Genius Prismatic Mage Chapter 292

#292. People of the Old World (2)

The floor of the ruins was so blackened that it was difficult to make out the shapes.

He rolled his feet in a stealthy motion.

Thump──

'The space below is empty.'

Also, some subtle movement was constantly felt.

First of all, it wasn't a living thing.

If that were the case, whether it was a person or an animal, the mana it contained would have been visible through the floor.

But the sensation didn't feel mechanical, but rather very natural, so Ray couldn't help but feel puzzled.

Phew!

A gust of wind blew up the thick layer of ash that had formed on the floor.

The floor that appeared then had a very familiar shape.

A smooth marble-like surface.

White lightning bolts carved on a black background.

'Cube?'

The floor of a certain radius had the same shape as the surface of the cube.

A cubic object made of an unknown metal that has many uses beyond just the entrance to the Ignis.

For example, a man we encountered at a past ruins site used a cube as a bunker and hid inside it.

A thought suddenly crossed my mind.

'if.'

If the fire last night was caused by the doctor attacking the scientist.

So what if the scientist hid himself in a cube buried in the ground?

'You can meet a scientist.'

Ray jumped into action and gathered all the elements around him.

Strengthen, block, speed up, fuse… … .

The colorful mana containing each element was mixed into one point, creating a pitch-black bead that not even a single ray of light could penetrate.

That's right, it was the element of destruction.

Originally, the cube was impervious to any physical impact or magic, making it impossible to destroy.

But Ray was an exception.

Saaaa …

The surface of the cube that came into contact with the element of destruction began to break apart into particles.

And the moment he thought he saw some light inside, Ray immediately dove to the side.

Taang──!

An ear-piercing gunshot.

Manatans passing right next to you.

They hit the pillar behind them, shattering it into pieces and knocking it down.

Kuuung!

Then someone jumped up through the hole in the cube and shouted, aiming a shotgun at us.

“Destroying the cube, what kind of monster is this…! This fu*king punk, you think I’ll just take it easy…? Huh? You weren’t that guy yesterday, were you?”

A person who is embarrassed when talking to someone.

Ray was equally surprised.

A short man of about 160 cm, with a bushy beard and skin covered in stone chips.

The opponent was a dwarf, and he looked exactly like the Rael I had seen in my past memories.

“Rael?”

“Rael? That bastard who came yesterday also said something like Rael. So it looks like your kid is one of them. Just come closer. Then I’ll make you breathe through the part of your body that’s in trouble.”

Ray tilted his head at the other person's words that implied a negative meaning.

Not Rael?

No matter how I look at it, it's right.

“Rael.”

“Who is that, you little punk?”

“That’s right, Lael.”

“No, my name is Kunta.”

It seemed like the first priority was to calm down the excited Rael.

Ray glanced down to check the emotion and discovered something completely unexpected.

'There is no bowl.'

In Rael's heart, there was no vessel to hold emotions.

“Where did you go?”

"what?"

"bowl."

“Is this guy crazy?”

As Rael showed his confusion, a strong wind blew through the gap and blew the shotgun far away.

Bam!

Lael looked defeated at the distant shotgun.

“You’re saying that on purpose to take advantage of an opportunity…!”

“It looks dangerous. First of all, I am not your enemy. I have no intention of harming you.”

“You mean no harm? How can I believe that?”

“If that were the case, I would have taken your life long ago.”

A soft and delicate voice.

Rael suddenly realized that the blade wind was quietly spinning around his neck.

Soon, the wind died down and Rael, who had become relaxed, sat down with a deep sigh and said.

“Damn it! How can I defeat a monster that even pierced the cube? You can eat it roasted or boiled, however you want.”

“I have no interest in eating dwarves. I’m not sure if they’re real dwarves though.”

“Are you really crazy?”

Ray walked over to Rael and sat down in the same seat.

“Rael.”

“This is driving me crazy.”

The dwarf and the boy looked at each other with strange eyes.

Ray looked up and down at Rael, but couldn't find any outwardly unusual features.

'Have you lost your memory?'

With that in mind, he told me the story he knew about Rael.

You were the guardian of the yellow shards of the rainbow in ancient times.

A warehouse called Acrasium was created for the rainbow's reincarnation that will return someday.

It is said that he was quite close with the purple guardian who guarded the purple shard.

After hearing the whole story, Rael said with a frown.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. I’ll tell you this several times, but I’m Kunta, not Rael.”

Ray, who had been lost in thought for a moment while looking at Rael, opened his mouth.

“If you are Kunta, tell me about the life you have lived so far.”

“My life? As one of Dark Alley’s greatest engineers and scientists, I supply weapons to the black market to cause chaos in the society within the walls….”

“Other than that, before that?”

“Before that?”

“How did you live before that?”

Rael was silent.

His expression became increasingly hazy and he began to repeat the same words.

“Before that… before that… I…”

And at the end of it.

“Who am I?”

Pot!

Sparks flew from his head and he fell to the side.

Smoke rose from the body that had completely frozen and stopped.

'It wasn't a living creature.'

The burnt side of the head revealed the complex mechanical devices inside.

How should I accept this incomprehensible situation unfolding before my eyes?

After thinking about it for a while, I came to a conclusion.

'I have to find the Acrasium.'

First of all, it was certain that Rael was involved, and there might have been information about it within the Akrasium, which had not yet explored all of the areas.

