Rune Matrix: Programming Magic After Transmigration-Chapter 121: Luck?

"Accepting death? Not a chance. Never."

Even though Zephyr was terrified, he tried his best to shake off the fog clouding his senses. Although he couldn’t move his arm or the mana within, he struggled with everything he had, refusing to waste a single second.

Honestly, Zephyr was not afraid of death. He had seen many people fall prey to the unrelenting claws of time. Embracing death naturally at the end of a long life was a satisfying conclusion. Zephyr wished for a end like that.

There was no need to be scared of the inevitable. However, he was utterly unwilling to die a meaningless death. And even more reluctant to be murdered.

Whatever was inhibiting his movement was targeting him. He couldn’t let it completely swallow his consciousness.

He concentrated, focusing solely on moving his mana. If he could find his way into his mindscape, he might survive.

A mage’s mindscape was built like a fortress. Nothing, not even the strongest of creatures, could breach it. Therefore, it was his only hope for survival. Ignoring the fear, anxiety, and everything in between, he meditated.

Meanwhile, on the far side of his mindscape, in a secluded corner, a lustrous mask flickered. After sending the memories that Gale had imbued in it, the mask had gone inert.

However, sensing Zephyr’s unrelenting will, it stirred.

Floating alone, it released a subtle thread of mana into the mindscape.

When Zephyr was losing all hope, he sensed the thread of mana. The mana was clear, distinct, and extremely potent.

It felt as though a new, unknown mana core had manifested in his mindscape, responding to his call.

’UH!’

Zephyr’s vision had entirely blackened. He couldn’t see anything. Still, his senses picked up the mana thread, responding to his summons.

He instinctively pushed his senses towards it.

He wanted to grab it.

Sensing his excitement, the mana thread steadily took form, inching closer and closer to his extended palm.

From the outside, Zephyr looked frozen in time. His body was trembling but not moving an inch. His raised arm was still frozen near his head. His legs were anchored to the stone pillar.

He was looking at the horizon, his eyes almost fully turning red.

But...

Just as he was about to lose all control, the thread of mana flowed into his body.

Like a field in drought being irrigated. Like a thirsty man finally getting a drop to drink. His body absorbed the mana, sending it to all parts of his body.

"HMMM..."

The small stream of mana turned into a torrent. It released a slight hum, covering his entire body in a silvery flash of light.

Then...

"TUN!"

A sound similar to metal colliding with metal was heard.

"TUN! TUN! TUN!"

Something moved into place, joining together.

Within a second, multiple distinct clangs greeted his ears.

Suddenly, Zephyr felt the weight of his body. His vision, which had been blocked, swiftly returned.

"SLAP!"

"TUN!"

"GASP."

The hand that he had raised to slap his face finally collided. Zephyr gasped for air but was shocked to hear a metallic thump from near his ear.

There was no pain!

He was shocked.

Shaking his head, he brought his arms forward.

"Uh!!!"

He was confused.

"How?"

There were two arms!

Two arms covered in metallic armor in front of him.

Besides the fact that he wasn’t supposed to have two arms, the armor shocked him to the core. It looked like basic plate armor, covering his entire body. It didn’t have any detailed engravings or any notable features. But how did it materialize over his body so suddenly?

His mind took a second to process it. Then, he remembered the metallic mask.

The only liquid metal thing he had seen was the mask. It had jumped onto his body and crawled into his mindscape when he touched it.

Naturally, the mask had something to do with what was happening.

’Wait a minute. If the armor covers everything...’ He lifted his hand to touch his head.

As expected, it was fully covering his head, even his face, with no exposed holes to breathe or even see.

’...why can I see everything?’

’And...’ He looked at his left hand.

It was something that shouldn’t be there. Still, he could feel and move it around just fine.

"How?"

The arm that had been sliced off suddenly appeared, taking him by surprise. He couldn’t believe it.

At the same time, a sense of relief washed over him.

Somehow, he regained control over his body and mind.

His attention focused on the armor for just a second before turning to look at his surroundings. He wanted to make sure he was safe.

"Uh!"

He didn’t exactly know how much time had passed.

Far away, on the western horizon, he noticed the sun slowly sinking behind the mountains.

"We began the smoke operation when it was almost noon. It ended a few minutes later. I was frozen here for too long," Zephyr mumbled anxiously.

