WIEDERGEBURT Act V: Chapter 19

I wasn’t quite sure how many hours we spent having sex in the bathing room, but we were eventually interrupted when several members of the Battling Valkyries came in to take a bath. I don’t think I could ever forget the way they stared at me and my wives as the five of us had sex. Their cheeks had been so red I was worried they might catch fire.

After getting out of the bath, the five of us got dressed in our usual outfits and made our way down the hall. We were on our way to the bedroom where we left. Our original plan was to pick up Raul, but Erica found us as we rounded a corner and came over.

“I’ve been looking everywhere for you five. Where have you been?”

“Oh, you know. Just… taking a bath,” I said, scratching my cheek and trying not to look at Erica.

Erica frowned at me, then looked at Kari, who turned her head and began whistling innocently. Fay and Siv both blushed and looked at the ground. Meanwhile, Lin wore an unrepentant grin.

“Well, I suppose it doesn’t matter. Lady Alexis would like to see you five. Raul is with her,” Erica said.

We were escorted to Alexis’ office, where we found Alexis sitting behind her desk and Raul sitting at a table, a charcoal stick in his hands. It looked like he was drawing something on a sheet of parchment. The moment we walked in, he looked up, beamed at us, and scrambled off the chair, grabbing the parchment and presenting it to us.

“Look! I draw!”

I was not quite sure what he drew. It looked like a bunch of squiggles to me. However, he seemed so proud of it I didn’t have the heart to say anything.

Kari leaned down and smiled. “That’s a pretty amazing drawing. Is that us?”

“Yeah!” Raul excitedly said. “That’s daddy! And mommy! And aunty! And sissy! And big sis!”

Raul pointed at each squiggle in turn, which I guess kinda looked humanish when I tilted my head. I still couldn’t figure out which squiggle was who, but Kari seemed able to, and Fay also seemed to be capable of it. I was glad Lin and Siv looked just as confused as me. That made me feel a little better.

“Raul, would you like to draw with mommy?” asked Fay.

“Yeah!” Raul nodded with enthusiasm only a child could display.

“Let’s go over here and draw,” suggested Fay.

“Oh! This princess will help! This princess is a great artist!”

Lin slithered after Raul and Fay, and the three of them sat down at the table and began drawing. Of course, Lin tried to teach Raul how to “draw properly,” but sadly for her, my son seemed more interested in scribbling all over his parchment than he did learning the rules of drawing. This caused Lin to puff up her cheeks in the most adorable pout.

Alexis had been watching the byplay between our little family, but then she turned her attention to the three of us remaining. Most of her attention, I noticed, was focused on me and Kari. That was because Siv was practically hiding behind me, gripping my arm as if she was afraid Alexis would attack her.

“It’s good to see you up and about,” Alexis said to me as Erica walked over to stand behind the woman. “You were pretty exhausted after that battle.”

“Yeah. That was probably one of the toughest battles I’ve ever fought.” I tugged at my bangs. “How was the damage?”

“Extensive,” Alexis sighed. “The arena is gone. It’s just a big hole in the ground now. Fortunately, the Midgard Spiritual Knights have decided not to charge you since you’re the only reason everyone was able to make it out safely. Speaking of which, you should be pleasedto know there were no casualties.”

“That is something to be thankful for,” Kari said with a smile. Then she pouted. “Though now it seems my inventions will be useless.”

“What did you make?” I asked curiously.

Kari shook her head. “I’ll show you later.”

“You’re not going to have time to discuss her invention right now,” Alexis added. “There’s going to be a meeting regarding what to do now that the arena has been destroyed. It’s going to be held in an hour. We need to figure out how to decide who is going to become the sixth member of the Six Great Sects now that the arena is gone. Furthermore, we need to figure out what to do about the rest of Thor’s Hammer.”

“What’s that have to do with us?” I asked before narrowing my eyes. “Or are you saying we’ve been invited?”

“Everyone who has reached the Third State of Spiritualism has been invited, which means you and your family are all invited to attend,” Alex said.

I wasn’t too surprised to hear we’d been invited to a meeting about how to deal with the current situation, not after the display I just put on. Not many people could turn a building as big as the arena into a smoking crater. Even those people at the Third State of Spiritualism would have trouble accomplishing such a feat.

