Chapter 206 – Uninvited Guest (Two)

“How is it? Compared to the Binjin you remember?”

“Exactly the same.”

Ray looked at Grine, who was in Binjin’s form.

To be precise, he was looking at the lime-green Mana enveloping her entire body, distorting her appearance.

Its true nature was the two chameleon Spirits Grine had contracted.

“Last time, it was closer to green.”

“Perhaps Pepper and Salt are putting more effort into the disguise this time? But, I still can’t quite believe it. That various colors exist in Mana, and that you can see those colors. So that’s why you saw through my disguise at a glance last time too?”

Ray nodded.

Grine continued her thoughts.

“Spirits are fundamentally beings made of Mana. But Pepper and Salt have the ability to completely erase their Mana presence. They’re children that even the most perceptive Wizards wouldn’t notice. But since you see the color of Mana itself… that means no Spirit can escape your eyes.”

“……”

“Truly, the more I learn about you, Ray-nim, the more mysterious you seem. Freely handling a Gem’s Mana that ordinary Wizards can’t even touch, using Magic that defies the laws, seeing the color of Mana with your eyes. Later, even if someone said you were a god-like being, I don’t think I’d be that surprised.”

After a long silence, Ray spoke.

“But.”

“Yes, please go on.”

“The names, are they right?”

“Pepper and Salt? Why?”

Pepper and Salt were the names of the two chameleon Spirits.

Originally, Grine communicated with the two Spirits through mental will, and since there was no need to call them aloud, she hadn’t given them names either─

「How about gifting them names? I’ve heard that bonds are very important when borrowing a Spirit’s power! If you keep calling them with affectionate names, wouldn’t you naturally develop a deeper relationship?」

─Following Veronica’s suggestion, she had given them names.

“But that’s the name of the seasoning for the jerky you often eat.”

“What’s wrong with that?”

“You really live carelessly.”

“What did you say?”

“Nothing.”

Grine’s ears twitched as if ruminating on what she heard.

Ray looked at the lime-green Mana composed of distortion and illusion elements and said.

“Anyway, do a good job with the act.”

“Don’t worry about that.”

Her posture straightened, her expression turned serious, and the atmosphere changed in an instant.

“This kind of disguise is nothing I haven’t done once or twice.”

The voice that flowed out was a husky male one, and the person before him was unmistakably Binjin’s form.

“Target the man in the indigo suit in the middle first.”

“Confirmed.”

Grine, who had checked the visitor’s appearance by looking out the window, went down to the first floor via the spiral staircase.

“……”

Ray, who had been staring at the lime-green Mana growing smaller below, turned his head back to the window.

No special suspicion or wariness shone in the Vessels of the visitors being guided and walking towards the tower.

At least, not yet.

The boy who approached the railing raised his right hand to head height, aiming at the first floor.

What he held was a bright yellow lightning bolt.

Unlike ordinary Lightning Magic, no sound came from the flashing current, and the light was condensed only inward, not radiating to the surroundings.

Magic composed purely of Electric Elements without any impurities mixed in.

There was such a story.

That the original Natural Magic began as an attempt to mimic wondrous phenomena like lightning or typhoons.

Now, the lightning bolt was the same.

It was the boy’s first imitation of a natural phenomenon occurring in the sky.

But the result was vastly different from the attempts of ordinary Wizards.

Because the boy’s lightning bolt was not a crude imitation but a pure crystallization of elements.

It was not a fake but the real thing.

It could be called creation, not imitation.

‘……’

As his senses focused to the extreme, his field of vision began to narrow to the first floor below the railing.

For a moment, his breathing stopped.

His posture didn’t move an inch.

The figures of the enemies entering the tower were reflected in the dilated pupils of his white eyes.

Swish.

A single strand of white hair fell below the railing.

The fluttering, falling hair gently landed on a certain artifact on a table.

“It’s an honor to meet you.”

Binjin beside him bowed his head towards the visitors.

“Thank you for coming such a long way. I am Binjin, who walks the path of Magic with an ever-inquiring mind, though my skills are humble.”

“Pleased to meet you. I am Kraimer.”

“Lucia.”

“I’m Simon.”

The visitors, who had shaken hands with Grine in turn, showed primary interest in the artifacts filling the surrounding tables.

“Hmm, there really are a lot. Just what’s visible seems to be over several hundred pieces.”

“It seems the talk of having spent a long time in Ruins exploration wasn’t a lie.”

“Not entirely inferior, then. Could be quite useful depending on how they’re employed.”

The visitors conversed among themselves with Grine before them.

The man in the indigo suit, a 4th Circle, spoke to Grine, and from the atmosphere, he seemed to be the senior.

“We all in the Dawn Society carefully examined the precious item you sent as a gift to the Chairman. It was an item that could demonstrate value worth millions depending on its use. I express my respect to you for unhesitatingly donating such a treasure.”

Behind the visitors.

Ain, who had followed them in as a guide, fidgeted with an object in his pocket with sweat-drenched hands.

The gift just mentioned referred to the Ring that neutralized Rings.

Originally Binjin’s possession, there were three in quantity.

One had been offered to the Dawn Society, and the remaining two were currently in Ain and Grine’s pockets, one each.

Using the Ring while watching for an opportunity was the signal to begin the ambush.

In response to the man’s words, Grine bowed her head slightly and replied.

“Kraimer-nim. I merely did what needed to be done. If I can be of even a little help to the Dawn Society’s progress, nothing could be more honorable.”

