Chapter 19 – What Is in the Basement (Two)

Crack! Shatter!

The light bulb struck by a flying spark shattered with a sharp sound.

The light vanished instantly.

But the visibility didn’t change.

The blazing flames were brightly illuminating the basement.

Kuhahahahat───

The man’s laughter echoed.

Shadows flickered on the wall following his writhing movements.

Ray gripped Mana in his hand and kept watch on the situation.

“The boss will surely regret it too! He’ll regret abandoning me! Kuhahaha!”

The flames blazed from the man’s head to his toes.

He looked like a human whose body was made of fire.

Moreover, the Mana was violently rotating the Ring.

The red Mana, swallowing all other colors as it spun the Ring, raced through every blood vessel, running wild.

“Slayer─! You’ve come to kill me and retrieve the Bloodstone─! Try and kill me! If you dare think you can do it──!”

The flames covering the man’s hand split into two streams.

The streams intertwined, climbing up each other’s bodies, taking the shape of long whips.

Sssssss───!

It happened in a literal instant.

The whip, flicking its crimson tongue, surged toward the boy’s head.

Ray reacted immediately.

He spread the Mana he was holding forward.

The multi-colored Mana formed a large, transparent barrier.

Thud──!

A chilling collision sound followed.

The whip left sparks and small cracks on the protective shield and bounced back.

“A Ward too! Right! A Slayer should naturally know how to use that level of Magic! Kheuheu!”

The man kept uttering the word ‘Slayer’.

He seemed to be misunderstanding this side’s identity, but there was no intention to correct him.

It wasn’t that important in this situation.

The man already seemed to be in a state where he couldn’t think coherently.

“Die─! Die and become a sacrifice for my shattered honor──!”

Sacrifice.

For a moment, he felt he understood the meaning of that word.

Thud─! Thud──!

The man wildly swung his arms, whipping the barrier madly.

With each strike, the barrier shook violently, and cracks began to form and spread all over.

Ray focused his mind.

He drew additional Mana from the atmosphere and infused it into the barrier, repairing the cracks.

Thud──! Thud──!

“Are you just planning to block! Until when! Just how long!”

His ears went numb from the booming shouts.

Feeling the heat rising on his skin, Ray stared at the man.

Covering his entire body in flames was a type of Magic he hadn’t even anticipated.

A knife would be useless.

Approaching was impossible due to the blazing flames.

If he hadn’t wrapped his skin in Mana, his flesh would have long since turned red and burned.

Can I subdue this man?

Wouldn’t it be better to retreat now and wait for another opportunity?

There wasn’t much time to ponder.

Even at this very moment, sparks flying everywhere were turning the basement into a sea of fire.

‘First, put out the fire.’

Only then could he secure space to move freely.

The warning instinct was sounding hadn’t yet reached its limit.

The desire to extract information from the man also hadn’t bowed its head.

Thud──! Thud──!

The whips continued to surge.

Ray split his focused mind into two.

One to maintain the barrier.

The other to activate new Magic.

Oooong─!

The Mana existing in the atmosphere, under Ray’s control, clumped together at various points around the man.

The color that appeared was a deep blue like the sea.

Following that, cold water droplets began to condense in the air.

Plop─! Poong─!

Their numbers multiplied in an instant.

Subsequently, with a gust of wind, they began to rotate around the man.

“What are you…! Using two main Magics simultaneously…? And a water element at that. You couldn’t possibly be a Slayer…!”

The shout couldn’t continue.

In an instant, the water whirlwind accelerated its rotation and completely swallowed the man’s body.

Kwa-gwa-gwa-gwa──!

The whirlwind spun with a force that seemed to tear apart everything it touched.

Water droplets splattered in all directions.

The flames covering the man’s body were obscured, and the visibility darkened by several degrees.

Drip!

Blood flowed from Ray’s nose.

It dripped down his lips and chin to the floor.

It was an aftereffect.

From pushing his mental strength to the limit to use Magic.

Kwa-gwa-gwa-gwa──!

The whirlwind’s speed gradually slowed.

The water droplets composing the Magic lost power and fell, turning the floor into a watery mess.

Soon, the whirlwind vanished without a trace.

And the prey it had swallowed was revealed.

The flames were no longer visible.

The man stood with his head bowed, his body battered and bruised.

Water droplets dripped steadily from his thoroughly soaked hair and limbs.

“……”

Ray didn’t lower his guard.

Simultaneously, he wondered if he had failed to control the Magic’s power.

He had merely moved the elements according to instinct, imagining putting out the fire; it wasn’t a Magic he had used before.

“Very.”

The man slowly raised his head.

“Interesting Magic you use. Kheu-heuk! Keuk!”

Eyes completely out of focus.

A body trembling as if mad.

Fwoosh.

And a breath made of fire spewed forth from the man’s wet lips with his exhalation.

The man’s Ring still had Mana left.

‘He’s definitely stronger than me. An opponent I can’t beat right now.’

Ray quickly made a judgment.

The warning light his instinct was sounding was almost at its limit.

It was a signal that if he didn’t run now, the probability of falling into a dangerous situation was high.

Swish─!

Ray moved his arm like lightning.

Throwing a knife toward the man’s face while simultaneously turning his body and dashing toward the door.

To distract him, he ignited a flame on a notebook on the desk that hadn’t yet burned.

Fwoosh!

Passing through the still-unquenched flames, he arrived before the door.

“Kheu-heu-heu-heu. Hooooo──.”

The man didn’t move from his spot.

He didn’t even glance at the notebook he had meticulously written in, now burning.

Letting out an ominous laugh, he took a deep breath.

Ray, having protected his hand with Mana, grabbed the door handle and pulled.