The meeting was going to be held within an hour. Since Alexis and Erica were also going, we all decided to travel together. Of course, Fay and Siv offered to stay behind with Raul. Fay was not interested in these kinds of meetings and Siv didn’t enjoy being around a lot of people. Someone also had to look after our son, and his mother was easily the most qualified among us.

Having learned her lesson from last time, Alexis decided to use a long wagon instead of a carriage to take us to the Midgard Spiritual Knights main headquarters—aka, the massive tower in the very center of Midgard. Traveling by wagon meant Lin could spread her tail out and that gave all of us some breathing room. The wagon didn’t have a tarp over it, so we had a clear view of the surrounding city.

There were quite a few carriages, wagons, and people walking toward the tower. I was surprised to see so many people. Since Alexis had said the only people invited were those who had reached the Third State of Spiritualism, I was expecting maybe two or three people aside from the Six Great Sects to show up.

“You see that man over there? That’s Radbert Knight. He’s the leader of the Knightly Sect,” Alexis said.

She was pointing out a man who was walking instead of taking a carriage or wagon. The man in question was maybe a head shorter than me, with long limbs and a muscular physique clad in chainmail and platemail. A long sword was strapped to his back.

“And that woman over there is Claudia Housen. She’s the current leader of the Black Cats,” Alexis added, pointing at another figure.

The person she pointed to this time was a gorgeous woman with black hair, pale skin, and a curvaceous figure. A pair of cat ears sat on her head and a tail extended from her lower back. She walked with a naturally seductive sway of her hips. Clad in black leather that conformed tightly to her body, it was impossible not to notice the ridiculous curves she possessed. While I would still say Erica and my wives were more attractive, the way this woman carried herself exuded a sexuality no one else I knew possessed.

Alexis continued pointing out people who were going to attend the meeting as we continued on our way, and I realized there were a lot more people who had reached the Third State of Spiritualism than I suspected. But that only left me with more questions than answers. Erica was driving the wagon. I sat beside Kari and Lin, listening to Alexis as she spoke, but my mind felt like it was a thousand miles away.

While I had heard of a few of these sects, many of them were sects I had never heard of before, which confused me a great deal. What’s more, all of these people had reached the Third State of Spiritualism. They were all considered pinnacle existences within the Northern Plains. People like this were supposed to be rare, and those who had reached this state were celebrated, so why had I not heard of these people in my past life? What was going on?

I think Kari knew what I was thinking because she shared a look with me, but we couldn’t speak about this matter now.

Our group entered the Midgard Spiritual Knights main headquarters alongside numerous other individuals. The meeting was going to take place on the fourteenth floor. This was not the meeting hall where all the sects gathered to discuss emergency situations, like the time when we were at war with the Sekbeists. It was a smaller meeting hall that could fit a couple dozen people. A long round table traveled the circumference of the entire room.

I sat between Kari and Lin. Alexis sat on Kari’s other side with Erica.

On a more interesting note, Lin could sit at this table only because the table was so big her snake tail could extend underneath it without getting in anyone’s way.

While this table had no head, the current five Great Sects sat on one side of the table, and Commander Ashten of the Midgard Spiritual Knights sat next to five other people who were also wearing armor that was nearly identical to his. There were three women and two men.

One of the women was a honeyed blonde with blue eyes and thick muscles. The woman next to her had brown hair, cat ears, and a dark tan. Among the three, the last caught my attention because she was a lamia like Lin, except her skin was a pale white. Lin was also staring at her.

The two men were rather burly, with bulging muscles that rippled and looked like they would cause their armor to burst. The man next to Commander Ashten had short black hair and a cross-shaped scar on his cheek. Next to him was a lizardman. Outside of being bipedal, he didn’t look remotely human, covered as he was in scales and possessing a reptilian muzzle. His eyes were a vibrant yellow as he surveyed the people in the room.

What really shocked me was how all these people were at the Third State of Spiritualism. I didn’t know any of them. They were not present when I came to the Northern Plains in my past life.

