Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 1168

End of Fate (20)

The deepest part of the Central Front, the Six Rakshasa Demon Realm. A prison where alien evil spirits are confined, with every visible horizon surrounded by walls of lava.

Deep within this sweltering hell lies the core extracted from the dead bio-warship, Megiddo.

Koo-ooo-ooo!!!!

Inside a fist-sized bead, crimson flames swirl and slowly rotate, like a living entity with its own will, pulsing and moving without pattern or rule.

As Lenok watched the flames move, feeling as if they were the beating of a heart, he spoke.

“What does knowing that name mean to you?”

“……”

“Is Ethan Bajur’s existence related to the failure of the project you were involved in?”

Lenok hadn’t expected to hear Ethan Bajur’s name at this point, while facing the leader as Victor. Yet, Lenok was also somewhat accepting of the leader mentioning that name.

He knew that the leader had been involved in the Black Consumer Project at some point. He had guessed that the leader would remember Kaiser in some way. Now that Ethan Bajur was returning to the Legion, it wouldn’t be strange for the leader to know that fact. Even if the leader had foreseen Lenok meeting Ethan as an inevitability in the distant future, it was understandable. The fact that the leader mentioned it here was proof that he wasn’t trying to hide or conceal it from Lenok.

That’s why, as soon as Lenok heard those words, he asked the question he most wanted to ask. The role the leader played in the project. The reason he intervened to uncover the world’s failures. What role did the leader play in the failure of the Black Consumer Project?

Lenok asked, “Was the failure of the project your ‘role’?”

“I don’t think Kaiser Bajur was particularly special compared to others,” the leader spoke calmly, in a monotone that revealed no emotion. “There must have been others with the same talent, others who dreamed the same dream, somewhere in the three cycles. But…”

“…But?”

“I knew from the beginning that he could not be more than a component.” The leader raised his gaze, filled with static. “That’s why, knowing it would wear down, I chose to change.”

“……”

“If he had reached the same conclusion as me, even for a moment, in the midst of countless failures,” the leader murmured in an indifferent tone, staring at Lenok’s mask. “I once thought that I could take on the role he desired.”

“……”

The words that he could not be more than a component. The answer that he chose to change, knowing it would wear down. Were the leader’s muttered words directed at Kaiser, or at the leader himself? Perhaps the reason the leader intervened in Kaiser’s plan was because the two were not different. If Kaiser had glimpsed the leader’s origin, even for a moment, while retracing all the failures of the world. If Kaiser had predetermined the leader’s existence as the ‘end’ of the project in that process, the failure of the project was, from the beginning-

“It’s time.”

Whirr!

He hands the miniature sun, burning and falling, to Lenok. Even though it was flickering wildly enough to burn through space-time, the sphere was warm enough to hold with bare hands. It emitted intense energy, raising the surrounding temperature and adding heat, yet it was harmless to Lenok and the leader. While Lenok felt a faint sense of incongruity in that phenomenon, the leader turned away without hesitation.

Woo-oo-oo-oong!!!!

The leader, standing before the corpse of the bio-warship Megiddo, which he had killed, raised his wrist and drew up his magic power. The leader’s magic power, which existed as a result the moment you noticed it, without any prior sign or indication. The will of the transcendent who governs inevitability wraps around the corpse of the bio-warship, resonating and echoing. Lenok’s senses, watching, creaked and twisted, and his magic power screamed, standing on end. Something very dangerous was about to happen here.

“The closer you get to the center of the world, the further you get from its essence. That’s the paradox there.” The leader, standing on Megiddo’s corpse, lowered his head. “The Six Rakshasa Demon Realm is the hottest hell in the entire continent, and a place that holds heat that should not exist on this planet.”

“……”

“In a demon realm that holds heat that melts not only matter and concepts, but even souls…” He knelt on one knee and, with an indifferent gesture, caressed the body, and said, “It wouldn’t be difficult to skip the necessary process and finish the tempering.”

