Episode 589. Gate of Hell (3)

The night for the Iris Guild was long.

They had to quickly adapt to the world’s changes that would occur as the Gate of Hell (a name Lee Hoyeon told them) opened.

Most of the information Lee Hoyeon had written on paper was nonsensical, but due to the insistence of the Guild Master and her two daughters, they decided to pour the full might of the Iris Guild into it.

As a result, even after Lee Hoyeon left for Korea, they were plagued by endless meetings.

“Haa….”

A quiet room.

Irene barely made it back to her quarters after finishing her heavy workload.

It was a time to decide on courses of action for the Iris Guild to become even greater, so she was extremely fatigued.

Exhausted, she headed to the kitchen and calmed her mind with a warm cup of tea.

After washing away the tension with hot water and changing into her pajamas, she finally felt somewhat at ease.

Irene threw herself onto the bed, but her worries didn’t cease.

“For how to deal with Incubi, ask Albedo… he means Strange Nightmare. For Gargoyles, target the membrane on their wings first. And for Deadwood that pollutes the ground… Ah, Agh. My head.”

She deciphered the note Lee Hoyeon had scribbled and even contacted him to ask for clarification.

The more she did, the more she wondered how that man knew all this.

‘It’s too specific to be just speculation. No, honestly, there’s no reason to leave behind something uncertain on paper. Ugh, my head.’

Irene shook her head and suddenly checked the picture frame on the table.

It was an expensive frame containing a childhood photo of herself and Alice.

Right.

Irene got out of bed and rummaged through the pockets of the coat she had taken off.

The coat, equipped with a spatial pocket, could store quite large items.

“Here it is…. Looks good, doesn’t it?”

Irene took out the frame she had received from the photo studio.

Hoo.

She blew off the dust on the frame and placed it on her bedside table.

The photo showed Lee Hoyeon in the center, with Irene and Alice standing on either side.

Looking at the photo, a smile spread across her face without her realizing it.

‘…He really is handsome.’

Today, or rather, last night.

Irene had realized her own feelings.

At first, she intended to sacrifice herself for Alice, but in the end, she couldn’t resist the pleasure and gave in several times.

She thought she had always maintained a boundary… but when she came to her senses, she had already crossed a point of no return.

He fixed Alice’s congenital mana disorder.

And he brought her relationship with Alice one step closer.

He was a rude guy who often did things that made her laugh when he was around, but he wasn’t entirely without manners.

‘He’s good in bed too… No, anyway.’

Irene pushed away the embarrassing thoughts and traced her sister’s face in the frame.

Her feelings for Lee Hoyeon weren’t the main issue.

He had many women, and he was already in a deep relationship with her sister.

‘It feels too late to even consider getting involved… Haa. This is frustrating.’

The guilt and sadness towards Alice.

The regret and longing because Lee Hoyeon had left.

Various emotions washed over Irene.

With her heart in turmoil, Irene looked at Lee Hoyeon in the photo.

The three in the picture looked like close friends.

Irene smiled faintly and imagined memories with Lee Hoyeon.

‘…I don’t really have any memories?’

Sex.

Occasional meals.

Sex.

Occasionally coming to the Team 1 office to disrupt work.

Sex.

Most of her memories with Lee Hoyeon were sex.

Irene wiped her eyes and shook her head.

Next time she went to Korea, she decided she should spend time with Alice and the three of them.

Haa-um-

Irene yawned, overcome by sleepiness.

Tomorrow would bring another flood of work, so she needed to stop worrying and get some sleep.

“It would be so nice to hug Alice and sleep right now….”

Ding-dong-

She had muttered it without much thought, but as if in response, the doorbell to her quarters rang.

Irene’s eyes widened, and she dashed out like an arrow.

The only person who would visit at this hour was Alice.

Could it be that her sister had the same thought and came over to hug and sleep with her?

“Unnie. About the Gargoyle that attacked Team 2’s leader… Ah, are you already trying to sleep?”

Standing outside the door was Alice, just as Irene had expected, but her purpose wasn’t that.

Alice was still in the same clothes she wore before leaving work.

She probably came by briefly because something came up while she was doing overtime in her quarters.

“I have work tomorrow too. Alice, since you’re here, why don’t you sleep with me?”

“I’m heading back now. Good night, Unnie.”

