Genius Wizard who sees Rainbows- Chapter 206

**#206. Uninvited Guest (2)**

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“What do you think? Compared to the Binjin you remember?”

“She looks exactly the same.”

Ray answered as he looked at Grine, who had taken on the appearance of Binjin.

More precisely, he was looking at the light green mana that enveloped her body and distorted her appearance.

That mana was the manifestation of the two chameleon spirits Grine had contracted.

“It was closer to green last time.”

“Pepper and Salt are just using more energy for camouflage than they did before, I think. Still, I can’t quite believe it. That mana has different colors, and you can see those colors with your eyes. That’s how you saw through my disguise last time too, isn’t it?”

Ray nodded.

Grine continued with admiration.

“Spirits are fundamentally made of mana. But Pepper and Salt have the ability to completely erase their mana presence. No matter how sharp a mage’s senses are, they wouldn’t be able to detect them. But since you can see the color of mana itself… that means no spirit can hide from your eyes.”

“……”

“Truly, the more I learn about you, the more mysterious you become, Ray. You freely control gem mana that ordinary mages can’t even touch, use magic that defies the laws, and can see the colors of mana. At this rate, I wouldn’t be surprised if you turned out to be some kind of god.”

After a moment of silence, Ray finally spoke.

“But.”

“Yes? Go ahead.”

“The names. Are you sure about those?”

“Pepper and Salt? Why?”

Pepper and Salt were the names of the two chameleon spirits.

Originally, Grine had communicated with them mentally and never had to call them out loud, so she hadn’t named them. But—

> “How about giving them names? I’ve heard forming a bond is really important when using a spirit’s power! If you keep calling them by affectionate names, you’ll naturally grow closer, don’t you think?”

—Following Veronica’s suggestion, she had given them names.

“But isn’t that just the name of the seasoning on the jerky you always eat?”

“What’s wrong with that?”

“You really just live on a whim, huh.”

“Excuse me?”

“Nothing.”

Grine’s ears twitched as if replaying what she just heard.

Ray looked at the light green mana formed from distortion and deception and said,

“Anyway, I’m counting on your acting.”

“No need to worry.”

Her posture straightened, her expression turned serious, and the atmosphere shifted in an instant.

“This kind of disguise is nothing new for me.”

The voice that came out was a rough, masculine one, and the person before him now was unmistakably Binjin.

“Go for the man in the navy suit first.”

“Got it.”

Grine, checking the target’s appearance through the window, descended to the first floor via the spiral staircase.

“……”

Ray watched the green mana shrinking as it moved downward, then turned his gaze back out the window.

There was no visible suspicion or vigilance in the “vessels” of the approaching visitors being guided to the tower.

At least, not yet.

The boy stepped forward to the railing, raising his right hand to aim down at the first floor.

In his grasp was a bright yellow bolt of lightning.

Unlike ordinary lightning magic, there was no sound from the flickering current, and the light was condensed inwardly, not spreading out.

It was a spell composed purely of electric elemental energy, untainted by any impurity.

There was a story.

That the first natural magic was born from attempts to mimic wondrous phenomena like lightning or hurricanes.

This lightning was the same.

It was the boy’s first act of imitation of a natural phenomenon occurring in the sky.

But the result was nothing like what ordinary mages achieved.

The boy’s lightning wasn’t a crude imitation—it was a crystallization of pure elemental power.

Not fake, but real.

Not mimicry, but creation.

‘……’

As his senses focused to their limits, his vision narrowed down to the first floor beneath the railing.

His breath stopped for a moment.

His posture didn’t budge.

Reflected in the dilated pupils of his white eyes were the approaching enemies entering the tower.

**Sssrk.**

A strand of white hair fell from above the railing.

Drifting down, it softly landed atop one of the relics on a table.

“It’s an honor to meet you.”

Next to it, “Binjin” gave a polite bow to the visitors.

“Thank you for coming such a long way. My skills are humble, but I walk the path of magic with an ever-curious mind. I’m Binjin.”

“Pleased to meet you. I’m Krymer.”

“Lucia.”

“I’m Simon.”

The visitors shook hands with “Binjin” in turn and then focused their attention on the relics filling the nearby tables.

“Hmm, there’s quite a lot. Just from what I can see, there must be hundreds.”

“So he wasn’t lying about his years exploring ruins.”

“He’s not completely useless. Might be more useful than expected depending on how we use him.”

The visitors conversed among themselves in front of “Binjin.”

The man in the navy suit, a 4th Circle mage, spoke to Grine. Judging from the atmosphere, he appeared to be the senior among them.

“The precious gift you sent to the chairman has been carefully examined by all members of the Dawn Society. Depending on its use, it’s a treasure worth a fortune. I express my respect for your generous offering.”

Behind the visitors,

Ain, who had entered with the guide, fiddled with the item in his pocket with sweaty hands.