Whoosh!

The moment he noticed, the leader was holding a transparent glass bead that emitted a chilling cold. A compressed form containing the remains of the dead Outer God, the cold comet, stolen by the clown from the sanctuary of Kabahim Royal City. The leader held the remnants that had wandered and swam through the Bara as a frozen comet, and the moment he turned his gaze, he ruthlessly embedded the remains of the god in the place where the core of the bio-warship Megiddo had been located.

Jjeo-eo-eo-eong!!!!

The burning corpse of Megiddo instantly took on a cold chill and froze. The bio-warship, thousands of meters long, condensed with cold and shrank on the spot.

Kkiririririk…!!!

Without any warning, space-time began to distort around the leader in front of Lenok’s eyes. A strong sense of incongruity, as if the volcanic hell landscape in front of him was being distorted, twisted, and isolated. He twisted and crushed all the processes of embedding the cold crystal into the hot corpse of Megiddo, leaving only the result. Just like when the leader lent his power in the last battle with Anathema long ago. The power of the acquired, twisting cause and effect, leaving only the desired contradiction. The adjustment of inevitability.

Whoosh!

Before he knew it, no one was left around except Lenok and the leader. Even the existences of Agneta and Antares, who had escaped into the imaginary dimension, were twisted and pushed away. But Lenok couldn’t even pay attention to that fact, and looked up at the corpse of Megiddo, which was losing its shape and twisting. The bio-warship, thousands of meters long, was shrinking with cold, turning into a black ‘pillar’. Lenok had seen a similar shape once before in the well.

Koo-gwa-gwa-gwa-gwa!!!!!

“You were planning to make a… bullet,” Lenok muttered to himself. “Were you planning to use the entire demon realm as a forge, and temper the corpse of the Outer God with the cold contained in the remains of the dead god?”

“……”

“If you try to take and process a being that transcends causality, that’s the talent you possess-” No, there was no need to explain the method or means to the leader himself. He had seen how the leader killed and ascended the Outer God, beyond the Ascension Gate of Machina. He only realized that everything the leader had done in this demon realm was to prepare some means. It was the result of trying to process the concept itself, which had transcended causality and met death, into a bullet.

Lenok, having thought that far, fell silent and forced his gaze up. Surely, everything that had started in the strategy operation would end here. But that was the same for the leader. Now that it was impossible to know when the leader would reappear in the world and reveal his will. If he had to give meaning to what might be the last moment, there was only one question for him. What was the answer he desired, while twisting cause and effect to create contradictions, and using the remains of a transcendent as a ‘bullet’-

“After killing all those sea gods… can you really stop the end?”

“……”

“Do you really think you can achieve your wish in that way before the end comes?”

In that moment, the world that had been twisting around the leader stopped. His lungs felt like they were burning, even though they were protected by magic. His throat was stinging and dry. But Lenok struggled to catch his breath, looking at his back. In the center of the scorching hell, the leader turned his head.

“From the day I shot and killed a god to this day,” the leader, slowly approaching Lenok, said. “There is one thing that remains unchanged, even if everything else changes.”

“……”

“I have already chosen, and I have borne the price. What I desire will not change until the end of the world.”

“……You.”

“Because I left all other feelings and possibilities in the second world.” For the first time, the leader seemed to smile in front of Lenok. “You would understand. That’s why I’m answering you.”

“……”

Lenok knew what the leader was about to say. If Lenok had been born in the second world, watched its destruction, and survived by ascending alone. If he had been born in the first world, ascended twice, and remained in the third. Could Lenok have been as blindly unchanging as the leader? Could he have avoided breaking down like the cult leader? He had thought and worried about what Lenok would have done, what conclusion Lenok himself would have reached. That’s why he ended up sympathizing with him. That’s why he asked a question he couldn’t expect and received an answer. The fact that even though the three were once the same, they were never standing in the same place. The fact that the origin of a human is not a nature determined from birth, but is made up of what they have experienced and gone through. But, because of that-

“……No. I won’t understand.” Lenok forced his gaze away, looking at the space-time twisting in front of him. “I won’t understand, sympathize, or acknowledge it. Because the more I do, the more I’ll end up like you. That would be meaningless.”

