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#105. Back to where (7)
“Nod your head if you understand what I mean.”
“Whoooosh! Woooosh!”
“Whoooosh!”
Ray, who noticed the heads nodding madly, took his hands out of the two wizards’ mouths, freeing their tongues.
Colin was impressed by the clean takedown.
“Oh… Did you learn that from Brother Niles too?
“To some extent.”
“I’ll bring you whatever tools you need. A hot skewer. A pair of tongs. Just say the word.”
“I don’t think I’ll need to touch the body any more, but it’s a good idea to be prepared just in case.”
Veronica, who had been listening to the conversation, muttered as if possessed.
“Wow… You look so tough…”
“… … .”
Philip, sitting next to me, shook his head.
When I first saw him, he was clearly the type of kid who would freak out even if someone got hurt just a little.
I didn’t know that it might be because I was frequently exposed to harsh environments while traveling with Ray, which raised my threshold for stimulation.
‘I’m not in a position to talk about others.’
Ray turned his head while Philip scratched the back of his head.
“Veronica, can I have your notebook?”
“Oh, yeah.”
Veronica came over and handed me a notebook.
Talking about helping the supporters was like talking about dealing with the Merkred executives who had joined the opposition.
Therefore, there was a priority for the information that needed to be grasped, and this was organized in a notebook.
While Ray briefly checked the list of questions.
“… … .”
Veronica hesitantly turned her gaze to look at the prisoners.
“Hey, kikki kick… .”
“Heh, heh heh heh… .”
As expected, it was scary.
Do all the wizards of Murcred look like this?
Walter too, and Curiosa too.
The prisoners in front of you right now.
Surely he was born as a normal child at first.
What have I been through to become like this?
At that moment, Veronica felt both fear and regret.
“Ugh, ugh!”
The wizard on the right suddenly vomited blood and lowered his head.
At the same time, the left wizard’s eyes rolled back and his neck snapped at a bizarre angle.
Splash, splash!
“Gyaaaaaaah!”
Veronica slapped her opponent across the face and stepped behind Ray.
Splash! Splash!
The neck-breaking didn’t stop.
Ray immediately deployed a protective shield around his party.
Red mana was reflected in the boy’s white eyes.
A long stream of cloudy red mana was being pulled out from the ring of the wizard on the right.
Splash! Splash! Splash!
Long, snake-like, hideous streams of mana circled the left wizard and seeped into his eyes, nose, and mouth.
‘…Latent magic.’
Magic that is engraved in a specific location and activated according to conditions.
It was said that it was a type of magic that was very difficult to detect in advance because the elements were inactive before activation.
But even so, he didn’t even notice that he was sensitive to mana.
‘It’s said that the magic was very elaborately engraved. Like the binding magic engraved on Walter’s ring.’
Everyone held their breath.
Then, soon enough.
Splash.
The neck cracking stopped.
The wizard on the left slowly raised his head and stared at the group and Colin.
The eyes were dead.
Like someone whose soul has left him.
But deep in the pupils, a certain aura was felt, and everyone there could instinctively recognize it.
That some other being had taken possession of that wizard’s body.
In the midst of the tension, the wizard’s mouth opened.
“Oh, my. The kid who made me so scared.”
“… … .”
“… … .”
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Everyone is silent.
The wizard’s cheeks were swollen.
Philip swallowed hard and asked.
“Veronica, were you using a strengthening spell…?”
“Uh, yeah. I’m scared to get close.”
The being inhabiting the wizard’s body repeated the sentence a few more times before it felt something strange and took action.
Knock knock! Knock knock!
“Ugh… .”
Veronica moaned as she watched his mouth and cheeks twist at impossible angles.
The movement stopped, and the wizard spoke.
“It’s you.”
His gaze, which had been scanning the group and Colin, stopped squarely on Ray’s face.
While everyone is frozen and unable to take any action.
Knock, knock.
Ray stepped forward and stood facing the wizard a few steps away.
And asked.
“Are you the two captains here?”
