Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 1049

Kugugugu…!!!

Lightning flashed within the pure white clouds that hung over the barren prairie.

The massive form of the War Magic Tower, emerging from the clouds, cut across the sky with a heavy roar.

The upper deck of the War Magic Tower, floating and visible beneath the sky, used the white clouds as its stepping stones.

On a makeshift training ground set up on the starboard deck, Lenok and a young man stood facing each other.

“…….”

“Hoo!!”

Lenok, showing no emotion, and a fierce-looking young man, sighing with tension.

Each held sharply rotating lightning in their hands, slowly raising them towards each other.

Lenok raised one hand, while the young man held out both hands together, their magic power rotating simultaneously.

Crack!

The moment the lightning in their hands collided, the young man’s lightning was mercilessly bent and crushed.

A one-sided shattering, like styrofoam being crushed by hard metal.

The young man’s eyebrows twitched faintly at the indescribable unpleasant sensation.

“……!!”

However, the young man did not lose his composure and immediately drew new lightning, facing Lenok again.

Slowly colliding and shaving away the lightning in the air, gradually increasing the frequency and speed.

The speed increases.

Woo woong…!!

Each time the lightning in the two mages’ hands rotated violently, the trajectories that slashed through the air became bright blue flashes.

Soon, they accelerated to the point of being invisible, adding a headwind in all directions.

Kwaaaang!!

“Ugh…!!”

Even the mages who were watching Lenok and the young man’s confrontation momentarily turned their heads due to the intense light.

However, Lenok did not even look at the lightning that was being violently swung at him, and simply raised his hand.

“Your mind is only focused on cornering your opponent.”

Crack!!

Lenok, who crushed the young man’s lightning with his bare hand, swung the lightning he was holding.

The moment he felt the electric shock flash, the young man’s body was already thrown far back into the training ground.

Koo-oong!!

A dull roar echoed belatedly. The young man, supporting himself with both hands on the ground, coughed heavily.

“Ugh…!!!”

“Lazard!”

Other mages, surprised by Lazard’s appearance as he couldn’t hold back his vomit, called out his name.

Lenok ignored them and squatted down in front of Lazard, taking out a cigarette.

Lenok, with an unlit cigarette in his mouth, said,

“The output isn’t bad, but you can’t control the balance of offense and defense at all.”

“…….”

“If you get caught up in the flow you create, it’s impossible to predict where and how you’ll be stabbed.”

Flick!

Lenok, who lit the cigarette by bringing the burning lightning to its tip, stood up.

“Still, I give you credit for the audacity to jump in right after getting out of bed. Next.”

“I’ll go next!”

“Davri, keep your place! It’s my turn this time.”

“Hey, Lazard cut in line, so we should go in order of rank, right?”

As soon as Lenok finished speaking, the mages began to compete to determine the order.

There were more than a few who were rushing as if this opportunity would never come again.

It was the morning of the third day since the Thorben War Magic Tower departed from the satellite city of La Haven.

After boarding the inner route heading directly to the Western Continent, the flight altitude stabilized, and activity on the deck was permitted.

While Lenok was looking around the War Magic Tower during his spare time, the tower’s mages approached him about their achievements in lightning magic.

The Q&A, which started with a simple magic demonstration, had turned into a duel of techniques between the mages.

He could have stopped it before it got out of hand, but Lenok had received so much from the tower lord that he was indulging them for a while.

At first, it was mainly low-ranking mages, but later, even Saint-level mages who had been defeated by Lenok, like Lazard, were subtly joining in.

“The opportunity to have your magic corrected by a great mage comparable to the tower lord will never come again.”

“Wouldn’t it be okay to just think of it as killing me and directly inject magic into my body?”

“Where did this impudent brat come from trying to get a free ride? You have to show at least a minimum of sincerity to interest Mr. Ban.”

The mages were fighting over each other, using the tower’s internal distribution, achievements, ranks, and positions to try and get hit by Lenok even once.

Among them, there were many mages who were bandaged up from injuries sustained in the previous battle.

Lenok, who had been watching the mages with his arms crossed, shook his head and turned away.

