Genius Wizard who sees Rainbows- Chapter 309

**#309. City of the Giants (4)**

—

Before they set out for the City of Giants, Rael had said this at the settlement:

The giants possess three eyes.

The left eye sees the vast sky.

The right eye sees the wide earth.

The upper eye sees the enemy before them.

Each eye looked in a different direction, imbued with a power that traced the movements of all things—this was the source of the giants’ transcendental reflexes.

And now—

Koom’s three eyes were glaring down at a man standing at the end of a perilous path.

Startled by the light that had seeped in after a long slumber, they had burst open, bloodshot and wild.

“O Great Being! I grant you the honor of becoming part of my power!”

Having completed the incantation, Indiago reached out a sweat-soaked palm toward Koom.

His face was alight with ecstasy, anticipation and excitement for the ancient power he was about to possess.

And then—

“…?”

Nothing happened.

Startled, Indiago turned his head abruptly and shouted toward the collapsed Doctor before Ray.

“What is going on?! You said that once the spell was chanted, the weakening, the restraints, and the extraction magic etched onto this bastard’s body would activate!”

The Doctor gave no response.

Through the faint light in his eye sockets, he simply stared at Indiago, who stood before Koom.

────

Sensing a presence, Indiago turned his head again—and saw it.

The grotesquely elongated corners of the giant’s mouth, twisted into a smile.

Koom was laughing.

Then, thick lava began to cascade down his massive form as he rose from the lake.

As his upper body emerged, he appeared to Ray as a mass of dark navy mana in the form of a giant.

In that moment, Ray understood.

He realized what the giant made of crimson-black mana, created by the Doctor on the Sky Island, had been imitating.

Indiago seemed frozen, like prey before a predator—his every sense paralyzed.

Koom, as if mocking the tiny human before him, mimicked Indiago’s gesture.

He extended his palm—just like Indiago had done.

──────

A strange murmuring followed.

And then, Indiago’s body began to disintegrate into particles of navy mana, pulled toward Koom’s hand.

“What the…!”

Indiago clenched his teeth and resisted with all his might, veins bulging across his face.

But the immense pull from Koom’s hand made it impossible to flee or retaliate.

*Crack!*

“Doctor! You rotten bastard—! So this was your plan all along—! You used me—! You dared to—!”

His scream, soaked in madness and fury, echoed across the underground space.

*Ssshhhhhh—*

Indiago’s outstretched hand, followed by his limbs and body, vanished in an instant, leaving only his face.

In that final moment, his wandering gaze happened to land in Ray’s direction.

The moment their eyes met, Ray saw it.

The fury covering Indiago’s face quickly peeled away, replaced by deep ecstasy and intoxicated bliss.

Indiago was smiling.

Deliberately—looking directly at him.

*Ssshhhhhh—*

When he was completely gone, only his burned and tattered clothes remained.

The navy mana that had been Indiago seemed to struggle for a moment within Koom’s body, but was soon absorbed entirely, indistinguishable from the rest.

Koom smiled in satisfaction.

Then he turned and began walking toward them through the molten lava.

The Doctor muttered,

“Zzzk… This is your defeat… bzzzt…”

“We’ll see.”

Ray moved to rip the golem’s face off and throw it into the pit.

“Watch closely. The hope you hold is about to be shattered.”

*Shwick!*

The golem’s head soared into the air.

Held in place by a swirling gust of wind, it spun and then stopped—unable to turn away from the unfolding scene below.

*Boom—! Boom—!*

Each step Koom took through the lava shattered the ground and terrain beneath him.

A growing shadow.

A massive tremor shaking the land.

Within it, Ray stared at Koom with unwavering eyes.

Koom, as if trying to sate a hunger built up over countless years, was indiscriminately devouring all the mana in the surrounding air.

The absorbed mana—of many colors—intertwined chaotically, and with every cycle, the navy mana composing Koom’s body grew darker and more turbid.

*Boom—! Boom—!*

It seemed Koom no longer retained any real intelligence.

His body, turning pitch black—

It was now a pure manifestation of malice toward the world.

*Whoosh—!*

Suddenly, Koom reached for Ray at an unbelievable speed.

But all that remained on the ground where his hand had struck was a long, slashing wound.

Ray had already moved to a protruding ledge on the cliff, a knife of yellow mana in hand.

*Zzt! Zzzk!*

The yellow mana lingered along the wound, sparking as it attempted to burrow into Koom’s body.

But the next instant, Koom’s mana surged from all directions, devouring it completely.

The wound healed instantly.

Seeing that, Ray leapt back.

*Crash!*

Koom’s enormous hand narrowly grazed Ray’s coat and caved in the cliff face.

Scorching, suffocating dust.

Eardrum-rattling booms.

*Crash! Crash! Crash!*

Amid it all, every time Ray moved, new wounds were carved across Koom’s upper body.

*This level of attack isn’t enough.*

The mana of the gems is said to be the source of all mana in the world, bearing an almost pure light.

It is characterized by its antagonism toward impure mana—purifying and erasing it.

But against Koom, it was useless.

The navy mana composing Koom’s body repelled the light mana, healing the wounds rapidly.

No matter which color gem’s mana was used, the result was the same.

*…Maybe I lack resonance with the mana.*

He was clearly doing his best.

To draw out the orange gem’s power—he needed feelings of stability and comfort.

For the yellow gem—feelings of excitement and thrill.

For the green gem—feelings of solidarity and curiosity.

To amplify the mana, he had opened every emotional gate he had unlocked so far.

There was only one gem in his possession he hadn’t yet activated.

*The indigo gem.*

The reason was simple.

Feelings like inferiority, depression, and anxiety—

He had never experienced those in his life.

Words he had heard from Graham during his magic training echoed in his head.

