Chapter 142 – Amon Family (Two)

The siblings with deep blue hair gave off contrasting impressions.

If the younger brother, despite being 1st Circle, covered for it with effort and skill,

and also gave off a vigorous, energetic feeling,

then conversely, the older sister, despite being 2nd Circle, did not utilize her advantages well,

and also gave off an extremely calm feeling.

‘…It’s not a very important issue, but.’

Ray ran ceaselessly across the clearing, avoiding the ice path pursuing him.

In the midst of that, he sensed something.

‘Magic.’

Two wind vines, flying towards him with a fierce speed.

It was a situation where he couldn’t avoid them.

Normally, absolutely not.

His movement path was restricted by the freezing magic, and

projectiles of Wind Element magic are invisible, making them very tricky to identify.

Furthermore, among the natural elements, Wind Element boasts the second fastest speed after Lightning Element.

But.

Thud!

Whoosh—! Whooosh—!

Ray avoided all the wind vines with only light movements.

“H-he avoided this?”

“How on earth…!”

Voices filled with astonishment echoed across the clearing.

Wind vines meant to bind the target were fired several more times, but they all narrowly missed Ray.

“T-that’s impossible!”

“He doesn’t look that much older than us…!”

It wasn’t difficult to evade.

The general fact that wind projectiles are invisible did not apply to Ray at all.

The boy’s black eyes.

In them, the sky blue mana forming the wind vines was clearly visible.

“T-that guy! H-he’s gathering mana in his hand!”

“Those without Rings! Interference team! What are you doing! Don’t just stand there! Stop him from completing the magic!”

The lump of blue mana gradually growing in Ray’s grasp.

Pressure was immediately applied there.

The personnel who had been waiting until now were concentrating their minds to disperse Ray’s mana.

The act of seizing control over mana to prevent the activation of magic itself.

Commonly called interference.

It was a technique not often used.

One’s level had to be far higher than the opponent’s, and the conditions were very demanding, including the risk of mana repulsion.

But—

“Just a little more!”

“You can’t use externally manifested magic in front of us!”

—In a 5 vs. 1 fight, the story could be a little different.

Moreover, these five seemed to have practiced this type of thing a lot, as their skill in interfering with mana was not ordinary.

Ooooooong——!

The Mana Sphere, shaking as if it would shatter any moment.

The enemies smiled with triumphant smiles.

No matter how skilled this brat was, there was nothing he could do about this.

He was operating Enhancement Magic while engaging in a pursuit.

On top of that, fighting a control battle against many was, by common sense, nearly impossible.

“We’ll drag you before our master!”

“Even if you hold on, your mana will run out first!”

“We’ve even captured a 3rd Circle Wizard!”

Voices filled with elation.

But there was one fact they didn’t know.

Namely.

Oooong——!

The fact that Ray, while briefly observing their emotions, was paying no attention to the Mana Sphere at all.

The moment Ray refocused his mind and violently shook the Mana Sphere.

“Keuhak!”

“Keuhuk!”

All five who had been interfering with the Mana Sphere coughed up blood and collapsed.

The liberated Mana Sphere was immediately thrown to the ground.

And in an instant.

Jjeojeojik—!

An ice path was created and stretched out.

Because there wasn’t much Ice Element he could draw upon within his Ring, the width of the ice sheet was much narrower than the girl’s.

However, its utilization was on a different level.

Instantly, the ice path split into ten branches and began racing towards each enemy.

‘That… is possible…?’

The girl’s expressionless eyes shook greatly.

Jjeojeojeojeojeojik——!

The speed was excessively fast.

The moment she tried to move from her spot, the enemy’s freezing magic arrived at her feet.

Jjeojik!

It froze both feet, binding them.

She couldn’t move an inch.

“D-do something!”

“W-we weren’t taught how to deal with this situation!”

Her comrades were in the same state.

The girl tightly closed her lips and focused on pursuing the opponent with the ice path.

…The damage was not insignificant.

But there was one fortunate point.

Namely.

The fact that the opponent, being chased by the freezing magic, couldn’t easily approach them.

In other words, distance was being maintained.

‘That kid, his long-range magic ended with just that one time. He can’t attack us anymore.’

It was basic common sense that the further the distance between the caster and the magic, the mana required to operate the magic increased exponentially.

Perhaps caught up in the heat of battle.

The boy made a big mistake.

He had already recklessly advanced the freezing magic, which consumed a lot of mana.

‘On top of that, he even split it into multiple branches to operate. There shouldn’t be any mana left needed for the freezing magic.’

