Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 805

The seat of the massive throne was so wide that the distance between those facing each other felt vast.

However, the figure of the Ascendant, bound by chains of mist, was vividly clear.

Skin as black as if dyed with ink. Black hair, head bowed, eyes closed, and completely still.

The face, illuminated by the candlelight beside the throne, had a surprisingly ascetic impression.

Covered in pitch-black mana, the expression seemed endlessly serene, except for the fact that it was dyed black.

Crackle!!

Pale light leaked out little by little from between the eyelids that were closed as if in sleep.

An ominous sign that it might awaken from its long slumber at any moment, open its eyes, and face Lenok.

[Your Grace, this is……!!]

Ignoring the astonished priestess, Lenok stood at the edge of the throne and watched the arrival.

The unrealistic idea of imbuing Lenok’s Incarnation into the body of the arriving Ascendant.

However, Lenok knew that it was something he should try at least once since he had obtained the Incarnation.

Not Lenok’s own potential, but the Incarnation of a martial artist presumed to be a remnant of the old world.

If this was a power unintentionally left behind by someone, it would surely cause a reaction in the body of the arrival.

As predicted, the Incarnation approached the Ascendant’s corpse, which was surrounded by a strict and powerful seal, far too easily.

And it was slowly pushing up the eyelids of the Ascendant, who was clearly dead.

[P-Please wait a moment.]

The priestess, who couldn’t close her mouth as she watched the scene, desperately blocked Lenok’s path and spoke.

[How can you so easily gain control of the vessel……!!]

“To be precise, it’s not a success yet.”

Lenok answered calmly.

“Because I can’t know exactly what state the Ascendant’s remains are in right now. This is just the step of assessing the possibilities.”

[……No. It’s impossible.]

The priestess muttered, unable to hide her agitation.

[All the sacred objects of the Order fundamentally and thoroughly reject any unauthorized will. No matter how much Your Grace is connected to that being……!!]

“Yes.”

Lenok chuckled.

“That’s what I’m trying to confirm by waiting like this.”

The body of the Ascendant who had been dead for a long time. Mana and thoughts that had been plundered for a long time, trapped in all sorts of seals.

Considering the seals inside the In-Between [a spiritual realm], the probability of success was not high, and even if it succeeded, its power would be far from that of a complete Ascendant.

However, if even a shred of meaning could be derived from it, it might solve the long-standing question Lenok had.

The remains of the Ascendant, which the founder himself had undoubtedly descended into.

Lenok’s Incarnation, presumed to exist based on the remnants of the old world.

They could never be said to be completely the same, but they could not be confidently said to be different either, that ambiguous commonality.

Wasn’t that similar to the relationship between Lenok and the founder?

[Your Grace, in the end…….]

The priestess seemed to have realized that as well, and at that moment, as she looked at Lenok with a complex gaze.

The Ascendant’s body, which had been submerged in black, began to slowly change its appearance on the spot.

Tsutsutsutsu!!!

The skin and hair, which had been dyed as black as if soaked in ink.

Pale light flickered above the eyelids, and the hair began to bleach white.

At the same time, complex tattoos that shone white were being engraved on various parts of the muscular body.

Along with the meaningful changes in appearance, the mana swirling around the arrival became even more powerful.

“…….”

Lenok stared blankly at the arrival’s appearance, then slowly began to walk towards the remains.

As he stepped over the chains that had fallen around the throne, the arrival’s mana that had been circling around rushed towards Lenok as if it had been waiting.

Kilik!!

As if meeting a living body after a long time, the black mana stirred above the robe and tried to penetrate it.

A chilling roar that rapidly elevated the body while, conversely, gnawing and eroding its foundation.

The mana of the Ascendant’s arrival. A fragment of the Berserker that Felix couldn’t let go of.

After being dead and enshrined here, its mana was still trying to move without losing its power.

Crackling!!

The arrival’s body, with its white hair fluttering, frowned as if trying to slowly open its eyes.

According to its will, pale tattoos glowed and flickered incessantly all over its body.

Lenok’s Incarnation, which had settled in the arrival’s body, was reacting to the founder’s power within that body.

At this rate, would Lenok’s Incarnation obtain the arrival’s body and newly manifest in this world?

Just as Lenok thought so and took another step closer, the white tattoos glowed even more fiercely.

Drop……!

A black droplet fell from the tip of the arrival’s finger.

Lenok, who was watching the scene, nodded.

“I see. Was that why it took so long?”

[……Yes?]

