Tempest

Tempest is the reigning Wind Spirit King and the spirit bound to the legacy of the Storm Sword Wynnyd. Once the companion of Vermouth's party, he recognizes Hamel's reincarnated soul in Eugene, becomes Eugene's contracted spirit and adviser, and later accepts Melkith as a contractor so that his wind can contribute more fully to the renewed war against the Demon Kings. His long-held desire to erase the failure at Babel culminates in a miraculous true descent and a direct blow against the Demon King of Incarceration. (Chapters 18, 24–25, 230, 401–403, 473, and 592–598)

Biography

Spirit of Vermouth's Legacy

The current Tempest's recorded connection to the human world begins when Vermouth Lionheart takes up Wynnyd, an ancient sword that had lain dormant in the snowy territory of the Bayar Tribe. Tempest cannot explain the sword's creation or Vermouth's discovery of it, but he blesses the weapon, contracts with Vermouth, and accompanies the hero's party through the Devildom. At Babel, Tempest sees the party reduced until only Vermouth and the Demon King of Incarceration remain standing; when Vermouth sheathes his sword, Tempest can no longer intervene and never learns the terms or motive of the Oath that ends the campaign. (Chapters 18, 24, and 350)

For three centuries after Vermouth, Wynnyd continues to call lesser wind spirits for Lionheart wielders, but Tempest's royal standards keep every descendant from summoning him. That changes when the newly mana-initiated Eugene Lionheart feeds the sword power. Tempest senses Hamel's familiar soul, forces the spirit-world door wider than Eugene can sustain, and descends long enough to confirm the reincarnation and disclose what he witnessed at Babel. The reunion gives Eugene independent proof of his identity, but it empties his mana, leaves him unconscious for half a day, and also burdens Tempest, establishing that recognition does not remove the cost of crossing between worlds. (Chapters 24–25)

As Eugene grows, their connection becomes a direct contract for which Wynnyd is a catalyst rather than the contract itself. Tempest lends authority over wind spirits, answers questions about primal spirits, and manifests when Eugene summons him for reconnaissance. His knowledge has boundaries: because spirit contracts are absolute, he cannot order contracted subordinates to betray elves or reveal their locations, and in the Black Lion forest he can diagnose the unnatural darkness that has put the local spirits to sleep but cannot simply override it. These interventions make him a source of spiritual perception and doctrine as well as battlefield wind. (Chapters 104 and 141)

Tempest eventually speaks to Eugene even when Wynnyd is not in hand, especially when their unfinished northern campaign is at issue. He urges Eugene to gather continental military strength, half-seriously suggesting imperial or papal authority, because he knows personal strength alone will not supply an army. His advice comes from the same regret that makes him protective of Wynnyd and wary of its transfer to Melkith El-Hayah. Although the sword has less raw power than Eugene's newer weapons, Tempest would rather see it sealed than casually handed away, showing that his continuing loyalty is attached to the people and war represented by the relic rather than its combat ranking. (Chapters 230, 331, and 337)

Counsel and Combat in the Final Era

Inspection of Wynnyd prompts Tempest to explain that spirits are nearly immortal, not eternal. A self-aware spirit's identity eventually erodes toward madness; because impurity violates a spirit's essential nature, the spirit shatters that identity and cycles into a purified successor. Tempest is therefore the current Wind Spirit King, not the first, and possesses no memories before his own link with Vermouth. This revelation limits his authority as a historical witness while clarifying why the unknown sword, Vermouth's remembered partnership, and three centuries of unfinished purpose define the continuity of his present self. (Chapter 350)

With the next northern war approaching, Tempest accepts that Melkith's unparalleled talent could bring more of his power onto the battlefield. He dislikes her lack of dignity and eccentric attempts at communion, yet resolves to consider a pact for the world's sake and because he still wants victory over the Demon Kings. Her existing contracts with three Spirit Kings initially leave her vessel unable to contain a fourth, so she can reach him through a mid-tier wind spirit but cannot complete the bond. Tempest refuses to lie about that limit and, despite his relief, acknowledges that harsh desert training is expanding her capacity. (Chapters 401, 403, 419, and 421)

During the battle for Hauria, the White Tower's Union Force stretches Melkith's mental vessel beyond its former ceiling. Her call reaches Tempest through the trembling Wynnyd; he protests, but the opened capacity permits the pact and folds wind into her existing lightning, earth, and flame contracts. The result is Omega Force, a four-Spirit-King giant whose blows combine storms, lightning, earthquakes, and fire. Tempest's decision removes him from Eugene's side as principal contractor while multiplying his contribution through history's strongest spirit summoner, and subsequent campaigns show his wind operating as one part of Melkith's natural-disaster-scale power. (Chapters 473 and 482)

