Chapter 188 – Rael Low (One)

The massive silhouette took the form of a castle.

The boy halted his movements for a moment.

His thoughts, racing out at high speed to comprehend the unknown that had appeared before his eyes, touched upon a voice from the past.

“Later, when I came to my senses and retraced my memories, I realized.”

“The upper part of the shadow had the form of a castle. The lower part had huge, leg-like appendages that propelled it forward.”

“Besides the mercenary group I belonged to at the time, there were quite a few others who witnessed that form.”

Sector 47, Madam Renia.

The story she had told.

A moving castle within a sandstorm.

Judging by the emotions in her Vessel at the time, her words were clearly not false.

However, from the perspective of a boy who bases his life on logic and realism, it was not something he could fully trust.

She must have seen some kind of illusion or something.

But.

The enormous shadow currently before his eyes made it impossible to think of any other possibility besides the castle Madam Renia had spoken of.

‘It’s getting closer.’

Having made his judgment, the boy immediately activated all the Mana in his Ring.

The multicolored Mana coursing through his entire body readied itself to be deployed as Magic from any part, at any moment, awakening all his bodily senses.

The distance to the castle was close at hand.

Though he couldn’t be certain yet, if the other party was an enemy, or harbored malice equivalent to one, this could be the worst situation he’d faced in recent times.

‘Lacri─.’

The boy, about to awaken the Spirit who should have finished recovering its energy after a long rest following the encounter with the giant sandworm, paused for a moment.

The snake was already awake.

…Inside the gem, Yellow Mana was raging wildly, as if a small storm had erupted.

Why on earth?

Without even a moment to harbor the question, he first focused his mind to control the Mana.

But.

───!

The Yellow Mana repelled his interference with strong resistance.

A slight sense of bewilderment arose.

Because it was Yellow Mana he had gained considerable control over through continuous interaction since acquiring the gem.

Whooooom──!

He summoned the gem onto his palm.

Immediately, Lacria slipped out as if fleeing, climbing up his arm.

The gem was emitting a Radiance blinding to the eyes, along with a powerful Resonance sound.

It was at that moment that Madam Renia’s voice echoed in his head once more.

“There is much debate among Wizards. About what the power source is that moves that giant castle.”

Lifting his head, the silhouette of the castle was passing right by the campsite, as if it hadn’t even noticed them.

There wasn’t much time to think.

Thump──!

The boy, having thrown a stone to hit the bus, drew upon the White Mana from his Ring and simultaneously leapt into the storm.

The raging sand-laden wind.

A vision blurring into whiteness.

Thud! Whoom! Thud! Whoom!

All sorts of Magic swirling within the storm crashed against the boy’s Ward, roaring.

But the boy did not yield.

Checking the rapidly depleting amount of White Mana, he simply ran, following the lurching silhouette.

Thump!

Standing in front of the silhouette’s forward path, the boy looked up at the enormous shadow approaching him.

And he raised high the yellow gem that was still emitting a Resonance sound.

Whooooom──!

A lighthouse risen in the deep night of the wasteland spewed forth a brilliant Radiance.

Wasn’t it dangerous?

To stop an unknown entity?

That was a given.

However, a strong intuition that if he let the silhouette go like this, he might never see it again, compelled the boy to act.

The boy swung the hand holding the gem widely from side to side.

‘No reaction.’

Perhaps it didn’t see him.

Anxiety blooming in his chest.

The White Mana nearing its bottom.

For safety’s sake, it was right to retreat to the campsite immediately.

But held back by reluctance, the boy persisted until the last moment, repeating the motion of waving his hand.

Crackle! Crick-crackle!

And just before the Ward shattered.

The boy could see a wave of White Mana flying through the storm.

‘Veronica, she’s grasped the situation.’

Using the White Mana that arrived before him, he immediately reinforced the Ward.

Indeed, as the very quality of the element was different, the cracked Ward was restored in an instant.

The boy continued to wave his hand while watching the silhouette closing the distance.

…….

At some moment, he witnessed the form of a person standing on the upper part of the silhouette.

The form seemed to look down in this direction for a moment, then vanished as if disappearing from its spot.

And.

─────.

Not long after, the giant castle halted its advance.

Thanks to Veronica’s Ward and Grine’s support, enduring the storm at the campsite wasn’t very difficult.

As the storm began to clear, the silhouette that had been obscured by the sand-laden wind started to reveal itself.

“Good heavens… I’d heard rumors, but does that really exist…?”

“I, I’m not sure if what I’m seeing is correct.”

Demper and Jang couldn’t close their gaping mouths.

“Is this a dream…?”

Veronica muttered blankly, not even thinking to spit out the strand of hair that had fallen into her mouth.

“A castle…! A real castle…!”

William recited incessantly with an enchanted face.

“What on earth is it? That thing?”

Grine expressed curiosity without a hint of panic.

Standing tall under the clear night sky, it could be described as a living, moving mountain of rock covered in complex mechanical devices.

Elevators and legs serving as pathways were packed all over.

Enormous cannons of unknown metallic material jutted out sharply towards the exterior.

Also, on the mountain face, there were caves that seemed to lead inside.

“A castle…? A mountain…? A chariot…?”

As Veronica’s confusion deepened under the overload of thought.

From one of the cube-shaped devices attached all over the rock mountain, positioned lower down, a voice boomed loudly.

─Who are you? Why do you possess our power source?

Our power source.

Ray could confirm his prediction was correct.

“Ray, they’re asking why we have their power source, do you have any idea what they mean?”

