Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 356

Lenok confirmed a few more details from the man’s memories and stood up.

He didn’t forget to place his hand on the forehead of the man, who was now slumped and dazed, to end his life.

Considering he was a troublesome opponent, it was a clean death, but time was too precious to linger in such a place.

The reason to meet the Ascender. The story about the tool for the answer he would gift was interesting, but he had to put those thoughts aside for now.

There couldn’t be much time left before the gate fully opened.

He had to move before others discovered Lenok and Evelyn’s presence.

As Lenok ended the man’s life, the image of the scales where the two had been standing faintly blurred, and the labyrinth’s appearance emerged.

Within the blurring area, Lenok sensed someone’s gaze, but instead of confronting them, he stood up and touched his left eye.

‘Hoo…’

‘It’s over?’

Evelyn, who had been standing beside him, approached Lenok and asked.

‘What about that woman from before?’

Instead of answering, Evelyn raised a finger and pointed to the inside wall of the gate.

The slumped figure of a warrior. Three arrows were lodged in his chest, clearly indicating the cause of death.

Lenok understood the situation upon seeing this and nodded.

‘They were waiting without touching the area.’

‘Just in case. Should I have intervened first?’

‘No, your judgment was correct. He was a more difficult opponent than I thought. If we had rashly interfered, things would have become more complicated.’

‘That’s because you were just observing this guy’s domain,’ Evelyn said, sighing and nudging Lenok’s shoulder.

Lenok staggered from the push, scratching his cheek.

‘That… I have no excuse. But this guy succeeded in directly implementing a new possibility of the self-domain with just an artifact and a few geas [magical compulsions]. I couldn’t just pass that by without confirming it.’

An artifact that borrowed another person’s domain. And the efforts he had put in to use that artifact perfectly left a considerable impression on Lenok.

Lenok had dismissed the possibility when he killed him, but perhaps the path he had chosen was a new possibility for ascending higher without completing the hierarchy.

From the dead man’s grasp, Lenok, holding a complexly rotating crystal ball, straightened up.

He looked for other useful items, but there were no special ones.

Perhaps the man had foreseen his death in this labyrinth and had already stashed away his valuables. It was impossible to know now.

Evelyn watched Lenok from behind, shaking her head slightly.

‘You’ve just been lucky so far. I know your curiosity is considerable… but if you don’t want to die, it’s better to restrain yourself a little.’

‘……’

‘Can you guarantee that you won’t ruin things in a life-or-death battle because of a moment of curiosity?’

Lenok couldn’t answer Evelyn’s words and closed his mouth.

He had won almost every battle, without any waste or emotional expenditure, yet he knew there were moments when he couldn’t control his thirst for magic.

But how could he explain to Evelyn that he couldn’t overlook any possibility if he wanted to reach the end someday?

Evelyn, seeing Lenok’s expression, started walking with a helpless smile.

‘Well, that’s why we’re moving in teams like this, to make up for those points.’

‘Evelyn…’

‘So, even if something like that happens in this labyrinth, I’ll help you.’

Lenok silently watched Evelyn’s back as she walked ahead.

It had been quite some time since he had known her, but Evelyn hadn’t changed.

That unchanging aspect was what was gradually changing Lenok’s attitude towards her.

‘Let’s move quickly. It seems like there’s really not much time left.’

‘……Okay. Let’s go.’

The gate behind Lenok and Evelyn was faintly shaking.

The outcome of the chaotic battle that had begun with the key in the circular room was about to be decided.

‘Even so, the time spent at the gate is excessively short.’

The time it took for Lenok and Evelyn to deal with the treasure hunter they encountered right after passing through the gate was less than 20 minutes.

They had expected those inside the gate to be fighting for at least an hour, but the speed at which the labyrinth entrants were being eliminated was quite fast.

‘Is it because the balance of power is relatively skewed, or is it…’

‘Evan?’

At Evelyn’s words, Lenok stopped thinking and started walking quickly.

Beyond the gate, past the empty open space, was the entrance to the deeper part of the labyrinth.

After passing through the arched main gate, the two were slightly taken aback by the sight that unfolded before them.

‘This is…’

‘Now it’s starting to look like a labyrinth.’

The structure was very different from the long, dark corridors they had seen before.

The width of the path had widened considerably, and there were more twists, turns, and forks in the deeper section.

Moreover, all the paths they could see were moving and changing in real-time, altering directions and creating new paths.

Kugugugugugugugu!!!