At Pandemonium, Tempest's resentment over the first defeat at Babel overrides his effort not to interfere with Eugene's decisive duel. He drives Melkith's Omega Force into an attack on the Demon King of Incarceration, then calls Eugene to draw the long-unused Wynnyd. Eugene's divine fire, the restored World Tree's strength, and the sword of Light shatter Wynnyd and open a door for Tempest's true body, bypassing both an ordinary contractor's borrowed power and an incomplete descent. As a giant of storm and light, he fights beside Eugene until Incarceration falls, fulfilling the northern expedition he had awaited for three hundred years; he then charges Destruction to protect the exhausted army, is forcibly returned to the spirit world, and is reported recovering with Melkith's other Spirit Kings. (Chapters 592–595 and 598)

Appearance and personality

Tempest usually enters the material world as moving wind rather than a stable human body. His first reunion with Eugene turns a breeze into a tornado and carries a voice directly into the boy's mind, while later communication may come through Wynnyd, a contracted wind spirit, or the air around Eugene. When he deliberately manifests for reconnaissance, the gathered wind forms a body able to gesture and direct searching gusts, but the narrative does not assign that ordinary manifestation a fixed human face or costume. (Chapters 24, 141, 419, and 435)

His fullest visible form appears only after Wynnyd is broken against the Divine Sword of Light. Shards of the blade become light within the storm and assemble into a gigantic figure, allowing Tempest's true self to descend without the usual contractual restrictions. In this state he resembles an enormous giant made from brilliant light and storm winds; he stands behind Eugene, mirrors the battle with colossal punches, and remains visibly manifested through the celebration of Incarceration's defeat. The form is a miracle produced by converging divine and spiritual power, not his routine appearance. (Chapters 592–594)

Tempest is solemn, proud, reticent, and intensely concerned with the dignity of a Spirit King. He complains when Eugene uses him for trivial scouting, condemns Melkith's theatrics, and takes offense at any suggestion that her habits are influencing him. Under that formality he is loyal, strategically minded, and capable of dry absurdity: he recognizes Eugene by soul, advises him about armies and rulership, encourages Melkith when Eugene asks, and finally admits her greatness as a spirit summoner. His strongest emotional constant is the humiliation of the failed northern expedition, which can make him seize initiative even against a contractor's immediate control. (Chapters 24, 141, 230, 331, 356, 401–421, 517, and 592)

Abilities and powers

Tempest's power combines royal authority over wind spirits with contract-based access to the material world. His effectiveness depends on the contractor, the condition of spirits and nature in the surrounding world, and the form of descent available; consequently, the same Wind Spirit King ranges from a costly voice and storm around young Eugene to a fully descended giant capable of battering Incarceration after the World Tree and divine Light reinforce him. (Chapters 24–25, 104, 473, and 592–594)

Wind-spirit authority

As Wind Spirit King, Tempest commands wind and recognizes the spirits distributed through it. Through Wynnyd, a suitable wielder can call lesser wind spirits and employ spirit magic even without summoning Tempest himself; Eugene uses that blessing for cutting wind, movement, and attacks that combine his swordsmanship with a storm. Tempest can also disperse gusts across terrain to scout, locate a known person, examine sleeping or disturbed spirits, and relay distant speech through a wind spirit, making his domain valuable for detection and communication as well as direct force. (Chapters 18, 25, 104, 141, 283, 419, and 435)

Royal authority is not unlimited control. Contracts made between individual spirits and people are absolute, so Tempest cannot compel an elf's contracted wind spirits to betray their partner. The World Tree's domain similarly prevents even a Spirit King from controlling its local winds, and a sufficiently powerful darkness spirit can force surrounding spirits to sleep. His strength also tracks the spiritual condition of the world: the Demonic Disease and collapsing world left his storm comparatively weak three centuries earlier, whereas peace and the restored World Tree allow his wind to become vastly stronger in the final war. (Chapters 104, 141, and 592)

Contracts, vessels, and descent

A human contract supplies the relationship through which Tempest lends power, while Wynnyd serves as a proven catalyst and protected channel. Eugene can speak with him without holding the sword after their direct pact, although Tempest normally remains silent, and spirits recognize the contractor's soul rather than relying on the body's face. The sword does not eliminate capacity requirements: a novice Eugene loses all mana merely opening the spirit-world door, and Tempest must shoulder additional strain to widen it for a short descent. A contractor's training and mana therefore determine how much presence can safely cross. (Chapters 24–25 and 230)

The same vessel rule controls Melkith's progression. Three existing Spirit King contracts initially fill her capacity so completely that even mutual willingness cannot create a fourth pact; desert training broadens that vessel, and Union Force's extreme mental load finally expands it enough for Tempest. Her successful contract enables Omega Force, which concentrates wind, flame, lightning, earth, and supporting spirits into a giant body, but using all four Kings still depends on Melkith's concentration and stamina. After the battle with Incarceration, her bloody tears, bleeding nose, and near exhaustion accompany the attempt to summon the Kings against Destruction. (Chapters 403, 421, 473, 482, and 595)

