Yelia’s impulsive attack—

Kanzaki Rei could understand it.

From his perspective, he already knew what was going to happen.

But from Yelia’s point of view, she knew nothing of the existence of Eighth-Tier monsters, nor of even more powerful angels.

All she saw... was a ritual that might awaken the Ocean Lord.

She wanted to stop it.

What she hadn’t expected—

Was that what she had witnessed was only a fragment of the whole.

Like discovering someone in a small village attempting to summon an evil entity, and rushing to stop it with everything you have—

Only to realize, after taking action,

That it wasn’t just a village’s problem.

But the entire nation.

The entire world.

Everyone was participating.

And with her lone, insignificant strength, there was no way she could shake something of that scale.

Only then would she realize—

That she was nothing more than an insignificant weed within the grand scheme.Irrelevant. Inconsequential.

"Kanzaki Rei..."

"Did you... already foresee all of this?"

Kumironi’s voice trembled with unease.

Kanzaki Rei shook his head slightly.

"No. I only just realized it myself..."

"But at the very least, what’s happening in the Secret Sea is far more complex than we imagined."

"It may even involve all the gods."

He paused briefly before asking:

"Kumironi... if you discover that Sophia isn’t what you believed..."

"What will you do?"

Faith, in this world, was an extremely complicated matter.

It wasn’t just a spiritual anchor—

It was also a source of power.

If one’s faith collapsed,

The consequences wouldn’t be limited to the mind...

The most immediate effect would be the loss of the Church’s support, along with various blessings—resulting in a direct drop in combat strength.

Beyond that, belief shaped one’s principles. If faith shattered, those principles would fall out of balance.

It could even cripple one’s path of advancement.

Kanzaki Rei didn’t know how Kumironi would face such a choice.

She hesitated briefly—

But answered quickly:

"I..."

"If Sophia truly isn’t what I believed..."

"I don’t think I could continue to follow her blindly."

That answer left Rhein behind them with his mouth hanging open.

Was that something a believer could just say outright?

To so decisively declare doubt in one’s own god?

Shouldn’t there at least be struggle? Hesitation?

Hearing her response, even Rhein fell into deep thought.

If Lord Yakaticto turned out to be corrupt behind the scenes... would I still follow Him?

Kanzaki Rei smiled lightly.

"Kumironi... hearing you answer without losing yourself—I feel relieved."

She blinked, then gave a faint, helpless smile.

"Kanzaki Rei... is it just me, or have you matured a lot in just a few days?"

"You feel more like an adult than I do."

An adult...

Wasn’t that obvious?

He had already been twenty-eight.

And after countless simulations—

After spending over a decade in repetitive timelines—

Even if he had arrived in this world as a reckless novice,

He had long since grown.

"But I still want to confirm it myself."

"I want to ask Sophia directly."

"Why she’s doing this."

Kanzaki Rei nodded, acknowledging her resolve.

At the same time, he glanced in another direction.

A pity... he had still ended up separated from Yelia.

But under those circumstances, there had been no way to snatch the Sword of Purifying Judgment Flame from her right in front of an Eighth-Level angel.

Still...

At least he hadn’t lost track of her.

Kanzaki Rei closed his eyes.

He could already sense Yelia’s presence in the distance.

「Core of the Whole」

A single "core" rested within Yelia’s storage pouch.

Previously, the Core of the Whole couldn’t exist too far from him—even with the assistance of An Zheng’s Origin Magic: Eternal Continuance, that limitation remained.

Origin Magic greatly enhanced ordinary spells—

But combining one Origin Magic with another was an entirely different matter.

Some Origin Magics were fundamentally incompatible, even contradictory.

A mage’s greatest strength was imagination—

But they could not wield what they didn’t understand.

And Origin Magic was precisely the hardest to comprehend.

To merge two Origin Magics often required difficulty comparable to creating a brand-new one.

But fortunately...

Over the long stretch of time—

Kanzaki Rei had understood it.

The "Core" now enveloped the Art of Immutable Eternity.

It existed independently.

Permanently.

No longer bound by distance.

For now, it was treated as a separate entity.

Through this Core—

Kanzaki Rei could observe Yelia’s movements.

And because it was also wrapped in the Unsolvable Enigma, even the angel at her side couldn’t detect its presence.

The Sea Abyss remained vast and empty.

The atmosphere was suffocatingly tense.

As Kumironi drew closer to the source of the call, Kanzaki Rei began to feel an increasingly dense aura of life emanating from afar.

He raised a hand slightly.

「Eternal Light: Heavenly Day (Tier 6) (LV: 501)」

In an instant—

Light exploded outward!

The abyss was illuminated like daylight, allowing their vision to stretch across immense distances.

And what he saw—

Was a grotesque, deformed creature.