The large-scale structural changes that occurred periodically outside the labyrinth were constantly being reproduced inside, continuously altering the internal structure and paths.

‘Now I understand why the explorers who died in the labyrinth didn’t have maps of the interior…’

Lenok muttered, flipping through the explorers’ notebooks he had acquired in the labyrinth.

‘It was a system that didn’t allow for the creation of maps in the first place.’

‘Like the appearance of the first gate, it seems to be designed so that you can’t pass through without trial and error…’

Evelyn said, then clapped her hand as if she had realized something.

‘Could it be that the trial and error itself is what Jintun intended?’

‘……’

‘Evan, if what you said is true, then the intention behind the labyrinth’s gates and mazes is closely related to Jintun’s mental image.’

‘I don’t think that’s impossible. However…’

Even in this situation, Evelyn, who calls him Evan halfway out of concern, is quite quick to grasp the essence of the labyrinth.

However, Lenok thought that if Jintun really intended to focus on the trial and error itself, it would have been difficult to even enter the labyrinth.

But if the labyrinth entry itself was relatively easy, then there might be another reason.

However, instead of sharing that thought with Evelyn, Lenok took out his monocular.

There was no point in dwelling on unresolved questions and seeking answers here.

The important thing was to move forward as quickly as possible, having taken the lead over others.

‘Are you going to use that after all?’

‘In a labyrinth where magic detection doesn’t work well, we’ll have to go through trial and error to find our way, as you said. I can only hope it will help us until the next gate.’

He placed his left eye against the lens of the monocular and activated his magic eye again.

Immediately after, the scenery in one corner of the labyrinth faintly distorted, and someone’s figure appeared again.

Past the blond boy, the figure of a young man who had aged and matured.

The face, which had been somewhat innocent, had become much calmer, making it difficult to read his emotions now.

The young man, as if knowing that Lenok was watching, glanced back at him and started walking towards one side of the labyrinth.

‘……Let’s go.’

Lenok silently put his eye to the monocular and started walking after the young man.

He couldn’t be sure why this was possible in this labyrinth, or what the young man’s figure he was seeing meant.

He simply accepted that anything could happen within the Ascender’s ideological domain.

He was used to not having clear answers to his questions.

The answers Lenok wanted always came at unexpected moments and in different forms than he expected.

Lenok knew that the important thing was not to dwell on the immediate questions, but to assess what he could do and set a direction.

If he walked without wavering, he would eventually be able to confirm whether his answer was right or wrong.

Lenok could only move forward, hoping that the time he had spent had not wavered either.

Evelyn was watching Lenok’s back with a slightly subdued gaze.

* * *

[……]

‘What’s wrong?’

[If this continues, the plan will be a bit off…]

‘Plan?’

[I’ll explain later. For now, passing through the labyrinth is the priority.]

The fur ball, speaking in the doctor’s voice, floated up and followed Maiya.

Maiya looked at the fur ball with a displeased expression before abruptly getting up.

It had been two days since they had easily passed through the first gate and entered the more complex inner labyrinth.

They had often encountered dead ends, but surprisingly, Maiya was able to find her way without much wandering.

[There’s a scent. Let’s go in a different direction.]

‘Okay.’

The existence of this fur ball, which was constantly shedding fur next to Maiya, was helping her avoid walking the same path twice in the labyrinth.

‘I didn’t think such an old-fashioned method would work in the Hanghasa Labyrinth. If I had known, I would have tried the labyrinth once before.’

[Considering why Jintun built this labyrinth, it’s only natural.]

The fur ball replied in a calm tone.

[The labyrinth’s pattern itself is so complex that it surpasses the 11th-dimensional function, and even my calculation device cannot predict the pattern, but it doesn’t hinder the attempt to find a path.]

‘There’s another meaning. What is it?’

[It’s because that is the way Zaigis Ithernoer lived his life.]

‘……’

[This grand labyrinth is the ideological boundary that perfectly recreates the scenery of his life and the mental images accumulated from it. He lived in an era of constant change, making it difficult to predict what would happen next, but he never stopped looking back at the past. It contains the heart of a transcendent.]

Maiya’s eyebrows twitched at the unexpectedly serious answer.

‘Doctor, I didn’t know you respected Jintun so much. Isn’t the epitome of the old-fashionedness you hate someone like Zaigis Ithernoer?’

Even within Pandemonium, the doctor was one of the oddballs who occupied a somewhat special position along with the spider.

