Chapter 267 – When the Sun Rises (Six)

Ray summoned the emotions associated with the two gemstones as he watched the indigo ray surging toward him.

Yellow Mana was joy and excitement.

Green Mana was curiosity and a sense of belonging.

As the emotions welled up, his chest tingled and grew hot.

Then, when the indigo ray was almost upon him, two beams of light—green and yellow—burst forth and collided with the indigo ray.

Kwaaaaaaaang───!!

The powerful mana shockwave created by the three lights swept through the area like a gale.

A tremendous roar echoed.

The atmospheric mana churned violently.

Everyone around momentarily forgot the battle, unable to do anything but stare blankly at the spectacle.

Ray’s two beams of light seemed to be pushed back at first, but that was only temporary.

Soon, they began to mix together, their light intensifying, and they started to push back the indigo ray at a rapid pace.

‘This is a completely unexpected situation.’

Indiago couldn’t hide his shock.

Moreover, he couldn’t help but sense it.

That the two gemstones the boy possessed were other fragments of the Rainbow he had been searching for so desperately.

He was bewildered.

What was the identity of this boy who possessed not one, but two fragments of the Rainbow?

However, a more pressing issue than that right now was the fact that he was being pushed back.

This wasn’t simply due to a difference in the number of fragments.

‘…There’s a difference in the ability to wield the fragment’s power.

Even without an instinctive realization, it was evident.

The beam of light woven by the boy’s rays was emitting a far more intense light than his own.

Grind!

With the sound of grinding teeth, the Indigo Mana corresponding to inferiority surged like a wave within Indiago’s vessel.

A wizard superior to me?

That couldn’t exist in this world, and it shouldn’t exist.

Envy, jealousy, anger, hatred, and more,

Various colored mana clung to the indigo inferiority, becoming turbidly entangled.

Just as the indigo ray, resonating with it, was about to regain its momentum──

Thuuuuuung───!

A large container box slammed into Indiago’s ward.

“What…!”

A strong impact shook Indiago’s body, and along with it, the indigo ray also wavered unstably.

Turning his head hurriedly, he could see the Pope floating not far away in the air.

“How dare you…! With such petty tricks…!”

Extremely enraged, Indiago stretched out the hand not holding his staff.

Rapidly condensed Indigo Mana transformed into flames and shot forth.

Kwaaang──!

The indigo flames struck the Pope and erupted fiercely.

An intense heat that made it hard to even breathe.

But when the flames vanished, the Pope appeared, perfectly fine, with a ward deployed.

Two eyes emitting a sharp eye light.

Five rings shining brightly on his chest.

Just minutes before, Pope Betelgeuse had crossed the barrier of the 5th Circle.

It was thanks to the long, arduous time, and the immense enlightenment of knowledge brought by his encounter with Ray.

Before Indiago could react, the Pope’s hand swept through the air.

The curtain enveloping the artificial sun, and the temple-style pillars erected around it, were all ripped straight from the ground.

Kuduk! Kududuk!

For a moment, it felt as if the earth itself was shaking.

Massive pillars tearing through the void relentlessly slammed into Indiago’s ward.

Kwang─! Kwaaang─!

“Kkhuk…!”

Indiago felt extreme anger along with humiliation.

How dare these lowly beings obstruct his path?

But it was clear what would happen if this continued.

The boy’s beam was closing the distance moment by moment, and the constantly colliding pillars prevented him from preparing any other proper magic.

Kwang─! Kwaaang─!

‘Wretched beings, how dare, how dare…!’

For a moment, memories of the past flashed through Indiago’s mind.

The past where he was born at the very bottom of the world, wandering through the gutters.

The past where he lost his mother due to the world’s malice.

And the past where he resolved to become the strongest being in the world so that no one would ever look down on him again.

If the world wore the face of a monster, he too would become the same monster.

He would become stronger by any means necessary.

It was then that the emotions mixed into his vessel completed into the exact same color as the mana contained in his rings.

Like a river stained with oil, an extremely dark indigo mana.

It was inferiority imbued with malice.

