Corruption.

Destruction...

Kanzaki Rei could feel the Laws of Death taking effect.

A warped spiral formed before his eyes.

What Ansu was doing wasn’t mere destruction—

He was trying to send the colossal gate itself directly into reincarnation.

Crack—

Fragments began peeling from the gate.

They drifted like ash blown from something burned to cinders.

The gate was dying.

Stepping toward samsara.

Krrrk—

At the same time, Rei felt something like shackles inside his own body beginning to break.

Explosive pops rang out like strings of firecrackers.

His Sea of Consciousness expanded once more,

returning to the vast, celestial form of the Cloud Palace Sea.

And then—

His Cryptic Scholar class advanced.

No...

Not advanced.

Recovered.

It had returned to the state it held at Level 6 Cryptic Scholar.

And with that restoration,

the talent God-Tier · Deepest Truth returned as well.

Rei gradually realized—

His own time was flowing backward.

Everything he had once possessed...

was returning to its original temporal state.

Ansu...

He could really do it.

Layer after layer, the gigantic gate peeled apart.

And finally—

Through the ruined holes left after the debris stripped away,

Rei could see what lay beyond.

And with a single glance—

He seemed to see a "person" with ivory-white long hair.

...A person?

No.

Its face was impossible to perceive clearly.

Its features seemed composed of countless fragments of time itself.

As though infinite histories were reflected across its face.

What... is that thing?

It looked toward the gate,

and seemed to reveal a flicker of confusion.

Then—

A trace of sorrow.

It raised one hand toward them.

And clenched.

BOOM!

The gate, which had just been collapsing apart,

suddenly reversed as though time itself were rewinding.

Countless shattered fragments,

already blasted into ash,

flowed backward.

Reforming upon the gate.

Its deep black and ashen hues transformed once more into magnificent golden material.

Hummm—

In barely a second,

the entire gate had been fully restored.

Dong—

A recoil shock spread back.

Ansu took the backlash and stepped back slightly.

Then stopped.

He did not continue breaking the gate.

Instead he said to Rei behind him,

"Did you see it?"

Rei nodded.

"Yeah."

Ansu looked down at his own hand.

"Kid... let me try one more time."

"I think..."

"We may have just seen a legend."

Ansu knew Rei was not actually a child.

He knew Rei was an adult transferred from Earth.

But whether twenty-eight years old or eight—

To an undying ancient who had lived tens of millions of years,

there was no real difference.

Still a child.

Ansu placed his hand on the giant gate once more.

Being with this kid really did bring endless surprises.

In so short a time,

he had touched something new again.

After living so long,

there was almost nothing left in this world that felt fresh.

Boom!

The giant gate blackened again.

Ansu broke it apart once more.

The gate crumbled.

And once again—

They saw the being behind it.

But this time—

Rei saw clearly.

Because God-Tier · Deepest Truth had returned,

he finally perceived reality.

No longer blurred features.

No longer mere reflections of history.

He could see pale, elegant eyelashes.

Slender translucent limbs.

Delicate features.

A girl so flawless she was nearly perfection itself.

Even Yuna, beautiful enough to be called a rare masterpiece,

and even Luluvi, already a true beauty—

seemed slightly inferior before her.

Her expression was cold and indifferent.

As though worldly affairs held no interest to her at all.

Like someone idly watching a frog crawl from a pond—

she looked at Ansu with calm detachment.

Seeing Ansu break open the gate again,

she moved to close it once more.

She slowly raised a hand—

but Ansu suddenly spoke.

"Hey..."

"Little miss on the other side."

"You want to come out of that gate too, don’t you?"

The indistinct being froze.

"I once heard an ancient legend."

"It says that long ago, an ultimate existence made a catastrophic mistake in youth..."

"And so They sealed away that entire stretch of time."

"Along with Their younger self."

"They severed themselves from the past..."

"And became the later Aehkator."

"If I’m not mistaken..."

"That person is you."

"You are Aehkator."

"Hah... so I’ve finally met the real one."

"Even I only ever heard your legend."

Silence.

After Ansu finished speaking—

The figure before them stopped moving.

Simply stood there,

stunned.

Looking at Ansu.

And the young man behind him.

The gate continued collapsing.

Seeing she gave no answer,

Ansu continued.

"That incident is a legend even to me."

"How long have you been waiting here...?"

"The sins of the past should be paid off by now."

"And even if you insist on imprisoning yourself..."

"There’s no need to drag others into it."

Ansu glanced back at Rei.

He was speaking for him.

"How about this..."

"Let my friend return to normal time."

"Whether you come out or not, that’s up to you."

In those few short sentences—

Rei felt genuine goodwill coming from Ansu.

But at the same time,

he also sensed other thoughts in Ansu’s heart—

small calculations,

the desire to build rapport,

to deepen friendship with him.

Completely transparent.

Yet—

She still raised one hand toward Ansu.

Seeing that motion,

Ansu shouted—

"Hey! Wait—"

Tick.

The maddening sound of a clock hand moving.

Rei opened his eyes again.

He was still in the basement.

Before him,

Molten Sanctified Flame continued tempering solid alloy.

Back again.

How many times must this repeat?

This time... 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Should I seek Lottie’s help?

No.

The source of the problem seems to be that girl behind the gate.

But she refuses to come out.

So why am I the one forced to keep returning to the past?

What does that have to do with me?

At least this time—

there was a clue.

Rei looked at the alloy before him,

prepared to resume forging

and reclaim his class levels.

But suddenly—

He sensed something strange.

His classes...

were still there?

Level 2 Blacksmith.

Level 2 Enchanter.

Level 6 Cryptic Scholar.

Levels he should not have possessed at this point—

had all been preserved.

Rei looked at the calendar nearby.

April 26.

An ordinary day of forging.

It seemed...

some law had been damaged by Ansu.

Some things belonging to Rei

no longer rewound when time reversed.

Ansu...

had truly helped in a major way.

Right.

And now he possessed God-Tier · Deepest Truth again.

Which meant—

he could reexamine certain things.

Rei turned his awareness inward once more,

observing his Sea of Consciousness.

And the moment his consciousness sank into it—

he saw it.

Far in the distant heavens,

a colossal tree flowed with seven-colored radiance.

The Tree of Wisdom.

It really exists?

After gaining this talent before, he hadn’t seen it.

Which meant...

at that time,

had the tree already vanished?

...

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