Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 819

Swaaaah!

The night streets were so quiet it was deafening.

Only the river pouring down from above disturbed the senses.

Beneath the shattered canal, a mage lay collapsed, and Kroken’s new form moved towards Lenok.

With each heavy step, the ground slowly trembled and sank beneath him.

Lenok’s form, struggling to move, was suddenly and roughly yanked upwards.

Thud!

“Just like back in the well, it’s hard to see you moving properly.”

Beyond his vision, blurred by the river water, a reptile’s pupils gleamed.

Kroken, who had approached in an instant, was gripping Lenok’s neck with his thick, iron-like tail, lifting him into the air.

Kroken glared at Lenok, who was weakly spitting out water.

“How boring. I didn’t keep you alive just to see this.”

“Cough…!!”

Crack!

Kroken’s solid tail wrapped around Lenok’s neck, tightening forcefully.

That simple gesture alone seemed to cut off his breath.

Kroken, arms crossed, stared at Lenok, a faint hint of murderous intent in his eyes.

“Should I kill you before someone else does…?”

Fwoooosh…!!

From beneath Lenok’s feet, a pure white light rose, as if trying to protect him from Kroken.

A sphere-shaped barrier formed, enveloping Lenok with holy magic.

“Is that the angel’s magic?”

But Kroken casually crushed the barrier with a single kick, muttering indifferently.

Crack!

“Judging by what you were spouting at me, you seem to know a thing or two… but, well, it’s none of my business.”

“…”

Did something Kashuin said about Kroken pique his interest?

Lenok knew they had exchanged words during their fight, but he was too preoccupied to hear everything.

Instead of pondering what he couldn’t ask Kroken right now, Lenok struggled to look around.

‘…Oris is gone.’

The Judge’s spirit he had with him when he fell from the tower was nowhere to be seen.

He had considered summoning Oris’s ghost shark to escape when he fell near the canal.

But in this situation, it was pointless.

So, Lenok focused on what Kroken had said to him.

“The Captain’s message… what is it?”

“What do you think it is?”

“…”

“If you have any ideas, spit them out.”

Kroken smiled at Lenok, who was at a loss for words.

“If you give me an answer I like, I might just tell you.”

As he said that, Kroken tightened his tail around Lenok.

Whoosh!

Lenok’s form vanished from Kroken’s sight.

Having used Blink [a short-range teleportation spell] to escape from the water, Lenok struggled to cough up the water in his lungs.

Kroken, lightly flicking his tail back, narrowed his eyes.

“Body transformation? No, it’s more like spatial teleportation.”

“Cough…!!”

“He can use spatial magic without any warning. Ha, his magic manipulation is flawless…”

Meanwhile, Kroken, seemingly impressed by Lenok’s response, wagged his tail, waiting for an answer.

Before his impulsive attitude changed like the flip of a hand, Lenok had to think of an answer quickly.

After all, what he could say to Kroken now was already decided.

“The Abyss… the Sanctuary…”

Lenok struggled to mutter, looking at him.

“The curse…”

“Ah, so you saw it.”

Kroken chuckled, immediately understanding what Lenok was trying to say.

“Old signs that an old journey has ended.”

“…”

“Don’t worry about it. Even if you’re bound by such restrictions, it’ll be enough to play with you.”

“…No.”

Chik!

Lenok, selecting a usable ampoule from his soaked belongings, inserted it into his shoulder, and retorted.

Desperately catching his breath, he maintained his composure so as not to be intimidated by the monster before him.

“You didn’t come here to undo the curse.”

“…”

The final battle with the Ascended. The reconstruction of Yorta centered around the vessel of the cult leader. The new future of the military city that the spirits of the Soul Requiem dreamed of.

But Kroken’s actions after everything was over were incomprehensible in many ways.

If Kroken had intended to eliminate the curse in the Abyss, he should have acted much faster.

But he only appeared after the Sanctuary of the Abyss had completely collapsed, and after Lenok had escaped and been captured by the Soul Requiem.

If Kroken’s purpose was to resolve the curse observed in the Abyss, it was hard to understand.

Therefore, Lenok thought that this monster’s purpose in coming to Yorta was the opposite.

“Instead… weren’t you trying to confirm it?”

Lenok said quietly.

