Chapter 297

A so-called divine artifact... truly lives up to its terrifying reputation...

"Yelia, you rely too much on that weapon."

Kanzaki Rei held the divine artifact in his hand, giving it a casual couple of swings. Then, in the very next moment, it vanished.

He had already stored it inside his inventory space.

That single action caused Yelia’s pupils to contract sharply.

How is that possible?

That artifact bore restrictions personally placed by Zhuya—a seal of the Moonborne Order.

How could an ordinary person possibly break it?

"Yelia... I don’t intend to kill you. I’ve said it before—this is just a misunderstanding between us."

"If I truly wanted to destroy the Secret Sea, I would have done so long ago."

Sixth-tier magic...

Yelia could feel it clearly now—her entire body had been completely sealed.

Her vitality couldn’t be mobilized.

Her mana was locked.

She couldn’t even sense the light element anymore.

She was the inheritor of the Light of Zhuya—

and yet she couldn’t perceive light at all...

And his speed—

what was that?

The only time Yelia had ever seen such speed was from angels themselves.

Since then, she had never encountered anyone faster than her.

Light... was supposed to be the fastest.

And yet just now, Kanzaki Rei had pierced straight through her—

and she hadn’t even reacted.

She hadn’t seen a single movement.

The gap in strength...

was this overwhelming?

Tears welled faintly at the corners of her eyes.

"You sealed me... what, are you planning to violate me? You disgusting bastard."

Kanzaki Rei blinked. "What are you even saying..."

"I’m still a kid, you know."

Yelia snapped back, "A demon pretending to be a child!"

"I really am a kid..."

When something posed no threat, even its anger could seem... oddly cute.

Kanzaki Rei reinforced the seals on Yelia once more.

Back then, his seals hadn’t been able to restrain the Golden Dragon—

because he had only just advanced to a fifth-tier mage and wasn’t yet proficient with his new spells.

And more importantly—

the Golden Dragon had been absurdly powerful.

In a class of its own.

Even among same-tier opponents, it likely rivaled divine inheritors—

and it had been a seventh-tier dragon, naturally endowed with immense resistances.

The difference had been too vast.

But Yelia...

was only a sixth-tier class user.

And most of her strength came from that artifact.

After subduing her, Kanzaki Rei thought for a moment, then casually tossed her into the very center of the ritual formation.

Kumironi looked at the bound Yelia with a complicated expression.

"You really... subdued her."

Kanzaki Rei’s current strength—

seemed to rival Iz and the others from back then.

And yet, when she first found him, he had just been a weak child.

Now, in what felt like the blink of an eye...

he had grown.

No—

had it even been a full year?

It had been August when she picked him up.

Now it was only April.

His growth speed...

was simply terrifying.

"Kumironi, thank you," Kanzaki Rei said.

She blinked in surprise. "Why thank me all of a sudden?"

"Thank you for trusting me."

"...Isn’t that only natural?"

"It goes against the principles of the Church of Life. So... thank you."

Kumironi smiled faintly.

"Little Kanzaki Rei, it’s because I truly believe you’re someone who can change this world. Even if we walk different paths... I believe you’ll never become something evil."

Being trusted like this...

sometimes made him feel guilty.

Nearby, Yelia lay bound hand and foot, watching the two of them.

A deep sense of helplessness filled her heart.

People can pretend, Kumironi...

But now she had lost.

Her fate was in the hands of this devil-like child.

Lady Zhuya...

Are you watching?

—

Sunset.

A faint afterglow stretched across the horizon, sinking into the edge of the sea.

Night had arrived.

If nothing happened—

then perhaps today would pass just like this.

The Secret Sea would welcome a peaceful day.

No apocalypse.

No disaster.

This ocean... would survive unharmed.

And Kanzaki Rei’s prophecy—

would become a joke.

But if a single joke could save the entire Secret Sea...

then he wouldn’t mind telling it.

He wasn’t some saint overflowing with compassion—

but neither was he cruel enough to let an entire ocean perish just to preserve his pride.

Night fell completely.

