Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 813

It pierced through, stretched out long, and flashed as if burning for a moment, cutting through everything.

Two opposing phenomena surfaced in the same space-time, and the Ascendant’s body burned forlornly.

“……!!!”

Whirr!!

Do-rae’s body, which could not be touched by any mental image or magic power, was surrounded by dark lightning and crumbled.

“Ah…….”

Do-rae stared, as if unable to believe it, as the connection between his body and soul was severed and disappeared.

He looked back at the distorted sanctuary of Mugan [A concept referring to the space between the physical and spiritual realms], rotating with an indescribable expression.

He was angry, sad, clinging to lingering attachments, and then, as if unable to help it, his shoulders trembled in anguish.

“……I see.”

In the end, he gave a bitter smile as if he had accepted everything.

The intention Lenok used at the end was not just the power to sever the connection between matter and matter.

Body and soul. Belief and will. Faith and determination.

Emotions and intentions that exist in that place, even though they cannot be touched by hand or seen with the eyes.

The heretical power to cut and sever the mind itself.

Long ago, the Ascendant Do-rae died and was enshrined in Mugan, and the only thing moving that body was a lost soul.

That is why Lenok directly cut off even that lingering attachment with his own hands, bringing rest to Do-rae.

Even if that rest was not what Do-rae himself wanted.

Thud!!

Without even thinking of grabbing the body that slowly knelt and scattered into nothingness.

Do-rae quietly turned to Lenok and muttered.

“You were the one who harvested the seeds sown by the Cult Leader in your own way.”

“…….”

In the final moment, perhaps he understood something as he accepted the intention to destroy his own body.

Do-rae’s face, which had been full of hatred and lingering attachment towards the Cult Leader, was now shrouded in an uneasy calm.

“Choosing a different possibility that he did not choose, trying to make it your own answer… It’s ironic.”

Do-rae’s existence was a transcendent fruition, completed through a deal with the Cult Leader and established as an Ascendant.

However, Lenok used a branching point that the Cult Leader did not choose, smashing the Cult Leader’s vessel head-on.

Only after all this battle was over did Do-rae understand that it was Lenok’s answer to him.

A meaning he could not have conceived of when he was consumed by hatred and rage.

Even while Do-rae was doing his best against Lenok, Lenok was trying to convey meaning to him.

That fact seemed to explain the difference between himself and the sorcerer standing over there, and somehow, he felt relieved.

The answer of a seeker who had obtained a meaning comparable to the Cult Leader, yet different from him.

Watching it and directly concluding it was, ironically, more comforting than anything else.

That was how Do-rae had come to understand what Lenok wanted and what ending he was waiting for.

“To have already achieved such a result without challenging ascension…….”

As the Ascendant’s body slowly scattered and disappeared, even his whispers became slightly blurred.

However, even in the midst of that, Do-rae turned his head towards Lenok and muttered with a dazed expression, his focus lost.

“We, what we didn’t see… You, directly…….”

Eternal annihilation. True death.

Even in the face of the end that came after the fight, he tried to hold onto his will to hear what came next.

An incomprehensible desire to hear the conclusion.

A natural disposition that could not give up that wish even beyond death.

Surely, that was why Do-rae could not let go of his lingering attachments and accepted the Cult Leader’s offer even in the moment of his death.

That is why Lenok also gave an answer to Do-rae.

“I will build up a status comparable to this world and create my own answer.”

“…….”

“That way, I will…….”

Lenok, who slowly turned his gaze towards Do-rae, said.

“I will start by standing in the same place as the Cult Leader.”

What would have been the result if he had faced Do-rae with the unique magic he used as a stalwart?

With the power of lightning that he had been with for the longest time, Lenok was confident that he would never lose against Do-rae.

But even so, the reason why he risked his life in this place and took the gamble of creating the function of a warrior.

It was because he had finally admitted that he could not move forward any further without understanding where the Cult Leader stood.

The qualification to enforce and convince the entire world of his answer.

A hidden realm that must be achieved by giving up and discarding something completely different from what he had done so far.

Surely, it would not mean becoming much stronger or being completed as a better being than now.

Rather, it might be a realm that can only be reached by breaking, crumpling, and crushing oneself to the point where not even the original form remains.

But even so, knowing that those who had succeeded before Lenok had clearly done so.

And because he was certain that he could not even start without standing in the same place as them.

“……Okay. If it’s you, it might be different.”

Do-rae smiled faintly, as if he had finally heard the answer he wanted.

“What we all failed to reach…….”

Thud!!

