**#128. Element of Destruction (1)**
—
Only a stifling silence remained in the space where mana had once crackled like sparks.
*‘I didn’t expect an interruption.’*
Yellow mana hissed and escaped from Ray’s vessel.
His mood had been ruined, interrupted at the very moment he was about to extract the long-awaited information.
“……”
How should he demand accountability?
Ray returned to his emotionless state and began analyzing the situation carefully.
*‘I thought of her as a sort of traitor.’*
Ray had diagnosed two major behavioral tendencies in Curiosa.
First, she had not even a shred of loyalty to her organization.
*”You want to meet the Doctor? Then take down the executives one by one. If the organization collapses completely, the Doctor won’t be able to stay hidden.”*
*‘She didn’t just lack loyalty—she seemed intent on using me to bring down the organization.’*
The second tendency: she was extremely reluctant to let Ray acquire any information about Murcred.
This was evident in how she had tried to kill Lady Lenia, who had once encountered the Doctor.
*‘She didn’t want me to learn about the Doctor. That way, she could maintain the upper hand in future information exchanges.’*
How does one control emotion?
That was the information Curiosa desperately wanted to obtain.
In the end, Curiosa’s two behavioral patterns contradicted each other.
If her goal was to harm Murcred, she should have shared information. But to satisfy her curiosity, she had to conceal it.
*‘Did she come here with the latter purpose? To withhold information?’*
But he had clearly warned her during their last encounter.
If she interfered with information gathering again, there would be no more exchanges of questions.
He took a breath and spoke.
“You were the one who told me to take down the executives, weren’t you?”
Curiosa remained silent for a moment before answering.
“Don’t kill Allager.”
At that, the man wheezed and shouted like he was having a seizure.
“Shannon…! You’re Shannon, aren’t you! To think this brat could kill me, how ridiculous…!”
Suddenly, the man’s body flickered like a heat haze and reappeared a bit further back.
Curiosa said coldly:
“Allager. Don’t call me by that rusty old name you’ve tossed in the junkyard.”
“Shannon…! Yeah, that’s right. Shannon! That doll costume and mask…! The coward Shannon, always hiding in the wardrobe…! You’ve grown, but you haven’t changed…!”
The man’s emotions raged without rest.
Ray didn’t find that strange.
Every Murcred mage he had encountered thus far had shown signs of madness.
However…
*‘Curiosa had been like that too.’*
He tilted his head.
Unlike their past meetings, Curiosa was now displaying an eerily calm demeanor.
*Could it be that she was also an excellent actor like him, mimicking madness for some hidden purpose?*
*‘…No. Her emotions were definitely in turmoil back then.’*
Most likely, her current calmness had to do with that man—Allager.
Ray pressed for an answer.
“Answer me. Why did you interfere?”
“Kid. Get rid of that spell first.”
By spell, she meant the electric current enveloping Ray’s body.
It flickered like a serpent’s tongue, ready to strike the man at any moment.
And at the same time—
“If you try anything with that, I’ll blow my head off.”
A sinister ripple formed around Ray’s head, as though he wore an invisible helmet.
It was as if both had a gun pointed at each other.
But Ray remained composed.
“Curiosa. You can’t kill or harm me.”
“……”
“The moment you do, the answers you seek will be erased or forever hidden.”
“……”
“And taking Allager and running away won’t be allowed either. If you try, the exchange ends.”
Curiosa flared up.
“Don’t be ridiculous—”
“If you don’t like it, kill me.”
“……”
“Go on, try. The moment I suffer even the slightest injury, I’ll shut my mouth forever.”
Crackle.
There was no bluff, no bravado.
The faint fragments of emotion left in Ray’s vessel did not waver in the slightest.
…They were a poor match.
That failed first encounter—they hadn’t formed the right bond. Who would have thought it would come back to bite her like this every time?
Ray said flatly:
“You said the executives hadn’t seen each other in ages. Did you change your mind after seeing him in person?”
To deduce Curiosa’s motive, Ray pieced together the information he had.
First came the photo found in Walter’s basement.
Six children with someone who seemed to be the Doctor, standing in front of an orphanage gate.
Walter, Obsess, Vicious.
Ragey, Curiosa, Allager.
Judging by the names written above their heads, those children had grown up to become the current executives.
*‘Besides the names, another thing stood out. Some kids were clinging closely to one another.’*
Curiosa and Allager.
A girl and a boy, about 7 or 8 years old, holding hands tenderly.
*‘They might have been friends.’*
That would explain Curiosa’s interference.
After all, friends help each other without expecting anything in return.
And as Ray observed the emotions in Curiosa’s vessel—
“……”
His suspicion was confirmed.
Behind the massive curiosity, small clumps of mana in various colors peeked out.
Strangely, they reminded Ray of the younger siblings under the overpass.
The way they used to peek out of alleyways, cautious of passing gangs.
Ray set aside the fleeting memory and continued his analysis.
*‘Those emotions are directed at Allager. The first ones: pity, sympathy, guilt… and the final crimson mass…’*
Affection.
It was easy to identify—Veronica and Philip always carried that emotion toward him.
Then came Curiosa’s voice.
“Don’t kill Allager.”
“……”
“Don’t… kill Allager.”
“……”
“Don’t kill… Allager….”
The monotonous repetition ticked like a broken clock.
Ray looked up at Curiosa’s mask.
The black dots and lines that usually showed expressions were gone.
“Allager… don’t kill….”
“……”
She kept muttering.
Like a child overwhelmed, repeating the same words without knowing how to solve the problem.