When he was half delirious, he had failed to sense the passing of time. Moving from one thought to another, he had wasted a lot of time.

The proof was before him.

The flickering flames and smoke seemed to have entirely disappeared from the village. He couldn’t see anything except for the carcasses of the rabbits.

"The friggin armor saved me."

Zephyr ran his hand over his face and felt the contours of the helmet covering his face. It was smooth, polished to perfection. It was nothing like the carefully engraved mask.

The mask had detailed engravings all over it. Although he didn’t know what they meant or how they were created, he should have felt small bumps if the mask had materialized over his face or the helmet.

’It’s some kind of ability it must have had.’

Zephyr stretched his body, feeling strength bubbling in his muscles. It felt as though he could jump off the ten-meter-tall stone pillar and survive.

He stretched his neck, looking down at the ground.

It was an insane thought for an untrained mage like Zephyr.

’I feel like I can do it.’

The thought perfectly aligned with him. He was the crazy kind who would have similar thoughts. Zephyr knew he was not being influenced by something again.

’Anyways, what was it?’

He could still vividly remember what happened to his body and mind. The thoughts that flowed through his mind—and finally, how he had blamed everything on Tom—were perfectly stored in his memory.

’It was such an absurd claim. Normally, I would have never... So, what was it?’

’The malicious thoughts, asking to kill Tom for something he had no relation to. What was it?’

Zephyr’s fist tightened.

For someone like him, who prided himself on the ability to think rationally, it was a hard blow.

Beneath the armor, his knuckles turned white.

’Fuck sanity,’ he silently cursed.

’Now that I think about it, everyone likes to blame Tom for everything. Is there some kind of reason behind it? Was everyone already insane?’

It was suspicious. His thoughts had flown around into unrelated topics—for possibly hours—before reaching an insane conclusion that someone unrelated was behind everything that happened.

’I think I left behind ’normal’ back home when I came to this world.’

Everything that happened up to this point was abnormal.

’I was becoming something akin to the berserk rabbit, with the only thought of murder running through my mind. And I wanted to murder Tom.’

’The thing that affected my mind seems to hate Tom.’

Although he didn’t know what it was, it was a reasonable assumption to make.

’Hates Tom. Wants everyone to hate Tom. Can convert mana beasts and monsters into berserk creatures.’

’Most likely, the sudden monster attack that happened six months ago had something to do with it.’

’Also, the rabbits must have been somehow controlled to kill Tom’s daughter. That’s one heck of a grudge.’

’Tom lost his reputation. Everyone banded together to call him a jinx. Then he lost his daughter. Later, his wife even abandoned him.’

Zephyr paused, remembering something.

’Didn’t Moss say that monsters were targeting the group Tom was in? But every time, Tom survived. That’s also suspicious.’

’Both Tom and the thing that has a grudge with him are turning the village into hell.’

Zephyr’s eyes moved to look at the hole far away in the distance. The giant hole in the ground looked like a dungeon entrance.

’Apparently, now there is even a dungeon in the mix.’

"Sigh."

Zephyr didn’t know what to do.

Did Aurelia and Elenor fall into madness? Did everyone in the village turn into mindless berserk creatures?

The questions hung heavily on his mind. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Zephyr stretched his arm and jumped down the pillar. Now, nothing was stopping him from thinking straight. There was no point in staying on the pillar anymore.

Instead of being a sitting duck, he was ready to investigate.

Leaving alone was not an option. Monsters were surrounding the village. Also, he didn’t know when the damned master of the necromancer would come find him.

He needed Aurelia and Elenor. So, the only option left was finding them.

"THUMP!"

His body heavily collided with the ground.

Zephyr crouched to absorb the weight. Then he stood up as if jumping down from a ten-meter-tall pillar didn’t even faze him.

Looking at the ground, seeing the deep imprint his armored foot left behind, he smirked.

"That’s good to know."

The armor was enhancing his physique.

He looked up at the top of the pillar, an urge rising within him.

Silently, contemplating for a second, he jumped.

"Swish."

His feet left the ground instantaneously, his body soaring upwards.

Zephyr felt his body slow down and extended his hand, grasping the top edge of the pillar. Pulling with a single hand, he climbed onto it.

"This is too good to be true. Never in my life was luck on my side."

Feeling the strength flowing through his muscles, he frowned.