#029. When Flames Meet Flames (3)
Ray's footsteps halted.
A question bloomed in his mind.
Why would Philip do this?
To save Cedric?
With that frail body of his?
“Go quickly! Don’t worry about me!”
Philip’s shout.
It wasn’t directed at him.
Outside the arena.
Beyond the burning barrels.
The hotel children, who had come as attendants, stood helplessly, staring at Philip’s back.
“I’m not forcing you to help! If you don’t have the courage, leave now!”
Philip’s shout continued.
The children, biting their lips, began running toward the exit, circling around the barrels surrounding the arena.
Thud! Thud thud!
Even as the sound of footsteps faded away, Ray couldn’t take his eyes off Philip.
Suddenly, a conversation from the hotel came to mind.
「You said you were old friends. Don’t you want to fix your broken relationship?」
「That’s… true. If I can.」
「Come with me to the duel site. After the duel, I’ll make sure you have a chance to talk with Cedric.」
Could it really be because of that? To save Cedric?
Even if that were the case, was it worth risking his life?
‘Just two days ago, Cedric almost killed him.’
It was an ironic situation.
Now Philip was risking his life to save someone who had tried to take his own.
Crack! Thud!
Ceiling structures fell around them, scattering embers.
Whoosh! Roar!
The flames viciously expanded their territory.
“……”
But Ray didn’t move.
He was confused.
Only one thing was certain.
The amount of mana contained within Philip’s vessel now was beyond what could simply be described as massive.
He had never seen mana of such intense saturation permeate a vessel before.
Mana as white as freshly fallen snow.
Mana as bright as sunlight.
‘Worry. And courage.’
In Ray’s pupils, he saw Philip struggling to lift Cedric, who had collapsed.
Thud.
Ray stepped forward as if entranced.
He strode into the arena and arrived in front of Philip, who was panting and exhausted, and asked,
“Are you planning to drag Cedric over there? All the way to your wheelchair?”
“You’re still here.”
Philip raised his head and confirmed it was Ray before forcing a weak smile.
“I thought you would have been the first to leave. You’re quick to assess situations.”
“…….”
That would have been true.
If not for this overwhelming curiosity gnawing at him now.
“Answer me. Did you stay behind to save Cedric?”
“Yes. Sorry, but could you help me get Cedric into the wheelchair?”
Philip spoke in a voice that was urgent but trying its best to remain calm.
However, his expression wasn’t great—likely due to the pain of forcing his injured body to move.
“…….”
Ray silently looked around once more.
Whoosh! Roar!
The entire factory, inside and outside the arena, was already engulfed in flames.
His vision was dyed red and yellow, and the scorching air slowly tightened around his breath.
‘It’s already too late to escape.’
But Ray didn’t point this out. He wanted to know what Philip intended to do.
“After we seat him, then what?”
“Take Cedric and get out of here. You can keep all my share of the money.”
“What about you?”
“I’ll be fine.”
“You’ll be fine?”
“No matter how strong you are, you can’t carry both of us. Just get Cedric out. Please.”
“You’re telling me to save Cedric instead of you.”
Philip fell silent.
Ray’s words were accurate.
“…I’ll be fine.”
Though his voice trembled, the mana in his vessel remained steady.
The emotions of worry and courage had expanded to fill the vessel completely, their saturation undiminished.
“I’ll truly be okay. So…”
The moment Ray recognized Philip’s sincerity, his doubts amplified.
Ray had always observed human emotions and their resulting actions, compiling more examples in his memory than his years suggested.
‘Everyone values their own life above all else.’
Before death, all emotions fell silent—only survival instincts and fear stood rigid.
Yet here was an exception.
The first since Niles.
“What would you have done if I weren’t here? Even if you’d managed to get Cedric into the wheelchair alone, what then?”
The question implied Philip would’ve lacked the strength to push the wheelchair and escape.
Philip understood.
“I didn’t think that far. No one else was going to save Cedric. So I came.”
“What do you gain from this?”
“Gain?”
“You’re calculative. What profit does saving Cedric at the cost of your life bring you?”
Ray wasn’t unfamiliar with self-sacrifice.
But those acts usually stemmed from organizational pressure, street gang loyalties, or hidden personal benefits.
True voluntary sacrifice didn’t exist.
Not in the world Ray knew.
Philip must have an ulterior motive.
Especially when staking his life.
‘He must envision some gain from saving Cedric.’
Acting for safety and profit—
That was humanity’s fundamental drive.
But when Philip finally parted his quivering lips:
“Gain… There isn’t any.”
Ray felt as though he’d been struck.
“No gain…?”
“I told you. I didn’t think about the aftermath.”
“Then why? You had enough time to evacuate with the hotel kids. Why gamble on certain death?”
“Because Cedric and I are friends.”
Friends.
The short sentence rippled through the barren soil of the boy’s heart.
