Genius Prismatic Mage Chapter 316

#316. Master of Emotions (Complete)

Viola, who had received Ray's request, continued her story with a gentle smile.

Somewhere in this world hangs a seven-colored ribbon called a rainbow.

Anyone who finds it can make one wish.

“Adventurers with courageous hearts. Scholars who have read tens of thousands of books. Bards who sing songs about the world… Many have set out on a journey to find the rainbow, but none have succeeded. There were those who went around saying they had seen a rainbow, but in the end, all of them were exposed as lies.”

While listening to the softly flowing voice, Ray did not take his eyes off Viola's face.

I could be sure once again.

That she is not an ordinary old woman.

The face of a young woman that remains in my memory as a rainbow from long ago.

Because that face remained intact in the current Viola.

'The Guardian of Purple.'

Why did I only realize this now?

She disappeared after the final battle with Redlan and continued living in the lowest sector.

I don't know exactly when it started, but it was probably a long time ago, much longer than you can imagine.

“So no one who looked for a rainbow and made a wish… .”

“Do you have a wish?”

Ray interrupted.

My heart was pounding.

“Is this your wish?”

“If Grandma finds a rainbow, that’s a wish I hope will come true.”

Viola answered without difficulty, in a soft voice.

“If I had a wish, it would be to see with my own eyes the world’s landscape restored to its beauty. Believe it or not, the world used to be much more colorful than it is now. The sky, the ground, the city buildings, and the people’s clothes.”

It was a wish that matched the desire Ray had held in his heart during his long journey.

“That’s my wish too.”

“Is that your wish too?”

"yes."

“That’s surprising. As far as I know, Ray is a person who likes stories from the real world more than these dreamy stories.”

“Because people change.”

Viola looked up at the sky with a smile.

“I believe that such a world will come again someday. A world where no one gets sick or goes hungry, and everything is abundant. However, even if I live until then, I am very sorry that I will not be able to see that sight with my own eyes.”

She added.

He said that he got into an argument with someone a long time ago and got hurt in the eye, which made him unable to see.

“What would you do if you could see again?”

“I think I would be really happy if that happened.”

Ray looked at Viola's bowl.

The purple emotion that always shines brightly in the center of the bowl.

A feeling whose identity I didn't know until the moment I escaped Sector 50.

But now I know that feeling.

Ray said, looking forward to the future.

“Viola.”

Viola flinched.

A look of puzzlement appeared on his face.

“Look at me.”

Bewilderment, doubt, confusion.

A variety of emotions ran through my mind.

“Look at me standing here.”

Viola's expression gradually changed as the emotions came one after another.

And then, going back through the ages, the expression of a young woman guarding a purple shard of a rainbow appeared on her face, deeply furrowed by time.

"iced coffee……."

Viola slowly opened her eyes with a helpless groan.

Her left eye had a purple gem in the shape of a prosthetic eye.

Gulp.

Tears flowed down her wrinkled, rough skin.

“Long time no see, Viola.”

Ray's hand stretched forward.

The purple jewel turned into mana and started to be sucked into it.

The absorbed mana passed through the body and arrived around the heart, gathering next to the other six glowing lights that were orbiting there.

A purple halo completed in an instant.

And the next moment.

Wooooowoooo───!

The seven-colored halos of light that accelerated their orbit caught up with each other's trajectories and gradually merged into one color.

What appeared was a pure white light.

The pure white light spread out fiercely throughout the body, reaching the bottom of the six rings that were stacked one on top of the other and climbing up like a spiral staircase.

And each ring left behind a different colored light.

────!

The first ring has a red glow.

The second ring is vermilion.

The third ring has a yellow tint.

───────!

The fourth ring is green.

The fifth ring has a blue glow.

The sixth ring is blue.

Each ring was filled with a different colored light.

The light that escaped the sixth ring began to orbit above it, biting its own tail and forming a new ring.

Pfft!

The seventh ring, which was finally completed, was bathed in purple light.

Colorful lights flowed through Ray's body like blood, and they seemed to mix and disperse in each section like the paints in an oil painting.

Woof!

The pure white light that had finished all its work escaped through Ray's hand.

And then he appeared to be quietly moving around in his seat as if waiting for further instructions.

“… … .”

It was clear what to do.

Ray reached out to Viola.

Light settled into her eyes.

*

Two months later, in the busy area of Sector 28.

Philip said as he watched Veronica walking beside him with her face tightly wrapped in her hood.

“Do you really have to go around acting like a criminal?”