“You seem to be one who knows your place. I like you. For the development of the Dawn Society, one should indeed be so. But, you see.”

Kraimer, who had suddenly stopped speaking, looked straight into Grine’s eyes.

…His sharp Eye Light seemed to pierce through the other’s inner thoughts.

After a suffocating silence flowed.

Grine calmly replied.

“Unfortunately, the Ring I sent to the Dawn Society is all I had. I am only regretful that I couldn’t contribute more.”

“Is that so. Well, of course, you couldn’t possibly possess several such artifacts with unbelievable functions.”

“I plan to offer any rare items I obtain in the future for the development of the Dawn Society as well.”

Kraimer nodded with a satisfied expression.

“You’ve sufficiently prepared your attitude for joining. But attitude and qualification are separate matters. What about the Spiritual Creature mentioned in the letter? Did you succeed in Elementalization?”

Grine deliberately hesitated before answering.

“I succeeded.”

Sincere exclamations flowed from the visitors’ mouths.

“Amazing! To turn a Spiritual Creature of that size into a Spirit would have required a considerable amount of Mana.”

“And highly concentrated, high-quality Mana at that.”

“To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much, but this is a truly unexpected result.”

Grine glanced at the mansion outside the window and answered.

“Supplying high-quality Mana wasn’t difficult. I personally have livestock I’m raising.”

“A good method. Inferior beings can contribute to the world in that way too. Did you succeed in the Contract as well?”

Grine shook her head.

“I haven’t made the Contract yet. It’s such a violent creature that I have it imprisoned underground here. I plan to force the Contract once its strength wanes.”

Kraimer, who had focused his mind for a moment, opened his eyes and said.

“Indeed, I can feel a powerful Mana Flow below. You’ve worked hard.”

The Mana Flow was Lacria, who was actually crouching in the basement on Ray’s instructions.

Grine boasted.

“Worked hard? No, not at all.”

“Sufficiently, you have. The qualification for joining seems sufficient. Seeing the Spirit directly can wait a bit later, may we look at the artifacts here for a while?”

“Of course. Please follow me.”

The visitors followed the guide and moved among the tables.

“This is the first time I’ve seen an artifact of this type.”

“Wasn’t there something like this among the items the Chairman brought before?”

The visitors, with their backs turned, focused on the artifacts.

Yet, Ain and Grine couldn’t find an opportunity to use the Ring.

‘…I can’t see any opening at all.’

‘They don’t seem to be particularly conscious of us.’

Because the intuition that an ambush now would fail felt very strong.

Especially the one called Kraimer emitted a suffocating Presence, giving the impression that the human itself was like a massive lump of steel.

Then, at that moment.

“A hair? It’s turned white.”

Kraimer picked up the hair that had fallen on the artifact.

An opening revealed in an instant.

Grine and Ain moved like lightning, pulling out the Rings and firing the stored Mana Threads within.

Kraimer grabbing his two companions by the nape and using them as shields happened almost simultaneously.

───.

The Rings of Lucia and Simon, hit by the Threads, were neutralized.

Without a chance to utter any incantation, their entire field of vision was dyed with light.

Kwa-rung───!

A roar. A momentary flash.

Lucia’s back figure crumbling into black ashes.

Kraimer twisted his body while holding the remaining companion Simon by the nape.

Kwa-rung───!

A roar. A flash.

Simon’s right arm completely disappeared, and black ash scattered around.

Simultaneously.

In Kraimer’s eyes, attacks swarming from all directions were reflected.

Thorny vines stretching from Seeds scattered in the air.

Dozens of ice spikes emitting a vicious chill.

A masked figure jumping out from the void right beside, trying to grab his neck.

And even a blue-haired boy running from afar, holding a dagger.

The corner of Kraimer’s mouth twitched.

“You inferior beings.”

Indigo Mana erupted from the angry man’s Ring as if exploding.

In an instant, an immense wave of energy was released in all directions.

Jjaeng! Jjae-aeng─! Jjaeng!

Koo-woong─!

All the tower’s windows shattered.

All furnishings, including tables, were overturned and broken.

Grine and Ain were sent flying through the air and slammed into the wall, and Ayla, who had revealed herself from the cabinet she was hiding in, tumbled on the floor.

Only Curiosa succeeded in narrowly evading into a Spatial Rift.

Cheol-chak─!

A blade sprang from the tip of Kraimer’s iron staff.

The staff drew a semicircle towards something falling from above.

But the instinctive warning that rang in that instant.

‘This is dangerous.’

Kraimer, who let go of the staff, pulled Simon by the nape and shifted his position backward.

Kwa-rung───!

A roar. A flash.

A sinister yellow current flowed on the staff that had fallen to the ground.

And beside it, a white-haired boy was staring this way while gripping a long, slender stream of current.

What he held in his hand was.

‘Lightning?’

Intense confusion and doubt blossomed in Kraimer’s mind.

What on earth is that mysterious form containing light condensed inward?

Only one type of element is detected, how can Magic be realized with just that?

No, is it definitely Magic?

…Does such Magic exist in this world?

The Indigo Dawn Society also develops various Magics independently.

But those are only things done within the existing laws of Magic.

The birth of Magic that overturns common sense and convention in that way had never occurred.

Feeling intense interest and exhilaration, Kraimer spoke quickly.

“You are not an inferior one. Do you have any thoughts of joining the Indigo Dawn Society?”

“No, not that kind of thing.”

Ray answered without a moment’s hesitation.