Chapter 64
“I am Torres Fortnen, King of Fortnen.”
The man who formally welcomed them appeared to be in his early 50s and has a robust physique.
‘He’s like someone who is often at the forefront, battling with monsters.’
The Fortnen Empire has always been the vanguard, leading the way since the demonic monsters first appeared.
The current king must have been fighting since childhood; hence, he looked imposing.
“Nice to meet you. I am Jeremy, the lord of the West Tower of the Magic Tower.”
“Hello. I am Elena Respell, Chief Researcher of the West Tower.”
“I can’t believe so many precious people have come. It’s an honor for Fortnen.”
King Fortnen smiled contentedly at their greetings and gestured inside.
“All of you can live comfortably here in the royal residence. It’s close to the Imperial castle, so it’s easy to move around.”
“Thank you for your kind consideration.”
The wizards then moved along to the Fortnen’s Royal Residence.
As Elena entered the fairy-tale abode, she stared at the back of King Fortnen.
‘I heard that the Fortnen Empire always took the lead in battles with monsters because of the people.’
When she finally met him, the love he has for the people was overwhelmingly evident.
Even if it was an emergency, he gave up his castle for the sake of dozens of wizards.
‘Thank you for your cooperation.’
The wizards, including Jeremy and Elena, followed King Fortnen to their temporary rooms.
Several parlors were converted into guest quarters.
And just like in the tower, except for the executives, four people shared a room.
Jeremy and Elena have the privilege to stay in a special single room for themselves because of their status.
Elena unpacked her belongings in her assigned room and immediately left.
The expected arrival of the monster was still a few days away.
Despite the wizards arriving early, they still have work to do.
They must place a barrier on the side facing the border of the Black Continent.
Like Elena, the other wizards quickly unpacked and came out of the castle.
“Now that everyone’s here, let’s get to work.”
The wizards began to move in line with Jeremy’s leadership.
They first installed a portal in a safe place inside the castle.
And within the Fortnen Kingdom, they headed to Fortnen Castle, the closest place to the Black Continent.
There were no villages around the castle. Seemingly because of how close it was to the Black Continent.
The wizards also installed portals inside the castle.
This made it easy to go back and forth between Fortnen Castle and the fortress.
Then the wizards climbed into the castle.
“Let’s begin.”
Jeremy ascended to the sky with his horse.
Blue energy emanated from his hand and spread into the sky.
Then, a dome-shaped barrier began to appear.
The barrier that started from the castle enveloped the border facing the Black Continent.
“We’ll start too.”
Following Jeremy, Elena shouted to the wizards.
The wizards, including her, began sending magical powers to the sky.
It was to fortify Jeremy’s barrier.
The wizards’ barrier creation continued for about three days.
Except for eating or sleeping, they focused on pouring their magical power into the barrier.
Thanks to the efforts of the wizards, an impregnable barrier was established.
After that, the wizards took a break to recover their stamina until the monsters arrived.
*****
“You have worked hard to spread out the barrier.”
King Fortnen spoke to the two with sincere eyes.
“It’s nothing. Doing this is something we should do.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Jeremy and Elena smiled.
Currently, the three of them were having a light dinner.
Before the war could take place sometime later, they must formulate a strategic plan.
“First of all, it would be better for the wizards and archers to attack on top of the castle.”
“I think so too.”
In Jeremy’s opinion, the king nodded his agreement.
“The barrier we have set up is so that demons cannot pass through. Therefore, humans and wizards can move freely. We have to take advantage of that.”
Elena expressed her opinion, and their discussion continued.
The strategy meeting ended at the same time as dinner was over.
They were able to make use of their time well since they concurred with each other most of the time.
“As expected, the wizards are very knowledgeable.”
King Fortnen was pleased with Jeremy and Elena.
To him, the two looked still young, but their knowledge was far beyond his own.
King Fortnen admired their expansive knowledge.
“His Majesty is also incisive.”
“That’s right. You’ve been fighting monsters for a long time.”
