Ch.15652. Inside the Eternal Barrier (3)

The time within the barrier had turned to night.

The moment Yuri had transformed the Moon Shrine—its interior—into a complete barrier, the boundary between day and night had collapsed.

Perhaps time changes freely according to Yuri’s will. Now that she’s asleep, the time within this space seems to have shifted to night as well.

“Mmm… don’t go…”

I heard Yuri’s sleep-talking from beside me. She was fast asleep. No wonder, after we had been joined as one for quite some time.

For Yuri, this being her first experience, it was natural that she would be exhausted.

I took her hand that was sticking out from under the blanket. Even in her sleep, she interlaced her fingers with mine.

Looking at Yuri sleeping with a contented smile, I gently stroked her hair for a moment.

Then I carefully sat at the edge of the snow bed that Yuri had created.

“Haaah…”

I sighed unconsciously while gazing at the moonlight reflecting off the snow that had fallen all around us.

‘I can’t hide my feelings anymore.’

Just as that thought crossed my mind, the moment I formed a marital bond with Yuri, any excuse became meaningless.

I had become Yuri’s husband.

Of course, we hadn’t legally registered our marriage.

And to formally accept her as my wife—her being a Grand Duke’s daughter—the barriers between us would be incomparably greater than those of an ordinary marriage.

‘Well… I’ll be dead before any formal discussion about that even begins.’

I don’t have much time left anyway. Even though I’ve obtained the power of three of the Four Gods, the sensation of death I feel through my mana heart remains unchanged.

The power of the Black Tortoise that I gained before coming to the shrine.

Thankfully, that solid ice power is temporarily restoring my body. It allows me to endure the pain of dying even without the Sacred Tower, but it’s only a temporary measure.

However, thanks to this brief recovery of my physical condition…

The terrible pain burning through my body from within has reopened emotions I had completely hidden away.

Yuri, who has become my wife, lying here beside me. Seohwa, who was my lover in my past life.

And my true feelings for Soso and Arin—all the women who care for me.

‘This was something I shouldn’t have turned away from in the first place.’

Perhaps those emotions I had hidden in the deepest part of my heart were completely unleashed when I formed a bond with Yuri.

All this time, I’ve been ignoring the feelings of these four women. Yet I never thought of them as mere characters from a novel.

I am someone from outside the novel. And I will die soon. I didn’t want them to remain bound to me after my death.

But despite that, I needed all four of them.

Especially the three from Flame—to normalize the distorted content of the original novel.

To prevent the world’s destruction, I focused all my attention on helping them fulfill the protagonist roles from the original work while trying to exclude emotions.

So I acted like a machine, performing and walking an emotional tightrope between them. With my limited time, I couldn’t think of any other way, even if it was painful for me too.

‘Yes. In truth, I could never really do that.’

To be honest, my marriage with Yuri wasn’t the trigger.

I had already allowed Seohwa back into my heart through our memories. And with Soso, I had been acting essentially as her lover.

And although I tried to keep my distance from Arin, who had nothing to do with my terminal illness…

Despite deliberately staying away from Arin while spending time with other women, ignoring the growing guilt toward her who had taken care of me for two years, Arin was precious to me.

If I had truly been able to act with all my emotions buried, I wouldn’t have suffered because of my relationships with them.

‘So I can no longer deceive anyone.’

I almost felt relieved that I was terminally ill.

Since I was going to die anyway, I didn’t need to follow modern conventions.

The memories remaining in my subconscious. According to those memories, I clearly had romantic connections with all four women.

Especially now that all four of their hearts are directed toward me.

Unlike the original work where none of the four had any connection with me, they are actually growing closer to Seonchang Epitheus in this situation.

‘I am the Colorless Key. And all of them who like me… whom I like… are the Sages of the East.’

So just as I ended up forming a bond with Yuri…

I feel that opening my heart to all of them is the final task and duty of my short remaining life.

For them who will live on after I die.

I want to thank them for caring about me. And create even brief memories so they won’t regret it.

‘Just as I did with Yuri and Seohwa, I will now open my heart.’

At that moment, the three divine artifacts I possessed—

The Red Jade, the Wind Cutter, and the Black Tortoise necklace—emitted a short resonant sound.

After contemplating what lay ahead a bit more, I lay down beside Yuri and fell asleep.

***

The eternal barrier created by the power of the Moon Shrine and the Snow Woman who existed there.

The eternal barrier was probably more solid than any existing barrier technique could compare to. So even after I formed a marital bond with Yuri, the barrier still remained, not disappearing.

As if the barrier knew its role. In fact, that assumption was correct.

‘Time is flowing differently inside the eternal barrier compared to the outside.’

The time confirmed by my in-ear watch was clearly moving slower than the outside space.

The mission period granted by the Allied Forces Headquarters was one week.

I had already used five days. Considering the day needed to head to our destination, Tokyo, I still had one day to spare.

‘And while it’s one day outside, it’s three days inside the eternal barrier.’

So there was time for the ultimate purpose of coming here—to help Yuri awaken as a Sage.

We had both already woken up. And as soon as Yuri awoke, she rushed to me.

“Hold me… huu… like yesterday.”

After rolling around together under the blanket with Yuri for about an hour, the two of us finally had time to talk.

I got to the point with Yuri.

“I’d like to spend more pleasant time with you, but… we can’t head to Tokyo without awakening Nivis.”

“Mmm… I know, but…”

Yuri, nestled in my arms, made a gloomy expression.

“We’re still… on our honeymoon…”

When Yuri’s expression darkened, I unconsciously embraced her more tenderly.