The priestess asked blankly, and at that moment, Lenok’s figure leaped as if disappearing from the spot.

Immediately after, the droplet swelled in size at an incredible speed and slammed down on the spot where Lenok had been standing.

Bang!!

It was a bizarre sight where the arrival’s mana rose and attacked Lenok, even though he hadn’t made any movements.

However, Lenok’s gaze was not on the arrival, but on the coagulate that was wriggling and taking shape.

“It’s useless.”

[……!!]

Swoosh!!

The figure of a middle-aged man wearing a black robe.

He created his appearance through the arrival’s mana, stopped next to the throne, and looked at Lenok, saying,

“If you can’t adapt to his mana, it’s impossible to touch this body.”

Having said that, the man raised his hand and placed it on the arrival’s shoulder.

Unlike Lenok, his hand touched the Ascendant’s corpse without any resistance.

“Even I needed a very long time to adapt……”

[…….]

The moment she saw that, an unknown chill flowed from the priestess’s spirit.

Although it was the corpse of an Ascendant who had already died and fallen, it was clearly the vessel that the founder had once used.

It was difficult to tolerate the fact that an unknown soul was touching it arbitrarily, even if it was Lenok.

However, before answering that, Lenok glanced at the arrival’s body.

The arrival’s body was still emitting a pale light, and its eyelids were faintly twitching in place.

Lenok, having confirmed the clear presence of the Incarnation beyond that, nodded.

“It seems there was someone among the leaders of Yorta who had the same idea as me.”

Lenok, slowly raising his mana and sneering, asked,

“Did my Incarnation cause a backlash that made you pop out?”

“…….”

Even though the Incarnation was dwelling inside the arrival’s body, what did it mean that a completely different soul was revealed outside?

It meant that someone was already dwelling inside the arrival’s body and was moving to gain control of it.

And it was obvious who this soul was that had been pushed out for a moment by Lenok’s Incarnation.

“A member of the Soul Calming Order? No, that’s wrong.”

Lenok, having asked that, immediately denied his own words.

“If you’ve been waiting for your chance inside the In-Between for a long time, it would be impossible unless you were a higher-up.”

“You’re not wrong.”

The man turned his gaze and replied.

“I was the only one among the fallen monarchs who accepted the offer.”

“……Monarch?”

“The leaders who presided over the Night Parade of a Myriad Ghosts [a ritual] all went mad at the end of the parade and are aimlessly wandering the spirit realm.”

“…….”

“The Guide’s Ring you obtained was also part of an experiment conducted in the process of recovering from the failure of the parade.”

Did he already know that Lenok had obtained the Guide’s Ring and how he was using it?

The man, who called himself a monarch, said,

“A being so fallen that it cannot guide souls. Therefore, I thought it would be impossible for the owner of the ring to come to the In-Between, but things don’t always go as planned.”

Having said that, the man slowly turned his gaze towards Lenok’s back.

He looked at the faintly glowing spirit of the priestess with a complex gaze and muttered,

“To think that the priestess of the Order would resume the Night Parade ritual and give a new role to the fallen.”

[…….]

“I’ve heard that her divine power reached the end of the sky, but the fact that she directly presided over the Night Parade ritual is truly astonishing.”

The man asked the priestess,

“Was it so unforgivable that we tried to reclaim the Ascendant’s remains? Enough to abandon the doctrine and help that person?”

[Reclaim? That statement itself is wrong.]

The priestess spat out a cold voice.

[Yorta was the first to break the promise, so how can you ask us about that?]

“No, that’s wrong. From the moment they proposed hiding the arrival in the In-Between, the founder was deceiving us.”

The man said in an extremely cold tone.

“He knew that the Night Parade of a Myriad Ghosts would fail. He knew that if the memorial tower shook after the parade failed, the sanctuary of the In-Between would also be consumed by the arrival’s power.”

[…….]

His calm expression twisted into a hideous one, as if a person had changed.

“He knew that our failure would be devoured by his arrangement. He knew from the beginning that this would happen!!”

Thump!!

The surrounding candles flickered violently, shaking precariously as if they were about to go out.

The man’s voice trembled faintly with intense rage.

“The failure of the Night Parade of a Myriad Ghosts was painful, but we could accept it. Everyone understood that it was an excessive greed.”

“…….”

“But even that failure had to be ours. Even if we failed miserably, we had to be able to use it as a stepping stone to try again!!”

After the parade failed, did the existence of the In-Between begin to be consumed by the arrival’s mana?

