System vs Rebirth

"Wait a minute. Grandma… I heard that the world was plunged into chaos when you died, but if you could protect this world, you could also destroy it. What if you were the one allowing these demons to invade this world so that the human race didn't go extinct?"

Noel couldn't help but feel a bit suspicious. If Milinda truly had the power to protect it by keeping away the demon invasion, she could be the one who allowed it to happen.

"Silly child." Milinda chuckled. "This is not part of the reward, but I think I can tell you a little bit about it."

Noel tilted his head in confusion. It seemed that he was wrong because he didn't have enough information to make a deduction. And it seemed that he wronged Milinda by accusing her of doing such atrocities.

Milinda said, "During the night, you could see the stars in the sky, right?"

"Yes." Noel nodded.

"What if I told you it's similar to our sun, but located far… far away from this world?"

Noel looked down, falling into deep thought. "Are you suggesting that the demon and the spirit come from a distant world?"

"You're very clever." Milinda nodded, satisfied. "The Spirit God is trying to extinguish the demons."

"If the Spirit God can even come to this world from a very distant place, can't he come directly to this place? Then again, why is the spirit here?" Noel fell silent.

"I can't give you that answer because it's not part of the reward. Grandma looks stingy right now, but I have to stick to the rule. But let's just say that your grandma has been maintaining a barrier to protect this world. And Ardagan is not a sword. It's actually an antenna that captures something from deep space. What does it attract?"

Noel contemplated for a moment. "The Spirits… demons… a barrier… Ardagan… antenna…"

It took Noel a few minutes before he could find the answer. "Don't tell me, Ardagan has been the antenna that is sucking the spiritual energy from the distant world. Or it might be the energy from the spirits themselves?

"You used that energy to create a barrier. Unfortunately, it all stopped the moment you passed away. As a result, the demons could finally enter this world, which marked the beginning of the end of civilization.

"Now that no one could control Ardagan to its fullest potential anymore, the energy that the spirits have ended up transforming into a manifestation of themselves.

"This is why the Spirit Seal becomes a link that connects humans to spirits. I can't put it in simple words, but it should be something like this." Noel gasped.

Milinda didn't show any response this time as if she didn't want to acknowledge or deny his answer. She truly stopped giving him information that wasn't related to the reward.

"Ah, I apologize for overstepping my bounds." Noel took a step back and politely lowered his head.

"How about we go to the next spot? It will be the village, right? Or is there any place you want to see next?"

"I actually want to see a common family's house. What kind of facility could a common family afford in the past… I want to know." Noel's answer came from the bottom of his heart. He had been inventing a lot of things to improve the lives of the common people. So, if he knew what he could give to them, it would make his job easier.

"Sure. Let's go to the house in the village then. While it's not exactly the same, it shouldn't be that different."

"Yes." Noel smiled.

The last part of the trip wasn't any different. The moment Noel saw the village, he could see the impressive farmland. People worked with machines to tend the field, which surprised him.

The house, on the other hand, showed how much convenience it could bring. He was a bit surprised that the house could have its own water storage at the top of their building. It was expensive, so Noel only made it the city's facility. Then again, even he couldn't stop if his people wanted to build one over their house.

What caught Noel's attention the most was the light bulb. The fact that the light could be turned on and off for a whole day meant that people could work at any time.

This would definitely make the activity inside the house last longer.

Looking at the smile on Noel's face made Milinda happy.

"How is the trip this time? Are you satisfied?"

"Yes. Although I don't know how they work, there are a lot of ideas in my mind. I have to ask my people to research them so that the common people can live much better in my territory." Noel smiled.

"That's good then." Milinda nodded.

"Thank you very much for allowing me to see all this." Noel bowed.

"You're a clever child. Although you have known this, I have to remind you that because the power of Ardagan is too big, I have made my descendant suffer its curse. Our bloodline can only produce a single child. I'm sorry."