“Is he your friend?”
“Kill… Allager…?”
“I asked if he’s your friend.”
Caught off guard, Curiosa hesitated and stayed silent.
What was the intent behind that question?
Recalling that lies didn’t work between them, she answered honestly.
“He’s… my little brother.”
“Little brother.”
Ray fell silent for a moment.
Then, he came up with a brilliant way to make her pay for ruining his mood.
“All right. I won’t kill Allager.”
The black dots and lines reappeared, drawing a surprised expression.
“You won’t kill him? Really?”
“On one condition.”
“What… what condition?”
“The space you appeared from—I want to go inside it too.”
The mask showed extreme panic.
“What do you mean by that…?”
“Your lab. Show it to me.”
The rift that appeared when Curiosa materialized.
It opened and closed too fast for normal eyes to catch, but Ray’s sharp vision hadn’t missed the view beyond.
A small room.
Bookshelves lining the walls, filled with magical texts.
A cluttered desk with arcane tools.
A bed and sink, likely for show.
Overall impression—
*A research space.*
The walls were covered in pinned-up photos and documents.
“W-what lab? That room—wasn’t even—no! That place doesn’t exist!”
To that, Ray calmly recited the words he had seen.
“Doctor. That bastard I’ll tear to pieces. Rainbow. Ruins. Magic tools. Homunculus. Invention. Past era. Doctor’s goal.”
He cut off.
“With this much, you know I’m not bluffing. Don’t waste my time.”
Curiosa couldn’t respond.
It felt like a hammer had struck her head.
*‘He saw all that? In that brief instant?’*
She had used spatial magic countless times. No one had ever perceived what lay beyond.
Not even the Doctor.
…A secret no one knew.
And yet this boy had peered into it and understood it was her lab.
Curiosa’s black-line eyes darted toward him.
*─How? How did you see it?*
Ray responded with an indifferent gaze.
*─Well, maybe don’t show up so close next time.*
As her mind reeled, Ray’s voice pierced her ear.
“The longer you delay, the worse it gets for you. If you don’t treat Allager soon, he’ll suffer permanent damage.”
A haze of emotions swelled in Curiosa’s vessel.
“Shannon…! Don’t you dare beg that insect for my life─!”
Curiosa cast a glance.
The space surrounding Allager rippled.
────!
──────!
Like a muted broadcast, no more shouts could be heard.
Curiosa turned back to Ray.
“You want to enter my room. To steal information. What exactly do you want to know?”
“All the info I just listed.”
Silence.
A grinding sound came from behind the mask.
Vrrmmmm───!
The space around Ray’s head surged violently.
“You arrogant little brat. I’ve had enough. You wanna die that bad?”
Her voice came out word by bitter word.
Ray didn’t react.
He simply watched the swelling red fury in her vessel.
*‘Things are turning out well.’*
He had already suspected the existence of a “Peeping Tom #2’s” lab beyond that space.
Today, the rift had appeared close enough to confirm it.
*‘I’ve been wanting to look inside anyway.’*
A treasure trove of info and magic tools, all without an owner.
To Ray, it looked like a giveaway booth.
*‘Perfect. I’ve just never had the chance to visit—until now.’*
Excitement and anticipation seeped into Ray’s vessel again.
Today, the invitation had arrived.
Naturally, he had no intention of refusing.
Rainbow. Doctor. Murcred.
Whether the information came from Allager or Curiosa didn’t matter.
Judging by the lab, Curiosa likely had better intel.
“All of it. You want all of it. You little heartless bastard. Last time you traded three-for-one and now this.”
Crack!
Behind the mask, the sound of grinding teeth.
Her surging rage was on the verge of outweighing her curiosity for Ray and affection for Allager.
“If you want—”
Ray finally spoke.
“I’ll exclude a few pieces of information. I only need certain things right now anyway.”
“……”
“I’ll leave out anything about the ruins.”
“……”
“And the keywords ‘invention’ and ‘past era’ as well.”
“……”
“Also, I’ll use healing magic on Allager. The kind you can’t use.”
Curiosa’s rage began to fade.
“Hmph… If that’s the deal…”
In truth, Ray had never planned to take all the information.
He had simply started with a bold demand to gain leverage.
Unaware she’d been tricked the same way as before, Curiosa nodded.
“Kid. I’ll accept your offer. In exchange for letting Allager go, I’ll allow one entry into my room and share a few bits of information.”
*‘…?’*
Ray briefly questioned her phrasing.
Why did she think it would only be once?
Regardless, the situation was satisfactory.
In the end, he would gain valuable intel from Curiosa without reducing her curiosity.
Which meant—
*‘The reason she can’t kill me is purely because of her curiosity.’*
So it was best to avoid giving her his own information that might satisfy that curiosity.
She might tail him obsessively, but that wasn’t a concern.
At most, she’d only pick up superficial things.
Anyway—
*‘A solid trade.’*
Philip’s projection appeared in the air and gave Ray a thumbs-up.
Ray nodded back at him.
“All right. I’ll heal Allager first. But before that.”
“Before that?”
“I’m curious. Do you know how to destroy a Circle? Or something similar?”
Curiosa went silent, noting that Ray’s gaze was fixed on Allager.
Then she replied:
“I don’t. That kind of method probably doesn’t exist.”
“Liar.”
“……”
“You do know. Remember—we can’t lie to each other.”
The current surrounding Ray surged violently.
Philip’s projection opened his mouth.
W-wait, Ray—
Crackle───!
Light engulfed the space.