“That’s right. I am the master of Chepel and Jeremy.”
The wizard smiled faintly.
He started a fire on his wrists and ankles to melt the ropes that bound him, then changed his position and sat down with his freed limbs.
Rest your chin on one palm,
Sitting with your legs crossed.
He had severe blisters and burn marks on his wrists and ankles, probably due to not having protected his skin with mana.
But he didn’t seem to care at all.
“You’re treating your subordinates’ bodies quite roughly. It’s as if you’re not even thinking about exchanging prisoners.”
The wizard tilted his head.
“Prisoner exchange? Do you think these guys are worth paying to get?”
“I don’t know about the bond between you and your subordinates, but at least wizards are rare.”
“Hmm. I guess you could think of it that way.”
In an instant, the wizard extended his palm towards the colleague next to him.
Dismissed!
My head exploded and its contents flew everywhere.
“But it doesn’t matter. I just received them to use.”
The wizard straightened his posture and said.
Ray continued to stare at his opponent while wiping the foreign substance off his face.
He was clearly a different type of person from Walter or Curiosa.
I don’t laugh like crazy,
He didn’t even scream like he was having a seizure.
It was just calm.
but.
‘… He is by no means a normal thinker.’
The madness of the other two executives felt raw and outwardly expressed.
But the madness of the person in front of me felt refined and contained within me.
“Anyway, I heard the story. They said you interfered with my subordinates’ work. Why did you do that?”
Ray pulled a chair over to him and sat down across from him.
“That’s why it has to be that way.”
“Are those guys wizards brought in from outside? Like us?”
Colin flinched at the wink.
Ray shook his head.
“That’s not it. I had other business to attend to in Sector 46, and it was my own discretion to help Colin.”
“Hmm.”
The wizard let out a questionable sigh.
He turned his head slightly, looked at the place where he was, and then said.
“It looks like that’s the hideout of that gang. Are you planning on helping them all along?”
“that’s right.”
“I don’t know what you’re thinking, but if you let go now, I’ll forgive you. They say you dispelled magic, and I don’t want to kill someone with that kind of talent.”
“That can’t be.”
“Why? Do you have any relationship with that guy over there?”
“It’s not like there isn’t anything at all.”
People watching Ray and his counterpart’s conversation were dumbfounded.
Both of them had no fluctuations in their tone, so it felt like they were talking to each other while looking into a mirror.
“It doesn’t seem like a very special relationship. Get out of the war and go about your business. I’ll give orders to my subordinates so you can roam the streets freely.”
“There is something to see─.”
Ray catches his breath.
“─I’m watching you now.”
He continued speaking.
“One of the reasons I came to Sector 46 was to meet you.”
“me?”
“There’s a very good chance that you have information about things I’m curious about.”
The wizard chuckled.
“He’s an interesting guy. So, you have no intention of giving up on the war?”
“okay.”
“If you fight me, you die. I am looking down on you all from the sky. I am omnipotent. I know everything, and I am more powerful than anyone in the world.”
“… … .”
Ray had been guessing that his opponent was someone with emotional flaws.
As Walter and Curiosa did.
But perhaps because I was speaking through the other person’s body, no emotions were reflected in the other person’s body.
There were no other clues to be found in facial expressions or body language.
‘It would be much easier to deal with someone if you could understand their vulnerable emotions.’
Ray estimated the location of the wizard he had released when he rescued Colin.
To be exact, the location of the minute elements that were attached to his body.
And I decided.
I decided to throw a stone into a calm pond.
Ray opened his mouth.
“Well, I think I’ll win.”
“You have good confidence.”
“I am also the one who knows everything.”
“Even if you try to show off like that─”
“Center of 1st Street. 10-story building. Your current location.”
For a moment, a cold silence fell.
“That must be the hideout you’re using in Sector 46. You’re not in the sky.”
“… … .”
The opponent stared at Ray intently, and a thick silence followed.
There was no response, but that was an indicator that a response was coming.
And soon.
“… … !”
