#208. *Uninvited Guest (4)*
—
Unless I move as fast as lightning.
That short and simple sentence resonated in the boy’s mind.
What began as a small tremor grew into a massive vibration.
And at some point—
────.
It shook the very foundation of the boy’s being.
From that seismic upheaval, the yellow mana of the gemstone surged throughout his body, even drawing out those that had been lying dormant in the deepest, most secret corners.
They rolled, rampaged, and shook.
They shoved, toppled, and charged.
In the excitement like a festival, the boy’s body began to transform in nature.
The yellow dot blooming on the canvas in his mind spread outward, forming a shape.
“What a shame. That someone with such talent doesn’t even recognize his own superiority.”
The approaching man kicked the collapsed boy with his foot.
He pushed off the ground and reached the boy suspended midair.
“It’s incomprehensible. If you joined the Dawn society, you could enjoy things beyond imagination.”
The man’s clenched fists slammed violently into the boy’s abdomen.
*Boom—!*
The boy was slammed into the ground, and the man’s polished shoes fell upon him like a pair of missiles.
“Guh!”
A mouthful of blood gushed from the boy’s mouth.
Clicking his tongue once, the man spoke in a disinterested tone.
“Boring. Sorry, but let’s wrap this up. There are just too many risks in letting you live. Oh, don’t worry. Even in death, your body will serve well as experimental material. We’ll uncover the mystery behind that spell of yours, and we—the superior ones—will put it to good use. Isn’t that a glorious fate?”
*Crack!*
The hardened navy mana turned into sharp ice-like spikes.
“Farewell. As a token of respect, I’ll make it painless.”
There was no hesitation in the man’s motion as he drove the spike toward the boy’s heart.
*Squelch!*
*CRACK—!*
In an instant, a flash of light burst forth.
The boy had vanished without a trace, and the man, startled, felt as if something had passed clean through his body.
“What the…?”
Instinctively, he turned around.
The moment he thought he saw a humanoid mass of yellow lightning—
*CRACK—!*
Another flash.
Again, the man felt something pierce through him.
*Sizzle.*
“Ugh…!”
He felt a tremendous surge of pain rising from all over his body.
He hastily examined himself internally, and found terrifying shards of current lodged in every part of his body without exception.
What the hell is this?
He was deeply confused, but he moved as instinct dictated.
He summoned all his navy mana at once to push the currents out.
*CRACK—!*
Another flash of light.
Again, something passed through him.
The number of current shards increased.
*CRACK—!*
*CRACK—!*
*CRACK—!*
With every flash that defied human perception—
*CRACK—!*
The number of shards multiplied, enveloping the man’s entire body.
*CRACK—! CRACK—!*
Each fleeting moment revealed a posture collapsing more rapidly.
‘What is this nonsense…!’
The man couldn’t even breathe properly from the overwhelming pain.
His body simply flailed helplessly in the flickering vision.
‘Me? Me, Krymer, being brought down so helplessly by a child? Impossible…! This can’t be happening…!’
It was at that moment the navy superiority housed in the man’s core erupted and expanded.
High above, tens of meters in the air—
A navy sphere began spinning violently, resonating with his rage.
It absorbed the mana in the surrounding atmosphere indiscriminately, blending it all into a dark, murky navy hue.
Suddenly, the sphere began radiating an intensified navy glow across the area.
And then—
“This is it…!”
The power of the navy mana magnified.
“Do you see?! This is what I speak of! Rising from the darkest, lowest blue horizon of dawn—ascending to the highest place in the world—to become the sun that watches over all creation!”
The man laughed madly, adjusting his posture.
With his energy restored, the navy mana inside him rampaged, expelling the currents.
The boy stared at the navy sphere.
And whispered to himself.
*‘Laqria.’*
*BOOOOOOM—!*
From the rubble of the tower, something massive erupted from the ground.
It was a semi-materialized serpent, its entire massive body formed of flickering current—dozens of meters long.
The lightning tracing the air was like a reversed thunderbolt shooting into the sky.
But the boy didn’t see it.
Because he was already one with Laqria, his vision fixed on the navy sphere in the sky.
He didn’t know how this was possible.
He had merely pictured the scene—and his vision had shifted.
Suddenly, he recalled Grine’s words.
She had once read that those who reach the pinnacle of communion with spirits can transcend shared senses and achieve full unification of body and mind.
…But that didn’t matter right now.
He had something clear to do.
Laqria and the boy opened their jaws.
And bit into the rapidly approaching navy sphere with all their might.
*CRUNCH—!*
Fangs sank in, and cracks spread through the sphere. Yellow mana surged excitedly into the crevices.
*Crack—! Cra-crack—!*
The navy sphere writhed like a living creature.
But soon it shattered completely, swallowed by Laqria’s open mouth.
*BZZZZZZT!*
Swept up in a storm of yellow mana, it was entirely destroyed from within.
*CRACK—!*
And when the loudest crash yet resounded—
────*Thud!*
The man’s body tilted and collapsed completely.
The sky had returned to its original color, and lingering sparks from the lightning flickered sporadically around.
The boy stepped forward, a small yellow-scaled snake coiled around his arm.
“You… what… are you…?”
