Chapter 194 – What You Lose When You Become an Adult (Two)

The surroundings were deathly quiet.

The mana storm, known as the silent death, had swallowed all sound around it, erasing its very existence from the world.

Spreading across that blank page of sound were only the voices of two boys.

“Ah, sorry. You’re a dwarf.”

“Be careful. I’m not human.”

As the storm intensified, sand-laden winds fiercely battered their coats.

Hot and chilling fragments of magic danced chaotically from all directions.

“I’ve heard. Dwarves have an incredibly strong pride in their race.”

“Who did you hear that from?”

“My father. My father knows everything in the world.”

“He must be a very knowledgeable person. Did your father send you? To come here and do something?”

The conversation flowed naturally, but an unstable feeling couldn’t be erased.

Like a shipwrecked dinghy perilously tossed on rough waves, moments before breaking apart.

“That’s right. My father always gives me assignments. The assignment I finished not long ago was that one. My father is wary of some strange guy, and he told me to erase the graffiti before that guy saw it.”

“So, after erasing the graffiti?”

“He told me that since I might encounter that guy, I shouldn’t worry about other assignments and just return immediately. But guess what? On the way back, I got a chance to finish another assignment.”

The other boy spoke while looking down.

“Namely, this pile of scrap metal.”

“…….”

Only crimson mana filled the vessel of the boy speaking so leisurely.

Black malice.

A mixture of all sharp emotions harbored towards the world.

With red anger mixed in, not fully blended but standing out prominently.

The ominous form, like black oil mixed with red blood, was also reflected in his Rings.

‘Four Rings. The elements contained within are all clumped together.’

It was a form similar to the Indigo Dawn Society’s Hybrid Ring.

In other words, it meant it was difficult to predict his magic by looking at his mana’s color.

Ray quietly parted his lips.

“He told you to return immediately. If you disobey orders on your own, won’t you get into big trouble?”

“No, he’ll definitely praise me.”

Ray exploded red mana and kicked off the ground, propelling himself backward.

A crimson spike as tall as a person shot up from where he had been standing.

“You dodged that too. This time I really let the mana flow secretly.”

“…….”

Their gazes met from behind goggles and a gas mask, and it was at that moment that the two figures kicked off the ground.

The boy with goggles was the first to close the distance towards his opponent.

In the boy’s hands were now two daggers tinged with a crimson hue, and Ray also gathered gray mana, creating two daggers while simultaneously infusing them with a large amount of metal-element.

Clang! Clash! Clang!

Sparks flashed incessantly, embroidering the sand-laden wind.

The fierce sounds of collision tore through the blank page of silence that filled the surroundings.

The offense and defense taking place on the not-so-wide watchtower platform were viciously aimed only at each other’s vital points.

Screech──!

Ray’s head and body grew hot.

Each attack was fierce, and his entire body shook greatly with every block.

He didn’t have much information about his opponent.

But one fact was clear.

‘The Doctor is targeting Rael Row.’

The other boy spoke as if his orders included something about Rael Row.

And.

…If Rael Row was the target, the reason and purpose could be easily inferred.

‘Rael Row’s power source.’

That was why Ray had currently deactivated the yellow gem inside his body.

To avoid unnecessarily provoking an enemy whose full strength he hadn’t yet gauged.

Swish──!

Ray turned his head.

A dagger aimed at his neck barely grazed his skin.

He grabbed the opponent’s outstretched forearm with a hand wreathed in blue mana.

Crackle!

Sensing the chill covering the forearm, the opponent exploded crimson mana and roughly shook off the grip.

In the instant the distance widened.

Thud.

Ray pivoted on his left foot, simultaneously exploding a large amount of red mana gathered in his right foot.

Thwump──!

The spinning back kick landed cleanly in the opponent’s abdomen.

With a sound like tearing leather, the opponent instantly flew through the air and slammed into the wall.

The enemy slid down to the floor without moving a muscle, but Ray knew the fight hadn’t even properly started yet.

As if to prove that fact, a grinding sound was heard.

“That hurts.”

The enemy who had kicked off the ground charged in without giving him a chance to breathe.

The enemy’s offensive became even more fierce and vicious, forcing Ray to make one judgment.

‘A war of attrition in a confined space is disadvantageous for me with my lower mana capacity.’

Screech─!

Using the recoil from the clash, he propelled his body outside the platform railing.

─────!

The howling wind made his coat flap madly.

In his tilted vision, he saw the figure of the enemy falling without hesitation towards him.

‘Defenseless state.’

Ray, still in his falling posture, gathered the yellow mana from the gem in his hand at maximum output.

Fizzle crackle!

At the moment a sphere of electricity, emitting a blinding radiance, was created in his hand, a portion of the malice contained in the opponent’s vessel took the form of fear.

A momentary question arose, but there was no time to think long.

For the opponent’s dagger had already extended into a whip-like form dozens of meters long and was being swung towards him.

Ray shot the sphere of electricity as a beam while simultaneously enveloping his entire body in a thick, shield-like ward.

Crossing his arms to block the whip, Ray fell vertically and slammed into the deck below.

Kwaaang──!

The tremendous roar even created the illusion that the Rael Row was shaking.

Ray staggered slightly as he got up and assumed a stance.

Pain ringing from various places.

If he hadn’t enveloped his entire body in a ward and wrapped metal-element around his skin to reduce the impact doubly, his bones would have been crushed all over.

“…….”

Looking down at the arm that blocked the whip, his coat was torn and abrasions had formed.

The wounds weren’t large, but the crimson mana clinging like mucus was causing fiery pain.

An intuition brushed his mind.

Pulling up the yellow mana from the gem and sending it to the wound, the crimson mana scattered into the air as if fleeing.

“What are you?”

Raising his head at the voice, he saw the enemy standing, having landed on the far side of the deck.

