Power of Runes

"I knew you would be here..."

Hearing those words, Ray turned to his side...and saw someone he never would have expected to see. His heart ached even more, and it was burning....

....Burning with what? Ray didn't know. He didn't know if it was anger, jealousy, confusion, or something else entirely that was bubbling inside his chest.

He didn't know what to feel towards...Ash Burn.

Dressed in all black, with strange, unfamiliar symbols etched across his clothes, adorned with gloves and a long cloak fluttering faintly with the breeze, and a single black earring hanging from his left ear...from his appearance alone, it was clear—he wasn't here just to talk. He looked like someone prepared for something...serious.

Lifting his upper body up from the ground, Ray sat slightly upright, his eyes unfocused, but within them lingered a subtle hint of wariness. His voice was low, dry, and somewhat hollow as he asked, ".....What do you want now..?"

"..Nothing...."

Ash replied, his voice calm as he stood still in front of him.

Ray frowned the moment he heard the reply. For him, Ash was already marked as the enemy, he was the reason everything went wrong in his life. Everything that spiraled out of control... from the power he was supposed to rise to, to the love he was holding onto with so much hope.

And when it came to love... there are always scars left behind. Especially between the boy who got rejected, and the one whose presence made that rejection happen.

Gritting his teeth, holding back the chaos swirling inside him with inhuman patience, Ray asked once more, "....Then why are you...here..?"

Ash noticed the subtle hesitation in his voice, the cracks beneath his calm tone. He could see the unspoken bitterness hiding in the way Ray held himself back, and he understood. These feelings weren't light.

They were heavy...they were bitter...and Ash knew that whatever existed between him and Ray would only grow more complicated with time, not simpler.

Human emotions...and the relationships they form, they were always difficult to maintain. They were fragile like glass...a single mistake could shatter them completely, and a single moment of clarity could make them shine like crystal.

Without saying anything else, Ash walked past Ray, not responding directly. He leaned on the thick trunk of the tree behind Ray, but facing the opposite direction.

Their positions now mirrored two distant paths—one looking east, and the other west. One was leaning quietly on the tree, while the other remained on the ground, looking up at the sky, lost in thought.

Ash quietly removed himself from Ray's line of sight...not out of disrespect, but because he had seen the storm behind those eyes—the tightly held restraint, the quiet but intense anger, and the confusion swirling just beneath it.

To not provoke those buried emotions any further, he simply stepped out of view, giving Ray the space he needed.

..I sometimes forget...that I am older than him mentally...

"..I just came to check on you.." Ash said softly.

Ray scoffed in response, the bitterness clear in his voice. "Check what? Do you want to see how miserable I am? Or do you want to see me crying? What a strange fetish you have there.."

His words came out mocking, with a cruel bite to them, aimed more at pushing Ash away than actually accusing him. But Ash didn't react. His expression didn't change.

He simply replied in the same calm tone, "It would be a lie to say that I wasn't curious about how you were doing... but seeing you gaze at the sky like this, instead of rampaging all around in anger, I think you're doing far better than I expected..."

"..What do you think I am? A Berserker...? Don't slander me without any proof..." Ray muttered through clenched teeth, his voice low but full of bitterness.

Ash didn't respond to the jab directly. Instead, his voice dropped a little, his tone more somber than before, as if something heavy was weighing on his chest. "Anyway...I'm here to ask you a question. Or, you could say... I came to request something from you..."

Ray didn't react immediately. His mood hadn't changed. The ache in his chest was still present, the anger still simmering beneath his skin. But...

....he was curious. Curious about what The Unknown—the only other person who knew about the System—wanted to ask him.

After a few minutes of long silence, Ray finally spoke, "....Ask away.."

"...I'm going on an expedition to kill some demons. So I just wanted to ask... if you would like to come...?"

..Just Say Yes, Just Say Yes....

Ash was hoping, no, silently pleading, that Ray would agree. After all, this was not something he asked lightly. Ash had finally made up his mind to involve Ray too, and the reason behind his choice was simple. As the Whisperer had warned, there was a real chance that even the Saints could fall under the control of the Hollow Mother.

And while Ash might be able to revive—again and again, regardless of how many times he died—it would still be nothing short of delusional to believe that he alone could save millions of innocent people.

Especially when those people would be facing not just demons, but controlled Dwarves whose population was mixed with normal people and awakened individuals whose ranks were unknown ... and in the middle of that chaos, he would also have to defeat the Hollow Mother.

It would be impossible.

Ash wasn't powerful enough to take that kind of risk alone. Not anymore. And now that he had made the decision to try... to truly save lives this time... he couldn't just walk into this with half a heart. If he was going to save even a fraction of them, he had to give everything he had.