Alexis noticed where I was looking and explained who those people were to me. “Those are the Five Generals of the Midgard Spiritual Knights. Each one of them commands a division of the Midgard Spiritual Knights. The human male is Deterion Blitz. He controls the Storm Division, which consists of 25,000 Spiritualists with a lightning affinity. The lizardman’s name is Kroak Naga, and he is in charge of the Swamp Division, which is a combination of water and earth Spiritualists. I think there are about 30,000 people in that division. The women are, from left to right, Maria Flamme, Lilac Vinde, and Nam ˈTäksik. They each control their own division of 25,000 to 30,000 Spiritualists for the fire, wind, and water elements respectively.”

I now understood a little about why the Midgard Spiritual Knights was the most powerful group within Midgard. While the Paladin Sect and Battling Valkyries had, at the height of their power, possessed around 200,000 members, they were spread out across the Northern Plains. The Midgard Spiritual Knights had around the same number, but they were all located within Midgard. Of course they would be the most powerful force inside of the city.

At the same time, I was still greatly confused. Why did I not remember these people? How come they had never shown up in my previous life? I could not help but feel like there was something very wrong here.

It took about half an hour before everyone who was supposed to be in attendance arrived. Outside of the Midgard Spiritual Knights and the five members who sat on the Council of Six, there were twenty other Spiritualists present if I didn’t include myself, Lin, Kari, Alexis, and Erica. That meant there were around thirty-six people present.

“I think we can call this meeting to order,” Commander Ashten said. “As you are all aware, an unprecedented situation has occurred within Midgard. During the Council of Six Selection Tournament to decide which sect would join the Six Great Sects, a man named Fritz, belonging to Thor’s Hammer, unleashed a terrifying power and transformed into a creature we have never seen before. We have taken a measure of his power and come to the conclusion that his strength is greater than someone who has reached the Third State of Spiritualism.”

These words caused an incredible tension to suddenly sweep through the room. No one present seemed to know how they should take this. Finally, one young-looking woman, who I recognized as Claudia, the leader of the Black Cats, leaned forward and pinned Commander Ashten with a look.

“Surely you jest, Commander. All of us were present during the tournament, and I certainly won’t deny that man was incredibly powerful, but the Third State of Spiritualism is the height of Spiritualism. Nobody can grow past that. This has been an established fact for many years.”

Many heads were nodding along with her words, which didn’t surprise me. The Third State of Spiritualism was indeed considered the pinnacle of Spiritualism. Humans could not move past this state—not on their own at least. It was impossible unless someone had the necessary alchemy pills. However, the Yin-Yang Spiritual Enlightenment Pill needed to reach the Fourth State of Spiritualism was one of the legendary pills whose recipe had been lost.

“Had this been before the tournament began, I might have agreed with you,” Commander Ashten said. “But I have proof that there exists a state beyond the Third State of Spiritualism.” At this, the man turned to me. “Eryk Veiger, if I am not mistaken, you and your wives have reached the Fourth State of Spiritualism, have you not?”

The moment Commander Ashten spoke to me, every head turned in my direction. I could feel their eyes burning into me. Had this been the me of the past, of my previous life, having so many people who had reached the Third State of Spiritualism looking at me might have made me nervous, but I was not the person from my past. I glanced at everyone present, taking their measure, then looked at the commander.

“Yes, you are correct. Aside from my wife, Kari, myself and my other three wives have all reached the Fourth State of Spiritualism.”

My words caused everyone to break out in shock and begin talking all at once.

“That is impossible!”

“Everyone knows the Fourth State of Spiritualism is just a legend!”

“The Fourth State of Spiritualism doesn’t exist!”

“If you’re going to lie, you should come up with a better one!”

I listened to these people disparage me and call me a liar with a frown and a growing sense of discontent. Given how the Fourth State of Spiritualism was impossible for humans to reach without the Yin-Yang Spiritual Enlightenment Pill or at least two hundred years of training, I could understand why no one here believed me. At the same time, hearing a bunch of people call me a liar caused a bit of anger to well up inside of me.

I decided that actions spoke louder than words.

I released my Spiritual Power.

