Chapter 122 – A Flower Blooming in the Mud (Eleven)

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Shoooaaah───

The pouring rain.

Squelch! Squelch!

Busy footsteps spreading across the muddy ground, creating ripples.

Tudoo─! Tudoodoo──!

The incessant sound of gunfire.

Within that dim field of vision.

Countless starlights, chasing after the fleeing enemy, were reflected in the boy’s eyes.

One, two, three, four…….

Starlights covering his entire field of vision, too many to count on fingers.

His heart swelled.

It was the starlight he had so longed to see.

Starlight of the exact same form as that person’s was brightly illuminating the ground.

─Catch… them! Don’t let a single one… get away!

─Finish… them! We… will win…!

Each time the starlights increased one by one, the memories of ‘him’ stored in the boy’s mind also began to light up.

Rustle.

At first, the pages of memory turned one by one, two by two.

Rustle. Rustle.

Soon, it became an uncontrollable speed.

Rustle. Rustle. Rustle.

Countless scenes flickered in the boy’s mind.

The scene he arrived at in the end was a bridge.

「So, if you leave here….」

「I have no intention of doing that.」

The boy and the man had conversed on the overpass.

Looking down at the scenery spread out below, just like now.

In a world shrouded in a grayish hue as clouds covered the sky.

The boy’s past and present began to intertwine.

「I wish you would go to a better place.」

On the overpass.

The silhouette of the man seated beside the boy kept speaking.

But the boy’s ears in the present couldn’t hear it well.

Because his mind was filled with only one thought and one question.

Right now.

Are those brilliant starlights spread out down there.

Also reflected in your eyes?

────.

Feelings of elation and excitement noisily bloomed.

Without the boy’s awareness, the two emotions left vivid traces on his heart.

And the revolution of Mana occurring on the second Ring momentarily sped up before gradually returning to its original speed.

「Climb up. Don’t get swept away by the river.」

Unable to withstand the rising emotions any longer, the boy.

“Niles.”

Spoke his name and looked beside him.

And.

Shoooaaaaah──

He found only a dark space where rain poured down.

“…….”

The boy’s consciousness returned to reality.

The corners of his mouth, which had been rising quite significantly by his own standards (though others wouldn’t know), slowly returned to their original position.

Soon, the boy became expressionless again.

“…….”

He is dead.

He does not exist in reality.

Why did I mistake something I already knew?

Thinking of him.

The boy did not shed tears or clutch his aching chest.

The sadness that had sunk deep in his subconscious had been released once before at the mansion earlier.

“We might not need to go down… perhaps.”

Colin, who had approached, spoke.

All the operatives had their helmet lights on, so the waves of light were also reflected in his eyes.

Ray nodded quietly.

After staring outside for a long while, he turned his body and spoke.

“Let’s go.”

Niles.

“We have to clean up the situation.”

This is my repayment and gift to you.

Colin followed behind Ray, leaving only the sound of rain and darkness in his place.

A railing made of bars.

Beyond it, countless starlights were spreading in all directions.

────!

──────!

Shouting explosive cries.

Along with squelching footsteps.

As if desperately announcing their existence in that place to the world.

They had to.

Because they were born in a dirty, low place.

So they had to struggle dozens of times more than others.

Only then.

Could they avoid being buried under damp and heavy things and lift their heads.

Shoooaaaaah───

They were flowers blooming in the mud.

Mud-blossom flowers.

The boy, who had been walking while thinking of the starlight, suddenly stopped.

He was in front of a large hole created in the rooftop floor by the lightning bolt.

‘Something is coming up.’

He sensed one powerful Presence.

It was ascending from the 1st floor, through the consecutive holes pierced through the ceilings and floors of every level.

…He could tell.

Even without looking down the hole.

Because it was a substance the boy sensed more delicately and acutely than anyone else.

‘Mana.’

It was a mass of Mana.

Perhaps about half the size of a fist.

But the wavelength of Mana it emitted was more intense and destructive than any Magic or natural phenomenon he had experienced so far.

