#006.  The Broken World (1)
“What… what’s that?”
“Definitely not the sound of cars or guns.”
Pale was suddenly wide awake. His whole body tensed at the unfamiliar sound.
If there was a silver lining, it was that the sound wasn’t loud enough to wake his younger siblings.
*Gwoooom──*
With each repetition, his heartbeat sped up. Soon after, the sounds of gunfire and shouting began to blend together.
“It… it sounds like war has started.”
A war he’d experienced countless times. The gunfire and shouting were all too familiar. Ironically, Pale felt a small sense of relief, knowing it was a kind of battle he “recognized.”
While Pale swallowed nervously, Ray was deep in thought. Something felt off. Something was going terribly wrong. The voices outside weren’t shouts of equal combat but sounded closer to screams of slaughter.
*No… could it be?*
Scenes from a few hours earlier played in Ray’s mind.
*Screech─*
Near 18th Street, he had seen a man stepping out of a luxury sedan, accompanied by Hector, as they crossed the street.
*This way… waiting…*
Though he couldn’t make out the conversation, he’d clearly seen Hector bowing to a young man with a monocle.
And the man’s chest had been swirling with an intense amount of mana—a dark blue, almost black. It had an oily, sinister feel, like spilled oil across the sea, similar to the aura that gathered when a golem moved. But what was astonishing was the shape of the mana. Unlike most people, the man’s mana was gathered around his heart in wide rings—multiple rings, with immense quantities of mana flowing through them. Though there were traces of other colors, the deep blue dominated.
What was he?
Usually, when someone’s emotions were released, their mana would dissipate with them. But the man’s mana didn’t vanish; it calmly flowed within his rings, as if it were trapped inside.
Ray was filled with intense curiosity. At the same time, his instincts screamed a warning.
This was dangerous.
He needed to tell Niles.
Ray had quickly turned and raced towards 17th Street.
“Have you seen Niles?”
“Haven’t seen him around lately. He’s been so busy preparing for war.”
He ran through multiple streets, but Niles was nowhere to be found. Though he’d tried talking to some of the organization members, he wasn’t sure if the message would get to Niles.
*
*
*
*Gwooooom──*
“The sound… it’s getting louder?”
Pale realized something was wrong too. Screams, shouts, a strange rumbling—all mixed into a faint, ominous noise that grew louder and then faded again. Like the shadow of flames flickering, as if ready to engulf the bridge at any moment, amplifying his anxiety.
“…I’m going out to check.”
Ray grabbed his raincoat and mask.
“I’ll… I’ll go with you,” Pale said.
“No. Stay here and watch over the others.”
Pale glanced at his sleeping siblings. “Alright… but don’t go far. Just check the situation and come back.”
Ray nodded, pulling his mask down and covering his face up to his eyebrows with the raincoat hood.
*Screech─*
He stepped outside and closed the tent. Turning his head out from under the bridge, he looked out at a world obscured by heavy rain. Thin layers of multicolored mana spread over his body as he climbed up the embankment, moving toward the sounds.
*
*
*
*A mysterious rumbling. Shouts. Screams. Gunfire. Sometimes, cries.*
It was strange. The heart that had always remained steady now raced faster with each step. Ray hadn’t realized that in the year he’d spent with the kids under the bridge, something had cracked in his heart—a tiny fracture formed through his efforts to feel emotions. And with every tremor from outside, that crack was widening.
*Tap. Tap. Tap.*
Ray quickened his pace. The darkness around him was gradually painted red.
“….”
The street was ablaze. Smoke and flames rose between collapsed buildings. Despite the rain, the flames danced wildly. There are times in life when you encounter two types of situations: those you can’t understand, and those you don’t want to understand. For Ray, what lay before him fell into both categories.
*Splash! Splash!*
Mud-covered boots splashed through puddles as Ray hurried. He lowered himself beside a collapsed figure, lighting a small flame to see their face.
“What in the world is happening…?”
Ray swallowed his words as he recognized the familiar face—it was a member of Niles’s organization. Half his torso was gone. Only then did Ray realize that the liquid pooled around him was blood, not rainwater.
The person, still barely alive, opened his mouth with great effort.