“I can’t help it! If I don’t do this, people will find out and I won’t be able to go out anywhere nearby!”

“Why not just change your face with some kind of illusion magic?”

Veronica shook her head.

“Well, I don’t like that. I like my face. Even if I use illusion magic, people with good skills can see through it and recognize me. These days, starting from sector 26, there’s been a huge increase in high-ranking magicians, right?”

As Veronica said, you can easily find 3rd and 4th circle wizards on the streets these days.

This was because the walls of the city of magicians were demolished under the leadership of the Imaginary Tower, which rose to the top of the hierarchy.

Philip struck the gong.

“The wizards who were there are pouring out in droves. It seems like the sense of superiority they have is becoming a problem.”

“It will be resolved in time. The world is changing into one where magic is no longer so special.”

Philip nodded in agreement.

You could tell just by looking at the fact that someone with zero talent for magic like himself was able to build a ring.

As the exchange between the two worlds that were previously disconnected continued, the distinction between magicians and ordinary people would become increasingly blurred.

Just then, Philip noticed men following him from a distance.

“She’s even got an escort. The life of a celebrity is truly tough. I can see it for myself. My friend is the saint of the Sun Church, whose sect is spreading throughout the sector at a frightening rate. Relief of the poor, maintenance of public order, oh my, the hand of the sun will reach every dark place— woof?!”

Veronica shrugged and quickly covered Philip's mouth as he spoke.

And then he grabbed my arm and started walking forward like a madman.

“Oww, oww, oww, oww, oww.”

“The saint is forbidden in crowded places. Especially in Sector 28 where the religious order headquarters is located.”

As if to prove Veronica's whispers, a huge commotion began to arise behind them.

“Saint?”

“A saint? Where?”

“Saint! I have prepared an offering to offer to you!”

“Offer sacrifices to the saint!”

“Give me a smile like the sun!”

Fortunately, he was able to quickly escape the scene and was not caught or identified by the residents disguised as fanatics.

Only when they reached a considerable distance from the street did Veronica remove her hand from Philip's mouth.

“Pfft, phew, what, what was that just now?”

“There are polarized people. So you have to be careful what you say on the street.”

“I didn’t know it would be like that.”

After walking for a while, a large bridge appeared with priests guarding the entrance.

Originally a normal bridge for vehicles to travel on.

However, it was a restricted area that led to a small island where an artificial sun was located.

“I see the saint.”

“May the warm sunshine always be with you.”

As Veronica lowered her hood, the priests all bowed deeply.

As he walked past them down the empty road, Philip asked a question.

“How’s Ray? I heard he came back from his trip yesterday.”

“Yeah, I’m back!”

Ray had been traveling alone across the sector for several weeks.

Landscapes, people's lives, one's own feelings, etc.

It was to look back and examine in detail the things I had overlooked while running towards my goal.

“How is it? It seems like you’ve sorted out your thoughts a bit. You’ve thought a lot about yourself as Rainbow and as Ray.”

“Well, I’m not sure about that. I just got back from my trip and we haven’t talked yet.”

As we walked and talked, the bridge ended and an island appeared.

In the distance, Ray was seen standing in front of an artificial sun.

widely.

The two people stopped walking for a moment.

“Veronica, but I think so.”

"how?"

“Ray is just Ray. If Ray suddenly said with a solemn expression, ‘I am the rainbow that gave you emotions,’ I think you would be really disappointed.

“… … .”

Veronica, who was silent for a moment, soon nodded vigorously.

“I think so too, it doesn’t suit me!”

Tak─

The steps began again.

“CEO Ray! How long has it been since you’ve been here!”

“What were you thinking about? You seemed really engrossed in something.”

Ray smiled faintly as he saw Philip and Veronica.

“I was thinking about the problem.”

"problem?"

“The problem of not running away from my emotions.”

That was a question that Ray had been pondering for a long time since he became aware of himself as Rainbow.

During the journey, he realized and felt many emotions and became a different being than before, but his emotional state was not completely like that of a normal person.

Because it was possible to vividly bring back specific emotions along with past memories, or, conversely, to block them out completely.

Although it varies slightly depending on the type and intensity of the emotion, it is generally possible to maintain a state where the emotional amplitude is extremely small.

Suddenly, that thought occurred to me.

─Am I being honest with myself?

When the power of the perfected rainbow, the element of creation, was used to revive Niles and the Guldari children.

The boy realized that he was forcibly blocking out the sadness that was washing over him.

─… … .