“Wait, wait a moment… Alice. Right. Could you take one of the framed photos we took earlier today? I had three made, just in case. The one with Lee Hoyeon. Okay?”

Alice, who had turned to leave without hesitation, looked down at Irene, who was holding onto her collar, with a troubled expression.

She could just shake her off and leave, but Irene looked like she might even kneel if she did.

“Haa. Alright. I’ll take a look.”

“Okay! Come on in.”

Irene smiled and ushered Alice into the room.

She was so happy with Alice’s response that she felt like flying to the ceiling and hitting her head.

“Here. This is it. What do you think?”

“The photo came out well. Haa-um.”

Alice yawned without realizing it.

Indeed, she seemed to have worked too much.

…Thinking about it, she hadn’t slept properly yesterday either, so it was natural.

“Alice, you look tired. Why don’t you stay the night here?”

“No.”

“Why, why… do you dislike sleeping with me?”

“It’s not that I dislike it… it’s just that your eyes look like you’re about to do something weird.”

Irene’s sparkling eyes resembled Lee Hoyeon’s eyes after he had just ‘finished’ once on the bed.

In other words, they were eyes one should never get close to.

“I’ll just hug you. Really! I swear on my life!”

“Why your life….”

“Sob… Alice….”

“Haa….”

Lee Hoyeon, the troublemaker, is gone, so why is Unnie acting like this?

While it was partly her own fault for not being able to refuse firmly… Alice somehow found it difficult to avoid Irene’s gaze.

“…We’re just hugging. If you put your hands anywhere weird, I won’t acknowledge you anymore, so know that.”

“E-Elice! Don’t worry! I won’t touch you at all! Should I tie my hands while sleeping?!”

“….”

She wasn’t trustworthy at all.

Alice sighed and took off her coat, hanging it on the rack.

‘Even if it’s Unnie, she won’t pounce on me.’

Once should be fine.

Alice had nothing to lose.

It was true that after sleeping embraced with Lee Hoyeon for a week, her bed felt empty.

That’s why she was working so much.

It would be worth trying once to see if sleeping with Unnie helped her sleep better.

*

A towering black pillar.

Lee Hoyeon focused his gaze on the pillar before him and gathered his mana.

‘Spiral.’

A storm of mana created in an instant.

Lee Hoyeon raised his hand high and then slammed his mana into the black pillar.

Kwaaang-!

Thump-.

A single blow.

The black pillar, collapsing as if its core had been pierced, crashed to the ground with a tremendous roar.

The hellish mana that had been pressing down on him vanished, and Lee Hoyeon casually rolled his shoulders as he walked towards his private jet.

“You must be tired, Hoyeon-nim.”

“It all has to be destroyed eventually anyway. Might as well do it on the way. Ah, sorry, Victor-ssi. How many times has this been now….”

“Not at all. Mage Lee Hoyeon-nim! Wow, they say you’re the only one in the world who can maintain your strength even near those pillars… You truly are amazing.”

This was an agricultural area near Seoul.

He had seen a black pillar on his way home, so he stopped briefly to destroy it.

‘Is this the third one? They’re appearing strangely often.’

Of course, there were countless black pillars he saw during the flight from France to Korea, but he passed them all due to lack of time.

Still, he couldn’t just ignore the ones in Korea, so this was the third time he had stopped the plane.

“Thank you, Victor.”

“No problem. Scarlet. To actually witness Mage Lee Hoyeon-nim’s magic. What greater honor could there be?”

Victor said with a grin.

It was fortunate that he seemed to have a crush on him.

He could show his magic anytime, so he hoped Victor would visit again.

“Scarlet. I’m going to catch some sleep for a bit. Wake me up again if you see any black pillars.”

“Understood.”

Haaam.

Lee Hoyeon yawned and closed his eyes.

He was sleep-deprived, so he had to utilize even these spare moments.

His body could recover quickly even with minimal rest.

Dudududu-

How much time had passed?

Feeling the plane slowly descend for landing, Lee Hoyeon opened his eyes and looked around.

“We’re here…? Haa.”

“Yes. Please disembark. Victor, thank you for your hard work.”

“Sure. If I could see Mage Lee Hoyeon-nim’s magic like today, I’d come running even on my day off.”

Lee Hoyeon accepted the handshake from the man named Victor, stretched, and looked at his house.