Do-rae’s body, which had not finished speaking, slowly lost its balance and collapsed.

The moment his body disappeared into a handful of ashes, and even the karma accumulated in his body completely closed and disappeared.

Even so, he was looking at Lenok’s eyes until the very end.

As if he wanted to confirm what was beyond, what he had not reached, what he had not understood.

Lenok’s figure, who had been watching Do-rae’s appearance, slumped powerlessly in that spot.

Crackle, crackle……!!

The dark lightning that had been flowing through his body disappeared, and the kaleidoscope image also vanished.

After the miracle of obtaining the branching point to become a messenger of Muhae [A concept referring to the absence of haze or obstruction] and being able to face the Ascendant head-on disappeared.

The backlash surged through Lenok’s body a beat late.

Crack, crack!!

“……Cough!!”

He could only cough, as even breathing was difficult. An intense pain that could not be hidden by the medicine surged through his body.

Blood, like tears, dripped down onto the tattered shadow robe.

A piercing ringing in his ears and a blurred vision that was turning red.

All the strength in his body was drained, and he felt like he would collapse and lose consciousness at any moment.

Lenok, who was sitting blankly and staring at the dripping blood, opened his mouth with difficulty and uttered a voice.

“Ah…….”

Even though his vocal cords were vibrating, he could not be sure if he was making a proper sound.

A sense of loss as if the senses themselves had completely gone awry and lost their direction.

The Gwangramuhae Palace [A concept referring to a palace or domain of Muhae] is the possibility of a madman who chose a branching point as a messenger that Lenok would never have chosen.

Therefore, it is designed to be heterogeneous and powerful, but also to inflict severe damage as a backlash.

Moreover, the branching point used this time was an area developed after directly initiating the messenger selection ritual with the help of the priestess.

Since the kaleidoscope image is strongly influenced by Lenok’s own experience,

The power of the Gwangramuhae Palace, which was developed by even unfolding the messenger selection ritual, was much stronger than before.

That was why he was able to attempt the insane act of engaging in a melee fight head-on against the Ascendant Do-rae’s body.

But conversely, the price for using the power of a non-existent messenger was also that much more severe.

The madness that should never have invaded Lenok’s mind.

The power of the outer sea, which should never have gnawed at his body, was raging wildly between his spirit and flesh, trying to swallow him whole.

“Haa, haa……!!”

Saaak…!

Whiiirrr!!

Crack, crack, crrrack!!

Whispers of unknown meaning echoed in my ears, and I felt a phantom sensation of something caressing my skin.

Before my eyes, a chaotic mix of clocks swayed, and a disgusting stench, like that of burning corpses, lingered at the tip of my nose.

If I hadn’t chosen a divine body as my apostle and shared the backlash of the domain, it wouldn’t be strange if I lost consciousness and collapsed right here.

Even amidst all this, Lenok raised his trembling hand, reaching towards the place where Do-rae’s body had fallen.

“Recovery…”

Do-rae had vanished after receiving his answer, but the ashes remained where the Ascendant’s body had crumbled.

Even if he couldn’t recover the original form completely, he had to secure the remains left behind after its annihilation.

Lenok, moving his shadow robe to gather the ashes, clung to the magic staff and forced himself to stand.

Thud!

“……!!”

He tumbled weakly between the cursed candles illuminating the cathedral, repeatedly getting up and falling again.

But even as sweat poured down his face, Lenok kept looking back at the collapsing Mugan.

‘The priestess is nowhere to be seen.’

Even after the fight ended, the Order’s priestess, Seina Naidri, was nowhere to be found.

Surely, the soul that had somehow clung to existence when the selection ritual began had used its remaining strength to disappear.

He slowly moved, turning his wavering magic detection to scan the sanctuary of Mugan.

Kugwagwagwagwa!!!

The battle with the Ascendant Do-rae. The shock that had pierced through the entire Mugan had shaken this sanctuary so violently that it could no longer be sustained.

If he lost consciousness and fainted here, he would be thrown into the middle of the spirit realm, where the living cannot dwell, without any means of protection.

‘The main gate of Mugan, leading outside the memorial tower. That’s the only escape route left.’

Two passages connect the sanctuary of Mugan: the main gate and the reverse gate.

Unlike the reverse gate that Lenok had used to enter Mugan, the main gate on the opposite side was directly connected to the stairs of the memorial tower.

If he could find the main gate within the sanctuary of Mugan, he could use it to immediately cross over to the memorial tower.

“Haa, haa…!!”

He struggled to cross the debris of the massive, shattered throne and the piles of chains.

