Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 704

That the owner of the fifth lighthouse was Lenox, not Lapis.

It was an answer he never expected to hear from her, of all people, but Lenox didn’t ask again.

Instead, he just stared at Lapis.

“…”

Lapis’s face, as she turned her head, had almost completely lost its childishness.

She had grown taller, and her hair had grown longer. Considering how young she was when they first met, it wasn’t strange that she was growing up so quickly.

The magical power and aura emanating from her were incredibly strong. At first glance, one might even mistake her for a completely different person.

However, what Lenox first noticed on Lapis’s face was not her physical or mental growth.

It was her calm, almost deeply sunken gaze. A sharp edge that he had never felt from her before.

Even though she was clearly the lighthouse keeper he knew, she felt like a completely different person.

Lapis smiled.

‘It’s been a while since we’ve seen each other’s faces. Have you been well?’

‘…You don’t seem to be.’

Lenox replied.

‘What happened?’

He knew that Lapis had obtained the Simsang Imprint [a powerful magical mark] at the Pandemonium meeting and had properly inherited the power of the Heavenly Eye.

He also knew that in the process, she had directly subdued Jebyeok Yanicus Barbaria and displayed her might on the central front.

However, the strength of the Simsang is not something that comes from a change of heart overnight.

Nor is the power of an Ascendant [a being of great power] something that can be easily obtained just by being qualified.

There had to have been a significant catalyst or turning point for Lapis herself.

Lapis, who had been silent, answered.

‘What happened… can it be explained in a few words?’

Lapis said as she moved her feet.

‘It’s just as it sounds. I built several lighthouses. I completed the hierarchy, advanced to the central front, and set foot there…’

She carefully stroked the crystal tombstone next to Lenox.

‘And…’

‘…’

The Watchers that Lenox not only remembered but had actually talked to and fought alongside.

Lapis’s companions, who were alive and well even in the Hanghasa Labyrinth. Many of their names were inscribed on the crystal tombstones.

Lapis had not just grown and prospered while leading the Blue Eye.

To reach this point, she had left behind many of her companions.

How many battles and sacrifices it had taken to advance to the central front and build the fifth lighthouse.

How much Lapis was trying not to forget that fact.

The grand landscape of the flower garden in front of him showed everything without exaggeration.

Lapis, with a calm face, placing flowers in front of the crystal tombstone.

‘…’

Lenox looked at Lapis, then quietly reached into his pocket.

Clang!!

With a clear ringing sound, the magic that bloomed from his fingertips transformed into the shape of a beautiful glass flower.

Lenox, who placed the flower made of magic in front of the tombstone, asked.

‘How long have you been here?’

‘I’ve been here ever since the construction of the fifth lighthouse was completed.’

She murmured, raising one hand to rub her eyes.

‘After the adjustment, I had no choice but to rest…’

She had returned here as soon as the lighthouse construction was completed and had been staying here ever since.

While Lenox was lost in thought, Lapis slowly stepped away from the tombstone and said.

‘The fifth lighthouse almost wasn’t completed properly.’

‘…’

‘Because of the location, there was a lot of interference and conflict. It’s no different now. That place is a battlefield considered one of the most fierce in the Northern Continent.’

Lapis closed her eyes.

‘But there was a miracle that exceeded my authority, and it changed into a heterogeneous concept different from other lighthouses. At first, I didn’t know what caused it…’

‘Are you saying an external variable intervened? But…’

If the power of the fifth lighthouse originated from Lenox, it could be understood why its performance was so outstanding.

However, if the lighthouse was operating by relying on Lenox’s talent without his knowledge, there was no way Lenox wouldn’t have noticed.

As if she had guessed Lenox’s thoughts, Lapis quietly smiled and nodded.

‘It would be faster for you to see it for yourself than to explain it.’

‘…’

‘I can show you. It won’t take long.’

Lapis said that and slowly raised one hand to Lenox’s eyes.

A gesture to move the vision synchronization placed in Lenox’s consciousness to another place.

Perhaps this meeting would end here. To meet Lapis again, he would have to use another method.

Lenox, sensing that fact, opened his mouth.

‘The place where I work. Do you remember?’

‘…Yes?’

Lenox smiled faintly at Lapis’s slightly dazed face.