She could be sure from the fact that the ice path only froze both feet and then vanished.

If he had enough mana, he would have definitely frozen the entire body.

Also, considering the intensity of the fight so far, he probably couldn’t maintain Enhancement Magic for very long either.

The opponent surely had only one Ring.

…The girl didn’t even consider that Ray might have more Rings than that.

‘Master said.’

That building 1st Circle before adulthood, age 18, alone is considered a remarkable talent.

If one succeeds in building beyond that to 2nd Circle.

That is truly the realm of a genius with infinite potential.

「Ayla. I have roamed these lands and nurtured many disciples, but you are the only child to reach the level of 2nd Circle at that age. It can be said to be unprecedented.」

Therefore, the black-haired boy naturally had to be 1st Circle.

‘If it becomes a battle of attrition, I have no choice but to win. No matter how skilled, the difference in mana quantity between 1st Circle and 2nd Circle is absolute…?’

It was then that the girl suddenly sensed something strange.

Drip.

Drops of water were trickling down from the ice binding her feet.

‘It’s melting…?’

Thinking about it, the ice didn’t feel that cold.

It seemed like the temperature had been set not very low from the start, so it would melt at about body temperature.

When she raised her head, she could see that the ice sheet covering the clearing was also quite melted for some reason.

The moment she felt something was going wrong.

—Kwaddeudeuk!

The clearing floor rose up in a pillar shape, lifting the boy who was being chased by the ice path high into the air.

‘He has… another Primary Element…?’

The girl’s eyes shook once more.

Just as the ice path winding up the pillar was about to reach the boy’s feet.

Kuoong!

The boy rolled his foot.

The next moment.

What the girl witnessed was a blindingly bright yellow light.

Pajijijik!

A cluster of electric current erupting from beneath the boy’s feet raced explosively.

The countless ice paths spread across the clearing.

Following the remaining damp moisture on them.

In all directions.

Drawing hundreds of lines as complex and strange as an electronic circuit—

Pajijijijijik——!

—It advanced.

And some of its destinations were.

“Gkuh!”

“Kkeoek!”

The enemies whose feet were stuck to the moist ice.

The power of the current was controlled so it wasn’t life-threatening, but it was enough to render them immediately incapacitated.

A momentary silence fell over the clearing.

Only panting breaths remained.

“…….”

Ray stared down intently at the ice path that had stopped right in front of his own feet.

Then he jumped down from the pillar—

Kuoong!

—and landed.

The ice sheet beneath him shattered, scattering fragments around.

Step. Step.

He moved towards the defenseless enemies.

Thanks to the large amount of Fire Element scattered all around during the pursuit, a hot heat rose from the ground.

“D-don’t come!”

“Y-you monster!”

Bbeok—! Bbeok—!

Thud! Thud!

The two closest ones were struck on the head with the Cromwell Encyclopedia and collapsed.

“W-wait! Y-you asked earlier if we were the Amon Family, right? Y-yes!”

“Y-you’re curious about something, right? Let’s talk first…!”

Bbeok—! Bbeok—!

Thud! Thud!

A few more dull impact sounds echoed across the clearing like that.

Now only one person remained.

Step. Step.

Seeing the approaching boy, the girl trembled in fear.

Step. Thud.

Seeing the weapon held in the hand of the boy who stopped right in front of her, she shook her head side to side.

“…….”

“…….”

A brief exchange of glances.

Ray understood the message the girl was sending.

‘She wants to be hit with something other than this. Veronica was like that too; girls are definitely more particular than boys.’

He looked around, but no other suitable object to serve as a knockout tool was in sight.

All he could do was hit her a little more lightly than the others.

Oong—

Ray, who had completely undone the Metallization applied to the encyclopedia, nodded.

Just as a look of relief began to appear on the girl’s face upon seeing that.

Puh-eok—!

Thud!

A dull impact sound echoed across the clearing.

Ray looked at the unconscious girl and thought.

‘I expected more from a 2nd Circle.’

He was a little disappointed.

A big reason for ending the fight quickly without prolonging it was that the girl didn’t seem likely to show any more interesting magic.

…Rather, in terms of interest.

‘The role distribution and combat method shown by this whole group were more interesting.’

Close combat personnel and long-range attack personnel.

There was also a role to interfere with the opponent’s magic.

It was quite systematic and seemed familiar.

To the point where one would think any Wizard without considerable combat experience would be helplessly defeated.

‘Though I couldn’t observe their emotions at that moment, their claim of having captured a 3rd Circle Wizard doesn’t seem to be an empty boast.’