The electric sphere that had annihilated Mercread in one strike was nothing compared to this.

Several times? Dozens of times?

No.

It felt insufficient to even call it a difference of hundreds of times.

…He couldn’t even begin to gauge how many elements were compressed within it.

Ooooooooh───!

The strange phenomenon continued.

All elements along the Mana mass’s path of movement were vanishing.

‘They’re burning away and disappearing.’

Elements burning doesn’t make sense.

But there seemed to be no other suitable expression to describe the sensation he was currently feeling.

“Ray-nim, right now below, there’s a light….”

Colin’s flustered voice came from beside him.

Ray did not answer.

He wanted to focus completely on the current sensation.

And, soon.

Ooooooooh───!

The Presence that had ascended above the hole in the rooftop floor revealed itself.

‘Starlight…?’

At first, the boy thought it was starlight.

But when he sharpened his vision and looked closely, he could tell it was a gem.

A small gem emitting a brilliant yellow light towards the world.

Crackle! Zap! Zap!

Around it, sparks resembling stars were incessantly flying.

Ooooooh───!

From the center of the gem, Mana was constantly being generated.

Electricity, transformation, swiftness, fusion…….

Elements of specific series were gushing out like an infinite spring, overlapping within.

So this is it.

The gem Mercread had been searching for all over the Sector.

He also intuitively knew.

That this gem was the external force that interfered with the Magic Circle, causing errors, and the medium that guided the lightning bolt of tremendous destructive power to the rooftop.

‘And.’

It was the same type as the blue gem embedded in Blue’s forehead.

The shapes of the two gems were distinctly different.

Unlike Blue’s, which had a complete form, the one before his eyes was a split half.

As if it had lost its pair and become alone.

The color was different.

And the size was much smaller.

Nevertheless, he could strongly believe the two gems were of the same kind.

‘It feels like I’ve seen it before.’

Because of the longing that welled up in his chest.

Exactly the same feeling as when he met Blue in the wasteland and faced the blue gem.

Crackle! Zap! Zap!

The high-voltage sparks flying around the yellow gem were clearly threatening.

But to the boy.

That sight felt like the gem, having awoken from a long sleep, was stretching noisily.

With a mesmerized movement, he reached his hand towards the gem.

Ray-nim… It’s dangerous……!

All sounds around him had already been erased from the boy’s world.

Only two existed in that place.

The boy and the gem.

The boy wanted to ask.

─Did I awaken you?

And, if so.

─Did you have a good dream?

The corners of the boy’s mouth had already turned upwards.

“How to handle the captured subordinates of Brook will be decided through a meeting.”

The sky after the rain had stopped.

Sunlight shone through the clouds.

“As for the neutral faction, we are attaching surveillance and putting them to work. Although they helped turn the tide to win the war, they were once part of the opposition faction….”

Listening to Colin’s report, Ray looked down at the ground beyond the railing of the abandoned building.

The hardened ground was full of dried footprints.

It was desolate.

Unbelievably so for a place where such a fierce battle had taken place just yesterday.

He pulled his gaze inward.

Right below the railing, he could see bloodstains that remained relatively clear despite the heavy rain yesterday.

It was the spot where Brook had fallen.

「Th-the Captain is dead!」

「Sh-shit! What the hell are these bastards! Suddenly attacking us!」

With Brook’s confession and death, the tide of the war turned.

A large number of the neutral faction surrendered to the Loyalist Faction and joined the fight, and the Opposition Faction were all killed or captured.

The death of the Captain and the annihilation of Mercread.

For the Opposition Faction who realized these two facts, the will to fight no longer remained.

「───────!」

A cry of victory pierced through the rain and resonated loudly.

「Huh…? We won…?」

Hearing the sound, Veronica woke up and looked up at Ray with drowsy eyes.

「We won. Thanks to the Magic Circle you drew. Philip, you worked hard too.」

Ray didn’t forget to praise them both.

