Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 202

‘I don’t think tracking them will be difficult. The real question is, who are they trying to lure out by doing this?’

If the Cartel wanted something, they should have sent their demands the moment they succeeded in kidnapping Jordan.

At the very least, they should have gone beyond the warnings they sent to Jenny and actively tried to shut down the business.

But the fact that they’re continuing to act this way means they’re using Jordan as bait to lure someone out.

Renok thought it was highly likely that someone was him.

‘Among the forces gathered at the bar, I’m the most likely one to find Jordan, being a mage. This whole situation is a setup intentionally created by them.’

In the end, it means the Cartel never intended to negotiate with Renok from the start.

It wasn’t surprising.

Everyone in this world knew that once you start something, you have to see it through to the end, one way or another.

The Cartel simply didn’t like the ending Renok or Jenny had in mind.

Even though Renok was well aware of all these facts, he moved alone instead of calling others to reinforce their forces.

There was a chance that all of his assumptions were just a wild goose chase. He wasn’t willing to risk Jordan’s life on that slim possibility.

Even if Renok made a mistake while tracking Jordan, someone else had to look for other possibilities.

That was the reason why they had split up into five directions to search for Jordan.

‘It’s better this way.’

Renok’s eyes turned cold.

‘It’s better to settle this once and for all here.’

Did Ban, the mage, have the qualifications to challenge the order of this underworld?

Today, Renok intended to prove it himself, right here.

“I’ve arrived.”

Passing by the stench of blood, Renok looked up at the dark building.

“A school…?”

Of course, there was no way a normal educational facility would remain in District 40.

An old school building that had long lost its function and was abandoned.

If it was a gloomy building where no one else went, it would be the perfect place to hide something while avoiding prying eyes.

Renok had also investigated similar buildings while chasing after wanted criminals.

He could only hope that Jordan wasn’t lying among the countless traces of corpses he had passed by.

‘My condition isn’t great. I need to finish this as quickly as possible.’

His condition wasn’t good because he had come straight here after his fight with Antares.

The massive amount of magic and mental power consumed by deploying the magnetic field, along with the aftereffects of the elixirs he had taken as a doping, were eating away at Renok.

Even considering the speed at which his magic was recovering within his body, he needed to avoid combat as much as possible.

‘Let’s focus on support magic. It’s been a while.’

Click!

As he restored the sniper rifle he had shrunk on his wrist, Renok narrowed the range of his magic detection.

He narrowed the sensory range that had been spread over several kilometers to the inside of the old school building, focusing and maximizing his magic sensitivity.

Renok, who instantly pierced through the unknown, intangible magic surrounding the old school building, immediately began to detect the presence of living beings.

“…Found them.”

Third floor, infirmary.

They had hidden their presence behind layers of old curtains and a barrier, but they couldn’t fool Renok’s senses.

A figure faintly wriggling with their limbs bound. And a very familiar magic pattern.

Confirming that Jordan was alive, Renok calmly finished sensing the presence around the old school building.

It was difficult to guess the specific level because they had put up multiple barriers and hidden their presence, but he could guess the number.

At the very least, there were twenty or more people spread out widely around the old school building, watching in all directions.

It was as if they were waiting for someone to come here, rather than guarding the hostage.

As expected, the Cartel had anticipated that Renok would come here.

Having confirmed that, Renok immediately picked up his phone and contacted his companions.

He wanted to call all four people he had mobilized for this, but the moment he realized they had set up a trap, he had to pay extra attention to the defenses at the bar.

He called Killian and Weyan, who had worked with him before, to come here, and sent a message to the two mercenaries to return to the bar.

‘Should I reduce their numbers a bit while I wait for reinforcements?’

The moment Renok thought that and put his eye to the scope of his rifle.

“Ban?”

Weyan, who had appeared from behind, widened his eyes.

“……”

It had been about two minutes since he had narrowed the range of his magic detection to grasp the presence in the old school building.

Did he run across the gap of several kilometers in that instant?

It seemed he hadn’t even read the message Renok had sent yet.

“How did you know to come here?”

“What? Isn’t that what I should be asking? This area was originally supposed to be my search area, right?”

Weyan said, scratching his head.

“As I was recalling Jordan’s magic and trying to get a sense of direction, I started to get a feeling around here.”

“You got a feeling?”

“It’s also thanks to you, Ban. I’ve been trying to follow your advice to focus on magic sensitivity, and I’ve developed a pretty decent skill.”

“……”

He hadn’t forgotten the advice Renok had casually given and had been working hard on it until now?

The magic sensitivity Weyan possessed was at an incredible level even in Renok’s eyes, but his actual abilities were far below that talent.

But despite that, he had been exploring ways to maximize his magic sensitivity while working as a mercenary.

Perhaps the reason he was able to arrive here at a similar time as Renok was because this old school building was in the direction Weyan was in charge of, and also because of his magic sensitivity, which was comparable to Renok’s.

Having understood that, Renok immediately took out his phone again.

After telling Killian, who was probably on his way after receiving the message, that he would go in first, he turned to Weyan.

“Okay. I’ll explain what I’ve found out so far. We need some simple preparations.”

“Leave it to me.”

Weyan smiled as he slowly stretched his body.

“Finally, the day has come to work with you again.”

* * *

The evening sky, darkened by the night.

Two figures fearlessly penetrated the old school building, cutting through the cold air.

Weyan was sprinting relentlessly along the edge of the vast schoolyard.

And Renok, who was panting and hiding in the shadows of the wall, presented a contrasting image.

The difference in numbers was an absolute disadvantage for them.

