Ch.15251. Awakening of the Glass Sage (2)

Day 4 in Setsunomura.

Tomorrow was finally the day when Yuri and I would form our marital bond.

The two of us left the mansion early in the morning. We walked along the village paths that had become quite familiar by now.

The villagers recognized Yuri and me, but they only greeted us politely with clasped hands, never interfering with us.

This emboldened Yuri to link her arm with mine even in front of others.

“Tomorrow, hehe. We’ll truly become one!”

As she spoke, more freezing mana emanated from her.

Tomorrow was the full moon night.

Perhaps because of this, Yuri’s aura now perfectly matched that of a snow woman.

A white-haired beauty with an aura so mystical and bewitching that she could hardly be called human. This snow woman was the person I would take as my bride tomorrow.

“I’ll never give you to anyone else, Minsu!”

Yuri had been saying this repeatedly. At least for this moment, I was glad that Soso and Arini weren’t here.

‘I hope this doesn’t mean Soso and Arini’s lives are in danger.’

The thought that suddenly occurred to me seemed more plausible than I’d like, sending chills down my spine.

But I chose to believe in the prophecy that contained Ayel’s direct will. Yuri, the White Sage, wouldn’t kill the other two Eastern Sages.

Still, to find Epitheus, I needed to be with those three as the Colorless Key.

It was something that had to be done to prevent the world’s destruction.

And for that purpose, I was willing to do anything.

‘The Eastern Sages…’

Yuri and I were heading toward the path to the Moon Shrine. More precisely, to the place where some enormous energy was blocking the way.

Through the ancient book of Ailetan found in the ancient dungeon, we had discovered the identity of that massive energy.

It was Genbu, another of the Four Gods and Divine Beasts. The barrier created by Genbu was blocking the path to the Moon Temple.

So the two of us were moving to directly confront this Genbu.

“Hmm… there are no villagers around anymore…”

As Yuri said, we had already reached the outskirts of the village. When I gently kissed her lips, Yuri’s expression became ecstatic.

“…Though I’m shy, I am your bride. Only… I can have you all to myself.”

Yuri constantly desired me at every moment.

I too felt my feelings for Yuri growing stronger here in Setsunomura. Or rather than growing, it was more like my heart, which had been firmly closed since Ains’s tragedy, was opening again.

As the full moon approached, my desire to possess Yuri was growing stronger as well.

But today we had important matters to attend to, so I couldn’t indulge in more sweet time with Yuri.

‘And the Four Gods…’

The ancient dungeon discovered in Setsunomura. The ancient book obtained there contained detailed records about the Four Gods and their clans.

The ancient Eastern Empire of Ailetan. The transcendent beings known as the Four Gods from that era were not unrelated to me.

My past life, Yu Jahyun. I was the head of the clan that worshipped Suzaku, one of the Four Gods.

Not only the Suzaku clan but also the clans of the other divine beasts had faced the Red Dragon.

After a thousand-year-long battle, all clans except for the Suzaku clan were annihilated—or so I had believed.

‘But to think descendants of those supposedly extinct clans were still alive.’

I learned the truth through the ancient book.

The Suzaku clan, which had been the most powerful.

The other three clans, to escape extinction and the Red Dragon’s curse, sent their descendants far to the west.

Leaving their homeland in the Eastern Empire, they settled in distant western lands—the Slavic Kingdom or where the ancient Western Empire of Ailetan once stood.

The ancient book was a record left by descendants of those clans.

Of course, by the time the book was written, even the Suzaku clan had been extinct for thousands of years, so it seemed unrelated to me at first glance.

And those clans had no connection to the Eastern Sages like Yuri, Soso, or Arini.

‘No, it is related to me. Quite directly, in fact.’

Through information from the original work, Aka Hunter, my past life memories, and this ancient book, I had discovered several truths.

Yuri and I stood once again before the barrier created by Genbu.

***

Yuri manipulated her freezing mana in front of the barrier.

Her white hair, which had grown longer in the village, swayed with the flow of the freezing mana.

Like a snow woman controlling ice and snow, she unleashed a powerful 6th-tier ice spell that collided with the barrier.

KAKAKAKANG—

A massive vibration echoed like striking a huge piece of metal.

“It’s no use. Even my strongest attack spell can’t break the barrier. This might be even stronger than the eternal barrier I could create…”

“Elder Yukiyo was right.”

Yuri’s barrier techniques were unmatched by all but a few mages in the world. The fact that even she was struggling indicated just how formidable this barrier was.

The village elder, Yukiyo, had told us about this barrier.

Setsunomura was a village that had long concealed its existence from the outside world.

Thus, they too were skilled in barrier techniques similar to the Gimunjin, but this particular barrier was so strong that even the talented priestess Yukiyo couldn’t affect it at all.

‘So it truly is the power of the Four Gods.’

KWAKWAKWAKWANG—

Just to be sure, I exploded Suzaku’s fire near the barrier, but it remained intact.

‘This won’t work.’

We absolutely needed to cross this barrier for Yuri’s awakening as a Sage. But I quickly calmed my impatient heart.

I was the Colorless Key meant to help Yuri awaken. I would surely find a way.

After some time passed, I found the answer.

During my meditation on fire—the meditation to use the power of the Red Jade, or rather Suzaku—I noticed that the Suzaku power was reacting to the barrier before me.