His house, after a long time.

“But why isn’t anyone out here? I sent a message too.”

“They all seem busy. Please go inside first. I’ll see Victor off.”

“Okay. Scarlet.”

He thought they’d all be waiting outside the house, seeing him for the first time in two weeks.

Only he, who had brought all the gifts he bought amidst his busy schedule, was being sincere. Lee Hoyeon entered the house with a sense of disappointment.

‘I have a few days. I need to tell them how to deal with this before then.’

Lee Hoyeon’s expression quickly turned serious.

Now that the Gate of Hell had appeared in the middle of the Pacific, he couldn’t solve it alone.

‘I’ll have to ask Surin noona for help again.’

Victoria Academy would be helpful in dealing with such matters.

Fortunately, there were more places that could help Lee Hoyeon.

‘If I combine that with the American Wizard Association and the Iris Guild, it’ll form quite a force, won’t it?’

All the time spent rushing around hadn’t been in vain.

Impressed by his own efforts, Lee Hoyeon opened the front door.

“Oh, what should I do…. Ah, ah. Right. Call 119! Gasp. Oppa!”

“Huh? Dahee!”

Seeing Nam Dahee first thing upon arriving home. How unexpected.

Lee Hoyeon bent down and ruffled Dahee’s hair.

“Oppa, Oppa. It’s a big problem. Come quickly.”

“What’s wrong?”

Nam Dahee grabbed his hand before she could even greet Lee Hoyeon, whom she hadn’t seen in a while.

Lee Hoyeon, not understanding what was happening, was dragged into the living room by Dahee.

It was the first time he had seen Dahee look so frantic.

Led by Dahee into the living room, Lee Hoyeon’s eyes widened.

Because Rebecca, Nam Daeun, and Liliana were crawling on the floor.

Making zombie-like groaning sounds.

“W-What is it. Rebecca-ssi. Are you okay?”

Did something happen? His heart pounded.

Lee Hoyeon approached Rebecca, who was closest to him.

His heart was beating, and her breathing was normal.

The same applied to Nam Daeun and Liliana; he could feel their breaths.

It wasn’t a life-threatening situation.

“Dahee-ya. Since when have they been like this?”

“Well, well… I don’t know. I came home and Unnie was collapsed. Ugh, I was trying to call 119 when Oppa arrived….”

Dahee didn’t seem to know the details either.

What could possibly be the cause?

Lee Hoyeon examined Rebecca’s condition while extending his mana.

“…Ah.”

Lee Hoyeon, who had been concentrating intently, finally sensed the hellish mana filling the living room.

He had been so flustered seeing the heroines collapsed that he missed the most basic thing.

“Mana Heaven Palace, deploy.”

Deploying Mana Heaven Palace, Lee Hoyeon contained the hellish mana in the living room.

The concentration was similar to when he was near a black pillar.

“…But it shouldn’t be enough to make Rebecca or Daeun collapse. Or Liliana, for that matter.”

Furthermore, it was strange that Dahee was perfectly fine.

He felt like he was missing something crucial.

“An attack? No, could it be a mana circuit issue?”

He took Rebecca’s wrist and channeled mana into her.

It was a hopeful guess, but it was correct.

Immense hellish mana was flowing within Rebecca’s body.

With the help of Mana Heaven Palace, Lee Hoyeon drew out all the hellish mana from her mana circuit.

“Ah, Daddy. Ugh, ugh….”

“Just a moment, Rebecca-ssi.”

There were still two more.

Lee Hoyeon took the same action for Nam Daeun, who was in the middle of the living room.

“Haa, haa. Hoyeon-ah….”

“Yeah. Daeun-ah. You’re okay now. Take slow, deep breaths.”

“Unnie….”

A tearful Nam Dahee clung to Nam Daeun.

Approaching Liliana last, Lee Hoyeon frowned.

Her mana circuit was perfectly normal.

No, Liliana wouldn’t collapse from hellish mana in the first place.

“Liliana. …Liliana?”

“Mmm. Coo….”

“…?”

At the sound of her incredibly peaceful breathing, Lee Hoyeon raised his hand.

Slap- Slap-

“Mmm, Mmmph…. Ugh.”

Gently tapping the sleeping Succubus’s cheek, Liliana slowly opened her eyes.