Chapter 310 – City of Giants (Five)

I want to live.

I want to keep living, savoring the emotions I’ve experienced.

The boiling desire for life spread through my exhausted body like blood.

Flicker— flicker—

The extinguished candles of emotion were rekindled, brightly illuminating the boy’s mind.

The dazzling flames of various colors blazed with an intensity never seen before, and the mana of the gem and the Ring danced in sync with the tremors.

The movement of mana grew increasingly violent.

But this change was observable only internally. The Indigo Mana surrounding him, belonging to Khum, perceived Ray, who hadn’t moved a muscle, as completely finished.

The moment it tried to burrow into Ray’s body for complete possession.

────────!

An explosion of light occurred.

It was a radiance too blinding to dare open one’s eyes.

A world where colors shifted at a speed almost impossible to perceive.

When the light cleared, Ray was standing on the ground above the pit.

“…….”

His characteristically impassive expression remained.

But it was distinctly different from before.

Within his snow-white pupils, vitality and vigor now brimmed and overflowed.

He cast his gaze downward.

A massive hole had been created in the chest of Khum, who was clinging to the cliff face.

Mana flames of various colors remained along the edges like embers, blocking the Indigo Mana rushing in to repair the wound.

‘No.’

It wasn’t merely blocking.

The mana embers were pushing back the Indigo Mana, slowly but steadily widening the size of the hole.

─Guoooo!

Confirming his own chest, Khum let out a resounding roar.

He seemed flustered, unable to plug the hole no matter how much Indigo Mana he sent.

─Guoooooo!

The subsequent roar conveyed an utterly vicious rage.

Crunch! Crunch! Crunch!

Khum poured continuous strength into his hands gripping the cliff and leaped up to the ground above in one swift motion.

Khum’s massive form soared into the air.

In his three malice-filled pupils, the image of the boy gazing indifferently back at him was reflected in each.

Koo-woong!

The giant’s foot descended.

But Ray was not there.

He had already created distance and was observing Khum with a watchful gaze.

“…….”

A head-on confrontation was still too dangerous.

Maybe just stalling for time would work.

Though critically wounded, Khum was still brimming with energy, and the hole was gradually widening even without further intervention.

Having made his judgment, Ray flung his body aside, evading the incoming hand.

And so, the chase continued.

The attacks Khum hurled at Ray, who was running along the path, were fierce and sharp, like a wounded beast thrashing in agony.

Kwaang! Kwaang! Kwaaang!

Walls crumbled with each swing of his hand, and the ground collapsed with each stamp of his foot.

Acrid smoke writhed upward toward the pale sky, now clearly visible through the collapsed ceiling.

Amid the intense heat, whenever he had a moment’s respite, Ray shot Mana Flames toward Khum.

Flicker!

He aimed with a vicious precision solely for the wound.

Despite Khum’s violent movements, each shot struck the edge of the hole in his chest with astonishing accuracy.

How to put it.

It felt like the sensitivity of his body had become more than twice as refined as before.

That was because of the desire to live.

The primal emotion toward existence had transformed his very attitude toward his own body.

Before, he had regarded his own body as a tool like a knife or a gun for achieving objectives, but not anymore.

The collapsed ceiling, the brightly revealed sky.

Sunlight poured down, illuminating the boy.

Sssssssss──

The thick layer of blue mana that had covered the boy’s Vessel like an Ice Field was melting away.

It was the cold mana that had symbolized his own indifference toward himself.

─Guoooooo!

With Khum’s roar, filled with rage and pain, hanging behind him, a cliff appeared before Ray as he ran.

He looked around.

There was only a dizzying precipice.

Due to Khum’s thrashing, places to properly set foot were limited.

Turning his head, he saw Khum, whose upper body was almost entirely consumed by the Mana Flames.

Kwaang!

He leaped onto a cliff protrusion to evade an attack. He extended his hand toward Khum.

‘This is the last.’

A spiraling flame beam, emitting multicolored light, struck Khum.

─Guoooooo!

Khum, engulfed in flames, staggered.

Ray had hoped he would fall over the precipice, but the creature finally righted itself and let out a shriek.

And immediately swung its hand toward him.

‘It’s going to withstand this too.’

Just as Ray was about to fling his body toward another protrusion.

─Fire!

From above, from the ground, a booming shout rang out, and bombardments began raining down on Khum.

Kwaang! Kwaang! Kwaaang!

Khum retracted the hand meant to attack Ray and began thrashing to block the bombardments.

But it was of little use.

The shells, composed of high-purity mana, were clearly dealing significant damage to the Indigo Mana constituting Khum’s body.

Ray realized that the shadow of some massive object positioned on the ground was falling over the cliff below.

He slowly looked up.

It was the Rael Row.

“Third Battery! Prepare to fire!”

Standing on the watchtower of the upgraded Mechanical Citadel, Rael was giving commands.

He could see Dwarves in Combat Suits busily moving about on the deck.

He could also see Nell and a Giant swiftly adjusting the direction of the heavy cannon barrels, providing assistance.

That wasn’t all.

Whoooosh!

Suddenly, magical phenomena poured down from the ground and wrapped around Khum’s body.

Firestorms, blizzards, thunderclouds.

And amidst them.

─Kyarureuk!

─Let’s play with us!

Laughter, infinitely close to pure innocence, could be heard.

Ray realized they were the Fairies he had seen in the Land of Disaster.

Amidst the disasters, he could also see Blue and several Sky Island Spirits attacking Khum.

