Emperor of Steel

Karrrk!

Hiiing!

Reina opened her eyes as soon as she heard loud sounds.

‘Uhm, what’s that noise? Where have we come again?’

Wondering while seeing a strange scenery, she looked surprised as she discovered the strange beings which were flying over her head.

They were very colorful with shades of red, blue, yellow and many more. They were of the size of a clenched human fist, and their appearances were different.

The blue one resembled a three-tailed baby bird. The red one resembled a flaming lizard, and the yellow one was similar to a baby mole.

It was strange as hell, but seeing the small and cute beings in an unknown place, Reina’s heart felt a lot at ease.

The baby animals, which had never seen a human before went around Reina, talking among themselves.

“Wah! This is a very strange being!”

“Of course, this is a creature called a human.”

“Human?”

“They are a very inferior-race that lives on Middle-Earth with which our contact has been cut off thousands of years ago. You’re seeing it for the first time?”

“Ung, first time. But how come you know about them?”

“I saw a drawing of them in the book that I found in Hertes’ library.”

As the Red lizard kept asking, the blue bird kept on answering.

“But I feel a very warm and familiar energy form this human being.”

“Oh! Humans opened their eyes! All of you, get away!”

The yellow mole shouted making the other five little things run away, thinking they were in danger.

But they didn’t go away completely.

As they weren’t able to overcome their curiosity about humans, they watched them from afar.

The blue boy who resembled a baby bird, pretending to be a good boy, asked Reina.

“Who are you? And, this is a place where humans can’t enter, so how did you come in?”

It was almost like that baby bird was singing.

Strangely, Reina could understand what the bird was saying.

She looked around for a while and then replied,

“I am Reina. I also don’t know how I came here.”

Clearly there were sky, sun, forest and river, and fields too.

However, the world she was seeing was different from the world she came.

It was as if someone had drawn a picture on the white page of a sketchbook, all colorful, countless beings flying around.

“What is this place?”

Reina asked the blue baby boy bird, who kicked his tongue.

“I guess you really are a stupid race. You came here not knowing where you stepped into?”

“I just opened the door to the Spirit World as the fairies requested…!”

Reina, who didn’t complete her answer, seemed surprised. She realized then where she had gone to.

“This, don’t tell me, this…!” Reina stuttered.

“Right, just as you have said, this is the Spirit World. A long time ago, there was a gate humans could use to go here in Middle-Earth, but this is the Spirit World.”

“Ahh, the ceremony was a success.”

Reina was very distracted by the light and the explosions of magic circles that happened during the ritual.

However, it seemed like a good thing had happened. Fortunately, the ritual was successful.

“Then, are you guys the spirits who are living here?” Reina asked.

“Obviously. This body is that of a Sylph—the ones who race through the sky.”

The blue kid or Sylph chuckled.

Reina smiled at the blue kid and asked after a short time. She was worried about what had happened to Erwin and Sylvia.

“The other people? Have you seen any fairies?”

“Fairy? Are you talking about the races like elves and dwarves?”

“Yes, I performed a ritual with them to open the door to the Spirit World in the underground cave at the World Tree…”

The moment Reina was giving them details.

Thud! Thud!

Suddenly, with a thudding sound, something began to approach from the small garden afar.

“Ahk! Uncle Hertes!”

“He must be looking for us! All of you run away!”

The five little spirits looked at the garden and then ran away in different directions.

Reina, who was left all alone, looked at the garden with dreadfulness. She was engulfed with fear for she might see a strange and overbearing being.

After a while, a little scared kid appeared in front of Reina.

It was a tortoise-like spirit, but its size was as big as a citadel.

Half green and half ocher with its back holding trees and rocks.

At first glance, it looked sluggish, but every time it took a step, the distance it could travel was 10 meters, and it got closer to Reina.

Kung!

The huge tortoise being referred to as Hertes, standing in front of Reina, was speaking to himself about the five little spirits who left him.

“Those naughty kids. I kept telling them to not come to this side…”

He was speaking very slowly, but he was so big, which made his voice relatively loud.

In the past, there was a gate that connected the Spirit World to Earth.

So sometimes demons from the Devildom appeared there, or they used to take away spirits into their world.

To prevent such accidents, the little spirits were constantly warned.

However, five little spirit kids, who were aware of the dangers, often went to that dangerous place, neglecting the words of their elders.

“Who, who are you?”

Reina, who was overwhelmed by Hertes, asked with a trembling voice.

Hertes, the high spirit of Land, looked down at Reina and said,

“You’re the visitor that Sylphid was talking about.”

“Sylphid?”

“The Spirit King of Wind, ruler of this area.”

In the Spirit World, there were a total of five spirit kings who ruled over the region.

The Spirit King of Fire, Ifrit, in the North.

The Spirit King of Wind, Sylphid, in the South.

The Spirit King of Water, Elayim, in the East.

The Spirit King of Land, Noah, in the west.

And the Spirit King of Light, Electra, the leader of the entire Spirit World.

In the past, the gate to the Earth was located south of the Spirit World in the realm of Sylphid.

Sylphid sensed that someone had entered through the gate and sent Hertes immediately.

“Sir Sylphid wants to see you. Follow me.”

“Ah, sure.”

Reina didn’t know the reason, but she followed Hertes. And not long after following him, she was falling behind already. It was because she couldn’t keep up with Hertes’ speed.

Hertes, who wasn’t able to see her troubles, put her on his back.

“Tch, humans are so slow. How you managed to survive in the harsh Middle-Earth is something I’ll never understand.”

Hertes, talking to himself, headed to the castle where Sylphid, the Spirit King of Wind, dwelled.