When the Night Parade of a Myriad Ghosts was proceeding normally and the city’s power was full, it wouldn’t have mattered.

However, when the challenge failed and the city’s foundation shook, their achievements began to be devoured by a stronger power.

Did the founder foresee this from the beginning and propose this deal to gain control of Yorta’s foundation?

It seemed like he had been pondering that fact for a long time, as his emotions were fluctuating wildly.

That was probably because the man was also not in a normal state as a fallen monarch.

The man, who had been shouting roughly, suddenly stopped.

He stood there with his head bowed for a long time and muttered,

“Like old superstitions…… we are forgotten, and we are forgetting.”

[…….]

“We must reclaim it.”

The man’s eyes were burning with unprecedentedly intense emotion.

He stared intently at the priestess’s spirit and said,

“The answer that was taken from us by the founder, this sanctuary of the In-Between that has been consumed by the arrival’s power. Even this cursed body he left behind……!!”

“While you believe the founder manipulated you, you’re actually betting the city’s fate on the arrangement he left behind?”

Lenok let out a cold sneer.

“Regardless of being swayed by emotions, you should speak clearly. You’re not trying to reclaim the answer that was taken from you by the founder.”

“……Shut up.”

Lenok laughed.

“You’re just…… acknowledging that the Order’s method is closer to the correct answer.”

“I told you to shut up!!!”

Kwaaang!!!

The floor of the cathedral shook violently, and the candles placed around the room flickered roughly.

Due to the impact, some of the candles lost their flames and went out, making the light around the chairs even dimmer.

A powerful will that could extinguish the curse observed within the In-Between with pure rage alone.

The man standing in front of Lenok must have once been an existence so powerful that his standards could not be discussed.

However, even such a monster had passed the time, lost his answer, and was clinging to the corpse of a dead Ascendant.

“You knew that this world was the last one.”

Lenok asked quietly.

“You shouldn’t have been mistaken. Are you really going to say that you didn’t know that you wouldn’t be given multiple chances to fail?”

“…….”

“At the point where you failed after betting everything, you have no choice but to cling to someone else’s answer.”

Lenok’s gaze, beyond the obsidian mask, turned to the arrival’s corpse.

“Just like what you’re doing now.”

“……It doesn’t matter what you say. All the preparations are already complete.”

The man said with a blank face.

“After the Night Parade failed, I made a deal with Balkan and watched the project, peeking at their answer.”

“…….”

“I didn’t get what I wanted, but I was able to understand what they defined as the meaning of failure.”

Kiririk!!

The man’s figure facing Lenok began to scatter into black smoke little by little on the spot.

“If I have to create meaning again by using even failure and collapse as a means, I will do it.”

The man’s thoughts, which had turned into black smoke, slowly seeped back into the arrival’s remains.

“If I have to survive by picking up other people’s failures, I will do it.”

“…….”

“If the only way is to endure to the end and watch the end of the world……”

Just before the man’s scattering gaze was completely sucked into the arrival’s remains.

He made a chilling smile as he met Lenok’s gaze.

“I will do it.”

Swoosh!!

With a chilling presence like a ghost whispering, the man’s figure completely disappeared beyond the arrival’s remains.

Immediately after, a fierce storm of mana raged around the slumped arrival’s body.

Kwaaaang!!!

A discharge of power that was not aimed at Lenok, but rather burst out indiscriminately and swept around randomly.

Pale flashes and black mana intertwined, stirring up the Ascendant’s body,

And as a result, the chains tied around the throne shook violently and slammed down mercilessly throughout the cathedral.

Kugugugugu!!!

Lenok, who had dodged the chains that were undulating like waves with Blink [a teleportation ability], muttered while hanging on the inner wall of the cathedral,

“He intends to push out my Incarnation and completely take over the body. The backlash is much stronger than before.”

[……Your Grace.]

“It must be a plan that has been in progress for a long time. It seems he has been adapting to the Ascendant’s mana for quite a while.”

Perhaps the reason that man appeared in front of Lenok just now was not entirely of his own will.

The moment Lenok put his Incarnation into the arrival’s body and tried to take control of the body.

Due to the backlash, he had no choice but to pop out and show himself in front of Lenok.

He had been dwelling inside the arrival’s body long before Lenok, and it was clear that he had been going through trial and error for a long time to take over the remains.

That was why Lenok was observing the process rather than preventing the spirit from disappearing into the remains.

“Although it’s been a long time since he died, the body of a transcendent who reached level 9. His thoughts and mana are so independent that it’s difficult to interfere.”

