Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 109

[Helix Wind]

Whizzzz!

An invisible vortex, condensed from the air, instantly pierced the mage’s abdomen.

The flesh twisted inward, a spiral squeezing out internal organs and blood.

The mage screamed silently, yet didn’t give up, reaching for Lennox, but.

A shadow emerged from the darkness, faster, snatching his thin forearm.

Thwack!

“Kaaack…!!”

The mage, hanging grotesquely with one arm raised, was covered in blood in an instant.

“I’ll ask one last time.”

Lennox asked.

“Zaun Odis. Where is he?”

“Heh, heh heh…!! Kill me!!”

“………”

What Lennox needed wasn’t the mage’s cynical retort, but the desperate acceptance of death in his eyes.

Only after confirming the firm resolve in his gaze was genuine did Lennox nod.

This was enough.

This mage had no idea the cipher key they had stolen was fake.

There was no chance of the operation going wrong.

He exchanged glances with Hina and sighed.

“Hoo… Okay.”

Inefficient stubbornness.

However, Lennox understood his decision.

He didn’t know what kind of life the mage in front of him had lived.

The mage’s strong mentality and cheerfulness, the seriousness of not losing his attitude towards life even in the face of death, might have been possible because he belonged to a terrorist organization.

Lennox could accept that kind of life and those values, but.

He had no intention of respecting it.

Woo-oong!!

He channeled his magic to the fullest and forced it into the limp mage’s mouth.

A powerful stream of magic, still potent, penetrated deep into the mage’s body, causing his blood-soaked face to tremble.

He seized the source of magic flowing through his body and twisted it.

It was a magical interference he hadn’t used in a long time.

Moreover, it was an interference applied while two flows were simultaneously in contact.

The powerful magic manipulation ability he had built through constant research, and the incredibly high magic sensitivity, reacted simultaneously, instantly placing all the magic the mage possessed into Lennox’s hands.

If you thought about it theoretically, it was practically the same as holding a person’s entire existence in your hands.

Apart from the growth of the magic Lennox wielded, his magic manipulation ability was increasingly reaching a realm that even he himself could not understand.

A vague conviction that he could distinguish between what he could do and what he couldn’t. And a faint belief that the things he could do were increasing.

The power of domination, based on a rare talent, was now entangling even the roots of a mage of a similar level to him.

“Keugh, uh-eugh…”

The magic that was essential for him to exist as a mage was completely seized.

He probably felt as if his entire existence, from head to toe, was in someone’s hands.

The mage’s face, with his eyes wide open, unable to believe what was happening to him.

Looking down at his face, which was losing focus and blurring, Lennox spoke quietly.

“If you’ve lied since you entered this room, tell me.”

“………”

“Now.”

A moment of silence.

And a flame of life that blazed brightly at the moment of death.

The mage, looking up at Lennox’s face with a gaze that was clearer than ever, slowly nodded.

“This is… magic.”

“………”

“Ah, Master…..”

Lennox closed his eyes.

Crack!

The shadow shook greatly, and another life perished in Lennox’s hands.

Lennox, who straightened his coat, immediately left the back room and said to Hina.

“The next time we contact each other will be after the assembly point is decided.”

“…Of course.”

#

“It’s more than the rumors.”

The back room where Lennox had left.

The cleanup crew removing the corpse, and Hina watching them.

A gloomy-looking young man who appeared from behind her muttered.

His tall stature, as if his head would touch the ceiling, was impressive.

“I had heard that he was bold and intelligent, but I didn’t know that his skills were this certain.”

“………”

“That last thing was probably a warning to you, Hina.”

Desert.

“I know.”

Hina, who replied with an unpleasant expression, shut her mouth tightly.

“Isn’t it interesting?”

The young man continued, smirking.

“That someone like him has been buried in the wilderness all this time, and that he has started to make a name for himself at such a chaotic time.”

“………Do you think there’s a special reason?”

“I don’t want to make up a plausible excuse. However, it wouldn’t be strange if there was a reason that matched his ability.”

A gleam of light flashed in the darkness.

“Aren’t you curious about what that reason is?”

“………”

It had only been once that she had worked with Lennox, but Hina was acutely aware of how different the mage named Ban was.

Even in this city overflowing with all sorts of oddballs and superhumans, he was a freelancer who was standing out purely with his own skills.

Moreover, a mage who was not affiliated with a specific organization or group, and who preferred to move alone.

It could be said to be inefficient, but as a result, it was an undeniable fact that it contributed to making the name Ban more widely known.