“I plan to stay here for about 30 more minutes. Figure out the order yourselves.”

When he met eyes with Lazard, who was catching his breath on a bench outside the training ground, Lazard flinched.

“…….”

Lazard. One of the three Saint-level mages who had engaged Lenok in a domain battle in the undeveloped desert.

A war mage with a domain specialized for combat, capable of electrifying the atmosphere to make the incantation of lightning magic nearly certain.

Lenok had also remembered it, considering its ability and activation principle to be quite useful.

Lazard hesitated with a pale face before opening his mouth.

“……I lost. Old Man Albert was right.”

“…….”

“You are a transcendent being who can be compared to the main force of the War Magic Tower alone. I couldn’t believe it when I heard you had defeated the tower lord…”

“I didn’t come looking for you again to hear such flattery.”

When Lenok reached into his pocket, Lazard flinched.

Ignoring Lazard’s overly withdrawn reaction, Lenok took out an old magic book from his pocket.

He threw the magic book next to the bench where Lazard was sitting, and Lazard carefully picked it up.

“This is…”

“It’s called the ‘Book of Linked Lightning.’ It describes how to handle the condensation and focusing of lightning.”

Lenok said.

“Your magic is unusually hasty and fast, so it will help you develop a sense of controlling your speed.”

“It’s supposed to be kept in the Heavenly Lightning Archive and not allowed to be viewed. Where did you get it?”

“I got it from the tower lord.”

Lenok smiled and shook his head.

“I’ve already read all the contents of the magic book. Since it’s something I received from the tower lord, let’s consider it a return to you.”

“…….”

Lazard, who was staring at the magic book, muttered.

“To reduce the leakage of the tower’s intellectual property, it might be better for you to take charge of the tower instead of the tower lord…”

“Is that the first thing you’re worried about?”

After returning the magic book to Lazard and beating down about twenty more mages, Lenok walked out of the training ground.

He had been looking around the inside of the War Magic Tower whenever he had time, but there were still places he hadn’t seen.

Rather than an interest in other magic towers, he had questions about the fundamental structure of this tower.

“The control room was this way.”

The bridge located at the stern of the War Magic Tower’s deck.

The core district where the control room and command center, which adjust and direct the direction of this massive aerial fortress, are located.

He turned the corner of a blue corridor where bright lightning glowed like lamps and opened the door.

Click!

“Engine output 38%. Power supply needed, 11 hours until the limit.”

“Entering the detour near the 3000m inner route of the Western Continent. 20 seconds until a 35-degree right turn based on the starboard hull.”

“Strengthening the magic power supply to the air resistance barrier deployed on the front of the deck.”

In the control room, which was densely packed with radars and monitors, dozens of operators were sitting and reporting.

From the engine output and remaining fuel of the War Magic Tower to the confirmation of terrain features necessary to maintain flight, including barriers and security devices.

While Lenok was watching the busy scene in the control room, a woman who was directing the operators glanced at him.

“Mr. Ban.”

“Was it Giselle?”

One of the three Saint-level mages who had engaged Lenok in a domain battle, and also the one who had suffered relatively minor injuries.

The magnetic domain she used was a primordial image in the shape of a giant lake, with an ability specialized in impact resistance enough to directly withstand the massive body of the War Magic Tower.

“It seems you’ve had enough fun beating down the tower’s mages.”

Giselle smiled and pointed out the window of the control room.

It seemed she had also been watching the commotion that had taken place in the makeshift training ground on the outer edge of the deck.

“Did you have fun?”

“Does it look like I did?”

Kugugugu!!!

Following Giselle’s guidance, Lenok entered the control room and looked down at the rapidly passing landscape below.

“When will we arrive at the barrier near the Western Continent?”

Lenok’s reason for borrowing the Thorben War Magic Tower and heading to the Western Continent was not for any other reason.

If he were to approach the [Barrier] through the Eastern Front, he would inevitably have to make contact with the area where the first gate was located.

As a person moving under the identity of a ‘Resolute,’ there was no need to approach the gate that Cheonbeon had visited and cause unnecessary trouble.

