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#030. When fire meets fire (4)
Ki-ki-ki-ki-ki-ki─! Gu-ung─!
Philip raised his head and his mind went blank as he saw the rebar coming down over his head.
‘ah.’
It’s too late to avoid it.
I didn’t have even a shred of strength left to move my body, and even if I had been healthy, I wouldn’t have been able to avoid that speed.
In the first place, there was no place to escape because the fire had spread right up to the side.
‘I’m dying. Like this.’
Philip had a premonition of death.
I tried to act calm, but seeing death with its mouth open right in front of me made me think a lot.
The first thought that came to mind was.
‘I don’t want to die.’
I regret it.
Why did I let go of my mother’s hand then?
What if I die and the hotel goes out of business?
Those magazines that were obtained in secret should have been kept in the safe, not under the bed, even though they were inconvenient to take out.
That moment when a boy freezes.
Another boy was looking at the white mana gathered in his palm.
Wooooowoo …
Like hardened clay.
Mana of a color that normally doesn’t move at all.
In the boy’s mind, a fragment of a past memory expanded rapidly.
The moment when I was running down the street with all my might, chasing the golem heading towards the culvert.
What were your feelings at that time?
Wasn’t the only thought in your head the one about stopping the golem?
Because if the Guldari children die, the purpose of repaying the favor can no longer be fulfilled.
… But was that really the end of it?
“Haa. Haa.”
When I ran to stop the golem.
Can you say for sure that there were no other reasons?
My heart is pounding.
Memories of the past come back to me one by one.
“Thank you, Ray. You’re the best!”
“I’m glad that my brother became part of our family.”
“You? Don’t you feel awkward? It’s a bit unusual because there’s no emotional agitation. Well?”
“Hyung? Sometimes things get weird. But it’s okay!”
And another thought that he had while chasing the golem.
─I want to protect it.
Pure sentences passed through the lips of children.
A tough but close-knit daily life where we share each other’s warmth.
I want to protect them all.
okay.
Now I know for sure.
The reason I ran towards the bridge was not only to repay a favor.
‘I had something I wanted to protect.’
Enlightenment comes.
The floodgates of blocked emotions are opened.
Wooooowoong──!
The white mana that resonated with the boy’s current emotions radiated a brilliant light with a great tremble.
I can feel the texture of mana.
This is the first time I’ve ever handled a colored mana.
But it feels terribly familiar.
As if we had dealt with this before.
…it’s not an important issue right now.
Information about white mana is naturally input into your head.
What kind of nature does it have?
Which usage is best?
What other applications are also possible?
Ray stretched his palm upward and shot a mass of white mana.
Woof!
The mass of mana stopped at a point above his head, then spread out in all directions as if pressed, forming a hemispherical membrane.
A transparent white protective film.
The moment the rebar touched there.
bang!
A tremendous crash reverberated through the factory.
The rebar failed to break through the shield and bounced far away, engulfed in flames.
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“Is this magic too? You just put your hand over your head and then suddenly… .”
Philip kept looking back at the shield with an admiring expression on his face.
The surprise was even greater because to the eyes of those who could not sense mana, it seemed as if a protective shield had suddenly appeared.
“It’s magic. Maybe I can get out of here alive.”
After a moment’s thought, he spoke again.
“No, let’s go out.”
Although his voice seemed calm on the outside, his heart was filled with considerable excitement.
It was the first time in my life that I moved white mana.
It was also the moment when the usage method I had intuitively thought of was proven.
‘It turned out exactly as I had pictured it. I thought it would work this way.’
I never thought I would succeed right away.
My heart raced as I thought about how many more wonderful things I could do with this new color of mana.
It felt like all the physical and mental fatigue from the duel was washed away.
“You can get out alive? Really? Are you serious?”
“If my thoughts are correct.”
Philip also looked at the same place, following Ray’s gaze that had glanced back.
It was the part of the wide-spread protective shield that was in contact with the flames.
Hurrah!
The flames raged fiercely, but were blocked by the protective shield and could not enter.
Philip was impressed.
“The fire and smoke can’t come in. It looks like transparent glass. Does it really have a shape?”
At Philip’s question, Ray stood up from his seat and approached the shield.
“Joe, watch out!”
I slowly reached forward, listening to the voice behind me.
widely.
The palm of his hand touched the shield.
I couldn’t go any further.
It was evidence that the magical shield had a clear physical form.
However, the palms that touched each other felt hot, as if the heat was not completely blocked.
“… … .”
Ray didn’t take his palm off.
Instead, he drew the blue mana in the air and injected it into the shield.
Woof──.
A blue light started from the palm and spread throughout the shield.
Philip, who had been watching the scene with bated breath, soon noticed something strange.
“… … !”
My body was getting cold.
The heat that had been stuck to my skin was peeling off like a crust.
The air inside the shield was cooling.
The temperature gradually dropped and returned to normal levels.
Philip got goosebumps as he watched the sweat on his arms slowly drying.
Breathing also became much easier.
The surprise didn’t end there.
Ray returned to his seat, bent his knees and examined Cedric’s hand.
The hand that had been carelessly throwing away burning debris was covered in red, burn marks.
“… … .”
Ray recalled the moment when Veronica healed his wounds with white mana.
I think I could do the same thing.
I’ve never tried it, but I’m confident about it.
The moment I was running across the bridge chasing the golem.
Memories of the hard days I spent taking care of Pale and his younger siblings.
Immerse yourself in the emotions of that time.