Not many people liked his unique, extreme way of thinking and his research direction that had abandoned ethics.

However, he was a typical sociopath who silenced others with his thinking, vision, and undeniable results that were different from other powerful transcendents.

It was a very high evaluation, considering it came from him, who acknowledged and accepted the immediate superiority but never looked up to his opponents.

[You’re seriously mistaken. They are worthy of respect simply for having the qualifications to challenge ascension. That means they are truly ready to give an answer that transcends the timeline of this world… To grasp the status that encompasses both the past and the future, you need that kind of resolve.]

‘……You talk as if you know a lot about ascension.’

[Heh heh, was that an uncomfortable conversation? Considering the Makina’s ascension gate, it’s understandable. Isn’t the reason you ended up here to fix that grand failure?]

‘……’

Having confirmed that Maiya’s expression had hardened, the fur ball naturally changed the subject.

[Zaigis Ithernoer’s actions before becoming an Ascender are relatively well-preserved, and based on that, we can roughly guess what kind of life he lived. And the more you know about the Ascender, the more you realize.]

‘What?’

[What it means to have the qualifications to challenge fate.]

‘……’

[There are less than ten people left in this world who have those qualifications. Aren’t you curious about what decision a transcendent who has lived for hundreds of years would make?]

The fur ball floating behind Maiya said in a low and soft tone.

[All the answers are waiting ahead. All we have to do is cross the labyrinth that does not reject those who approach.]

* * *

A black flash cuts through the dark maze.

Bang!

With a low explosion, the statue blocking the corridor shattered, and the stone lions crumbled.

‘It feels like the traps are getting more intense,’ Evelyn grumbled, turning her shoulder, but Lenok shook his head at her words.

‘There’s no way to avoid it. We’ll have to deal with these obstacles in some way.’

‘Those who came in groups are definitely at a disadvantage. Should we consider it lucky that Lapis divided us into teams beforehand?’

Evelyn said, turning her gaze towards the countless blades that were protruding from the wall.

Not only the place where the two were standing, but also every corner of the path they had passed was crushed and broken.

The walls and floors were rising, and the ceiling was slamming down.

The labyrinth itself was structurally narrowing the space, making it impossible for multiple people to move together.

If they had managed to maintain their numbers while entering the depths of the labyrinth, it meant that each individual was highly skilled, but that also meant they were subject to stronger spatial restrictions.

They could withstand this level of traps and space reduction, but eventually, as they went deeper, they would have to divide their numbers and reduce their headcount.

‘The number of people following us has increased. It seems like some forces have finished their trial and error and are starting to get a grasp of things.’

Evelyn said, pressing her ear to the floor and concentrating.

Magic detection didn’t work well in the labyrinth filled with the Ascender’s magic, but even so, the vibrations emanating from the transcendents using their powers echoed through the labyrinth.

While Lenok was leading the way, Evelyn was using her sharp senses as an archer to check the number of people following from behind.

‘It’s okay. It seems like we’re getting close to the second gate.’

‘That’s a relief.’

‘And… I think the third one will be the last gate.’

Lenok’s eyes, looking into the monocular, calmly sank.

The illusion that had become a young man after breaking through the first gate had already changed into the figure of a middle-aged man.

Considering the speed at which the time of the man who appeared to be an illusion was flowing, he would already be an old man by the time they approached the third gate.

If this illusion was showing the time of one person as it was, then there was a high possibility that the next gate would be the last.

That meant that Jintun Zaigis Ithernoer had designed this labyrinth based on breaking through three gates.

Not nine, which meant level 9, nor ten, which meant true ascension, but three.

WORLD 3.0. The third world.

The three gates created by Jintun’s Hanghasa Labyrinth.

Would it be a mistake to think that the number contained a meaning that Lenok knew?

‘……That can’t be.’

‘Ban, what was that?’

‘We’ve arrived. Get ready.’

Lenok said, moving to the center of the maze that branched into three paths.

At that moment, as if the space had changed, a vast universe appeared, revealing its form.

In the vast emptiness that could be mistaken for a recreation of the night sky, a small door, floating high in the distance, was faintly glowing.

The ground where Lenok and Evelyn were located, and the doorknob floating at the end of the sky.

And between them, countless floating rocks were drifting.

From a width that one person could barely step on to a vast size that was almost like Lapis’s floating island, various blocks were floating in the air.

Hanghasa Labyrinth. It was the beginning of the second gate.