Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 1005

The Conjunction Master (7)

The curtain hung at the gate entrance.

As soon as Lenok saw the Conjunction Master appear from behind it, he turned around.

*Whoosh!*!

A flame erupted from Lenok’s back, rotating and compressing at an incredible speed.

It became an invisible red flash, piercing the Conjunction Master’s form.

[Red Sun Dagger]

*Boom!*!

The red light scattered like an explosion between the giant beast’s skull.

However, the Conjunction Master simply raised one hand, grabbing and shattering the magic that had been shot at him.

With just a single gesture, he erased Lenok’s magic as if washing it away.

“Excellent.”

The Conjunction Master said, looking at the afterglow of the flame that had faded from his fingertips.

His gaze was indifferently fixed on his half-scorched palm.

“Your flame feels different from the Magic Tower Master’s.”

“……”

“A versatility not limited to the heat system… an infinity encompassing magic and formulas… I see.”

The Conjunction Master, with his eyes half-closed, tilted his head and muttered, touching his burnt right hand.

“I understand what my clone saw. Did you confine that talent within the prison of flame?”

“……”

“Judging by your mastery of the barrier technique of the True Shield, you probably weren’t unaware of it yourself…”

The Conjunction Master’s eyes, glancing back at Lenok, gleamed with curiosity.

“There’s something very dangerous hidden inside you. Is that why you prevented your examination results from being shared with me?”

“Even after coming this far, you’re still curious about that kind of thing.”

The words left by the Conjunction Master’s chimera clone before it died were not wrong.

It wasn’t a proper confirmation through component analysis, as the chimera clone had done.

Nevertheless, the Conjunction Master had vaguely grasped Lenok’s talent in a single moment, just like his clone had.

An extraordinary sensitivity that could gauge potential by receiving and discerning Lenok’s magic just once.

This was proof that the Conjunction Master standing here was indeed Avesta Chapman himself.

“Don’t rush, Evan Martinez.”

The Conjunction Master said, regenerating his tattered palm with a light clench and release of his fist.

“Fighting for your life is something you can do anytime. I can’t give up this time by focusing on such wasteful actions.”

“……”

“The situation has been unfolding so rapidly that we’ve missed a lot of things. Don’t you think?”

The Conjunction Master asked leisurely.

“Before we end this, there are things we need to confirm.”

The appearance of the Conjunction Master as soon as he obtained the fragments of the curtain at the gate entrance.

And even the reaction of the undead, Michael Jellich, who betrayed Lenok and sided with the Conjunction Master as if he had been waiting for it.

Even though the situation had turned upside down in an instant, Lenok did not waver.

He took out a cigar, put it in his mouth, and slowly lit it as he turned around.

Leaving the Conjunction Master, who didn’t stop him, Lenok exhaled smoke and opened his mouth.

“From the beginning… you were waiting for me.”

“Well, did you think I would just leave a mage who walked into my territory on his own?”

The Conjunction Master shrugged.

“At first, I wasn’t sure. I couldn’t figure out what you were trying to gain by taking the risk of being caught by my formula.”

“……”

“I deliberately gave you a 48-hour grace period, but instead of running away, you stayed in the gate city. Even after entering my operating room, you refused to escape and went around stirring up the territory…”

The Conjunction Master said, tilting his head to the side.

“I investigated you with my clone, but I couldn’t get any information in the end. The moment it was discovered, it was destroyed so that it couldn’t even be caught by my sensitivity.”

“……”

“I admit it. It was an amazing display of patience. No matter how calm and composed a mage is, usually, if you repeat tightening and loosening like that in such a short time, there will be an opening.”

The Conjunction Master, slowly approaching Lenok, smiled.

“The fact that I allowed your escape from the operating room, that I touched the Tower Master, that I stole the medicine, and that I let you meet Jellich, all of that was part of it… and I finally got one thing at the very end.”

Beyond the mask, the Conjunction Master’s indifferent gaze turned towards the scattered stardust.

“Your real goal was the fragments themselves that fell when the curtain broke.”

The Conjunction Master knew that Lenok had escaped, but he didn’t immediately chase after him.

Instead, he pretended to examine Lenok, putting pressure on him, and even after the information was cut off by the death of his clone, he focused on operating on the Tower Master.

He endlessly pushed Lenok, and then released him, trying to figure out his purpose.

‘There was… a clue, wasn’t there.’

It’s not that he couldn’t guess why Jellich was on the Conjunction Master’s side.

Bernard had asked for Jellich’s remains to be recovered, but he hadn’t asked for Jellich to be saved.

He had considered the possibility that Jellich might not be on the Vanguard’s side, but he probably thought there was no need to explain it to Lenok and increase unnecessary confusion.

Therefore, Lenok had not assumed that Jellich might have betrayed the Vanguard and sided with the Conjunction Master.

Could that small difference have been what separated Lenok and the Conjunction Master’s judgments in the end?