“This War Magic Tower has one of the top ten performances in terms of flight ability and stability on the continent.”

Giselle said.

“We will leave the inner route within two days and arrive near the Western Front. We will drop you two off near the front, and then we will immediately leave for the civil war zone in the Republic.”

“I should tell Oliviera about the schedule as well. Where is she?”

“She is being treated to delicacies and liquor stored in the tower in the VIP room. She seems very accustomed to this luxurious lifestyle.”

Giselle shrugged.

“The chefs hired by the tower are having a very hard time trying to match her taste.”

“…….”

She said she wouldn’t even show her face, but it seemed she was enjoying a much more luxurious life in the War Magic Tower than Lenok.

It was not surprising that a person who was the chairman of a cartel was skilled in this kind of VIP treatment, but

Lenok’s reason for visiting the control room of the War Magic Tower was not just to inquire about someone’s whereabouts.

Lenok, who had taken out an unlit cigarette and put it in his mouth, glanced around.

“There’s a tail. You know that, right?”

“…….”

“The signs were there about 10 hours ago. They’re following our flight path from about 20km away, hiding their tracks.”

Lenok already knew that this massive aerial fortress had broken through the clouds and come from the east.

He also knew that they had blurred the field of vision by crushing the surrounding clouds and shaking their trajectory.

Even so, the fact that the pursuers following the War Magic Tower were maintaining their distance without an inch of error.

Even with Lenok’s magic sense, he could only catch their presence, and they were repeating stealth flights from a distance so far that it was difficult to identify their identity.

They must be professional pilots. Or a superhuman or monster with flight abilities comparable to them.

“Perhaps that’s the distance where they can barely avoid the radar range of the control room.”

“That’s amazing. Did you already know that much?”

Perhaps Lenok, who had guessed not only the situation of being tailed but also the reason why it was possible, seemed quite absurd.

Giselle smiled wryly and shook her head.

“A report came in a day ago, but we don’t plan to respond unless they take action.”

“Why is that?”

“If the opponent is a flight squadron that can read our flight path and follow us from tens of kilometers away, it’s virtually impossible to shake them off.”

Giselle answered nonchalantly.

“Hiding flight traces with techniques consumes a lot of magic power, so it’s not something you can easily attempt. Even if you do, there’s no guarantee that you can shake off the pursuit.”

“What about the other high-ranking mages in the tower? Are they currently in a state to carry out combat?”

“Most of the high-ranking mages have recovered to some extent after the battle with Mr. Ban, but…”

Giselle trailed off.

“Most of the high-ranking mages are currently focused on maintaining the output of the engine. It will be difficult for them to go to the front lines unless we stop flying.”

“…A lack of engine output.”

Come to think of it, Lyell had also pointed out the problem of insufficient engine output once before departure.

This massive War Magic Tower, which uses the power of the Thunder God’s Shrine as its power source, had lost some of its output after the incident with Lenok.

It wasn’t that the Thunder God’s Shrine itself had weakened, but rather the backlash from overloading the shrine for Lenok’s entry.

In any case, the fact that Lenok’s actions led to the engine output problem remained unchanged.

“You don’t have to worry too much, Mr. Ban.”

Seeing Lenok lost in thought, Giselle subtly changed the subject.

“If the pursuers engage in combat, we can land the War Magic Tower on the ground and have the high-ranking mages take action.”

“…….”

“The Thorben Tower may be clumsy in treating guests, but it is not an institution so lacking in manners as to send its guests to the battlefield instead.”

“It seems like this has happened often.”

Lenok’s eyes lit up at Giselle’s explanation, which seemed somewhat skilled.

“Is it true that the rules of the routes and flight techniques are relatively well established in the Western Continent?”

Due to the magnetic storms raging near the giant city of Balkan, the skyway to Balkan had only opened very recently.

In the Philemon Autonomous Territory located in the Sea of Understanding. Especially in the Eastern Continent, excluding the floating island clusters, the flight technology itself is not an environment where it is greatly utilized.

Relatively free from such restrictions, the Western Continent must be more open in terms of using the skyway.