But with Renok’s abilities, there was no need to give much meaning to the number of enemies.

In the end, what was important in this situation was to safely secure Jordan’s safety and to roughly estimate the Cartel’s strength.

While Weyan drew attention from the front, Renok would rescue Jordan and escape.

At the same time, the goal was to figure out the identity of the person in charge of the Cartel who had kidnapped Jordan this time.

‘In the end, it depends on how well Weyan can buy time…’

Dre had emphasized that Weyan’s abilities had grown to a different dimension, but it was difficult to accurately gauge his level without actually fighting alongside him.

The skill or level of a magic user was not something that could be measured by simple magic power or talent.

That was why Renok had no choice but to assign Weyan a relatively simple task that was easy to back out of if necessary.

Fortunately, Weyan’s growth didn’t seem to be limited to just magic sensitivity.

His speed as he sprinted through the old school building without taking out the tonfas [a type of Okinawan weapon] hanging from his waist was quite fast, even to Renok’s casual observation.

The power exerted by a physical ability user who had enhanced their leg strength with magic was on a different level from that of an ordinary human.

Even though he had deliberately run around the schoolyard to show off, there was no way they wouldn’t notice Weyan approaching the old school building in an instant.

From all over the old school building, which had been as silent as death, all sorts of attacks began to pour down on Weyan with sharp noises.

Bullets and blades of all calibers. They didn’t discriminate between magic spells and magic bullets.

It was evidence that the combat abilities of the Cartel’s members were not consistent and were distributed in various ways.

The rough and fierce barrage, like a bombardment, was because they had confirmed that Weyan was not Renok.

But Weyan was subtly dodging all those flashes of death by slightly twisting his body while running.

Du du du du du du du!!!

“Hoo.”

Renok inadvertently let out an exclamation at the movement.

He realized that Weyan wasn’t just shaking his body relying on luck, but was calculating the route through a thorough probabilistic calculation.

Most of the Cartel members hiding near the old school building were at a height of one floor or more, in other words, they were looking down at the schoolyard after securing a certain altitude.

Weyan had guessed that fact to some extent and was deliberately deceiving the opponent’s eyes by moving between the shadows that had fallen on the schoolyard.

Even if he only ran through the shadows or the parts where the light was shining, it would be easy to get used to it, but if he alternated between the shadows and the parts where the light was shining, his movements would inevitably look somewhat disjointed.

“If there was someone who could clearly distinguish that difference, they wouldn’t be lurking in this old school building… It was quite a sharp deduction.”

It wasn’t something that could be done just by being quick-witted.

To accurately calculate the timing of jumping between shadows and put it into action, he would have to thoroughly understand his physical abilities and apply them to reality.

That was proof that Weyan had been training himself for a long time.

Thinking that, Renok immediately took out his rifle while hiding in the shade.

Click!!

[Aim Correction]

[Trajectory Manipulation]

[Multiple Shots]

[Ricochet Activation]

[8-Round Burst]

The more his understanding of magic increased and his imagination pushed its limits.

The things he could do with the same gun continued to increase.

The shooting support magic that Renok was building up on his gun was now gradually surpassing the memories of the former magic gunner.

At the same time as Weyan appeared, he captured, memorized, and aimed at all the directions from which the attacks were coming.

With the help of Davi’s calculation power, he corrected the trajectory and manipulated the magic as it was.

Fire.

To tong!!

Eight bullets, hiding their presence with Nix’s emblem and silencing their sound with sound magic, skimmed low across the ground, gathered at one point, and then exploded.

The fragments of the bullets that had gathered at one point and exploded scattered in all directions, redrawing dozens of trajectories.

They were shot out all over the old school building and began to pierce the heads of unknown people.

Perbeobeobeok!!

“Ugh…!!”

“Kkeuek…”

The faint sounds of flesh tearing and screams coming from afar.

Ignoring Weyan’s gaze as he looked around in shock, Renok immediately entered the old school building first.

With Weyan’s magic sensitivity, he would be able to notice how Renok had manipulated the magic just now.

If so, he would realize that Renok had taken care of a significant number of the Cartel’s members to make it easier for him to buy time.

In the meantime, Renok would rescue Jordan from the third-floor infirmary and quickly retreat.

Renok’s mobility was incomparable to Weyan’s, but he had no choice because he could do much more.

‘So far, it’s going pretty well…’

With Nix’s emblem, which artificially mixes presence, and Renok’s magic manipulation ability, the opponent wouldn’t even be able to notice Renok’s existence.

He walked leisurely among the Cartel members who were focused on Weyan, putting a bullet in each of their temples.

Among the corpses of the members who didn’t understand what had happened until the moment they died, Renok picked up a wireless earphone and immediately put it in his ear and headed for the infirmary.

[That kid didn’t do anything, and more than ten people are already dead!!]

[Damn it, damn it…!! He must have already entered the building. Move quickly!!]

[If we don’t do as planned, we’ll all have our faces skinned by the boss… Please…!!]

From the voices buzzing through the earphone, Renok quickly extracted information.

More than ten casualties just now. A plan of some kind exists. A boss called ‘boss’. A psychopath who likes to skin faces?

[Wait, waaaait!! Usman, Jalen, and Jonathan aren’t responding!!]

[The internal surveillance force has also been hit. He’s listening to this right now…!!]

[Cut the line right now. Right now!!!]

Beep-!!

“So, they’re not complete pushovers after all…”

They were checking not only each other’s safety but also whether the communication network was working properly in real-time?

It was proof that they had not just filled their numbers but had undergone systematic training, assuming collective action.