“I’ll kill, ugh, you…!”

Indiago’s gaze, soaked in madness, turned toward the Dawn Society wizards engaged in battle.

He had made them swallow indigo gem fragments to obtain the weapon called the Hybrid Ring.

Fragments of the Rainbow’s indigo hue, mass-produced replicas of it.

And the members who possessed Hybrid Rings had no choice but to obey the Chairman.

Loyalty? Bonds?

That wasn’t the issue.

He, who possessed the original indigo fragment, could literally take their lives at any time.

Of course, the members didn’t know this fact.

If they found out, there would be tremendous backlash, but it didn’t matter.

─Keuhek!

Because all the members would have their lives severed here today.

─Keuhuk!

─Kkeuk!

The indigo fragment at the tip of his staff.

Each time it emitted a resonant sound, the Dawn Society wizards in battle coughed up blood and fell one by one.

It was the result of the elements within the Hybrid Rings reacting to the vibration of the indigo fragment, causing chain explosions inside.

Plop! Plop!

The nearly 70-80 Dawn Society wizards all collapsed in an instant.

There wasn’t a shred of hesitation in Indiago’s actions.

Worry or compassion for others had long ceased to exist after he decided to become a monster.

Indigo mana rose like a sticky mist over the corpses.

Transforming into thousands of mana strands, they began to be rapidly sucked toward Indiago in the form of a whirlpool.

But.

Pazik! Pazik!

More than half of them simply vanished into thin air.

Because Ray’s cold, concentrated gaze caused the elemental fusion to disintegrate in an instant.

“How dare! Don’t interfere! Wretched and lowly beings!”

Indiago’s voice, dedicated to malice, boomed loudly throughout the area.

Ray could see the massive emotion surging within his vessel.

A dark indigo mass of mana, resembling a polluted heart.

But no matter how grotesque its appearance, it was a concentrated emotion, amplifying the power of its owner’s mana without filtration.

Emotion is mana.

Mana is emotion.

The speed of the indigo mana strands being sucked into the whirlpool’s center accelerated.

‘…There are too many.’

It was impossible for him alone to block the absorption of all the indigo mana.

Disintegrating elemental fusion was something only he could do; he couldn’t expect others to perform the same task.

Instead.

“Everyone! Attack!”

The priests, including Solite, hindered Indiago in another way.

Kwang─! Kwaaang─!

Powerful magics accompanied by physical force—flames, lightning, freezing, etc.—rained down upon the indigo ward like a bombardment.

Smoke billowed up.

The roar shook the entire area.

And finally.

Jjeojik! Jjeojeojik!

Indiago’s ward cracked and completely shattered.

At that very moment, Ray’s beam, which had completely pushed back the indigo ray, engulfed Indiago.

Amid the storm of light and wind that covered the sanctuary area, Ray exerted all his strength and rolled his foot.

─────!

The moment after the light flashed.

He could see the five indigo rings drawing closer before his eyes.

─────!

The moment it flashed again.

He swung a blade of wind toward the silhouette of Indiago’s outstretched right arm, which was absorbing indigo mana.

The seemingly eternal light cleared, and three landing sounds were heard.

Thud.

The first was the sound of Ray landing lightly on the ground.

Thwak, thud.

The second was the sound of Indiago barely managing to set foot on the ground.

And the last, third sound was.

Tuk!

The sound of Indiago’s arm holding the staff falling off.

“…….”

Ray stared at Indiago.

His entire left arm severed from below the shoulder.

It seemed he had twisted his body at the last moment, sacrificing his left arm to protect his right arm, which was absorbing mana.

“In the end, I am the winner of this fight.”

Indiago muttered, clutching his severed shoulder, sweating cold sweat.

Perhaps having expended quite a bit of mental energy, his eyes were as murky as the color of the emotion contained within his vessel.

But his aura was unusual.

Dark indigo mana tightly filled Indiago’s entire body, racing through his blood vessels here and there.

‘He absorbed a considerable amount of mana. Despite the interference.’

The sacrificed Dawn Society members numbered about 70-80.