An uncanny moment.
‘Strange.’
The world’s sounds seemed to vanish.
‘My chest…’
An indescribable itch squirmed beneath his ribs.
「I’m giving this to you. Because you’re my friend, Ray.」
Memories buried in the boy’s subconscious surged forth.
「Why save me with expensive medicine?」
「You were freezing to death before my eyes. I just wanted to save you—no calculations.」
Dizziness washed over him.
Ray staggered.
Emotions he’d once blocked now rose with glaring clarity.
To this moment.
「Because we’re friends.」
Reaching further might grasp the words’ true meaning.
Or not.
Futility lingered.
‘…….’
One truth remained:
Something had shifted in his emotional core.
Ray knelt beside Cedric’s body, checking his breathing.
“You’re really helping?”
“It’s too late to escape. The fire’s everywhere.”
Only then did Philip properly survey their surroundings and gasp.
“Ah…”
“Staying put might be safer. The flames haven’t reached this part yet.”
Ray suddenly tore his coat into three large pieces.
Riiip—!
“What are you—?!”
Ignoring Philip’s shock, Ray blended ambient mana.
Huum—!
Numbing blue mana gathered over the fabric in spheres, then liquefied and soaked the rags at his command.
Ray covered Cedric’s mouth and nose with a wet cloth, then offered another to Philip.
“Wrap this around your shoulders and mouth. Minimize smoke inhalation.”
“You… Was that magic?”
Philip couldn’t close his gaping mouth.
The sudden chill from his goosebumps momentarily dispelled the clinging heat.
He knew of magic.
Street rumors carried tales divorced from reality.
But he’d never believed.
Not once in his decade-plus life scavenging filthy alleys.
Magic belonged to stories—
Lighting fires barehanded.
Creating ice. Channeling lightning.
Moving objects without touch.
To Philip, who’d faced harsh truths faster than his peers, such fantasies felt doubly absurd.
When Ray had asked him to find a mage, he’d secretly thought it futile.
Magic didn’t exist.
“…….”
Yet here it was.
From the last person he’d expect.
A faint sense of being scammed arose.
But the shock faded quickly.
‘Wait—if he can create water, maybe we can extinguish the flames and—’
“Magic isn’t infinite. It drains the user. What I know isn’t helpful here.”
“Ah…”
Ray answered as if reading his mind again.
“Ask your questions later. Answer mine first.”
“…….”
Philip studied Ray.
His calm tone and placid face made the crisis feel surreal.
Whoosh! Thud!
Flaming debris fell.
Barrels toppled as fire crept inward.
The children had long evacuated.
Only three remained in the factory.
Death awaited at time’s end.
Yet Ray felt no tension or dread—not just from emotional numbness, but something more.
「Because we’re friends.」
His entire focus latched onto Philip’s words.
He craved—
To resolve the maddening question immediately.
Whoosh! Thud!
Debris crashed nearby.
Ray stared solely at Philip, senses detached from the world.
“What do you think a friend is?”
“Why… does that matter now?”
“It matters. Immensely.”
Philip floundered.
The question’s intent eluded him.
Ray seemed unhinged, yet his earnestness compelled a stumbling reply.
“A friend is just a friend. A common word.”
“I know the word. But your ‘friend’ differs from mine. You acted purely because Cedric’s your friend—no gain involved.”
“…What’s your definition?”
Ray answered instantly.
“Someone you’ve known for a period.”
“…….”
Not incorrect. A typical answer.
Yet paired with Ray’s fixation, it felt profoundly alien.
“…….”
Philip suddenly understood.
The source of his lingering discomfort around Ray.
Whoosh! Thud!
Had Ray’s calm infected him?
Philip steadied his breath and continued evenly.
“Your definition isn’t wrong. But incomplete.”
“Then?”
“Someone who helps without expecting returns. Who accepts help in turn. That’s a friend.”
“Returns meaning material things?”
“Anything. Material, emotional. You help because it’s them. Because you worry. Because you care. ‘Family’ might fit better.”
Philip added:
Except for the mother he’d lost young, Cedric was his only family.
“No regrets? Even if you die here?”
“None. I followed my heart.”
Screee—! Thud!
Falling wreckage.
Crimson flames licking closer.
“What’s ‘worry’ to you?”
“The desire to protect someone.”
Questions.
Answers.
Whoosh! Thud!
Ray’s gut churned.
A sharp, persistent prodding in his chest.
Disjointed memories swarmed like scattered paper.
Creeak—!
Above them, a massive ceiling beam tilted—
Groan! Whooosh—!
—and began its fall.
“The desire to protect?”
“Yes. Simply because it’s them.”
But the boys, engrossed, noticed nothing.
“The desire to protect…”
Ray’s lips slowly formed the words.
In that moment—
Huum.
The dormant white mana in the air stirred.