‘Even if you’re resting, if you have time, you can come visit me separately.’

Lapis knew that Evan was working as an assistant professor in Vulcan.

However, it was the first time Lenox had directly said that she could come visit Evan’s place.

‘Even if she looks fine on the outside, there’s a high possibility that her inner self is different.’

Considering Lapis’s rapid growth and change in aura, there was a high possibility that the cause was directly related to a change in her state of mind.

Could the countless sacrifices she had to make while advancing to the central front have changed her?

It was a thought that could easily be overlooked, but Lenox knew that the more it was like this, the more he shouldn’t take it lightly.

Even if it meant investing some of Evan’s schedule and time, if he had to hold onto Lapis.

It was not desirable for the Blue Eye, which had finally advanced to the central front, to regress here, nor for the status of the strengthened lighthouse to weaken.

Lenox made a reason for himself and calmly repeated.

‘Since I work at an educational institution, I know many magicians of your age.’

‘…’

‘If you want, I can introduce you. How about spending some time at the school?’

‘Heh…’

At that moment, she lowered her head and quietly burst into laughter.

‘Evan… Evan-nim hasn’t changed at all.’

Was it because she understood why Lenox had said that?

From within Lapis, who had a faint smile, there was a feeling that something had settled down.

‘But it’s okay. Everyone has accepted that we can’t stop, and we’ve come this far because we were prepared.’

‘…’

Lapis raised one hand to her eyes and grabbed Lenox’s finger with the other.

A tingling sensation seemed to flow between their index fingers. But Lenox did not push that sensation away.

Lapis, who had released his hand, said.

‘I’ve shared the observation authority of the fifth lighthouse with you. I hope you can achieve your desired goal.’

‘Lapis.’

‘Evan-nim.’

Lapis smiled.

‘I’ll stay here a little longer.’

‘…’

The moment she turned her back in her pure white dress, the scenery reflected in Lenox’s eyes faded away.

From the far side of the rapidly fading flower garden, Lapis’s voice echoed quietly.

‘Thank you. Always.’

* * *

KWAHAAAA!!!

The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was a blizzard that covered everything in white.

Violent winds and cold air. A vast snowfield unfolded wherever his gaze reached.

However, what enveloped Lenox’s entire body was not a chilling cold or the stinging sensation of the wind.

‘…This is.’

A sense of incongruity, as if he were piercing a hole in space-time and peeking through it.

A floating sensation as if only his visual perception had been unrealistically amplified, instead of all his senses.

Lapis wouldn’t have made a mistake, so he had to assume that she had transferred the vision synchronization location to the location of the lighthouse.

The problem was that it was difficult to judge with his senses where and from what point Lenox was looking.

He had to figure out what the snowfield scenery in his vision was based on.

The moment he realized that, a violent explosion erupted from below.

KWAAANG!!

‘Uwaaaah!!’

‘S, save meee!!!’

Desperate screams. Hundreds of people began to flee through the blizzard.

The sight of them desperately concentrating. Not a single one of them was not a superhuman using magic.

Lenox, focusing his mind on the fleeing people, was slightly surprised and stopped at the sensation of his vision rapidly expanding.

SWHEEIK!!

‘Haa, haa!!’

As if he were watching their desperate escape from right next to them, it was a very close distance.

He could clearly see their breaths, the smell of sweat, their exhausted muscles, and their faces worn out from fatigue.

Only then did Lenox realize how his senses had been amplified and was amazed.

‘Is this the scenery that a lighthouse keeper sees?’

Beyond the feeling of seeing far and in detail, it was a perception ability that seemed to penetrate everything that reached his vision.

If he concentrated a little, he felt like he could even see through the movements of the muscles and joints under their skin.

Even without using magic detection at all, he could vaguely feel the magic rotating in their bodies and the movement of their thoughts.

‘It’s not just vaguely seeing something, but a feeling of focusing and forcibly moving it. Then…’

KIIING!!

Lenox’s gaze, which had been circling among the fleeing people, rapidly moved backward and began to encompass the entire snowfield.

The people desperately fleeing, and the blizzard swirling behind them.

And a massive aggregation of magical power writhing in the center of that blizzard.

