The cave’s interior was filled with countless luminescent stones embedded in the dark rocks, casting a soft light that transformed the ceiling into a starry night sky.

At the very last moment, the silver-haired girl encountered a man with an overwhelming presence.

This man felt like an endless void, a darkness without even a single point of light.

The moment she saw him, the silver-haired girl knew instantly that he was the root cause of everything.

There was no proof, but every fiber of his being screamed it—the way he stood, the cold gleam in his eyes, the oppressive atmosphere that enveloped him.

Despite her body aching and her exhaustion, the silver-haired girl slowly rose to her feet, gathering her last bit of strength to lift her sword.

The blade, tainted from hilt to tip in blood, emanated a menacing aura.

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

As if the space in front of him were empty.

For all the world, she was no more significant to him than a barking stray dog; yet he completely ignored her.

‘!!’

But before she could fully process this thought, the man disappeared.

Just as she looked around in confusion, a voice sounded from behind her.

“Well fought.”

It was the man’s voice, though his words weren’t directed at her.

He was speaking to the corpse lying on the ground.

The bent figure of a man she had fought desperately to bring down only moments ago.

The tone may have sounded like praise, yet there was not a hint of regret in his words—only endless calm and a slight hint of annoyance.

The moment he uttered those words, something within the corpse began to writhe violently.

Splut.

Then, with the sickening sound of flesh tearing, the body exploded.

Chunks of flesh and fragments of bone scattered, but there was an even more grotesque sight—countless worms wriggling within the blood that spilled out of the corpse.

The worms, as if following orders, moved in perfect synchronization.

Their sole destination was at the man’s feet.

The moment they reached his feet, they were absorbed into his body.

The process was so natural, it was as if they were merely returning to where they belonged.

In the next instant, the man appeared directly in front of the silver-haired girl, looking down into her eyes.

In a world where everything had stopped, a dark smile spread across his face.

His gaze shone with the thrill of victory, and his entire presence exuded an overwhelming confidence.

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

“At last.”

He murmured in a low, deep voice.

“The moment I dreamed of has finally arrived.”

Eternal stasis.

Absolute dominion over the world.

The moment he had longed for was finally within reach.

He slowly lifted his gaze skyward.

Before him stood a mysterious navy-blue tree, visible only to him—the one who could grasp time.

In this silent, frozen world, that tree had always stood by his side.

It was a strange tree, he thought.

The closer he approached, the farther it seemed; and whenever he tried to center it in his vision, it drifted out of sight.

When he moved away, it drew nearer; when he tried not to look, it crept back into view.

No matter how close he came, he could never touch it, and no matter how far he went, he could never push it from his sight.

Yet, as he consumed the flesh of beasts and grew stronger, the tree became clearer and closer.

“Soon, I will seize that tree.”

All of it was for this.

Every painstaking hour was for this.

The man murmured to himself as he moved toward the tree, though it only grew more distant.

But his steps were unhurried.

There was no need to rush.

Everything was already in his grasp.

As he strolled leisurely, he looked around.

A world frozen in time, a flawless playground he could manipulate at will.

Though he felt the urge to snap the neck of the livestock girl and devour her blood and flesh right then and there, he refrained.

‘Always with composure.’

For him, anything less would go against his aesthetics.

As he strolled and surveyed his surroundings, he suddenly stopped.

The body of his subordinate lay before him.

He looked down at it for a moment, releasing the flow of time.

“Well fought.”

He said quietly, his gaze still cold.

After a brief moment of silence in honor of his fallen subordinate, he stopped time once more.

Turning with graceful steps, his eyes landed on the girl.

Her frozen expression of shock brought a smile to his lips.

The perfect expression for a subject under his control.

Taking a deep breath, he reached toward the silver-haired girl, as if savoring the victory.

“With this, the final piece falls into place!”

His voice, filled with euphoria, echoed through the stillness.

But in that instant, something unexpected happened.

An object above the girl’s head began to move.

The golden eyes of the navy-blue sprout object slowly turned toward the man.

“!!!!”

The blood drained from his face.

His eyes widened in terror, and his entire body stiffened.

As though he had seen a ghost, he stumbled back.

The assurance of absolute safety he had clung to was shattered, exposing his true self hidden behind the mask of calm.

“I… I, of all people… ran?”

The man muttered, retreating step by step.

There was no trace of his former arrogance or composure in his voice.

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

From the depths of a slumbering ocean, fragments of memories bubbled up.

