Ch.191Epilogue. Memories Remain Without Disappearing (2) – End

“Minsu was the incarnation of Arel?”

Yuri asked in surprise. Seong Arin nodded and continued speaking.

“Yes. He was the incarnation of Arel, the creator of Ailetan.”

And that story was a truth that even Yuri and Soso, who had been with Minsu until his final moments, knew nothing about.

Belatedly, all the puzzle pieces began to fit together.

The truth about the divine beast powers Minsu had used and the sacred spear Epitheus.

The story of the Four Divine Beasts related to that truth. And even Minsu’s ill-fated connection with the evil god as Arel’s incarnation.

All those truths were shocking to the two women.

“Setanus, who was about to manifest at Gwanghwamun. That evil god’s status was no different from the creators Ayel or Arel. Only Minsu, as the incarnation, could annihilate Setanus.”

The sacred spear Epitheus that Minsu had used in the final battle.

It was a divine weapon created by using all the power of annihilation that Minsu possessed as an incarnation.

“Then the ultimate cause of what’s happening now is also…”

Seong Arin nodded at Yuri’s words.

“That’s right. That power of annihilation is a force that can erase even one’s own body and soul. Beyond the simple death of a being, it’s literal ‘annihilation.'”

Seong Arin emphasized the word annihilation.

As she said, Minsu was truly being forgotten by the world.

As if he had never existed. As if his records were being erased. Minsu’s very existence was disappearing.

Since he had been annihilated from the great cycle of reincarnation, he was being forgotten by humans and the world as a result.

With all divine power annihilated, it was a natural consequence that Arel, who had been the creator of a world, would disappear into the realm of ‘nothingness.’

And realizing the meaning of this, Yuri and Soso trembled.

“That can’t be! Don’t tell me… don’t tell me we’ll forget Minsu too?”

“That’s impossible…! How could we… That absolutely cannot happen!”

Though they were in front of his younger sister, tears immediately welled up in both their eyes.

Seong Arin’s expression was the same.

Her eyes filled with sadness as she unconsciously stroked her belly.

“It’s been only half a year since my brother died. But seeing how quickly he’s being forgotten… someday we might end up the same way. It means we might not be able to keep his request to remember him.”

With those words, all three fell silent.

‘If I forget Minsu… what will be the meaning of my life…’

But Yuri forcibly suppressed those feelings of despair.

Still, not everything about Minsu had disappeared. No, the most definitive evidence was right in front of her.

“That’s right. My brother’s child… is growing inside me.”

Soso also stopped crying. At least now, everyone’s hearts were aligned.

The feeling that no matter what happened, they had to protect Minsu’s child.

“Thank you, sisters.”

As if reading their thoughts, Seong Arin spoke. Then she brought up something unexpected.

“But recently I discovered something. As Ayel’s saint. And as the mother of my brother’s child. That there’s still hope left.”

At the mention of hope, both women’s expressions changed.

“Hope…?”

Seong Arin continued.

“While staying in this safe house, I’ve been in constant contact with Ayel’s will as a saint. And even Ayel was surprised about me carrying my brother’s child.”

She explained.

Seong Arin was Ayel’s saint. Because of this, she was never allowed any contact with men.

Even simple physical contact could cause her to lose her sanctity, and could even result in death.

“That’s not all.”

Although the creator’s incarnation borrowed human form, fundamentally there was a great difference in status from humans.

So it should have been impossible for Seong Arin, who was essentially human despite being a saint, to become pregnant with the incarnation’s child.

“Then is this truly a miracle in the literal sense?”

“Yes. Ayel told me so.”

Yuri suddenly understood what Seong Arin meant.

Yuri had formed a marital bond with Minsu. That marital bond wasn’t an ordinary newlywed’s first night.

It was a ritual to continue the special bloodline of the Snow Woman.

Because of this, once she had chosen Minsu as her spouse, Yuri should have conceived Minsu’s child on that first night.

But that didn’t happen.

‘It’s the same for Soso.’

They all spent nights with Minsu. Those nights were certainly not brief. Yet nothing happened.

It was because Minsu was an incarnation.

It meant that conceiving his child was impossible from the beginning.

Yuri felt strange. What had been impossible for her had happened to Seong Arin standing before her.

But now she felt fortunate about it. As Minsu was being forgotten by the world.

If only she could continue to remember Minsu. If only she could continue to fulfill his request. Yuri would be happy.

‘Soso must feel the same way.’

At that moment, Seong Arin looked at Yuri and said:

“Wait. I’m not finished yet. I clearly said there’s still hope left.”

“Hope…? Hope that Minsu won’t be forgotten?”

“Yes. And unbelievable as it may sound… recently this child has been directly communicating its will to me.”

“Will? What on earth does that mean?”

Soso asked urgently. Those words—hope and will. Yuri’s heart suddenly raced at those words.

‘Could it be…’

And Arin nodded.

“The miracle that should have been impossible is my child with Minsu. And that special child might be creating another miracle. As a result…”

“A miracle…?”

“Yes. Minsu’s Ancient Gear, the Red Jade, has been revived in Ailetan.”

“The Red Jade? Minsu’s gear?”

Both women fell silent.

Like Yuri, Soso might have felt a little disappointed.

‘The Red Jade…? That’s certainly Minsu’s Ancient Gear. But what meaning could that Ancient Gear possibly have now…’

The battle at Gwanghwamun. With Minsu’s death, all the Ancient Gears he used were also annihilated.

Of course, if those vanished gears had been revived on Earth, Yuri and Soso would have found them by any means necessary, as they were essentially Minsu’s relics.

But Ailetan was another world.

The three of them had visited there with Minsu through Arel’s gate, but that gate had long been destroyed.

