Chapter 318

White—what is it?

If judged only by the understanding before being transported...

Then white is merely a color.

A symbol of purity.A symbol of emptiness.

Many people love the color white.

Many also love the word itself.

But...

In this vast world after his transportation, white carried an entirely different meaning.

White was still white.

But at the same time—

It bore another meaning... one that all things feared.

The White of Death and Destruction.

At the end of death and annihilation, there would only be a vast, pale expanse.

White, in this world, had become a symbol of death.

Though the Moon Sovereigns each differed—each possessing their own heaven-shaking renown—

When it came to fear...

None compared to the Twelfth Moon Sovereign:

The White of Death and Destruction.

In truth, Kanzaki Rei had no desire to come into contact with it.

It was an unknown terror.

And yet—

The situation before him left him with...

No choice.

The more he tried to escape—

The tighter the catastrophe would close in.

Fate had already whispered its premonition.

Only after seeing that eye did Rei finally realize—

Why he had remained in the Secret Sea.

Why he had not fled.

It wasn’t just to find Earth.

This—

Was the fate he had to stop.

Either he chose to run now... and face an even greater disaster in the future—

Or—

He stopped it here.

Because I am a Seer... I bear the destiny of changing the future.

At that moment, Rei gained a deeper understanding of the principles of the Seer.

A Seer is a class that changes fate—

But at the same time, even before taking the class, one is already trapped within a certain destined struggle.

To change one’s fate...

Is itself part of fate.

This class seemed to offer choices.

Endless variations.

The power to shape infinite futures.

To choose limitless lives.

But in truth...

There was no real choice.

Because what must happen—

Would happen.

Just like how he had altered countless possible futures—

Yet still arrived here.

Souls poured into the planet.

The ritual activated.

Rei’s pupils contracted—

As if, in an instant, he gazed into infinity... beyond eternity—

His sight passed through endless ages, witnessing all destruction across time—

Until everything converged.

To a single point.

Death. Destruction.

And there—

He saw her.

A white figure.

Completely unlike the grotesque, incomprehensible horror he had imagined.

What Rei saw—

Was merely a girl.

A young girl in pure white, with hollow eyes.

A human face.

Her gaze drifted into empty space—

And yet, it felt as though she was looking directly at him.

"Your call... and your wish... I have heard them."

"As payment... the price is the Secret Sea."

Her voice was ethereal.

The "color" of her words felt like wishes that had died in a deep, empty valley.

That was how Rei’s soul perceived it.

There was no room for refusal.

No room to negotiate.

The boundless distance in his vision—

Collapsed instantly.

Receding—

Receding—

Whoosh!

His sight snapped back to the planet before him.

Rei regained awareness.

The abyssal sea around him—

Was no longer a silent black.

It had turned into a pale, ashen white.

The barren planet beneath his feet—

Was no longer dull brown—

But bleached white, like lunar soil.

His perception swept outward—

And then—

He froze.

Kumironi floated silently in the abyss.

No.

That was her corpse.

Turning his head—

He saw Roa’s body as well.

His eyes rolled white.

His soul was gone.

Dead.

All of them...

Dead.

Rei’s perception scanned everything—

And finally settled on a single point before him.

Something impossible to ignore.

A girl.

Her skin as white as jade.

Standing directly before him.

Rei called out to Ansu in his mind—again and again—

But received only silence.

The girl spoke, her voice cold:

"You are the first human... in countless years... to summon me."

"I will grant your wish."

"But the price is... all life in this sea."

Rei opened his mouth.

He should have felt fear.

But in that moment—

He realized something strange.

His emotions were completely calm.

Even fear itself...

Had vanished.

He saw Kumironi dead.

He saw Roa dead.

And yet—

He felt nothing.

He didn’t even know what kind of death this was.

It felt as though...

His emotions had died along with them.

"Do they... have to die?"

Rei looked behind him.

The girl stared forward as she replied:

"I said... all life."

"But this is only ordinary death."

"If they possess the means to protect themselves... there is still a chance to live."

As she spoke—

She raised her hand.

"You... can summon me again in the future?"

Rei’s thoughts churned.

He couldn’t understand her intentions.

Couldn’t tell whether this was her true body... or merely an incarnation.

He could test it—touch her, perhaps.

But in this situation—

He had no intention of courting death like that.

"...Yes."

