Chapter 404 – Spirit King (2)

Nidhog suddenly opened his eyes.

For unknown reasons, he managed to escape from that hell that was impossible to leave.

Did Odin, who wielded a horrid power, finally die?

That monster that seemed like he would last forever?

He didn’t know the answer.

What mattered was that he could come out, and the problem was the present.

In his infinitely weak form, not just Odin, but the winged beasts that lived in the World Tree could defeat him.

Nidhog hid his power and dug into the World Tree to consume nutrients.

‘I don’t know how much time has passed, but the World Tree seems to have regained a lot of strength.’

Others wouldn’t notice if he restored his powers, even if Odin was still alive.

He could escape and live.

This time, he was sure of absorbing all the nutrients from the World Tree to make sure no one could touch him.

That was what he thought.

“KUACKKKKK!!”

As he was in the middle of trying to dig into the World Tree and eagerly sucking its sap, something pierced through his body.

He screamed in pain and wriggled.

The strength of his skin should have been high considering how much he had recovered, but he was still stabbed.

‘Who could it be?!’

This wasn’t Odin’s power.

Nor was it the power of a Nature God.
It was a power he had never experienced before.

It was water.

To get out of there, Nidhog tried to turn back the way he came, wriggling his huge body.

Pung!

“KUACKKKKK!”

Once again, something passed through his body.
If this continued, the fight would be one-sided.

The World Tree has been deprived of its essence.
That was why Nidhog had tremendous power.
It would take him a long time to digest all of that power, but using some of it shouldn’t be difficult.

Nidhog’s eyes shone red, and the essence of the World Tree was replaced with his own.

Pung!

And this time, another attack flew for his stomach.

“Kuaak!”

He didn’t know who the opponent was, but he would kill them once he got out.
He was going to show the world how terrifying he was.

Nidhog quickly got out of the tree.
Crossing the spheres of light that stretched out in the air, he spread out two huge pairs of cocooned wings.
Then, in a voice full of resentment, he coughed.

“How dare someone…!”

But his words didn’t follow through.

[Elquines.
The pest has come.]

-I will take it down.

Elquines snapped his finger, and a huge amount of water swirling in the sky hit Nidhog from above.

“Kuak!”

Nidhog lost his senses under the water and was swept down.
The water hitting from above began to spread out.
It wouldn’t be strange if those around him were swept away.

Everyone hurriedly jumped back to avoid it, but the speed of the water was much faster.

When Elquines moved, the mass of water that had been spreading like wind came to a standstill, stopped, and began to turn into a cube.

And Nidhog rose from the center of it.

“Cough…”

Everyone was left coughing at what happened.
It all happened in an instant.

All eyes shifted from Nidhog to Rebecca to Elquines.

Hiyan was particularly shocked.

‘Such power in the hands of a human girl…’

When summoning a Spirit King, there were too many restrictions, and half of the Spirit King’s power couldn’t be used.
So, even if one signed a contract, they couldn’t be an opponent to a possible God.

However, in the original Spirit World, they could go against the Gods.

The Nature Gods, who commanded the land in the past, and the 12 Gods, who claimed to be the current owners, could never disrespect the Spirit Kings.

And Elquines, the Water Spirit King, who is now here, descended into this world with 95% of his power.

Especially in the World Tree, where water was the most active.

‘I have never seen one with such affinity.’

Hiyan had seen numerous Elementalists until now.
And among them, there were quite a few people who had the talent to make a contract with the Spirit Kings.

However, even for them, it was impossible to perfectly summon the Spirit Kings.

Even her mother, who was a genius, had a limit of about 70%.

‘Like… she looks like a girl from the old books.’

From the records written in an old book that she had read a long time ago.

An old colleague of Diablo Volfir.
Her name was unknown, but she had a contract with the Water Spirit King.

She was also born with an overwhelming affinity, to the extent that the Spirit King fully descended to this land.
Rebecca felt as if she were an incarnation.

-How will we do it?

Elquines asked his contractor how to dispose of Nidhog.

That part was also the same.

No matter how great the contractor of the Spirit King was, he wouldn’t follow the contractor’s orders.
Rather, the Spirit King would drag the human, and Hiyan also wasn’t too different.

However, their relationship was the opposite.

Rebecca said,

“You can get rid of it.”

-Sure.

Elquines nodded his head, spread his arms wide, and pulled his arms to his chest, and the cube-shaped water prison began to shrink.

“W-Wait!!”

Nidhog exclaimed.

“If you kill me, you cannot save the World Tree!”

