Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 1114

Black Consumer Project.

The most dangerous secret of the Ascension Plan, and the direct cause of the destruction of the central city, Ars Nova.

Lenox knew that it was a journey to filter out all the failures of the world and find the remaining correct answers.

However, Lenox did not know exactly how it had progressed and failed.

Through his conversation with Seonjong, Lenox had been thinking that it might have been a form of regression.

Kaise Bajur’s talent for reversing providence was the power to reverse even will and time under certain conditions.

As the past Kaise had shown in the closed area, if used to the extreme, it was possible to completely reverse the time of an entire specific area.

If that power could be applied not only to a specific space-time but to the entire world.

If it were possible to turn back the timeline of the entire star and regress to the past.

Lenox realized that Kaise had been digging into the failures of the world in that way.

Even though he had not heard the secrets of the project directly, he was beginning to understand things one by one.

Everything was so intricately intertwined that the moment he realized one thing, it creaked and led to the next.

Looking at the silent Oliviera, Lenox spoke quietly.

“It is often said that the limits of bloodline abilities are set from birth, but there are ways to raise that high point.”

[……]

“Just as Seonjong’s thoughts did, it is possible to raise the limits or scope of abilities by making a geas [a magical oath or binding] or human sacrifice.”

Powers that rely on innate constitutions or talents, such as bloodline abilities or psychic powers, are extremely influenced by oaths like geas.

If it was a geas like the one Seonjong had made, never to use the ideological war again, it would be possible to raise the level of the spell.

Lenox was asking if Kaise had been using his talent for reversing providence in that way.

“Has Kaise Bajur been endlessly regressing himself with the world as the target?”

[……Well.]

Oliviera turned her back and quietly raised her gaze.

[A long time ago… it seems that it was also called by that name.]

“……”

[A power to turn everything back to before it failed. If you put it grandly, you could say that.]

She said quietly, making eye contact with the expressionless Lenox.

[However, although that may have been our means, it would not have been our essence until the end.]

“What… does that mean?”

[It means that even you do not yet fully realize how absurd a miracle what you are talking about is.]

Oliviera said.

[As you know, Kaise’s talent was a very unstable power. He even struggled to handle that talent limited to his own body.]

“……”

[Can you imagine how unrealistic a price it would take to spread such power beyond one area, beyond a city, to the entire world?]

Tap, tap…!!

The two people, with the burning flames behind them, silently looked at each other.

The heat radiating from all directions burned even the undergrowth beneath their feet, but it did not even scratch the two people’s figures.

[I know. You must be thinking that the project was started to pay that ‘unrealistic price’.]

Oliviera said quietly.

As if she could know Lenox’s thoughts without having to read them.

[It may not be wrong. It is clear that Kaise’s talent was a key means in the project in some form. But…]

Her voice, whispering from behind the veil, changed faintly for a moment.

[Even if you have infinite opportunities, what does it mean if you don’t have the ability to solve the problem?]

“…Oliviera.”

[So, even if it meant throwing away everything we had built up until then… we wanted the key.]

Oliviera’s thoughts seemed to turn infinitely cold for a moment.

[The one key to move forward.]

“……”

Silence flowed.

At this moment when Kaise Bajur’s body was cremated.

Now that Oliviera had accepted and agreed with Lenox’s decision.

Lenox also understood that she had given him the best answer she could.

What kind of feelings does Oliviera have as she explains what happened back then to Lenox?

What is the reason why she can admit her and Kaise’s failure and say that it was wrong?

It must be because she also knows that Lenox is a being directly or indirectly involved in the project.

That is why she knows that Lenox is so persistently chasing the traces of the project.

Perhaps she knows that he may be standing closer than she herself.

[However, it is clear that the ability you mentioned was a part and means of the plan.]

Oliviera said, raising her gaze.

[The reason why Kaise even tried to use his own death was also for the ‘expansion’ of reversing providence.]

“The expansion of reversing providence…”

[He changed his mind and defected until the very end.]

At that moment, Oliviera’s voice became blurry.