Its chest cavity was torn open, like a corpse split apart, exposing a visibly beating heart within.

Its face was hideous—covered in writhing flesh buds, twitching and pulsing.

With his knowledge from Human Anatomy, it wasn’t hard to recognize—

This was a "human."

At least, it possessed the basic traits of one.

And yet—

From its appearance, it was almost impossible to accept that it truly was human.

It had no eyes—

And yet, one could still feel its "gaze" falling upon them.

Upon Kumironi.

Its lips curled upward into a delighted smile.

"You’ve finally arrived."

Kumironi met its gaze.

From this grotesque being—

She felt a strangely familiar aura.

After a brief moment of stunned silence, she spoke in disbelief:

"...Is it... Sophia...?"

"...My Lady?"

She couldn’t reconcile the hideous entity before her—

With the gentle, compassionate Sophia she knew.

And yet—

The creature answered in a soft, tender voice:

"Yes."

"That’s right..."

"I am Sophia—Sophia of Life and Growth."

"It seems the plan has changed somewhat. The awakening of the Ocean Lord wasn’t meant to begin this early."

"But that doesn’t matter anymore."

She continued gently:

"As long as you’re here... that’s enough."

Kumironi clenched her fists.

"What... do you mean?"

"Everything I’ve seen—from before until now... I don’t understand."

"Why would you use a forbidden ritual to awaken something that will destroy the Secret Sea?"

"Life must not be trampled. We must cherish every life worth cherishing—that’s the doctrine you taught us, isn’t it?"

"Even if compassion shouldn’t be excessive..."

"Most lives still deserve the right to exist."

"And as followers of Life, we should never take that right away."

Survival of the fittest was also a law of this world.

But that was conflict between individuals.

Struggle.

Competition.

Izparut could kill.

Akasei could kill.

Even Kanzaki Rei could kill.

They weren’t bound by the doctrine of Life.

Conflict between lives—for survival, for power, for desire—was part of nature.

But followers of Life—

Should not kill.

Let alone kill the innocent.

To awaken the Ocean Lord like this...

Was no different from deliberately destroying the entire Secret Sea.

"...Aren’t these your teachings?" Kumironi demanded.

Sophia, however, merely smiled faintly.

A soft, bell-like laugh escaped her lips.

"But I didn’t kill those people."

"In fact, what I’ve done is... save them, isn’t it?"

"I saved the Ocean Lord—gave it new life."

"As for what it does with that life... that’s its own matter."

"Kumironi, my dearest, most beloved Kumironi..."

"Would you blame the one who saves a life... for the sins that life commits afterward?"

"If someone you saved goes on to kill others... would you blame yourself for saving them?"

As Sophia spoke—

Kanzaki Rei stood silently behind Kumironi, like a background presence.

The being before them—

Was definitely not the true body of a god.

It didn’t even possess a complete physical form.

If she could act freely within the Sea Abyss, she wouldn’t have merely called out to Kumironi last time instead of coming to her directly.

Her ability to act was severely limited.

And yet...

Why did he feel such an uneasy premonition?

Kanzaki Rei had the urge to pull Kumironi away—

To stop her from continuing this conversation.

But that wasn’t why he had come.

He wasn’t here to avoid danger.

He was here to uncover the truth.

If he pulled her away now, he might lose the chance to learn something crucial.

...Better to act directly.

To touch Sophia—

And extract information from her.

Kumironi faced Sophia’s question.

Her eyes remained unwavering.

No hesitation.

She answered firmly:

"Lady Sophia."

"You’re twisting the meaning."

"Please don’t distort my words—or my intent."

"When I save someone, it’s to truly save them."

"I don’t know what they’ll become—good or evil."

"But if someone I saved goes on to harm others..."

"I will stop them."

"Lady Sophia—"

"When you awaken the Ocean Lord, you must know the consequences, don’t you?"

"Do you intend to stop it before it causes harm?"

"Or... do you intend to let it run rampant, fully aware of the destruction it will bring?"

After hearing her, Sophia’s smile slowly faded.

Irritation filled the space.

"Kumironi... my dearest Kumironi."

"You think too much."

"For a perfect vessel... having so many thoughts is rather meaningless."

...

"Enough."

"Don’t ask so many questions."

The moment those words were spoken—

Kanzaki Rei’s entire body tensed.

That voice—

Was identical to Sophia’s.

But it hadn’t come from her.

It came from—

Right beside him.

From Kumironi.

"A vessel... should fulfill the role of a vessel."

"How could a mere insect possibly comprehend the ultimate meaning of life?"

Kumironi slowly turned her head.

Her eyes were filled with boundless compassion—

And overwhelming divinity.

She looked at Kanzaki Rei—

As though gazing down upon a trivial insect.

"You agree... don’t you?"