As Ains, I had never missed even the slightest change in Yuri’s emotions. And now too, I wanted to give her everything she wanted.

Yuri buried her face more firmly against my chest, as if being spoiled.

But soon she raised her head again to look at me. Yuri deliberately pushed out her lips in a pout.

“Still, I’m the guild leader of Flame. Flame is… a guild created for you and me. I have no intention of neglecting my duty.”

Yuri said with a bright smile.

‘So she was just pretending to be upset.’

For a moment, even that expression seemed so lovable that I almost got aroused, but I suppressed that urge with just a light kiss on her lips. Then Yuri and I got out of bed.

Yuri used her control over the barrier to clean both our clothes.

Then we climbed together to a snowy hill.

Yuri knew well what she needed to do. Wearing the Snow Woman’s kimono, she faced me and said:

“Nivis has been resonating continuously since coming to Setsunomura. It seems like a sign of transitioning beyond its second form into a new form…”

Yuri stretched her right hand toward the sky.

Then, intense freezing mana gathered around the silver ring on the third finger of her right hand—Nivis.

‘As expected, Yuri’s mana control is…’

In an instant, Yuri created such a heavy snowfall that the clear snowy field was quickly covered in a blizzard.

That appearance was exactly like the S-class hunter—no, now S+ class hunter—Yuri Tarkovskaya that I knew well.

“But Nivis isn’t showing any particular change here. It’s still in its second form.”

As Yuri said, creating elemental spells on a meteorological scale with pure mana affinity was incredibly impressive, but…

That was clearly just Yuri’s innate talent.

It didn’t feel like she had released the limits of the Ancient Gear, Nivis.

‘Compared to Nana who unlocked all forms of the Red Jade, or Soso, it’s insufficient in its current state.’

Especially when compared to Soso, who had also become an S+ class hunter.

Soso had already obtained her family’s divine artifact, the Heavenly Demon Sword Payeonggeom, and released its third form.

As a result, her swordsmanship and Heavenly Demon Divine Technique had improved dramatically. But honestly, Yuri hadn’t reached that level.

‘It’s definitely not a lack of pure talent or magical affinity.’

In other words, Yuri appearing relatively behind was clearly an issue with her gear. And although three days remained, it wasn’t that much time.

‘We might need to change the style in which Yuri has been using magic.’

I looked into Yuri’s blue eyes and said to her:

“Maybe you’ve been too conscious of Soso.”

At those words, Yuri’s gaze turned toward me.

***

Fortunately, Yuri’s blue eyes looked calm.

Whenever Soso was mentioned while we were alone, Yuri’s eyes would always turn pitch black.

When I mentioned Soso, her expression inevitably hardened, but she seemed to be suppressing her intense jealousy toward Soso to some extent.

“Soso… you say?”

Yuri’s lips trembled slightly as she spoke. I nodded.

“Since returning from Busan, Soso’s swordsmanship has improved significantly. And since Soso’s return, the way you use magic has changed considerably from before.”

I explained to Yuri.

In Flame, I was directly assigned to the raid team and already active as a dealer, but I hadn’t forgotten my role as an operator.

So I checked all of Yuri’s MCI and combat logs, even for missions I hadn’t participated in.

‘Since Soso’s return, Yuri has been continuously using only attack spells.’

Perhaps Soso—Flame’s raid team leader and main melee dealer—showing overwhelming swordsmanship skills during missions had stimulated Yuri.

So to not fall behind Soso…

Even when she didn’t need to use attack spells, Yuri always used her ice spells solely for offensive purposes.

“Of course, your magical talent… your ice spells are excellent as attack spells too. But it’s not the way to utilize all your potential.”

Yuri tilted her head at those words.

“My potential… but I’m quite confident in my attack spells too…”

I shook my head at her words.

“No. Would you look around?”

Yuri looked around the snowy field at my words. At that moment, she seemed to understand my intention to some extent.

“Could it be… the eternal barrier…?”

I nodded at her words.

“Yes. The spells where you can exert your greatest power are barrier techniques. And defensive techniques that apply those barriers.”

In short, Yuri’s ultimate talent lay in being the most solid shield and tank.

Although she had borrowed the shrine’s power, she had created a structurally perfect barrier that altered time relative to the outside world.

Above all, I, who had once been imprisoned in her eternal barrier, knew this fact best.

‘Well… I still am, in a way.’

Yuri was silent for a moment.

For Yuri, who felt intense jealousy and rivalry toward Soso, being told to give up attack spells and focus on defensive spells probably wasn’t welcome news.

“So… that’s why Nivis remains in its second form. If that’s what you’re saying, Min-su… if that’s what you want, of course I’ll change my approach, but…”

Yuri seemed willing to follow my advice, raising her right hand to look at Nivis. I smiled at the sight.

“You don’t need to be so jealous. I told you, you’re the one monopolizing me right now.”

To be precise, I should have added “here in Setsunomura, inside the eternal barrier,” but since Yuri could read my true feelings here, I didn’t bother telling her about my feelings for Soso—that I also held Soso in my heart.

Instead, I took Yuri’s right hand.

“Nivis. Let’s switch it to a different hand.”

“Huh? A-another hand…?”

I removed Nivis from Yuri’s right hand.

Ancient Gears have their own will, so if Nivis had rejected me, I could never have removed it, but fortunately, Nivis seemed to understand my intention. Yuri’s blue eyes widened for a moment.

I placed Nivis on the ring finger of Yuri’s left hand.