First, it seemed better to move the robot to a safe place.

Ray turned to the punk with a shocked expression on his face and said.

“What are you doing? Aren’t you carrying me?”

*

The skilled porter who arrived at Ray's tower followed the instructions and placed the robot wrapped in cloth on the experimental table.

Kuung!

“Huh, huff… Um, can I go now?”

“Wait outside the tower. I might have to do something else.”

Ray thought as he watched the rascal leave the room with tears of joy in his eyes.

I think it would be convenient to hire a few servants at the tower.

Flutter!

When the cloth was removed, the robot appeared, still motionless.

It seemed like it had stopped working completely due to some abnormality.

As he took out the white card from his pocket, a small halo of light appeared and spoke.

[Please specify the function.]

“I will keep you in the Acrasium.”

[Confirmed.]

Woohoo!

A moment later, a glowing halo engulfed Ray.

As the feeling of my mind becoming dizzy and my body being sucked somewhere disappeared, the scenery before my eyes had changed.

Metal shelves dozens of meters high, lined up tightly in rows.

Tak─

Ray, who had started walking, wandered through the vast areas like the bookshelves of a library for several hours.

'This is the area where magic-related equipment is stored, this is ore, that is money, and that is magic books. If there is any information, the probability of finding it is higher in area 7.'

After persistent searching, Ray was able to find what appeared to be one of Rael's journals.

It was an old notebook that had been tortured between thick engineering books that seemed excellent for purposes other than reading.

Palak─

[I am dying.]

The old letters were blurry, but legible enough.

Palak─

[It's a given. Death due to aging is something no one can avoid.]

[I don't have the courage to sacrifice something precious like Redran and the purple one to extend my life.]

[I just lay in bed, looking at death, which approaches me every moment, with eyes filled with regret.]

[Are you afraid of death? No, it is not. That is an emotion that a brave dwarf cannot have. It is just a pity. That I have not found the reincarnation of the rainbow while I am alive.]

[That's why. I want to complete my last invention before I die and leave.]

[What I will invent is myself.]

The content was cut off there.

Ray's further exploration led him to discover several more notebooks on the shelf, and by piecing together their contents he was able to piece together the context of the situation.

'Rael created a robot.'

It was an advanced version of the combat weapon App Server that absorbs and reflects magic.

'Before leaving this world, I gave my personality and memories to the robot.'

So that when the rainbow returns, it can help him.

And the robot was designed to hibernate inside the wizard's city, and become active when the rainbow's reincarnation was detected within a certain radius.

It was assumed that the fact that he said he was not Rael was a malfunction caused by the excessively long hibernation period.

But what was most important now was not that.

'… It was said that the scientist appeared in Dark Alley relatively recently.'

In other words, it meant that the reincarnation of the rainbow was detected only recently.

Heart pounding.

Ray's heart began to pound with sudden excitement.

The reincarnation of the rainbow has revealed itself to the world, and at a very close distance.

What would it look like?

Are you currently in this city?

What should I say first when I meet someone?

Do you know that you are a rainbow? Do you like beef jerky?

Ray, whose thoughts were spinning for a moment, felt the need to repair the robot first.

The preparations were sufficient.

The blueprints had been found along with the journal, and all the necessary parts were stored in sufficient quantities inside the Acrasium.

but.

'I'm not good with my hands.'

Ray knew that he had little talent for anything that required physical finesse and delicacy.

If it were as usual, the machine would have enforced the belief that it would be fixed if hit.

But this time, I had a gut feeling that it wouldn't work out that way.

And an hour later.

“An old-time robot?”

“Interesting. The spherical doll called App Server that I showed you last time was also a subject of research.”

The elders of Rael Rowe, whom Ray had brought through the space corridor, entered the room.

They were very surprised to find the robot on the lab bench.

“Huh? You said it was a robot, but it’s a dwarf?”

“Hey, wait, don’t breathe. Your body is stiff, like rigor mortis has set in.”

“Did you kill the dwarf? Sir, is that why you brought us to such a confined place…?”

The elders looked at me with terrified eyes for a moment.

Ray made the situation clear.

“Look at the head.”

“Huh? Head? Huh…? You’re not really a dwarf, are you?”

“Wow, this level of sophistication? Is this a legitimate technology?”

“I guarantee that even if Rael Lowe spends hundreds of years researching, he will never be able to create a robot of this level.”

Ray told the elders, who could not help but be amazed, about Rael and the robot.

“Oh my God, Rael? Are you talking about the legendary Rael, our ancestor?”

“You are the incarnation of Rael, I, I never thought I would have such a glorious moment in my life.”

The elders seemed eager to repair the robot without being asked to do so.

Even though they were merely robots with cloned personalities, the desire to talk to their origins was burning within them.

The elders, who had received the prepared blueprints and parts, immediately began repairs.

“This place, huh… so that’s how it works.”

“The terminal at the back of the head is the memory storage device. It seems to be damaged here too, so let’s take a look at it together.”

There was no end to the Busan-like exclamations.

The clicking of metal was repeated.

How much time has passed like that?

Finally, the robot's eyes began to slowly return to normal after the repairs were completed.

Tak─

He came down from the experimental table amidst everyone's expectant gaze.

I slowly looked around, my gaze completely fixed on Ray.

Soon, Rael's mouth opened.

“You’re finally back.”