“Even after the Sanctuary of the curse was destroyed, whether the curse binding you was still intact-”

Bang!

The wind pressure from the swing of his tail sent Lenok’s form tumbling against the stone wall below the canal.

“Kuh…!!”

His body, having exhausted all his magic and willpower, and pushed to the limit by the side effects of overusing elixirs.

But Lenok knew that to survive, he couldn’t waste his energy on such minor collisions.

If Kroken Asilus intended to kill Lenok here, what Lenok had to stop wasn’t such a light show of force.

He had to escape the moment Kroken unleashed his full willpower to crush him.

But Kroken, looking at Lenok, chuckled as if he was dumbfounded.

“Even in this situation, you’re trying to react, gauging the gap. Every time I see you, I think you’re a truly bizarre fellow. Are you really the mage who was struggling in the factory?”

“…”

“I can clearly picture you being clueless and pathetic… ah, but that hasn’t changed even now.”

Kroken, not forgetting to mock Lenok, strode closer.

Thud!

He stepped on Lenok, who was helplessly rolling on the canal floor, and said,

“The Captain knows you. He said he’ll wait when you’re ready.”

“…”

“You know who the Captain is too, don’t you? You haven’t said a word, but I can feel it.”

Kroken’s pupils slowly rotated as he looked at Lenok’s face, wet from the water, through the shadow of his robe.

“You’re not just some talented kid. You’re much more complex… a standard, of sorts.”

“A standard…?”

As Lenok questioned the incomprehensible words with a blurred gaze, Kroken took a light breath.

“Every time I see you, I add one more reason to my heart.”

“…”

“Until now, it was fun to weigh them against each other… but it’s slowly getting closer.”

Kroken laughed.

“Will it be certain next time? By then, the Captain will have made a decision as well.”

Leaving Lenok, who didn’t respond, Kroken slowly lifted the foot that was restraining him and said,

“But for now, it seems like we can postpone it a little longer.”

“……”

“Unpleasant intuition, an unexplainable nature, skill that has reached a pinnacle… not a single one of these qualities is worth discarding right away.”

“…What do you want?”

Lenok struggled to turn his head and met Kroken’s gaze.

“You don’t sympathize with the Captain’s cause. You’re not very interested in the goals that Pandemonium shares either.”

“……”

“Wandering the continent as you please, taking in and killing those like me… are you planning to wait for the end?”

When Lenok first met Kroken, he believed that he shared the same goals as Pandemonium [a shadowy organization].

Now, Lenok knew well that this monster did not operate on typical gains and losses.

Values, tangible or intangible, like money, desire, pleasure, or belief, were nothing more than fleeting amusements to this man.

He wasn’t bound by the tools needed to live in the moment, nor was he interested in the answers needed to seek eternity.

The only things that interested him were beings like the Captain or Lenok, who had transcended the norm or had the potential to do so.

It was similar to the mission of finding talented individuals across the continent, but it was based on a completely different motive.

However, as soon as Kroken heard Lenok’s answer, he burst into laughter.

“For people like us, that’s not waiting, kid. We have to go out and find it.”

“……”

“A long time ago, there was a journey to find it, and I made a decision.”

Kroken said.

“It was because I acknowledged that to understand myself, I had to challenge an achievement that no one had ever succeeded in.”

“……”

“This is just a process of confirming and repeating the conclusion from that time. So, you should hurry as well.”

Leaving the silent Lenok, Kroken turned his back without hesitation.

“Just like this city, the old never disappears without losing its power… and it always reappears in its place.”

“…I don’t know what you’re talking about after personally smashing the core of Yorta [a city].”

Lenok momentarily forgot his current situation and retorted.

“Do you think the military city can rise again?”

“Kid, after going to the Sanctuary of the Abyss [a mysterious place], you still don’t know?”

Kroken mocked Lenok.

“The memorial tower has lost its essence and become a wedge, and the ghosts banished from the Night Parade [a procession of spirits] are bound there, sleeping like rats. So, what I did was…”

Whoosh!

At that moment, a dazzling pillar of mist soared behind the alligator giant, brightly illuminating the darkened sky.

In response, eerie mists rose from all over Yorta, awakening from all corners of the city.

Thump, thump, thump!

A giant shrouded in hazy mist rose from the outskirts of the city, looking down at its surroundings.