In a way, it was natural.

Because it was a painful feeling.

I thought so too.

If you bring back those who were precious to you, the sadness will also disappear, so you just have to suppress this emotion a little longer and endure it.

But the voice of my heart kept ringing in my head.

─This is deceiving myself.

“So I made a decision. Not to save Niles and the Guldari children. To be honest with my own feelings. To face my grief fully.”

It was also necessary to accept the death of a loved one as death.

Philip and Veronica's eyes were filled with shock and surprise.

This was because he knew that it was a wish that Ray had harbored since before he met the group, and that it was like the beginning of a journey.

“Hey, are you okay?”

“Ray, are you okay…?”

Ray nodded.

I looked up at the pale sky.

Even though the black clouds no longer appeared, the world's landscape was still desolate.

It was natural that pollution accumulated over a long period of time would not be resolved in a short period of time.

A decisive moment was needed.

For the world to be filled with color again.

'We have to put the rainbow back in the sky.'

Additionally, the ability to open and close emotions was linked to one's power as a rainbow.

It was necessary to turn the rainbow back in order to face my true self.

…it was always possible.

All that was needed was a decision of the heart.

Woohoo──!

I looked up at the sky and focused my mind.

The seven colored mana contained in the seven rings began to race throughout my body.

At the end of it all is a hand reaching upward.

Seven rays of light, intertwined and forming a spiral, shot toward the sky.

My heart was pounding like crazy.

The blood in my whole body boiled.

Actually, I knew it.

A world where emotions exist can always fall into ruin again.

In some ways, Redran's thinking cannot be said to be entirely wrong.

Nevertheless, the boy chose a world where emotions exist.

Many groups and people, including the religious community, will work hard to ensure that the world, which has regained its original form, is not destroyed again.

The boy trusted their feelings.

──────!

A massive release of mana that is so powerful that just being nearby can make you dizzy.

The surrounding priests rushed over, but were overwhelmed by the momentum and could do nothing.

I just looked at the seven colored bands drawn across the sky next to the sun with a thrilled face.

The seven rays of light that completed the rainbow reunited to form a pure white halo.

It soon split into thousands of branches and spread out across the world, scattering colorful shards of light.

The sky shed its paleness and took on a blue hue, following the trajectory of the rays of light.

Below, Ray lowered his outstretched hand and spoke in a somewhat tired voice.

“Veronica, you said it once.”

The boy's ring was empty.

“Those who cannot love themselves cannot love others.”

Mana is no longer refilled.

As a wizard, I was critically injured, but it didn't matter.

“I think I know what you mean now.”

More magical than any magic.

Because emotions of brilliant colors were gathering on the bowl.

He said, feeling one emotion that was radiating the brightest light among them.

“Veronica, I want you─”

Under the dazzling sunlight, Ray's lips moved and uttered three words.

Veronica, who was surprised by the sudden situation, came to her senses.

Soon, tears welled up in his eyes and the corners of his lips began to go up.

“Blood, what are you doing?”

Veronica, who seemed unable to bear it any longer, ran as fast as she could and threw herself into Ray's arms.

Ray, who was pushing back and accepting Veronica, had a brighter smile on his face than ever.

At that moment, the colors of the rainbow became more intense.

The sun right next to us also began to shed its gloom and emit a dazzling light.

*

Thousands of rays of light spread out into the world.

The scenery that the piece of light that fell from there touched changed in an instant.

The barren land was transformed into a green meadow.

The withered flowers bloomed again with a lively look.

Clean water began to flow in the dry valley.

“Over there! Look over there!”

The intersection of some sectors.

Little children playing in the alley pointed to the sky with their fingers.

“Wow! What is that?”

“Is that a shooting star? That’s so amazing!”

“My mother said that! If you go to the place where the shooting star fell, there is a treasure hidden by a fairy!”

The children forgot what they were playing and started running following the rays of light.

“Come together! Come together! Don’t leave me alone! Okay…?”

The little boy who was farthest behind suddenly stopped walking.

An old woman was sitting on a mat, leaning against the alley wall.

I went over to the can and took a peek, and there were quite a few coins in it.

The little boy looked at his grandmother for a moment, then searched through his pockets and put the coins he found into the can.

My daughter!

“Grandma, I’m sorry! This is all the money I have right now!”

Just as the little boy was about to turn around and follow his friends, his grandmother opened her mouth.

Opening my closed eyes.

In a gentle voice, slowly.

“Would you like to hear a mysterious story?”

– fin.