‘Where are you trying to run so hastily, you insects?’

SWHEEIK!!

The moment the blizzard rotated greatly along with a solemn voice, a hand that stretched out from within snatched a fleeing man.

Immediately after, a terrible noise of bones and joints being crushed alive was heard from within the blizzard.

UDDEUDDEUK, DEUDEUDEUK!!

‘Kkuaaaak!! Haaaaaaak!!’

Along with a desperate scream that was not human, pieces of flesh and blood dripped down from under the blizzard.

The faces of the people who heard that scream turned deathly pale, and they gritted their teeth and moved their legs.

Behind those people, something leaped up and tore the fleeing people’s lives apart while they were still alive.

DEUDEUDEUK!! EUIJIK!!

‘If you set foot on this land without permission, you must bear the responsibility.’

A voice said, having torn apart a human with blood-soaked bare hands.

‘Even this is a kind of nourishment in this boring snowfield.’

The voice echoing from within the blizzard even seemed to be enjoying it.

Other fleeing people, hearing those words, desperately screamed and resisted.

‘Y, you monster bastard!!!’

‘We just came to make a deal…!!’

‘I’ll formally protest to the lighthouse keeper!!’

‘Protest?’

A voice asked, instantly grabbing the neck of a young man who was shouting at the top of his lungs.

TTUDUK!!

With just the grip of his hand, he broke the young man’s neck halfway, and the young man’s body slumped without even a proper scream.

‘Eloquence is a right only granted to the powerful. If it were in my territory, I wouldn’t have killed you so easily, but…’

‘K, ahak!!’

EUDDEUDEUK!!

The voice from within the blizzard, having broken the young man’s neck with a single gesture, said.

‘Even so, there are too many toys to play with. Kehahahat!!’

The blizzard raged wildly, instantly grabbing and killing the fleeing people one by one.

Hot, red flowers bloomed here and there on the pure white snowfield in an instant.

The force of killing hundreds of humans with bare hands in an instant.

The speed and skill were so fast and accurate that there was not a single moment when an attack missed the mark the moment the blizzard moved.

Hundreds of superhumans were broken and killed like toys.

‘Save me!! We came to make a deal!!’

‘Please…!! Aaaak!!’

KKADEUDEUDEUK!!

‘Oh, was I too hasty?’

SAAAK!!

The blizzard, which had been raging incessantly, subsided, and an old man with a pale face walked out from within, with his hands behind his back.

‘I should have kept more of them alive so it wouldn’t be so boring, I made a mistake by getting excited.’

The old man, with a murderous glint in his eyes, looked at the survivors.

A survivor stared blankly at the old man and murmured.

‘Why is the tyrant of Kaius… in this labyrinth!!’

Jebyeok Yanicus Barbaria.

A ruthless power holder who ruled and governed a city alone, and a physical ability user who had reached level 8.

Why was that old warrior, who had been holed up in Kaius in the Western Continent, in this remote snowfield?

‘Snowfield. Labyrinth…’

Lenox, who was listening to the conversation next to him, was finally able to properly recognize where this place was.

The outermost edge of the northern continent’s snowfield where the Jintun’s Hanghasa Labyrinth was located.

The very center of the snowfield where Lenox was first summoned after receiving Lapis’s call.

The location where the fifth lighthouse was built was the ruins of the Hanghasa Labyrinth where Jintun had disappeared, leaving behind the Ideological Battlefield.

‘Was this why there was an emergency on the outskirts of the central front?’

Lenox immediately understood why various forces were wary of the fifth lighthouse.

Although Jintun was already dead and gone, the area where the Ideological Battlefield was located was itself a ruin with enormous value.

Even after the Hanghasa Labyrinth collapsed and disappeared, the remnants of its power must still be lingering.

Lapis had chosen the ruins of the Hanghasa Labyrinth as the site for building a new lighthouse, a mystical realm.

Lighthouses can only be built on special mystical realms, but lighthouses built on such mystical realms can possess transcendent powers.

If a lighthouse was built on a mystical realm that was the tomb of an Ascendant, it would not be strange if it had the most powerful performance among the five lighthouses.

And that was why Lapis had asserted that the owner of the fifth lighthouse was not herself, but Lenox.

PAAAAT!!