“……”

“This place… is my first and last. I’m standing in a world where not even a single failure is allowed. But…” Lenok, meeting the leader’s gaze, answered, “I don’t regret deciding on the answer. It was a journey to confirm that.”

“Yes. I suppose so.” The leader raised his gaze. “I would have done the same. I did the same.”

“……”

“But, is creation really a miracle that can be achieved in that way?”

Crack!

In front of Lenok’s eyes, space-time twisted and forcibly deviated. The cause and effect of the world twisted, creating a contradiction that could not exist.

Kkiriririk…!!!

It erased and crushed causality, using that deviation as power to create a ‘bullet’. The corpse of the bio-warship Megiddo, containing the remains of the cold comet, lost its shape and collapsed in the distortion. The moment it rose up in the form of a huge ‘pillar’ that was endlessly blackened. Even Lenok’s vision turned black, and all his senses faded into the distance.

“Can you still be ‘you’ even in front of the fourth, not the third?” The leader’s soft voice echoed from the distant void. “You will have to find the answer to that yourself.”

* * *

Swaaa-aa-aa-

Lenok opened his eyes, listening to the sound of waves crashing in his ears. A sandy beach where the hot sun was shining. Lenok was leaning against a rock that had risen on the beach, looking at the horizon in the distance.

“……”

In the end, what did Lenok want to hear from the leader? The existence of the leader, who resided alone in the Six Rakshasa Demon Realm, the deepest part of the Central Front. The sight of him holding the heat of the demon realm and the cold of the Outer God in his hands, processing the evil spirits of the outer world into bullets. That sight of him constantly repeating trial and error for god-slaying was similar to Lenok, only with different goals and directions. A pursuit of mortality that was so blind that it seemed almost like madness, an obsession. Even though he knew so well what the leader wanted and what he was trying to do. The reason he had bothered to confirm it again from the leader’s mouth and try to get an answer was ultimately-

Chik.

With the sound of a can opening, a cold can of beer appeared next to Lenok’s face. “I found a few left in the ship’s underground freezer.” The clown, holding the beer, looked down at Lenok and smiled. “Would you like a drink?”

“……I will.” Ignoring the clown who sat down next to him, he slightly lifted his mask and tilted the can. The clown clicked his tongue at the sight. “Your concept is quite extreme. We’ve worked together this long, isn’t it okay to show your face by now?”

“This mask was given to me by Myung when I joined Pandemonium,” Lenok said, compressing the can with his magic power, making it smaller than a grain of sand. “I can disguise my face in other ways, but this has a meaning beyond that.”

“Meaning? You mean the meaning of having the Underworld King as your backer?”

“Myung decided where he would be and what he would do until the very end,” Lenok lowered his head. “If even his bringing me into Pandemonium was part of that, I want to respect his will as much as possible.”

“……I didn’t know you were so indebted to the Underworld King. Did you borrow money from him or something?”

“Money…” Lenok chuckled at the clown’s jest. “I received something more important than that in many ways.”

“……”

The battle between the Underworld King and Jinwa, starting in the Garden of Lost Paradise. Lenok also knew that the battle of the transcendents, who were mocking ascension, had already begun. He also knew which side the victory or defeat of the battle that was shaking the entire Central Front would lean towards. He had not received a clear answer as to what Myung was trying to achieve through the Gabi Flight. He could only guess at the reason why he had helped Lenok, even while giving up his journey along the way. That’s why Lenok was thinking of respecting the will that Myung had left him, if possible. Because the reason why he wanted to keep Lenok in Pandemonium, even in this way, would still remain. At least until then, he would have to keep pace with this criminal group that had no organizational power.

“Where are the others?”

