Genius Wizard who sees Rainbows- Chapter 171

#Ch-171: *The Place Where One Stays (1)*

 

—

The moment he leapt into Lakria’s mouth, holding the sphere of current—

When darkness spread before his eyes and he faced the galaxy flowing along the creature’s scales—

A memory clicked into place in the boy’s mind.

**“Would you like to make a contract with me?”**

A particular scene surfaced.

It was the moment when Binjin met Lakria in a cave in the wilderness and formed a contract.

**“You seem to still be at the stage of a spirit beast. I’ll supply you with high-quality mana until you become a spirit. In return, we’ll form a master-servant contract. Of course, the term will last until you become a spirit.”**

Lakria, who had no immunity to humans, accepted the offer without much suspicion.

And regretted it.

Although it did receive a supply of high-quality mana afterward, not a single bit of it was the type that aided in spiritization.

Animals that accumulate a certain amount of mana in their bodies can pass through the spirit beast stage and become spirits.

The type of mana required at this point varies depending on the individual.

Much like how the types of mana stored in circles differ for each human.

What Binjin supplied was high-quality mana extracted via exploitative magic.

Of course, Lakria’s innate power grew rapidly as a result—

**“────.”**

—but since the mana was completely useless for spiritization, the Lakria in the basement could only feel an unquenchable hunger and thirst.

And Lakria came to realize—

That the human he had contracted with neither possessed the ability nor the intention to provide the mana necessary for spiritization.

He tried to leave immediately and return to the wilderness, but bound by the contract, he couldn’t escape.

‘…….’

Having pieced together the memory, the boy mentally recited the element Lakria needed.

**Electric-type element.**

At that moment, as he was falling through the darkness, a mass of light appeared in the boy’s vision.

Inside Lakria’s body.

A bundle of bright yellow mana, glowing intensely, surrounded by strange floating patterns.

It was Lakria’s heart, made of condensed mana, and also the core of the engraved contract.

Looking down, the boy saw a similar glowing mass in his own hand.

**[Crackle─!]**

A sphere of current, created from the mana of the gemstone.

He could have used it to strike the inside of Lakria’s body.

But he didn’t.

Instead, he plunged the sphere of current straight into Lakria’s heart.

And at that very moment—

**[Woooooooo──!]**

The blue mana rampaging inside the ring exploded outward in all directions.

And in the next instant—

The boy saw it.

Between falling shards of ice—

A massive yellow serpent soaring into the sky, reborn with new life.

**“Hyung? What kind of magic was that just now? People are just collapsing like flies.”**

Ain’s voice beside him pulled Ray out of his thoughts.

He asked in return:

**“You can’t see the snake, can you?”**

**“Snake? What snake? If there is one, we gotta catch it. Snake wine sells for a decent price.”**

**“……”**

With that snake, you’d probably be the one getting bottled.

**“Where is it? I’m crazy good at catching snakes.”**

**“……”**

More like getting caught, not catching.

Anyway, Ray was able to reaffirm knowledge he had gained from Binjin’s memories.

That spirits are, by nature, invisible to the naked eye.

They may appear when they wish, but generally, their existence is hidden from human sight—they live only in nature.

But the reason he could see Lakria so clearly now was—

**‘Because spirits are made of mana.’**

Lakria, whose entire body now consisted of glowing yellow mana, was no longer a quiet galaxy.

He was a dazzling cluster of radiant stars.

…Perhaps, as a gesture of gratitude for helping him become a spirit, he was assisting in neutralizing the enemy.

Feeling no need to worry about the gate any longer, Ray turned and walked toward Amon.

**“P-Please… s-spare… me….”**

Amon’s body, except for his face, was entirely frozen.

A terrible cold had invaded his very cells.

He felt like he could faint at any moment.

With every tap of the boy’s fist on his frozen body, fear and terror spread across Amon’s pale face.

**“The drug—you were going to use something, right?”**

**“D-Drug? W-What d-do you mean…?”**

**“The special drug you said you’d use to control Binjin’s remaining disciples.”**

**“Th-That was… a specially prepared p-poison….”**

Driven by a desperate will to live, Amon managed to answer.

It was a poison that didn’t kill but inflicted excruciating pain on the heart.

There was no complete antidote. One had to take a neutralizer regularly to survive.

**“Where is it?”**

**“In… my coat’s f-front pocket….”**

**Sssshhhk──!**

Ray’s flame-covered palm touched Amon’s chest, melting away the ice.

Amon’s face began to burn from the rising flames.

**“Aaaaargh──!”**

A scream of agony burst from Amon’s mouth, but Ray remained expressionless, focused on the task.

When he finally pulled a small zipper bag from the revealed pocket—

Amon’s face, burned beyond recognition, had gone still, no longer breathing.

**“Wow… hyung, that was intense.”**

**“I-I can’t watch this…”**

Ain and Ayla felt nauseous and dizzy.

They had suspected it.

That perhaps Hailer wasn’t really a student from the Magic Tower.

And through their time together, their suspicions had grown more and more convincing.

Now, after witnessing this overwhelming magic and merciless cruelty—

**‘Hailer, who are you?’**

It was no longer a suspicion.

It was certainty.

Through air saturated with fear, dread, confusion, and unease, Ray stepped into the tower.