“No.
It doesn’t matter if you are here or not! Rather, you are a pest just by being near the World Tree.”

“You!”

“Elquines.”

The water prison was compressed to the size of a hand.
Nidhog’s huge body was crushed as if it were crumbling, and soon it disappeared entirely along with the water prison.

The monster that once shook the World Tree died without even a scream.

When the pest was destroyed, Rebecca sighed and stumbled a little.

-Jane.

“Stop with the name.”

When Elquines mentioned her name in her past life, Rebecca shook her head.
Breaking into a cold sweat, she made a request.

“Elquines.
Can you bring the World Tree back to life?”

Now that the pest has been eradicated, it is time to revive the World Tree.

However, Elquines couldn’t grant her request.

-Impossible.

“What does that mean?”

Rebecca glared at the Spirit King, but he still seemed unwilling to do it.

-The World Tree is a being that touches the roots of this world.
I can prolong the life of a dying tree with my power, but stopping it from dying is impossible.

Elquines spoke in a worried tone.

With her current power, she might die just by prolonging the life of the World Tree.

It wasn’t enough to summon the Spirit King to this land, and he had used enormous power to kill Nidhog, who, though weakened, was worthy of divine power.

All of that power was drawn from Rebecca, his contractor, so it wouldn’t be strange if she lost consciousness right away.

“Even at the cost of my life?”

-Yes.
Your life is valuable, but saving the World Tree is beyond my capabilities.
Even if you are stubborn, difficult things are difficult to do.

If he said it like that, it really wouldn’t work.

Rebeca tried to stand.
Her eyes froze as if the string of consciousness would break at any moment.

“For now, please head back.
I am a bit dizzy.”

-…take care of yourself.

Elquines also knew that his presence had a negative effect on her, so he returned to the Spirit World without saying anything.

Rebecca let out a small breath as her energy, which had been decreasing at a tremendous speed, returned to normal and she sat down.

“Sister!”

Ash ran to her first, followed by Sarah, the Ran warriors, and the elves.

“Are you fine?”

“Are you fine, Sister?”

When Ash and Sarah asked, Rebecca answered with a smile.

“I am just a little tired.
I need to sleep for some time.”

Rebecca told Hiyan, who was next to her.

“He says it seems impossible.”

“You mean…”

“Elquines said that he could only extend the World Tree’s life span, and reviving it is difficult.
He said that it is an existence that touches the roots of the world.”

In short, it was impossible to restore the World Tree even with the power of the Water Spirit King.

Hiyan’s face contorted.
Rebecca said as she drifted away from consciousness,

“Maybe we have an answer.”

“What do you mean?”

“An existence that touches the root of this world.
If it’s the World Tree… If we find the root…… Maybe…”

Rebecca’s words didn’t come out as she was feeling dizzier.

“I will take you inside.”

“Thank you.”

Hasyath carefully picked up Rebecca, and they made their way to their rooms.
Ash said she would look after her sister, and she followed them.

A long silence fell over the place.

Sarah knocked on the door where the Valle sisters were staying.

“You came?”

Ash welcomed her.

“Can I come in?”

“Of course.”

Once inside, Sara immediately went upstairs to see Rebecca’s condition.

Rebecca seemed to be asleep in her bed, and Ash told her that she would probably be asleep for two to three days due to exhaustion.

“I was surprised.
To think Sister Rebecca had such power…”

“I, too, had never seen that before.
I haven’t seen Elquines in person either.
It was my first time seeing her fight.”

Rebecca wasn’t the type to fight with a weapon, but Sarah could feel the tremendous power she held.

“It was amazing.”

“Huh.
I think so too.”

“Can I be as strong as her one day?”

Ash turned to Sarah, who had a worried face.

“You seem so obsessed with being strong.
Can you tell me why?”

Living with them for the past few days, Sarah was unable to hide her greed for power.
And each time, Ash couldn’t understand it.

Sarah was just thirteen years old, and at that age, she had already reached a great level.

In other words, Ash thought that even if she fought Sarah seriously, she couldn’t guarantee that she could win.

Yet despite being so strong, Sarah wanted more.

Sarah had an awkward smile.

“I think that is how I can stand in front of my brother.”

“Ah.”

Ash let out a sound close to sighing.
The words that she hadn’t said until then flowed through her mouth.

Sarah told her everything that happened and got up.

“Since you also need to rest, I will go.
Please let me know if Sister Rebecca wakes up.”

Sarah went out of there.

Ash looked out the window and sighed.

“Jamie, you idiot, what are you doing to your little sister?”

On that day, the Black Tower in the distance seemed particularly clear.