Chapter 269 – The Saintess and the Miracle (One)

Doctor.

The senses throughout my body, which had momentarily relaxed after the battle, tensed up again.

Until now, he had only sent subordinates like executives or Homunculi; this was the first time the Doctor had revealed himself directly.

“Do not move until you receive an order. Be prepared to escape with the Pope and Veronica at any time.”

“…Understood.”

Solite, who answered with a hardened face, immediately moved to assume his stance.

A man of unknown identity, seemingly known to Ray.

The mere fact that he had approached, evading the senses of dozens, was proof he was no ordinary person.

Thud, thud, tap.

Ray, moving his steps without hesitation, stopped, maintaining a distance.

“Doctor.”

At that single word, the Doctor, who had been blankly staring down at the fallen Indiago, raised his head.

“…….”

“…….”

Gazes were exchanged in the silence.

Ray quietly observed the Doctor.

Due to the sunglasses and mask, his features and expression were completely unknowable.

Also, whether it was concealed by a special method or simply absent, no Rings were visible at all on his massive frame.

But regardless, there was no thought of letting his guard down. The opponent was the Doctor, after all.

“I didn’t think someone so cautious would show himself directly.”

Instead of answering, the Doctor moved a hand clad in a black leather glove.

Using atmospheric Mana with his large index finger, he carved letters into the empty air.

[Unexpected. To have defeated Indiago without even fully regaining your strength.]

The Doctor then pushed the surrounding Mana towards Ray. As if telling him to use it to write sentences.

Perhaps he didn’t want to vocalize the conversation to others.

But Ray had no intention of humoring his intent.

Pushing back the encroaching Mana forcefully, he spoke.

“So it was you behind the Dawn Society after all. The one called the Prophet, the one who conveyed the technology and history of the Ancient Era.”

[It seems you’ve figured out some things.]

“The crimson sphere of the Sky Island and the indigo sphere of the Dawn Society. Mercread’s Bloodstone and the Dawn Society’s indigo gem. The situation speaks for itself.”

[Interesting. Deduction through the situation. You really act just like a human.]

The Doctor’s remark was somewhat grating, but Ray, unshaken, asked.

“What was your purpose in aiding the Dawn Society? From my deduction, the Dawn Society likely has little to do with your true objective.”

[Aiding the Dawn Society… To be precise, it was aiding Indiago. This man, a mass of intense inferiority and hatred towards the world.]

“An experiment?”

[An experiment?]

“Like the executives of Mercread, whom you turned into monsters.”

[Turned into monsters, you say. I merely helped the children to be true to their emotions.]

“Curiosa is suffering because of the Emotional Curse. To the point where a normal life is impossible.”

[Curiosa, that disobedient child. Having left home, she can no longer be called my child, but well, that too is an aspect of emotion.]

The Doctor changed the subject.

[More importantly, hand that over first. It’s not something you can handle.]

The Doctor’s gaze turned towards the staff of Indiago gripped in Ray’s hand.

Vwoom!

The indigo gem attached to the tip of the staff emitted a crystalline radiance along with a resonant hum.

Ray recalled that collecting Rainbow Shards was one of the Doctor’s primary objectives.

“If you want to take it─.”

Crack!

He forcibly separated the gem from the staff and absorbed it into his body.

“─try taking it.”

He couldn’t directly grasp the Doctor’s current state of mind.

His body showed not only no Rings but also no Vessel to contain emotions.

However.

[…….]

The prolonged silence made it clear the Doctor was feeling anger.

And after a dozen or so seconds.

An answer finally came.

[Struggling is futile. Your world has failed, and you, lacking both legitimacy and ability, cannot stop my world that will be built upon it.]

Your world has failed.

Still a statement of unclear meaning.

But, if it meant a new world the Doctor would build upon this one.

Considering his previous statement about returning the world to its original state.

“Your world must mean a world where all emotions are erased.”

[Emotions are utterly useless.]

Gooooo───!

Atmospheric Mana was sucked into the Doctor’s grasp, mixing into a crimson hue.

