I Start with 13 Hidden Traits Chapter-377

Ch-377. **Chapter 377. Why Does My Gaze Keep Going to Him?**

—

‘It’s overflowing. Power!’

Agnis could no longer contain the surging force within him.

He had lived for countless eons as the Fire Spirit King, yet this was the first time he had ever experienced something like this.

Until now, there had been virtually no contractor who could draw upon even 100% of his power.

And yet—not only was it being borrowed—

‘It’s become stronger. My fire…!’

…It had instead been *amplified*.

Even if the contractor possessed the Primordial Fire, this defied common sense.

There could not exist a being in this world capable of strengthening a spirit merely through a contract.

The relationship between a spirit tamer and a spirit was founded upon strict equivalence.

You could never give more than you received.

In other words, what was happening to Agnis now contradicted the very concept of a normal “contract.”

‘It shouldn’t be possible… yet his fire has transferred onto me.’

It was as though *he*, the spirit, was borrowing *that man’s* power.

Host and guest had been reversed.

How could such a thing happen?

One thing was certain: the fundamental “flame” that Park Hyun-myung possessed was hotter than any fire that existed in the natural world.

Even though it had merely transferred through the contract, Agnis’s flames were burning far more fiercely than before.

…And that was precisely why he couldn’t understand it.

How could a druid—one aligned with the earth—possess such fire?

He had completely embraced the Primordial Fire.

Which meant that the Primordial Fire itself acknowledged this man entirely.

But that alone was not enough.

This phenomenon could not be explained by that reason alone.

There was something more.

However, Agnis was no longer in a state to reason it out.

—Burn it all to ashes!

He simply could not restrain the boiling power.

Like an erupting volcano, Agnis unleashed hundreds of fire spears in a frenzy.

The spears of fire filled the sky and reached the Sunken Emperor in an instant.

Kuurrrrrng!

Hwaaaaak!

With a violent explosion, they formed a raging firestorm.

Though they failed to strike the Sunken Emperor directly—

the “black particles” he wielded were whipped violently by the blast.

Cracks formed in the previously seamless black wall.

The black particles that broke away became fuel for the raging flames.

Gooooooo!

The Lord of the Grave did not miss that opening.

Zaaak!

Grabbing the gap in the wall with both hands, he tore it apart lengthwise.

The wall that had shielded the Sunken Emperor split in two and collapsed.

At the instant the seemingly impenetrable barrier vanished—

Hwoooooong—

The single eye of the Lord of the Grave glowed red-hot.

And then—

Kwaaaaaaaaang!

A thick, crimson beam shot straight toward the Sunken Emperor, shaking the world itself.

A particle annihilation blast that reduced everything it touched to dust.

This was on an entirely different level from a dragon’s breath.

Simply releasing it could erase several cities without a trace.

If there were no wall to stop it, the Sunken Emperor would be vaporized on the spot.

“D-Did we… kill him?”

“He must be dead. No one could survive that.”

The Sunken Emperor was engulfed by the blast.

Surviving a direct hit from that was impossible.

It was a truly spine-chilling sight.

But—

“…He’s alive.”

Arin shook her head.

She, too, was astonished—but—

…the Sunken Emperor had not died.

When the blast faded, his form was revealed.

‘He’s wearing… Gross.’

The horse he had been riding was gone.

Instead, he was clad in jet-black full-body armor she had never seen before.

Gross had transformed into armor.

The mount that had conquered three Abyssal domains had altered its very form to protect the Sunken Emperor.

—……

Hwoong!

Wings sprouted once more from the Sunken Emperor’s back.

But this time, they were not made of black particles.

They were red.

And faintly imbued with aura.

‘He absorbed it.’

It was absurd.

He had absorbed the very attack that struck him moments ago.

To convert that terrifying annihilation blast entirely into his own power—

Had the wall been broken deliberately?

While Gross blocked the blast, the Sunken Emperor had analyzed and dismantled the power, converting it into something perfectly suited to himself.

All of it had happened in the blink of an eye.

That level of computation surpassed even the gods.

It was incomprehensible—yet calculated to the end.

‘That thing… is a monster.’

The Sunken Emperor.

He was a true monster.

Even she could not gauge him.

Basara of the Seven Lords possessed the authority to accept and surpass all martial arts—

but this was not power on that level.

In fact, it was questionable whether it could even be called “martial” at all.

And yet—

‘I want to fight him.’

She wanted to clash with him in her true body.

It had been a very long time since she’d felt this way.

Even longer since she had faced power she could not interpret.

Still—

—……

…The situation was undeniably dangerous.

The Sunken Emperor was no longer looking at the Lord of the Grave.

His gaze was fixed precisely on Park Hyun-myung.

Arin tensed and carefully gripped her sword hilt.

If the Sunken Emperor turned his attack toward them instead of the golem—

they would be helpless.

—……

But the feared scenario did not occur.

The Sunken Emperor turned his back and began to move away.

Perhaps even he found it troublesome to deal with a combined force of humanity and the Lord of the Grave.

“Haah… haah…”

“Just being stared at puts this much pressure on you…”

Only after the Sunken Emperor vanished could the people finally breathe.

‘…This is already the second time.’

But she was not alone.

And for some reason, the situation felt familiar.