Creeeak─ Creeeak─

Perhaps the door had expanded from the heat; it showed no intention of opening easily.

“Hooooo── Hup.”

That was the moment.

When a massive flame spewed forth from the man’s mouth.

Kwa-ah-ah──!

The flame, swelling like a sandstorm, billowed and shot toward Ray.

Clack!

The door opened.

He gathered all his remaining mental strength.

Ray enhanced the strength and agility of his legs with Magic and bounded up the stairs.

Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud──!

A massive heat was felt at his back.

He knew without being told that if he stopped, he would be caught by the flames.

His bones would melt, leaving no trace, and he would vanish from the world.

‘It’s still okay. It’s a safe zone.’

In this situation, not feeling fear became an extreme advantage.

Ray sprinted toward the light of the surface visible above the stairs.

And the moment he finally reached the light.

He rolled his body sideways with all his might.

Kwa-ah-ah──!

Flames with explosive force spewed out from the stairway passage.

The spot where Ray had been just moments before.

Had he been a few seconds slower, he would have been swept up in the flames.

The flames, extending their force even outside the building, left a hot brand on the street’s air before dissipating into the void.

The timing was devoid of people.

No one was injured by the flames.

“……”

Ray suppressed his presence and focused his senses on the basement below the stairs.

Only a creepy laughter could be heard; the man’s footsteps were not audible.

‘Seems he has no intention of pursuing.’

He got up and moved his position a little.

Sitting on the stairs leading upstairs, he poured part of his attention into the basement while recovering his stamina.

He planned to observe the man’s movements a bit more before leaving this place.

‘The power of the Magic itself was different. The Ring’s Mana moved very smoothly. The speed at which the colors mixed was also fast.’

A heat lingering in the boy’s pupils.

It was the desire to create his own Ring.

Only then could he become much stronger than he is now, sooner rather than later, and take a step closer to revenge.

‘Revenge…’

The man with the monocle came to mind.

He truly couldn’t gauge how strong an opponent he was.

That person possessed far more Rings than this.

Revenge is impossible.

Because there’s an overwhelming difference in power.

He didn’t think that way.

Ray was confident that someday he would become stronger than the monocle-wearing Wizard.

The journey for strength and revenge had no intention of stopping; it was merely a matter of time.

Clatter.

He took out a red gem from his pocket.

It was highly likely the Bloodstone mentioned in the letter.

‘If I’d known it would be like this, I should have taken them all.’

There were four in total.

One was the one used to ignite the flame in the basement.

The amount of stored Mana was proportionally less than the other gems.

Upon closer observation, he could see that Mana from the atmosphere was flowing into that gem.

Ray tilted his head.

‘The Mana is recharging on its own. This way, it doesn’t seem much different from a Ring. Except for the limitation on the colors it can hold.’

It wasn’t precise, but the gem seemed to serve a similar function to an artificial Ring.

If he couldn’t make a Ring, using these gems instead didn’t seem like a bad idea.

Of course, he would decide after meeting the Wizard at the bookstore tomorrow.

There were many questions to solve.

Magic and Mana.

Rainbow and the City of Wizards.

Gems and Rings that hold Mana.

Ray, lost in thought for a moment, got up from his spot and left the building.

He glanced back over his shoulder.

From the basement, the creepy laughter continued to be heard.

He would have Johnny from the diner keep an eye on the basement’s movements for a few days.

‘We’ll meet again in a not-too-distant date anyway.’

According to Cedric, he visited the abandoned factory periodically.

Ray turned his head again.

And with unwavering steps, he left the street.

Shoo-ah-ah──

It rained all through that dawn.

Pounding the world for hours, it reluctantly retreated only around sunrise.

A sky cleared once.

The sun, having found space to breathe, panted heavily and scattered bright yellow light across the world.

That time didn’t last long.

Black Clouds gathered from somewhere began to fill the sky again.

The sun, gradually being obscured, exerted its last strength to emit light.

Fragments of light scattered toward the world.

One of them fell into the Junkyard on the southern outskirts of Sector 49.

From the sky to the ground.

Through a vehicle’s windshield, onto the boy’s eyelids.

“……”

Ray opened his eyes blearily.

He turned his head and checked the clock placed inside the vehicle.

It was an old pocket watch picked up from the Junkyard.

[AM 6:28]

Waking up about 30 minutes later than usual.

He thought it was due to overusing Magic yesterday.

Thanks to that, his head felt very clear.

He got out of the car, breathed in the cold air, and stretched.

‘Looks like clear rain fell at dawn. Not Black Rain.’

Clear rain, a rare occurrence.

You could tell by looking at the puddles on the ground.

Ray immediately set off at a brisk pace toward somewhere.

The place he arrived at was a tributary of the Elton River.

Crouching before the river, he washed off the blood and dust clinging to his face and limbs.

Splash. Splash.

Now, with the river temporarily clean, was the chance to wash up.

As time passed, trash and wastewater drifting down from upstream would dirty the river again.

There was the method of washing with bottled water from the car, but that felt like a waste of money.

With a proper water source scarce, water was more expensive than food or alcohol in the lower Sectors.

He had confirmed yesterday that he could create water with Magic, but that was also a waste of mental strength.

After finishing washing up, he returned to the car.

Did bodyweight exercises and finished his meal.

[AM 7:12]

Checking the time, he headed into the Sector.

The place he arrived at was 8th Street.

Dragging a box, he settled down in front of a shop and sat.

Looked at the clock again.

The promised time was gradually approaching.

Tick. Tock.

The clock hands advancing steadily along with the boy’s anticipation.

Soon, the shop’s light grew brighter.

A small footstep sound came from inside, and not long after, the door opened.

The girl who appeared there said.

“Come on in. Grandpa is waiting.”