Ch.14047. The Phoenix Clan (4)

“That’s right. Right now, Gaga’s mana heart… that is, the mana heart fused with me has five seals. Would you like to look back for a moment?”

I remained seated in the bath and showed my back to Seohwa.

She embraced me from behind. I could hear her slightly quickened breathing in my ear. Soon, I felt the area around my heart growing hot.

“Would you like to focus your mind on the mana heart like this?”

I could feel her soft body against my back, but I tried not to be conscious of it as I concentrated on my mana heart.

The basics for magic users: meditation on mana. As the meditation took place, I naturally felt the mana concentrating on my mana heart.

And like lava flowing down, the mana heart fused with the ruby was melting.

“Gaga’s life… is barely being held together by these seals right now.”

As Seohwa said, three seals had already disappeared. Through those gaps, the mana heart was in the process of melting.

“Because of this, a massive amount of mana is being released, but at the same time, Gaga’s life force is leaking away. If you had the power of an ordinary clan head, you would already be dead.”

“The power of the clan head…”

I instinctively knew that those words—the power of the clan head—were the answer to my curiosity.

Seohwa continued.

“The qualification of the clan head is the ability to control the Vermilion Bird’s egg, the sacred object of the clan. And the Vermilion Bird’s egg is the power and will of Lord Vermilion himself. Its power is determined and ignited according to the potential of the clan head.”

In other words, the more exceptional one’s ability to receive the Vermilion Bird’s power, the stronger the power of the ruby, the Vermilion Bird’s egg, used by the clan head.

“But Lord Vermilion is the son of Arel, the Creator. So a human body cannot fully accept Lord Vermilion’s power. The power of a divine beast is too immense for humans to handle.”

That’s why the priestesses of the Vermilion Bird created seals on the Vermilion Bird’s egg with their magic, allowing the clan head to control the power sequentially.

That was the only way to make the god-like power of the Vermilion Bird usable by humans.

“However, three levels of seals were sufficient for the clan heads until now. The potential of previous clan heads… could be adequately controlled with just three restrictions.”

But my past life, Yu Jahyun, possessed power on a different level from other clan heads.

A being directly blessed by the Vermilion Bird.

So when Yu Jahyun came to possess the Vermilion Bird’s egg, it was said that dozens of times more power than previous clan heads permeated the egg.

“It was impossible to control that power with just three seals.”

That’s why the ruby, the Vermilion Bird’s egg that Yu Jahyun used, needed as many as four seals.

‘But even Yu Jahyun, when he released all four seals…’

Though he defeated the Red Dragon with his unprecedented qualification as clan head, even he couldn’t handle all of the immense power that required four seals.

And Yu Jahyun was the last clan head. The divine beast clans that had long fought against the Red Dragon all weakened as the dragon’s poison seeped into their bloodlines.

That curse was passed down to their descendants for generations.

Among them, except for the Vermilion Bird clan, which was the strongest, the other three clans perished because of that curse.

Even the Vermilion Bird clan was widely expected to no longer be able to use the clan head’s power after Yu Jahyun.

So Yu Jahyun risked his life to defeat the Red Dragon in his generation.

“In the end, in your past life, Gaga… you released all the seals and unleashed the power to its limit. As a result, your dantian and meridians were completely destroyed.”

Seohwa embraced me more tightly from behind. Even now, I’m not much different from my past life.

I’ve released the third seal and can use some of the Vermilion Bird’s fire, but like my past life, I’m dying.

But now wasn’t the time to dwell on that fact. I shared my thoughts with Seohwa.

“Then, Seohwa, what does it mean that the current ruby has five seals?”

“It means that your current potential exceeds your past life. I created the five seals because your potential… your affinity for power was so great that even four seals couldn’t contain it all.”

That was something I hadn’t expected. The ruby was the qualification of the clan head given to me by the Vermilion Bird.

It meant that I had been granted unprecedented power from the Vermilion Bird. Of course, it meant that I possessed strength beyond what I had imagined, which should be cause for joy.

‘Yu Jahyun released four seals. With the power contained by those four seals, he defeated the Red Dragon.’

Clearly, the demonic energy emanating from that Red Dragon surpassed the power of the great demon I had encountered. Yu Jahyun eventually defeated that Red Dragon alone.

‘Even SS-rank hunters can’t take down a top-tier great demon alone. It would be nearly impossible even for the Five Celestial Stars…’

It meant that by releasing just four seals, the same as my past life, I could possess power equal to the Five Celestial Stars.

Then if the power required five seals, it surely meant power that could face beings beyond the Red Dragon and great demons—even evil gods.

But that was impossible for me now. As if reading my thoughts, Seohwa moved her hands from embracing me to my chest.

“But you know what it means if the fourth seal of your mana heart—the ruby—is released, don’t you?”

It meant my death—undoubtedly immediate death without any grace period.

I responded with silence instead of an answer. But after a moment, I removed Seohwa, who was still embracing me.

Then I turned around and met her red eyes. I held her hands firmly and said,

“Seohwa. I must release the fourth seal.”

At those words, Seohwa’s red eyes darkened. Her lips parted after a moment.