Lenok said that and stared at the black mana that was erupting around the corpse.

“To intervene in the arrival’s remains, you have to adapt to this mana for a long time, or break through it in another way.”

A transcendent of level 9. A challenger who was granted the qualification to challenge the Ascension.

They were monsters who had built up a status comparable to the world just by their existence.

They do not disappear with the death of the body, but rather become stronger with death as an opportunity.

In that sense, the mana and thoughts surrounding the arrival’s corpse right now were not something that even Lenok could easily break through.

Even if he had transcendent intuition and will, Lenok’s mana had not reached the level to challenge the Ascension.

It was not impossible if he pushed the kaleidoscope’s thoughts to the limit, but he couldn’t calculate whether he could withstand the aftermath.

However, the priestess was just staring blankly at Lenok without saying anything.

“Why is that?”

[Are you…… alright?]

“…….”

[It is the legacy that that person left in the mortal world. It is the vessel that that person once visited. I am……]

The priestess, who had been hesitating, finally spoke with difficulty.

[Your Grace, you are our-]

“I think I’ve said this several times.”

Lenok, who immediately cut off the priestess’s words, replied in a flat tone.

“I cannot sympathize with the Order’s methods, nor do I think they are the right way.”

[…….]

“My feelings about the founder are no different. That doesn’t change even after learning the Incarnation technique. But……”

Lenok’s eyes, which turned to the priestess, shone coldly.

“I also know that the Order’s method has succeeded once before.”

Yorta’s Night Parade of a Myriad Ghosts. Machina’s Ascension Gate.

Could it be said that the challenges that failed in the two cities were superior to the Order’s method?

At least the answer chosen by the founder was undoubtedly a result of succeeding in the Ascension and reaching the next world.

Even if it was twisted by fanaticism towards the Outer Sea, it is clear that it had definitely borne fruit once.

The reason why the leaders of Yorta were obsessed with the arrival’s corpse was probably because they instinctively sensed that.

That was why Lenok guessed that there was a way for the priestess to resolve this situation.

“There is a way to extract the soul dwelling in the arrival’s remains, right?”

[…….]

“Don’t ask about my feelings, and explain if there is a way. You know there’s no time, right?”

Lenok knew why the priestess, Seina Naderi, was asking Lenok about his feelings about this situation.

It was probably because the priestess also vaguely realized that Lenok’s Incarnation was connected to the founder.

The causality of the Incarnation, which was clearly related to the founder even though it was not the founder himself.

That was why the priestess had repeatedly tried to confirm Lenok’s intentions before resolving the situation.

If Lenok represented the founder’s intentions or had a meaning beyond that, the priestess had to hear that answer in this place.

[……I understand.]

The priestess, who had been silent with her head bowed, answered.

[If Your Grace’s existence is the same as what I know, this situation must also be resolved as we first promised.]

Having said that, the priestess slowly began to put her hands together and take a praying posture.

At the same time, her blurry soul emitted a clear light, gathering all the remaining power.

Woo woong woong!!!

The only ability remaining for the priestess, Seina Naderi, and the qualification that made her a priestess.

The ability of revelation created to directly communicate with the will beyond the Outer Sea.

The priestess, who had clasped her hands together as if praying and raised her gaze, turned her gaze towards Lenok.

[If the monarch’s spirit tries to take over that person’s vessel, it will surely try to synchronize itself with the vessel’s memories.]

The priestess said firmly.

[Then, we just need to forcibly separate that person’s existence from the vessel’s memories.]

“Forcibly separate?”

[Fortunately, because Your Grace’s Incarnation and that person’s spirit are colliding inside the vessel, it seems that we can do it just by observing the memories.]

“…….”

The pale light and black mana that were erupting around the arrival’s body right now.

It meant that it was the backlash that was erupting in the process of those two thoughts coexisting over the Ascendant’s body.

The process of directly filtering out the existence from the outside while Lenok’s Incarnation was colliding with the monarch’s spirit inside the body.

After obtaining the arrival’s body in that way, what kind of existence could Lenok’s Incarnation become?

Just as Lenok was inadvertently lost in thought, the priestess whispered softly to Lenok.

[Please approach the vessel directly and attempt to make direct contact with the Incarnation dwelling inside.]

Paah!!

Before he knew it, a pure white light was flickering in her eyes, even covering the appearance of her pupils.

[I will use the ability of revelation to directly look into the memories of the vessel’s past life.]