Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 383

Myung’s figure disappeared like a shadow.

Instead of chasing after him, Lenok stared blankly at the mask Myung had left behind.

“…….”

*He’s still someone whose true intentions are hard to read.*

Unlike Kroken, who doesn’t even seem like the same species, Myung doesn’t easily reveal his transcendent power.

He casually makes offers to Lenok, as if they were close friends, yet in a blunt manner. Several times.

Myung said this was his last offer, but did he really mean it? Lenok didn’t easily believe those words.

The obsession that the monstrous black magician showed towards Lenok was, even in Lenok’s opinion, extremely unusual.

It could mean that Myung highly values Lenok’s talent, but conversely, it could also be evidence that there are problems that cannot be solved without such talent.

If so, what kind of problems could be easily solved even with the power and wisdom of someone like Myung?

And where does the trajectory of resentment that the head of Pandemonium [a mysterious organization] and monsters like Myung draw at the end of the world reach?

In the end, to solve all these questions, it was necessary to know what Pandemonium wanted and what they were aiming for.

Thud!

“Len.”

Evelyn, who had opened the train car door and walked in, said.

Her face, looking down at Lenok, was slightly stiff.

“Just now, someone came and went?”

Did she vaguely notice the brief anomaly of Myung’s visit?

The intuition of an archer was indeed not an easy sense to dismiss.

Lenok was about to say something, but first, he lightly tapped the table opposite him.

“…Let’s sit down and talk.”

“Is something wrong…? It’s not, is it?”

Evelyn, looking at Lenok with a slightly uneasy gaze, picked up the newspaper.

The mask that had been placed next to the newspaper was nowhere to be seen.

* * *

Among the ruins of the collapsed Hanghasa Labyrinth.

A hollow sunk deep into the bedrock, so deep that not a single ray of light could penetrate.

A faint tremor echoed from the collapsed pipes where the gateway to the Cradle [a mysterious location] was located.

Tap, tap.

The sound, which at first seemed like simple noise, gradually increased in size, spreading vibrations.

Kooong!

Soon, it shattered a fallen stone pillar and turned into a roar.

“Hoo….”

Dust swirled incessantly in the dark hollow.

A voice, sounding somewhat relieved, echoed from within.

“Somehow, I managed to succeed.”

A naked young man emerged from the dust.

The man with striking black hair stared blankly at his exposed body before letting out a hollow laugh.

“I thought the body I prepared as a backup wouldn’t be in very good condition, but…”

The flesh that should have been attached to his ribs was torn off in patches, exposing his muscles and internal organs, and only bones remained in his two calves.

When he touched his face, he felt hard teeth instead of soft cheeks.

A severe injury that would have been enough to kill an ordinary human with shock from blood loss.

Yet, the man was able to move normally because it was an emergency body created with such a situation in mind.

The master of black magic and the founder of the consciousness transfer technique.

Ermong, a black magician who once dreamed of immortality by moving his body with only his consciousness, beyond his own body, had hidden a backup body among the group of evil god statues.

Ermong, who had successfully left Jaun’s body and taken over the backup body, avoiding Maiya’s surveillance, stretched with a refreshed face.

“Well, as long as I’m alive, that’s all that matters. Shall we go get my poor friend back?”

Although he had spoken as if Jaun’s existence was not that important to Lenok, Ermong had been keeping an eye on the gem mage from the beginning.

Various types of gems. Depending on their mystery and rarity, gem magic, which can exert power that surpasses the user’s own abilities, has infinite value depending on the user.

Jaun himself was short on money and didn’t have much wealth, so he couldn’t properly utilize his own magic, but Ermong was different.

Even if he just gave Jaun the gems piled up in the secret warehouse of the destroyed kingdom and the research lab of the already dead archmage, which remained in his memory, it would be of great help in achieving Ermong’s goals.

He had used up some important emotions on a whim, so he was a bit different from before, but it didn’t matter much.

The method of ‘using’ a worn-out human was, as always, abundant.

“The problem is how to get out of this hollow…”

Ermong, with his arms crossed, looked up at the blocked ruins of the hollow with a bewildered expression.

The ruins of the labyrinth, which had collapsed magnificently, had already collapsed beyond repair, buried deep underground, so deep that not a single ray of sunlight could penetrate.