He stopped in front of a fallen man and looked down.

**“You’re the second-in-command, aren’t you?”**

**“……!”**

The man who had always stood beside Amon during office visits.

One whose vessel always showed intense envy and jealousy toward Amon.

**“You seemed like someone who wanted to take Amon’s place as the leader of the organization.”**

**“W-Who the hell are you…!”**

**“Congratulations. Amon’s dead now, so you’re the new number one.”**

At that moment, joy and elation flashed through the man’s vessel.

It was pathetic.

Even with his own life uncertain, he rejoiced in the death of a rival.

**‘…Well, he’ll survive, at least.’**

Ray looked down coldly at the man, recalling memories of rainbows and the old era.

The stronger sunlight now. The clear sky without a single cloud.

And the time when clean rain once fell.

The old era—the history of the Magic Kingdom—was said to have begun with the fall of a rainbow to the earth.

**‘The fragments of the shattered rainbow were divided and managed by seven guardians chosen from different races.’**

…However—

The Magic Kingdom, which prospered through the power of the rainbow fragments, soon declined.

Just like how the rainbow had fallen to the earth, though the reason remained unknown.

**‘That’s all the information I had known.’**

But today—

By absorbing Binjin’s memories, he had gained a few more meaningful details.

One of which was that the Azure Dawn Society was trying to resurrect the Indigo Guardian.

**‘Binjin once met the leader of the Azure Dawn Society during his circle procedure.’**

That was where Binjin had obtained the information.

**“Our goal has always been the same. To bring the Great One into this era and create a world where the most inferior shall become superior.”**

…The voice of the Azure Dawn leader echoed in Binjin’s ears during the procedure.

And that voice belonged to—

**‘The one-eyed monocled mage.’**

──!

In that instant, an immense wave of rage surged in Ray’s vessel.

A fury so intense it wouldn’t freeze even on an ice field.

The murderous intent it released—

**“……!”**

—even caused the Amon Family’s second-in-command, who had remained somewhat composed, to begin trembling uncontrollably.

Ray stared down at him with a cold gaze, withdrawing his rage.

As expected, the leader of the Azure Dawn was the one-eyed monocled mage.

His name: **Indiago.**

The one who had sent the letter was also him.

**‘Indiago is searching for the rainbow fragments. The Azure Dawn’s goal is to resurrect the Indigo Guardian.’**

Was the search for rainbow fragments related to the guardian’s revival?

What did a world where the inferior became superior really mean?

**“…….”**

He didn’t know.

But his intuition told him one thing very clearly—

It wasn’t for a good cause.

Just like the Doctor of Murcred, who claimed to seek to return the world to its original form.

**“Wh-What… what will happen to me now?”**

**“You want to live?”**

The second-in-command clung to his leg.

Ray had a thought.

**“Y-Yes…! Please spare me! I’ll do anything!”**

**“I’ll let you live.”**

If he was to go up against both the Azure Dawn and Murcred, he’d need to build power too.

Ray, brushing the man’s head with a dry hand, took a pill from the zipper bag and said:

**“The Amon Family will continue operating exactly as before. You’ll just become the new leader.”**

**“N-No! I-I can’t take that—!”**

**Chomp!**

Ray grabbed the man’s face and pried open his mouth.

**“Of course, the actual master will be different from now on.”**

**“Ugh! Uurgh! Gagk!”**

He shoved the pill into his mouth and struck his throat to make him swallow it.

**Gulp!**

The man’s pale face turned even whiter.

Soon he flipped his eyes, foamed at the mouth, and began convulsing.

**“Grrk! Gahhh! Kkrrgh!”**

Ray watched, timing it carefully, and then fed him the neutralizer.

Before long, the convulsions subsided.

**“Haa… haa….”**

**“What’s your name?”**

**“Haa… B-B-Bassel….”**

**“According to Amon, this neutralizer was specially made and can’t be reproduced. So listen to me well. I’ll give it to you periodically.”**

Tears and mucus smeared the man’s face, and even breathing looked difficult.

**“If you understand, nod your head.”**

With unfocused eyes, Bassel nodded blankly.

Ray gathered mana from the air and molded it into black fear.

**Wooooong!**

He pushed that fear into Bassel’s vessel.

The natural fear already present.

The artificial fear just injected.

Though alike in texture, these two types of fear mixed and expanded beyond their limits.

**‘This should be enough.’**

It was a secondary safety measure to prevent Bassel from harboring any foolish thoughts.

Bassel’s teeth chattered and he couldn’t even meet Ray’s gaze.

Ray cast a healing spell on him and then stepped back outside the tower.

And—

**“Hailer.”**

He met a pair of blue eyes filled with a swirl of emotions.

The rain hadn’t stopped, the sky remained overcast, and screams still echoed from the gate.

After hesitating a while, Ayla asked with a nervous voice:

**“Who are you?”**

A long silence followed.

Ray didn’t answer.

He merely cast a dry gaze over everything around him.

**“You are….”**

**“The rainbow.”**

Then he spoke.

**“I’m someone who’ll do anything to find it.”**

At some point, the boy was looking straight into the girl’s eyes.

**Sssshhhhhhh──**

Amid the torrential rain pouring down like it would swallow the world whole.

—

 

 

 

 

 

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