Chapter 361

In a cave where countless glowing bodies embedded in the black rock emitted a soft light, turning the ceiling into a star-filled night sky.

The silver-haired girl met a man of immense presence in the very last moment.

A man who felt like an endless darkness without a single speck of light.

The silver-haired girl knew at a glance that he was the mastermind behind all these incidents.

Even without any evidence, everything about him gave off that vibe.

His posture, his cold gaze, and the oppressive atmosphere surrounding him.

The silver-haired girl slowly rose to her feet.

Despite the pain and fatigue throughout her body, she gathered her last strength and raised her sword.

The sword, from its blade to the hilt, was soaked in blood, exuding a menacing aura.

But the man acted as if the silver-haired girl wasn’t even there.

As if there was no one at all where she stood.

Even a stray dog’s bark would usually catch attention, yet ignoring someone right in front of him…

‘!!’

Before she could even finish that thought, the man vanished.

At the very moment the silver-haired girl turned to look around in confusion, a voice came from behind her.

“You fought quite well.”

Though it was the man’s voice, his words weren’t directed at the girl.

He was looking down at the corpse sprawled on the ground as he spoke.

The corpse of an old man she had just barely defeated after a desperate struggle.

Though his praise for the fight seemed genuine, there was no trace of regret in the man’s tone.

All that could be felt was endless calm and a slight hint of annoyance.

The moment those words left his lips, something inside the corpse began writhing violently.

Ker-blam!

And with the sound of flesh tearing apart, the corpse exploded.

Chunks of flesh and bone fragments flew everywhere, but the truly horrifying sight lay elsewhere.

Among the spilled blood, countless worms wriggled about.

Like an army following orders, they moved in perfect unison.

Their destination was one: the base of the man’s feet.

And the moment the worms touched his feet, they were absorbed into his body.

The process was so natural it looked as though they were returning to their rightful place.

In the next instant, the man appeared right in front of the silver-haired girl, staring intently into her eyes.

***

In a world where everything had stopped, a deep smile spread across the man’s lips.

His gaze gleamed with the joy of victory, and overwhelming confidence radiated from his entire being.

Only he knew how long he had prepared for this moment.

“At last.”

He muttered in a low, resonant voice.

“The moment I’ve dreamed of has arrived.”

Eternal stillness.

True domination of the world.

The moment the man had longed for was within reach.

He slowly tilted his head up to gaze at the sky.

Where his gaze landed, there stood a mysterious indigo tree, visible only to him in this frozen world, standing tall as if guarding him.

To him, it was a truly bizarre tree.

The closer he approached, the further away it seemed; when he tried to bring it into the center of his vision, it slipped out of sight.

When he moved away, it drew closer; when he tried not to look, it slowly pushed itself back into the center of his vision.

No matter how close he got, he could never touch it; no matter how far he went, he could never escape its presence.

But as he grew stronger by consuming the flesh of cattle, the tree became clearer and closer.

“Very soon, I will have this tree within my grasp.”

It was built for “the facility.”

It was the time of hardship endured for it.

As the man took a step toward the tree, it distanced itself from him.

But his steps were leisurely.

There was no need to rush.

Because everything was already in his control.

He slowly surveyed his surroundings.

A world frozen in time, the perfect playground under his will.

Truthfully, the man wanted nothing more than to snap the neck of the livestock girl and consume her blood and flesh right then and there, but he restrained himself.

‘Always maintain composure.’

For it would contradict his aesthetic.

As he leisurely walked and observed his surroundings, he suddenly stopped.

The fallen corpse of his subordinate caught his eye.

The man paused briefly, releasing the flow of time.

“You fought quite well.”

With a cold gaze still intact, he quietly spoke.

After paying his brief respects to his subordinate, he froze time once again.

With elegant strides, his gaze settled on a girl.

The expression of shock frozen on the girl’s face brought a smile to his lips.

The epitome of a subordinate’s expression.

The man inhaled deeply, savoring the moment of triumph, and extended his hand toward the silver-haired girl.

“This completes the final piece!”

His voice, filled with ecstasy, echoed through the frozen time.

But at that moment, the unexpected happened.

The object hovering above the girl began to move slowly.

The golden eye of the blue sprout object lazily turned toward the man.

“!!!!”

The color drained from the man’s face in an instant.

His eyes widened with terror, and his whole body stiffened.

As if he had seen a ghost, he jumped backward.

The absolute safety he had so confidently believed in shattered, revealing the true face beneath his ‘always composed’ mask.

“Could it be… Could it be me… fleeing?”

The man slowly stepped back while muttering.

