"Is it really you, Daera... It's not a fake, is it..."
"Of course it’s real...! Why don't you believe me? Ugh..."
"No, it’s just... it’s hard to believe... I can’t..."
Daera, holding back her emotions with her swollen eyes, blinked, her tears welling up once more.
Atra took out a handkerchief, gently wiping Daera's eyes, then moved her hands to push her hair aside to get a better look at her face.
"Really... Really..."
Atra’s lips trembled, but she couldn't form a proper sentence.
In that unreal moment, some nasty emotions briefly surfaced, but soon after, a much more overwhelming and unbelievable feeling filled her chest and head.
Overcome with emotion once again, Atra bit her lips and pulled Daera into an embrace. Daera, sniffling, accepted the embrace and leaned into Atra’s arms.
Wrapped in the arms she had longed for, Daera’s tears began to well up again, barely stopping.
"I... I’ve been through so much... I wanted to die, but I kept wanting to meet you..."
There were so many things Daera wanted to say, but she couldn't explain them properly. It had been a long time, and so much had happened.
To explain it all, Daera didn't even know where to start.
"Well, well done. You really did well. You’ve endured so much..."
Though Atra hadn’t heard the full story yet, she simply held Daera in her arms.
It was a dramatic reunion.
They had both dreamed of this day for so long, but deep down, they never truly thought it would come.
But it did.
They were reunited. Though they had thought they were separated by death, Daera, her pupil, had returned alive...
"Well, I was going to leave to give you some space, but don’t you think this place is a bit too cold for a reunion?"
It was at that moment that Liana, who had sensed the atmosphere and briefly stepped away, inserted herself between the two.
Even after returning, Liana couldn't help but glance around with a sour expression, seeing the two in such a state.
There was no one around. This was just one of the many high walls, after all. The only people present were Liana and Ihayul’s spirit.
Thanks to the barrier, she wouldn’t freeze to death, but it was definitely not a good spot for hashing out old emotions after such a dramatic reunion.
"Certainly..."
Atra nodded at Liana's words. The wind blowing through the hair was indeed a bit bothersome.
With that thought, Atra gently brushed Daera’s hair out of the way, which was fluttering in the wind.
It was different from before. What was once black had now turned a deep blue, and it had grown much longer.
There were traces of it having been cut haphazardly, but now, it seemed like it had been professionally trimmed.
"Your hair has grown a lot. Well, maybe not so much in terms of time... Did you cut it yourself?"
"Ugh... Yeah. I cut it myself for a while, but this time, the priest helped me."
"Priest...?"
Atra blinked in surprise. An old thought she had forgotten suddenly resurfaced.
"You mean... Ihayul?"
"Yeah... I met him where I was... Thanks to the priest... Oh, oh! Yeah, right! The priest! He dropped me off and just left!"
As Daera began to ramble on about her hardships, she suddenly recalled something and sighed.
Leaving that hellish place was her dream, but she didn't want to escape without the priest.
But Ihayul had forcibly kicked her out.
And so, Daera was left abandoned in the middle of the snow.
It was a difficult situation.
She had no idea where she was. Her smartwatch had been lost a while ago.
Had the head of the Flame family not been there, she would’ve had to wander around for a while.
Daera hesitantly traveled with Ihayul’s head, Hong Jinseon, in uncomfortable silence.
‘He said people would be waiting if I left immediately! It took me over a day to get here!’
And that’s how it took a whole day.
With a sharp glare, Daera shook her arms in front of Atra’s face.
"Where’s the priest! I really need to have a word with him! Hey, how could he abandon me like that!"
"..."
"...Master?"
Daera, who had been grumbling in a playful way, suddenly stopped.
Atra’s expression noticeably darkened.
Even Liana, though it was her first meeting, had a large chest that became noticeably troubled, and the spirits that had seemed weak also grew dim and sagged to the floor.
At the sight of that, and the sudden sense of unease from Ihayul’s invisible presence, Daera felt a tug of anxiety.
The voice from that time. Not just the voice, but the memory resurfaced.
Though it had only been a fleeting moment, she remembered the blurry face, and for some reason, there had been an air of both fear and resolve.
"The little one..."
Atra bit her lip and opened her mouth.
"...What?"
Daera's face turned as pale as a sheet.
"The little one..."