In response, the Mana of the two gems was also drawn into Ray’s grasp.

“I don’t think emotions are useless.”

[Still lost in delusion, I see.]

The moment the tension peaked, the Doctor’s Mana, like oiled blood, transformed into a crimson fireball and shot forth.

However, its direction was not towards Ray.

It was precisely towards Veronica’s direction.

Kwa-rung──!

Ray, dashing forward in a flash, arrived a split second earlier.

He summoned Absorbers in a line, and immediately after, a roar of explosion erupted from the Doctor’s side, where the Magic had been reflected back.

Kwa-aaang──!

The Doctor appeared from the billowing smoke.

He was in perfect condition, protected by a Ward.

However, Indiago on the ground was nowhere to be seen; judging by the fluctuating pattern of Mana in the air, it seemed he had used Spatial Magic to send him somewhere.

The Doctor walked forward, scribbling a sentence.

[See. Because you have emotions, you take such inefficient actions, don’t you? If you had attacked me instead of saving your friends and comrades, you could have inflicted meaningful damage. At the very least, you could have prevented me from extracting Indiago.]

“I didn’t make the wrong choice.”

Ray was slightly surprised at his own words that came out without hesitation.

He felt he might understand the meaning of what Veronica had once said when she saw him planning with efficiency as the top priority.

The world, you can’t live by efficiency and profit alone.

Ray firmly stated once more.

“Even if the same situation comes, my choice won’t change.”

[Foolish, so foolish.]

Crimson Mana gathered once more into the Doctor’s grasp.

At that moment, Ray realized.

The identity of the sense of déjà vu he felt facing the Doctor. The reason why Rings and a Vessel did not exist in his body.

Shudder.

Anger welled up in Ray’s chest.

All the red Mana within his existing Rings resonated with it, beginning to vibrate.

[Disappear. Foolish failure.]

The Doctor’s crimson Mana transformed into a beam and covered Ray in an instant.

But Ray also immediately moved Mana, firing a vortex of flames.

Kwa-gwa-gwa-gwa────!

The two Magics collided at the center.

The scream of the surrounding Mana pierced his ears.

Heated air clung stickily to his skin.

Yes, there had been a time like this before.

Sector 50, that night under the overpass.

That time and now, nothing had changed.

The anger he felt.

Having people to protect.

That it occurred amidst a massive battle.

All remained the same.

Perhaps the only thing that changed was that the color of the beam emitted by the Golem was not dark blue, but dark red.

‘No.’

There was one more thing that had changed.

That was, now he had the power to protect those precious to him.

Kwa-gwa-gwa-gwa────!

Ray’s flame stream intensified.

[Preposterous, failure.]

The dark red beam also simultaneously increased in output, and the contest of strength continued evenly.

As Ray tried to draw upon the Mana of the two gems, he realized in an instant.

That there was a far larger source of Mana around him that he could utilize.

Ray focused his mind towards it, the Artificial Sun, containing an immense volume of Mana.

Uu-uung──!

A stream of white Mana shot forth from the Artificial Sun, emitting a dazzling light.

It struck Ray directly, becoming usable Mana, and traveled through his body to the hand firing the flame stream, and.

Whoosh!

It began to tinge the flames white.

What appeared was a White Flame, emitting an immense light.

The pure white light, the source of all colors in the world, extinguished the dark red beam as it surged upwards, and.

────!

Struck the Doctor.

The Doctor writhed within the blaze of light, melting away.

Through it, Ray could see.

The Doctor’s burning clothes.

The bandages that had wrapped his face and body.

And, hidden behind them.

Lumps of rock with a metallic, liquid-melting appearance.

‘A Golem.’

It was the same Golem he had seen in Sector 50.

Except that its size was closer to humanoid and its method of operation was presumed to be different, all other characteristics matched.

Of course, the Doctor couldn’t be a Golem.

He had merely been active using the Golem’s vision.

‘The real one must be hiding somewhere else.’

Watching the burning white flames, Ray thought so.

Several days later.

The Pope’s coffin was laid to rest in the cemetery within the Order’s grounds.