There was no more arrogance or composure in his voice.

***

In the darkness, the consciousness of the Sprout Reaper stirred.

Deep underwater, fragments of memory bubbled up like sea foam.

Each bubble carried moments shared with the Attached Human.

“Who are you exactly?”

The voice of the Attached Human filled with curiosity and questions rang out.

Then another memory bubble burst.

“Was it you who enhanced my abilities?”

A voice mixed with gratitude and surprise.

“Do you want to try this? Can you eat it?”

A warm, considerate voice.

Finally, a laughter-laced voice echoed.

“The name ‘Sprout Reaper’? It doesn’t suit you at all.”

Precious memories amidst difficult journeys.

Suddenly, the Sprout Reaper’s consciousness began to surface.

But upon awakening, there was nothing.

Nothing to see.

Nothing to hear.

Nothing to feel.

In this silent, dark world, only the Sprout Reaper’s sense of time flowed endlessly.

Amidst this endless darkness, the Sprout Reaper sensed something similar to itself.

An enormous tree rooted in space, extending its branches through time.

A powerful object cutting, connecting, and scrambling space and time.

Somewhere, the massive indigo tree towered in the Sprout Reaper’s dark world.

‘It’s already dead.’

This great object was already deceased.

But it wasn’t merely a corpse.

In this place where time is jumbled, it was a past existence visible only here.

‘Is it like the light of a star that has already died?’

Recalling the incomprehensible tales of the Blue Reaper, the Sprout Reaper placed a hand on the massive indigo tree.

At that moment, the Sprout Reaper understood.

Time, and the arrangement of some alchemist.

The sprout of the Sprout Reaper grew vigorously, blooming into the Flower of Time.

Thus, the Sprout Reaper opened their eyes in a world where time had stopped.

Light began to seep into the dark world.

The sprouting top of the Attached Human’s head.

The black rock cave ceiling shimmering with glowing bodies.

The gentle uphill path leading to the open white exit.

The sprawling Giant City beyond the uphill path.

The distant ‘facility’ where the Attached Human used to stay.

And the Harmful Object, whose face was contorted with fear, stepping backward.

As the Sprout Reaper started burning firewood, a tree began to grow in the world where time had stopped.

A giant tree rooted in space, stretching its branches through time.

In the frozen space, a tree wielding god-like power.

But it couldn’t last forever.

The firewood was being consumed at an alarming rate.

Using the remaining firewood, the Sprout Reaper unleashed their ultimate technique against the Harmful Object.

The tree transformed into a sharp spear, rising as if to pierce the heavens.

And the moment it pierced through the cave ceiling, tearing the space beyond,

The Sprout Reaper released a concentrated wave of magic.

[Mommy!!!!!!]

***

In the middle of an island floating in the Pacific Ocean.

I stood at the center of the island, gazing at the scene before me.

The entrance to a massive cave swallowed all light like a black hole in the universe.

‘Should I go in?’

That question kept circling in my mind.

Just looking at that cavernous abyss made me feel like I should enter.

But actually putting my foot in felt incredibly bothersome.

A sudden clever idea popped into my head.

‘Ah, I don’t need to go in myself.’

Looking around, there were plenty of Golden Reapers struck by lightning nearby.

Hehe.

But the moment I reached out to grab a couple of Golden Reapers, an enormous roar shook the entire island.

As the smoke from the explosion cleared, an unbelievable sight unfolded.

In the place where the cave once stood, a massive indigo tree was rising.

Bang!

With the sound of shattering glass, the tree’s branches shot out in all directions.

They tore through the surrounding space.

The sky cracked like a broken mirror, revealing glimpses of unknown dimensions.

‘Huge tree!’

‘Sprout tree!’

The Mini Reapers seemed delighted.

“Hey, why is the tree here?”

“Danger!”

“Everyone, run!”

“Are the space-time distortion levels okay?”

The sudden appearance of the indigo tree threw most Researchers from James Research Institute into panic.

‘Why is it here?’

Just seeing it made me feel uneasy, probably because I’d lost limbs before.

So just as I was about to shatter it with a ‘Bang’, a wave of magic came through the fractured space.

[Mommy!!!!!!]

The moment that sound reached my ears, I hurled myself into the fractured space.

An enormous underground cavern greeted me.

The cave ceiling mimicked a star-filled night sky.

Below the artificial starry sky stretched a vast underground city.

An indigo tree piercing the heavens grew near the center.

Close to the tree, the Sprout Reaper smiled brightly upon seeing me.

And a fierce gaze stared down at me from the ‘Harmful Object’.

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