“If you were aware of the situation through Jellich, you would have known that I was getting the curtain fragments.”

Lenok asked.

“Why didn’t you interfere while I was collecting the fragments?”

“Depending on how you collected the fragments, I could guess your purpose.”

The Conjunction Master smiled.

“You used barrier techniques to collect and store the fragments as catalysts. It seemed to consume quite a bit of magic power.”

“……”

“I didn’t want to exhaust you before the conversation, but you kept your distance from Jellich the entire time you were collecting the fragments.”

[……]

“Michael Jellich asked you about your purpose several times, but you didn’t answer until the very last moment. Excellent. Or should I say, cautious? But…”

The Conjunction Master slowly clapped his hands and looked at Lenok with an indifferent gaze.

“A week ago, there was an infiltrator who tried to get the curtain fragments by invading my territory. It was the work of a Cartel’s magic eye user.”

“……”

“Strangely enough, if I think that you are doing the same thing in front of my eyes that that woman was trying to do, is that a delusion?”

Indeed, the Conjunction Master was able to immediately notice the sense of déjà vu the moment Lenok approached the gate entrance.

The suspicion that had been ruled out simply because Evan Martinez had survived his defeat by Gyonroe.

The Conjunction Master had also realized that Evan Martinez had been working with Gyonroe from the beginning.

“It was amazing. I said that anyone with interesting talents or formulas would be fine, but I never thought you’d send such a big shot.”

The Conjunction Master’s eyes narrowed.

“Evan Martinez. A great mage who was defeated by Gyonroe, who left the Azure Eye and bowed his head to him.”

“Think of it as obedience or surrender, as you please.”

Lenok said, slowly turning towards the Conjunction Master.

“Those words mean nothing to me.”

“Hmm…”

The Conjunction Master’s eyes, which had been staring at Lenok indifferently, suddenly flashed with a different light.

“Yes… it really seems that way. It’s not just a simple bluff, you really think and act that way.”

“……”

“Because of that, I can’t help but be curious about what happened in Vulcan…”

The Conjunction Master, throwing off his glove with one hand, said.

“I don’t think I can allow what you’ve done here. Especially if you’re trying to take the curtain fragments.”

“Is that… what you’re saying as the manager of the first gate?”

“Do you know about the [Doors] that exist on the continent?”

He pulled down his mask and, taking off the glove on his other hand, approached Lenok.

An indifferent gaze that felt no emotion. An intense sense of otherness with no presence, no intention.

Before he could even ponder the meaning of the question, the Conjunction Master said.

“Those things are made from the corpses of dead Ascended Ones.”

“……”

Why the passage connected to the outer sea could function as a [Door].

The Conjunction Master, who had bluntly revealed the secret of the [Door] that he had heard through the Thousand Eyes, nodded his head as he looked at Lenok.

“This gate is the same. The corpse of a dead Long-Lived Species functions as the curtain door. Do you know why?”

The Conjunction Master didn’t wait long for an answer.

As if there was no need for a question and answer, he simply continued his explanation in a flat tone that contained no emotion.

“Because a long time ago, death was not the end for us.”

“……”

“In the cycle of eternal reincarnation, life and death were not something that ended in one go, but a blessing that continued… a passage to another world.”

The Conjunction Master said as he slowly moved his feet.

“The final stage of this life, and the beginning of the next. Therefore, the remnants of a life that had died were considered a door connecting the two worlds.”

The Conjunction Master stopped walking, and his voice lowered.

“Now, it’s a meaningless story that doesn’t matter anymore. But that is… the origin of the ‘connection’ that the main alliance pursues.”

“……”

A long time ago. Before the end of this world was decided.

Before the cause and effect of this world closed and its destruction was confirmed.

In a world where infinite possibilities were unfolding, death was not just a simple end.

Why the Conjunction Master knew that fact, why he could explain such a secret history and background to Lenok.

But there was no more time left to ask about it.

*Grrrrumble…!!*

Behind the Conjunction Master, who had slowly stepped aside, the chimeras that had been roaming the lobby were glaring at Lenok as if they wanted to kill him.

Hundreds of chimeras, trembling and emitting rough breaths and sticky murderous intent.

[Hoo… hoo… intruder…!!]

[Kill, kill, kill…!!]

They were trembling and drooling, as if they were eager to rush towards Lenok right away.

The Conjunction Master glanced at the chimeras and opened his mouth.

“I could explain more about why I’m doing this, why I’m staying at the gate.”

“……”

“But I don’t expect any more understanding or respect from you. That would be contradictory to the meaning of the Great Connection that the Alliance has put forward.”

The chimeras densely filled the area around the gate entrance.

Lenok and the Conjunction Master stood facing each other in the middle of the group of monsters.

“So, for the first and last time, I’ll ask you just once.”

The Conjunction Master asked.

