"The only way to become a true god was to kill one of them and take their authority."

Kael's eyes narrowed slightly.

"And that was nearly impossible."

Asana continued quietly.

"So we searched for another way."

Nina nodded and added, "And we found something that allowed us to reach that level without becoming gods."

Kael frowned slightly as realization appeared in his eyes.

"Spirit Realm," he said.

Nina and Asana nodded at the same time.

"Yes," Nina replied softly.

"The Spirit Realm."

The Spirit Realm was not a place that could be described with ordinary words. It did not exist within the normal layers of the world. It existed beside reality, overlapping it like a shadow that followed every movement of nature.

Where flames burned in the mortal world, rivers of fire flowed in the Spirit Realm. Where glaciers formed, endless continents of ice existed there. Every element that existed in the physical world had its pure and ancient reflection within that realm.

It was a world made entirely from raw elemental consciousness.

Spirits were born there without flesh or blood. They were fragments of natural law that had slowly gained awareness over time. Some were small and weak, barely able to form a shape. Others were ancient beings that had existed since the early formation of the world. These powerful entities ruled their respective domains like kings.

But the Spirit Realm was not peaceful.

It followed a very old rule.

Authority belonged only to the strongest.

When Nina and Asana discovered the existence of that realm, they were already standing at the edge of the Demi-God level.

The path to true godhood had been sealed by the gods themselves, and every divine authority was already claimed. The only way to ascend further was to steal authority from an existing god, something nearly impossible without provoking the entire divine order.

The Spirit Realm offered a loophole.

Elemental authority did not belong directly to the gods. It existed as a natural force of the world itself.

However, obtaining it required abandoning the limits of mortal existence.

Kael listened quietly as the explanation unfolded. His brows slowly furrowed as he processed the weight behind those words.

"So you both walked into a realm where even the gods have no complete control," he said slowly.

Nina gave a faint smile.

"Yes. And the moment we entered it, we understood that turning back was no longer possible."

Nina had entered the Spirit Realm first.

The blessing of flame manipulation that she carried since birth acted as a key that allowed her consciousness to cross the boundary between the worlds. At first she could only observe the realm from a distance. Her mind projected itself into the rivers of fire that flowed endlessly across that dimension.

The fire spirits noticed her immediately.

At first they circled her presence with curiosity. The blessing within her soul carried the same resonance as the primordial flames from which they were born. But curiosity soon turned into hostility.

The Spirit Realm rejected foreign intruders.

Her mind was attacked by countless fire spirits. Each spirit carried the instinctive desire to devour or absorb weaker flames to grow stronger. Nina had to defend herself using only the authority of fire that she already possessed.

Kael let out a quiet breath.

"That sounds like walking straight into a nest of starving wolves."

Nina shrugged slightly.

"More like walking into an ocean that wants to burn you alive."

The first stage of the process required synchronization.

She had to allow her consciousness to merge with the rhythm of the elemental flow. That meant feeling every flame, every spark, every burning current that existed in the Spirit Realm.

It was not simply controlling fire. It meant becoming part of the endless chain of combustion that linked every flame together.

That process alone took years.

During that time Nina gradually lost the boundaries between her own thoughts and the elemental flow of the realm. Her mind expanded and began to adapt to the logic of the spirits.

Only after reaching that stage could she challenge the ruler of that domain.

The Fire King.

The Fire King was not a single entity but a concentration of countless high ranking fire spirits that had merged together over centuries. It represented the core authority of flame within that realm.

When Nina challenged it, the entire Spirit Realm reacted.

Volcanic oceans erupted, pillars of fire rose across endless horizons, and storms of burning embers spread across the domain. The battle was not fought with swords or spells but with control over elemental authority itself.

The fight lasted for an immeasurable period of time.

During the final stage, Nina consumed the core flame of the Fire King. That act did not simply grant her power. It replaced the authority that once belonged to that ancient spirit.

But the Spirit Realm demanded balance.

No mortal body could contain that level of elemental authority.

Once the authority merged with her soul, her human body began to disintegrate. Flesh, blood, bone, and organs burned away as the elemental force within her consumed the limitations of physical form.

Kael's eyes narrowed slightly.

"So your body just burned away."

Nina nodded calmly.

"Yes and my consciousness survived the process."

When the transformation ended, Nina no longer existed as a human being. She had become the living embodiment of flame within that realm.

The Elemental King of Fire.

Kael rubbed the back of his neck slowly.

"Damn… you say that so casually."

Asana's path followed a similar pattern but was shaped by a different origin.

As an Ice Elf, she already possessed a natural connection to frost and cold. Ice was not simply a tool to her. It was part of her nature. That connection allowed her to enter the Spirit Realm through the frozen domains that existed beyond the physical world.

The ice territories of the Spirit Realm were vast and silent.

Entire continents of frozen storms stretched across endless distances. Glaciers floated through the sky like drifting mountains while blizzards roared endlessly across the horizon.

Ice spirits lived within those frozen landscapes.

They were calmer than fire spirits but far more ancient and calculating.

Asana's first stage was assimilation.

She had to abandon the emotional warmth that defined mortal thought and allow her mind to become as still and cold as the eternal ice around her. Every thought that carried hesitation or attachment weakened her presence in that realm.

Over time her consciousness became synchronized with the slow, silent movement of frost.

Only after reaching that stage could she challenge the Ice King.

The Ice King ruled through control of absolute stillness. Its authority froze entire storms in midair and locked entire territories in eternal winter.

When Asana challenged it, the Spirit Realm itself reacted.

Blizzards swallowed the sky while glaciers shattered and reformed endlessly around them. Entire frozen oceans rose and collapsed as the authority of ice shifted between them.

The battle lasted until Asana shattered the core crystal that formed the heart of the Ice King.

When that core merged with her soul, the transformation began.

Her mortal body could not survive the pressure of that authority. Her physical form slowly froze and cracked apart. Each fragment dissolved into pure frost energy before disappearing entirely.

What remained was her spirit.

Reformed from the elemental law of ice itself.

She became the new sovereign of the frozen domain.

The Queen of Ice.

Kael stared at the two of them for a long moment before letting out a low whistle.

"So the price of that power was your humanity."

Asana answered quietly.

"Yes."

Her voice was calm.

"The moment we accepted elemental authority, our mortal shells were no longer compatible with existence."

Both transformations followed the same irreversible rule.

Once a mortal accepted elemental authority at that level, their humanity could not remain intact. Their bodies were replaced by spirit forms that existed simultaneously in both the Spirit Realm and the physical world.

Kael crossed his arms and shook his head slowly.

"You two really went insane just to reach that level."

Nina smirked slightly.

"We had a reason."