In the end—

After countless thoughts—

Only a single, quiet response remained.

"Mm."

The girl answered just as indifferently.

Buzz—

In the next instant—

A strange sensation spread through Rei.

It felt as though his perception extended across the entire Secret Sea.

And what he saw—

Was a world of pale white and deathly silence.

Every creature in the sea—

Monsters, fish alike—

All had lost their lives.

He looked toward islands.

Toward continents.

Every living being upon them—

Lay still.

Colorless.

Lifeless.

The entire Secret Sea—

Had fallen into absolute silence.

At this moment—

Rei could clearly feel it.

Within the entire Secret Sea—

The only living beings left...

Were himself—

And the girl before him.

This was the price she spoke of.

She—

Had taken all life from the Secret Sea.

And now—

The one who destroyed the Secret Sea...

The one responsible for all those deaths—

Was him.

Of course—

That thought lasted only a moment.

The truth was far more complex.

But one thing was certain—

He was not the true culprit behind the sea’s destruction.

He had been forced into this.

"If you have wishes in the future... you may call upon my descent again."

The girl looked toward the enormous pupil.

Ah.

There was still one more living thing in the Secret Sea.

That incomprehensibly vast existence—

The Origin Sea.

The girl gently extended a finger forward.

Ding—

A ripple spread out before Rei.

He saw space wither.

He saw the ocean decay.

He saw the sky collapse.

And then—

Rei himself—

Shattered.

When he opened his eyes again—

He was standing in a desolate wilderness.

Corpses lay scattered around him.

And nearby—

Two familiar figures.

Yelia.

And Rhein.

This place...

This was the Ancient Ruins.

The place he had been before entering the Ascension Realm.

Rei pressed his hand to his forehead.

His head felt heavy—like he had just woken from a dream.

And yet—

Everything that had just happened remained vivid.

Rei quickly checked his body.

His clothes—

Were the same as before.

Beneath them—

The Evil Eye Gaze Robe, crafted by Aizen.

Even his storage pouches—

Were still there.

But that made no sense.

Those items should have been destroyed during his battle with Lomo.

So why—

Were they back?

Could it be...

None of it had happened?

But as soon as that thought arose—

Rei’s heart clenched violently.

If none of it had happened...

Then—

Did that mean he never returned to Earth?

Did that mean—

He never brought his parents back?

Wait...

If none of it happened—

Then the Origin Sea would still awaken.

He wouldn’t have performed the Pure White Descent Ritual.

He wouldn’t have met Ansu.

Rei’s thoughts spiraled into chaos.

Everything on his body was intact—

That was the first undeniable fact.

These thoughts all surfaced at once.

And the moment they did—

Rei immediately began checking himself.

Level...

It had indeed risen to Level 5.

Level 5 Death Priest.Level 5 Warrior.Level 5 Mage.

The levels were real.

Which meant—

His experiences were real.

Not a fabricated dream.

Rei turned his focus inward.

Within his sea of consciousness—

Ansu was still there.

Ansu was still present.

Next—

Rei checked his storage.

The Ten-Thousand Skin Bag could store other storage items.

Inside it—

Was the biological storage bracelet.

And within that—

Should be his Ant Mountain.

And—

Two slimes.

His parents.

Rei’s heart tightened as he extended his perception inward.

Were they... brought back?

If not—

Then what could he even do now to save them?

His perception entered.

And there—

He saw them.

Protected by restrictions—

Two slimes.

One blue.

One pink.

Exactly the two he had seen on Earth.

Seeing them—

Rei finally let out a breath.

Everything had been real.

Nothing was a dream.

For a brief moment—

He had truly feared...

That everything he experienced had been an illusion.

That the events were real—

But his involvement was not.

That he had not changed anything.

Had not participated at all.

Now—

That fear was gone.

The weight in his chest—

Finally eased.

But then—

Why had his destroyed storage items returned?

Rei turned to look at Yelia and Rhein.

They too wore expressions of confusion.

Then—

Rei suddenly noticed something.

The divine artifact that should have been in his hand—

Was gone.

His lips twitched.

Could it be...

That artifact—

Had returned to Yelia?

Rei looked off into the distant unknown.

The Secret Sea...

What was happening there now?

Had the White truly descended?

Was Kumironi...

Still alive?

And Roa...

...Sorry.

You helped me.

And I got you killed.