Ch.17458. Arel’s Gate (3)

The four of them were gathered together in the living room.

Before crossing the gate, it had been summer in the northern hemisphere of Earth.

But where they were now, it was bitterly cold. Considering the short daylight hours and the cold even during the day, it seemed winter had already arrived.

So despite there being other rooms available…

They all gathered in the living room where they had lit a fire in the fireplace. After finishing their meal with some edible plants and berries that Soso had found outside, they drank tea.

‘It’s quiet.’

Only the sound of burning firewood could be heard in the living room.

No one opened their mouth to speak. Come to think of it, the three excluding myself didn’t get along that well.

Yuri and Soso had maintained a relatively close working relationship until I joined Flame, but now there was awkwardness between them.

And Arini had disliked those two from the beginning anyway. So the current uncomfortable atmosphere was understandable.

‘Well, there’s no need to force a pleasant atmosphere.’

Since the rift in their feelings toward each other was caused by me, I couldn’t take anyone’s side here.

Thinking that this silence wasn’t so bad, I lay down on the bedding that had been spread out. Everyone must have been tired, as all three soon lay down beside me and fell asleep.

These three women were the envy of many male hunters.

Some might consider this an extremely luxurious situation, but I just felt sorry for the three of them.

‘I hope they all live well, even if I die.’

I had seen Chae Min-a caressing Siwoo’s severed head.

Though no one would have noticed because she was consumed by immense magical energy, her eyes were etched with profound despair.

Chae Min-a was also someone who had lost a precious person.

As someone who owed my life to Siwoo, I found Chae Min-a’s descent into villainy hateful, yet at the same time, I could understand her feelings.

Even now, I don’t think I could maintain my sanity if one of these three were to die.

‘The same would be true for these three.’

I quietly closed my eyes and sensed my mana heart, which was on the verge of breaking.

Seohwa was already pouring all her strength into maintaining the mana heart. Though it had miraculously avoided destruction so far…

Now only one seal remained that was keeping the mana heart functioning as a mana heart.

‘The fifth seal.’

I possessed a special power that even my past life, Yoo Jahyun, had never surpassed.

That’s probably why I was barely alive despite being half-dead, but I was already certain that I would need to release even that seal to face the evil god.

‘If I release all that power, I’ll die instantly on the spot.’

So I had to hold on a little longer. I barely managed to repair my mana heart and mana road, which had been devastated by the Black Tortoise’s power.

‘Not much time left now.’

I didn’t want to crumble into meaningless ashes without accomplishing anything.

I needed to create one final flame using my body as fuel—a flame that would surely end the evil god’s life along with the divine spell Epitheus.

***

A little later, I organized in my mind what I had been thinking about earlier today as we headed here.

While spending the short daylight hours in Ailetan, I had a hunch.

The power of the last divine beast, the White Tiger, remained here in Ailetan. If I could obtain that power, I might somehow survive until I acquired Epitheus.

‘Epitheus. The final legacy left by Arele, the god of this place, to the people of Ailetan.’

And since the power of the divine beasts—the Four Guardians—also originated from Arele…

I thought that if I could reclaim all of Arele’s power, the final secret remaining for me might be solved.

‘Arele is the god of Ailetan. Then perhaps he could reveal the truth about my identity, having been transmigrated into this novel, and about this world.’

The same would be true of Ayel, the god of the White Cross Society.

But even Arini, who directly received Ayel’s blessing, remained silent about this fact.

Arini can read my mind. The fact that she couldn’t tell me about my identity means that Ayel’s blessing alone isn’t enough to know the truth about this world within the novel.

‘The original author, Red Lake.’

And I truly wanted to know the identity of that mysterious writer. As I came here, I gained some clues.

Although this area had dimensionally merged with Earth, it wasn’t abandoned from the beginning, as Ailetan buildings were mixed in here and there.

‘There was also Arele’s monastery.’

I had seen a similar monastery on Earth.

The very monastery where I had obtained Parma’s holy relic. Since that monastery was also left behind due to dimensional fusion, it made sense.

And today, I discovered what appeared to be characters symbolizing Arele in the monastery I had seen.

[A.R.E.L.E]

It was strange to find English in this other world, but…

Since this world originated from twin gods, I had heard that the alphabet existed in Ailetan culture, so it wasn’t impossible.

And looking at those letters, a thought suddenly occurred to me.

The name I had thought about endlessly since my transmigration into the novel—Red Lake. I had scribbled that author’s name in English countless times.

[R.E.D.L.A.K.E.]

That pen name meaning “red lake.” And if you ignore just the letters D and K and rearrange the rest, you get exactly the word I saw in the monastery today.

[R.E.L.A.E.]

[A.R.E.L.E]

Various pronunciations might be possible, but I was certain.

‘Arele.’

The name Arele was hidden within the original author’s name, Red Lake.

Of course, you had to ignore the letters D and K and rearrange the rest, so it might be far-fetched. But I couldn’t ignore this fact.

It was much harder to deny the possibility that the god of Ailetan and the original author were directly connected. If that was the case, there was only one conclusion.

‘If that’s true, then the original author Red Lake might be Arele.’

That’s why I absolutely had to complete this mission in Ailetan.