The man wanted to string words together, but his insides—including his organs—were burnt to a crisp. His voice barely came out.
His eyes stared at the boy, filled with deep fear and terror.
The boy didn’t answer the question. Instead, he asked one of his own.
“You’re the Chapter Master, Indiago?”
A brief silence passed.
Then suddenly, the man convulsed and let out a metallic laugh, speaking with a voice flaring like a last burst of flame.
“How amusing…! So you’ve met the Chapter Master…! Hahaha…! Then you must know just how powerful he is…! You’ll die by his hand in the end…! No matter how strong you are…! No matter what you are…! You’ve thrown away your chance at wealth and glory in the Mage’s City…! You kicked away your fortune with your own two feet…! Guh! Guh!”
*Mage’s City.*
The boy paused momentarily, then asked in a calm voice.
“Is Indiago in the Mage’s City right now?”
“You idiot…! You fool…!”
“Where is the Mage’s City?”
“Guh! You’re too inexperienced to even know what the right decision is…! Laughable…! Your only option is to run away!”
The boy asked a few more questions, but the man’s mind was clearly unsound. He only rambled on.
Ray changed the topic.
“You called that sphere the sun earlier. You’ve infiltrated the cult with a spy. And you’re planning something using an artificial sun.”
At that, the man, who had been laughing, suddenly responded to Ray’s words.
“Even if you’ve figured it out… it’s useless…! Everything will proceed… as scheduled…! Defying providence… is impossible…! Guh!”
A gush of red blood spilled from his mouth.
His life was nearing its end. There was only time for—
…Maybe one more question.
Ray, after a moment of silence, quietly spoke.
“Are you someone important to Indiago?”
“Haha…! Guh, that’s ridiculous…! Guh…! There’s no way someone as superior as the Chapter Master would value someone like me—”
*CRACK!*
A bolt of current flashed, shortening the man’s lifespan by a few seconds.
“That’s a shame. I was hoping he did.”
Ray stared at the now-motionless man for a while, then looked around.
There was no sign of anyone near the mansion—everyone must have evacuated safely.
And since the mansion was isolated on the outskirts of the sector, even the locals probably hadn’t noticed the commotion.
…Aside from the collapsed tower, it looked like nothing had happened.
Ray looked down at the yellow snake coiled on his arm.
“Thanks… for helping me.”
The snake wobbled its head side to side, then turned into mana and wriggled back into the boy’s arm.
Soon, he felt it coil up inside the gemstone.
Just then, Curiosa appeared, stepping out of a rift in space.
“Man, what a mess this turned into.”
“I thought you evacuated since I didn’t see you midway.”
“I was just watching for the right moment. I’m not used to these high-speed battles. I’ve developed my spatial magic for handling Keeper swarms during ancient ruin expeditions. Well, in the end, the situation ended before I could jump in.”
He shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.
Then she caught sight of the lightning bolt in Ray’s hand and flinched, stepping back.
“Let’s talk after you put that away. If that thing goes off around here, it’ll be dangerous.”
Ray glanced back and forth between the tension in Curiosa’s demeanor and the lightning bolt in his hand.
Then he raised his hand as if to throw it at Curiosa.
“You crazy brat!”
Curiosa frantically leapt through an open space rift.
But Ray immediately shut it, dropping him flat on the ground.
Seeing Ray approaching with the lightning bolt, Curiosa panicked.
“Y-you ungrateful brat! That’s *my* portal! Why the hell can *you* open and close it?! I get it! Now that you’ve used me, you’re going to kill me! I *knew* you were rotten to the core! I raised a damn wolf pup! This is why they say you shouldn’t take in beasts with white hair! You thankless little—”
“Thanks. For helping me.”
Ray held out his hand.
The lightning bolt had vanished at some point.
Caught off guard by the unexpected behavior and words, Curiosa was utterly flustered. The black lines on the mask that displayed expressions froze in place.
*Did this kid take something?*
*Or, on the contrary, did he skip taking something he should have?*
“If it weren’t for your help, the fight would’ve been much tougher.”
Hearing the boy’s continued words, Curiosa felt chills run through her entire body.
After a brief but intense internal struggle—
The emotion that filled the vessel to the brim was genuine concern.
“Did you hit your head hard during the fight? That would be a problem. I still have a lot of unanswered questions about you.”
“My head’s fine. Nothing’s wrong.”
Focusing her mind to sense the boy’s emotions, Curiosa was startled.
“You… really mean it when you say thank you?”
Faint, but unmistakable—what the boy was feeling right now was gratitude.
“Thank you, Curiosa.”
“……”
“Thanks to you, I made it through safely.”
“……”
Curiosa had never once received a heartfelt thank-you in her life.
Each time Ray expressed his gratitude, Curiosa twisted her body into a bizarre angle.
“Later! Be ready to explain how you used those spells!”
Then she hurriedly fled into the crack in space.
Almost immediately afterward, a commotion erupted near the front gate.
When the gate was opened, Solite stood there, along with several priests who each had at least two circles.
Solite’s eyes widened in astonishment when he saw Ray.
“Ray…? Why are you here…?”
Ray looked over the priests behind Solite and asked,
“Are the people here trustworthy?”
