The Wind Spirit King's Warning
“Hold on. Say that again. Who spoke to you?”
“Alarakar, I told you. Has it already eaten your ears? Well, it has been 300 years, so maybe.”
“This isn't a joke. Do you... even know who that is?”
“The Wind Spirit King.”
“……”
“That's what he called himself.”
Sennew felt his strength drain at Adel's utterly calm response.
“At least act surprised, would you? What kind of human are you...”
“Just like demon kings exist in the demon realm, spirit kings naturally exist in the spirit realm too. Nothing to be shocked or weird about.”
“What are you talking about? The demon realm and spirit realm are completely different. The demon realm connects via dimensional gates in the Forbidden Zone, but the spirit realm can only be reached through summoning.”
“Isn't that the same thing?”
“For a guy like you to be spoken to by a spirit king... It's like a pearl around a pig's neck. Think about it. The dimensional gates to the demon realm are right here—on our continent.”
“Yeah.”
“The continent is a massive energy source. Countless lives have been born and died over eons, absorbing that energy to survive. That's why gods from the divine realm can exist here.”
Adel nodded.
“But spirits? You need a shaman's power to open the door to the spirit realm. Using any power means equivalent exchange.”
Sennew continued.
“To borrow a powerful spirit's strength, you need a larger, sturdier door to the spirit realm. And opening that requires equally powerful spirit power.”
“Why say something obvious in such a complicated way?”
“……Because it is obvious! Think carefully. Gods are based in this world. They draw on the entire world for their immense power.”
Adel knew exactly why he was so agitated and that this reaction stemmed from genuine concern for him.
“The spirit realm is a different realm entirely. Don't you get what connecting to a spirit king means? It means you are the site where the door to the spirit realm will be built.”
That was why so many shamans had used artifacts to summon spirits in their spirit formations.
“Great power is tempting, but don't be fooled. The spirit king just wants to use you to cross over.”
“We don't even know if a contract will happen, so why freak out already?”
“You idiot! Opening the spirit realm with the Spirit Axis inside you isn't comparable to linking some divine bloodline!”
Sennew flinched involuntarily at the voice coming from behind him.
“……What?”
“Th-that's……”
Kalderet growled at Sennew with a deep rumble.
What the hell? Why does his divine power suddenly feel amplified?
Sennew couldn't help but be shocked by the change in him. The overwhelming pressure was suffocating—nothing like their recent clash.
“I've had a mid god of conflagration, Garon, descend into me before.”
“……What? You had a god descend? Don't tell me you've already reached the demigod stage.”
“No. Honestly, it was a bit risky. I hadn't reached demigod body yet.”
“……When was this?”
“Let's see... not long after contracting with Garon?”
“And Kalderet?”
“Hmm, about a year before contracting with Garon, I suppose.”
“Hold on. In just one year, you contracted two gods and had a mid god—not even a low god—descend into your body?”
“Insane……”
“I nearly died because of it. But luckily, expelling the divine power boosted my body and divine bloodline. Plus, my mana refilled, so it was a blessing in disguise.”
Kalderet waved his front paw dismissively, referring to when he'd sprayed mana-infused spring water on Adel from the waves of vitality.
“Yeah.”
Adel smirked at the sight.
“Lives like he's offering his neck on a platter.”
“I'll admit it's reckless. But anything less, and I couldn't change the future.”
“What the hell happened in your previous life to make you treat such gambles so lightly?”
“Well……”
Adel held back his words.
“Never mind. I said I was your ally, right? I'm still half-doubting if your words are true... but you've definitely shown me a new path.”
Sennew nodded, sensing Adel didn't want to talk about it.
“I'm not blindly trusting you because my past self chose you. I'll believe in the you now showing me.”
Thud—
With that, he roughly yanked off the necklace from his neck and thrust it at Adel.
“Successive elf leaders dried Aran leaves—called divine herbs of the North Sea—over 200 years with elven shamanism.”
Five leaves were inside the pendant. As he said, it meant 1,000 years to complete.
“There are many artifacts that boost spirit affinity, but nothing better than this, as far as I know.”
Hummm……
The Aran leaf pendant trembled lightly in Adel's palm. He felt his breathing lighten, as if a fresh breeze stirred inside the Spirit Axis connecting his divine bloodline.
“……Impressive.”
“Heh, feeling it already means you're a full spirit shaman now.”
“No, I mean this necklace.”
“Huh?”
“You made it for your daughter Melissa, right? You okay giving this to me?”
Sennew's eyes flickered at Adel's words.
“Wh-who said I'm giving it? This is obviously for Melissa. I'm just lending it. You'll summon the spirit king anyway, even if it's dried up. Just this once.”
“Good. Makes me feel better too.”
Adel grinned and nodded.
Grip—
He clutched the pendant and closed his eyes.
Whoosh……!!
A breeze began to stir around him.
'The spirits are stirring. He hasn't even properly contracted with them—just attuned—and it's already this much……'
Sennew watched tensely.
“……”
Unlike the worried elf, Adel's consciousness dove deep into his inner Spirit Axis.
The pendant's chain trembled lightly in his grip.
“Incredible……”
Sennew sensed spirit power roiling inside Adel's body. The Spirit Axis linking two divine bloodlines had become not a bridge, but a nexus where divine and spirit power converged.
Grind—
Adel's eyes squeezed shut as he gritted his teeth. The gentle breeze at his feet whipped into a fierce gale.
Kaboom---!!!!
Dozens of vortexes erupted into the hall with deafening roars, exploding outward in violent blasts.
“Kuh?!”
Sennew shielded his face with his robe against the battering winds.
The hall's edges churned with a violent storm forming a wall of wind, like the eye of a typhoon, while the center grew eerily still.
The vortexes coalesced into a single form. Amid the rippling winds, blue eyes gazed at Adel.
“Insane... It's really Alarakar.”
Even as an undead elf—a dead one—Sennew felt crushed just by looking at the spirit king.
But Adel stood tall, meeting its gaze.
“Are you the one who spoke to me?”
“So the other spirit kings know about me too?”
Adel narrowed his eyes slightly at the reply.
Spirits, like magic, had affinities and clashes, making it hard to summon incompatible ones. Shamans like Sennew focused on matching attributes.
But if all spirit kings noticed him, transcending affinities for summons might be possible.
“Why did you call me?”
Adel shrugged.
“That's basically telling me to die. You heard the elf? Even now, I'm barely talking to you with a 1,000-year-old artifact.”
Crack…… Crackle……
As if to prove his point, cracks spiderwebbed across the Aran leaf pendant.
“……You know me?”
Kalderet scoffed in disbelief.
Garon glared at Kalderet and smacked his lips.