A strange sense of déjà vu.

Since the Unborn One fled, this was already the second time an Abyssal Lord had turned away.

Could this really be coincidence?

Granted, the Sunken Emperor had not fled in fear.

He had simply withdrawn, as if it were troublesome.

But still—

every Abyssal Lord they encountered reacted strangely.

At first, she had thought it was because of the man presumed to be Phantom.

But the one the Sunken Emperor had looked at was clearly Park Hyun-myung.

The man who subdued the Fire Spirit King Agnis—

and who attacked the Sunken Emperor without hesitation or fear.

‘Who are you?’

…Why is it?

Why does my gaze keep going not to Phantom, but to Park Hyun-myung?

If the one who truly subdued Agnis were Phantom, then naturally her attention should be drawn to him.

Phantom was Wilhelm’s controller, and Basara of the Seven Lords pitied that controller.

She revered his perfection.

His martial art had been too beautiful.

—If it were you, you must have already found Wilhelm’s source… “Greed.”

—I have not found it.

When the Demon King had asked her that—

…she had not answered properly.

She hadn’t wanted to give even a single clue.

And yet—

‘Why do my eyes keep going to you?’

Why Park Hyun-myung?

…I don’t know.

She acknowledged that he possessed extraordinary talent.

But that didn’t mean Park Hyun-myung was Phantom.

A second-generation Awakener, unlike the first, without a Pangaenia body capable of transformation.

It was certain that Randolph was the controller.

That much she could be sure of.

But Park Hyun-myung was not Randolph, not a first-generation Awakener—

just a newcomer who had only begun climbing the Hall of Fame.

In other words, he shouldn’t be someone who drew this level of her interest.

“Th-the golems…!”

“A-Are they telling us to pass?”

That was when it happened.

Suddenly, the golems parted to the left and right, forming a path.

As if thanking them for their help.

“Let’s go.”

With Alkar at the front, the people cautiously walked down the center of the path—

between rows of impossibly massive golems.

And at the moment they reached the foothills of the **Mountain of Earth**—

—It’s coming.

A voice reached them.

From the Lord of the Grave.

…What was coming?

Did it mean the Sunken Emperor would return?

They didn’t get an answer.

But the Lord of the Grave seemed to be urging them on.

Telling them to resolve things as quickly as possible.

That there was no time to waste.

With unease lingering in their hearts, the group began climbing the Mountain of Earth.

*

*

《‘Rampaging Earth Spirit King Uhm’ is sealed.》

《To Release the ‘Sealing Stone,’ ‘Primordial Earth’ is required.》

《To obtain ‘Primordial Earth,’ 100 contractors of ‘Rampaging Earth Spirits’ must be gathered and offered as sacrifices at the Sealing Stone.》

The conditions for climbing the mountain and breaking the seal were the same.

And the process that followed was no different.

《‘Rampaging Earth Spirit King Uhm’ has been subdued!》

It was actually easier than the first time.

Naturally so—the Fire Spirit King Agnis, the bane of earth, had joined them.

—…Which human is worthy of contracting with me?

Uhm was far calmer than Agnis.

As soon as he grasped the situation, he turned his gaze to find a contractor.

“I—I’ll do it!”

The first to step forward was Choi Kang-nam.

But Uhm shook his head.

—I will test you. Make this seed bloom. I will contract with the one who does.

He placed a small, unfamiliar seed on the ground.

Choi Kang-nam was the first to try—holding it, burying it in the soil—

but of course, the seed did not sprout.

“Damn it…!”

After Choi Kang-nam failed almost absurdly easily,

those with growth-related skills stepped forward one by one.

“Why isn’t it reacting at all?”

“This… isn’t a normal seed.”

Yet the seed showed no response to them either.

They enveloped it in holy power, used their tools—

even crushed it with brute force—

but it didn’t budge.

The seed remained completely still.

Everyone was baffled.

Just what kind of seed was this?

…Eventually, it was my turn.

But contrary to expectation, no one placed much hope in me.

“Fire and earth are… the worst possible matchup, aren’t they?”

“He already contracted with the Fire Spirit King…”

Contracting with a spirit of extreme opposing affinity was extraordinarily difficult—

frankly, close to impossible.

Even possessing the hidden trait *Void*, which allowed opposing affinities, was irrelevant here.

Spirit contracts were an entirely different matter.

—That is the ‘Seed of Earth,’ a symbol of the Earth Spirit King Uhm. Since you’ve contracted with me, merely approaching it will cause the seed to burn.

Agnis advised.

He said I might burn it, but never make it grow.

That it was inevitable now that I was contracted with him.

That was why druids did not get along with fire spirits.

As seed bearers, druids had no reason to contract with fire spirits in the first place.

However, I didn’t care.

I didn’t need to approach it.

‘Rapid Evolution.’

…A skill I had acquired when my trait evolved into that of a Golden-Scale Druid.

I used it on the Seed of Earth.

At the same time—

Crack!

A fissure appeared in the seed.

And the surprise didn’t end there.

—…!!!

—What…?

Both the Fire Spirit King Agnis and the Earth Spirit King Uhm were left utterly stunned.

…Because the Seed of Earth had evolved—

in a direction no one had ever anticipated.