#071. The Young Man Who Pays His Respects (2)
—
Tak! Tak! Tak!
The rapid sound of footsteps echoed through the square.
Three hawks pursued relentlessly, weaving unpredictable straight and curved lines.
Sweeek! Bang!
A streetlamp collapsed.
Fragments of the pavement scattered in all directions.
Ray got the impression that the familiars moved like bullets, freely and precisely.
*”They’ve been waiting for the perfect opportunity to kidnap John, but it hasn’t been easy. He barely leaves the hotel, and that young magician has been a real obstacle…”*
Now, Ray understood why Skyle, even with many subordinates, had struggled to get close to John.
*”A magician must be dealt with by another magician.”*
That statement made sense too.
If the hawks closed in and disrupted their surroundings, guns and knives would be useless.
The enemy wouldn’t even be able to fire properly for fear of hitting their own allies.
*‘No, even if they did land a hit, it wouldn’t do much damage.’*
The hawks’ bodies were protected by a thick barrier-like shield.
And that shield also surrounded Michael, who was standing still as he controlled the familiars.
*‘I have to break that first.’*
Destroying the barrier itself didn’t seem too difficult.
Among nature-based magic, fire magic had the highest destructive power.
If he gathered a large amount of red mana from his circle and hurled a fireball, Michael’s shield would easily crumble.
After all, Michael’s mana circle only contained a limited amount of white mana.
However…
*‘Michael might get hurt.’*
That was a problem.
Ray couldn’t fully understand the source of Michael’s anger.
But he still had many questions to ask him.
Did he know about the Rainbow?
Had he ever been to the city of magicians?
Aside from summoning magic, did he have any other forms of magic he could use?
There were too many questions, and until he got his answers, Michael couldn’t collapse.
*‘I need to neutralize the familiars first.’*
But their speed was too fast to hit with a fireball.
Then…
Wuuung—
White mana responded to his will, flowing down his forearm and gathering in his palm.
Tak!
Ray stopped running and spun his body around.
*‘One on the left, two on the right.’*
The three hawks were turning midair, rapidly diving toward him.
The closest one was coming from the left.
Facing it, Ray conjured a layered white shield in the air in front of his palm.
Dozens of thin white layers.
A small, tightly packed square shield.
Instead of spreading a wide shield as usual, he focused his magic on reinforcing a single point.
Boom—!
The hawk, unable to change its trajectory in time, crashed into the shield.
Swiiish—!
Ray’s other hand, coated in metallic reinforcement, reached out to grab its neck.
But he caught nothing.
The hawk had used the impact’s recoil to propel itself back, quickly retreating to a safe distance.
Completely unscathed.
Ray immediately kicked off the ground, dodging the other two hawks attacking in quick succession.
Bang! Bang!
*‘This isn’t going to work.’*
His outstretched hand hadn’t even grazed a feather.
Their reaction speed was beyond imagination.
Well, of course.
Humans couldn’t match a hawk’s reflexes.
Unless he was the only one benefiting from enhancement magic.
But with both sides empowered, the gap was even greater.
*‘What other options do I have?’*
The hawks didn’t seem to have independent will—they moved entirely according to Michael’s control.
Fierce, savage, razor-sharp.
Attacks so relentless that most people wouldn’t last even a few seconds.
But that was only by normal standards.
Ray, accustomed to unpredictable melee combat, found their attack patterns rather simple.
The more he observed their flight paths, the easier it became to evade them.
*”How long do you think you can last? You will pay for insulting the Representative!”*
Michael’s furious shout.
As if resonating with his emotions, the mana chains wrapped around the hawks’ legs glowed even brighter.
Three purple chains, all connecting back to Michael’s hands.
Ray’s eyes gleamed.
*‘If I sever those…’*
Wouldn’t the familiars lose their connection to him?
Tak! Tatak! Tatak! Bang!
While continuing to dodge, Ray focused his mind.
The mana chains trembled violently, as if struck by a gust of wind.
Like fraying ropes, they started thinning and losing their glow.
*”What are you—?!”*
Realizing the situation, Michael poured more purple mana into each chain.
Wuuung!
In the battle between two magicians, the chains fluctuated between strengthening and weakening.
Screeeech—
Screeeech—
Ray confirmed that the hawks had stopped attacking.
Now, they only circled above in confusion—likely because Michael could no longer focus on controlling them.
*”Ugh…!”*
What seemed like a balanced struggle suddenly tilted.
*”How… how is this possible…?”*
Michael was horrified as he felt his connection to the familiars weakening.
Summoning magic required continuous concentration.
The standard countermeasure was to disrupt the caster’s focus by attacking them directly.
There were a few other methods, but breaking concentration was the core principle.
That’s why…
Michael was so shocked.
*”Attacking… the magic itself? That’s impossible… Ugh!”*
He had never heard of such a method.
No, by the fundamental laws of magic, it *should* have been impossible.
Once a spell was manifested into reality, it couldn’t be undone.
That applied to both instant and sustained magic.
Magic elements, once combined, were inseparable.
Every magician knew this. It was an absolute law.
And yet…
And yet, how?
Michael couldn’t comprehend what was happening.
The magical elements were being *torn apart.*
*”This is absurd….”*
Even the Archmage of the Magic Tower would have reacted the same way.