"It's fine, Grandma. I know that a few of my predecessors might hate this, but I'm fine with it. There will only be a woman in my life after all, and a single successor means that there won't be any rival that will shed blood in the family."

"You're a good child. In that case, I will give you a little present."

"A little present?"

"Yep. You already know that demons can control living beings, right? And those with higher consciousness are more resistant to them, like humans. However, what if the humans didn't resist when the demons tried to control them?"

"!!!" Noel widened his eyes in shock. He knew what she was trying to imply. "There might be demons among humans…"

Milinda patted his shoulders while saying, "No matter what, you can trust Ardagan. He was the partner I trusted the most when protecting this world."

"I know." Noel smiled.

"That's good. Then, it's time for you to leave."

Noel nodded. "Thank you for everything, Grandma."

Milinda waved her hand as Noel's consciousness gradually became fuzzy. But before he disappeared from this place, Milinda came closer to him and whispered a few words.

"!!!" Noel couldn't help but shudder. Unfortunately, the next thing he realized, he was actually rising from his bed. "Huh? What?!"

Noel, who was still in shock, couldn't help but look around, noticing that he had returned to the bedroom.

However, his eyes were blinded by the shining light from the window.

"Huh?" Noel was confused. He believed he entered his consciousness only for about one or two hours. But for some reason, he actually woke up in the morning.

"Did I just sleep through the whole night?" Noel frowned. Whenever he met Ardagan, he wouldn't fall asleep like this.

"Then, was our meeting… a dream?" Noel couldn't help but recall the last words that Milinda told him.

"I am still alive, not as a human though."

Noel was completely shaken by that information, but when he thought about it, there was one possibility where living for a thousand years was possible.

"Did she turn into a spirit when she passed away? Or was she transformed by the Spirit God?" Noel looked down, contemplating. However, there was one thing for sure. "If she is really a spirit, what is her power? Is it a sleeping spirit? Slumbering spirit? No, the name doesn't suit her."

"Maybe…" Noel paused for a moment. "Dreaming… Dream… Dream Spirit or Spirit of Dream. She might be a dream spirit. If that's the case, can I just find someone with the dream spirit to find her?

"And because she is still alive, doesn't that mean the other ancestors are still alive as well? Do we turn into spirits once we die? Or maybe we have to attain a high level of assimilation with the spirit first. In the end, our body turns into something similar to that of a spirit.

"If this is truly the case, then I'm afraid there will be a few more people I have to gather." Noel chuckled. But after thinking about it, he ended up shaking his head because his imagination was simply too wild.

If all his ancestors had become spirits, people would have heard about them.

"Anyway, it's just speculation. And it doesn't really matter for the time being." Noel jumped off the bed while saying, "I should get ready to face those old foxes in the royal palace."

Suddenly, someone knocked on his door before Kevin's voice echoed from behind the door. "Are you awake?"

"Yes." Noel hurriedly straightened his back and fixed his hair.

As expected, Kevin entered the room with a letter in his hand. "Did you get a good sleep?"

"Yes. Thank you for allowing me to stay here, Uncle." Noel nodded.

"Come on. I don't mind if you call me Father." Kevin smiled, teasing Noel.

"Ahaha. If I have married Anna, then I will call you Father as many times as you want. However, I don't want to overstep my bounds. I hope you can forgive me."

"I'm just teasing you. I'm fine with waiting anyway."

"Actually, the marriage might have to be moved ahead of schedule, and I believe it's going to happen in two months, but we haven't finalized the concept and invitation."

"Really?" Kevin raised his eyebrows.

"Yes. I hope that you can forgive us for this sudden change."

"I see. It seems that I have to call back that brat from the frontline."

"That brat?"

"Yes. He is one of the five Spirit Grandmasters of the Stargaze Family and the captain of the Blue Knight Army, Dylan Stargaze. Well, he's Anna's brother. Because of the conflict with the royal family, I sent him away to the west to protect him. But with your current achievement and this marriage ceremony, it's time for him to come home."