Chapter 219.

Hm

Seon-Hyeok forced himself to open his heavy eyelids.

Blink. Blink.

His consciousness returned, but it was terribly difficult to think. As he stared at the endless blue sky in front of him, the sense of reality that returned little by little threatened to disappear once again.

The skys so damn blue.

Both the white clouds and the blue sky felt particularly close today.

Master!

As he stared blankly for a while, a familiar voice rang out.

Ah, Atiya. Im a bit distracted right now, so could you give me a moment?

His response was relaxed and almost tranquil.

Hm?

But after mindlessly responding, Seon-Hyeok felt something was amiss. However, he could not think of what it was.

Atiya?

Belatedly realizing this sense of incongruity, Seon-Hyeok bolted upright.

Atiya had disappeared into the spirit world after inheriting the legacy of the previous Spirit King from the Mother Tree. He could not understand why she was in front of him now.

Why are you here

After beginning to ask his question, Seon-Hyeok stopped, and his jaw dropped.

Her characteristic gentleness and mild impression remained the same, but she no longer resembled the spiritualist, Ahn Yoo-Jung, or the female knight, Asha Trail.

Angel.

That was the first word that came to mind as he looked at Atiya.

The beautiful spirit looking down at him while gracefully waving her white wings did not seem to be a being of this world.

Ah

As he dumbfoundedly stared at the angel-like figure, Atiya approached and embraced him.

I missed you, Master.

Her body now contained a sense of warmth and felt different from before. It was almost as though she had become human.

It is impossible to know right now. If they are worthy of becoming king, one of them may be reborn, and if not, another will take that role. But even if they lack the vessels worthy of a king, they will change in one way or another. After all, they are the first spirits to come across the source of their power in 1000 years.

Even at the time, the Mother Tree had known this would happen.

It was just that she could not predict how far Atiyas changes would go.

Atiya, are you

Atiya shook her head even before Seon-Hyeok finished asking his question.

No. Im not a Spirit King.

It would be a lie to say that he was not at all disappointed. However, such feelings only lingered for a moment.

So what if she isnt a Spirit King?

The dedication and sacrifice she showed in the past were real, and that was more than enough for him. Seon-Hyeok smiled brightly and returned Atiyas embrace.

Welcome back, Atiya.

The friendly wind spirit, his oldest ally and most reliable companion on the battlefield, had finally returned.

Master, theres something more important right now.

As she spoke, Atiya backed away and looked straight at him.

Will you enter a new contract with me?

It seemed their existing contract had become nullified after she came in contact with the inheritance of the Spirit King.

Of course.

Seon-Hyeok nodded without hesitation.

Atiya smiled brightly and reached out to touch his cheeks. With that, she kissed him softly on the forehead.

The messages even told him facts he did not know, and surprisingly, Atiyas changes were still ongoing.

Though she claimed that she was not a Spirit King, that was only true at the moment. There was a good chance that she could grow into one in the future.

After hearing the subsequent messages, Seon-Hyeok understood why Atiya could not become the Spirit King.

It was all because of him.

There was no way the dedicated and loyal spirit could turn a blind eye to her masters predicament. It was clear that out of concern for his safety, she abandoned her opportunity to become the next Spirit King and departed the spirit world.

Atiya

Seon-Hyeok lamented, knowing that even at this very moment, Atiya was growing further away from her potential position as a Spirit King.

That doesnt matter at all to me.

But strangely, Atiya showed no signs of regret or impatience.

For me, this time is more precious than anything else.

The foolish spirit was even smiling after refusing the opportunity to reach the pinnacle of her kind.

You wont regret it? You can still go back.

When he suggested she could return now that she confirmed his well-being, she vigorously shook her head.

No. I wont go back.

It was a stubborn refusal he had never seen before from her, and he could not understand why.

Spirit Kings are different from spirits.

Atiya explained.

Spirit Kings are complete, individual beings without the need to enter contracts with others.

Ah

Seon-Hyeok once again lamented, realizing why Atiya so desperately rejected his suggestion.

Seon-Hyeok tried to persuade Atiya for a while, but his efforts were in vain. It was almost surprising to see the usually gentle spirit show such stubbornness.

Okay, we can worry about this more later.

Atiyas future(?) was important, but there was another matter to be resolved at the moment.

Where the hell are we?

All he could see were the blue skies and white clouds. There was no way for him to tell where or why he was here.

Snore. Snore.

He could not even wake Redvern up and ask the wyvern, still sleeping even though Seon-Hyeok himself was awake. After all, the creature could not speak anyways, so he would be unable to get an answer through such means.

You werent in good shape, so Redvern brought you all the way here.

Fortunately, Atiya answered in the wyverns place. Clearly, she had joined them much earlier than Seon-Hyeok thought.

Come to think of it, he recalled summoning Redvern before he lost consciousness. At the time, he hoped the wyvern would bring him to the Qeishas, but it was clear the dim-witted creature transported its owner to the wrong place.

This is towards the north of the continent. Its probably the place Redvern once called home.

Just as she said, this resting place on the sharp peak of a mountain was undeniably the wyverns nest.

Then again, what other bird in this world would build such a large nest like this?

Redvern probably felt the safest place in the world was its old nest.

She had a point. It was a good idea for the dumb wyvern. Aside from the fact that Redvern itself had been captured by Tristans group in this very area, it was solid reasoning on the wyverns part.

Tristan did say he captured Redvern in the north.

Though he knew that Redverns nest was in the north, Seon-Hyeok never heard exactly where on the continent it was situated.

He simply hoped for now that it was not too far from the west.

I wonder what happened to Najima and the people.

Having repelled the Dark Lord, the Qeishas would certainly have found a way out. His concern was about how many of the refugees would have survived the journey.

Ill have to head back immediately.

After getting up, Seon-Hyeok first checked on his physical condition.

Though his body was stiff after being unconscious for a while, he judged that he was in reasonable shape.

Considering his extensive blood loss after drawing on an unmanageable amount of power, his body had recovered surprisingly well.

I leveled up a lot.

His level had been 32 not long ago, but it was now close to 39. It was a truly amazing rate of growth considering the short period of time since then.

That single confrontation with the demon king had resulted in 7 entire levels.

It was not particularly strange.

The Dark Lord he faced was the monster responsible for singlehandedly annihilating the west. He was a true powerhouse who fed on death and despair, and his level could not even be gauged. Defeating such a monster without the help of the dragon was a true miracle.

In addition, the demon king was not the only one he faced at the time