Then, the white mana that had been gathering around was gently sucked into the palm of the hand.
‘I think I understand now.’
What it means to care about others.
What kind of texture does the emotion called worry have?
A heart that wants to protect.
The desire to give without gaining anything in return.
Woohoo──!
White mana transformed into light covered Cedric’s hand.
The redness gradually faded and the wrinkled skin began to straighten out.
The place where the light soon disappeared.
The skin had returned to its original state.
Although it wasn’t completely the same as before, it was enough to say that the treatment was complete.
“… That’s ridiculous.”
Tears welled up in Philip’s eyes.
On top of worrying about Cedric’s burns on one hand, it was also because of the great shock that the miracle of magic gave.
“Don’t move. Stay still.”
Ray extended his palm towards Philip and released white mana.
Woof──!
The bright light that enveloped Philip’s body began to repair torn muscles and heal broken bones.
The light disappeared again.
Philip found his body moving much more easily.
“Oh, thank you. Thank you so much.”
“you’re welcome.”
Philip’s voice filled with emotion.
Ray answered nonchalantly.
The reason for the treatment is that Cedric and Philip have a lot of work to do in the future.
Although I was immersed in the emotion of worry, the object of my concern was not two people.
I also wanted to test the limits of what I could do using white mana.
“Can we move this glass-like barrier? Then we could probably get through here slowly.”
Philip asked, his emotions racing.
Ray shook his head quietly.
Perhaps I wouldn’t know if it was possible without professional magical knowledge, but it seemed like an impossible method based on intuition alone.
“I don’t think it’s possible to move while pushing the shield.”
“Then what should we do?”
“Just wait. Until the lights go out.”
Ray who restores weakened shields by injecting mana.
Although he couldn’t sense the mana, Philip had a peculiar intuition that told him what the action meant.
“Are you okay? I said you can’t use magic indefinitely.”
“It’s okay. You can do it. But you just have to keep focusing.”
Philip immediately shut his mouth.
The conversation stopped and silence fell.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
In the blazing fire.
Ray periodically drew white mana to repair the shield.
“… … .”
Maintaining the emotion without breaking it required a high level of concentration and a considerable amount of mental power for Ray, whose emotional glands were dry.
Since the mana in the atmosphere was used as is, the fatigue was much worse.
But Ray’s concentration never wavered for a moment.
Knock! Knock!
As time passed, the heat that filled the factory began to die down.
The fire was bound to go out eventually.
Just as no matter how strong the anger is, it cannot last a lifetime.
If there is nothing more to burn.
If you have no one to vent your anger on.
Because in the end, it was inevitable that it would lose power and stop.
*
The burning factory spewed hot breath and black smoke through its windows and entrances.
“Oh, what should I do?”
“It was too dangerous from the start. If you fight while the fire is lit like that….”
The boys who escaped the factory shared the same feelings, regardless of their group affiliation.
The madness that was like magic is over.
All that remained was the fear and horror of a disaster far beyond their control.
“Oh, our house is on fire.”
“You have to turn off the lights. You have to turn off the lights.”
“How? How on earth are you going to pull that thing?”
In particular, Cedric’s group, who had made the abandoned factory their home, had completely turned pale.
There was nothing that could be done.
All I can do is shed tears or tremble in anxiety.
The large physique and strength he had always been proud of were of no use at this moment.
Zephyr and the Lawson gang shouted.
“We don’t know!”
“Yeah, yeah! It wasn’t our fault! It was Cedric’s fault! That bastard just threw a burning plank at me!”
The two groups slowly backed away, then turned around completely and fled the scene.
Cedric’s men, having lost their leader, had neither the power nor the justification to stop them.
WHAT! THUNK!
A blazing fire.
A factory that collapsed, leaving only the skeleton behind.
Sector residents who saw the smoke also appeared, but they did not take any special actions.
After confirming that it wouldn’t spread to the sector, he simply returned with an indifferent expression.
In the endless flow of time.
Only Cedric’s group and the hotel kids were left at the scene.
WHAT! THUNK!
After what seemed like an eternity, the flames finally drew their last breath.
The children took trembling steps toward the collapsed factory.
Then, as if they had made a promise, everyone stopped moving at the same time.
“… … !”
“Over there, over there!”
A silhouette of someone was visible through the fallen debris.
Fear. Terror.
Shock. Anticipation. Excitement.
A variety of indescribable emotions swept through the room like the wind, filling the boys’ vessels.
Knock, knock, knock
The silhouette walks.
It clearly appears in everyone’s eyes.
widely.
In the suffocating silence.
After looking around the room, he slowly opens his lips.
“If you’re thinking of taking a chance.”
A soft voice, riding on the still-hot air, clearly entered everyone’s ears.
“Come at once. I’ll take on all of you.”
Ray was holding Cedric in his arms.
It was said with sincerity, but no one dared to speak up.
How on earth did he survive?
In that hellish flames.
And he looks so perfectly fine.
To the boys who did not know about the existence of magic, it was a sight no different from a myth or a ghost story.
While only stillness and tranquility flowed.
Someone knelt down toward Ray and lay face down on the floor.
dump!
From that moment on, the same sound echoed throughout the room.
Thud! Thud!
Soon, there was only one person left standing with his head held high.
“… … .”
Ray, who had been staring blankly at the children, turned his head.
Among the piles of scrap metal.
The reflected horizon.
Beneath the burning sunset.
The heat that had not yet subsided was spreading.