Ch.184Final Chapter. In the Name of Flame (1)

The surrounding scenery changed again.

I could see the landscape of reality, not the alternate dimension.

It seems I’ve emerged from the depths of the Sacred Lake. I had finished all my conversations with Arel.

Arel appears to have begun altering reality with the remaining power of the Creator.

‘Has Arel disappeared?’

Since I, his avatar, remained, it wasn’t a complete disappearance yet. I could feel Arel’s will inside me.

That will had only one purpose.

‘Now I will finish everything.’

The one thing Arel couldn’t do. The final task of destroying the Divine Beast, the Red Dragon, that he himself had created.

Looking around, this didn’t seem to be Earth. I was in the middle of some forest.

‘Is this still Ailetan?’

The last place our group had been was the sacred realm of Ailetan. So this made sense.

However now, it seemed the reality within the novel had perfectly replaced the actual reality.

To the extent that my companions, who never knew the outside reality to begin with, wouldn’t feel any sense of dissonance.

‘Then further regression… recreation… remaking of the novel is impossible.’

At this rate, the future of this altered reality would be no different from the original reality.

The end of the world foretold by the resurrection of the Evil God.

So if we couldn’t defeat the Evil God, there would be no way to prevent the world’s end, no matter what methods we tried.

‘So this is the final coin.’

What I had obtained in Ailetan was the power to destroy the Evil God—the Sacred Chant Epitheus.

I needed to deliver this final hope to the people of Earth.

‘And to the people of Ailetan as well.’

That was the meaning of my remaining life.

However, having the Sacred Chant didn’t mean we could immediately defeat the Evil God.

Even before the Evil God’s appearance, the world was on the brink of destruction just from the chaos caused by the Red Lake.

We needed the final help of the Union’s hunters, especially the elite members of our group.

‘So they can send me to the Evil God.’

Of course, the Red Lake’s elite forces would try to prevent me from reaching the Evil God.

I paused my thoughts for a moment.

The light around us faded, and I could see my companions. Everyone was staggering while standing still. They had all been dreaming until just now.

All three looked dizzy, still affected by sleep.

“Is everyone alright?”

I used Windcutter’s breeze to support my companions’ bodies. And I personally held Arin to steady her.

“Senior…”

Arin nestled into my arms. I could feel her soft body.

Yuri and Soso turned their heads toward me. For a moment, their glares at Arin were intensely fierce.

I pretended not to notice their looks and continued speaking.

“It seems we’re in the forest near Risen territory.”

At my words, everyone looked around.

This appeared to be the forest with Arel’s gate, where our group had first arrived after passing through the gate in the Vatican’s underground.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

“The surroundings look familiar. I remember the path in my head. If we hurry, we should be able to reach the gate we came through in about two days.”

Yuri was very skilled at hunting and survival activities. Her words were trustworthy.

“Then let’s quickly head there… wait, hold on!”

Everyone seemed to have fully regained their senses.

“But weren’t we at that Sacred Lake? What happened there…”

Soso was right.

Since only I remembered what happened with Arel, from their perspective, they had suddenly been teleported from the lake to this place.

Everyone looked at me simultaneously. They were Eastern Sages. They seemed to have instinctively noticed that I, the Colorless Key, had changed.

“What about the Sacred Chant Epitheus…”

Yuri also asked.

I smiled gently at them.

“Don’t worry too much. Everything worked out well. Let’s get moving for now.”

At my words, everyone’s expressions brightened.

“Understood.”

“I understand.”

“Yes! Senior!”

The group began walking through the forest.

***

Night fell in the forest.

We seemed to have walked more than halfway to the gate. We could return to Earth after spending just one night here.

Like when we first came here, we decided to spend the night in an abandoned house in the forest.

Everyone gathered in the living room, just like before. We lit the fireplace and were taking a rest.

“I’m really… relieved.”

Arin said, looking at the blazing fire.

I had told them about what happened at the Sacred Lake.

Of course, I didn’t mention anything about Arel’s and my true identities, or about the alteration of reality.

Naturally, I also concealed the fact that using Epitheus would cause even my soul to perish.

“To think that Senior became the master of the Sacred Chant. Now we can bring humanity’s hope back to Earth. Arel guided us…”

Arin made the sign of the cross.

What I had told them was that I had directly encountered Arel’s will.

And that I had received the Sacred Chant Epitheus directly from the god of Ailetan.

“So Minsu was indeed the master of the Sacred Chant. Now I understand why we became Eastern Sages.”

Yuri also wore a happy expression.

My companions now thoroughly believed my words.

‘Fortunately, even Arin can’t read my mind now.’

Arin was Ayel’s Saint. She could read others’ minds with her divine power that transcended humanity.

But I was Arel’s avatar.

Although I had lost most of the Creator’s power now, I could still manipulate my inner thoughts and memories that Arin might try to read.

‘Yes. It’s better for everyone not to know the truth.’

What my companions were more curious about than Epitheus was my remaining lifespan.

