Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 841

It wasn’t the first time Evelyn had seen me use mana threads in front of her.

When I fought as a member of the ‘Ban’, I often drew out and used mana threads.

In the first place, mana threads are just a medium for handling manipulation techniques. Creating mana threads themselves isn’t difficult for a skilled mage.

The true value of manipulation techniques isn’t in the concept of mana threads.

It’s about manipulating and applying reality itself through mana that is infinitely close to its original form, dealing with causality itself.

That’s why it’s called the most difficult and challenging technique among the special attribute techniques.

“Black…?”

However, Evelyn seemed slightly shaken by the mana threads that extended from my fingertips.

Bang!!

She regained her balance, adjusting her body after being pushed back by a light shockwave, her eyes flashing behind her visor.

“When I saw it at the lighthouse, it wasn’t that color.”

Of course. When I fought the Kraken, it was before I received new mana threads from the ancient spirit.

Evelyn had glimpsed the silver mana threads that covered the memorial tower, so she was unfamiliar with the power I was showing now.

“Well?”

Instead of answering her question, I smirked and gripped the mana threads tightly.

“Why don’t you find out for yourself?”

“…”

I couldn’t see it because of the visor covering her lower face, but she must have been biting her lip.

The fact that I could naturally imagine her reaction, even though I couldn’t see it, was clearly a lingering image from our long acquaintance.

It was ironic.

I had wandered this world for so long, trying to be my own answer, not relying on anyone.

Yet, without realizing it, there were people who had become connections, supports, and sources of expectations.

The heart is fragile, the will easily broken, and resolutions are hazy.

Even if I try to remember the first moment and struggle, there are definitely things that change.

But, even so-

Fwiiing…!!!

With the sound of a taut string, the black mana threads spun wildly.

With my arms crossed, I pulled out the mana threads wrapped around my fingers and flung them out.

At that moment, with the illusion of space distorting at the ends of the mana threads, dozens of old bars fell around me.

Thud thud thud!!!

Reality manipulation using mana threads as a medium. Among them, spatial teleportation, forcibly chanting based on spatial magic.

These black mana threads, adjusted by the spirit, were a masterpiece of the central city, specialized in assisting spatial manipulation.

“…!!”

However, despite the sudden spatial teleportation I showed, Evelyn quickly regained her composure and moved.

Her shadow darted through the darkness at an invisible speed, shaking off my pursuit.

The old bars I had placed around me were the result of teleporting the remains abandoned in the field that was once a zoo.

Evelyn understood that this was the result of adjusting the environment to make it easier to manipulate mana threads.

Whoosh!!

Green eyes rotated like they were sliding through dozens of bars, rushing in at tremendous speed.

I immediately cast hundreds of mana threads between the bars and pulled up my mana.

On the wide field, black mana threads tied between the bars rippled like waves, emitting sharp edges,

Before they could properly block the archer’s dash, they were pierced and cut off by even sharper arrowheads.

Thud thud thud!!

Fragments of mana threads, cut off from all directions, fluttered aimlessly and rose above us.

In an instant, Evelyn, having cleared the mana thread net cast between the bars and spotted me, nocked her short bow and pulled up her mana.

“Got you.”

Whack!

A bundle of black mana threads wrapped around her wrist, binding the string of her short bow.

The hundreds of mana thread fragments that Evelyn had cut off. I had cast a spatial technique on those short strands and forcibly teleported the mana threads.

I had moved the mana thread fragments onto Evelyn’s short bow and tied them into a knot.

The magic of forcibly teleporting to target her wrist, twisting the teleportation coordinates, and tying a knot with mana threads.

“Ha…!”

Evelyn couldn’t help but admire the unbelievable result of capturing and succeeding against her, who was moving at subsonic speed.

Bang!!

Following my gesture of clenching my hand in the air, Evelyn’s figure was pulled out as if falling.

With the night sky, half-covered by clouds, as a backdrop, the mage looked down at Evelyn with a somewhat pale complexion.

“Since I’ve tied the string, you won’t be able to use the short bow.”

I said, struggling to catch my breath.

Trying to continue the offense and defense with Evelyn using only mana threads and manipulation techniques was already making me breathless.

Fighting a monster like Hyun-gung in my already poor condition was in itself a huge drain on my mental and physical strength.

Perhaps Evelyn had noticed this. I deliberately ignored the pity in her eyes and pointed my finger at her forehead.