At the end of a distant staircase, a noble appeared, riding in a palanquin leading thousands of military spirits.

A chilling howl resembling a wolf was heard, and wings fluttered with ear-splitting screams.

Whoosh…!!!

The overwhelming presence of powerful spirits awakened from the depths of the earth, as if they were all waking up and roaming above ground.

Without even looking back at the ancient spirits awakening and rising from all corners of the city, Kroken replied,

“I’m just waking up old losers and throwing them back onto this land.”

“……”

Powerful military spirits banished from the Night Parade, like Madrich Onion or Oris.

Was he forcibly awakening the ancient exiles who had been sleeping, bound in the underground staircases, and releasing them back into this city?

As Lenok was speechless, feeling the countless spirits surging from the underground staircases with dazzling waves,

“It would be best to come to a conclusion before the power released across this continent fills up.”

Kroken walked past Lenok and moved towards the other side of the canal.

“Because if you hesitate, there might not even be a chance to challenge.”

Swish…!!

Beyond the rising mist, the ominous presence of the alligator giant disappeared.

After single-handedly destroying Yorta’s memorial tower and wreaking havoc in the city center.

And after releasing more power and souls back into this city than he had destroyed.

He was about to vanish as if he had no regrets or feelings about it.

As always, the traces of destruction he left behind were the only evidence that defined and characterized Kroken Asilus.

But even knowing that, Lenok couldn’t bring himself to call out to Kroken and quietly pondered his words.

“…A challenge.”

Clearly, the challenge Kroken was talking about wasn’t just a simple experiment or trial and error.

When did he realize it? The moment Lenok escaped from the Abyss? Or at the point when he defeated Dore and survived?

No, perhaps he had thought it would be like this from the moment he witnessed Lenok’s talent.

Because he had been on a journey with a seer, seeking answers. Perhaps he understood the concept of the future that deeply.

The countless curses that had fallen upon Kroken Asilus’s body.

And the fact that Kroken was actually welcoming the curses that bound him.

Was it because he had realized something during his last journey, the pilgrimage with Antares?

“……”

Kroken had said that the reason he joined Pandemonium was to avoid being isolated and swayed by others.

If the reason he remained in the demon’s den and followed him, despite not sympathizing with the Captain’s intentions, was there.

If it was to maintain a different purpose from the Captain until the very last moment.

Perhaps that was why Kroken was so strong.

“I have one more thing to ask Antares about…”

Lenok thought as he leaned against the edge of the collapsed canal, silently gazing at the Headrain River.

What would happen to this city now that Yorta’s memorial tower had completely collapsed and the spirits of the Soul Requiem [a ritual] had been annihilated?

He thought he should observe the aftermath after everything was over, but as his tension eased, his eyelids grew heavy.

He had been enduring by adding medicine to his body, which had already exceeded its limits, but now that the threat to his safety had disappeared, his body could no longer hold on.

Thump, thump!

At the end of the canal, a giant manta ray shape soared from the river.

Oris was seen riding on the giant spirit with its fins spread wide, shouting towards him.

[Are you still alive, human!]

Only then did Lenok tilt his head back and let out a soft sigh.

“Haa…”

In the end, did he do well this time?

Causing a commotion in Yorta, confronting the Soul Requiem, infiltrating the Sanctuary of the Abyss, fighting Dore, and finding the traces of the cult leader.

He thought he had done his best, but every time things ended, a sense of regret always lingered in a corner of his heart.

How much stronger did he have to become, how much more did he have to know to feel relieved?

The body, which had been held together by the mage’s transcendent mental strength, sank as if falling asleep.

The voices of unfamiliar spirits echoed in his ears.

[We will restore the collapsed barrier of Yorta and reorganize the sanctuary. We will hold a festival to conduct soul binding.]

[He is a manipulator of the trait system. It is an extremely delicate system, so be careful when handling it.]

[Let’s forcibly stimulate his spirituality to expand his consciousness. If successful, it will help with system expansion.]

[Wait, what kind of body is this that the binding formula cannot target-]

[It’s wrong. The size of his consciousness itself is abnormal-]

The bewildered reactions of the spirits echoed from all directions.

Beyond his sinking consciousness, he felt the presence of the spirit stirring in his arms.

[Master. Don’t worry….]