And yet—

across the entire Secret Sea, a crystalline glow began to emerge.

That light...

felt disturbingly familiar.

It was almost like—

Kanzaki Rei swallowed hard, memories flashing instantly through his mind.

Back when he had sacrificed souls into the entire Secret Sea—

this exact same light had appeared.

"Kanzaki Rei... what is this?"

Kumironi’s unease spiked sharply. A jade-green staff appeared in her right hand.

The two of them rose into the sky, standing back-to-back.

Watching the sea.

Boom—

The entire ocean surged—clouds roiling, mist churning!

Crash!

Endless seawater began rising into the sky!

The entire sea level—

was ascending!

What kind of phenomenon was this?

The ocean itself... rising?

Where was it going?

Shhh!

Yet the island where Kanzaki Rei stood remained untouched.

The surrounding seawater formed towering walls—

like barriers enclosing them.

Within those walls—

dark shadows swam.

His perception pierced through the water, probing deeper.

"...Oceanic monsters."

Bang!

The water beside him exploded!

In an instant, a skeletal whale lunged forward, jaws wide open!

Its massive maw aimed to swallow both Kanzaki Rei and Kumironi whole!

A sixth-tier monster—

Continental-class!

Whoosh!

Before it could even approach—

a streak of holy flame swept past!

In a single flash—

the entire whale disintegrated into ash!

This was the power of the Sword of Purifying Flame Judgment!

Pshh! Pshh! Pshh!

But then—

from the towering walls of seawater, monsters began erupting endlessly!

Layer upon layer, their silhouettes blotted out what little light remained in the sky!

Most of them were fish-like creatures—

leaping into the air—

then raining down like a storm!

Splash—! Splash—!

A rain of monster fish?

This... is the catastrophe that destroys the Secret Sea?

Within the surrounding waters—

monsters from Tier 1 to Tier 7 all appeared.

"Sixth-tier magic..."

"Rainfall Cataclysm Thunder."

Boom!

Lightning flashed across the sky—

and thunder fell like torrential rain!

The descending monsters were pierced and obliterated instantly!

For now—

these creatures weren’t the real threat.

But the color of the ocean—

that dense, viscous hue—

stirred two deeply unpleasant memories in Kanzaki Rei’s mind.

One—

was that lifeform with a death date of 19999.

He had only glimpsed it once—

and was instantly sent into reincarnation, without even knowing how he died.

The second—

was that place where he had glimpsed the true colors of the world—

the Domain of Hidden Truths, where one could see the very origin of existence.

The Secret Sea...

held far too many secrets.

"Ansu, what is this?" Kanzaki Rei demanded within his mind.

Through his senses, Ansu observed the surroundings.

"This is bad... very bad!"

"That thing’s seal... has been broken."

That thing.

Ansu loved speaking in riddles.

But Kanzaki Rei still understood—

it was referring to...

the Lord of the Ocean.

Disgusting.

Why seal such a thing at all?

Why not destroy it outright?

Was it just waiting for the day the seal would break and unleash disaster again?

"So this... is the cause of the Secret Sea’s destruction?" Kanzaki Rei asked.

Ansu paused briefly.

"The Secret Sea?"

"Heh... kid, you have no idea what this really means."

"The Secret Sea is alive. It’s merely a part of its body."

"Now that it has awakened... what it will devour won’t just be the Secret Sea."

"It will merge and consume every ocean in the world—making them all part of itself."

"The Secret Sea... is only the beginning."

Boom!

The vast waters began to churn violently.

Floating above the land, Kanzaki Rei felt like a rootless leaf adrift in a storm.

Ansu let out a cold laugh.

"So this thing... won’t be stopped anytime soon."

"Only a ninth-tier class user—or a fully descended god—might be able to deal with it."

"Sure, there may be some beings willing to act... but not now."

"Those ancient fossils restrain each other, wary of every move. None of them would act rashly."

"And by the time they do..."

"This world may already be reduced to ruin—nothing left alive."

Then suddenly—

Ansu roared:

"But give me enough souls, and I can kill it for you! How about it?"