Chapter 377

Chapter 377
## Chapter 377: The Mystery of My Wandering Gaze

“The energy is spilling over. This intensity!”

Agnis was nearly overwhelmed by the raw power vibrating through its form. Having existed for untold ages as the Spirit King of Fire, it had never encountered a sensation quite like this. In all its history, no mortal contractor had ever successfully tapped into the full 100% of its spiritual essence. Yet, this experience went beyond a mere lending of strength.

“I have been elevated. My very flames…!”

Instead of being drained, the spirit felt augmented. Even considering that the man before it held the primeval fire, this defied the laws of nature. The idea of a being who could bolster a spirit through a mere pact was unheard of. Typically, the bond between a summoner and a spirit was defined by a rigid equivalent exchange—one could never provide more than what was received. What Agnis was experiencing was a complete subversion of a standard contract.

“It defies logic, but… it feels as though his blaze has merged into me.”

It was as if the spirit itself was now the one drawing from the contractor’s wellspring. The roles had been fundamentally flipped. How was such a thing possible? One thing was certain: the core ‘fire’ residing within Park Hyunmyeong was more primal and searing than any flame found in the natural world. Even a partial transfer through their bond was enough to make Agnis’s own essence burn with unprecedented ferocity.

The spirit remained deeply perplexed. A Druid, whose essence should be harmonized with the earth, possessed a flame of this caliber. He hadn’t just touched the primeval fire; he had become its vessel. This meant the ancient flame had granted this man its absolute recognition. Yet, even that didn’t fully explain the anomaly. There was another layer to him, something Agnis was currently too destabilized to identify.

“—Reduce it all to ash!”

Unable to contain the surging pressure, Agnis acted. Like a mountain bursting with magma, the spirit launched hundreds of fire spears in a chaotic barrage. These projectiles blanketed the heavens, reaching the Sunken Emperor in a heartbeat.

*Ruuuumble!*
*Fwoooosh!*

A violent detonation triggered a cyclone of heat. While the strike didn’t directly hit the Sunken Emperor, the ‘black particles’ he manipulated were caught in the infernal gale. A fissure finally appeared in the previously seamless obsidian barricade. Bits of the dark matter broke away and were immediately consumed by the hungry flames.

*Gwooooooo!*

The Master of the Tomb seized the moment.

*Riiiiip!*

It slammed its massive hands into the breach and pried it apart. The seemingly invincible wall shielding the Sunken Emperor was torn in two and collapsed. With the barrier gone, the single eye of the Master of the Tomb glowed with a lethal crimson hue.

*Kwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang!*

A massive, world-shaking red beam tore through the air, aimed straight at the Sunken Emperor. This was a discharge of pure light that disintegrated everything in its path—a power far exceeding a dragon’s breath. It was a localized catastrophe capable of erasing entire metropolises. Without his wall, the Sunken Emperor should have been reduced to vapor.

“D-did they get him?”
“He has to be gone. No one walks away from a hit like that.”

The Sunken Emperor was swallowed by the blinding radiance. A direct hit seemed fatal. The witnesses felt a chill of awe and terror.

However.

“…He is still there,” Arin whispered, shaking her head. Though she was stunned, she knew the truth.

As the light faded, the Sunken Emperor’s new form was revealed.

“He… he donned Gross.”

The steed he once rode had vanished. In its place, he was encased in a suit of dark plate armor she had never seen. Gross had shifted its very existence into a protective shell. The horse that had trampled three Abyssal territories had reshaped itself to safeguard its master.

“—…”

*Fwoom!*

Wings unfurled from his back once more. This time, however, they weren’t composed of black particles, but red ones. They shimmered with a distinct, haunting energy.

“He took it in.”

It was a terrifying realization. He had absorbed the energy of the attack itself. He had converted that massive light discharge into his own fuel. Had he allowed the wall to be broken on purpose? While Gross weathered the impact, the Sunken Emperor must have deconstructed and recalibrated the power to suit his own needs. This entire process had happened in a mere breath. That level of tactical processing was beyond mortal or divine comprehension. He was a living paradox, a being capable of calculating the immeasurable.

“That creature… is a true monster.”

The Sunken Emperor was an anomaly she couldn’t even begin to measure. Even the Seven Lord Basara, with her ability to master and counter all forms of combat, felt this was on a different plane. It was debatable if what he did could even be classified as martial arts.

And yet.

“I want to test myself against him.”

A part of her craved a true duel using her primary body. It had been an age since she felt this spark—since she had encountered a force she couldn’t instantly deconstruct.

But the atmosphere remained grim. The Sunken Emperor was no longer concerned with the Master of the Tomb. His focus was locked entirely on Park Hyunmyeong. Arin tightened her grip on her sword, her muscles coiled. If the Emperor chose to strike at them now, they would be defenseless.