“They’re organizing the gifts they received from the leader,” the clown shrugged. “If you met the leader, you’d know what he gave you, right?”

“From what I understand, the way he grants wishes is very different for each individual.” Indeed, the way the leader granted wishes was due to the remnants of his transcendent power. He would bring forward the inevitability that a human would face in the future and deliver only the result in advance. In other words, it was nothing less than a miracle to deliver the fruits or achievements that the members would obtain in the future at this point. The other members would also know how absurd it was to be able to pull it from beyond the timeline or branching point. Lenok, having thought that far, immediately turned his gaze to the clown.

“You seem quite free, considering what you’re saying. What did you get?”

“Ah, me?” The clown grinned. “I didn’t receive any tangible objects or knowledge, so there was no need to organize anything. Well, it’s not something special enough to brag about.”

“Don’t beat around the bush.”

“I received luck.”

“……Luck?”

“The luck that my future self is destined to fully enjoy. To be precise, it’s something like a ‘word’ related to my origin?” The clown leaned against the rock next to Lenok and spoke leisurely. “I remembered something when I was talking about it with Victor the other day, so I asked the leader, and it surprisingly worked.”

“……”

It was a somewhat unexpected answer, but Lenok immediately understood why the clown had brought his luck forward. The magnetic field that the clown possessed was a roulette that was activated by using luck as a geas [a magical compulsion]. Depending on the conditions, it was even possible to obtain results that exceeded level 8. So far, he had only seen the magnetic field corresponding to level 4, but the fact that the clown had brought the luck of the future meant that it was probably something beyond that-

“After the strategy operation is over, I’ll probably be busier than I am now,” the clown said, getting up with a “heave-ho” sound. “When the war between the Order and the Alliance ends, the Central Front strategy will begin in earnest. I need to prepare in advance so that I don’t miss out on such fun things, right?”

“Did you talk to the leader about the future plans?”

“Rather than talking… the general direction was already decided, so there was nothing to discuss.” The clown shrugged. “There are things that can only be done when the gates and demon realms of the Central Front are breached. That will be the same for the Order and the Alliance.”

“……”

“If we’re not there, they’ll manage on their own. That’s why Kroken is outside the continent in the first place…” Could it be that the reason why the fisherman was not visible was related to that? What was that monstrous war mercenary doing outside the continent? While Lenok was lost in thought, the clown yawned, stretching languidly.

“Anyway, the strategy operation is over. I’m planning to leave as soon as the ship is repaired, but you can go back first if you want.”

“……”

“You’ve worked hard on this. There were a lot of problems, so it was fun, but it wouldn’t have gone so well without Victor.” The clown smiled brightly, looking at Lenok. “As expected, even if a skilled manipulator has a bad personality, it’s good to have them on your side. Don’t you think so?”

“It’s the same reason why you don’t want to have an illusionist as an enemy, even if they backstab you. You did a good job too.” Lenok turned away with a sneer. “I’m leaving. Don’t contact me for Pandemonium business for the time being.”

From Tokerphz to Kabahim Royal City, across the sea, through the demon realm, and back to this island. Many things had happened, but the gains Lenok had made were not small either. If Lenok could fully handle the power he had gained, there would be more things he could do as Victor. At that time, it might be worth considering moving in the Central Front under the name of Pandemonium. Of course, the place to confirm that would not be this island, but Lenok’s laboratory in Balkan.

“Ah, and I think I should tell you this in advance.”

“What?”

“According to Hylea, it seems that a friend named Deimos has contacted her.” The clown smiled and subtly turned his gaze. “Some members are planning to attend the Legion’s parade in the Central Front, and the rumors are not good.”

“……”

“According to Deimos, they’re going to organize a full-scale ‘subjugation operation’ at the parade, along with the return of the Marshal.” The clown grinned, looking at the silent Lenok. “The Fortress Subjugation War. It seems like something very interesting is about to happen in Balkan, don’t you think?”