Atra bit her lip and spoke softly.
"...What?"
Daera's face went as white as a sheet.
Temporary Healing Facility at the Rear Line of the Defense
Although it was a "temporary" facility, it was far from subpar.
The healing room where Ihayul was staying was particularly well-maintained, with time, money, and manpower invested into it.
It was a facility where the finest technologies were applied, truly a pinnacle of modern medicine... Yet, despite all that, Ihayul still hadn't regained consciousness.
As a result, the silence in the healing room was undeniably heavy.
"Yeah, you're better than yesterday."
"The wounds have healed quite a bit too. You should be able to move now without them reopening."
The silence didn’t last entirely, though.
Baek Arin and Elia, who had been keeping watch by Ihayul's side, nodded as they delivered the good news.
"Ha, huff..."
The tension in the air lightened slightly. With a sigh of relief, Hong Yeonhwa, who had been anxiously holding her breath, finally exhaled.
"Recovery... It’s really happening."
Over five days had passed since the backlash of the internal chaos, and Ihayul still hadn’t regained consciousness.
The efforts put into his healing were immeasurable.
Rare medicinal herbs that couldn’t even be exchanged for money had been administered like breathing air.
When you added up all the material and human resources, it was impossible to estimate.
Even with all that, anxiety still lingered. But since yesterday, Ihayul had begun showing signs of steady recovery, so there was a slight sense of relief.
"...The recovery is happening, but it’s not all due to the healing."
Similarly, Lee Jiyeon, who had been sitting next to the bed, added a comment to the good news.
Hong Yeonhwa tilted her head.
"What do you mean, unni? Are you saying the healing didn't work? But he's recovering, isn't he?"
"Yeah, he’s recovering. But that's not because of the medicine or healing. It’s because of his natural regenerative abilities."
Lee Jiyeon looked down at Ihayul with a complicated expression. The others followed her gaze.
Ihayul's right hand, wrapped in bandages, was firmly grasping Lee Jiyeon’s hand.
The slight tingling sensation made Lee Jiyeon twitch her lips in an effort to suppress the reaction.
Lee Jiyeon had practically lived in the healing room.
It wasn’t just because of personal reasons; there was a more practical reason behind it.
Ihayul was unconsciously drawing on his life force through the massive amount of energy within him.
Lee Jiyeon, in turn, had been feeding him life energy through her hand.
Of course, it was also to soothe Ihayul, who would worsen if no one held his hand.
"...This is really something else."
"Yeah..."
"...I see..."
The looks in the eyes of the three, excluding Elia, became more complicated.
Baek Arin had already figured out that Ihayul was living with both the Flame and Seonghae powers.
But she hadn’t expected the presence of Taesan as well.
Lee Jiyeon was similarly aware that Ihayul had manifested the Flame power, and she was almost certain about the presence of Taesan.
But now, she had witnessed the manifestation of Taesan firsthand, and she had seen Seonghae as well.
She pretended not to react, but the shock had almost frozen her mind for a moment.
"Hmm..."
Hong Yeonhwa, who had been overly fixated on Ihayul’s condition, now felt dizzy with the sensation of Taesan inside him.
Hong Yeonhwa hadn’t known about either Seonghae or Taesan. So, when she regained her senses, her shock only deepened.
"What kind of power does he really have...?"
A deep sigh escaped her.
There were more than a few secrets to his power, but she never expected them to be of this nature.
"...So, what do we do now?"
Baek Arin spoke up.
She placed her hand gently over Ihayul's right hand and felt the life energy slipping out of his body. Her gaze moved to the others.
At her words, Hong Yeonhwa and Lee Jiyeon exchanged looks, their expressions filled with complexity.
"...Well, right now, we don’t know anything for sure. We haven’t even heard his side of the story..."
"Even if we don’t know the details, the situation is clear. Several soldiers have witnessed what happened with their own eyes. It’s not something that can be covered up."
The fusion of the powers of the three great families wasn’t exactly rare, but it wasn’t common either.
It was not unusual for the unique powers of the three families to manifest in those who were fused.
There was a common thread.
If the parents possessed the powers of the Flame and Seonghae families, then their children had a chance to inherit them as well.
But there had never been a case where the powers of both families manifested simultaneously.
It was concluded that it was theoretically impossible.
