Chapter 313 – Reunion (Three)

A cracked, turbid voice pierced through the space, drilling into Ray’s ears.

“I’ve been waiting.”

“……”

…He was waiting for me?

Numerous questions hazily arose, but he didn’t open his mouth.

Keeping Mana drawn up in preparation for the opponent’s attack, he glanced down slightly to check the compass in his hand.

The needle pointed stiffly toward the man.

It didn’t even twitch in that state.

‘Is this person the Doctor?’

He couldn’t yet fully conclude, but the probability was very high.

Strengthening his guard, he took in the interior of the room with his peripheral vision.

There were two light sources.

The monitor behind the man in the wheelchair.

The broken Magic Lantern in the center of the ceiling.

Both lights were dim, and surrounding objects were shrouded in darkness, only their silhouettes barely discernible.

Clatter.

Suddenly, a sound came from underfoot.

He lowered his head and looked down.

Gem fragments emitting a faint red light were scattered widely across the entire floor, like broken glass shards.

‘Bloodstones.’

“There’s no need to be so wary.”

Creak. Creak.

Then, along with the sound of wheelchair wheels rolling, the man’s silhouette advanced forward.

“I’m just an old man who doesn’t even have the strength to move properly on my own.”

Under the circular light cast by the central Magic Lantern, the man’s appearance was revealed.

Thin, white hair and beard.

Turbid, hazy eyes.

Deep furrows of time etched into his face.

He looked extremely haggard and weary, giving the impression that he would crumble like a dry leaf if touched.

With a gesture from the old man, a table and chairs flew over and silently settled in front.

“Sit. You came to meet me, didn’t you?”

“……”

“I imagine you have many questions.”

Ray silently stared at the old man.

His Vessel was covered in the colorful traces left by past emotions.

Like a palette, used for a long time and smeared all over with paint stains.

‘…Current emotions are obscured by past traces and cannot be seen.’

He couldn’t read the other’s psychology as in normal cases.

It meant he had to gauge their intentions solely through expression and conversation.

Ray sat down for now.

“You must be the Doctor.”

Thud.

He placed the compass on the table.

“No, Redran.”

“……”

The old man was silent.

With a face that seemed both angry and sad, he silently stared at the compass for a moment before speaking.

“…It seems that woman finally completed it. She tried every means to interfere with me. Well, since the tracker was completed, you must have been able to find this place.”

Through those words, Ray could confirm the old man was the Doctor.

“It sounds like you had many points of contact with the Purple Guardian.”

“Points of contact… An expression more fitting would be tangled, inextricable strings of ill fate.”

Flutter.

The blanket covering the old man’s entire lower body flew away.

Below the knees, there was only empty space. The old man had no legs.

“It was also she who finally found me at the Red Citadel and made me like this. But well, I don’t feel wronged. I repaid her in kind during the final battle.”

“Is she alive?”

“Her?”

Ray gave a small nod.

The old man forced a weary smile.

“She fled my dwelling with quite severe injuries. The probability she died a long time ago is high, and personally, I’ve wished for that to be the case… But recently, I’ve started to think. That I hope she’s still alive.”

It was a vague statement, seemingly understandable yet not.

“Why?”

“Let’s just say the fire in my heart has gone out. More importantly, I don’t have much time left. Let’s get to the main point.”

As if speaking this much in such a short time was rare for him, the old man caught his breath for a moment before continuing.

“First, I am indeed the Doctor as you think. A long time ago, beyond memory, I used the name Redran. And I am also the one who has been watching you all this time.”

Watching me.

Ray cast his gaze at the monitor behind the Doctor. He saw a screen from an external viewpoint, staring at scrap heaps.

He recalled one Golem standing stiffly on the ground before entering this place.

‘Not too far from expectations.’

It seemed the Doctor, limited in mobility, had been observing the world through the vision of Golems and Homunculi.

However, judging by the fact that only one screen was currently on, it was inferred he no longer had any remaining subordinates to command.

“I’ve briefly finished introducing myself. So, then, who are you this time?”

What is the intent of the question?

Is he testing whether I, as Rainbow’s reincarnation, have become fully aware?

“If you’ve been watching me, an introduction about me shouldn’t be necessary.”

“I’m asking who you think you are.”

“……”

His primary purpose in tracking the Doctor was to retrieve the red fragment and complete Rainbow.

But even facing the Doctor directly, the other fragments of Rainbow sleeping within his body were not causing any Resonance.

Had the Doctor used some method?

Or had he hidden it in another place?

Overpowering him by force didn’t seem difficult, but there was a risk of the situation going awry.

Especially now, unable to grasp the Doctor’s intentions.

Deciding to go along with the conversation for now, Ray thought briefly and answered.

“My name is Ray. I came to retrieve the Rainbow Shard you possess. Additionally, I intend to put an end to your plan to erase all emotions from the world.”

“Kehehehe.”

The Doctor let out a long laugh.

Then he suddenly stopped, his eyes gleaming as he asked.

“Yes, correct. To create a world where emotions do not exist. You’ve accurately pierced through my plan. But tell me, do you think that’s a bad thing?”

A world where emotions do not exist.

Is that right, or not right?

He had pondered it a few times before but hadn’t reached a logically perfect answer.

