Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 554

“Kaise’s serum…!!”

“We were lucky. It would have been difficult if Kaise hadn’t tried to destroy all the serum at the end.”

Kaise had actually used all the remaining serum the moment he engaged in combat with Felix, disappearing from the spot.

Considering the reverse flow of magic contained in the serum, perhaps he layered the reverse flow ability on himself to move through the timeline.

“To take such a precious item in the midst of that fierce battle.”

Felix nodded, a faint hint of admiration in his expression.

“When I was covered in blood, I did think about trying to grab some with my beak…”

“You almost became a pelican, not Felix.”

“……”

“……”

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

Was the Cybrid Echo’s sense of humor reaching a somewhat serious level?

In the awkward silence, Ilya asked again, as if it were nothing.

“Are you planning to use Kaise’s serum to figure out his intentions?”

“I don’t plan to use all the serum right away. This is just a last resort.”

Lenox said, putting the serum back into his pocket.

“If Kaise intends to contact us, he’ll choose a more direct method than a serum that may or may not have been stolen. We’ll have to trust that and think a little more.”

Having seen Oliviera use the serum to treat her injuries, Lenox had no intention of rashly wasting this precious item.

Of course, it was uncertain whether the serum would remain intact when they returned to reality, but at least it would serve as a useful consumable within the closed area.

As it contained the magic of reverse flow, it was also a valuable item for research.

Although time was short, it was worth taking the time to investigate.

“Ilya, think about it. Has Kaise ever shown any signs of leaving you a message or giving you a hint?”

“Hmm…”

“Felix hardly spoke with Kaise, and Kyulbaek wasn’t there. You and I are the only ones who can deduce anything from Kaise’s actions.”

“I’m not sure… I remember what happened at the time, but…”

Ilya said, then wrote down the entire conversation she had with Kaise on the floor and showed it to Lenox.

“At least, Kaise didn’t act suspiciously inside the power room.”

“Indeed, from this conversation alone, we can only know that Kaise has business with me.”

Kaise asked Ilya if she was a mage’s companion, and said he had no business with her since she didn’t know anything.

Conversely, that statement meant that he still had business with Lenox.

“Wouldn’t it be more likely that he left a message for you, Ban?”

“Yes. In the end, I have no choice but to look back at my memories…”

While Lenox was lost in thought, Felix got up from his seat and picked up his hammer.

“While you two are thinking, I’ll go take a look around.”

“Are you sure?”

“It’s not enough just to avoid the military order. There might be other pursuers.”

Felix said with a smile.

“I’ll keep watch, so I’ll leave the investigation of the truth to you two.”

* * *

Dawn, half a day later.

A foggy street. The military order’s presence mixed with the morning air, making it difficult to see ahead.

“Felix.”

“Ban, were you out here?”

Lenox gestured towards Felix, who was returning to the hideout.

“It’s cold. Why aren’t you resting inside?”

“It’s okay. If I stay alert, I won’t be tracked.”

They had created a hideout because they needed a place to rest, but all three of them were skilled at hiding their presence and magic.

Unless they were directly discovered by the ghost ship floating in the air, they wouldn’t be detected by the military order.

Goo-ooo!!

Felix, gazing at the huge ship’s shape dimly visible in the distance of the downtown area, spoke in a choked voice.

“So, you’re saying you killed that monster…”

“Strictly speaking, it was a bit weaker than that.”

Lenox replied calmly.

Madrich Onion had not been able to treat the injuries and illnesses he had sustained during the war, and decades had passed, causing him to decline from his prime.

“The ghost ship I fought wasn’t that huge, nor could it fly in the sky. It only swam on the stormy sea.”

“That’s still absurd…”

Lenox laughed at Felix’s lukewarm reply.

“Perhaps that area isn’t specialized for combat. Its appearance is overwhelming, but its practicality is low. I suspect it’s a form modified for exploration or transportation.”

However, even considering that, it was clear that the power gap between the two sides was unrealistically large.

It was virtually impossible to achieve their goal through a head-on confrontation.

No matter how powerful and transcendent Lenox’s talent was, it was suicidal to face both Madrich Onion and Oliviera at the same time.

That was why he was trying to find a gap in Kaise’s strange behavior.

“Did you find anything on patrol?”