Even if they dug in from the outside, if they projected force from the inside out, the barely created balance might collapse, and the entire hollow might be shattered.

The magic power remaining in the backup body was barely enough to keep the metabolism running smoothly.

Only then did Ermong belatedly realize his situation, and his complexion turned slightly pale.

“Wait, huh…? Could it be that I’m going to suffocate to death from lack of oxygen without even being able to get out…?”

“That won’t happen.”

Kugugugugu!!!

At that moment, along with the voice that came from behind Ermong, the ceiling of the hollow began to crack in half.

Black claws resembling sharp thorns grabbed the ruins of the hollow from both sides, creating a space to break through.

The face of a black demon giant peeking through the cool air pouring in.

Ermong silently looked up at the giant’s figure before turning his gaze behind him.

“I’ve been thinking that you might pull off a trick like this at least once.”

Myung, a black-haired young man with his arms crossed, smiled as he looked at Ermong.

“You were a Pandemonium person… You couldn’t have worse luck.”

Ermong slumped his shoulders with a dismayed expression.

Myung stared intently at that figure.

The two black-haired young men, who had turned their gazes towards each other.

The atmosphere of the two was eerily similar.

“Hmm?”

Ermong seemed to have noticed it as well, raising one eyebrow high.

“Are you, by any chance, my descendant?”

“You’re too late to notice.”

Myung, with a wry smile, gestured.

“Then let’s go up, ancestor.”

Charrrr!

The black giant grabbed Ermong’s body according to his will.

The chains hanging from the giant’s arm naturally bound Ermong, holding him so that he could not move at all.

Only then did Ermong quickly open his mouth, making a fuss.

“Wait, wait, wait!! No, as my descendant, shouldn’t you naturally take care of me first! Why Pandemonium?!”

“I don’t want to serve an old hag who’s been around for hundreds of years like a master.”

Myung answered indifferently as he climbed onto the giant’s arm.

“Besides, you’re not even the founder of our family.”

“Th-that’s… true.”

Although he hadn’t specifically mentioned it to Lenok in the train, the bloodline that Myung possessed was one of the most unique qualities in this world.

The five pure bloodlines that are officially recognized as the oldest mage families.

Myung and Ermong were related as ancestors and descendants, sharing one of those family trees.

Ermong, who was about to admit it willingly, suddenly came to his senses and shouted.

“S-still, please help me!!”

“……”

“If you’re my descendant, you’ll know who I am, and if you help me escape from that monster’s hands, I’ll reward you handsomely.”

“With that consciousness transfer technique you’re so proud of?”

“Uh, um…”

“Sorry, but I don’t need it. I already know it.”

Myung smiled as he looked at Ermong, who had lost his words.

“It seems like your head isn’t working well since you changed bodies, but you knew that the drug lord used that technique, didn’t you? I was the one who told him.”

“Th-that… to give a vision that is like the key to immortality to an outsider…”

“A vision? It seems like our ancestor really thought of that technique that way.”

Myung looked down at Ermong, who was foaming at the mouth and trying to resist, and smiled wryly.

“Because of that consciousness transfer technique you created, look what happened to our family… Haha, it’s really hard to understand people’s greed.”

“…What did you say?”

“It’s nothing. It’s just a waste of my breath now.”

As the black giant lifted his body up, the two quickly emerged from the labyrinth into the snowy field.

There were still people lingering among the ruins of the labyrinth, searching for any possible opportunities, but they didn’t notice the presence of the two at all.

Myung, who had reverse-summoned the giant, lightly snapped his fingers.

Kooong!!

Something black and thick fell right in front of Ermong.

“…What is this?”

“Can’t you tell by looking?”

Myung smiled.

“I’d like you to go in quietly and get some sleep.”

“No, this looks like I’m going to be sleeping forever…”

A large, black coffin.

The door of the coffin, engraved with a silver cross, was wide open in front of Ermong.

It looked as if it was waiting patiently with the door open, as if waiting for a new owner.

“Don’t worry too much.”

Myung, who had approached Ermong, patted him on the shoulder.

“There are a lot of people who want to see you. Go in and say hello in advance.”

Upon hearing those words, Ermong turned to look at Myung with an expression as if he had realized something.

A faint fear appeared on Ermong’s face.