Like a floodgate being opened, my Spiritual Power burst forth and swept over the room, causing those people who had been shouting at me to begin choking. Everyone except my wives started to tremble. Even Alexis and Erica began sweating and shaking as I fully unleashed the Spiritual Pressure that could only come from someone who had reached the Fourth State of Spiritualism. While everyone present was strong, a few of the people who had clearly just reached the Third State of Spiritualism recently fell off their chairs and onto the floor, their bodies shivering uncontrollably.

Because I didn’t want to kill anyone, I didn’t release my killing intent. I just released my Spiritual Power and turned it into a powerful Spiritual Pressure that pushed against everyone, making it feel like the gravity in this room had increased to ten times that of normal gravity. Even Rainere and Commander Ashten, who I recognized as the strongest people present, were unable to withstand the pressure I was exuding.

“That’s… enough!” Rainere grunted in a strained voice. “You made… your point!”

I snorted before retracting my Spiritual Power and carefully sealing it away. However, even after my Spiritual Power and Spiritual Pressure disappeared, the sect leaders who were hailed as the strongest people in the Northern Plains needed several moments to recover. I waited for everyone’s shaking to stop and for those on the floor to pick themselves up before speaking.

“Do not presume that the Fourth State of Spiritualism does not exist just because none of you have reached it,” I said into the silence. “None of you seem to realize this, but long ago, there were many humans who had been at the Fourth State of Spiritualism. It is just that the means of reaching this state has been lost.”

Nobody spoke up at first. I glanced around at the wary faces of the people present. Some of the sect leaders were now staring at me in fear, which caused me to sigh and wonder if maybe I’d gone overboard.

Finally, Cathrine of the Alchemist Association spoke up. “Could it be that your wife knows how to make the Yin-Yang Spiritual Enlightenment Pill?”

I nodded. “Both Fay and I know how to make the Yin-Yang Spiritual Enlightenment Pill. If you’d like, we would be happy to teach you some time.”

My words once more caused the people around us to begin talking, though the voices they used to speak with were much more subdued than before. Some of the people were asking those more knowledgeable than themselves about the Yin-Yang Spiritual Enlightenment Pill. Once those who had heard of this legendary pill informed them about what the pill in question did, they turned their eyes to me with a hungry look, like ravenous beasts staring at a helpless fawn.

I ignored them.

“Would you really be willing to teach me how to refine this pill?” asked Cathrine, who now looked shocked.

I shrugged. “I do not see why not.”

“T-thank you very much! I will be awaiting the day you are willing to impart this knowledge to me!”

The leader of the Alchemist Association bowed her head to me, shocking everyone present. She was a member on the Council of Six. That was the highest level of authority within the Northern Plains. Nobody except the four sitting next to her and Commander Ashten were this woman’s equal, and yet here she was bowing her head to a complete stranger who nobody except a few of them knew.

“Let us get back to the matter at hand,” Commander Ashten said after getting over his own surprise. “I believe no one here will deny that this man has reached the Fourth State of Spiritualism now?” No one said anything, allowing him to continue. “In that case, you should also be willing to admit that Fritz was someone who had also ascended to a higher state. His transformation during the tournament and subsequent increase in strength are disturbing. I do not believe this bodes well for us.”

“But does it really matter now?” asked a man with shaggy brown hair and milky eyes that made me realize he was blind. “Fritz was killed by that man there.” He pointed at me. “Since he is now dead, the issue has been resolved.”

“The issue has not been resolved,” Commander Ashten said with a grave expression. “Do not forget that Fritz was but a member of Thor’s Hammer. There were two people above him who were said to have also reached the Third State of Spiritualism. Now that we know Fritz has reached an even higher state, I have reason to believe the leader and vice leader are even more powerful than him.”

Those words caused everyone to sober up. It was true. Fritz was not the leader or even the second in command of Thor’s Hammer. If he had reached the Fourth State of Spiritualism, then what was to say the sect leader and vice sect leader had not reached it as well?

“You… bring up a good point,” Claudia said at last. “If that Fritz was at the Fourth State of Spiritualism, it stands to reason the two leaders of his sect have also reached that state.”