“R… Ray?”
“What happened?”
“That bastard… brought a golem….”
With blood trickling from his mouth, the man’s strength faded.
Ray closed his eyes. He peeked out from the alley, cautiously advancing as he observed his surroundings.
*Fwsh! Fwsh!*
The blazing flames illuminated the bodies lying everywhere. Each corpse had large holes or missing limbs. They were either members of Niles’s organization or street residents. Ray had seen death before, but never had he seen bodies in such a state.
*Did the golem destroy these buildings too?*
Ray looked up at the wreckage. Golems moved by mana. Though they were only around two meters tall, they possessed strength no human could match. The man with the monocle Ray had seen by 18th Street was likely controlling it. No, he was sure of it.
Gunfire rang out not far ahead.
*Tatatatatat──!*
Perhaps Niles and his men were fighting the golem. He needed to help. Niles had given them much, and without his protection, life under the bridge on 17th Street would no longer be guaranteed. Everyone knew that Hector had been capturing orphans off the street and selling them as slaves.
*Splash! Splash! Splash!*
With a knife in one hand and a bolt of blue energy in the other, Ray ran forward. But suddenly, the gunfire stopped.
Ray arrived at the central square, breathing heavily.
*Huff— huff—*
Too late.
Bodies of Niles’s organization littered the square. Fortunately, Niles’s body was not among them.
*Gwoooom─*
A tremendous sound echoed, moving toward the bridge.
“……!”
In that moment, a crack in Ray’s heart deepened. An unfamiliar emotion gripped his whole being. His heart pounded as he ran with all his might.
Why was it heading for the bridge? There was no one there but Pale and the kids. Was the golem’s command to seek out and kill every living thing?
As he dashed, the crack in his heart finally snapped.
——-
A dark and tragic tension permeates this moment, with Ray’s emotions and instincts ignited as he races to save what he holds dear.
It was at that moment.
The crack in his heart split open once more.
An emotion he had never felt before tightened around the boy’s entire body.
Ray, his heart sinking, ran with all his might.
Why was it heading towards the bridge?
Only Pale and his siblings were there.
Was this creature somehow programmed to seek out and kill all living beings?
His mind went blank, painted white with shock.
Even though he ran with a heart ready to burst, the distance to the rumbling sound didn’t seem to close easily.
As countless thoughts flashed through his mind, Ray finally arrived at the riverbank.
The dim moonlight illuminated the scene.
At the bridge, the form of a golem appeared.
Collapsed tents and the blood pooling beneath them.
“Ah…”
The blood in his veins ran cold.
Something in his mind snapped.
The world, which had always been gray, started to flood with its original colors.
In an instant, Ray, planting his feet firmly, dashed down the riverbank slope.
*Thud! Thud! Sskree!*
The sharp branches scraped harshly against his raincoat, but he paid them no mind.
Ray reached the bottom of the riverbank in no time, clutching his knife as he charged at the golem.
*Vwooong—*
The golem turned its head towards Ray, its red eyes gleaming, and swung its arm.
Too fast to react.
It was hard to believe this was the same slow-moving golem he was used to.
“…!”
*Thunk!*
Ray, in his charging stance, was flung aside and smashed to the ground below the riverbank.
The overwhelming pain that engulfed his entire body made him cough up blood.
“Pale…! Josephin…! Miles…!”
He gritted his teeth and forced his voice out, shouting.
Only the blood pooling beneath the tent grew thicker; no response came back.
The boy could sense it instinctively.
There was no one alive in that tent.
The two-meter-tall, hostile creature moved on, showing no further interest in the tent, as if proving this fact.
It only seemed to move toward its next task.
*Boom— Boom—*
The ground trembled in time with the golem’s steps.
The boy’s heart pounded relentlessly, reaching an intense state of exertion.
He couldn’t move his body due to the impact of the golem’s earlier strike.
Or perhaps he hadn’t intended to dodge in the first place.
*Crack.*
His mind held a single, unyielding thought: he had to kill this golem.
The boy who always kept his cool was nowhere to be found here.
*Vroooom─!*
All the red mana around him began to pull toward the boy’s hand.