[Therefore, in the end, I could not fully understand Kaise’s intentions either.]

“……”

[Even at this moment. Because what I know is not all the same as what you have found out, I cannot even be sure what is false.]

She said quietly, gazing at the burning tomb of the Nine Calamities.

[Then there is no need to mislead you with already failed memories. That is why the vampire did not say anything either.]

“……”

[Because all that she and I can exchange about the project is the remaining regret.]

While Lenox was silent, Oliviera slowly turned her gaze.

As if forcibly grabbing her gaze that would not fall from the burning Nine Calamities.

As if trying to burn the remaining attachment with those flames.

[Worthless, meaningless… but.]

Oliviera muttered.

[Perhaps, regardless of our failure, it may have already been achieved.]

“……”

[It’s time. Let’s go back to the city that we broke and dropped.]

She said, turning to Lenox.

[I need to prepare to return to Balkan. Come find me when you are ready.]

* * *

“So, I’ve roughly looked around the crash site of the Seven Calamities…”

Two days after cremating Kaise’s remains at the epicenter of the fallen Nine Calamities.

Lenox had been occasionally looking around the area that ‘was’ the outer city while undergoing treatment at the Blood Shadow Palace.

The outer city of Kundara, which had been shattered and split by the impact of crashing into the central front line.

Although there were almost no casualties thanks to the power of the Elder Council and the Eight Dragon Kings, it was inevitable that the various facilities and living areas that made up the city would collapse.

Since Maleon was the city he had tried to protect until the end, Lenox was thinking of helping as much as he could before leaving Kundara.

But Lenox soon realized that it was a meaningless worry.

“They adapt quickly, perhaps because they are long-lived species. Or, conversely, should I say they are insensitive to changes in their surroundings?”

Even though they had broken out of the veil and crashed into the center overnight, the atmosphere of the city was not that chaotic.

There were no people wailing or complaining, even with the completely shattered living areas and streets.

Only long-lived species were carrying broken materials and parts, rebuilding the city.

“So, when can we start interacting with the short-lived species of the mundane world?”

“According to what I saw in my literature, the food culture of the short-lived species is very stimulating.”

“I want to meet the Five Hundred Knights of the mundane world soon. I heard that the great powers of the short-lived species are as fast as their short lifespans.”

“…If you say it like that, it sounds like you’re trying to pick a fight.”

Maleon’s failure. The city that crashed and broke. The lost answer of the outer world.

Even though they knew they had lost the measures to avoid destruction, the long-lived species did not grieve.

Rather, there seemed to be more people who were interested or curious about the current situation.

Could it be that they do not have much attachment to the way of the outer world, which floats in the outer sea forever?

Or is it that, as they have lived for hundreds of years, they are prepared to endure any situation?

[If you’ve lived for hundreds of years, you might not have a fear of death.]

“Dabi.”

Dabi peeked out from inside the robe she had pulled over her head to hide her face.

[It’s what you call an age where you have nothing to fear.]

“…That’s not something you should say in a situation like this.”

[Oh, is that so?]

Even though Lenox scolded her, Dabi was excitedly shaking inside her robe.

Since Lenox woke up in the Blood Shadow Palace, Dabi had been almost always like this.

[Hehet, hehehehehet.]

“…Okay, okay.”

She was wagging her tail and rubbing her head, making it dizzying, but Lenox left her alone.

Because he knew what Dabi was thinking through the conversation he had with the spirit right after going up to the Nine Calamities.

“Hoo…”

He leaned on his cane and staggered, sitting on a chair in a nearby alley.

Just walking a little made him break out in a cold sweat all over his body and his whole body twitched slightly.

Dabi, who noticed Lenox’s abnormality, immediately activated the life support device of the cane to maximum output.

Woo-oong…!!

Only then did Lenox’s complexion return a little, and he nodded, smiling weakly.

“Thank you.”

[……]

The cerebral spirit burrowed into Lenox’s arms without saying a word.

Lenox looked at Dabi like that and fell into thought without a word.