The unique powers of the three families were supposed to coexist, but they also resisted one another. Any combination would result in extreme reactions.
What if all of those powers were present in one body? They would clash violently, repeatedly, and create an unstable force.
That’s why merging powers from different families had always been seen as nearly impossible.
Since the powers wouldn’t merge, it would be more beneficial to stay as a solid blood alliance.
"But now we have Ihayul, with Flame, Seonghae, and Taesan... Oh, my. All three? And he’s perfectly fine? He can use all of them without any issues?"
"..."
"A precedent has been set, it seems?"
"Hmm... This isn’t something we should be discussing right now."
At Lee Jiyeon’s response, Baek Arin shrugged her shoulders.
"Well, there are still the current heads and elders, but we’re the successors of our families. Eventually, we’ll have to make the decisions."
Hong Yeonhwa was the successor of the Flame family.
Baek Arin was the successor of the Seonghae family.
Lee Jiyeon was the successor of the Taesan family.
Though they didn’t hold full authority in their families yet, they would eventually hold that power.
And they weren’t without influence even now.
"...Since Ihayul has already joined the Flame family, he should stay with us."
"That’s right. Ihayul did say he would help with something for our family last time. If there’s time, we can go and check on it together."
"Well... Since Taesan has manifested as well, we should probably visit our family later to confirm everything."
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The conversation seemed to be running in different directions. The three exchanged uneasy glances.
"Mm?"
It was then.
As they were talking, Elia, who had been carefully observing Ihayul, immediately noticed something was off.
"Uh, uh...?"
Everyone else felt the change as well.
Lee Jiyeon, holding Ihayul’s hand, opened her eyes wide, and Hong Yeonhwa and Baek Arin, realizing it late, gaped in shock.
Ihayul was disappearing.
The women who were about to react were frozen in place, their bodies still as they sensed something strange happening.
The bandages that had been carefully wrapped were now coming undone, and his clothes hung loose.
Disappear? That wasn’t the right word.
He wasn’t disappearing.
It was more like his body was shrinking, as if time was being reversed.
In less than a few minutes, something wiggled under his loose patient clothes.
Elia, blinking in confusion, cautiously reached out her hand. Just as she did, something poked out from the collar of his clothes.
"Ah."
It was a child.
And yet, somehow, familiar.
White hair, with faint, dreamy gray eyes.
The wounds had disappeared completely, and his smooth skin now glowed with health, the scent of blood replaced by a faint fragrance.
It was Ihayul, younger. And for some reason, much cuter than before.
"...Sigh."
The sight was so shocking that everyone froze in place.
The gray eyes, which had been looking around, grew moist as the body wiggled, and a soft sob escaped his throat.
It was unmistakably the prelude to a loud cry.
"Ah─"
"U-uhhh..."
Before they could stop it, the cry broke out. The baby’s cry filled the room, full of innocent sorrow and frustration.
"Uh, uh... What do we do?! Ihayul? Look at me! Hmm? Be a good boy?"
"Wait, Yeonhwa! Don’t hold him like that. Come out. Support his arms from the inside..."
"Is he... is he a child now...? Wait, should we feed him something?"
"Uh... Just wait a moment. I’ll grab some milk."
They quickly forgot their previous plans to wait for Ihayul to wake up and frantically began comforting the crying baby.
[Savior Correction System: Exploration Progress]
[Quest "Majestic" Achieved]
[You receive a large amount of points.]
...
[Savior Correction System: Redemption Progress]
[The results of a good deed made with sincere intentions are confirmed.]
[You receive a large amount of points.]
...
[Savior Correction System: Destruction Progress]
[The retreat of the entity "Tower of Purgatory" is confirmed.]
[You receive a large amount of points.]
...
[Curse "Beauty and the Curse" is activated.]
[The consumed life energy restores the body.]
[Damaged body remains massive.]
[Complete restoration impossible.]
[Body shrinks.]
...
[The Tower Master of Harmony activates the "Harmony" ability.]
[The Savior's body is harmonized.]
[A large amount of points are consumed.]
...
[The body is reconstructed.]
The scene is building toward a significant transformation, where Ihayul’s powers and state of being are closely linked to his mysterious abilities. This transformation and the impact on his companions is crucial for the plot. Let me know if you need further continuation or adjustments!