Ray, who had been lost in thought, quietly parted his lips.

“I’m warning you, if you move that hand now, you’ll die.”

“……!”

Behind Ray’s back.

The man who had raised a knife held in a reverse grip felt a chill run down his spine in that instant.

‘How on earth…?’

He had only one Ring, but thanks to his unique element ratio and grueling training, his Stealth Magic was unrivaled.

If he really put his mind to it, he could even deceive his master’s perception.

But.

This black-haired kid noticed his presence in an instant.

Moreover, the electric current at his feet, which he thought had subsided, had already bloomed again and was squirming.

Jijik! Jijijik!

With a much more ferocious momentum than before.

As if it would climb up his ankle any moment.

Gulp.

…If he moved, he would die.

His instinct sounded a danger signal.

“W-when from?”

He couldn’t finish his sentence due to tension, but there was no major problem in conveying the meaning.

“If you’re asking when I knew of your existence, from the beginning. These guys didn’t know, though. That you secretly followed them in and were watching from a corner of the clearing.”

Ray, who slowly turned his body, took the knife from the trembling hand.

The slowly lowered knife passed by the man’s fear-filled eyes and trembling lips.

Sssiiik.

It drew a red line on his nape.

“You use a good knife. The blade is very sharp. You look older than these guys. A manager? Person in charge?”

“I, I, I’m, gulp, just a, a monitor. By, by Master’s order, to, to see if the kids are doing well….”

Jjaeng——!

The knife Ray threw carelessly rolled on the ground.

“Then guide me. To your superior.”

“I, I’ve made contact, so he’ll be here soon. Please wait a moment!”

The man with a red line on his neck, sweating profusely, closed the door and disappeared.

Creeeak— Thud!

“…….”

Ray looked around inside.

A wide table and leather sofas.

Other furnishings placed here and there.

A location not far from the Black Market.

The clean-looking office was presumed to be a branch of the Amon Family.

Poo-oook—

Ray sat on the sofa.

His body rested, but the Ring’s Mana was fully drawn up to respond to any unexpected situation.

In that state.

He calmly organized his thoughts.

‘He said they aren’t directly part of the organization.’

Like the previous ten, the kind man who appeared last and took on the role of guide also did not bear the Amon Family tattoo.

Unlike the merchants who, while exiting the Black Market, hurriedly ran into an alleyway upon the man’s instruction, or

the burly men who bowed their heads in greeting while passing through this corridor together.

「W-we are all Master’s disciples. W-we do help the Amon Family, but we aren’t part of it.」

In the clearing, the man said so with a trembling voice.

「Disciples? Are all eleven of you here, including you?」

「N-no. Including those not here, there are over twenty.」

He said the Master was a 2nd Circle Wizard.

A middle-aged man in his mid-to-late forties.

The number of Rings wasn’t that great, but seeing that he was nurturing nearly twenty disciples at once, he probably wasn’t an ordinary person.

‘What kind of person is he?’

His curiosity was strongly piqued.

Currently, the person called Master was said to be coming here along with an Amon Family manager.

Of course, the primary goal of this action was to make contact with the Card Technician, but he had no intention of being satisfied with just that.

‘There needs to be a gain beyond being able to use Cards.’

Only then would it be worth it.

Considering the risk taken by provoking a large organization.

…Actually, the safest method was to wait for the war between the North and East to end and for the Card Technicians’ activities to resume.

‘But then, there’s no telling how long we’d have to wait.’

It was necessary to advance the situation as swiftly as possible.

Having spent nearly a month in Sector 46, and with the journey delayed so far.

And such compensation seemed possible through the person called Master.

If he had the ability to nurture over twenty disciples simultaneously, he was surely a person with far more knowledge and information than an ordinary Wizard.

‘It should be okay to have some expectations.’

Information about the Rainbow, for instance.

Information about the seven-colored band appearing in the sky.

Information about the mysterious meteorological phenomenon said to grant the discoverer’s wish.

“…….”

Even if not that, any information related to the party’s goals would be good.

For example.

The Black Rain, Philip’s mother, Mercread, the City of Wizards, the Wizard with the Monocle, and others….

—Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.

It was then that the sound of fast-paced footsteps was heard from outside.

The growing footsteps stopped right in front of the door.

Creeeak— Deulkeong!*

Multiple men appeared.

Instantly, Ray couldn’t take his eyes off the chest of the person at the front.

Two Rings.

Inside them, Dark Blue Mana was full.