“…No. But I left signs everywhere that only Azlan would recognize. We can only hope he recognizes them and comes to find us…”

“The reason I’m looking for Claude Azlan isn’t just because I expect his help.”

Lenox shook his head.

“Don’t trust him. Level 8 extreme ability users are too unstable and chaotic. As things stand, it’s unlikely they’ll be of any help.”

“But isn’t that why they might show up late now?”

“…”

“I know well because I’ve traveled with many strong people. Their whims don’t always work in a negative direction. I trust Azlan.”

Travel.

Come to think of it, the Oliviera of the past had said that Felix was on a pilgrimage when she saw him.

Perhaps the journey Felix had taken was not just a simple trip.

But instead of asking about the journey in detail, Lenox changed the subject.

“How was the outer boundary of the closed area?”

“It’s worse than I thought. The water barrier we passed through has already completely fallen into this timeline. All the rotten food has also turned new.”

Felix sighed softly.

“I tried to look as far as possible, but at least in the area my eyes could reach, there were no areas that remained without being distorted.”

“…”

“Perhaps the distorted space of the closed area itself is constantly expanding.”

Was he saying that even the space where reality and the past timeline were ambiguously overlapping had now completely turned into the past timeline?

Lenox pondered the fact, then denied the assumption.

“No, that’s not likely. If this distortion phenomenon had spread outside the closed area, the city government would have had no choice but to intervene further.”

“Then?”

“Perhaps our existence itself is becoming accustomed to the past timeline.”

That would explain why the past superhumans patrolling the closed area were unable to recognize the distorted boundary line.

What if their existence itself was adjusted to the past timeline, making it impossible to distinguish between the present and the past?

Felix’s expression subtly hardened as he understood the fact.

“It’s like our escape route has been cut off. In the end, we won’t be able to escape without resolving Kaise’s problem.”

“Maybe. But…”

What did it mean that this phenomenon had affected Lenox, who possessed target designation resistance?

Was Lenox unable to respond to the changes in the timeline itself, or was he the only one not affected, unlike the others who had already been eroded by the past?

He wanted to explore the outer edges of the closed area himself, but…

While the two were lost in silence, Ilya’s voice calling them was heard from behind.

“Ban. I’ve succeeded in restoring the communication line.”

“A communication line?”

“We were also looking for a way to contact the outside. Ilya said she would try to work on the communicator a bit more.”

Lenox turned around and replied.

“I told her about the magic distortion patterns and flows around here, saying it was necessary for adjustment, and it seems to have worked.”

“…Was that data something you could just roughly write down?”

Lenox, along with Felix who was muttering in disbelief, immediately headed inside the hideout.

Zzzzt, zzzzt…!!

Lenox’s and Ilya’s communicators were disassembled and reassembled into an unknown shape on the spot.

They had taken the broken parts from the communicators and created a new communicator with the intact parts, after entering the distorted space-time.

[Chiiik…lip…manage…there…]

It was very choppy, but it was definitely the voice of Manager Keegan Grimes.

Even though communication had been cut off a long time ago, he had been trying to communicate in this way.

“Errors occur because we can’t accurately perceive the gap in the distorted timeline.”

Lenox knelt next to Ilya and, instead of her, took over the communicator’s line and adjusted the frequency.

“We have no choice but to adjust the line by guessing the gap with the external timeline we remember. I’ll do it.”

It was only possible because they were in a distorted area, not because they had returned to the real past.

But the frequency that Ilya had struggled to catch changed immediately the moment it was in Lenox’s hand.

[Kurvas Dam. This is Manager Keegan Grimes. 864th communication attempt. If you can respond, please contact us.]

“…”

Felix and Ilya, slightly agape at Keegan’s clear voice, turned to look at Lenox.

Lenox ignored the two and immediately picked up the communicator’s microphone.

“Manager Grimes. If you can hear me, respond.”

[…!!]

A loud gasp, as if in disbelief.

[Ba, Ban… Is that really you, Ban?]

“Yes.”

Lenox didn’t wait for a reply and immediately explained what had happened so far.

Even at this moment, the parts of the communicator were being worn down in real-time as they adjusted the frequency.

Perhaps once this communication ended, there would be no chance to contact them again.

[Ka, Kaise Bajur’s memory of a living timeline, you say…]

Lenox urged the manager, who was stammering in astonishment.