“Evan Martinez. Do you have any intention of becoming the axis of the Great Connection that the Order Alliance has put forward?”

“……”

“I don’t know how much interest the leader will have in you, but I saw potential in you. An unblemished potential that is not bound to one system… perhaps the life you have lived itself was a miracle that embodies such a talent.”

The Conjunction Master’s gaze, looking at the silent Lenok, flashed coldly.

“Under the Great Connection, you will realize how great and meaningless such implications are. You will also understand that you yourself can be a part and a subject of this great flow. This is what the Alliance is claiming as the answer in this war.”

The Conjunction Master’s declaration that by bowing his head to the Order Alliance and becoming one of the Conjunction Masters, his talent would be unleashed, and even the purpose of the Alliance would be fully revealed.

The Conjunction Master did not mention any worldly rewards or compensation, such as what honors and benefits there would be if he joined the Alliance, or how high Lenok could rise.

He had only seen through the curiosity and inquisitiveness that existed deep within Lenok’s heart.

That Lenok, who had been digging into the secrets of the world for so long, still had things he didn’t know.

And that he was still desperately yearning for it.

“Everything you have done on the central front will be the responsibility of the main alliance. In addition, your potential and secrets, your origin and vessel. All of that will be protected under the name of the Alliance.”

“……”

“A talent that is not recognized or tolerated anywhere. The Order Alliance can cherish and nurture a flower that blooms in twisted soil as a precious and special value.”

That was probably because the Conjunction Master was once like Lenok.

He had a twisted talent in a different way from others, and he could understand the sense of kinship because he had been chasing an unattainable answer.

Lenok also knew that the Conjunction Master had explained a little about the [Door] and [Death] to him because he understood, empathized with, and tried to persuade him.

“I’ll ask you the opposite.”

But Lenok answered, understanding the Conjunction Master’s implications and consideration.

“On the premise that you take responsibility and atone for all the chimeras you have created, do you have any intention of joining me?”

“……”

Instead of answering, the Conjunction Master stared at Lenok.

Even he hadn’t expected Lenok to make such a proposal.

“I told your clone too. It’s the same for both of us.”

Lenok smiled indifferently, receiving the Conjunction Master’s indifferent gaze.

“Don’t you think we’ve come too far to give up everything we’ve built up so far and turn back?”

A proposal that would not be valid simply by reversing the positions, how worthless it was for the two of them.

But Lenok hadn’t just made such a proposal to the Conjunction Master with empty words.

The talent and intellect of the Conjunction Master that he had encountered in this gate city today were among the best of the strong people Lenok had faced.

That’s why Lenok also knew that he wouldn’t be able to answer.

“I see. In the end, it was a difference in the values that support life…”

The Conjunction Master nodded as if he understood.

A refreshing gesture as if he didn’t care at all that Lenok had rejected his proposal.

“I knew that you were an individual with a rare and deep divine nature among high-ranking mages, but it’s still difficult to understand.”

*Kugugugugu…!!!*

At that moment, flesh began to surge and rise beneath Lenok and the Conjunction Master’s feet.

Every time the two mages moved towards each other, flesh rose up, creating a stage in the middle of the hall.

As they climbed the hill of flesh that was gradually growing larger, Lenok and the Conjunction Master simultaneously pulled up their magic power.

*Crack…!!*

The Conjunction Master, reaching out his hand towards the chimeras wailing on the ground, asked.

“Or should I judge that even the compassion you have for a mere chimera is part of your talent?”

“Well, I don’t know.”

Lenok shrugged.

“However, all the chimeras you created… were saying to be killed.”

“……”

“I didn’t like that very much.”

“A Watcher, indeed.”

The Conjunction Master smiled.

“Even after coming this far, are you still with the future that the lighthouse keeper dreams of?”

“No. It’s the opposite.”

Lenok, gathering flames in one hand, said, clenching it.

“I hope that the answer I’m drawing will encompass their dreams as well.”

*Whoosh!*!

On top of the surging hill of flesh, Lenok and the Conjunction Master simultaneously stretched out their hands forward.

*Whoosh!*!

The flames swirling in Lenok’s hand rotated in a circle and turned into a sphere of blue flames.

A miniature sun sphere, gathering the flames of the universe and rotating wildly in Lenok’s hand.

The Conjunction Master also looked at it and grabbed the surrounding chimeras, fusing them together.

The bizarre flesh repeatedly fused and compressed, riding on the special system magic power.

The flesh of the chimeras, compressed into a point, could not withstand the repulsion and exploded in front of Lenok’s eyes.

Heat System Unique Magic

[Supernova]

Conjunction Formula Activation

[Human Overlap]

The miniature sun sphere held in Lenok’s hand and the compressed sphere of chimeras held in the Conjunction Master’s hand collided.

*Boom!!!*

In the explosion of flames that bisected the vast life territory vertically, the two mages simultaneously began to move towards each other.