The two of them met again.

One pair of eyes searched for success, while the other carried a strange feeling deep in the chest. Max did not know how to go around this. Should he take her with him? Bring her home? What would he even do with such an ancient being who had waited for another man for longer than most kingdoms had existed?

And yet, the way she looked, the way she carried herself, the way her sorrowful blue eyes rested on him as if he was both a stranger and someone she had lost forever, made his greedy heart want her for himself despite knowing that her heart still belonged to another.

"You succeeded?" she finally asked, not noticing the way Max’s pupils expanded slightly when his gaze moved over her body.

The leaves barely covering her chest shifted with her breath, and for a moment, Max craved to tear them away, to shake them off her perfect body and see the full beauty she kept hidden beneath those vines and forest-made cloth. He had already seen enough women to know desire, but Saelunith was different. Her body looked like something nature had made when it decided to be unfair to every other woman in existence.

"It appears so..." Max responded.

He lifted his hand and examined it. Something felt different.

Not only in his body, but around him as well. The air responded to his presence in a strange way, softer than mana, lighter than void magic, yet somehow deeper, as if countless unseen things were now waiting for his command. He could not understand it fully yet, not with his memories still vague and his head feeling as if it had been split in two, stuffed with another man’s life, and then sewn back together in a hurry.

Max flicked one finger through the air.

A brilliant multicolored line appeared, following the exact movement of his finger like a trail of living light. It shimmered in the space before him, rich with mana and carrying some strange power Max could not quite grasp yet. It was not like his void magic. It did not devour or suppress. It felt closer to a command, a thread, a silent order given to something invisible that had already accepted him as its ruler.

The line floated for a moment before slowly fading, leaving behind tiny sparks of color that scattered through the air.

Max stared at his hand. A slow smile rose on his lips. "So this is the power of the Spirit Sovereign..."

All of a sudden, the world shook like a high-magnitude earthquake.

The entire citadel trembled around them, vines crawling along the ancient walls, stone dust falling from above, and the throne beneath Max pulsed as if something buried deep inside it had awakened. Yet Max did not panic the way Saelunith did. His fingers only tightened slightly against the armrest as a strange aura spread through the air.

It felt familiar.

And yet, completely foreign.

Despite the violent shaking, there was no aggression inside it. No hostility. No killing intent. It felt more like recognition, as if something ancient had finally noticed him and could no longer remain still.

From far beyond the open hall, the sky painted itself in multicolored brilliance, resembling the line Max had drawn in the air only moments ago. The colors spread across the heavens like living silk, twisting and folding into one another, while the ground outside sank slightly, bending under the pressure of countless unseen beings rushing toward one place.

"The spirits are raging!" Saelunith gasped.

Her own body trembled for a second, fear and surprise flashing through her beautiful blue eyes, but then something changed. Her eyes softened. Her mind seemed to grow slightly blank, and the tension in her body melted away as if the aura itself had reached into her and soothed every thought.

Slowly, she began to walk toward Max.

Each step was gentle, almost dreamy, and the thin forest-made cloth around her body shifted with every movement. The leaves covering her breasts rustled softly, barely clinging to her skin, while the vines around her hips swayed as if they were about to loosen on their own. She looked less like a frightened spirit and more like a woman walking toward the lover she had waited for all her life, ready to give him everything without a single word of resistance.

Max gulped. His heart beat wildly in his chest. He shifted on the throne and extended his hand forward.

Saelunith quickly took it, her soft fingers slipping into his palm and allowing his hand to wrap around them completely. Max pulled her closer, and she did not resist. Her body followed his strength naturally, her breath brushing against his face as he seated her on his lap.

Her soft weight settled against him, warm despite her spirit-like nature, and her blue eyes stared into his with that same strange devotion, that same confused longing, as if she could no longer tell whether he was Max or the man she had loved before him.

Then the gate shook.

Ethereal lights rushed inside the throne room, one after another, falling before Max like stars descending from the heavens. Each light struck the ground softly, scattering multicolored sparks across the floor before slowly taking shape.

Women. One form after another appeared before him.

Their bodies were made from the beauty of the forest itself, soft skin glowing faintly beneath the citadel’s light, long hair flowing in shades of green, silver, blue, gold, and pale rose. Some had antlers made of blooming branches. Some had eyes like moonlit ponds. Some had flowers woven through their hair, while others had faint spirit markings glowing across their thighs, waists, stomachs, and shoulders.

They wore almost nothing.

Only leaves, flowers, and a few thin twigs held together their modesty, and even that looked more like a teasing decoration than true clothing. The leaves over their breasts shifted whenever they breathed. Vines curled around their hips and barely covered the most intimate parts of their bodies, making every kneeling movement feel soft, tempting, and dangerous to look at for too long.

The hall filled with them. Dozens, no, hundreds, all kneeling before Max.

Their eyes looked up at him with worship, hunger, and absolute submission, as if the Spirit Sovereign’s throne had not merely given him authority over them, but had awakened something much deeper inside their ancient souls.

"The spirits of the Daerfaen Forest greet their sole ruler and master," the woman in the very front said.

She was almost as beautiful as Saelunith, barely losing to her in the kind of beauty that could make a man forget what he was thinking. Her body was tall and graceful, her curves wrapped in pale leaves that looked ready to slip at the slightest wrong movement, and her long green hair spilled over one shoulder, half-covering her chest while revealing just enough to make Max’s gaze linger.

Her forehead touched the ground.

Behind her, every other spirit woman lowered herself as well.

"Please grant us your first command, and your first blessing," she continued, her voice soft, sweet, and filled with devotion. "We are ready to serve you in any way the Sovereign desires."

The way those words echoed through the hall made Max’s fingers tighten against Saelunith’s waist.