“You need to inform the Council of Elders or the Central Council of this fact and demand a solution. The situation itself has become too dangerous for us to handle here.”

[…]

An ominous silence flowed without a reply.

Frankly, Lenox didn’t expect the Central Council or the Council of Elders to have a solution to this situation.

Based on their methods he had witnessed so far, they were the type of people who would just evaporate the entire District 25 and finish the job.

But the reason Lenox had entered this area, even knowing that, was because he thought it was an opportunity to uncover the secrets of the Black Consumer Project.

Wasn’t that why Kyulbaek and Lucinda of the Council of Elders had also brought Lenox into this operation?

However, now that the communication was connected, it was necessary to convey the results they had obtained, even if it was just to request information from the other side.

But the voice that came from the communicator was not the manager’s that Lenox had been waiting for.

[It’s not for nothing that the events of that time were buried in the sands of time…]

A powerful presence that could not be hidden even through the blurry communication.

With that voice, the speed at which the communicator’s parts were being worn down increased like crazy.

The powerful form of the Six Harmonies’ full power, which was encroaching on the entire space just by resonating.

Lenox realized who the owner of the voice was and slightly opened his mouth without realizing it.

“…Oliviera?”

The chairman of the Cartel, and a level 8 magic eye user.

The monster who had completed the Seven-Colored Treasure Eye and reached level 8 again was receiving the communication instead of the manager.

[I commend your attitude of trying to take taboos and secrets, but if you don’t want to die, you should get out of there soon.]

Oliviera said, sounding amused.

[If it’s still a timeline where Kaise is ‘alive’, it’s the worst of the distorted possibilities you can encounter in the closed area.]

“What do you mean?”

[You don’t know how Kaise lived and how he died. You won’t know in the future either. Because that’s how we’ve dealt with the failures we’ve obtained through the project.]

Oliviera said that herself and laughed softly, as if surprised.

[To be able to say this much already, has the restriction already started to loosen?]

“…”

[It’s time. It’s not that I don’t want to see how pathetic my past self was…]

It felt like Oliviera’s sneer, which had started with cynicism, had slightly intensified.

[It seems like there’s already a guest. There’s no reason to repeat the same disgrace.]

“A guest? What does that mean?”

Ilya asked urgently, as if she had sensed something in those words, but Oliviera did not answer.

[But if you still have any thoughts, you should look for Kaise’s message. That’s how he’s always solved problems.]

Crack, crack!!

At that moment, all the parts of the communicator scattered, broke, and were completely destroyed.

“Ah…”

Ilya looked somewhat distraught.

Lenox ignored her and silently inspected the broken parts of the communicator.

“It’s broken. The magic power transmission and sensing circuits are completely destroyed. At this point, it would be faster for me to create magic myself.”

“What does it mean that it’s a timeline where Kaise is alive?”

Felix asked, looking dazed.

“Then does that mean someone else came into this area and is seeing Kaise, who is already dead?”

“…”

Lenox did not carelessly answer Felix’s guess. Instead, he thought about the last words Oliviera had left behind.

“Kaise’s message… a message…”

Considering Oliviera’s words, the possibility that Kaise had left a message for Lenox in some way was quite high.

But if he had delivered it at a moment that even Lenox hadn’t noticed, where on earth would it be?

He closed his eyes and reviewed everything that had happened since he met Kaise from the beginning.

After recalling his memories like a video until just before the space-time fixation device was activated, Lenox finally realized where he had missed something.

“…I see.”

A fleeting area where only Kaise and Lenox could recognize each other, yet was infinitely close to being immaterial.

In a way that others could never notice, but in a place where Lenox would definitely realize, Kaise had already left a message.

Lenox picked up his phone and quickly sent a thought to Davi.

‘The firewall inside the power plant. Connect again and show me.’

[Huh?]

‘The firewall code pattern, you can visualize it, right?’

The cyber spirit did not ask twice. Instead, it simply projected the code of the independent network firewall that it had hacked until just before, onto the phone screen.

Lenox’s gaze, which had been scanning the code obtained through the rapid hacking, stopped abruptly at the last line of the code.

At the end of the code array, which was made up of unknown characters and number sequences, a character that Lenox could recognize was clearly visible.

[South Church in Ramahal District. Noon.]

“…”

[Come if you want to end this timeline.]