The Loyalist Faction, intoxicated by the deep aftermath, finished minimal cleanup and returned to the Hideout for now.

Clatter. Clatter.

In the vehicle heading to the Hideout, Veronica leaned on Ray’s shoulder and fell asleep again.

Philip, on the contrary, had wide-awake eyes and looked out the window at the streets bearing traces of the war.

It was due to the immense aftermath lingering from head to toe.

「Still, I feel good thinking I was of some help. Since I can’t use powers like Magic like you guys, there were times I wondered if I was just being a burden.」

It wasn’t well understood.

Because Philip was sufficiently fulfilling his role in various situations other than combat as well.

「You’re doing plenty well enough.」

Philip made a momentarily surprised face looking at Ray.

Soon, the corners of his mouth turned up.

「We’ve arrived!」

After laying Veronica down on the bed in the upper-floor room of the Hideout, Ray went up to the rooftop.

Holding Walter’s Ring in his hand, he looked towards the center of the Sector.

Enduring while watching the Arrow of the Binding Magic, he handed the Ring to Philip.

「If the target moves even a little, don’t hesitate and wake me up.」

「Got it. Leave it to me. I’m still the one with the most stamina left.」

And then he collapsed on his own room bed as if fainting.

───.

────.

─────.

Amidst the dull noises coming from beyond the walls and floor, the boy fell asleep.

And when he opened his eyes again.

The time was evening.

「…….」

He felt like he had dreamed something, but couldn’t remember.

He went down to the 1st floor.

Veronica, who had woken up first, was helping treat the wounded.

Besides simply using Healing Magic, she was diligently learning knowledge about each injury and treatment method beside the person acting as the medic.

「…This way, there will be no issue with Hobson’s life. Thanks to Veronica-nim’s Magic.」

No issue with life.

Each time those words came from the medic’s mouth, worry decreased in Veronica’s Vessel and feelings of joy took its place instead.

「You’re up? How’s your condition?」

Philip approached and handed over the Ring.

He said the enemy Executive hadn’t moved an inch from the building in the center of the Sector.

「You worked hard.」

「Not at all.」

Ray, who had turned his gaze and slowly looked around, spotted someone and moved his steps.

「……!」

It was the jeweler Jade and his Mercenaries acting as Bodyguards.

Seeing Ray closing the distance with large strides, they hurriedly covered their chests with prepared planks.

Under their tense gazes.

Ray fumbled and took something out from his pocket.

「I couldn’t use it cleanly.」

What appeared in Ray’s hand was a Yellow Sapphire full of scratches.

Jade’s eyes welled up with tears as if welcoming a child who had returned from war with serious injuries.

「I’ll compensate for the damage.」

Jade hesitated before speaking.

「No, no. You don’t need to compensate. Just ending the war for us is already no different from giving us great compensation.」

「No. Still, compensation─ Mph.」

Philip hurriedly covered Ray’s mouth.

「Ah! Ah! If you do that, we would only be too grateful! I’m moved by Mr. Jade’s kind heart!」

「─Philip, your hand tastes salty.」

That was the evening of the day the war ended.

“The cleanup of the scene will likely be finished soon. Three squads are divided, collecting the dropped firearms and equipment.”

Colin’s voice awakened Ray from his reverie.

Truthfully, the boy didn’t quite understand why the man came to report even these things to him.

‘The war is over.’

Yet, the man still treated him like a superior.

At that moment, the boy discovered something on the railing.

[Niles, Colin, Brook.]

Graffiti carved crookedly into the concrete with a knife.

Faint, blurry letters as if carved a very long time ago.

He vaguely understood.

The reason Colin had hesitated for so long before pushing Brook at the last moment.

Staring intently at the three names, Ray spoke.

“Could you call Veronica and Philip from downstairs to come here?”

“Yes. Understood.”

Tap tap tap─

After Colin disappeared, Ray averted his gaze from the graffiti and looked down at his own palm.

“…….”

There was something he needed to tell his companions.

Crackle!

A bright yellow-hued spark flew up onto the boy’s palm.