Combat applications

Tempest's wind can lift and propel allies, surround a weapon or fighter, form cutting pressure, clear hostile explosions, and overwhelm a battlefield as a storm. Eugene integrates it with sword strokes rather than treating it as a separate spell, while Melkith combines it with her other Spirit Kings so one movement can bring wind, lightning, flame, and an earthquake together. At Babel, Tempest and the other Kings consume Omega Force to fire an attack that injures Incarceration and creates an opening for Molon and Eugene, demonstrating that his greatest ordinary output works most effectively as part of coordinated pressure. (Chapters 25, 283, 473, 482, and 592)

His miraculous final form exceeds normal contract manifestation. Eugene's divine flames first reinforce Tempest's storm; the restored World Tree and primordial spirits add their power; then the sword of Light shatters Wynnyd and opens an unrestricted door for the Spirit King's true self. Tempest's light-infused fists and storms strip away darkness, break Incarceration's chains, and help force the Demon King down. The transformation is not freely repeatable: Eugene later says the Light used Tempest as a vessel and cannot simply baptize other Spirit Kings, while Destruction's nullifying colors still expel Tempest from the world. (Chapters 592–593, 595, and 598)

Spirit nature and continuity

Tempest teaches that primal spirits are the pure essence from which self-aware spirits arise, comparable to another aspect of mana present throughout nature. A developed spirit does not remember its primal beginning, just as an ordinary human does not remember the womb. This ontology explains both his sensitivity to the World Tree's unique spirit and the independence of beings within his broad element: being king of wind does not collapse every spirit into an extension of his will, especially when another contract or stronger spiritual domain governs them. (Chapter 104)

Spirits can persist for extraordinary periods but do not preserve one personality forever. Self-awareness wears down, madness introduces impurity, and the spirit eventually shatters its own identity so its essence can cycle cleanly. Tempest knows he succeeded earlier Wind Spirit Kings but neither their number nor their memories, making his royal title continuous while his person is not. His latest documented condition follows this same distinction between endurance and invulnerability: Destruction expels him and the other Kings from the material world, but by the aftermath they are alive in the spirit world and recovering. (Chapters 350, 595, and 598)

Power progression

Relationships

• Vermouth Lionheart: Vermouth is Tempest's first known contractor and the person through whom he becomes connected to Wynnyd. Tempest accompanies his party, remembers the moment Vermouth lays down the sword at Babel, and spends three centuries wanting an explanation as well as the victory they failed to win. Even in the present, Vermouth's use of Tempest is the achievement that inspires Melkith's lifelong admiration. (Chapters 24, 350, and 615)
• Eugene Lionheart: Tempest recognizes Eugene as Hamel by the appearance of his soul and takes on the burden of an early descent to confirm it. Their direct contract develops into blunt companionship: Tempest supplies wind, spiritual knowledge, warnings, reconnaissance, and strategic advice, while Eugene trusts his calls in battle and teases his pride. Tempest later leaves Eugene's side to contract with Melkith, yet their bond remains strong enough for Eugene and Wynnyd to enable his true descent against Incarceration. (Chapters 24–25, 104, 141, 230, 331–337, 517, and 592–594)
• Melkith El-Hayah: Tempest initially regards Melkith as an undignified, exhausting eccentric and ignores her repeated attempts at conversation. He nevertheless recognizes her unmatched gift, considers a contract for the coming war, and refuses to lie when her vessel is initially too small. Once her capacity expands, he becomes her fourth Spirit King, powers Omega Force, and increasingly communicates with her despite continuing to protest her behavior. Melkith's report that all four Kings are recovering is the latest direct account of his condition. (Chapters 48–50, 337, 401–403, 419–421, 473, 482, 508, 517, and 598)
• Sienna Merdein: Tempest knows Sienna from Vermouth's original party and retains concern for the unfinished campaign that followed Hamel's death. In Eugene's second life he helps identify the World Tree spirit and warns that the Moonlight Sword may rebound while Eugene searches for Sienna. During the final fight, the restored World Tree associated with the Sage reinforces Tempest's storm, and Sienna coordinates her magic with Eugene, Molon, and Tempest to bring Incarceration down. (Chapters 24, 104, 180, and 592–594)
• Demon King of Incarceration: Incarceration embodies Tempest's defining humiliation. Tempest remembers being too weak to change the battle three hundred years earlier and keeps his attention fixed on a return to Babel. In the second campaign, that resentment leads him to override Melkith's hesitation, spend Omega Force on an opening attack, and then descend through light to strike the Demon King personally. Incarceration's defeat finally completes the northern expedition Tempest had treated as unfinished for centuries. (Chapters 24, 230, 401, and 592–594)

Items

• Storm Sword Wynnyd: Wynnyd is the ancient spirit sword blessed by Tempest and the catalyst linking him first to Vermouth and later to Eugene. It lets compatible wielders command lesser wind spirits, channels Tempest's voice and power, and remains emotionally bound to his memory of the first northern campaign even after stronger weapons eclipse it. In the battle with Incarceration, contact with the Divine Sword of Light shatters Wynnyd; its fragments become light within Tempest's storm and open the exceptional door for his true descent. (Chapters 18, 24–25, 230, 337, 350, 473, and 592)