“Think back, the stories we heard from Madam Renia.”

Veronica fell into thought at Ray’s words, then soon made a realization and her face showed great surprise.

Meanwhile, Ray told Grine his speculation about the mechanical giant castle and its power source.

“The possibility… certainly exists.”

Grine’s voice carried deep interest and curiosity.

Taking a step forward, Ray held up the object he was clutching in his hand.

It was the yellow gem, split in half, its Radiance weaker than before but still emitting a strong Resonance sound.

“Power source, are you talking about this?”

To the boy’s voice amplified by Magic, an answer came immediately.

─Yes. That is the Current Stone we have searched for over a long time but could not find anywhere. Where did you find it?

Current Stone.

Ray got the impression that the other party didn’t seem to know the fact that the gem was a Rainbow Shard.

“I can answer your question.”

─Good, where did you find the Current Stone?

“On one condition, if you answer my question first.”

─What is your question?

“Do you also have a Current Stone?”

─We do.

The reply came back without hesitation.

…Was it a lack of wariness?

Or confidence that they could subdue this side no matter what happened?

Since he couldn’t read the other’s emotions from the voice, it was an unknown aspect.

Ray exchanged glances with Veronica and Grine, and looked at their Vessels in turn.

Tension, confusion, unease.

Interest, doubt, curiosity.

The two women’s Vessels seemed contrasting at a glance, but the one emotion positioned at their center showed a common appearance.

‘Anticipation.’

It was an emotion the boy also held.

Ray looked back at the cube-shaped device and spoke.

“I’ll tell you where and how I found the Current Stone. But the story will be long, is that okay?”

─It doesn’t matter.

“No, we mind. We can’t keep standing here talking.”

Ray pushed strongly, not wanting to miss an opportunity that might not come again.

This time, no answer came back.

Instead, after a while.

─Wheeeeng.

A cave door opened and a figure who appeared from there descended on an elevator.

Covered entirely in a thick brown cloak, their face was obscured by a device of unknown purpose reminiscent of a gas mask.

The approaching figure spoke.

“Follow. I’ll guide you.”

Their height was much shorter than Ray’s, seeming under 160cm, but their voice was unexpectedly mature.

A voice passing between boy and youth, as if just past puberty.

‘No Ring. Not a Wizard.’

Also, no particular hostility or malice was reflected in their Vessel.

Since no goodwill was shown either, it was correct to view it as indifference.

Ray spoke.

“They didn’t say to bring everyone in, I think.”

At those words, the other seemed slightly surprised, then answered.

“Right, up to three people.”

“Jang, Demper, William, you three stay here.”

The Mana storm had swept through everything around once.

Since beasts and such wouldn’t appear for a while, it should be fine to leave without a Wizard.

Ray, Veronica, Grine.

The three boarded the elevator following the guide.

Wheeeeng──

The sophisticated mechanical device smoothly raised its altitude with a soft operating sound.

Veronica whispered to Ray while looking at the scenery visible through the glass.

“It doesn’t shake at all.”

The elevators in the Sector were all devices powered by Mana, and due to crude design, they all caused significant noise and shaking.

But the elevator they were currently riding had none of that.

And even more surprisingly, no Mana flowed through its frame at all.

In other words, this meant it was a device created by pure technological prowess.

‘High probability they’re not human.’

While lost in thought, the elevator arrived at a cave entrance located at the mid-height of the rock mountain.

Following the guide, they passed through a silently opening door and entered inside the cave.

The interior scenery was completely different from what they had expected from outside.

‘It wasn’t just a cave.’

The walls and ceiling were not made of rough, bumpy stone, but of smoothly processed, bright-colored construction materials.

Lights densely embedded in the ceiling brightly illuminated the interior, making it like broad daylight.

The feeling of entering not a cave, but the interior of a huge building with sophisticated design.

Swish.*

Then the guide removed the gas mask.

It was the face of a boy not much different from a human.

That is.

If one excluded the stone fragments protruding like scales here and there, and skin cracked like drought-stricken land.

Sensing Ray’s gaze boiling with curiosity, the guide turned his head and asked.

“Why are you staring like that?”

“You, you’re not human, are you?”

The guide stared blankly at Ray, then indifferently turned his head away again.

As if it wasn’t a question worth answering.

But it didn’t matter.

Because the answer was provided by the numerous scenes that unfolded next.

Along the ant-nest-like winding passages, spacious areas presumed to have their own purposes like warehouses or dining halls were positioned.

There, beings sharing the same external characteristics as the guide were busily doing their respective tasks.

Then, upon discovering Ray’s group, they whispered among themselves.

“Humans?”

“They’re humans.”

“Is, why are there humans?”

Without exception regarding gender or age, they did not exceed a height that would be considered small by human standards.

Grine said in a small voice.

“It seems they don’t know about what happened outside.”

“That’s right…! And from what I felt passing through, the atmosphere inside is like a castle with everything self-contained.”

The guide called Is gave only curt replies to the questions flying from all sides, saying he was taking them to the Elders, and hurried his steps.

Walking corridors, boarding elevators.

And how many stairs did they go up and down?

The group, following the guide, arrived before a certain enormous door.

“…….”

Ray touched his coat, feeling the part with the inner pocket.

The Mechanical Bird, which had been still for a while, began to flap its wings again, and the Radiance of the yellow gem amplified madly, to the point its light was visible even from outside.

There was something.

Right beyond this.

As the guide opened the door, a voice came from within.