That's why, while fighting against those who were below the level of a Saint, the best possible choice... was Ray. Especially now that Ray had acquired the Indomitable Mantle skill. That one skill alone made Ray nearly invincible against anyone below Saint rank, at least until a Domain was involved.

But thankfully, there was good news buried in that mess.

Domains were closely tied to the will and consciousness of the user, a manifestation of their inner strength. And when Hollowborns took control of someone, their own consciousness—their soul, their intent—was pushed deep into the background, overtaken by the overwhelming will of the Hollow Mother or either obliterated.

Because of that, the controlled individual couldn't use their Domain. Not even a fragment of its power. Which meant that even though they might retain their stats and fighting skills, they were reduced to little more than strong, high-ranked bodies with no true

control over their powers.

And if Ray, someone who could withstand attacks from Saints, joined the fight... then everything would change. With Ray holding the front line, Ash could focus all his power on killing the Hollow Mother with his Life Affinity, without worrying about being overwhelmed by sheer force.

"....NO," Ray replied with cold clarity.

And once again, silence fell between them. A heavy, dragging silence, like a void between two worlds.

"...Millions of people will die," Ash whispered softly, his voice quiet but steady.

"Among those millions... there might be children, parents and elderly people who won't even understand what's happening. And the only person... the only one who can come with me to help them... is you. Because while others might fall... you won't. You are the only one who's safe. Your help can mean one more life saved... one more family spared. Are you sure you don't want to help?"

Ray's expression faltered for a heartbeat. Just a flicker of hesitation in his eyes. But then, as if retreating into himself again, the same distant and hollow look returned.

"...How can I believe you..?" Ray muttered under his breath. "You might be trying to use me... in some twisted way I don't understand... and I don't want to be used again. I'm done with all of that...so my answer is still... NO!! Just go away and leave me alone..."

He laid back down again, resting his head against the cold grass, staring up at the drifting clouds above as if they held more comfort than any human ever could.

Then came a deep, quiet sigh from behind the tree. A soft exhale, heavy with the weight of secrets. And after that, the voice returned... no longer asking, no longer begging.

"...If you help me... I will tell you why the demons attacked your small village. I will tell you why your parents died that day... and who the demon was that killed them..."

Ash was not able to finish his words, as he teleported away, and just as his figure vanished, the tree behind him exploded into fragments of dust and flying bark, leaving behind only silence and a crater.

Ray was now standing where Ash had just been, fists clenched and glowing with an earthen sheen, his jaw tightened, and his eyes trembling with a cocktail of rage and disbelief. He glared at Ash, who had reappeared just a short distance away.

"....YOU, WHO ARE YOU REALLY?? HOW DO YOU KNOW SO MUCH??", Ray was practically screaming at him, but hidden inside that voice was something far more fragile than fury... a helpless plea, one that yearned for nothing else but answers he had spent years chasing in the dark.

Sigh... I didn't want him to get all worked up like this. I really wasn't planning to say anything, not when the topic is this sensitive... but alas!! He didn't agree....and now I have no choice but to use this method...

"I just know. Now decide. Will you help me kill demons and save millions of people, while also learning the truth behind everything that has haunted you every single day... OR will you continue to stay here like this pathetically..... drowning in your own misery..."

Ash spoke in his same nonchalant tone, as if none of this really mattered to him, but he was hiding his real feelings behind the mask of indifference.

But then... Ray laughed. A strange laugh that didn't match the situation at all, as he slowly raised a hand to cover his face.

"...Haha, haha... I am really an idiot... haha, haha..."

"I always thought that once I grew strong enough, I'd uncover all the answers... I believed that with power, I could find the truth about why demons attacked my village... when not a single other attack had happened anywhere else at that time..."

"I wanted nothing else but to bathe in the blood of the demon who killed my parents... I lived for that day, but..... Haha.... haha, I really am an idiot...."

He lowered his hand, and the faint smile that had lingered was gone. Replaced with an emotionless expression, cold and unreadable.

"The day I realized there was someone out there who knew about me... more than I even knew myself... I should have understood. I should have known that such a person would also have answers about why my parents were attacked. I feel stupid for not realizing that sooner..."

"...And I am not going anywhere. I'll get those answers from you anyway.... after I beat the shit out of you.... and this time, there's no lightning in the sky for you to rely on..."

He summoned Aetheris, and black and green energy surged into his hands, painting the air with his intent.

"Ohh!!", Ash looked a little shocked, though not overly surprised. His lips curled slightly in amusement, "Pray tell me, how exactly do you plan on doing that? I don't think you can even catch me if I decide not to be caught... and when it comes to defeating you, lightning is far from the only method I have at my disposal..."

"...Do you want to try...?"

The tension reached its peak, and then...

***