Even with the use of the Life Vessel, the backlash of the elixir was so severe that it was difficult to even move his body.

If it were not for the help of the Blood Shadow Palace to forcibly circulate his blood, he would not have been able to move from his bed for months.

If he thought of it as the price of engraving a new branching point of corruption in the kaleidoscope, it was rather fortunate that it ended like this, but even so, he could not stay in this city forever.

The fact that Kundara had crashed into the central front line was openly known throughout the continent.

He had not yet heard any proper news, but it was highly likely that there was chaos outside.

Soon, large forces such as the Alliance or the Order would also visit Kundara to try to coordinate the situation.

If Lenox remained in this city until then, problems would inevitably arise in some way.

It was difficult to move with combat in mind in this physical condition, so he had to move as quickly as possible.

He might have to leave the outer city and return to Balkan today or tomorrow.

Just as Lenox was thinking that and stroking Dabi’s head.

[Ah, Master. Can I ask you one thing I’m curious about?]

“What is it?”

[The tail you made for me last time.]

Dabi said, showing her tail from inside her robe.

The ‘eighth’ tail, made by compressing black lightning, that sprang from the back of a baby fox.

[This, shouldn’t it have been the seventh, actually?]

The spirit asked, tilting her head.

[Master made it the eighth back then, but I don’t have a seventh tail yet.]

“……”

Dabi’s point was not wrong.

The tail created in Yorta using the power of the ghost ship was the sixth.

If the tail had been created normally, the newly created tail should have been the seventh.

However, even after hearing Dabi’s words, Lenox stroked the spirit’s head.

Lenox, leaning on a bench near a quiet street, said quietly.

“Because the seventh level of self-modification must be completed by oneself.”

[……Huh?]

“It’s the same.”

Lenox made eye contact with Dabi.

“You have to create and complete the seventh tail yourself. It’s an area I can’t help you with.”

[……]

The cerebral spirit’s tail is a power that symbolizes the level that Dabi herself has built up.

Then the number of tails must also follow the principle of self-modification.

The seventh is the completion of self-modification and a point of arrival that one builds up on one’s own.

It is a tail that Dabi must awaken, complete, and create on her own.

That is why, instead of creating the seventh tail with the power of black lightning, Lenox skipped one and created the foundation for the eighth tail.

And instead of directly completing the eighth tail, he created it in a form that would hold the center so that it could be completed at any time.

“Because the black lightning I used was a corrupted power. If I had made that the completion of your level, there would have been a problem.”

[Master……]

“But the eighth would be fine. Because from then on, it would be a realm that transcends completion.”

Lenox said, stroking Dabi’s head.

“I’ve made it so that when you complete the seventh, the eighth will naturally be completed as well. Until then, it won’t affect your spiritual power.”

Even at the moment when he drank the elixir and looked at the outer sea, he was thinking.

Even at the moment when he felt an inexplicable familiarity at the branching point of corruption, he remembered.

He hoped that this spirit, who saw and remembered every moment with Lenox, would one day become an answer.

He named her, looked around the world with her, and shared all his experiences.

Someday, even if Dabi’s answer, which she would reach in that way, became different from Lenox’s, it would still have meaning.

Just like the ability to manipulate the cerebral space that Dabi had obtained, just like the talent to do things that Lenox could not do.

Another possibility that is different from Lenox himself, but that Lenox himself can accept.

[……Hmph.]

The spirit’s expression changed to a pout, noticing Lenox’s thoughts.

[I’m one with Master. I don’t dream different dreams from Master.]

“Yes. I guess so.”

Lenox stroked Dabi, took off the robe covering his face, and stood up.

“It’s time. Shall we go?”

[Where to?]

“There was one last thing I had to do before leaving Kundara.”

Lenox looked at the vast plain in the distance with a calm gaze.

“The dragons will be waiting.”

* * *

The outer city of Kundara. The Hall of the Eight Calamities.

A space that once stood at the highest point of Kundara, reflecting the universe of mist.