“Wait, could it be that you… the family…!!”

Bang!!

Myung didn’t listen any further and kicked Ermong’s butt, putting him in the coffin.

The door closed in an instant, and the coffin sank into the ground and disappeared.

Myung silently watched the scene before letting out a deep sigh.

“This is getting tiring… I wish the task of recovering the family’s traces was over.”

How many things had happened, and how much time had passed, until the current existence of Myung was created, and until he had obtained this power.

There was no need to even mention it.

However, the days that had been buried in anger, frustration, depression, and downfall were bound to be forgotten in memory someday.

Even though Myung clearly knew that his distant ancestor, the black magician Ermong, whom he had just encountered, was the culprit of all this.

In the end, Myung had only grabbed him and thrown him into the coffin without saying anything.

“……”

All causes and grudges were the same.

As long as they were alive, as long as the river of time flowed normally, they were just the kind of things that could be washed away.

However, all of that was just an assumption that could only exist on top of a world that continued to exist.

The black magician’s eyes, looking at the snow-covered field, sank deeply.

The moment he took another step forward, there was no trace left in the ruins of the labyrinth.

* * *

Lenok and Evelyn stayed on the train for about two days and arrived near Balkan.

Poo-ooo-ooo!!

The train station, where trains ran incessantly.

The train, running through the vast, arid plateau, was passing through the railway station and the old castle that Lenok had passed by when he visited the autonomous territory before.

Lenok leaned against the railing outside the train and silently admired the surrounding scenery that was quickly passing by.

“Want to eat one?”

“Thank… hmm.”

Lenok accepted the food that Evelyn readily offered, but he paused slightly when he realized it was eggplant tempura.

He knew that they occasionally sold food on the train, but how did she manage to pick out only the most divisive foods?

“…I’ll eat it gratefully.”

Evelyn, who was looking at Lenok, who had started to eat the eggplant tempura with a picky expression, asked with a pleased look.

“What are you planning to do when you get back to Balkan?”

“First, I’ll check the situation at the company, and if there’s nothing wrong… I should rest a bit.”

Lenok answered, chewing and swallowing the tempura with a wry smile.

“I need to organize the inspiration I got from the labyrinth and refine the magic system once. It will probably take a considerable amount of time.”

“…Is that because it’s the answer you got from meeting Jintun?”

Evelyn asked cautiously.

Lenok nodded.

“Reaching level 8 is ultimately about narrowing down possibilities or expanding them immeasurably. The advice to discard something is, in a roundabout way, pointing out the core of the matter.”

Why was Lenok late in reaching the extreme realm despite his rapid growth so far?

The answer was not far away.

It was because he had been wandering for the exact same reason when he reached the realm of the Saint.

At that time, Lenok had been putting off the decision without figuring out how to define his own image, and he was afraid that his answer would be wrong and that he might not be able to change it.

That’s why he had ultimately chosen to embody the possibility of the future rather than the past and present, wasn’t it?

It was the same now. Because he was aware of the fact that if he decided on a direction that deviated from the path, he would not be able to easily try to change it,

Lenok had been putting off transcending the realm until he met the Ascendant and got an answer.

If reaching the extreme realm was the phenomenon of water overflowing from a container,

It would not be easy for Lenok, who had a container more vast than anyone else, to overflow with water.

Therefore, Lenok needed to choose a completely different method and idea from other mages in order to deviate from the path.

“I’ve definitely set the direction. All that’s left is to confirm my judgment.”

“…So, what exactly is that direction?”

“Well…”

Lenok turned to her and tried to brush off the answer, but he soon changed his mind.

Evelyn, who had helped Lenok until the end in this labyrinth, deserved to hear what kind of conversation he had with Jintun and what decision he had made.

“No, I should tell you.”

“Wh-what?”

Lenok turned to Evelyn, who was stepping back with a slightly flustered expression, and slowly said.

“I’m thinking of creating a new magic system.”

“…A magic system?”

“Until now, I’ve simply combined and used the necessary magic, but it’s time to reorganize the rules and move on to the next stage.”

Lenok said, looking into Evelyn’s eyes with a calm gaze.

“All the necessary preparations are in place. I’m going to start the work of rebuilding all the achievements and experiences I’ve accumulated into one system.”