The moment he realized that, he began to observe and synchronize with the lighthouse, which had been replacing Lenox’s vision, on his own.

The pure white snowfield. A transparent tetrahedral spire built at the end of the collapsed labyrinth ruins.

The fifth lighthouse, built with the power of the lighthouse keeper, yet completed with its roots under Jintun’s labyrinth.

The screams of the survivors, who were struggling with expressions of giving up on everything, were vividly observed.

‘Yeah, kill us, you bastard!! Since you came all this way to kill us, all the Watchers who were guarding the lighthouse will be annihilated!!’

‘…’

As he said, hundreds of superhumans were quickly gathering around the transparent tetrahedral spire.

Forces trying to capture and seize the lighthouse as soon as they confirmed that Jebyeok had come out of the lighthouse.

Guerrillas running through the snow-covered snowfield, bombers flying over the lighthouse, and all sorts of interceptor weapons positioned in the rear.

While Jebyeok frowned at the sight that looked like a bombardment was about to pour down, the survivor shouted.

‘It’s been confirmed that the lighthouse itself has no combat function!! How long can the few Watchers withstand the Revolutionary Army’s bombardment…!!’

‘Let them do so. They too will accept the given mission.’

Jebyeok replied.

The survivor’s face turned pale at the answer that readily accepted the sacrifice of the same Watchers.

Lenox thought as he watched that.

‘Lapis suspects that I met Jintun directly and received something from him.’

She secretly hoped that Evan would become a Watcher, but she never forced it.

That was because she thought that Lenox, as the one who inherited Jintun’s barrier magic, had obtained a qualification equal to her own.

That was why she was able to hand over the authority of the fifth lighthouse in a relatively simple way, such as vision synchronization.

If the lighthouse had become powerful due to the lingering thoughts of the labyrinth, Lenox, who had inherited Jintun’s power, would be able to naturally utilize that power.

‘I see. All the scenery I see here…’

It was not that his observation ability had increased rapidly due to receiving Lapis’s vision synchronization.

The beautiful snowfield scenery he was looking at now, the vivid conversations that seemed to be heard right next to him.

The overflowing magical power and the shapes of will.

From the beginning, Lenox had synchronized his senses with the fifth lighthouse and was looking down on the entire snowfield.

‘Since the lighthouse keeper has entrusted the work of the fifth lighthouse to me, I will just handle it in my own way.’

‘Y, you crazy bastard…!!’

‘It’s enough if I just retrieve the lighthouse that was taken away by myself, isn’t it?’

The moment Jebyeok said that and grabbed the survivor’s head.

The upper part of the lighthouse spire, surrounded by all sorts of superhuman corps in the distance, opened wide.

KIIING!!

A strange resonance sound was heard, and a pulling force that seemed to draw in the snowstorm of the entire snowfield erupted.

An enormous radiance burst out from the top of the spire and soared into the sky.

PAAAAT!!

The thick beam of light that burst out from the top of the lighthouse swept across the sky once and disappeared.

At that moment, dozens of bombers flying in the sky exploded in place, scattering flames over the snowfield.

KWAKWAKWAKWANG!!!

Jebyeok and the survivor, whose head he was holding, stared blankly at the lighthouse with the same expression.

‘T, this can’t be…!! It was clear that there was no combat ability…!!!’

‘…’

The survivor shouted, trembling his limbs, and Jebyeok tilted his head.

‘Hmm, this isn’t the picture I had in mind.’

KIRIRIK!

The golden light that had risen above the spire of the lighthouse slowly turned its gaze towards Jebyeok.

[Yanicus Barbaria.]

‘…’

Jebyeok’s face hardened slightly at the intense transmission that seemed to pierce his mind.

‘…Is it the power of the lighthouse? How dare you pour your thoughts into my head, who is it?’

[Let’s just say I’m the holder of the lighthouse’s authority.]

Lenox, not caring about Jebyeok’s stern reply, spoke again.

[I plan to build a temporary labyrinth in this place, so cooperate. It seems I need to further enhance the performance of the lighthouse.]

‘…What?’

Leaving behind the bewildered Jebyeok, Lenox slowly turned his gaze.

[I’m thinking of checking what’s beyond the outer curtain of the central front this time.]