The gift just mentioned was the ring that nullified the binding circles.

Originally Binjin’s possession, there had been three.

One was offered to the Dawn Society, while the other two were now held by Ain and Grine respectively.

The plan was to signal the start of the surprise attack by using the ring.

To Krymer’s words, Grine gave a slight bow and replied,

“Krymer, I only did what I had to. If I can be of even the slightest help to the Dawn Society, then there’s no greater honor.”

“You seem like someone who knows their place. I like that. One must be that way for the Society to thrive. But…”

Suddenly, Krymer’s words stopped as he locked eyes with Grine.

“You didn’t, by any chance, hide another ring somewhere, did you?”

…His piercing gaze seemed to see straight into her soul.

After a tense silence,

Grine answered calmly.

“Unfortunately, the one sent to the Dawn Society was all I had. I only regret that I could not contribute more.”

“I see. I suppose it’s unlikely that you’d have multiple artifacts with such absurd capabilities.”

“If I obtain more rare items in the future, I intend to donate them to the Society as well.”

Krymer nodded with a satisfied expression.

“You’ve shown the proper attitude for joining. But attitude and qualification are different matters. What about the spirit beast you mentioned in your letter? Did you succeed in turning it into a spirit?”

After a deliberate pause, Grine replied.

“Yes. I succeeded.”

The visitors gasped in genuine surprise.

“Amazing! It must have taken an incredible amount of mana to spiritize a creature of that size.”

“And highly refined, top-quality mana at that.”

“I honestly wasn’t expecting much, but this is a surprising result.”

Grine glanced at the mansion outside the window and answered.

“Providing quality mana wasn’t difficult. I’ve been personally raising sacrifices for it.”

“A clever method. The inferior can still contribute to the world that way. Have you formed a contract yet?”

Grine shook her head with feigned reluctance.

“Not yet. The creature is extremely violent, so I’ve had to keep it locked in the basement. I’m planning to force a contract once it’s exhausted.”

Krymer, focusing his senses for a moment, opened his eyes and said,

“Indeed, I can feel a powerful mana flow from below. You’ve worked hard.”

The source of the mana was actually Laqria, crouched in the basement on Ray’s instruction.

Grine responded with a light tone.

“Not at all. It was no trouble.”

“It was. You’ve proven your qualification. Let’s leave viewing the spirit for later—may we examine the relics here in the meantime?”

“Of course. Please follow me.”

The visitors began moving between the tables.

“This is the first tangible relic I’ve seen like this.”

“Didn’t the chairman bring something similar before?”

Their backs were turned, fully focused on the relics.

Still, Ain and Grine couldn’t find an opening to use the rings.

‘…There’s no opening at all.’

‘They don’t seem particularly wary, but…’

They had an intense gut feeling that an ambush would fail right now.

Especially Krymer—his overwhelming presence made him seem less like a human and more like a massive hunk of steel.

Then, it happened.

“A hair? White?”

Krymer picked up the strand of hair that had fallen on the relic.

In that moment—a gap appeared.

Grine and Ain moved like lightning, pulling out the rings and firing the threads of mana stored inside.

At nearly the same instant, Krymer grabbed the necks of his two companions and used them as shields.

───.

Lucia and Simon’s circles were nullified by the threads.

Before they could utter a word, their vision was engulfed in light.

**KWA-RANG───!**

A thunderous roar. A flash of light.

Lucia’s back crumbled into black ash.

Krymer twisted his body while holding the remaining Simon by the neck.

**KWA-RANG───!**

Another roar. Another flash.

Simon’s right arm vanished completely, black ash scattering all around.

At the same moment—

In Krymer’s pupils, attacks came flying in from all directions.

Thorny vines erupted from seeds scattered in the air.

Dozens of ice spikes radiated deadly cold.

A masked figure burst from thin air, reaching for his throat.

And from a distance, a blue-haired boy charged with a dagger.

Krymer’s lips twitched.

“You inferior things…”

From his circle, dark blue mana exploded out.

A shockwave of incredible force blasted out in all directions.

**CLANG! CRASH! SHATTER!**

**THOOM─!**

Every window in the tower shattered.

Tables and furniture flipped and shattered.

Grine and Ain were hurled through the air and slammed into the wall. Ayla, who had been hiding in a cabinet, was thrown to the floor the moment she emerged.

Only Curiosa barely managed to slip into a spatial rift in time.

**CLANK─!**

The tip of Krymer’s iron staff transformed, revealing a blade.

He swung it in an arc toward something falling overhead.

But at that moment, his instincts screamed.

‘This is dangerous.’

Abandoning the staff, Krymer yanked Simon’s neck and threw himself backward.

**KWA-RANG───!**

A thunderous explosion and blinding flash.

The fallen staff sparked with a terrifying yellow current.

Next to him stood a white-haired boy, gripping a long stream of electricity as he stared in this direction.

What he held in his hand was—