**#269. The Saint and the Miracle (1)**
—
** Doctor.**
The tension that had loosened slightly after the battle immediately stretched taut again.
Until now, he had only sent subordinates like executives or homunculi—this was the first time the Doctor had revealed himself in person.
“Don’t move until I give the order. Be ready to evacuate with His Holiness and Veronica at any moment.”
“…Understood.”
Solite replied with a stiff face and immediately moved to assume a defensive posture.
A man of unknown identity whom Ray seemed to recognize.
The very fact that he had approached unnoticed by dozens of senses was proof enough that he was no ordinary individual.
*Step, step, tap.*
Without hesitation, Ray walked forward and stopped at a distance.
“Doctor.”
At that one word, the Doctor, who had been silently staring down at the fallen Indiago, lifted his head.
“……”
“……”
Their gazes met in silence.
Ray quietly studied the Doctor.
Due to the sunglasses and mask, it was impossible to discern his appearance or expression.
Furthermore, whether through some special means or by nature, there were no circles visible on his massive body.
Regardless, Ray had no intention of letting his guard down. After all, this was the Doctor.
“I didn’t expect someone so cowardly to show himself directly.”
The Doctor did not reply. Instead, he moved his gloved hand.
With a large index finger, he used the mana in the air to inscribe letters in the void.
**\[This is unexpected. You haven’t even fully regained your power, yet you managed to defeat Indiago.]**
The Doctor then pushed surrounding mana toward Ray, as if inviting him to respond in kind.
Was he trying to keep the conversation secret from others?
But Ray had no intention of playing along.
He pushed the mana back strongly and spoke.
“So it was you behind the Dawn Society all along. The one known as the Prophet, who passed down the technologies and histories of the old era.”
**\[Seems you’ve uncovered a few things.]**
“The crimson orb of the Sky Island and the navy orb of the Dawn Society. The blood-red stone of Murcred and the Dawn Society’s navy gem. The evidence speaks for itself.”
**\[Amusing. Drawing conclusions from context—how very human of you.]**
The Doctor’s comment was somewhat irritating, but Ray remained calm and asked,
“What was your purpose in aiding the Dawn Society? From what I’ve surmised, the group has little to do with your true objective.”
**\[‘Aiding the Dawn Society’… To be precise, I helped Indiago. This man, full of intense inferiority and hatred toward the world.]**
“An experiment?”
**\[Experiment?]**
“Like the Mercred executives you turned into monsters.”
**\[Turned into monsters? I merely helped the children act on their emotions.]**
“Curiosa is tormented by the shackles of emotion. So much so that she can’t live a normal life.”
**\[Curiosa, that disobedient one. She’s no longer mine, having left home—but even that’s a facet of emotion.]**
The Doctor shifted the topic.
**\[More importantly, hand that over. That is not an object you should be handling.]**
His gaze fixed on the staff in Ray’s hand—Indiago’s staff.
*Woom!*
The navy jewel at the end of the staff emitted a resonant hum and a brilliant glow.
Ray recalled that gathering the shards of the rainbow was one of the Doctor’s key objectives.
“If you want it—”
*Crack!*
He forcibly detached the jewel from the staff and absorbed it into his body.
“—come and get it.”
Ray couldn’t directly perceive the Doctor’s current mental state.
His body lacked not only circles, but also the vessel that held emotions.
However—
**\[…]**
The long silence revealed that the Doctor was angry.
And then, several seconds later—
He finally responded.
**\[Struggle all you want—it’s useless. Your world has failed, and you—who lack legitimacy and capability—won’t be able to stop the world I build atop it.]**
So his world had failed?
Still, it was a cryptic statement.
But if the world the Doctor planned to build was one to replace this one…
And recalling his previous statement about restoring the world to its original form…
“A world without emotion—that’s what your world would be.”
**\[Emotion is utterly useless.]**
*Fwoooom───!*
The mana in the air was drawn into the Doctor’s hand, swirling into a dark crimson hue.
In response, the mana from the two jewels was drawn into Ray’s hand as well.
“I don’t think emotions are useless.”
**\[Still lost in your delusions.]**
As the tension reached its peak, the Doctor’s mana ignited like oily blood and shot forward in a blazing crimson bolt.
But the direction wasn’t Ray.
It was toward Veronica.
*Boom──!*
Ray dashed in with a flash, arriving just in time.
He summoned the Absorbers in a row and cast a reversal spell. A thunderous explosion erupted from the Doctor’s side.
*Bwaaaaang──!*
The Doctor appeared through the dense smoke—unscathed and protected.
However, Indiago was no longer on the ground. Judging from the wavering mana pattern in the air, he had likely used spatial magic to send him elsewhere.
Walking forward, the Doctor scrawled another sentence.
**\[See? Because of your emotions, you made such an inefficient choice. Had you attacked me instead of saving your friends, you might have caused significant harm—or at least stopped me from retrieving Indiago.]**
“I didn’t make the wrong choice.”
Ray was slightly surprised at how quickly the words left his mouth.
He was beginning to understand the meaning behind what Veronica had once said—when she criticized him for always prioritizing efficiency.
The world can’t be lived by logic and gain alone.
Ray spoke firmly once more.
“Even if I were in the same situation again, my choice wouldn’t change.”
**\[Foolish. So foolish.]**
Crimson mana gathered once more in the Doctor’s hand.
At that moment, Ray understood.
The sense of déjà vu he had felt from the Doctor—the reason why there were no circles or vessels on his body.
*Throb.*
A surge of rage welled up in Ray’s chest.
All the red mana that resonated with the presence of circles began to vibrate in unison.
**\[Vanish, you foolish failure.]**
The Doctor’s crimson mana transformed into a beam and blasted toward Ray in an instant.
