Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 467

The black cube, as if drinking in the flow of magic power from inside the coat, pulsed and writhed.

“……Hmm?”

It was something the clown had coveted, and something Myung had given him, so he had kept it close, but he hadn’t expected it to react on its own like this.

Lenok, who was about to immediately withdraw his magic power, changed his mind and watched the cube transform for a moment.

He could retrieve it at any time, so he decided to take this opportunity to see what the Penterect [a magical artifact] would spit out.

Kiriirik…!!

The cube, which had fallen to his feet, writhed, then swelled in size and stretched out lengthwise.

Rising to his waist, its end bent slightly, transforming its shape into a dazzling silver form.

Lenok, staring at the Penterect’s form, which had changed in an instant, opened his mouth slightly without a word.

“……”

A silver staff with a bright blue gem handle at the end.

The silver metal seemed to ripple and rise. It was in the form of a staff, much larger than a wand.

At the same time as he carefully grasped the staff, mercury-like liquids rose from the vicinity of the handle and gently wrapped around Lenok’s wrist.

It firmly supported the staff and his wrist, yet moved as if burrowing into his veins.

He was slightly surprised, but it didn’t actually burrow into his veins, only gently supporting the inside of his forearm, unseen.

It was an object that seemed to have no magic power, only the function of supporting the user’s body, making him doubt if it was even an artifact.

Lenok stared at it for a moment, then chuckled.

“Unlucky.”

Well, since when had Lenok relied on luck to get through situations, that he would rely on such an unidentified object?

However, perhaps because it was something he had received in the names of Myung and the clown, Lenok himself had been somewhat expectant without realizing it.

Still, now that he was holding the staff and leaning on it slightly, it was easier to maintain his balance than he had thought.

Lenok tapped the staff and walked onto the road, where a commotion was taking place on the asphalt.

The young vampire, who was about to grab Ryan by the collar and drag him away, stopped abruptly when he saw Lenok.

“What is it?”

“Put that down and let’s talk.”

Lenok said.

Ryan, who had been listlessly slumped, raised his head sharply at Lenok’s voice.

“Ba, Ban……!!”

The wide eyes were undoubtedly those of the blood mage boy Lenok knew.

A talented blood mage who used to run a business in District 44 and then worked as a freelancer at Jenny’s bar due to the city council’s inspection.

Lenok had also received help from blood magic a few times when he was working as a freelancer.

“……Ban? Did you say Ban?”

The vampire, as if he knew the name, scanned Lenok with sharp eyes.

The young man, who had suddenly gained momentum, took a step back without realizing it and bit his lip.

“What is the Iron Wall doing here……?”

“Is that what you’re asking me right now?”

Lenok retorted with a nonchalant expression.

As he tapped the staff he was holding towards the hesitant young man, the young man’s shoulders twitched once more.

The opponent also knew how famous the Iron Wall was in this field.

If even a small action was thought to be a mage’s trick, it would be difficult to overlook it.

Lenok saw through the opponent’s psychology and was thoroughly exploiting it.

“The person you kidnapped is an asset of our company. I must politely decline any requests for partnerships that have not been agreed upon in advance.”

“……It’s none of your business. Don’t interfere.”

“Did you even hear what I just said?”

“……”

The young man, his face turning dark, staggered backward.

He wanted to run away right away, but he hesitated, realizing that he couldn’t turn back at that moment.

A combat mage who had won against an 8th-level military mage in a head-on fight.

It was impossible to even exchange blows with the War Mage, who had never lost in this city, unless one was very confident in their abilities.

“Put him down and get lost. I have something to talk about with that friend.”

“Tsk……”

It was as if he was being overwhelmed by mere momentum without any magic power.

The young man, desperately trying to read the situation, widened his eyes as if struck by lightning the moment his gaze reached Lenok’s staff.

The young man’s expression changed completely in an instant, and he turned his head completely towards Lenok and muttered.

“……It was a bluff.”

“What?”

Shhh…!!

The young man, who had instantly formed a hand seal and drawn up the blood that had pooled around him, laughed sharply.

“You can’t fool a vampire, even if you can fool others. Did you think I wouldn’t know that the staff you’re holding is a life support device?”

“……”

While Lenok was tilting his head, not knowing what this vampire was talking about, the young man seemed to be even more convinced by that reaction.

“The rumor that you were seriously injured in the battle with Madrich Onion was true. You can’t even walk around without relying on such a thing…… How dare you……!!”