“Ugh…!”
A vicious murderous aura that threatened to rip people’s flesh tormented everyone in the interrogation room.
Except for one person, Ray.
“You are an executive of Murcred.”
As soon as the boy said those words, the scene in the interrogation room changed.
A giant snake head made of flames appeared right in front of Ray’s face, its mouth wide open.
Chiiik──!
The sticky embers that fell like saliva barely brushed Ray’s limbs and hit the floor.
My skin burned with the intense heat.
The ends of my hair began to crackle and burn.
Nevertheless, Ray continued speaking without moving an inch.
“You must be wandering around various places under the doctor’s orders.
“… … .”
“The purpose of coming here is probably to carry out an order. That order is most likely related to rainbows.
“… … .”
“Also, you have a ring with a red gem.”
The other person still didn’t say anything.
It just stared at Ray with a calm gaze, while the snake’s mouth gradually closed to swallow its prey.
And the moment before the snake’s fangs dig into Ray’s head.
Ray spat out the last sentence.
“I guess you can tell by now. Which one is seeing through the other?”
The snake is gone.
In an instant, without a trace.
The heat that had consumed the space disappeared.
Those who were watching gasped for breath as if their sleepy throats had been relieved.
“That’s interesting. I guess he did some research on me. He knew I was here and approached me.”
“To some extent.”
The other person’s tone of voice was still calm.
But Ray could instinctively sense the condensed anger contained in that voice.
… became.
As intended, the other person’s emotions were rippled.
Now the task was to find the emotion of the opponent who was most shaken by the ripples.
“But doing background checks won’t let you beat me. I’m the most powerful wizard in the world. Except for one person.”
It’s strong.
The other person kept mentioning his strengths from the very beginning of the conversation.
Could this be a keyword that can sway the other person’s feelings?
Ray opened his mouth.
“That one person must be referring to me.”
“You don’t seem like the type of person who enjoys joking. Do you really think you can beat me? Even after you researched what kind of person I am?”
“okay.”
The other person shook his head slightly.
“You can’t beat me.”
“No. You can win.”
“You are weaker than me.”
“No. I am stronger than you.”
“… … .”
The other party was silent for a moment at Ray’s mechanical reply.
Then he spoke softly.
“Prove it.”
“What?”
“The fact that you are stronger than me.”
“Are you telling me to come find you?”
“Of course. Champions don’t move. It’s always the challenger who shows the will to come. But there’s a precedence before that.”
The opponent waved his arm.
Then the wizard on the right vomited blood heavily again, and the drops of blood that fell to the floor floated into the air and began to draw a picture.
What was completed was a sector map.
On the map, dozens of blood droplets in the shape of people covered the streets.
“First, defeat my subordinates. I don’t easily accept a challenge from just anyone. If you are more powerful than me, you can win the war.”
“… … .”
“If you reach me, I may reward you with answers to some of your questions.”
Ray, who had been lost in thought for a moment, opened his mouth.
“good.”
“Yeah. I knew you wouldn’t back down.”
The corners of the opponent’s mouth slightly rose at Ray’s answer.
“The story has come to a conclusion, but unfortunately, I think this is where we will have to end our conversation for today. I used up too much of the mana in my body just now while lighting the fire.”
The opponent uncrossed his legs and leaned back against the backrest.
“See you again, Challenger.”
Phew──!
That was the moment.
The opponent’s body was limp, like a doll with its strings cut.
The wizard’s body did not move at all,
There wasn’t a single bit of mana left in the ring,
Also, I wasn’t breathing.
The same was true for the other wizard, who was sitting in the chair on the right with his head bowed.
In the suffocating silence, Ray looked back at Veronica, Philip, and Colin.
“veronica.”
Ray’s skin, exposed outside of his clothes, was flushed red.
There are also some minor burn marks, though not severe.
“Can you give me some treatment?”
In such a calm tone, as if asking for something to be handed over.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
Veronica quickly approached and slapped Ray’s back with her palm.
Snap! Snap! Snap!