#030. When Flame Meets Flame (4)
—
*Screeeeeeech──! Boom─!*
Philip lifted his head and saw the steel beam plummeting toward him. His mind went blank.
*“Ah.”*
It was too late to dodge.
He lacked even the faintest strength to move, and even if he were in perfect condition, the beam’s speed made escape impossible.
Not to mention, the encroaching flames left no room to maneuver.
*”So, this is how I die.”*
Philip felt death looming over him.
He tried to feign composure, but staring into the gaping maw of death, his mind raced with countless thoughts.
The first that came to him was—
*”I don’t want to die.”*
Regrets began to surface.
Why had he let go of his mother’s hand back then?
What would happen if his death caused the hotel’s operations to cease?
The secret magazines he’d acquired—why hadn’t he stored them in a safe instead of under the bed?
While one boy was frozen in place, another was gazing at the white mana gathering in his palm.
*Woooooom──*
Mana, which typically refused to budge, now shimmered like hardened clay.
In a flash, a fragment of a past memory flooded the boy’s mind.
He had been sprinting desperately, chasing the golem toward the bridge.
What had he felt back then?
Hadn’t his mind been consumed with a singular thought: stopping the golem?
If the kids under the bridge died, he wouldn’t be able to fulfill his promise to repay a debt.
…But was that really all there was to it?
*”Hah… Hah…”*
As he ran to stop the golem, could he truly claim there were no other reasons?
A faint warmth tickled his chest.
Memories from the past began to surface, one by one.
*”Ray, thanks! You’re the best!”*
*”I’m so glad you became part of our family.”*
*”What? You think you’re weird? Maybe a little, but it’s fine!”*
*”Sometimes you act odd, but it’s okay!”*
And then, the other thought he had while chasing the golem—
*”I want to protect them.”*
The innocent words passed through the children’s lips.
The hard yet precious everyday life they shared, packed closely together for warmth.
He wanted to protect it all.
Yes.
At last, he understood with certainty.
The reason he ran toward the bridge wasn’t just to repay a debt.
*”I had something I wanted to protect.”*
A realization dawned on him.
The dam holding back his emotions finally burst.
*Woooooooom──!*
The white mana, resonating with his current feelings, vibrated intensely and shone with a brilliant light.
He could feel the texture of the mana.
This unfamiliar color of mana—despite never having used it before—felt strikingly familiar.
As if he had wielded it once before.
…But that didn’t matter right now.
Information about the white mana naturally flowed into his mind.
Its properties.
The optimal ways to use it.
The potential applications.
Ray stretched his palm upward, releasing the white mana.
*Woosh!*
The ball of mana halted above him, then spread out in all directions, forming a hemispherical barrier.
A transparent white shield.
The moment the steel beam struck it—
*Crash!*
A deafening collision reverberated throughout the factory.
The steel beam failed to break through the shield, ricocheting away and consumed by the flames.
“W-Was that magic? Just now, you raised your hand and suddenly…”
Philip stared at the shield in awe, his expression a mixture of disbelief and amazement.
To someone who couldn’t sense mana, the shield seemed to have appeared out of thin air.
“Yes, it’s magic. And maybe… we might just make it out of here alive.”
After a brief pause, Ray added:
“No, *we* will make it out.”
Though his voice was calm, excitement surged within him.
This was the first time he had ever controlled white mana.
And the moment his instincts about its usage were proven correct.
*”It worked exactly as I envisioned. I thought it might, but…”*
He hadn’t expected it to succeed on the first try.
Imagining all the incredible things he might accomplish with this new color of mana made his heart race.
The physical and mental exhaustion accumulated from the battle seemed to wash away in an instant.
“Alive? Are you serious? You really mean it?”
“If my guess is correct.”
Following Ray’s gaze, Philip looked toward the same spot—the edge of the shield where it met the flames.
*Whoosh!*
The flames raged violently but were unable to penetrate the shield.
Philip gasped in astonishment.
“The fire and smoke can’t get in. It’s like transparent glass. Is it actually solid?”
Ray approached the shield, ignoring Philip’s concerned warning.
“B-Be careful!”
He extended a hand toward the shield.
*Tap.*
His palm met resistance; the shield was indeed tangible.
However, it didn’t completely block the heat, and his palm burned slightly from the residual warmth.
Ray didn’t pull his hand away.
Instead, he drew in the blue mana from the air and infused it into the shield.
*Wooooom──*
Blue light spread from his palm, enveloping the entire barrier.
Watching intently, Philip noticed something strange.
The stifling heat that had clung to his body was dissipating like shed skin.
The air within the shield was cooling.
The temperature gradually dropped, returning to normal.
Philip, now sweating less and breathing more easily, shivered in disbelief.
Ray returned to kneel beside Kedrick, whose hands were covered in burns from the flaming debris he had thrown.
Ray recalled the moment Veronica had healed his wounds with white mana.
He believed he could do the same.