It seemed he had twisted his body to avoid the sphere of electricity in that instant, as no significant injury was visible.

“It seems what I felt at first wasn’t an illusion. What are you? What is it that makes me feel so uneasy?”

The fear he had witnessed in the enemy during the fall had expanded to a level that couldn’t be called large but couldn’t be ignored either.

As if reflecting that psychology.

────.

The crimson mana flowing from the enemy’s entire body took on physical substance, covering his whole body like armor.

Strong confusion and questions arose.

Because he couldn’t grasp the principle, just as when the enemy had created the dagger and the whip.

Until now, the boy had been able to identify the color of mana the enemy used and replicate the magic exactly.

But now.

The mana the enemy used was only of one type, crimson.

And furthermore, the elements within it were also clumped together in a form that defied general magical laws, a form that shouldn’t exist in the world.

…Not coexistence, but complete fusion.

‘How on earth?’

He didn’t know.

But he thought this.

It seemed as if the opponent was handling the crimson mana like clay, able to shape it into any form he desired.

Then a voice tinged with discomfort was heard.

“You, it’s certain you’re not a dwarf first of all. I’ve heard their technology is excellent, but not to this extent.”

Ray gritted his teeth.

“If you insult my identity one more time, I won’t let it slide.”

“…….”

“I am a proud dwarf.”

“I’ll know if I break that gas mask. I heard dwarves have stone fragments protruding from their skin like scales.”

The enemy’s figure disappeared from its spot.

The next moment, someone who had run over from the far side of the deck leaped and clung onto the enemy charging towards Ray.

The one who tumbled on the floor together with him before separating was none other than Is.

“Intruders are not permitted…!”

Is immediately rose to his feet, and what reflected in his eyes was a sharply flying crescent-shaped crimson energy.

With a spine-chilling feeling, he hastily pulled out the body-sized shield he was carrying on his back.

Creak─! Creeeak─!

The sword energy didn’t vanish upon collision but continued to push the shield back.

Gloves, boots, pauldrons, belt, etc.

The metal equipment worn all over his body converted the surrounding mana into power, pushing his innate dwarven physical abilities to the limit, but.

Creeeeak───!

It was insufficient to block the sword energy.

Pushed back continuously on the deck, Is tumbled on the floor as the shield was destroyed.

“Kgh…!”

He was bewildered.

His pride in his own race was faint, but it was a fact that dwarven technology and physical abilities were unrivaled.

He thought that in full combat gear, he could subdue a human Wizard, if not easily, then sufficiently.

But to be unable to withstand even a single blow and tumble on the floor…

Clang! Clash! Clang!

The sight of Ray fighting that enemy on equal terms added to Is’s shock and surprise.

‘Are all human Wizards originally that strong?’

Probably not.

He felt a strong conviction that those two were monstrously strong beings even among humans.

───!

A crimson longsword and a stone blade forged from gray mana collided.

Ray, drawing a parabola in the air from the collision’s recoil, spun his body once and landed beside Is.

Thud─!

Without taking his eyes off the distant enemy, he asked.

“Did you alert them?”

“Rael Row’s reactivation is complete. Fully armed combatants will come up soon. But even if they come up, against an enemy that strong…”

“It’s better to divert the troops. The damage would only increase otherwise.”

Is nodded with an anxious face in agreement.

Then, mana of various colors began to flow across the entire deck.

The next moment.

Oooooong──!

Mana gathered at the ends of lightning rod-shaped poles that rose everywhere, transforming into thin beams of light and shooting towards the enemy.

Boom! Kwaang! Kwaaang!

The bombardment continued without stopping.

“Thanks for buying us time. We’ll take over now, so no need to worry.”

Turning his head at the voice, he could see Elders approaching beside him.

Also, combatants were coming up through hatches that opened left and right in the floor.

Ray spoke quickly.

“Immediately divert the personnel and evacuate to the safest place on Rael Row.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“He’s not an enemy you can handle.”

The Elders burst into loud laughter.

“We understand your concern, but there is no enemy our cutting-edge technology cannot repel. Just wait and see. Once the bombardment ends, you’ll see the intruder reduced to tatters.”

“That’s not─.”

Ray closed his mouth.

Because the extreme confidence contained in the Elders’ vessels told him he couldn’t persuade them.

Kwaaang!

With the last beam of light, the bombardment stopped.

As the hazy dust slowly cleared, what was revealed was a crimson sphere.

“That is…?”

“Is that also magic?”

The Elders showed bewilderment but still didn’t lose their composure.

That is.

“What a bothersome thing to do.”

Until the sphere disappeared and the enemy appeared in an unharmed state.

Instantly, the longsword extended like a whip and was swung like a storm across the deck area.

Kwaang!

The lightning rods were destroyed.

Kwaang! Kwaaang!

Various parts of the deck were destroyed.

The Elders and combatants all rushed in, but the scene that unfolded thereafter was close to a one-sided slaughter.

“Kgh!”

“Gak!”

Most fell without even getting close, their equipment destroyed.

Even if they managed to close the distance, they couldn’t inflict the slightest damage on the enemy’s armor.

Ray fired natural magic like Fireballs or ice spears at maximum output, but that was also the same.

Swish! Swoosh! Swish!

Ray stopped using magic and focused on evading the widely sweeping whip strikes and closing in on the enemy.

Simultaneously, he carefully observed how the opponent handled the crimson mana.

And at some point.

He found himself imagining handling mana as freely as the enemy.

……?

A strong sense of incongruity struck him.

Did I imagine it?

Suddenly, he felt like he understood.

What principle the opponent was using to handle the crimson mana.

─Crackle.

Despair-filled screams and shrieks in the center of the raging storm.

─Crackle crackle.

Something deep within the boy was trying to hatch.