First, Ray had freely manipulated atmospheric mana to create sparks.
Now, he was doing something just as extraordinary.
His interference with magic was both *brutal* and *delicate* at the same time.
Two completely opposite qualities, yet that was the only way to describe it.
*”Take back… ugh… take back the insult…!”*
Michael staggered forward, forcing the words out.
His mana was nearly depleted.
He had lost.
It felt like hitting an impenetrable wall.
He had attacked first, so if he died now, he had no right to complain.
*”Take it back…! Apologize to the Representative…!”*
But he refused to beg for his life.
He would rather die than plead to someone who had insulted the man he respected.
Tak.
Ray stopped a few steps away from him.
Tilting his head, he said,
*”I didn’t say anything wrong.”*
*”What do you even know about the Representative?!”*
*”You’re the one who doesn’t seem to know him that well.”*
*”I have served the Representative for years! No one knows him better than me!”*
Michael panted, his voice shaking.
The mana chains had thinned to their breaking point.
Tic! Tidiik!
Like a rope about to snap.
*‘If they break…’*
It would be disastrous.
The familiars he had trained for years would be lost forever.
*”Aaaaah—!”*
Michael let out a desperate scream, pouring out the last of his mana.
Screeeech—
The hawks, who had been circling, suddenly dove straight toward him.
Ray didn’t react.
It wasn’t an attack.
The familiars, still set as allies, passed through Michael’s shield and vanished into his coat.
As if they had been *summoned* elsewhere.
Ray’s eyes flickered.
*‘That coat…’*
At the moment the birds disappeared, he sensed a ripple of mana at that spot.
It seemed that some special magic was cast on the coat.
Wooong──
At that moment, as soon as the protection disappeared, Michael collapsed onto his knees.
Not a single trace of mana remained in his mana-circle.
“Haa… haa….”
His body was drenched in sweat.
His breath was ragged, his vision blurred.
Even in exhaustion nearing collapse, Michael did not lose the sharpness in his gaze.
He simply stared at Ray, wordlessly.
As if willing to accept any punishment that might come his way.
“……”
Ray observed Michael’s vessel.
His respect for John now filled almost the entirety of that vessel.
Traces of anger toward Ray were visible in between.
‘Impressive.’
To think that naturally occurring emotions could grow so large without any external manipulation.
It suggested that Michael was a person with strong convictions and beliefs.
And Ray also felt like he was beginning to understand.
The difference between those who could have emotions artificially implanted into their vessel and those who could not.
It wasn’t certain, but perhaps, vaguely—
Ray, who had been silently watching Michael, lowered his gaze to check his watch and finally spoke.
“I’ll ask the remaining questions later. There’s no time right now.”
Then, turning away, he quickly disappeared toward the outskirts of the sector.
“……”
A long silence lingered in the air.
The chilly morning breeze.
The rising dust.
Michael, his face filled with confusion and dismay, remained frozen in place for quite some time.
-*
-*
-*
A jeep speeding across the wasteland.
On its roof.
Skyle, gazing into the distant scenery, asked Ray,
“It’s over there. Do you see it?”
“Yes, I see it.”
On the horizon, countless gray specks, presumed to be a herd of Rockdeer, filled the view.
‘Skyle was right.’
It didn’t take long to reach the location of the Rockdeer.
This was clear evidence that their great migration was indeed moving toward Sector 48.
As the gray dots grew closer, Ray spoke.
“Their movement speed is incredible. Considering they’ve made it here overnight.”
“During the migration period, they hardly sleep. It’s a desperate struggle to reach a place with remaining vegetation to feed on.”
“Do you have any guesses as to why the migration is happening earlier than usual?”
“I suspect their usual habitat has been depleted of food.”
Ray silently looked down from the vehicle.
Blackened patches of land passed swiftly by beneath them, aligning with the jeep’s movement.
Areas stained by the black rain.
It was generally believed that vegetation could no longer grow in such places.
Screech──
Amidst their conversation, the vehicle came to a halt.
They had stopped at a distance from the Rockdeer herd.
“Can we get any closer?”
“Impossible. They are highly wary of humans—if we approach any further, they’ll immediately start moving again.”
The Rockdeer herd, numbering at least two thousand, sat resting as if exhausted from the sun’s heat.
In the distance, other vehicles and people had also stopped at a similar distance from the herd.
Skyle, noticing Ray’s gaze, spoke.
“My subordinates. They’ve been tracking the herd while maintaining distance. If we take our eyes off them even for a moment, we could lose their location.”
His tone carried a sense of pride—as if crediting himself for how quickly they had found the Rockdeer.
And that was indeed true.
“You’ve done well.”
Ray offered a dry remark before leaping off the roof.
Thud.
Despite the considerable height, he landed with only a soft sound.
By stirring the air beneath his feet, he had mitigated the impact.
Skyle, momentarily caught off guard, quickly regained his composure and climbed down the ladder after Ray.
“If you could tell me exactly what you’re looking for—!”
“I have something to confirm.”
Ray ignored the voice from behind and strode forward.
Grrr—
Gruuuk—
The sound of movement.
Gray beasts lifted their heads.
It didn’t take long.
Hundreds of jet-black eyes.
And within them—
The reflection of a boy with snow-white hair.