With no prior attempts, he was filled with an inexplicable certainty.
He immersed himself in the memory of that moment, in the emotions he felt then.
As he did, the surrounding white mana naturally flowed into his hands.
*”I think I understand now.”*
The act of worrying for someone.
The texture of that emotion.
The desire to protect.
The urge to give without expecting anything in return.
*Woooooom──!*
The glowing white mana covered Kedrick’s hand.
The redness faded, the burnt skin smoothing out.
When the light dissipated, his hand was mostly restored—close enough to its original state.
“…Unbelievable.”
Tears welled up in Philip’s eyes, overwhelmed by the miracle of magic and his own relief for Kedrick.
“Don’t move. Stay still,” Ray instructed.
Extending his hand toward Philip, he released the white mana.
*Woooooom──!*
The radiant light enveloped Philip, mending torn muscles and fusing broken bones.
As the glow faded, Philip marveled at his now mobile body.
“Th-Thank you. Truly, thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” Ray replied matter-of-factly.
The reason for healing them wasn’t purely out of concern. Kedrick and Philip had roles to play going forward.
Also, Ray wanted to test how far he could push the limits of the white mana.
“Can you move this glass-like shield? If we can, we might be able to escape slowly.”
Philip’s suggestion was hopeful, but Ray shook his head.
“Moving the shield doesn’t seem possible—not without specialized magical knowledge.”
“Then what do we do?”
“We wait. Until the fire dies down.”
Ray focused on repairing the weakening shield by injecting more mana.
Philip, though unable to sense mana, understood the effort it required and stayed quiet.
Silence filled the space.
*Crackle! Snap!*
The flames roared as Ray periodically reinforced the shield with white mana.
Maintaining such intense focus was taxing on both his mental and emotional reserves, especially for someone like Ray, who was unaccustomed to such feelings.
Still, his concentration didn’t waver.
Eventually, the overwhelming heat began to subside.
The fire would inevitably die.
No anger, no matter how intense, could burn forever.
Without fuel to consume, without a target for its rage, it would eventually falter and extinguish.
—
—
—
The factory, now engulfed in flames, released plumes of smoke and heat through its shattered windows.
“How… How do we deal with this?”
“This was too dangerous from the start. Fighting in such conditions…”
The boys who escaped the inferno, regardless of their allegiances, shared a common sentiment—fear and helplessness.
“We’re losing our home to the fire!”
“We need to put it out! Now!”
“With what? How are we supposed to put that out?”
Kedrick’s gang, who had called the abandoned factory their home, were pale with dread.
There was nothing they could do.
They could only shed tears or tremble with unease.
The large physiques and strength they normally took pride in were of no use at this moment.
Members of the Zephyr and Rotson gangs shouted:
“We had nothing to do with this!”
“Y-yeah! This isn’t our fault! It’s Kedrick’s fault! He’s the one who threw that flaming plank!”
The two groups slowly backed away, then fully turned and fled the scene.
Kedrick’s gang, having lost their leader, lacked the strength or justification to stop them.
*Crash! Boom!*
The flames roared.
The factory crumbled, leaving only its skeleton behind.
Some residents of the sector appeared, drawn by the rising smoke, but they took no particular action.
Once they confirmed the fire wouldn’t spread to the sector, they left with indifferent expressions.
Time flowed on relentlessly.
In the end, only Kedrick’s gang and the children from the hotel remained at the scene.
*Crack! Boom!*
As if an eternity had passed, the fire finally breathed its last.
The children took trembling steps toward the collapsed factory.
Then, as if on cue, they all stopped at the same time.
“…!”
“L-Look!”
Through the ruins, a silhouette appeared.
Fear. Terror.
Shock. Anticipation. Excitement.
An indescribable mix of emotions swept over the boys like a storm, filling their hearts.
*Tap, tap.*
The silhouette began to move.
Gradually, it emerged clearly into view under everyone’s watchful eyes.
*Tap.*
Amidst the suffocating silence, the figure glanced around at the gathered crowd and slowly opened their mouth.
“If you’re thinking of coming at me…”
A low voice, carried by the lingering heat in the air, reached everyone’s ears with unmistakable clarity.
“Come at me all at once. I’ll take you all on.”
Ray stood there, cradling Kedrick in his arms.
Though he spoke the words sincerely, no one dared to step forward.
How had he survived?
Through those hellish flames?
And with his body seemingly unscathed?
To the boys, who didn’t understand the existence of magic, it was no different from witnessing a myth or a ghost story come to life.
In the midst of the heavy silence and stillness, someone fell to their knees before Ray and prostrated themselves on the ground.
*Thud!*
That act set off a chain reaction, and the same sound began to echo throughout the area.
*Thud! Thud!*
In the end, only one person remained standing upright.
“…”
Ray quietly observed the children for a moment before turning his gaze away.
Between the piles of scrap metal,
toward the horizon,
where the blazing sunset glowed,
the lingering heat still spread beneath it.