*Vroom──!*
*Fwoosh! Fwoosh!*
Mana, spinning wildly like a vortex, ignited into bright red flames above it.
The flow of mana grew more intense.
The boy stretched his arm towards the golem.
He had never fired flames at anyone before.
But somehow, he instinctively knew he could do it this way.
The golem paused.
It raised its own arm, watching the red mana gathering toward the boy.
Dark blue mana spiraled into the golem’s palm.
*Groooom──!*
It was the source of the explosive sound from before.
The large holes left in people’s bodies were the traces of the golem’s magic.
*Vroooom─!*
*Groooom──!*
A sound sharp enough to tear the ears apart.
The swirling Mana’s of the two colors spun faster and faster, hurtling toward the completion of their spells.
Just as the golem’s spell was about to complete—
*Bam!*
A vehicle appeared from outside the bridge, ramming into the golem’s side.
The car didn’t stop, continuing to push the golem back with its crumpled bumper.
*Screeech─!*
The golem flailed its arms toward the driver’s seat, but it couldn’t reach.
Its back hit the railing at the end of the pathway.
*Crack!*
The railing broke away, and the golem, unable to keep its balance, fell into the river.
It didn’t resurface.
Silence fell over the riverbank.
Only the sound of the overheated engine cooling down and the creaking of metal expanded by heat filled the air.
The red mana gathered in Ray’s hand dissipated back into the atmosphere.
*Click─*
A few seconds later.
A man opened the car door and stepped out.
It was Niles.
His whole body was covered in blood, one shoulder drooping, as if he had already fought the golem on the street.
“…!”
Before Ray could say a word, Niles staggered over to him.
He checked Ray’s body with an exhausted gesture and gave his diagnosis.
“You’re alright. Nothing’s broken. A few days of rest should be enough for you to recover.”
Ray couldn’t say anything.
He didn’t know what kind of reaction he should show.
All the emotions he’d held back for sixteen years.
Countless types and overwhelming intensities of emotions crashed down on him like a tidal wave, flooding his body and mind.
Niles looked toward the tent at the bridge, collapsed with a pool of blood beneath it, his face troubled.
“I’m sorry. If I’d gotten here a little sooner…”
Ray spoke with difficulty.
“How is that your fault, sir?”
A faint sob blended into his voice.
“…!”
Realizing Ray’s unusual state, Niles looked surprised.
Then, as if gathering his thoughts, he quietly embraced Ray, patting him on the back.
Ray’s shoulders, shaking with anger and sorrow, and his heavy breathing gradually calmed down.
A few seconds passed.
Ray pulled away and asked quietly.
“What about the others? Your men?”
“The ones who were with me… are all dead. I don’t know about those who scattered.”
Niles’s expression twisted.
“Hector. That damned bastard. I never expected him to bring in a mage from outside. Damn it. Where could he have gotten that kind of money?”
It was a gaze that seemed capable of killing, if looks alone could take a life.
“What will you do?”
“First, we go back to the street. We need to gather the survivors, put out the fires, and then…”
Niles didn’t finish his sentence.
*Zap!*
A beam the size of a fist shot through his back.
“What…?”
Niles looked down at the hole in his chest in shock.
*Cough!*
As Niles collapsed and the golem crawled up from the river, Ray felt as if time had slowed to a crawl.
What was happening?
If this was a dream, he wanted to wake up.
It felt as if the world were lying to him, presenting a massive falsehood.
Tears and sweat.
Black rain and blood.
The fluids from within him and the rain pouring from outside mixed together, streaming sticky and hot over his body.
The golem, its side crushed, crawled forward.
It raised its palm slowly.
Absorbing the surrounding mana, it created a vortex.
The colors gradually mixed, turning a deep, dark blue.
*Vroom.*
The mana started to hum.
Watching that sight, Ray raised his hand as if in a trance.
*Vroooom──!*
The blood-red mana in his palm began to spin.
Far faster than before, beyond comparison.
*Snap! Snap!*
Bright red sparks traced their paths.
A ring of flame formed, radiating sticky heat.
When the vortex of mana stopped spinning, and a fierce flame appeared in front of him, launching forward—
*Boom──!*
Time began to flow quickly again for the boy.