But Ray immediately moved his mana and launched a vortex of flame.
*Fwwwwwoooosh────!*
The two spells clashed at the center.
The surrounding mana screamed.
The heated air clung to his skin like grease.
Yes, this had happened before.
Sector 50, that night under the overpass.
Nothing had changed between then and now.
The anger he felt.
The presence of someone he had to protect.
The fact that it all occurred amidst a massive battle.
It was all the same.
If anything had changed, it was only the color of the golem’s beam—from dark blue to dark red.
‘No.’
There was one more thing that had changed.
He now had the strength to protect those precious to him.
*Fwwwwwoooosh────!*
Ray’s flames grew stronger.
**\[Futile, failure.]**
The dark red beam intensified in kind, and the power struggle raged on.
As Ray prepared to draw on the power of the two jewels, he suddenly realized—
There was a much larger mana source nearby.
He focused his mind on it—the artificial sun.
*Woooooooom──!*
A white beam of mana shot forth from the radiant artificial sun.
It struck Ray directly, became usable mana, coursed through his body, and reached the hand firing flames.
*Fwoosh!*
The flames turned white.
What appeared next was *white flame*—*Baekyeom* (白炎), emitting overwhelming light.
The pure white light—the source of all color—overpowered the dark red beam and surged forward.
────!
It struck the Doctor.
He writhed within the blaze of light and began to melt.
And through that, Ray could see—
The Doctor’s burning clothes.
The bandages that had covered his face and body.
And beneath them—
Stone-like forms, melting like liquid metal.
*Golems.*
Just like the ones he had seen in Sector 50.
Except this one was more humanoid in size and seemed to function differently. Otherwise, all its traits matched.
Of course, the Doctor himself couldn’t have been a golem.
He had simply been operating through the golem’s field of vision.
‘The real one must be hiding elsewhere.’
As he watched the blazing white flame, Ray thought to himself.
*
*
*
A few days later.
The Pope’s coffin was laid to rest in the cemetery within the church’s grounds.
“Your life was full of warmth and kindness, and under firm faith…”
As Solite recited the prayer, the priests stood in silent tribute.
Ray, dressed in a black cassock, bowed his head along with them in silence.
A memorial service and hymn followed.
“We will not forget you.”
“We will not forget you.”
After the ceremonies concluded, the coffin was buried in earth that had been dug by hand—not magic.
The priests left, and only Solite and Ray remained at the gravestone.
A dry winter wind blew.
The sky was pale, not a single cloud in sight.
Underneath it, Solite’s voice rang out solemnly.
“It’s still hard to believe. That just a few days ago, he was at the center of such a battlefield.”
“……”
Ray agreed with his words.
What had happened just days ago already felt far away.
Perhaps it was the countless changes in environment and relationships that had compressed time so tightly.
Ray asked,
“Have you made a decision?”
“Yes. I’ve decided to make it public.”
“So it’s come to that.”
“The citizens have a right to know, and it’s not something we can hide forever.”
Solite had decided to inform the public about what happened within the Church.
That a group had attempted to seize the Church’s Saintess and consume the world.
And though the plot was narrowly stopped, it had caused immense damage.
Ray nodded.
He respected Solite’s decision.
There were 47 surviving priests after the battle.
It was Solite who now led them and kept the Church from dissolving.
“Of course, not everyone will believe what we say. There will be exaggerations and speculation throughout the sector, maybe even conspiracy theories. But that’s alright. The rumors will pass, and the sector will stabilize as if nothing happened.”
“Because that’s how rumors work?”
At Ray’s question, Solite nodded slightly.
“Yes. That’s right. And thanks to the public’s interest in the artificial sun, the rumors will fade even faster from their minds.”
The artificial sun still remained in the Sun’s Sanctuary at the center of the Sector.
It spread a white light and a gentle warmth throughout the entire Sector.
It had also completely dispelled the black clouds that used to gather in the skies above.
“Wherever you go in the Sector, you can see the citizens rejoicing. They say the Church’s prophecy has come true. If the light of the artificial sun continues like this, many things will surely change. With no more black rain, the soil will recover. Naturally, plants will begin to grow again.”
Solite gazed down at the tiny glowing sphere of light visible in the distance at the bottom of the hill.
Then he turned his head and asked,
“The Saintess—ah, I recall she finds that title uncomfortable. How is Miss Veronica doing?”
“She hasn’t come out of her room. We’re just leaving her meals in front of the door.”
“Yes, I imagine she must be very confused. Her entire sense of identity was upended overnight.”
Ray tilted his head.
“Isn’t being the reincarnation of the sun a good thing?”
“It’s not exactly something to be worried about, of course. It’s not like she woke up one day to find she’d become a rockdeer, or that she had demon blood in her veins.”
“Becoming a rockdeer sounds kind of cool, though.”
“The reincarnation of the sun is more a cause for joy than concern. But still, it must be bewildering. Frightening. Overwhelming. That’s the nature of emotion when someone is confronted with a life-altering change.”
“You just ignored what I said.”
Solite took a quiet breath, then continued.
“Especially for young women like Miss Veronica, emotional tides can be much more delicate. Please be patient and gentle with her. Unlike us, who have not been granted permission to approach, you at least can go to her door.”
“…”
Ray nodded. Not fully convinced, but partially understanding.
It was better to try something than to sit around and do nothing.
‘But first, she’d have to let me in before I can even try to comfort her.’
He considered sneaking in, but quickly dismissed the idea—it would likely backfire badly.
Just then, the view of the Sector spread out before him from the hilltop.
“…”
Maybe if he brought her things she liked, she would open the door for him.
Ray caught the wind in his steps and began descending the hill.
The artificial sun and its white light.
The elemental force of creation that brought it into being.
And all the countless things he needed to share with Veronica.