“No, what are you even looking at……”

“It’s better this way. I’ll turn you, the Iron Wall, into a blood kin of the main family this time!!”

The vampire, no longer even listening to his answer, reached out his hand.

Sharp thorns of blood flow that had risen from the middle of the street pierced Lenok’s immediate vicinity.

Was it even possible that a vampire who had been afraid of Lenok until just now would change his attitude and attack him just because of this one staff?

Lenok, looking down at the staff he was holding with a dumbfounded expression, chuckled.

“Well…… It’s much easier than running away.”

He drew up his magic power and added the burst of lightning to the end of the staff.

The lightning that rose along the silver metal dyed the surroundings blue, clashing with the thorns of blood flow in the middle of the street.

* * *

Red droplets scattered everywhere, exploding and instantly turning the busy street into a scene of chaos.

Kwakwakwang!!

“Kyaaaak!!”

“Someone call the police quickly!!”

“F*ck, run away!!”

At the same time as blood seeped into the once intact asphalt, the road cracked and split as if it had been hit by a drought.

Numerous red thorn trees that had risen from all directions bent and tilted their heads in one direction.

Kagagagak!!

A fierce offensive of blood magic poured out with all its might towards a single person.

Blood magic is known to be inefficient in combat due to the massive consumption of blood, but the story is different for vampires.

They are a demi-human race that can freely manipulate their own blood flow without any particular thought or magic power.

This greatly reduces the cost of consumption and also reduces the risk of sacrifice chants that use their own blood as a medium.

The flexibility and destructive power of blood manipulation are in no way inferior to other firepower-specialized techniques.

“Damn it……!!”

However, the expression of the young man, who was constantly forming hand seals and chanting blood magic, showed no sign of easing.

This was because the blue lightning that flashed between the thorns of blood that occupied the entire intersection of the road and the storm of blood explosions that were scattered between them was pushing back all that firepower head-on.

Standing amidst the storm of surging electricity was a mage, leaning on his staff and staring blankly in this direction.

He was just staring at them without any gestures or movements, yet the young man had not been able to land a single effective hit within the mage’s reach.

“How can the suppression power of pure attribute techniques be this strong……!!”

“F*ck, let go of me!!”

Ryan, who had been swept up in the aftermath, struggled madly.

Paak!!

The young man, who had struck the back of Ryan’s neck hard as he struggled, growled.

“Shut up, you’re in the way.”

It was a matter of pride to be pushed back head-on, but the young man did not mistake what he had to do.

The losses caused by the failure of the main family’s plan due to this blood mage were considerable.

Even if he couldn’t subdue the Iron Wall himself, he had to take this guy with him.

Fortunately, the Iron Wall’s condition didn’t seem to be perfect either, so if he could just target the life support device and neutralize it……

At that moment, a flash of light flickered between the densely rising thorns of blood.

Paat!!

[World-Governing Electric Orb]

[Greedy Exchange]

Paajijijik……!!

The light, which had been transferred through the blood-soaked puddles, instantly surrounded the young man and flickered.

The young man, gritting his teeth and chanting blood magic, quickly countered and tried to retreat, shifting his center of gravity, but at that moment,

The electricity that had risen from behind instantly took on a human form and pushed the young man’s back.

Peok!!

“Keuhak!!”

It was already absurd that he had gathered electricity to create a human form, but was it all he could do to exert physical force with such a technique?

In the brief moment when the young man staggered slightly from the unexpected attack, something even more absurd happened.

The mass of electricity in the shape of a human, as if switching positions, instantly transformed into Lenok’s appearance.

“I, Iron Wall……!!!”

Kwak!!

Lenok, who had pressed down on the young man’s collar with his staff, laughed.

“Stop talking nonsense.”

[Small Deployment: Ice Jade]

Centered on Lenok’s hand, which was gripping the young man’s collar, an ice prison large enough to freeze a person instantly was created, completely binding him.

There was no sign of water rising.

It was a ridiculous ice technique deployment speed that made one doubt whether it was even drawing in moisture to freeze the water.

“Damn it, a sick mage like you……!!”

The young man did not hesitate for long.

With his hands covered in blood, he grabbed the staff that was pressing down on him.

“Once I break the life support device, you’ll be helpless too!”

“That’s not the problem……”

“Shut uuuup!!!”

The young man, who had covered Lenok’s words with a shout, quickly formed hand seals with both hands and spat out blood.

“Kahaak……!!”