“There’s no way to go to Ailetan now. So what meaning does that have…”

Soso also spoke with a disappointed expression. But Seong Arin shook her head.

“No. There might still be a way to go to Ailetan. And each divine beast’s sacred object has its own meaning. Especially the Red Jade symbolizes the Vermilion Bird’s egg. And resurrection.”

“Resurrection… Even if the Red Jade has been revived in Ailetan now…”

Soso spoke in a deflated voice.

But Yuri got goosebumps at that moment. She realized the meaning behind Seong Arin’s words about resurrection.

‘The Red Jade had been substituting for Minsu’s mana heart since the tragedy of Eins. So the revival of the Red Jade means…’

And Seong Arin nodded as if reading Yuri’s thoughts.

“Yes, that’s right, Yuri. If we can find the Red Jade again. If the Red Jade, which should have been annihilated, has been revived because of my child’s influence…”

Soso belatedly realized the meaning as well.

“C-Could it be…”

“Yes. Your guess is correct.”

At Seong Arin’s next words, both women began to cry again.

***

Four months had passed since meeting Seong Arin in the Slavic Kingdom.

During those four months, all traces of Lee Minsu’s existence on Earth had disappeared.

Not only from people’s memories, but also from documents and video records, Minsu no longer remained.

Now only three people, who had been the Sages of the East, remembered Minsu.

“We must keep remembering Minsu. Until the day we find the Red Jade.”

Soso nodded firmly at Yuri’s words.

“Yes. No matter what happens. No matter how much time it takes. I will never forget Minsu.”

And the two women had now left Korea and were in Vatican City.

They were in the underground of the Vatican.

The place where Arel’s gate, through which they had once traveled to Ailetan with Minsu, had existed.

Now it was just an empty underground storage room, as the gate no longer existed.

But the two women were waiting here.

For the moment when Arel’s gate to Ailetan would open again.

By now in Korea, Seong Arin would be about to give birth to Minsu’s child.

Yuri recalled what Seong Arin had told them.

– The situation in Ailetan will be the same. Not only has Minsu, who was the incarnation, been annihilated, but also Arel, the creator. It might be even more difficult to remember Minsu there.

Seong Arin was right.

Ailetan had lost their god, Arel.

Instead, due to dimensional fusion, Ayel had barely prevented Ailetan’s collapse.

But as a side effect, the people of Ailetan would have already forgotten their god.

– The three of us could remember Minsu because we were the Sages of the East. But if you go to Ailetan, the same thing that’s happening on Earth now will happen there as well.

Yuri understood Seong Arin’s words.

Even the two of them, who currently remembered Minsu, who possessed the power of the Sages of the East, were increasingly forgetting him unless they desperately tried to recall him.

If they were with Seong Arin, with her power as a saint, and with Minsu’s child, they might somehow be able to remember Minsu.

– But in Ailetan, another world, even my power and my child’s power won’t reach you.

But Seong Arin desperately pleaded with them.

– Still, the Red Jade is our only hope! If you can find that Red Jade and make contact with it while still remembering Minsu… then Minsu…

Seong Arin was right.

Even Seong Arin, as a saint, couldn’t know where the Red Jade was in Ailetan.

But if Yuri and Soso could find that Red Jade.

And if they could make contact with it while not forgetting Minsu, while remembering that Minsu’s child had been born.

They might be able to bring back Minsu, who had disappeared from the world.

“That’s why we must find the Red Jade by any means necessary.”

Soso said. Yuri nodded with a determined expression.

“And even if it takes years. Even if it takes decades, the two of us…”

“Will never forget Minsu.”

That was the only possibility of meeting Minsu again.

Woooooong-

And a massive gate began to materialize in the underground.

It was a door leading to another world that should not have been able to be recreated since Arel and Minsu had been annihilated.

But at this very moment when Minsu’s child was being born.

With the power of that miraculous child, they could recreate the gate to Ailetan.

Their eyes met. And Yuri said:

“Now!”

The two women crossed the gate together.

***

I had been drifting through memories continuously.

As if dreaming an eternal daydream.

They were memories of endless meetings and partings. Memories with the people I loved.

Like taking out and reading books from shelves packed with volumes,

I constantly recalled my memories with them.

Memories that were happy but also sad. I remembered all the time and emotions I shared with them.

Memories so vivid, yet of people I could never meet again.

Without seeing the ending,

I kept returning to the first chapter, to my first meetings with them, repeating only the recollections.

Because I didn’t want to think about parting from them again.

Just as I was about to return to those initial memories, to take out the first volume of the novel,

The space where I had been drifting. This space where I had been floating like a ghost.

This space that was like a library made only of memories with them suddenly began to burn.

“……!!”

“…”

And voices began to be heard from somewhere.

Those voices, so familiar that I couldn’t forget them, resonated throughout the space along with spreading blue flames.

“Are you… are you here? If you can hear me, please answer…!!”

“Minsu must… must be here!”

And the moment I recalled who those voices belonged to,

The space where I had been sleeping completely collapsed.

At the same time, I opened my eyes.

And I opened my mouth to speak to the two people:

“Have you all been well?”

At those words, Yuri and Soso embraced me. The two of them couldn’t even answer my question as they shed tears.

Their memories were flooding into me.

The two who had crossed from Earth to Ailetan. They seemed to have spent over ten years searching for me.

And they had continued to remember me without forgetting, even though I had been completely annihilated from both Earth and Ailetan.

Me, who had annihilated divine power and disappeared beyond the realm of nothingness. And Arin, who remained on Earth, was the same.

Only these three people had not forgotten me.

Finally, they had found me again like this. I said to Yuri and Soso:

“Thank you. For remembering me and not forgetting.”

My blue flame, revived again, began to burn.