molten Sanctified Flame.

Moreover—

Its power had increased dramatically.

Compared to its original state, it was now hundreds of times stronger.

That worked too.

Next—lightning.

BOOM!

Flashes streaked across the sky.

But these were no longer violet—

They had become pure white lightning.

He raised his hand.

Rumble—!

Massive slabs of rock rose into the air, forming a towering cliff.

Yet this cliff no longer retained its rigid solidity—

Instead, it resembled a mass of flowing sludge, standing upright like liquefied mud.

And yet—

Despite its appearance, it retained the same hardness as before.

Ordinary attacks could barely damage it.

But physical contact would instantly cause adhesion—

Anyone trying to break free would feel as though they were stuck to chewing gum.

It stretched, elongated—

But refused to break.

Worse still—

The earth itself carried corrosive properties, even capable of sticking to incoming attacks.

As for—

「Ultra-Slow Light」

It was simply light moving at an extremely slow speed.

It didn’t possess particularly exotic traits—

But it solved a crucial limitation.

Almost all light-based magic traveled at extreme speeds. Even when requiring charge time, once released, it was nearly instantaneous.

This property—

Finally allowed light to be slow.

As for Dream-Shattering Ice, it was a solid ice imbued with hallucinatory effects.

Reflections within it no longer mirrored reality—

Instead, they projected illusions drawn directly from one’s mind.

Anyone staring into it would struggle to focus, constantly at risk of falling into hallucination.

「Viscous Darkness」 turned all shadows into thick, adhesive matter—

Once touched, it was nearly impossible to remove.

Combined with dark-element spells—

Which naturally grew stronger the longer one remained in darkness—

It greatly amplified dark-based combat potential.

Additionally—

There was "Misdirection Windflow."

This current of wind would continuously guide its victims in the wrong direction.

The longer one remained within it, the further they would stray from their intended destination.

These were all the special resources Kanzaki Rei had acquired so far.

Some were ranked. Others were not.

But those rankings...

Were merely from Loren’s unofficial lists. Their legitimacy was questionable.

Once he left this place, he would need to visit the White Tower in Atlantis City to find a more authoritative classification.

Now, resonating with these substances—

Kanzaki Rei could freely transform his body into various elemental forms.

Flowing water.Raging wind.Blazing flame.Viscous stone.Even writhing darkness.

This Origin Magic granted him an unparalleled understanding of matter itself.

He could now perform transformations that would normally be impossible.

For example—

With a simple motion, he formed a solid cube of fire.

Not magma.Not heated rock.

Just... pure flame.

Raising his left hand—

He conjured a mass of ice.

Yet this ice flowed softly, like liquid in his palm.

In his previous life, he might have doubted his sanity.

Liquid ice?

Isn’t that just water?

But in this world—

With sufficient knowledge—

He could only conclude:

This was ice.

Even if the heavens themselves objected—

It was still ice.

And more than that—

With a gesture, he created solidified, motionless light.

He formed immovable, hardened wind.

He turned earth into a gaseous, diffused state.

The space around him suddenly felt heavy—

As though he were walking through dense soil and stone.

Yet visually—

There was nothing there.

This...

Was his Origin Magic.

「Fifth-Tier Origin Magic: Omni-Structured Transformation」「Complete elementalization of the self, freely altering the structure and state of all elements.」

And based on this—

There were limitless extensions.

From this point onward, when Kanzaki Rei created his own spells, he no longer needed to follow the conventional laws of magic.

Through Origin Magic—

He could create entirely new, self-derived spells.

Unless someone else could manipulate elemental states as he did—

There was no counter.

Kanzaki Rei felt the earth beneath his feet.

With a single thought—

Whoosh—

The ground suddenly transformed into a dark yellow gas.

Standing atop this dense "earth vapor," he slowly began to sink downward.

Then—

He turned to his side and casually threw a punch.

Bang!

His fist struck the air—

Producing a dull, solid impact.

Wind—The atmosphere itself—

Had become solid.

Then—

He reached out and grabbed a piece of light from the air, tearing it away.

Where the light vanished, color disappeared entirely.

It became a region devoid of illumination.

His hand could still pass through it—

The space itself hadn’t vanished.

Only the light had been removed.

And without light—

There was nothing to see.

"...This is my Origin Magic."

Having finally resolved the mystery of his Fourth-Tier Mage Origin Magic, Kanzaki Rei felt an overwhelming sense of clarity.

Like solving a riddle that had lingered for far too long.

He looked around once more.

His breakthrough had not been concealed.

Everyone—

Had witnessed it.