Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 1052

The Order Alliance.

The largest and most historically powerful group of sorcerers on the continent, boasting the strongest presence on the central front.

Their ambition is to weave together all the spells in this world, creating an answer that leads to the next step.

Among the sorcerers devoted to the ambition of the Great Connection, there were many geniuses that even Lenok could not disregard.

What does it mean to connect all the spells and formulas in the world? What was the ambition that even a monster like the Grafting Sorcerer [a sorcerer who grafts magical formulas onto living beings] was cooperating with?

Having been born with a talent for magic and formulas, Lenok had always been wary of them, while also being intrigued—

But he never imagined that he would face the leader of that very alliance in such a place.

The leader of the Order Alliance, the master of the war waging a full-scale battle against the Order and the central front.

The head who sits at the top of countless geniuses and sorcerers.

And the Glass Garden, where the leader himself resides, a place that exists as the rarest and most special case in the world.

‘The Torben Magic Tower Lord wasn’t exaggerating at all.’

Lenok’s gaze, which had been admiring the beautiful Glass Garden, naturally turned upwards.

His eyes, directed towards the faintly glowing night sky, clouded over with a complex expression.

‘They said the garden itself is the closest place to the world’s boundary.’

The night sky, beautifully shining above the garden, was not some artificially crafted illusion.

It was a landscape that directly reflected the outer sea located beyond the stars.

Proof that this Glass Garden was closer than anything else to the boundary between reality and the outer sea.

The boundary of the world that even an Ascended being like Cheon-gyeon [a being who has transcended mortal limitations] could not enter with their true body.

Proof that the owner of this garden had manifested that environment, where the boundaries of all physical laws and concepts become ambiguous, solely through their own power.

Crack, crack, crack…!!!

The flowers that bloomed in the transparent Glass Garden turned their buds to face Lenok.

Space cracked like glass, spreading fissures and bathing the garden in a transparent glow.

A vast, immeasurable presence seemed to be peering deeply at Lenok from right beside him.

“……”

Considering the target designation resistance, he shouldn’t be affected, but the leader might feel a sense of unease at the fact that they cannot see Lenok in their own garden.

Thinking that, Lenok tried to speak to the leader first to divert their attention.

“Apart from the fact that I cannot read the origin and causality of the formulas you possess, something is protecting you.”

A calm, subdued voice echoed from beyond the shadows.

“Is it the light-splitting function of the Seven-Colored Treasure’s Magic Eye?”

“……What?”

The leader’s words mentioned the Seven-Colored Treasure’s Magic Eye, not the target designation resistance.

However, the leader did not respond to Lenok’s question and instead deeply suppressed their presence.

A strange sight, having called Lenok’s consciousness into this Glass Garden, and then seeming to be lost in thought alone.

“……”

Looking at the leader sitting in a chair beyond the shadows, Lenok heightened his consciousness.

‘A transcendent being with power comparable to an Ascended. Perhaps they are an Ascended themselves.’

He had once received an invitation as Evan Bailen a long time ago, but in reality, Lenok didn’t know much about the leader.

A transcendent being leading the largest group of sorcerers on the central front.

The leader themselves were also a sorcerer who had reached an incredibly high level, and there was a high possibility that they were a monster.

If he let his guard down even a little, they might try to restrain him with an unexpected formula or power.

Since he had no idea what kind of formulas the opponent used, he had to be more cautious than ever.

What kind of system they use. The signs of their formulas. Whether this Glass Garden is the leader’s domain. Whether they have already reached a level comparable to an Ascended.

However, the leader didn’t even pay attention to Lenok’s wary reaction and finally opened their mouth.

“I heard about you from the Torben Magic Tower Lord.”

“……”

“Lightning that transcends the horizon of thought. They said you are the master of a power that reverses perception and speed.”

The voice spoke leisurely, leaving Lenok silent.

“It’s not uncommon for that careless noble to be distracted, but I didn’t expect to meet you so soon.”

‘The presence of thought……’

Lenok, who had been listening to the leader’s voice, frowned unconsciously.

The presence of the leader sitting beyond the shadows was very different from what he had expected.

It was not so overwhelming that even Lenok felt intimidated, nor was it so alien that he couldn’t even guess its origin.

It was not a distortion that transcended humanity, nor was it something that was twisted and broken as if it had failed to ascend.

Ordinary.

It was as if he was simply facing an ordinary human with no magic or power in front of him.

A calm voice and presence. A flat tone and manner of speaking.

It was hard to believe that this was the owner of this beautiful Glass Garden, and there was an ordinariness that he had never expected from a transcendent being like the leader.

‘They are much more… dangerous than I thought.’

However, as soon as Lenok realized that fact, he further raised his mental power to firmly protect his mind.

The leader of the Order Alliance was a transcendent being to whom even the Grafting Sorcerer, Avesta Chapman, had pledged his loyalty without question.

There was no possibility that the leader was actually a being with no power.

It was more likely that they had hidden their power and presence in some way, making it impossible for even Lenok to notice.

