# 106. The Place Traced Back (8)
—
“Why! Why didn’t you protect your skin with mana? You could have easily done that!”
A cascade of white light poured down like a waterfall, covering the boy’s skin.
The flames hadn’t touched him directly, so the burns weren’t severe, allowing his skin to heal rapidly.
‘Still, it must have been unbearably hot.’
The girl bit her lip hard.
The lingering heat from the flames still made the surroundings stifling.
The boy must have felt a pain intense enough to make anyone else scream, and that alone was enough to tear the girl’s heart apart.
He was always like this.
Never afraid of getting hurt.
“Damn it…”
Transparent tears slid down her cheek, falling onto the blackened marks left by the embers on the ground.
“It’s because─.”
A voice rang out at that moment.
Veronica looked up and met Ray’s gaze.
Each reflected in the other’s eyes.
But with completely opposite expressions.
“─It’s more effective at provoking them that way.”
“……”
He was saying he had done it on purpose to rile up his opponent.
Should she scold him?
Smack him on the back?
Veronica hesitated before deciding to do both.
“You─!”
“And because you’re here.”
Veronica’s hand, which had been about to fly through the air, stopped.
Her lips parted slightly,
Her eyes widened,
And soon, heat rose to her cheeks.
Completely disarmed in an instant, her lips softened like clay.
Just as her rational mind tried to intervene and shout, ‘That’s not what he meant,’
**Get a grip.**
Her emotions appeared and smacked her rationality on the back of the head.
Dragging her reason out and throwing it aside, her emotions drew a strikethrough over Ray’s words and added a new phrase.
“Y-You suddenly say something like that… Ah, you mean you want me to stay by your side forever.”
Philip approached with a sigh.
“Veronica. That’s not what Ray said.”
“By his side… for a lifetime….”
“He didn’t say that either.”
“In front of everyone….”
“……”
Veronica was already drowning in her own world.
As Philip shook his head, Ray asked him,
“What do you think?”
“Hmm… Hmm… You mean about that guy earlier?”
Philip crossed his arms.
His lips twitched as he thought.
Analyzing a person’s personality and characteristics through subtle unconscious habits or behaviors was his specialty.
But this time…
“It’s tough. There were too few clues.”
Philip unfolded his arms.
“His voice had no inflection. His hand gestures were minimal. He seemed extremely proud, but… hmm, no. Instead of ‘pride,’ it felt more like… arrogance? Insolence? No, that’s not quite it either.”
A brief furrow of his brow.
The answer soon came from Ray.
“Haughtiness.”
“Ah, yes! That’s the word I was looking for!”
Their opponent had spoken of omnipotence and exuded boundless confidence in himself.
Hubris. Arrogance.
Pride. Confidence.
These were the impressions Ray and Philip had commonly felt from their adversary.
As their discussion continued,
Colin, who had left the interrogation room, hurried back in carrying ointments and other medical supplies.
“R-Ray, sir, you’ve been through a lot.”
“Give the medicine to me.”
“Ah, yes, Miss Veronica. Here you go. But, Ray, sir… that man just now… could he be…?”
“Yes. Judging from his reaction, he’s most likely the one leading the enemy mages. I’d say it’s almost certain he’s an executive.”
“As expected… so it was true that he was possessed by another entity.”
Colin swallowed dryly.
He turned his head and looked at the dead prisoners.
“…But we couldn’t extract any more information about the enemy. I apologize. I should have been more thorough in securing the prisoners beforehand.”
“No, you prepared well.”
Ray genuinely thought so.
Even a mage hadn’t detected the latent magic trap, so expecting an ordinary person to notice it would have been unreasonable.
Who could have anticipated that the enemy executive would manifest by sacrificing his own subordinates’ lives?
‘Still, we didn’t come away empty-handed.’
They had gained insight into the enemy executive’s disposition.
And they now knew that he wouldn’t appear until all his subordinates had fallen.
“Mr. Honeyfl─ No, Colin. What exactly is our current combat strength?”
“Excluding the injured, the Pro-Nishoa faction has 67 combat-ready members, including myself.”
“And the opposition?”
“It’s not exact, but close to 250.”
On top of that, there were Murcred’s mages.
Due to the overwhelming difference in numbers, the front line had been pushed deep into the Pro-Nishoa faction’s western sector.
“As I mentioned, the terrain advantage is what’s barely allowing us to hold the line.”
The western part of the sector was narrow and complex, making it difficult for large enemy forces to enter all at once.
Moreover, most of the enemy mages specialized in explosive magic. Concerned about collateral damage, they couldn’t unleash their spells as freely here as in other areas.
“…That’s why the enemy hasn’t been able to easily break into our sector. We’re utilizing this advantage for continuous guerrilla tactics—striking their territory and retreating.”
“Are we inflicting significant damage?”
“……”
Colin hesitated before answering.
“To be honest, we’re not gaining much. As you saw on the map earlier, most of the sector is under opposition control.”
The Pro-Nishoa faction was running out of food, ammunition, and other supplies.
Most of their storage facilities were located in areas now occupied by the opposition.
This forced them to raid enemy territory to steal supplies.
“Each time, we succeed in taking a large haul, but… the number of wounded we sustain in the process is too high.”
Many of the injuries were life-threatening.
And the enemy forces remained largely unscathed.
“It feels like they always anticipate our movements. Enemy troops are stationed exactly where we move, or they block our retreat and funnel us into specific locations.”
Each time, they barely managed to escape.
And there was a chilling commonality among those who had fought on the front lines.
“It felt like they were deliberately letting us escape.”