Even the agents, when investigating Lennox, the first things they learned were about his eccentric behavior and the overwhelming results that suppressed that behavior.

However, the young man was arguing that they needed to delve deeper than what was visible on the surface.

About the secret that the talented mage possessed.

Hina realized the meaning of what the young man was saying and faintly frowned.

“You need an accomplice.”

“To be precise, we need someone to make excuses with after the team leader finds out,” the young man said, chuckling.

“You know that the team leader likes that guy.”

“………So?”

“I understand how he feels. It’s been over three months since Halliban, who was the only mage who could go out into the field, was torn to pieces and died. From the team leader’s point of view, he must be desperate for a mage who can participate in the operation.”

“………”

“However, in order to join our team, shouldn’t we check if he has the qualifications and character to do so?”

At that blatant question, Hina frowned instead of answering.

If she really didn’t like it, she would have cut it off and left no room for it, given her personality.

She, too, was strongly attracted to his ability, regardless of Ban’s character or actions.

The young man, realizing that fact, let out a low laugh and disappeared into the shadows.

Hina stared at the empty space for a moment, then picked up her clothes and left the back room.

#

[It’s been three days since the location tracking of the dummy data was completed.]

Beep!

Whoosh!

A truck sped across the desert, spewing thick sand dust.

Lennox was sitting on the back of the truck, staring blankly at the fading cityscape.

He had gone to the outskirts of the city a few times while traveling through the undeveloped areas, but it had been a long time since he had completely left the megacity like this.

The memory of that moment when he stole a strange car and entered the Balkan, trembling, still lingered vividly in Lennox’s memory.

Evelyn’s calm voice continued to be heard through the earphones.

[We’ve cross-verified the location information we’ve secured using all available means. This is solid information.]

[Basically, they’re well hidden, but the jamming is cut off for a very short time due to the desert heat they’re mixed in with. By focusing on taking satellite photos of that part, I got a sense of it.]

Evelyn’s words continued, but Lennox didn’t bother to reply.

The communication ringing in his ears now was not only for him, but also a set of instructions being delivered to all the team members participating in this operation.

He didn’t like the fact that the information restriction was lifted just before the operation started, but it wasn’t something he couldn’t understand for security reasons.

Besides, the other team members in the truck were also listening very intently to Evelyn’s communication.

“……..”

[The place we found by tracking the cipher key is the temporary base of the terrorist organization Falchion. It seems to be a place set up for material supply in order to deploy people in the Balkans.]

[There are two goals of the operation.]

Evelyn’s voice turned endlessly cold.

[Neutralize the power inside the base and secure the communication network to reverse-track Falchion’s headquarters.]

[The base commander, Daron, is away from the base to receive supplies. He’s a crazy guy who modifies his whole body with machines, and he’s rumored to be ferocious, so it’s better to finish the operation before he comes back.]

She said that and explained the specific details of the operation in a quick and concise tone.

These were the things that had already been mentioned to Lennox once.

Divided into three teams, 1, 2, and 3, with 1 and 3 taking the lead and retreat, and 2 taking the information and getting out while 1 and 3 neutralize the inside of the base.

It was natural that the attention would be focused on Lennox, the leader of team 2, in the process.

[The communication on this side is being cut off.]

Evelyn said.

[From now on, the operators waiting near the site will assist the operation. Good luck, then.]

Click!

At the same time as the communication was cut off, the truck stopped.

At the same time, three other trucks appeared through the sand dust.

The team members, who had gathered in the middle of the vast desert, slowly got out of the trucks and looked at each other.

“……..”

Lennox didn’t bother to step forward first, but sat on the truck and looked up at the sky.

A hot and extremely dry environment.

Even on such a clear day, the heat haze made it difficult to see part of the horizon properly.

It was fortunate that he could cool down and ventilate his body with public magic, otherwise he would have fainted in less than 30 minutes if he had stood here with his bare body.

As he was lost in such trivial thoughts and took out a cigarette from his pocket, a voice that sounded disgusted came from beside him.

“You really like cigarettes, don’t you? Do you really have to light one in this crazy weather?”

“………”

A young man with small scars on his face.

It was the pyrokineticist who had worked with him at the trade center last time.

Instead of answering, Lennox chuckled and lit his cigarette without a word.

“Hoo…..”

The young man, who was sitting awkwardly next to him, said.

“I’m a little sorry to bring this up, but can I ask what you’re planning to do in the future?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean… your mage is practically the core of this operation.”

The young man’s tone was quite polite, unlike before, but the content was hitting the nail on the head.