If I reclaimed the divine beast’s power and Epitheus, the power of Arele, who had lost his divinity to the Red Dragon, would temporarily revive.

I sincerely wanted to ask that revived god about the truth of this world and my identity.

Although I had a past life as Yoo Jahyun, I wanted to know about the identity of Min-su Lee—the person with no memories before the transmigration.

After thinking for a long time like this, I eventually fell asleep alongside the three of them.

***

I woke up from a dream.

The firewood was still burning. Judging by the darkness around, the sun hadn’t risen yet.

‘What kind of dream was that…’

Unlike me, I had a somewhat embarrassing dream.

A dream of spending the night with all three of my companions. Of course, we were actually spending the night together right now.

But the night in my dream had a more adult meaning.

‘What am I doing having such desires when I’m about to die…’

And it had only been a few days since I first made love with Arini.

The divine beast’s power had grown stronger since entering Ailetan. Perhaps that had some influence.

As I was trying to deny the reason for my embarrassing dream, I noticed something unnatural about my body.

‘What is this constriction?’

I soon realized the reason. Someone was holding both my arms tightly and pressing against my body.

‘Soso and… Arini?’

Turning my head slightly, I saw it was those two. They were embracing me closely from both sides.

“M-move! Min-su is… Min-su is… not your property! Min-su is mine… only mine…”

At that moment, I heard someone’s voice and quickly pretended to be asleep again.

As my drowsy mind cleared, I recognized the voice. It was Yuri.

‘Why is she doing that?’

Yuri was saying something in a very urgent voice.

“Get out! I said get out! I also… I also want to be with Min-su…”

I could guess the situation now. Apparently, while sleeping, Arini and Soso had taken up all the space beside me.

So Yuri, unable to squeeze between those two, was somehow trying to get to the spot right next to me.

‘This is embarrassing.’

On the other hand, I completely understood.

Yuri and I were formally married. Although I had decided to love the other two women as well…

To her, I was someone very special. With two other women claiming me like this, Yuri must be unable to contain her anger.

‘Still, she’s controlling herself well.’

If this were Yuri from when she couldn’t control her Snow Woman powers, she might have tried to kill those two.

I had repeatedly told her my true feelings—that I needed everyone and would spend my remaining life protecting them all.

So if Yuri acted recklessly and hurt Arini and Soso, it would ruin what I was trying to accomplish in my final days.

That’s why Yuri was trying to physically remove the two without using any mana. But it was futile.

Soso was a swordsman at her peak. And although Ayel’s divine power had weakened, Arini’s will was still blessed by divine grace.

So despite Yuri’s repeated attempts to separate them, she ultimately failed.

Her face was gradually turning into a tearful expression. She spoke resentfully:

“I don’t… like this… someone other than me… Min-su with… Min-su with…”

Her jealousy suddenly seemed cute to me.

But before I could do anything, Yuri climbed on top of my body.

“Haah… yes, like this… like this I can also sleep with Min-su.”

She laid her body over mine. Yuri was thin, so she wasn’t heavy at all, but…

I was momentarily flustered for a different reason.

‘Damn. Of all times, right after having that strange dream…’

Having physical contact with all three women simultaneously, my body, just waking up, was naturally responding.

Still, I left her alone for a moment to let her do as she pleased.

And while suppressing any lustful thoughts as much as possible, I thought about all three women with pure intentions.

‘I really don’t want to part with these three like this.’

As Min-su Lee, I have no memories of my past.

These memories I’ve created with these three people are my entire life.

Death doesn’t frighten me at all. For the sake of Aince’s victims who died because of me, it shouldn’t.

But if there’s one thing I fear now that death is approaching, it’s…

That my connection with these three people will be severed.

‘That… absolutely won’t happen.’

Just as the bond between my past life from thousands of years ago and Seohwa wasn’t broken and we met again in this current life…

No matter how far in the future it might be, I wanted to meet these three people again.

‘When that time comes… I hope we can all be happy together for a long time.’

Though I’m not religious, I prayed this prayer to Arele, the god of Ailetan.

But that thought was brief. Yuri’s reactions became intense more quickly than I expected.

“Haah… to no one… to no thieving cat… I’ll never give Min-su away… Even if Min-su dies… the one who will follow him in death… is me… me alone… hnngh…”

As Yuri pressed her body against mine, she was becoming increasingly aroused.

‘If those two wake up…’

That would become a very serious situation, so I quickly opened my eyes and whispered in Yuri’s ear.

“Stop. You’ll wake everyone else up.”

“Eep?!!”

Yuri, extremely startled, jerked her body upright.

“H-how… were you awake the whole time…? Then everything I did… all of it…?”

Her pupils trembled. Since she had essentially tried to take advantage of me while I was sleeping, she was very flustered at being caught.

But I carefully said:

“These two are still asleep… shall we go to another room, just the two of us?”

Yuri hesitated for a moment. Then, seemingly understanding my intention, her face turned bright red. But she quickly nodded.

“…… Yes…”

Yuri moved off my body. I carefully detached Soso and Arini using the divine beast’s power.

Then, secretly from the two of them, I spent a brief night with Yuri in another room.

After the night passed and morning came.

The group, having left that house and traveled for a few more days, finally encountered the people of Ailetan.