The technique, reacting to that series of triggers, was strengthened, drawing hundreds of blood-colored nets around the two of them.

The moment the hem of Lenok’s coat touched the end of the net, the hundreds of blood nets bent and constricted the space where the mage was located.

Beyond the blood nets that were quickly narrowing the space and sharpening their edges, the young man swung his hand like a flash of lightning.

The target was not Lenok’s body, but the staff itself that was heavily pressing down on his chest.

“Uaaaaa!!”

[Moss-Covered Blood Net], which would bind and cut off the space itself based on the point of contact, even if it was only touched once.

It was a sacrifice chant created by grinding the young man’s own flesh and blood, not just using blood as a medium.

A gamble thrown with all his remaining strength. It might seem excessive against a mere mage, but the young man was not careless.

The opponent was a skilled person who had defeated an 8th-level military mage head-on. He was a monster that was difficult to even touch in a normal situation.

However, the reason why the young man did not back down at this point was because of the rumor that the Iron Wall had suffered a major injury and the existence of the staff he was holding.

Although the Iron Wall seemed to deny it, the eyes of the vampire could not be deceived.

The blue gem hanging from the end of the staff and the shape of the tube connected to the lower part of his wrist.

It was very similar to the characteristics of the artifacts that high-level mages used to maintain their remaining lifespan.

If the Iron Wall, who was known to be young, was using such a device, then he must be suffering from a fatal injury.

If he could just break that staff, that life support device, he might be able to capture the Iron Wall on the spot and take him to the main family.

‘If I get proper credit, I might be able to share the blood kin that he swallowed……!!’

Such hopeful delusions of the young man were completely erased by the six electric spheres that Lenok had created from the end of his staff.

[Hexagonal Resonance]

[Decomposition Branch Current]

The six electric currents gathered, rotated, and repelled each other, and the moment Lenok stopped manipulating them, they burst out in all directions.

The electric currents that spread out did not shatter the thick blood net, but gnawed at it and rapidly swelled in size.

The current, which had been the thickness of a finger, turned into the size of a steel bar and wriggled like a living snake, shining its body.

Kwagwagwa!!

“……!!”

It was not a simple technique, but a sacrifice chant in which the young man had ground his own flesh and blood.

There was no need to explain what it meant that the net created in such a way was not being shattered but devoured.

The young man, his face turning pale, was about to abandon even the net he had created using a part of his body as a catalyst and run away.

[Concealed Lightning Strike]

The flash of electricity, which had been exquisitely bent through the collapsing net, twisted dozens of times in a fleeting moment, accurately chasing the young man.

At the last moment, it leaped as if transcending space, accurately piercing the young man’s back, who was desperately trying to avoid the pursuit.

At that moment, the size of the flash of light exploded and turned into a huge electric spear, pinning the young man’s back to the middle of the road as if it were a taxidermy.

Eujijijik!!

“Kahak……!!”

The young man was crawling on the ground, unable to properly recover one arm and leg.

Lenok looked down at the staff he was holding in his hand, leaving the vampire in that state.

“It doesn’t seem to be a lie……”

The vampire had done his best to break this staff, not to attack Lenok, until the very last moment.

Unless he was crazy, it meant that he was really convinced that this staff was part of a life support device.

Was this staff, which had transformed from the Penterect, not just a simple ornament, but something that was actually related to the user’s health?

As a result, Lenok was able to easily capture the vampire without having to track him down, who had mistakenly believed that he was critically ill.

The existence of this staff, which had led the vampire to believe in the wrong direction about Lenok’s health.

Was it really a coincidence that the Penterect had given him such an object at this very moment?

“……”

Lenok, looking down at the staff with an intrigued expression, tapped Ryan, who had fallen next to him, with it.

The red rope that had been binding Ryan’s body was cut, and the boy jumped up from his seat.

“Damn it, why did this have to happen to me…… Anyway, thanks for the help.”

Lenok shook his head as he watched Ryan, who was grumbling and rubbing his arms and legs.

“You’ve grown quite a bit since I last saw you. How old are you this year?”

“……Seventeen.”

Ryan, who had answered that way, sighed with a gloomy expression.

“And I’ll be seventeen for at least a hundred years now.”

Vampires do not age. However, just like basic meals, they need a lot of blood to maintain their power and existence.

Ryan also knew what kind of situation he was in now.

“I think I need to hear an explanation of the situation…… But it’s going to be difficult here.”