“…….”

Ray was bewildered.

Because this was a sight he had never imagined or even thought of.

And he could realize.

That the countless emotional presences he had felt underground belonged to them.

Just then, a rope descended beside his face.

Unconsciously, he grabbed it.

The rope was pulled upward, and Ray, grabbing a hand someone extended, set foot on the ground.

“Are you okay?”

The owner of the hand was Philip.

The rope was securely tied to a Ring at the back of the bus.

Ray, shifting his gaze to Grine and the Elves preparing magic to cast upon Khum near the Rael Row, asked.

“What happened?”

“Well…”

Just as Philip was cautiously trying to answer, glancing around.

Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap!

Veronica, who had run down from inside the bus, threw herself into Ray’s arms as if to hug him.

“I’m sorry, Ray. I said I’d chase after you as fast as I could, but I was too late. Are you badly hurt? Oh, what to do. Look at these burn marks here. Scratches too… slashes too… It’s my fault.”

A choked voice.

Finally unable to hold back, she shed large teardrops.

“…….”

Ray stared at the White Sun floating larger and brighter than ever within Veronica’s Vessel.

Then, stroking her sand-covered hair, he said.

“It’s okay. More than that, I’m the one who’s sorry. Veronica always warned me so much, but I got a little… no, quite hurt.”

“Huh…?”

Veronica’s eyes widened.

She extricated herself from Ray’s embrace, took a few faltering steps back, and seemed to sprout hundreds of question marks above her head.

The usual Ray was someone who, when hurt, would seek Healing Magic as if it were an entrusted task, never mind saying he was sorry.

“Wh-what? Who are you…? Are you another one of the Doctor’s Homunculi…? Ah, no. You’re definitely Ray, right? Why…? What’s going on…?”

Veronica approached again and began poking and prodding Ray’s face as if conducting an appraisal.

Leaving her to it, Ray resumed the interrupted conversation with Philip.

“What happened?”

“Well…”

“Ray-nim, it’s been a while.”

An Elf with emerald hair had approached to his side unnoticed.

“Grine.”

“It would have been nice if you had told us you were coming here in advance. Let’s talk later. Right now, there’s an urgent matter at hand.”

Ray nodded.

Watching her retreating figure heading toward the Elves, he asked Philip again.

“What happened?”

“Well…”

“Ray-nim, it’s been a while. It’s an honor to see you again.”

This time it was Solite.

Turning his head, he looked around.

He could see Priests disembarking in an orderly fashion from Order vehicles that had arrived nearby unnoticed.

“If we can be of strength to Ray-nim, the Order will gladly devote all its efforts.”

Bowing his head, Solite led the Priests toward the vicinity of the precipice.

Ray swiftly turned his head back toward Philip.

“What happened?”

“Well…”

“You, it’s been a lo—”

A Ward was erected in front of Elder Parun, who was approaching with a cheerful wave.

Bang! Bang!

─Ah, no! Why won’t you accept only my greeting?! Are you ignoring me now because Dwarves are short?!

Pretending not to hear, he continued the conversation.

“What happened?”

“Well…”

Philip stammered an explanation.

“Actually, before setting off for the Land of Disaster, I contacted everyone I could possibly ask for help.”

“…….”

“Of course, I know you hate borrowing others’ hands because of your compulsion that help must always be repaid. If I’d told you, you definitely would have said there was no need to contact anyone. You’re the type who doesn’t share the dangers you shoulder with those around you.”

Ray gave a small nod.

Philip’s diagnosis of his tendencies was accurate.

“But this time, it seemed really dangerous. And I thought it would be good if there was no chance of losing my precious friend.”

Perhaps because he was finally saying everything he had kept inside, even while being cautious.

Philip wore a rather relieved expression.

“I thought you might be angry since I did this without consultation. Even if you decide to remove me from the party from now on, I have nothing to say, but I have no regrets about my choi—”

“Thank you.”

“—ce, uh… huh?”

“Philip, without your preparations, I would have struggled much more. My life might even have been in danger.”

Ray detached Veronica, who was still conducting her genuine article appraisal, and headed toward the precipice.

Voices came from behind.

─The elasticity and viscosity of the cheeks are definitely Ray’s… definitely.

─Veronica, Ray is weird.

Thud.

Ray stopped before the precipice.

Spirits and Fairies. Giants and humans.

And Dwarves and Elves.

While the onslaught from various races continued, Khum was unable to regain his footing, and the Mana Flames, spreading as they widened the hole, had gnawed away his entire body.

All that remained was a massive face.

─You…! Once again, you…!

To Ray’s eyes, the relentless assault of the various races appeared as a massive Wall composed of countless emotions.

…And.

The inferiority complex and malice harbored by Khum seemed unable to overcome it.

Finally, in the place where Khum vanished, only an Indigo gem remained.

Ray reached out, absorbed it, and stored it within his body.

“…….”

It was all over.

The battle here.

While feeling both relieved and empty, something caught Ray’s eye.

It was the Golem’s head.

Perhaps it had been knocked flying during the chase, colliding with Khum’s body, as it was lodged in a depression in the cliff face.

The eye sockets emitting a faint Eye Light were precisely directed this way.

Meaning the Doctor had witnessed everything that happened here.

Chizz— chizichiz—

The mechanical sound emanating from the broken head sounded like shattered hope.

Meeting the Golem’s gaze, Ray moved his lips.

“Wait.”

Wherever you’re hiding.

You’ll have no choice but to meet me someday.