Like a cat playing with a mouse.
As if to say, ‘You’re all in the palm of my hand.’
Today had been no different.
They had isolated Colin from the group, cornering him as if toying with him.
“The enemy clearly knows our movements. As if watching us from above. But we haven’t spotted a single lookout on their rooftops.”
Like them, enemy combatants wore earpieces for communication.
Yet, the person relaying battlefield updates from their side was nowhere to be found.
For the Pro-Nishoa faction, it was an unsettling mystery.
“It might be magic.”
“Highly likely.”
Philip murmured, and Ray agreed.
In his experience, anything that defied common sense was usually tied to magic.
Of course, to understand it fully─
“Mr. Colin, can I participate in the next battle?”
“Yes, of course. Would you like to assist from the rear…?”
“No. I’ll go in directly, by vehicle.”
“……”
Colin’s mind froze for a moment.
“Wouldn’t that be too dangerous?”
“I’ll be fine. The real threat is the enemy executive, but he won’t step in until all his subordinates are defeated.”
Weapons weren’t a major concern.
Not unless all 200+ enemies charged at him in an open field simultaneously.
The real variables were the enemy mages.
The map drawn with blood had depicted 32 figures.
Too few to represent all opposition forces—likely the number of mages under the enemy executive’s command.
‘Three at a time. Maybe five, if I push myself.’
**If they were all first-circle mages.**
If he didn’t act recklessly, he could steadily reduce their numbers through guerrilla tactics.
…Of course, things might not go as planned.
But if he eliminated all of them,
**Then the next opponent would be waiting.**
Ray snapped out of his thoughts and asked,
“Philip, is there a chance that we could encounter the enemy executive without engaging in combat?”
“Hmm… I wouldn’t say it’s impossible. I did get the impression that he was capable of conversation. He even said he’d answer questions if we took down his subordinates. Veronica, you’re listening, right?”
Philip glanced to the side.
There, Veronica was diligently applying a thick layer of ointment onto Ray’s skin, which already looked completely healed to anyone else.
Several dried-out ointment tubes were scattered nearby.
“Yeah, I heard everything.”
“Are you trying to bury Ray in ointment?”
“This way, he won’t get scars.”
“…….”
“New skin, grow well. Poof, poof.”
Philip decided to move on.
“Still, we should assume there’s a high likelihood of a fight. If someone’s emotions are twisted in some way, there’s no telling when they might act unpredictably.”
Ray nodded.
The possibility of a battle was much higher than avoiding one.
So, if he ended up fighting the enemy executive…
**‘Can I win?’**
Ray estimated the opponent’s level to be somewhere between a **3rd-circle** and a **4th-circle** mage.
Stronger than Walter, the weakest of the executives, who was **only at the 2nd-circle**.
But unlikely to surpass the **4th-circle**, which was already a realm beyond conventional limits.
After all, reaching the **3rd-circle** was said to be the pinnacle that only a genius could attain in a lifetime.
Then, if he fought with everything he had—using every means necessary—how far could he go?
If he pushed his emotions to the limit, without any restraints…
If he used Walter’s ring and all the **red bloodstones** in his possession, ignoring the risk of **mana intoxication**…
“…….”
The full extent of his potential power was hard to gauge.
He couldn’t say for sure.
Not whether he would win.
Nor whether he would lose.
Everything depended on whether the opponent was a **3rd-circle** or a **4th-circle** mage.
One thing was certain—if he let his emotions run wild, he was highly likely to lose control of his rationality.
Just like back in **Sector 49**, when he had been overwhelmed by the impulse to destroy everything.
Ray glanced at Veronica.
“Mm? Ray, what is it?”
“…….”
“……?”
The boy stared at the girl’s **Vessel**.
The reason he had been able to stop himself that time…
Was because of the **White Sun**.
The radiant sun that had emerged from the girl’s Vessel, neutralizing his emotions in an instant.
Before it,
His boiling rage had evaporated, and his mind could only focus on how breathtakingly beautiful it was.
If he lost control of his emotions again, the **White Sun** could help him regain his reason.
**And the condition for the White Sun’s appearance was…**
**When Veronica became deeply worried about him.**
At that moment,
The white mana in her Vessel would take the form of a **dazzling, suffocatingly beautiful sun**.
And if he was planning to let his emotions run rampant,
He needed to inform his companions about this in advance.
“…….”
But unlike Philip, Ray wasn’t great at conveying complex ideas all at once.
After some thought, he came up with a concise sentence that encapsulated everything he wanted to say.
Slowly, he opened his mouth.
“Veronica.”
And he spoke.
“You are my sun.”
Veronica melted on the spot, as if she had been struck by sunlight.
—
### That night at midnight.
Darkness blanketed the **sector**.
*Sizzle— Crackle—*
The only sound came from a broken streetlamp, flickering weakly.
A small silhouette darted swiftly along a wall.
It was a **cat**, its sleek black fur glistening, with **eyes that mirrored the moonlight**.
*Tap tap tap— Tap tap— …Tap?*
Its fast-moving paws suddenly came to a halt.
Beyond the long stretch of the wall, another **cat** appeared.
*HIIIIIIISSSSSSSS—!*
A long scar ran across one of its eyes.
Its body was **fat**, its brown fur **filthy**.
Likely the ruler of this area, the cat bristled, arching its back and letting out a ferocious, metallic hiss at the intruder.
But the **black cat** neither backed away nor hissed in return.
It didn’t retreat because it **needed to pass through here**.
And it didn’t hiss because…
…
…It was **holding something in its mouth**.
A **small ring** adorned with a **red gemstone**.