Jeremy and Elena also liked King Fortnen.
King Fortnen was an ideal king, not only in spirit but also in character.
“Haha. The reason why the Kingdom of Fortnen has never been invaded by those monsters is because of the grace of the guardian deity, though the power of the royals is also involved.”
“What do you mean ‘guardian deity’?”
She didn’t know much about the Fortnen Kingdom, so Elena asked.
King Fortnen recognized her curiosity and smiled.
“Yes. There is a guardian deity who has protected our Fortnen Kingdom from generation to generation.”
“What kind of god is that?”
“The Ancient Spirit King, Gor.”
Spirit King.
At these two words, Elena and Jeremy’s eyes widened at the same time.
Both of them never expected that they would hear the word ‘spirit’ in a distant country.
“Gor has been protecting us for about 400 years. Even though he doesn’t particularly show it, we can sense it.”
According to the words of King Fortnen, there was a monument of the Spirit King Gor in Fortnen Castle.
And it was said that not only the King but all the people of the kingdom regarded Gor as sacred.
‘Seek the Spirit King…’
Elena pondered.
As King Fortnen said, if the King of Spirits existed, it would be favorable to her, a Spirit Master.
However, he was the King of the Spirits, not like the common spirits.
‘Maybe, it might be of great help to me in this war.’
While Elena was thinking about it, Jeremy was watching her cautiously.
He hasn’t heard from the Archmage about Elena yet.
This meant that Elena had not yet developed any symptoms.
‘But if it’s the Spirit King…’
If Elena used her power excessively by contacting the Spirit King…
‘It might be dangerous.’
But he couldn’t stop her right away.
It was impossible to know whether the Spirit King actually existed, nor stop it at once.
‘I and the Archmage are pretending not to know Elena’s secret…’
Jeremy inwardly sighed.
‘Still, the Archmage is preparing for it, so it’ll be fine.’
Karen has already been preparing for this, in spite of Elena not showing any symptoms yet.
It wasn’t completely ready, but at least Elena wouldn’t be directly in harm’s way.
‘…Yes. For now, let’s take care of the monsters.’
*****
After her dinner with King Fortnen, Elena returned to her room.
She sat on the bed and pondered.
‘The King of Spirits, Gor.’
She had never heard of the existence of the Spirit King from other spirits.
‘Did my spirits have not met the King before?’
Then it was natural if they didn’t know.
Furthermore, according to King Fortnen’s words, no one has seen Spirit King Gor, only the statue existed.
‘It was said that the monument is in the royal castle.’
Elena’s eyes twinkled.
She was staying at Fortnen’s Royal Residence, so it was a chance to check it out.
She leaped out of her seat.
And at that moment.
“… Master.”
Someone’s voice was heard.
Elena quickly turned her head.
She looked towards the source of the sound, but couldn’t see anything.
Then the voice continued again.
“Master.”
This time, she could hear the voice clearly.
It was an old man’s voice, like that of a grandfather.
And like her other spirits, he called her “Master.”
Elena immediately left the room.
She walked towards the direction the voice was coming from.
There were guards in the royal castle. But due to war preparations, the number was not large.
Moreover, the guards couldn’t stop her from where she was heading since she was a high-ranking official among the wizards.
Also, there was their King’s order.
So Elena could easily move around the place.
As she continued her walk, she came to the depths of the royal castle.
A huge wooden door stood at the end of the hallway, where no light was coming in.
The front was closed with a padlock.
However, the moment Elena touched the door, the lock unfastened itself.
As if waiting for her.
Elena opened the door without hesitation and went inside.
It was a spacious place where the moonlight leaked through the window.
Inside the nearly empty circular room, only one object stood there.
A large statue, about 2 meters tall.
It was glimmering magnificently in the moonlight.
Elena walked straight to it.
She didn’t know why, but she felt like she had to touch the monument.
She then touched it as if possessed.
And at that moment.
A bright light emanated from the sculpture.