“Your life was filled with warmth and benevolence, under a steadfast life of faith….”

While Solite recited the prayer, the priests observed a moment of silence.

Ray, following them in black vestments, bowed his head and observed the silence.

Subsequently, commemorations and hymns followed.

“We will not forget you.”

“We will not forget you.”

After all procedures ended, the coffin was laid in the earth, dug not by Magic but by hand.

After the priests left, only Solite and Ray remained before the tombstone.

A dry winter wind blew.

The sky was pale, without a single cloud.

Beneath it, Solite’s lonely voice echoed.

“It still feels unbelievable. That merely days ago, we were at the center of such a battlefield.”

“…….”

Ray agreed with that statement.

Something that happened merely days ago felt distant.

Perhaps the density of time had increased due to the countless upheavals in environment and relationships within that short period.

Ray asked.

“Have you made a decision?”

“Yes. I’ve decided to make it public.”

“I see.”

“The citizens have a right to know, and it’s not something that can be hidden forever.”

Solite had decided to announce to the citizens what had happened within the Order.

That there was a group that tried to abduct the Order’s Saintess and swallow the world.

That they barely thwarted the plot but suffered immense damage.

Nod.*

Ray respected Solite’s decision.

After the battle, the surviving priests numbered 47.

Currently, the one leading them and maintaining the Order from dissolution was Solite.

“Of course, not everyone will take our words at face value. Various leaps of logic and baseless speculations will circulate the Sectors, and stories closer to conspiracy theories will unfold. But it’s fine. Rumors will die out, and the Sectors will regain stability as if nothing ever happened.”

“Isn’t that the nature of rumors?”

At Ray’s question, Solite gave a small nod.

“Yes. That’s right. And thanks to the interest in the Artificial Sun, the rumors will be forgotten even faster from people’s minds.”

Currently, the Artificial Sun remained in the Sanctuary of the Sun at the center of the Sector.

It scattered a gentle warmth along with white light throughout the entire Sector.

And it annihilated all the Black Clouds gathering in the Sector’s sky.

“Wherever you go in the Sector, you can see citizens rejoicing. They say the Order’s Revelation has become reality. If the light of the Artificial Sun continues like this, surely many things will change. Since the Black Rain won’t fall, the soil will recover. Naturally, plants will begin to grow as well.”

Solite gazed into the distance below the hill, at the small, visible sphere of light.

Then, turning his head, he asked.

“And the Saintess, ah, she said she still finds that title burdensome. How is Miss Veronica doing?”

“She’s not leaving her room. I’m just leaving meals by the door.”

“Yes, she must be very confused. A great change in her identity came upon her overnight.”

Ray tilted his head.

“Being the reincarnation of the sun is a good thing, isn’t it?”

“Of course, it’s nothing to worry about. It’s not like she woke up to find herself transformed into a Rockdeer. Or that it was revealed she has demon blood flowing in her veins, or something like that.”

“Turning into a Rockdeer seems like a pretty cool thing, though.”

“Being the reincarnation of the sun is likely closer to a joyous occasion than a worrisome one. However, it would be confusing. Scary, and frightening, I imagine. That’s the nature of the emotions of someone facing a great change.”

“You ignored what I said.”

Solite, catching his breath, continued.

“Especially young women like Miss Veronica, the waves of emotion are all the more delicate. Please comfort her well, embrace her. Unlike us, who haven’t been granted access, you can approach as far as her door, Sir Ray.”

“…….”

A statement he could partially, if not fully, understand. Ray nodded.

Trying something was probably better than just waiting blindly.

‘But first, she has to let me in to be able to comfort her or not.’

He considered sneaking in but dismissed it, thinking it would likely have a strong adverse effect.

Then, the panoramic view of the Sector spread out below the hill came into sight.

“…….”

Maybe if he bought things Veronica liked and visited, she would open the door.

Ray began descending the hill, adding speed to his steps.

The Artificial Sun and the white light.

The Element of Creation that constituted it.

And countless other stories he had to share with Veronica, he thought of them.