Standing before the ruin, Kanzaki Rei made his preparations first.

He uncorked the Extreme Perception Elixir he had refined.

Pop—

Glug.

He downed it in one swallow.

A sharp, sour bitterness spread across his tongue.

At the same time, he felt his perception stretching farther—

clearer—

more expansive.

After advancing to Level 6 Cryptic Scholar, his perception range had already exceeded 100,000 kilometers.

And now, after drinking this potion—

that range expanded again.

Just one bottle pushed it to 140,000 kilometers.

The elixir itself granted a base increase of 20,000 kilometers in perception range.

But beyond that, Rei possessed all kinds of miscellaneous perception enhancements.

His training was broad and eclectic.

Even if perception wasn’t his main focus, he had mastered numerous methods for tempering awareness.

Altogether—

roughly another doubling on top of the original base.

And if he equipped a specialized enchantment set built purely for perception—

his range could even surpass Luluwy’s current capabilities.

Glug.

Glug.

Glug.

Bottle after bottle opened.

The elixirs poured into him like streams of water,

turning into surging waves of heat.

The heat rose upward—

into his mind—

pouring into his Sea of Consciousness.

Not a single bottle remained.

Rei drank all twelve.

When his perception spread once more—

a vast swath of the continent lit up beneath his awareness.

400,000 kilometers of perception range.

At last—

he had stacked perception high enough.

His speed was too great now.

His previous perception range had actually become too small to support his combat.

It made fighting feel constrained.

In simple terms—

any opponent powerful enough to contend with him

could cross tens of thousands of kilometers in an instant.

But his perception previously couldn’t cover that far.

Meaning he had sometimes been forced to rely on vision alone—

which could place him in a passive position.

Though with God-Tier · Final Perception aiding him through intuition,

combat hadn’t felt truly crippled.

Just inconvenient.

But now—

this range was finally usable.

This month was the Pure Moon.

God-Tier · Enlightened Intent still granted an Intent Realm.

Combat Intent Realm: Primordial, Unchanging

Primordial Intent: Allows any self-created battle technique to produce effects stronger than their original form.

Unchanging Intent: Makes every technique he executes difficult to distort or alter.

As for Moonstar Intent—

it was Purity.

Rei had applied that intent to the First Form—

Origin.

It allowed his Body Tempering Method to wash over himself,

cleansing curses and all negative effects,

returning his physical body to its most primal, pure state.

Of course—

that didn’t mean regressing,

or becoming weaker and weaker.

It meant restoring himself to a state untouched by outside interference.

Free of all external corruption.

Who knew whether it could wash away the contamination that might exist within him.

But Rei chose to believe—

it could.

"...Mm."

A point of light manifested in his right hand.

"Better say something first."

"Luluwy... if I haven’t come out in a month, go on to the Land of Moonwatch without me."

The light drifted upward into the sky,

following Luluwy’s aura to deliver the message.

If he didn’t emerge within a month—

perhaps he’d already be in his next reincarnation.

With his final preparations complete—

Rei stepped toward the spiral door before him,

coiled like a snail shell.

The moment he entered,

space inverted.

He walked straight ahead—

yet it felt as though he moved in spiraling circular motion.

The scene before him gradually shifted from blur—

into clarity.

Lamps.

Wall clocks.

A fireplace.

Paintings.

A long corridor.

Exactly like what he had seen in future simulations.

Filled with a classical, mysterious atmosphere.

The instant he arrived—

Rei spread his perception.

But through perception,

the corridor differed from the one in his foresight.

In the previous simulation—

the corridor had been rectangular.

If he extended his senses to the furthest limit,

he could perceive a ninety-degree turn.

After turning—

another long corridor.

Measure the distance,

walk four such corridors,

pass four right-angle corners—

and you returned to the starting point.

That had been the previous result.

But now—

his perception range was far larger.

And looking forward along his senses—

there were no corners at all.

Just one impossibly straight corridor,

stretching endlessly,

with nowhere to turn.

A lot of details were different.

"Ansu."

"What do you think?"

Ansu shared Rei’s perception and observed the corridor.

"This is a Corridor of Time."

As expected of an ancient monster.

Its knowledge was immense.

"It’s related to Aehkator..."

"But this should not be His trial."

That name again.

Aehkator.

Lottie had mentioned it before.

Though she had said many things,

and Rei hadn’t investigated every one.

But hearing Ansu bring it up again—

made him feel he should ask.

"Who is that?"

Ansu closed his eyes before answering.

"An existence related to time."

Rei pressed further.

"A god?"

Ansu shook his head.

"No."

"I don’t know whether He is a god... or a Level 9 or even Level 10 existence."

"I only know His power rivaled Moonstar."

"Perhaps even surpassed Moonstar."

Rei frowned.

"You never encountered Him?"

Ansu replied,

"Even in my era, Aehkator was only a legend."

"But even as a legend—

He left traces in this world."

"Enough for people to recognize them."

"And know He still exists."

A thread of Ansu’s perception extended outward,

guiding Rei’s senses toward one direction.

Following it—

Rei looked to a wall clock.

Its hands formed the symbol ∞—

yet the hands pierced through the infinity itself.

"That is His symbol."

"From the moment you see it..."

"all laws related to time begin to distort."

"And it is one of the few phenomena I have ever seen capable of twisting time."

Ansu paused, then said:

"Kid... you’re so determined to enter this ruin."

"Are you seeking something from here?"

"I should remind you—time is irreversible."

"What has happened has happened."

"Rather than seek a way to reverse time..."

"you’d do better thinking how to remedy what already occurred."

Many thoughts flashed through Ansu’s mind.

Rei could tell—

it thought he was trying to undo what had happened back on Earth.

"Instead of telling me all that," Rei replied inwardly,

"you’d be better off helping me figure out how to leave this corridor."

"And if you can’t think of a solution..."

"then tell me more about this Aehkator."

Even while conversing with Ansu in his mind—

Rei walked forward.

Though the corridor was infinite,

every segment he crossed caused the wall clocks’ hands to point to different values.

And after only a few steps—

an answer was already forming in his mind.

He probably wouldn’t need Ansu’s help at all.

He could solve this himself.