“If you wanted to win, you should have devised a different strategy. Did you think you could do anything with such ambiguous judgment?”

“It’s not an ambiguous judgment.”

Evelyn, her wrist bound by my mana threads, replied.

She lowered her head and sat down in front of me, then raised her gaze.

“To win perfectly against you, this method would have been the best.”

“…The best?”

I realized that the green eyes peeking through her hair were filled with more unwavering confidence than ever before.

Swoosh!!

A black arrow that fell from above us slammed into the ground at tremendous speed.

Kwaaaang!!!!

The shockwave was so immense that it overturned the entire field.

My body, wrapped in a shield, shook violently, and the bars surrounding me were all pulled out and broken.

The bars that I had deliberately set up to manipulate mana threads were flung away, and the restraints that had bound Evelyn were also broken in one shot.

The distance between us, already narrowed, remained the same, facing each other without any obstacles.

“…That arrow just now.”

However, what truly surprised me was the reason why I hadn’t recognized Evelyn’s attack until just before the impact.

Where did that snipe, which had fallen from the sky so far away that I couldn’t perceive the initial firing point, and had accurately pierced the gap between us, originate from?

I could vaguely recall it from my experience fighting Evelyn a long time ago.

“You shot it up at the start of the battle and tried to snipe by specifying the location and time. Did you think it would turn out like this from the beginning?”

“No. I’m not you. I can’t read the future.”

Evelyn replied calmly.

“However, if it were you, I thought you would try to end the battle by catching me off guard at least once, even if I gave it my all.”

“…”

An answer that could only be given if she trusted my abilities more than I did, and was sure that the situation would be completely overturned.

However, Evelyn predicted the situation exactly as she had said, and as if to prove it, she reversed a match that seemed to have already ended.

“I won, Ban.”

Evelyn declared, facing me, who was standing defenseless with only a shield.

“Spatial leap. Spatial teleportation, mana thread manipulation and application. I’ve seen it all. After consuming that much mana, you won’t be able to cope perfectly at this distance anymore.”

“…”

“If you don’t intend to explain who you are yourself, I’ll do it myself.”

Swoosh!!

At that moment, Evelyn’s arm disappeared at an invisible speed and plunged into my chest.

Her nimble and quick hand movements were as if she was looking for something in my possession.

If it weren’t for mana detection, I wouldn’t have been able to perceive her intentions, let alone her movements.

“…No.”

But I reacted.

Thump!!

My fingers, gripping Evelyn’s wrist with my bare hand, twisted slightly.

However, her wrist and arm did not break, but firmly blocked her arm, and at that moment, a faint surprise settled on Evelyn’s face.

“It’s not over yet.”

The mana threads wrapped around my arm tightly constricted my body and began to manipulate my flesh directly, beyond sensation.

Creak…!!

The moment the sound of old metal creaking echoed from inside my body.

I grabbed a bundle of black mana threads and turned my body towards Evelyn.

Fighting Pull (鬪引) [A close-quarters combat technique that uses mana threads to assist body movement].

A close-quarters combat that begins by assisting the forbidden art of moving the body with the mind, using mana threads.

“If you keep pushing yourself…!!!”

Evelyn, realizing my intentions, also took out another arrow from her chest and moved, gripping it in reverse.

Thud!!

My creaking wrist was pulled hard, and I clenched my fist, then rotated and accelerated.

It overlapped with Evelyn’s gloved hand, creating a faint shockwave.

Bang!!!

Each time the arrow and fist narrowed and broke the gap, two shadows under the moonlight rapidly increased in speed.

Between the crisscrossing gazes in the air, hundreds of mana threads intersected in all directions, wearing down and breaking off.

On the wide field where there was nowhere to rely on, I cast mana threads over mana threads, supporting and pulling myself.

Kagagagak!!!

Beyond the speed of sight, behind the reaction of the senses, and ahead of the sound, only the will arrived first.

The collision that occurred as the body caught up with the will that reached the spot at the desired moment was a momentary pain.

Under the moonlight on the deserted field, two transcendent beings clashed at an invisible speed.

Bang!!

A close-quarters melee that left no advantage for either the archer, who needed to keep her distance, or the mage, who needed to chant.

A battlefield where they clashed, excluding their most confident fields and conditions.

The mage’s reason and the archer’s observation. Intuition and strategy that transcended hierarchy collided, crossed, and shattered.