*“Mana only responds to those who are honest with themselves.”*

“……”

I thought I’d already been honest enough with myself.

Do I have to be even more honest?

Am I still hiding emotions I don’t even realize?

*Wuuuuummm!*

Then it happened.

The indigo gem was summoned against his will—and slowly began drifting toward Koom.

The boy reached out his hand.

The giant reached out his own.

Suspended in midair between them, the indigo gem began to vibrate violently.

*Crack! Crack-crack!*

Koom moved his lips.

Through his twisted smile, an ancient language spilled forth.

—This is mine.

—Such a thing is not for a lesser being like you to possess.

No, it’s mine.

Normally, he would have reacted in outrage—but Ray had no room to feel anything like that.

The pounding, unplaceable memories causing him headaches.

The specific emotions he was drawing up to maintain his mana output.

And the concentration required not to lose the indigo gem.

There was no space for stray thoughts.

*Crack-crack!*

After a fierce struggle, the indigo gem was sucked into Koom’s hand.

As if pulled by a powerful gravity, all of Koom’s navy mana converged around the gem.

A brief opening.

Ray didn’t miss it. He generated a massive blade of wind and hurled it.

*Slice.*

Koom’s arm was cleanly severed and fell into the lava.

But Koom didn’t react at all to the loss.

The indigo gem, which had traveled through the arm, settled in the center of his chest like a heart.

—GUOOOOO.

A thunderous roar shook his entire body.

The indigo mana, like blood, flowed through his veins, filling his entire form anew.

A new arm sprouted from the severed area, and mist-like indigo mana spread over his entire body.

Through it all, Ray could see—

Koom’s body transforming into pure mana, like a spirit.

*Rael once told me about this.*

It was a recreation of the very form that had once led the ancient era to ruin.

The situation was dire.

Mana embodiment of the body—against a being already immune to magic—meant he had become even more difficult to fight.

*Tap! Tap! Tap-tap!*

Ray quickly climbed the rocky protrusions toward the pit’s upper edge.

Thanks to Koom’s rampage, there was no longer anywhere to stand below.

—GUOOOOO!

Half-embodied in mana, Koom planted his hand into the cliff wall, chasing relentlessly.

Ray turned and stared into the three eyes shimmering in the indigo mana.

“……”

The longer this dragged on, the worse it would be.

Koom was absorbing not just the indigo gem, but also all the surrounding ambient mana, growing stronger still.

He had to decide quickly.

That’s when Ray noticed something.

Deep within Koom’s chest—there was one spot where the indigo mana wasn’t gathering properly.

Rael’s words echoed in his mind again—

During the battle just before the sealing, Koom had received a severe injury to his chest.

*‘If I could land a direct hit there…’*

Having made his judgment, Ray turned his body and leapt downward.

Dodging the swinging arms, he dove straight into the mouth of the weeping Koom.

─────.

His vision darkened sharply.

No external sound could be heard.

The indigo mana spread throughout the area slowed his descent, giving him the sensation of sinking deep underwater.

Red, orange, yellow, green, blue…

Mana of various colors, emerging from jewels and circles, formed thick layers that enveloped Ray’s body.

Those radiant hues felt like the only source of light in the bleak ocean of darkness.

In response, the indigo mana swarmed from all directions, clinging to the intruder’s body and mind in an attempt to consume him.

*Uuuuuuung───*

As he descended toward his target, a fierce battle between manas erupted along the boundary of Ray’s skin.

His bodily senses tangled into disarray.

How much time had passed?

Ray sensed defeat.

The indigo mana pouring in from all directions was endless, and he was gradually reaching the limit of his mental strength.

The negative emotions contained within the indigo mana submerged the spectrum of emotions that resided in Ray’s heart.

*‘Is this a failure…?’*

His consciousness began to blur.

Did he regret his decision?

Not particularly.

Targeting the vulnerable spot deep in Koom’s chest had been the best possible judgment under the circumstances.

He had chosen the most probable option—and simply failed.

That was how he had always lived.

It was his way of life.

And then, a thought crossed his mind.

*‘…Perhaps.’*

A string of gambles since the very beginning of his life.

Wasn’t it a miracle that he had made it this far without a single defeat?

His eyes slowly closed.

His thoughts grew hazy.

He wondered if the emotion he was feeling now might be extreme exhaustion or weariness.

After all, he had come this far without ever truly resting.

In the pitch-black darkness, scenes from his past flashed before his eyes like a revolving lantern.

The deaths of the kids under the underpass and of Niles.

The old man who had searched for Rockdeer—the one who once saved him—and the secretary who had followed him.

The woman who had kidnapped children in an attempt to fill the emptiness left by her lost son.

And then…

Moments when he had come to realize emotions flickered and disappeared like mirages.

With each one, the candlelight of the corresponding emotion in his heart extinguished, one by one.

In the end, no emotions remained in Ray’s vessel.

Yes.

He had returned here in the end.

To the same complete emotional void he had known at the beginning—when his awareness of the world first began.

The stillness and darkness felt comforting.

Ray stopped thinking.

Wrapped in the indigo mana, who knew how much time had passed?

───.

────.

Far above, from the surface—

Traces of emotions began to stir Ray’s consciousness.

Too many to count.

And of such diverse kinds.

A crack formed in his thoughts.

Did he *truly* not regret this moment?

Was he *truly* unafraid of death, truly ready to let go of life?

Fragments of scattered memories returned to their place and took shape.

His heart, which had slowed to a crawl, began to beat rapidly again.

And at the end of that realization, he thought—

That he wanted to keep living, to continue feeling the countless emotions waiting up above.

“……!”

Ray’s eyes flew open.

Within his vessel, a completely new kind of emotion—one he had never felt before—had begun to bloom.

It was a pure desire for life.

 

 

 

 

 

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