Each of those bubbles held moments spent with the cherished human.

“Who… who are you?”

The voice of the cherished human, filled with curiosity and wonder, echoed.

Another bubble burst with a different memory.

“You’re the one who boosted my power, aren’t you?”

A voice laced with gratitude and astonishment.

“Would you like to try this? Can you eat it?”

A voice full of warm consideration.

Finally, a voice tinged with laughter reached its ears.

“So, you’re called the ‘Sprout Reaper’? That name doesn’t suit you at all.”

Though the journey had been hard, these fragments of memories with the cherished human were precious.

Then, suddenly, the Sprout Reaper’s consciousness began to rise to the surface.

But even when it awoke, there was nothing.

It could see nothing.

Hear nothing.

Feel nothing.

In this silent, black world, only the Sprout Reaper’s sense of time passed ceaselessly.

In that endless darkness, the Sprout Reaper sensed something similar to itself.

A massive tree, rooting itself in space and stretching its branches toward time.

A powerful object that could sever and stitch space, mix and twist time.

At some point, a massive navy-blue tree had risen in the Sprout Reaper’s dark world.

‘Already dead.’

This formidable object was already deceased.

Yet, it wasn’t merely a corpse.

It was a vision from the past, existing only in this place where time was scrambled.

‘Like the light of a star that died long ago?’

Recalling the Blue Reaper’s cryptic words, the Sprout Reaper reached out to the towering navy-blue tree.

In that moment, it understood.

Time, and the scheme of a certain alchemist.

The Sprout Reaper’s sprout grew steadily, blossoming into a flower of time.

And thus, the Sprout Reaper opened its eyes in a world where time had stopped.

Light began to seep into the darkened world.

A sprout blossomed atop the cherished human’s head.

The cavern ceiling, formed of dark rock, glistened with radiant stones above.

A gentle slope stretched ahead, ending in a yawning white exit.

Descending the slope led to a vast city.

In the distance lay the facility where the cherished human had spent so much time.

And there, with a look of horror on his face, was the harmful object retreating.

As the Sprout Reaper ignited the firewood, a great tree began to grow in the still world.

A massive tree rooted in space and stretching its branches into time.

In this frozen world, the tree wielded the power of a god.

But it couldn’t last long.

The firewood was burning too quickly.

Using the scant firewood it had, the Sprout Reaper unleashed its strongest skill to defeat the harmful object.

The tree transformed into a sharp spear, rising with the intent to pierce the heavens.

Then, as it pierced through the cave ceiling and tore into the space beyond—

The Sprout Reaper poured all its will into releasing a psychic wave.

[MOM!!!!!!]

—

In the center of an isolated island in the Pacific Ocean,

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

The entrance to a massive cave loomed like a black hole, swallowing all light.

‘Should I go in?’

The question lingered in my mind.

That abyssal cave seemed to call to me, as though I needed to enter.

But actually stepping inside felt like a hassle.

Suddenly, an idea struck me.

‘I don’t have to go in myself.’

Looking around, I saw several Golden Reapers getting struck by lightning.

Heh.

But just as I reached out to grab a couple of them, a tremendous explosion rocked the entire island.

As the smoke cleared, an unbelievable sight emerged.

A massive navy-blue tree was rising from where the cave had been.

Crack!

With the sound of breaking glass, the tree’s branches spread out in all directions.

They tore through the surrounding space with reckless abandon.

The sky shattered like a broken mirror, revealing an unknown dimension beyond the cracks in reality.

“A giant tree!”

“A sprout tree!”

The Mini Reapers were visibly delighted.

“How… how is that tree here?”

“It’s dangerous!”

“Everyone, get out of here!”

“Are the spatiotemporal distortion levels safe?”

The sudden appearance of the navy-blue tree threw the researchers from the James Institute into a panic.

“Why is that thing here?”

Just seeing it filled me with dread, perhaps because I’d once lost a limb to it.

Just as I was about to crush it with a “Kwek” attack, a psychic wave echoed from within the shattered space.

[MOM!!!!!!]

The instant I heard that sound, I threw myself into the broken space.

I was welcomed by an enormous underground chamber.

The ceiling, like a starry night sky, stretched above.

A vast underground city sprawled beneath the artificial night sky.

A massive navy-blue tree grew as though it would pierce the heavens.

Near the tree, the Sprout Reaper beamed at me with a bright smile.

And the “harmful object” glared up at me with a fierce expression.