Everything was silent for a long while. Then, the stillness lingered, stretching for a few more minutes.

Modret's lips twitched.

'Is nothing going to happen?'

[Congratulations on awakening the first stage of your bloodline, Elemental Sovereign.]

[Note: For each stage of awakening, a unique pathway is opened to you.]

[Elemental Sovereign: Becomes the king of a specific S-grade and above element.]

'That's it?'

Modret was speechless.

Why did Axel have a grand entrance while he just quietly awakened?

Were these people trying to toy with him?

He glanced around and noticed the stunned look on Axel and the old man's faces.

"What happened? My awakening was pretty silent, right?"

Axel shook his head, then pointed.

Modret realized that at some point, a slightly rough surface had faintly appeared on his body, as though his skin was peeling off.

'This…'

He thought for a moment before black fire wrapped around him.

[Detected SS-grade Null Fire element.]

[Would you love to become an SS-grade Null Fire Sovereign?]

'Huh? What's this?' Modret was curious and immediately nodded affirmatively.

Instantly, the black flames seared themselves into his skin.

Black-golden scales surfaced across his body, and his imposing frame increased in height.

Behind him, black wings with intertwining golden patterns etched across their surface appeared, and Modret felt a peculiar sensation wash over him—as though he could now use the black flames in ways he never could before.

'It's as if there's a world of fire at my disposal… and I control it!'

Modret's eyes widened in shock and joy.

Axel and the old man looked on in surprise at his transformation.

Internally, Modret had a thought.

'If my guess isn't wrong…' Lightning crackled around him.

[Detected SSS-grade Lightning element.]

[Would you love to become an SSS-grade Lightning Elemental Sovereign?]

Modret quickly nodded, and the black flames receded. Then a burst of purple emanated from his body, wrapping him tightly.

Occasional arcs of lightning traced themselves across his frame.

Aside from a purple wing with golden engravings on his back, Modret looked nearly the same. Yet inside, he could feel a new, overwhelming mastery over lightning.

He raised his palm, and a Celestial's body not far away instantly turned to lightning and exploded.

'Damn! What the hell? As expected of the main character…' Modret's heart swelled with exhilaration.

"Congratulations, young master." Axel's voice trembled with genuine joy.

The old man seemed to be pondering something.

"You two. Rest a few hours. Leave Celestial Gate after."

'We still have roughly three days left, which is enough time. It's alright to rest for a bit…' Modret thought internally, then nodded to the old man, deactivating his ability.

In the Elemental Sovereign state, he could feel his mana draining endlessly.

'I really need to spin the roulette and awaken another unlimited mana ability. It would truly fit this new bloodline of mine.'

He sighed softly, aware that the odds of such luck were near zero.

Turning to the old man, he asked, "Why did you decide to help us?"

The old man paused for a few seconds before replying,

"You two. Come back and clear Celestial Gate. Bring me out."

Modret's eyes twitched.

'Come back to this Celestial Gate?' He knew that the moment he stepped out, he'd stay as far away from it as possible.

This was an S-grade Celestial Gate!

He and Axel hadn't even begun scratching the surface of its depths.

Despite having all these thoughts, he nodded to the old man, his voice solemn as he responded,

"I will try my best to come and rescue you."

After a moment of hesitation, he added, "How did you enter the Celestial Gate?"

"Unique Celestial Gate. Moving endlessly. Pulling people inside," the man replied tensely.

Modret recalled his and Axel's situation.

He glanced into the vast, lightless expanse around them.

'What a strange Celestial Gate—drifting endlessly through the world and dragging people in…'

And this was just an S-rank Celestial Gate.

He couldn't imagine what horrors an SSS-rank one would hold.

'Could it be that's what led to the demise of…' He didn't dare complete his thought for fear of being targeted.

"How long have you been here?" Modret asked, half-expecting the old man to slip into insanity.

Surprisingly, the old man replied, "Million years."

"What?" Modret shot to his feet in disbelief.

"Million years," the old man repeated.

Modret's eyes searched the old man for any hint of falsehood, but he couldn't find any.

His mind was filled with questions and puzzlement.

'Humans can live that long? Or is he some kind of exception?'

'I thought maybe he'd been here fifty years at most—that alone could drive anyone insane. But this… I have to applaud him. How is he still sane after a million years?'

The weight of that number was unimaginable.

A million years in the endless abyss.

Utter solitude, unchanging darkness…

Modret's chest tightened at the thought.

'Now there's a high chance that the humans of his era truly died.'

'What exactly is the fairy not telling me?'

Modret couldn't reach a conclusion.

"How do I leave the endless abyss?"

"Less than one day passed. Outside world. Fly high, see a portal in darkness. Go out of abyss."

Recalling the fairy's words, Modret understood the method of leaving.

Once a full day passed in the outside world, the portal would vanish, leaving them trapped forever.

But since a day hadn't yet passed outside, the portal still existed in the darkness—up in the sky from where they'd descended.

All they needed to do was fly up to it, and they would be able to leave the endless abyss.

After understanding this, he had a few more casual chats with the old man before the latter sat atop a rock and began his mumbling session.

The silence stretched endlessly between the trio before Modret felt it was time to go.

Delaying any longer would only be detrimental to them.

'It seems the old man won't see us leave…' Modret thought internally.

The reason he made this decision was because the old man had already remained in that state for more than ten hours.

Unlike before, where the process lasted roughly three hours, this time it didn't seem as though he'd regain his sanity anytime soon.

"Axel! It's time to leave…"

Modret called out to Axel, who was standing at the edge of the floating rock, staring into the endless abyss.

"Yes, young master."

Hearing Axel call him that, Modret paused for a moment, then stared deeply at him.

"Axel… do you have any goals? Dreams? Aspirations?"

Without hesitation, Axel answered, "My goal is to keep you safe, and so are my dreams and aspirations in life… and in death."

Modret frowned. "You won't keep living for me forever. There will come a time when you'll achieve true freedom. What will you do then?"

"I… don't know."

Modret fell silent, and so did Axel.

Without another word, lightning rippled around Modret as he flew upward into the abyss.

Shadows twisted behind Axel, forming dark wings, which he flapped as he followed behind.

The floating rock remained still in their absence.

But if one looked closely at the primitive man, through his cascade of black hair, they would see his eyes fixed on the direction they had flown.

A faint mutter escaped his lips. It sounded soft, almost amused.

"How interesting… after one million years."

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