“—…”

The strike never came. Instead, the Sunken Emperor turned away and began to depart. Perhaps he found the prospect of fighting both the Master of the Tomb and the humans simultaneously to be more of a nuisance than it was worth.

“Hah… hah…!”
“The mere weight of his stare is suffocating…!”

As the figure vanished, the crowd finally exhaled.

“This is the second time,” Arin thought. A strange sense of repetition washed over her. It was the second instance of an Abyssal Master retreating, following the earlier flight of ‘The Unborn Being.’ Was this just a series of coincidences?

The Sunken Emperor hadn’t run out of fear; he had left because he found the situation irritating. Yet, the Masters of the Abyss were all reacting oddly. She had initially suspected the man thought to be ‘Phantom,’ but the Emperor’s gaze had been fixed on Park Hyunmyeong—the man who had tamed Agnis and attacked without a shred of doubt.

“Just who are you?”

She wondered why her attention kept drifting toward Park Hyunmyeong instead of Phantom. If Phantom was the one who truly controlled Agnis, her focus should be there. Phantom was the master of Wilhelm, and as one of the Seven Lord Basara, she felt a profound respect for that mastery. His combat style was a work of art.

“—You must have located the origin of ‘Wilhelm,’ ‘Greed’.”
“—I have found nothing.”

She had lied to the Demon King. She had no intention of sharing even the smallest hint about Phantom’s controller.

And yet…

“Why do I keep watching you?”

Why was she so fixated on Park Hyunmyeong? She acknowledged his raw potential, but he couldn’t be Phantom. Unlike the first-generation awakened, he was a second-generation user without a Pangenia form to shift into. Randolph was the confirmed controller. Park Hyunmyeong was simply a talented rookie rising through the Hall of Fame. He shouldn’t be worth this much of her mental energy.

“The golems…!”
“Are they clearing a path for us?”

The massive constructs shifted, opening a corridor. It seemed to be a gesture of appreciation for their assistance.

“Move out,” Phantom commanded, leading the group through the lane of towering stone giants. They soon reached the base of the ‘mountain of earth.’

“—It is arriving.”

The voice belonged to the Master of the Tomb. What was coming? Was the Sunken Emperor returning? No further explanation was given, but the Master of the Tomb seemed to be pushing them forward, signaling that time was of the essence. With a growing sense of dread, the group began their ascent.

—

**《’The Rampaging Spirit King of Earth, Um’ is currently bound.》**

**《’Root Earth’ is essential to undo the ‘Sealing Stone’.》**

**《To acquire the ‘Root Earth’, 100 contractors of the ‘Rampaging Earth Spirit’ must be offered as a tribute.》**

The climb and the breaking of the seal followed a familiar pattern.

**《’The Rampaging Spirit King of Earth, Um’ has been defeated!》**

The battle was smoother than the previous one, largely because they now had the Spirit King of Fire, Agnis—the natural counter to earth—on their side.

“—Which of you mortals possesses the merit to bind with me?”

Um was far more composed than Agnis had been. Once it assessed the situation, it immediately looked for a suitable partner.

“I’ll do it! Pick me!” Choi Kang-nam shouted, stepping forward.

Um merely shook its head.

“—I shall set a challenge. I will gift a seed to the earth; whoever can make it sprout shall be my contractor.”

A small, nondescript seed was placed on the soil. Choi Kang-nam tried first, burying it and focusing, but nothing happened.

“Damn it…!”

Other users with growth-related abilities tried their luck.

“Why isn’t it working?”
“Is this thing even alive?”

The seed remained dormant. They tried blessing it with holy light and using various artifacts, but it was unresponsive. Someone even tried to crack it open with force, but the seed was indestructible.

Eventually, it was my turn. The crowd didn’t expect much from me.

“Don’t fire and earth clash?”
“He’s already linked to a fire spirit…”

Forming a bond with an opposing element was considered nearly impossible. Even with a trait like ‘Oblivion’ that allowed for multiple attributes, spirit contracts operated on a different metaphysical level.

“—That is the ‘Seed of Earth’, a fragment of Um’s power,” Agnis warned me. “Because you are bound to me, your presence alone will likely incinerate it. You can destroy it, but you cannot nurture it.”

Agnis explained that Druids typically avoided fire spirits for this exact reason—their nature as cultivators was fundamentally at odds with destruction.

I ignored the warnings. I didn’t need to touch it.

‘Rapid Evolution.’

I activated the skill I had gained upon becoming the Druid of the Golden Rule, targeting the Seed of Earth.

*Crack!*

A fissure appeared on the seed’s surface. But what happened next left everyone speechless.

“—…!!!”
“—How…?”

Agnis and Um both gasped. The Seed of Earth wasn’t just growing; it was evolving into something entirely unprecedented.