***

Seohwa and I left the bathroom and entered the bedchamber of the separate quarters.

A forbidden area for men. And Seohwa, who had been a priestess of the Vermilion Bird, had naturally never brought a man here before.

But without being conscious of that, the two of us changed into nightclothes and got under the same blanket.

Seohwa’s breathing echoed in the quiet room. I could tell she wasn’t asleep from her hand tightly holding mine.

‘Night…’

As I said when we entered, I’m spending the night with her. And this memory, this time in this space, will likely be the last.

The real-world time checked through the system hasn’t even been a day yet. But I have much to do when I return to Flame.

And if this space still retains even a little of the Vermilion Bird’s power, I need to obtain the strength necessary to maintain it. So I had no time to stay here any longer.

‘The fourth seal…’

The fourth seal that would allow me to use the same power as Yu Jahyun. And if my potential exceeded his to the point of needing five seals.

If I released the fourth seal of the ruby, there was a high chance I wouldn’t die originally.

‘Because my potential would have allowed that much.’

The Vermilion Bird clan. The power of that bloodline connected to the Vermilion Bird was cut off in Yu Jahyun’s generation.

So when that lost power manifested in me again after thousands of years, the Vermilion Bird’s power might have partially recovered during that time.

‘That power would have manifested in me now.’

Or perhaps my own fate is stronger than Yu Jahyun’s. In any case, if my body were in its original state, I might have easily surpassed Yu Jahyun, who was said to be the strongest clan head.

‘But with my current body condition…’

The problem is that my body isn’t normal now. It’s in an abnormal state where the ruby is substituting for my mana heart.

So if I release the fourth seal, my mana heart will undoubtedly collapse completely.

Nevertheless, I had to release the fourth seal. No, at the moment of death, I intend to release all seals like Yu Jahyun did.

The release of the fourth seal that captured the Red Dragon. Even that power might not be enough for the evil god about to resurrect. So in this state, I cannot complete my revenge.

‘At my end, I must be able to release even the fifth seal.’

I interlaced my fingers with Seohwa’s.

Seohwa, the priestess of the Vermilion Bird, said she knew a way for me to temporarily survive even after releasing the fourth seal.

Of course, that method would further shorten what little lifespan I had left, but naturally, Seohwa didn’t want me to release that seal.

‘Even that short time left for Gaga will be reduced! That absolutely cannot happen!’

As she said, even if there’s a way to survive immediately after releasing the fourth seal, my fate to die remains unchanged.

“Seohwa. One last request.”

I embraced Seohwa from behind as she turned her back to me. She shook her head. She was already sobbing.

I kissed her red hair. Seohwa spoke, trying to hold back her tears.

“And… do you intend to take away even my last moments with Gaga!”

As Seohwa said.

After releasing the fourth seal of the mana heart, the only method is to use a spell that blocks the collapsing gap with Seohwa’s soul.

Her soul would be released when I die, but until then, confining her soul to my mana heart means her will would also be trapped in my mana heart.

So from now on, it’s as if I can no longer talk with Seohwa.

“We’ll meet again before long.”

Saying that, I turned Seohwa’s body toward me. And I pulled her into my embrace. Seohwa cried for a long time in my arms.

When Seohwa raised her head again, I pressed my lips to hers. After the deep kiss ended, the two of us removed each other’s clothes under the blanket.

I spent the remaining time in this memory becoming one with Seohwa.

***

I returned to Korea after finishing everything at the Mythic Religion’s temple.

I didn’t release the fourth seal right away.

Since it’s a spell that fills the gaps in my collapsing mana heart with her soul, she said preparation time was needed. She descended to the deepest part of the mana heart.

I could no longer talk with Seohwa. But through the warmth felt in my mana heart, I could sense her will.

A few days ago, that long night I spent with her came to mind involuntarily.

But for Seohwa, who had waited thousands of years to meet me again, it must have been a very short night. I will never forget Seohwa’s emotions and love that I felt during that night.

‘I won’t let Seohwa’s sacrifice be in vain.’

The Red Lake. And the Red Dragon, whose evil connection has continued since my past life. I had to annihilate that evil god.

If that could prevent the collapse of the world, since the cycle of reincarnation would remain as I had been reborn, my connection with Seohwa wouldn’t be the end.

I suppressed those emotions deep in my heart. At the temple of the Mythic Religion, I absorbed all the remaining power of the Vermilion Bird in that deep cave.

Using that power as fuel, a new Vermilion Bird’s fire beyond the blue flame was being created within me.

Just then, a new mission had arrived at Flame. The Tri-Nation Alliance had decided to launch a new operation soon in Japan, which was on the verge of being occupied by the Red Lake.

The most powerful military groups of the Tri-Nation Alliance were scheduled to gather in Kyushu. Naturally, Flame would also participate in the operation as an SS-rank guild.

“We’ll be heading to Kyushu two days from now.”

Yuri told the executives of Flame gathered in the conference room. The executives were assembled in the conference room of Flame’s Busan branch.

And after the meeting ended, I requested a private meeting with Yuri myself.