‘I see. So you were the one who called me here.’

Despite my promise to Yuri and the important mission of the Sage’s awakening,

I realized that I too had subconsciously felt that I needed to come to Setsunomura, independent of Yuri.

I recalled the contents of the ancient book again.

– The power of Suzaku, which had already vanished, could not be revived even by the successors of the other clans.

As that passage stated, the power of Suzaku had disappeared when the last clan head—my past life—died. Seohwa had also told me that the power had completely vanished at that time.

The ancient book lamented this fact with great regret.

– But the revival of the evil god has already been foretold. Without the power of Suzaku, the strongest divine beast, the evil Red Dragon can never be defeated. Yet we could not find a way.

Nevertheless, I had now revived the power of that extinct divine beast.

‘After breaking the fourth seal of the Red Jade, I could use Suzaku’s fire.’

And at that moment, I recalled the content of the original work, Aka Hunter.

The original work didn’t specifically mention the Four Gods. However, through the protagonist Siwoo, I could infer that the Four Gods were not unrelated to the original story.

‘In the original work, Siwoo’s ability was the power of wind and water.’

And it was the same in the current world. Before his death, Siwoo skillfully used those powers of wind and water.

More precisely, the power to summon rain clouds. That power was the power of Seiryu, one of the Four Gods.

‘So Siwoo’s identity was…’

He must have been a descendant of that great clan that had always competed with the Suzaku clan when it was at its strongest.

Neither the ancient book nor the original work explicitly mentioned this fact.

But considering the foreshadowing about Siwoo’s bloodline that I remembered, and Siwoo’s abilities, they were undoubtedly connected to Seiryu, one of the Four Gods.

‘But in the original work, Siwoo might not have been able to defeat the evil god with that power alone.’

The Ancient Gear called Red Jade didn’t appear in the original work.

So without Suzaku’s power awakening in anyone, Aka Hunter flowed toward a bad ending.

As mentioned in the ancient book,

Suzaku’s power had already vanished in the time of my past life, Yu Jahyun—thousands of years before even the era of Ailetan.

But now things were different.

Siwoo, the protagonist of the original work, was dead. Yet Suzaku’s power had awakened in me, who was not the protagonist.

Though I disliked thinking it was denying Siwoo’s death,

My current existence might have created some new possibility that Siwoo could not have achieved.

A world destined for destruction. The only possibility to prevent that world’s destruction.

So if there was some great fate moving this story,

I could now explain why Siwoo sacrificed himself to save me.

‘I am the Colorless Key foretold by Ayel…’

So I was no longer a supporting character in this world. Rather, I might be closer to being the protagonist of this world than even Siwoo was.

‘And I was already using Siwoo’s power—the power of Seiryu.’

Seiryu’s power is that of clouds—the ability to freely control rain and wind through clouds.

During the battle at Busan, in that summer of pouring storms, I had fully used that power to resist the downpour that blocked the alliance’s ships.

‘Wind Cutter.’

The power that I had mistaken for the power of the Ancient Gear all this time.

The powerful wind ability possessed by Wind Cutter was actually the power of Seiryu that Siwoo had passed to me through his death.

I looked at the barrier before me again. Then I drew Wind Cutter from its sheath.

Suzaku’s fire and Seiryu’s wind began to resonate along the blade of Wind Cutter. What I needed to do now was clear.

I needed to take the power of another divine beast right before me—the power of Genbu.

***

KWAKWAKWAKWAKWAKWANG—

The intense flames finally destroyed Genbu’s barrier.

My most powerful attack spell theory, Resonance Compression—I applied this dual-element mixed spell to the divine beasts’ powers as well.

Suzaku’s fire and Seiryu’s wind. The combined powers of two great divine beasts annihilated Genbu’s barrier on the spot.

‘If it had been the power of just one divine beast, that barrier probably wouldn’t have fallen.’

So the current barrier was like a gateway for me to proceed to the next stage.

When I destroyed the seemingly impenetrable barrier, Yuri’s eyes widened.

“How on earth…”

But the moment the barrier broke, the intense cold and blizzard that existed beyond it rushed toward us.

Yuri immediately tried to counter the blizzard with an ice spell, but I raised my hand to stop her.

“No need to be wary.”

And then, from the middle of the blizzard,

A massive turtle-shaped silhouette made entirely of ice appeared. Ice was the power Genbu possessed as one of the Four Gods. I reached out my hand, not resisting that power.

Then, a swirl of snow gently enveloped me.

When the blizzard disappeared, a snowflake-shaped necklace remained in my hand.

“Are, are you okay?”

Yuri hurriedly checked my body. I was fine without any injuries.

Rather, with the newly acquired power of Genbu, I felt the terrible burning sensation ease even without using the Seraph’s Citadel.

Simultaneously, Yuri and I looked beyond the path where the blizzard had disappeared. At the end of that path, we could see the Moon Shrine that had been hidden by the blizzard.

“That’s… where we’ll form our bond…”

Yuri said, squeezing my hand tightly.

As she said, I was to form a marital bond with her at that shrine before us.

Another day passed, and the wedding day arrived.

The two of us completed the wedding procedures in the village during the day. As time passed and night fell with the full moon rising,

Finally, Yuri and I headed together to the Moon Shrine.