“Come to think of it, you copied the tower’s automatic flight algorithm last time.”

Giselle asked, as if she had suddenly remembered something after hearing Lenok’s question.

“Are you interested in the routes or flight operation methods of the floating magic towers?”

“It would be much more beneficial to have this form than to fix the tower’s domain on the ground.”

Lenok replied.

“If there’s a good model, there’s no reason not to follow it.”

Lenok also had a great interest in floating the magic tower in the air or modifying it into the form of an aircraft.

If he could make it free to move rather than fixing the domain in one place, that alone would be of great significance.

Lenok, who had seen Avista Chapman, the master of the grafting technique, treat his life domain like a summoned beast in battle, understood how much value the domain’s power had.

He had no intention of giving life to the domain and turning it into a summoned beast like the master of the grafting technique had done, but Lenok could certainly adopt the idea of not fixing the domain in one place.

He had managed to steal the automatic flight algorithm of the War Magic Tower through Davi, but it would be nice if he could also get a user manual for it.

Giselle, who understood the meaning of Lenok’s words, nodded.

“I’ll bring you some related materials used in the tower’s control room. Could you wait a moment?”

“I’d appreciate it.”

They had a unique commonality of valuing improvement the most and prioritizing the cause and effect of lightning above all else.

But other than that, most of the mages of Thorben that Lenok had met were quick-witted and good at their jobs.

After Giselle left, Lenok, who was left alone, sat on the railing and took out his cell phone.

While finishing the half-burnt cigarette, he scrolled through the messenger with the sound of the rushing wind as background music.

The cell phone itself had long been out of the calling area, but the messages he hadn’t checked due to his busy schedule remained as they were.

No, rather, there were messages that he could read now without leaving a receipt or read record.

Like the message that Highrea had sent through the secret line of the Pandemonium a few days ago.

[Victor. The Clown has confirmed his participation in the operation.]

“…….”

Lenok’s eyes turned cold as he checked the messenger.

[The capture of the [Gate] located in the basement of the capital of Kabahim. We will hold a meeting in the mock ritual space to set the date of the operation, so please attend when you have time.]

Immediately after acquiring the Forbidden General as Victor, Highrea had requested Victor’s participation, saying that his ability was necessary for the capture of the [Gate].

Kabahim, a country of knights that had adopted a monarchy rather than a city-state.

The tomb of the royal family who had accepted the curse themselves by imitating the bloodline of Ars Nova [a legendary bloodline].

The existence of the [Gate] leading to the outer sea, which was publicly known to be hidden in the basement of the capital.

It seemed that the operation, which he had brushed off with an appropriate answer at the time, was progressing and was about to be finalized.

‘If the Clown is directly leading the operation, there’s no reason why I can’t participate…’

The Clown was a madman with a very different status in Pandemonium [a secret organization].

He was a transcendent illusionist who avoided being consumed by madness by playing with the hierarchy.

He was a man who was so unpredictable that it was impossible to guess his intentions or purpose, but even so, Lenok acknowledged his abilities.

A monster who was treated exceptionally well within the organization, to the point that he was in charge of the Southern Continent alone in Pandemonium even before the Well of the Manual operation.

Although his personality could not be trusted, his abilities could be trusted.

Lenok was also interested in the [Gate], so if there was a suitable time and opportunity, participating would not be a bad thing.

Lenok thought so and checked another message that Highrea had sent.

[And this is news unrelated to this matter, but one of our members returned a while ago.]

A light tone as if she was just telling Lenok because she happened to think of it.

However, the content was not the kind that felt as light as Highrea was saying.

[He was a member who had been there since before you joined, but he had been in a coma for a long time due to some incident. He’s an expert in drugs, so you might know him.]

“…….”

[He seems to have changed quite a bit since his return, so he might participate in this operation as well. I’ll contact you when the details are decided.]

Lenok, who was staring intently at the messenger that had been cut off after the last message, tilted his head.

“A drug expert… a coma…?”

Among the members of Pandemonium that Lenok knew, there was only one person who came to mind with such a background.

“…Could it be that the Drug King has awakened?”