“What I’m really curious about is Fritz’s transformation,” said Rainere, leaning forward on his right forearm as he tapped a finger against the table. “We all saw him transform into some kind of gray-skinned monster. What kind of transformation was that? Why did his power increase so dramatically after he transformed?”

As everyone began discussing the matter of Fritz’s “transformation,” I silently debated whether or not I should say anything. Did I tell them about the Sekbeist? Would they believe me if I told them? Right now, no one in the Northern Plains knew about the existence of the Sekbeist, nor did they know about the other eight realms that made up this world. Since I had displayed my power, they might be willing to accept my words. However, I didn’t think anyone would truly believe me.

“I’m curious to know what you think, Eryk Veiger,” an old voice suddenly spoke up. It was Dagan from the Healer’s Sect. He was looking at me with a calm gleam in his eyes.

Everyone turned to me again. This time, the looks everyone wore was expectant instead of disbelieving.

“I do not believe it was a transformation at all,” I said, deciding on the truth. “I believe that what you all saw as a transformation was Fritz revealing his true appearance. The man you know as Fritz has probably been dead for a long time. The person I fought and killed merely took his place to avoid arousing suspicion while going about his own goals.”

My words once more sparked some debate, but it settled down quickly as Shen Ming pierced me with his gaze.

“If that man was not Fritz, then just who was he?” asked the poison master.

“I do not know who he is… but I may have an idea as to what he is,” I said.

“And what is he?” asked Rainere.

“A Sekbeist.”

I didn’t think the concept of Sekbeist was something these people could accept right now, so I merely explained that they were a violent race that me and my wives had been fighting for several years now. Most of what I talked about was their powers. While low-level Sekbeist like those Grunts had no Spiritual Powers to speak of, all Shamans and higher level Sekbeists could control the darkness element. Again, I didn’t mention the Void. Since I still didn’t understand the concept myself, there was no way I could explain it to others.

While some people still seemed skeptical, by the time I finished talking, most of them were at least willing to accept that these Sekbeist were a legitimate threat.

“I have a question regarding these Sekbeist,” Rainere said. “I don’t doubt that they exist. We all saw what happened to Fritz, and you seem to have some personal experience fighting them, but why are we just now hearing about them? Why is it that I have never heard of these Sekbeist before?”

“Probably because they are in hiding,” I explained. “Back in Nevaria, the Sekbeist had remained hidden for centuries, quietly destroying our power base so they could take over us more easily. They killed off our most powerful alchemists so we wouldn’t have anyone who could refine alchemy pills. They destroyed knowledge on how to reach the Third State of Spiritualism, which meant only a few people were able to reach it by chance. If it wasn’t for the fact that we discovered their plot just in time to thwart it, we probably would have been destroyed without ever knowing about the Sekbeist.”

In my past life, the Sekbeist had instigated the Demon Beast Invasion of Nevaria with the help of the Leucht Family. I now firmly believed they didn’t allow everyone to die during that invasion, but they instead took many of Nevaria’s citizens hostage and used them in a large-scale ritual to open the Warp Gate located beneath the Imperial Royal Palace.

Just what happened after that, I didn’t know. However, the Sekbeist eventually vanished, which made me think they had traveled through the Warp Gate. Siv’s memories from that time also corroborated this. She had gone through the gate and was eventually killed by a man even more powerful than her.

With my knowledge acting as their focal point, the debate eventually shifted away from the Sekbeist and onto what everyone should do about the two who were still at large. I learned from the conversation that the two leaders of Thor’s Hammer were Dunherr and Unglück. No one knew much about them outside of their names. They rarely appeared in public, which made me think they were hiding something.

“I believe we should storm their headquarters and take them down,” Rainere suggested. “If these two really are Sekbeist like Eryk believes, then they are definitely a threat to everyone in the Northern Plains. It’s better to nip this problem in the bud now than wait for it to grow out of our control later.”

“I agree,” Commander Ashten said. “However, those two have likely reached the Fourth State of Spiritualism as well. If that is the case, then the only people who can deal with them are…”

When Commander Ashten trailed off and turned to look at me, everyone else also looked in my direction.

I sighed. It looked like these people were about to dump their work onto me.