However, he had thought this:

If he could no longer feel the emotions he was currently enjoying, that would be quite sad.

Perhaps if it were back in Sector 50, but now, he knew the texture and feel of the world’s emotions.

Ray spoke in a sharp voice.

“I think a world where emotions exist is far better than one without.”

“Yes, you would think that.”

The Doctor nodded as if expecting it and continued.

“Shall we make a bet?”

A bet? Ray asked with his eyes.

“You and I think differently. You advocate for the current world where emotions exist, and I long for the primordial world where emotions did not exist. We persuade each other and change the other’s mind. If you win, I’ll hand over the hidden red fragment without any conditions. However, if I win─.”

Hoo.

A momentarily strained breath.

The Doctor completed the sentence in a meaningful voice.

“─You won’t have to do anything.”

“Won’t have to do anything?”

“Yes. If your values change anyway, you’ll move in the direction I desire.”

Instantly, a fierce wind arose throughout the room, scattering the Bloodstone fragments on the floor in all directions.

Ray was already standing in front of the wheelchair, grabbing the Doctor’s neck and lifting him up.

“Rather than that, threatening you by holding your life in my hands right here seems much easier and more convenient.”

“Haha, cough…! Interesting…! If you can, go ahead and do that…! Shortening the lifespan of an old man with no strength left…! What, cough…! Could be difficult about that…!”

As expected, the Doctor, while gasping for breath, showed not a hint of intimidation.

Ray roughly set the Doctor down and returned to his seat, plopping down.

“Try to persuade me.”

There was a sliver of doubt.

Could his convictions truly remain unshaken under any circumstances?

“Cough…! Cough…!”

The Doctor wore an inscrutable, secretive smile and muttered something.

And the next moment.

The surrounding scenery changed.

“……”

The table was located in the middle of an endless expanse of grayish-white grassland.

The figures of various races walking around with expressionless faces and mechanical steps were also visible.

Then, the Doctor in the front seat spoke.

“In the beginning, all lifeforms on our surface lived in harmony. No, an expression more fitting than harmony would be a mechanical state of equilibrium. Because joy, sorrow, worry, any emotion whatsoever did not exist. It was a world of infinite straight lines, simply moving forward without any rise or fall.”

The same scenery he had once seen within the World Tree’s memories.

This time, it was presumed to be a past memory the Doctor was showing.

“It was a stable world with no development but also no regression. Then, he appeared.”

Under the seven-colored, halved-form Ring on the far side of the grassland.

A silhouette of a human form, composed of multicolored light, appeared.

“When Rainbow descended to the surface, flowers named emotions bloomed in the world.”

The silhouette stopped walking before the approaching ancient races with lifeless expressions.

And.

Fwaaat—

It split into beams of multicolored light and scattered toward all corners of the world.

The seven-colored Ring transformed into a single gem and remained before the ancient races.

“After that, development was instantaneous. Because emotions shook the very foundation of our lives.”

Expressions appeared in the world.

The ancient races cried, laughed, rejoiced.

“Mana resonated with our emotions and lent its power. Afterwards, the world began to develop at a rapid pace, as if receiving compensation for having been stagnant until then.”

The surrounding scenery began to change rapidly, as if fast-forwarded.

Before he knew it, he could see the ancient races building their own cities and developing.

Also the sight of them dividing the originally single gem into seven and each possessing a piece.

“But peace and prosperity did not last long. Because emotions are always dualistic and began to exert negative influences on us.”

Emotions were not only the kind that led life positively.

Jealousy, anger, fear, envy.

Dissatisfaction, resentment, irritation, boredom.

Countless other emotions that led to irrational judgments existed.

And the ancient races had absolutely no immunity to them.

“As you know, war broke out.”

The scenery changed to a battlefield.

─Die! Die, I say!

─You damn Dwarf bastards!

─Show no mercy! Cut their throats in one blow!

Screams and war cries, flowing blood.

Burning flames and collapsing buildings.

Amidst it all, emotions of dark Hues storming like a tempest made Ray’s insides churn.

The Doctor did not take his eyes off Ray’s face.

“If a common enemy hadn’t appeared then, we all might have truly walked the path to extinction.”

The figure that appeared on the battlefield the next moment was a Giant enveloped in Indigo Mana.

‘Khum.’

Khum in his prime was much larger in stature than when Ray had encountered him before.

The color of the Indigo Mana wrapping his body was also deep, close to black.

─Groooooo!

With the appearance of a threatening existence, all races stopped the war and joined forces.

And they sealed Khum away.

“It was as if everyone woke from a long dream and came to their senses. They looked back at the horrific atrocities we had committed and were horrified. They felt ashamed, sad, regretful. Each race made peace agreements and began to reorganize in their respective capitals.”

The scenery flowed rapidly, and the corpses and bloodstains on the battlefield began to disappear in an instant.

However, the devastated land remained as it was.

No matter how much time passed.

“……”

Ray looked up at the sky.

Due to the side effects of mixing and using an excessive amount of Mana of various colors, the sky was entirely covered in Black Clouds.

Then, the Doctor’s voice was heard.

“I thought. This war broke out due to conflicts between races. If one race were to rule the world, such atrocities would not occur in the future.”