He had left the vampire to cause a ruckus in order to capture him, and now the middle of the street was covered in blood.

If he tried to calmly listen to the situation in such a place, it would not be strange if he was caught by the security forces who arrived late.

Lenok’s gaze, looking around, turned to the old car that the vampire seemed to have come in.

“Let’s move.”

* * *

In an abandoned factory warehouse, he threw the young man onto a creaking chair and bound his limbs with magic thread.

After gathering his arms and legs behind him and connecting the opposite limbs with magic thread, he looked somewhat presentable.

Ryan, seeing that, even forgot his own situation for a moment and clicked his tongue.

“……Yeah, that’s what he was like.”

“I’ve already contacted Jenny, so explain before he wakes up.”

Lenok said, dusting off his hands and pulling a chair to sit opposite him.

When he put his hands together and held the staff, his body was perfectly balanced.

“I also want to hear what happened, and what kind of solution you want.”

It wasn’t that he wanted to pretend to take care of a freelancer from his company now.

Ryan and Lenok’s relationship was not that deep, and there were too many freelancers affiliated with Jenny’s company.

However, the reason why Lenok was interested in Ryan’s situation was because what he was experiencing was one of the alternatives that Lenok had once seriously considered.

There were many ways to be born as an ordinary human in this world and obtain the body of a demi-human, and becoming a vampire was also one of them.

Lenok wanted to hear directly how Ryan had become a vampire and how he felt about his current state.

“Are, are you okay?”

The boy hesitated and asked, looking at Lenok’s face.

“I heard you were in a lot of pain.”

“I can manage now.”

Lenok replied with a blank expression.

“I’d like to hear the story first.”

“……It was after I handled a request from Madam.”

“Madam?”

“She asked me to transport something, and said it was something that could only be entrusted to a blood mage. The reward was considerable, so I handled it without much thought and forgot about it, but about three days after the job was done, I started to feel something was wrong.”

“……”

“I realized I was being followed and told Jenny, and I got someone to work with me as a bodyguard for a while…… I was attacked that very day.”

“An attack.”

“They told me to swallow it if I wanted to live and fed me some strange liquid. I fainted after drinking it, and when I woke up, I was being chased by this guy…… That’s it.”

Lenok asked again at Ryan’s sigh.

“How does it feel to be a vampire? Is your condition comparable to when you were human?”

“Well, honestly, I don’t really feel it…… My senses actually feel a bit duller. My head is also a bit hazy……”

Ryan replied, bending his arms and legs this way and that.

“More like I’ve gained insight into techniques? Blood flow manipulation has become much easier than before. I don’t understand why I was worried about it until now.”

He conjured up droplets of blood between his fingertips, as if slightly drunk.

Ryan’s face, which was shaping the blood that had spread out into a beautiful flower with his fingertips, turned hazy.

“It doesn’t feel so bad……?”

“I see.”

Lenok nodded.

“I think it would be better to find a way to return to being human.”

“Why?”

“You don’t seem to realize it yet, but I’ve been carefully observing your physical reactions……”

Lenok shook his head, leaning back in his chair and resting his chin on his hand.

“You haven’t been breathing for over five minutes now.”

“……”

“You weren’t even aware of it, were you? It wasn’t painful either. If you are given enough blood, metabolic activities like breathing become less important. That’s how the demi-human race called blood kin are.”

Lenok spoke again, looking at Ryan, who was speechless.

“You’ll quickly forget the senses you had when you were human. If it’s too late, you won’t be able to go back even if you want to. It’s common to feel suffocated and faint after not eating for a while. That’s completely different from those who were born as vampires from the beginning.”

“That’s……”

“It means that it becomes easier to forget the basic survival instincts as a living being.”

That was the reason why Lenok had seriously considered changing his body into a vampire but gave up.

At the moment when Lenok was about to continue speaking, looking at Ryan, who had stiffened, his cell phone rang. It was a call from Jenny.

“……Jenny?”

[Ban, I saw the message that you secured Ryan. Is it okay to talk?]

“The situation is over. I’ve captured the vampire. I’m planning to interrogate him briefly at the scene and hand him over, is that okay?”

[Wait a minute, there’s something I need to talk about first. It’s about the doctor’s matter.]

“……”

When Lenok closed his mouth, Jenny immediately continued.

[I found a doctor who specializes in the theme you mentioned. He’s well-known among medical personnel in this field.]

“Can I make an appointment for a checkup?”