Contact with the Creator and gaining the power of all Divine Beasts.

It gave them a small hope that my terminal illness might be cured.

Especially Arin, Ayel’s Saint, immediately thought of that possibility.

“Senior seems full of vitality now, unlike before.”

Unlike my usual voice that pretended to be cheerful but hid sadness, this was different.

At Arin’s words, hope filled Yuri and Soso’s eyes.

“T-then… could it be that Minsu’s incurable disease…!!”

As Yuri spoke, Soso urgently pressed Arin.

“Is it true that Minsu’s illness can be cured?”

Arin couldn’t give a definite answer. But as a Saint, she could immediately sense someone’s physical condition with her divine power.

Her expression was bright.

“The current Senior is incomparable to before. Certainly. Until recently… when I looked into Senior’s mana heart, it was torn to shreds. But now its shape has stabilized, and the source mana isn’t leaking at all.”

At those words, tears began to well up in Yuri and Soso’s eyes.

“Is it really true! Not a lie? Hic…”

“Really… can Minsu continue to live…?”

Then everyone looked at me simultaneously. I nodded.

“I’m not a doctor, so I can’t know everything about my body, but it seems my body has definitely improved thanks to the Divine Beast’s power.”

At those words, all three embraced me.

Despite their complicated feelings toward each other, they were all so happy they forgot their grudges.

Except for me alone.

‘I’m sorry, everyone. But… I can’t tell you the truth.’

I needed to leave behind a world where these three people I loved could live.

So that none of them would lose heart until just before defeating the Evil God, I had to give them hope.

The time for farewell was approaching, but I alone needed to prepare for that farewell.

‘Yes. I shouldn’t leave any lingering attachments either.’

Fortunately or not, after regaining my memories as an avatar, I learned.

That humans cannot bear an avatar’s child. So I didn’t need to worry about leaving behind another attachment between them and me.

‘A child…’

If I could truly survive, I would have taken responsibility for all three of them, even if it meant changing my nationality.

As a lover, that’s naturally the future I would want. But I stopped my thoughts there.

Instead of leaving attachments, I decided to love them more in what little time I had left.

“Once we cross the gate, life-or-death battles will begin.”

I said. At those words, the three who had been full of joy momentarily stiffened.

“Yes. Even when we crossed the gate… Juan Soriano seemed to have transcended human limits.”

As Yuri said, Soriano had already corrupted the Vatican, the spiritual center of the Union.

This would have accelerated the Evil God’s resurrection. Along with the Evil God, we would have to face Soriano’s elite villains directly.

Each of them would now possess the power of an Arch-demon.

“It’s already been… two weeks since we crossed the gate…”

Soso also said. During those two weeks.

Humanity and the Union had likely suffered damage comparable to previous world wars.

But I smiled at them.

“Still, isn’t one last night here alright? When we return to Earth, we’ll fight to the death.”

“Huh… ah?!!”

I embraced Arin tightly. Yuri and Soso’s gazes instantly turned fierce.

“Why… only Arin!!”

“Th-that’s not fair! Why only Arin…”

I smiled at them.

“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of all of you.”

“Eek?!!”

I laid all three down.

And I spent an unforgettable night with all three of them.

Forgetting about the world’s destruction and the destiny to prevent it.

I possessed their bodies and hearts all night long.

***

Finally, we crossed Arel’s gate again.

My companions worried about encountering Red Lake villains again in the Vatican’s underground.

But since it was a gate created with Arel’s divinity, I could modify its coordinates somewhat.

“This is…”

A familiar scene appeared. A landscape full of European-style buildings. It seemed to be Rome, Italy.

“Looks like we’ve returned to Rome.”

I told Yuri. Though famous as a tourist destination, the surrounding buildings were now in ruins as if they had been bombed.

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-

Soon we heard the sound of something exploding.

Our group quickly took cover. I launched a drone from my earpiece to assess the situation.

“It seems the Red Lake villains have come down to Rome.”

The situation didn’t look good. The European front line had formed in northern Italy.

But it seemed the front had been pushed back to central Rome during the two weeks our group was in Ailetan.

‘The Vatican was Europe’s last bastion…’

The atmospheric MCI displayed on my earpiece showed that the surrounding magical energy was no different from an S-class dungeon.

‘It seems the Red Dragon has already resurrected.’

Still, the European Union’s Crusader Hunters were resisting the villains with their remaining forces.

I accessed the encrypted channel I had received from Commander Caruso before leaving the Rome air base.

‘The channel is still active.’

Commander Caruso seems to still be alive.

Then with the arrival of Flame’s elite forces now, we could certainly create a reversal.

I opened the channel and informed the Crusaders.

“Flame’s hunters have arrived. Ayel’s Saint will also be with you.”

An urgent response came through the channel. I continued.

“Now is the time for counterattack. May God’s blessing be with you.”

And I launched Phoenix’s fire at a demon about to pounce on a hunter before me.

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-

With a massive explosion, blue-white flames erupted.