Now, it was a plain that had crashed and broken near the border, with its remains scattered everywhere.

The statues of the founders were half-destroyed and fallen, and the pillars and inner walls had collapsed, with the remains piled up like mountains.

Lenox, sitting on the side of the dusty corridor, was looking at his hand while leaning on his cane.

“……”

Crack, crack…!!!

Every time he lightly touched his thumb and index finger, bright blue lightning burst out between his fingers.

The afterimage of lightning, wrapped around Lenox’s hand, changing its shape incessantly while holding a deep light.

An attribute magic that had never once deviated from Lenox’s will since he learned unique magic.

However, Lenox’s expression as he looked at the lightning was more deeply sunken than ever before.

“……”

He could not feel the difference with the naked eye, and even with Lenox’s senses, there was only a faint discomfort.

Nevertheless, he knew that there was definitely a sense of incongruity.

He could feel it because it was the lightning magic that Lenox had always handled directly with his own hands.

Crackling!!!

The center of the deep blue lightning.

The causality of lightning that had never escaped Lenox’s control.

At the very center, it seemed that a ‘blackened’ lightning was mixed in very faintly.

The power of a possibility that was out of Lenox’s control and running wild, a power that Lenox himself had not chosen.

The black lightning that he had completely let go of after the battle with Seonjong still remained within Lenox.

At the moment when Lenox felt it and touched the lightning flashing at his fingertips.

Whoosh!!

Very large shadows began to fall over Lenox’s head all at once.

Six huge dragon species floating in the sky as the evening sun set.

The Dragon Kings, each emitting light while wearing different colors and textures of magic, were approaching while floating in the sky.

A powerful presence that encompassed the red horizon and colored the sky above the hall from the other side.

Kugugugugu!!!!

The sky shook violently, and the ground shook greatly with the vibration.

At the same time as Lenox raised his gaze, a hot wind swept over the broken hall.

From all directions of the fallen Hall of the Eight Calamities, various colors of light began to rise like exploding pillars.

Faaaah!!!!

Pillars of light rising from all directions of the hall, as if reacting to the Dragon Kings approaching the Hall of the Eight Calamities.

The moment the pillars of light rising from all directions tilted and intersected above Lenox’s head.

With Lenox under the dazzling light, the six Dragon Kings landed on all sides of the hall.

Kuuuung!!

Each one exuded a strong presence and thoughts, and a heavy sense of oppression that pressed down on the surroundings.

However, unlike last time, there was no longer any wariness or fear in the eyes of the dragons looking at Lenox.

A heavy telepathic sound echoed among the dragons resonating with serious magic.

[It’s time. Is everyone here?]

“I heard you were busy with the reconstruction work of Kundara, but more of you came down than I thought.”

Lenox asked, looking around.

“I heard that this was a place to report and organize the current situation of Kundara, but why did you choose this place as the meeting place?”

[Because this Hall of the Eight Calamities is the place where the most functions and authority remain in Kundara.]

Kugugugu!!!!

A dragon with hard scales like chains all over its body landed, leaping over the vast plain.

The Iron Chain Dragon King said in a heavy voice.

[This place, where the statues and shrines made from the body parts of the founders are located, would be the most suitable place to convey the appropriate reward to you.]

“Reward?”

[Although the beginning was wrong, you stopped Maleon Gnosis and prevented the disaster of the city escaping outside the outer sea.]

The Iron Chain Dragon King, looking down at Lenox from under his heavy armor, said.

[As a result, your contribution to the survival of Kundara has an immeasurable value.]

“……”

Woo-oong…!!!

At that moment, the statues of the founders, broken or fallen in various parts of the hall, began to glow brightly.

Just as Lenox turned to look at the statues glowing as if reacting to the life force of the six Dragon Kings who had landed in the hall.

The Iron Chain Dragon King roared with a heavy voice and stared at Lenox.

[With the authority of the Eight Dragon Kings and the Elder Council, from now on, we will transfer a part of Kundara as a reward for the achievements you have made.]