He tumbled weakly between the candles, walking in the opposite direction of the reverse gate he had come through.

Just as he finally reached the edge of the Mugan sanctuary, where the main gate was presumed to be located.

Thud thud thud!!!

“…….”

He witnessed a man standing amidst the blazing flames, smashing and collapsing the fissure that was presumed to be the main gate of Mugan.

The man, burning his entire body in the flames of Mugan, glanced back this way.

The moment he realized that it was the spirit lord who had tried to take over Do-rae’s body, the lord spoke in a calm tone.

“I can’t believe what I’m seeing.”

“…….”

His voice seemed tinged with faint awe.

“That a mere human… could fight and win against the remnants of an Ascendant. Is that what they call a miracle granted to a mortal?”

He had thought that the lord had vanished along with the awakening of Do-rae’s memories, but he had remained.

No, it was beyond that.

The presence of the lord, who was now burning his own spirit in the cursed flames, was actually growing stronger.

Lenok stared at him, then coughed heavily and asked.

“What… are you trying to do?”

“To properly preserve this sanctuary that you transcendents have ruined.”

The lord replied, looking at his own spirit burning in the cursed flames.

“If things continue like this, the sanctuary will lose its center, waver, and eventually collapse. So, I will become the curse itself and reorganize this sanctuary into an independent domain.”

“You’re going to burn yourself in the cursed flames and sublimate your own soul into a curse?”

Lenok shook his head.

“That’s insane. If you try that, your soul won’t remain in its complete form.”

The lord wasn’t trying to fight Lenok or kill him right here.

He was merely trying to seal off all the passages leading outside, in order to become the curse that would confine Mugan itself.

Clearly, it would be a process of transforming his own existence over a very long time, completely altering it.

Perhaps he might never awaken again from this place.

Kugwagwagwa!!

Even now, the sanctuary of Mugan was collapsing violently, and the cathedral that had spread out in all directions was gradually disappearing.

Even the faint cursed candles illuminating the sanctuary were falling and disappearing one by one beyond the cracks of the collapsing sanctuary.

“After becoming one with Mugan, I might become a completely different being from what I am now.”

The lord glanced at Lenok, a strange smile forming on his lips.

“It’s unfortunate for you, but you will have to stay here with me forever and become a spirit guarding the sanctuary.”

The reason why the lord hadn’t been shaken even after his plan to seize Do-rae’s body had failed.

It was because the lord himself was planning to become a curse bound to Mugan, transforming into a completely new being.

If he could bind Lenok’s existence here in the process, he thought it would be even better.

“Who decided that?”

But Lenok, while scoffing at the lord’s words, struggled to reach into his pocket.

It was the limit of what he could do, dragging his broken body here due to the backlash of the self-generating domain. It was impossible to find a new escape route.

Unlike when he first entered Mugan, Lenok was also completely exhausted and had reached his limit.

To survive, he had to gamble once more, no matter which way he chose.

Click!

He fumbled with his stiff, numb fingertips and pulled out a dark red pill.

A potent drug that forcibly injected magic into the body at the cost of shortening the user’s life expectancy.

Originally, it was a diluted version of a poison created to forcibly cause the target’s magic to go berserk.

It was a method prepared for when Lenok’s condition was so bad that he had difficulty controlling his own magic.

‘The dosage…’

He reduced the size of the pill to a precarious level.

Just enough to maintain his incantation without losing consciousness.

Before the sanctuary of Mugan was completely isolated by the lord’s will, he would deploy his domain one last time to escape this place.

If he could find a path to the material realm by deploying the False Commandment Star [a powerful spell], he could escape Mugan before he died.

Just as Lenok brought the reduced pill to his mouth.

[No.]

A faint voice echoed from behind him.

[I will do it here.]

Fwaaaaat!!!

Even the cursed candles lost their light, and darkness gradually descended on the boundary of Mugan.

Beyond that, a brilliant light burst forth, so intense that even Lenok had to squint for a moment.

A transparent and pure white flash.

Scattered rays of dazzling faith centered around the spirit of the priestess, her hands clasped in prayer.

The soul of the priestess, Seina Naidri, stood there, wavering precariously as if she would disappear at any moment.

“Seina?”

She didn’t answer Lenok’s murmur.

She merely stood silently behind Lenok, placing both hands on his shoulders and whispering quietly.

[Transfer of sanctuary access rights. Reorganization of the selection ritual. Sharing of the spell circuit.]

“…What?”

[In the name of the 10th Naidri of the Guido Order, I hereby transfer the authority of the high priest to you.]