Despite the high-dimensional battle that could never be understood just by watching, the offense and defense disappeared without leaking beyond the two people’s steps.

Drrr…!!

A long time ago, which I barely remember now.

Like when I sparred with Evelyn when I was traveling to the Blaber Magic Tower’s Western Continent branch.

However, the humiliation of being repeatedly defeated and crushed, and the desire for learning, were no longer there.

“…!!!”

Very gradually, my counterattacks began to outpace Evelyn’s attacks.

My hand arrived first on the overlapping fists, adding a shadow, and the grass roots under my feet gradually disappeared.

Smooth attacks and counterattacks that even Evelyn, who thought she knew me well, was surprised by.

Combat performance that temporarily transcended the limits of the flesh.

The art that I had been constantly researching and practicing while combining manipulation techniques was fully displayed in front of the powerful transcendent being, Evelyn.

All my other talents awakened and responded in unison, raising my chances of winning beyond the limit, even in such unfavorable conditions.

The Eye of Possibility looked beyond the realm of strategy, the power of Revelation excluded the future of defeat, and the mana running through my body raced beyond my will.

Pat!!

“…!!”

Evelyn’s arrowheads, which had never missed a single moment, pierced the air aimlessly,

And at the moment when Evelyn pulled up her microcosm [A personal, internal world that reflects one’s unique understanding of reality] with all her might to forcibly reverse her body that had escaped control.

Inner World Microcosm: Inertia Bias

Swoosh!!

The trajectory of the arrow twisted grotesquely on the spot and turned into a black flash.

It surged, avoiding all the hundreds of mana threads that were binding the arrow’s trajectory.

It avoided all the mana threads that manipulated the past and future and arbitrarily controlled the present, with only the reaction speed of the pure body.

The realm of intuition that transcended all theory, design, planning, and prediction.

This is the origin that made Evelyn not just a skilled archer, but a truly strong transcendent being.

“Ban!!!!”

The arrowhead, which miraculously crossed paths between the black mana threads and was slammed down, grazed my forearm and burst with blood.

Whack!!

Amidst the rising red mist, green eyes flashed intensely and turned into a dazzling line of light.

Once a hole is pierced, the design and prediction lose their value.

Once the balance is broken, the initiative always belongs to the one who takes the lead.

Evelyn, who had fearlessly plunged into my chest, grabbed the arrow and scratched my collar.

Evidence that I myself could not deny.

At the moment when Evelyn once again pulled up her microcosm to find the obsidian mask that proved she was a member of Pandemonium.

“Okay.”

I answered.

“This is the turning point.”

At that moment, a golden glow flashed and rotated on the blood that flowed down my arm.

Kiiiiing!!!

A golden spiral surged up my wrist and a dazzling ring of light appeared on my palm.

A unique magic that was activated based on the innate mana contained in the blood and the will that had been injected in advance.

An incomplete magic system that was completed at a speed that even Evelyn, who had inflicted the wound, could not react to.

“…!!!!”

Evelyn, who had reached out towards my chest, and my shadow, which had placed my hand on her waist, overlapped.

Evelyn, judging that she couldn’t stop, gritted her teeth and pulled up her mana, focusing her concentration to the fullest, and at the moment when the golden snake, chasing its tail, landed in my hand and rotated.

An illusion as if time was distorted appeared before our eyes.

The moment Evelyn’s microcosm, which tilted inertia, and the snake, which dreamed of eternal incompleteness, collided for the first time and forced each other’s laws and wills.

Behind our shadows, golden and deep green glows exploded and burst out.

Faaaaaaat!!!!

A momentary flash that dazzlingly illuminated the dark night sky.

A light of the heart that seemed to devour all the night views of the city and burn brightly, yet no one but the two of us could see.

The 8th level of transcendence, reached by forcibly breaking the completed hierarchy. The time of two transcendent beings, who gave up perfection and pursued something beyond it, became a tangible result and manifested here.

Charrrr…!!!

An eternal moment that seemed to make us forget even the sense of time.

However, even within the limits of perception that endlessly divided and stuffed consciousness, the golden snake continued to rotate.

“…!!!!”

Evelyn looked at the golden magic circle rotating like a huge halo behind my back with a trembling gaze.

Because she had realized what that scene, which had reached the convergence point at the extreme ends of the mind, meant.