Perhaps it was nearly impossible to block all that massive amount of indigo mana from the start.

Gooooooo───!

Everyone in the area who witnessed the indigo mana surging into Indiago’s grasp instinctively sensed danger.

The location where the severed arm fell was midway.

Ray dashed to retrieve the indigo fragment.

“Attack!”

The Pope, and the priests including Solite, simultaneously unleashed magic upon the regenerated indigo ward.

Amid the hazy, rising smoke.

The silhouette of a hand reaching toward the sky was visible.

─Watch closely. The difference in power between you and me.

Flash!

Along with the voice spat out as if severed, an extremely concentrated strand of indigo mana shot up toward the sky.

The mana strand, stopping at a point high in the sky, wavered in place, forming an indigo sphere about ten meters in diameter.

Soon, the sky of the area began to be dyed indigo.

“This is….”

Solite’s face, looking up, stiffened.

It was a phenomenon he had also seen on the day he first met Ray in Sector 37.

He had said it was an unidentified magic developed by the Dawn Society.

But there was no time to be lost in thought, even for a moment.

Soon, the mana emitted by the indigo sphere began to fall in the shape of sharp spears.

Thousands of spears fell with a density like a downpour, making it difficult to even evade.

The wards used by the priests were pierced like paper, and screams erupted from everywhere.

“Keuhuk!”

“Da, damn it, with this, we can’t even escape…”

Then, a massive white ward unfolded in an instant, enveloping the priests.

It was cast by Veronica, who was riding on Blue, busily darting through the air to avoid the spears.

The boy looking up.

The girl looking down.

Their eyes met.

The boy, nodding, used Electrification to dash through the rain of spears.

“Get on. No, I’ll carry you.”

“Tha, thank, eek!”

He continuously carried priests who hadn’t made it into the ward’s range inside.

Just as he was about to enter the ward, carrying the last priest on his shoulder.

────!

Ray suddenly felt an intangible force pushing him from behind.

It was a telekinetic magic that could lift or move targets at will.

The manifestation of the magic was precise and swift, and Ray was pushed forward hard, tumbling into the ward.

And when he turned his head.

He could see it.

The indigo spear, far longer and sharper than the others, that had fallen where he had been standing just moments before.

And a little distance away, the figure of the Pope, standing with his chest pierced by the spear.

The spear dissolved into particles and vanished.

And the body that slowly tilted forward.

Plop!

Fell powerlessly.

“Your Holiness…!”

“Your Holiness, my God…!”

Just as the priests were about to step forward, Ray’s body flashed and disappeared.

A few seconds later, Ray reappeared inside the ward and laid down the Pope he had been carrying on his back.

‘His condition isn’t good.’

Like the other priests struck by the spears, healing magic had no effect.

Soon, Veronica, who had arrived piercing through the downpour, tried as well, but it was the same.

“It’s useless…! No matter how much magic I use, there’s no sign of improvement…!”

[It seems similar to the symptoms I had when struck by the sphere.]

As Blue said.

The dark indigo mana, that is, dark blue mana, was spreading from the wound site throughout the Pope’s entire body.

Just like the attack from the dark red sphere floating on the clouds near the Sky Island.

‘Red and indigo by themselves are fine.’

But when black is mixed in, it seems to take on a special toxicity.

Ray turned his head.

Beyond the ward, in the distance, Indiago was enveloped like an egg within a dark indigo ward.

If Indiago isn’t killed, this rain won’t stop.

‘But breaking that ward again will take a considerable amount of time.’

Then, Veronica’s choked voice was heard.

“Ray, if this continues, His Holiness will…”

Above Veronica’s vessel, a white sun was still floating.

A realization suddenly flashed.

Perhaps, no, certainly.

The repeated conjecture became conviction, and Ray immediately scooped up Veronica.

“Kyaak! Okay! Ah, no, not this, why, why suddenly?”

“Hold on tight.”

The moment Veronica reflexively wrapped her arms around his neck, Ray stamped his foot and dashed out of the ward.

And not long after.

A white radiance bursting from behind the curtain enveloped the entire sector.