Incomplete because it dreams of perfection with an imperfect body. A paradox because it has already surpassed completion and reached transcendence.

A perpetual motion machine that moves with the paradox of dreaming of perfection again in the 8th level of transcendence, reached by giving up perfection.

Infinite as long as it is not completed, and eternal as long as it is not perfect.

Someday, a conversation that the two of us had clearly shared in a long-ago memory.

Evelyn’s expression faltered as she understood that this moment was on the extension of what I had said back then.

The golden and green glows surrounding us mixed and disappeared as if they were being swallowed.

Faaaaaaang!!!

With the deep green shockwave that burst out like an explosion, I slumped down weakly, and Evelyn’s figure was thrown back and slid across the wet field.

The black arrow, broken in half, fell from her hand.

The clouds, scattered by the collision of minds that had exceeded their limits, covered the moonlight, and raindrops fell like tears below.

Swaaaaaa!!!

“Cough…!!”

Evelyn, drenched in the pouring rain, coughed weakly.

Her black bobbed hair drooping, she knelt down and lowered her head silently, a pathetic figure.

Looking at Evelyn, who had completely lost her will, I struggled to stretch my legs and stand up.

Woo woong!!!

Behind my back, as I slowly stood up, the golden snake was still rotating slowly.

A convergence magic that analyzes, decomposes, and absorbs all existing information and matter.

Even after the match was over, my magic did not disappear, but simply continued to repeat its essence endlessly.

That noble and futile figure, which seemed completely unrelated to this moment, seemed to be declaring the end of this fight to the two of us.

Looking at the green eyes shaking through her hair, I slumped down.

Ignoring the water droplets splashing from my coat, I took out a cigarette from my chest.

After lighting the wet cigarette with a few sparks, I coughed and stared at Evelyn.

“…”

Swaaaaaa!!!

There was no conversation.

Both I and Evelyn knew where the victory or defeat of this fight had tilted.

There were answers that could not be conveyed in words, and secrets that could not be explained by oneself.

Evelyn had tried to understand my intentions in this way, and I had simply responded to it.

However, at the last moment when our minds collided, Evelyn had admitted defeat herself.

The golden sea that I had unfolded in front of Evelyn.

What that beautiful scenery, which I had shown properly for the first time, meant to me.

She had understood it the moment she had collided with her mind and listened to the sound of my will.

“After the incident at the Hanghasa Labyrinth…”

However, I deliberately brought up that fact again and told Evelyn.

“…We talked on the train on the way back.”

Without even thinking of recovering her body, soaked in the rain, or even putting the burning cigarette in her mouth.

Despite the increasingly heavy rain, her voice was clear.

“That I was creating a new magic system to reach the 8th level.”

I said, showing the rotating golden glow on the back of my hand.

“The magic system Ouroboros. It’s the power of eternity that seeks the perfection I told you about.”

“…”

“It doesn’t change even if the place where I stand changes. Just like in the labyrinth, it doesn’t matter where I meet someone or what I experience.”

“…Ban.”

“It’s the same then and now. Even this moment when I’m trying to give you an answer is on the extension of that time. I am…”

I closed my eyes.

“I am…”

Because I was wondering how to express the overflowing feelings in my heart in words.

Even though there were answers that could not be fully conveyed in words, I still tried to answer in words.

Evelyn Marcia, the emerald archer I knew, deserved to hear these words.

The reason why I had accepted the fight she had proposed and responded in this secluded field.

The reason why I was now mentioning the memory of that time when I had explained as if I was dreaming of a vague future, dreaming of a new realm.

At that moment, Evelyn, realizing this, inhaled with a trembling gaze.

I felt the sound of the rain around me suddenly quiet down.

In the quiet silence that made my ears ring, I said.

“I intend to obtain the qualifications and challenge the ascension.”

“…”

There was no shout that made her throat burst, no resonance that shook her soul.

It wasn’t a grand realization, a fierce battlefield, or even a declaration made on a glamorous stage.

In the pouring rain, exhausted and slumped in a messy field. With the moonlight dimly peeking through the clouds as a backdrop.

A whisper so soft that even Evelyn didn’t know if she had heard it properly.

However, those words of mine contained a greater heart than any will or resolution I had ever uttered in my life.

Words have power.

A declaration to change oneself, not someone else.

This was a promise I made to myself, with Evelyn as my witness.