The fact that they could do such a thing while evading Lenok’s senses meant that the leader themselves were undoubtedly a transcendent sorcerer.

The ordinariness that was out of place for the time and location created a sense of unease that made it even more impossible to read the leader.

Whether the leader themselves intentionally created that sense of unease, or whether Lenok was simply reading and reacting to the gap on his own—

“There’s no need to be so tense.”

The leader, who had been looking at Lenok from within the shadows, said.

As if they had predicted Lenok’s thoughts, the leader’s response was natural.

“I didn’t think you would so easily synchronize with my garden either. If we’re going to assign blame for this situation, it’s on both of us.”

“……”

“I highly value your understanding of the value of this moment and your vigilance, but I don’t interfere with sorcerers who are that talented.”

The leader’s voice echoed calmly over the quiet garden.

“If it’s a talent that has bloomed on its own, there’s no need for it to be touched by others. It will bloom into a beautiful flower on its own.”

Beyond the shadows, a hand as transparent as glass was briefly visible.

A form that was so transparent and precarious that it seemed like it would break at any moment.

That was all that could be seen of the leader, whose face was not visible, under the starlight of this garden.

“This garden itself is a repository for the formulas collected by the Alliance.”

Lenok raised his gaze slightly.

“Did you call my consciousness into the garden and speak to me because of the Necromancer’s issue?”

The leader didn’t explain anything, but Lenok already understood what had happened to him.

The Necromancer had extracted the power of a Head-class general of the military as a formula and sent it to the Glass Garden.

Lenok’s consciousness, which had observed it from right beside, synchronized and resonated, sensing the existence of the Glass Garden.

The leader, having confirmed Lenok’s consciousness synchronized with the garden, had spoken to him.

There were three things that could be learned from this.

That this Glass Garden, close to the boundary of the world, was being used as a repository for the Order Alliance’s formulas.

That the executives of the Alliance, like the Necromancer, could connect to the garden through a specific offering ritual.

And that the fact that the leader had contacted Lenok and spoken to him was an extremely unusual occurrence.

“Whatever the reason, if you sensed and synchronized with my garden, that in itself is meaningful.”

The leader answered, as if agreeing with Lenok’s words.

“Since a talented sorcerer has the potential to reach the Great Connection at any time, I do not easily try to break that flower.”

“……”

“The Necromancer’s issue is the same.”

The leader, sitting in the chair, gently stroked the flower that had bloomed at their feet.

The transparent petals, like glass, swayed with a soft tinkling sound.

“Her talent is a rare case even within the Alliance. At the very least, the concept of a corpse demon is definitely a very unfamiliar phenomenon.”

Snap…!!

They lightly twisted their wrist and pulled the stem of the flower.

The leader, who had plucked a flower from the garden, lifted it up from the shadows and asked.

“Don’t you think it’s too beautiful a flower to be broken and withered in a place like this?”

“Are you trying to convince me not to kill the Necromancer right now?”

Lenok, realizing the leader’s intention behind the question, gave a cold smile.

“That’s interesting. I didn’t expect a transcendent being like you to ask for someone’s life in such a way.”

The leader, who had not intervened at all when he killed the Grafting Sorcerer who was building the Great Connection, was now trying to interfere with the life of the Necromancer.

Whether it was because Lenok had synchronized with this Glass Garden that they were intervening, or whether they simply didn’t care much about the life of the sorcerer in the first place.

Either way, the reaction of the leader of the Order Alliance only felt like an incomprehensible proposal to Lenok.

However, as soon as the leader heard Lenok’s question, they slowly flicked their fingers.

They tapped the armrest as if choosing the words to say, and then slowly opened their mouth.

“I am riding on an immeasurable, vast current.”

“……”

“I am not the subject of the Great Connection, but merely the one who creates the stage.”

The leader said.

“Because it is a miracle created without my power, it is even more valuable to me.”

“Do you want to maintain a state where you do not directly intervene in the Great Connection?”

“Among the great failures, only two people have truly changed their own answers.”

The leader answered Lenok’s question.

“Like the Savior’s coincidence and the Godslayer’s inevitability, only an answer that transcends sameness and difference can surpass right and wrong……”

“……That is.”

“That is a miracle that is not allowed for me in the first place.”

The moment a faint cynicism mixed into the leader’s calm voice.

Lenok felt a chill run down his spine.

“Therefore, I try to transcend it by not placing myself within myself.”

“……”

He knew.

This person, who seemed the most ordinary of all the transcendent beings Lenok had met.

Was the one who clearly recognized the essence of the Pope and the Commander.

They stated the most unbelievable truth in this world, as if it were a passing remark.

Lenok now realized that that fact itself was proof of the transcendence that the leader possessed.

“……”

He had thought he should be wary, but had he let his guard down with the ordinary and normal conversation?

Or was even the sense of unease he felt at this moment an indication of the leader’s true nature?

The presence hidden in the shadows was infinitely transparent, and he still couldn’t read their emotions or appearance.

Therefore, Lenok opened his mouth, pretending to be calm more difficultly than ever.

“You’re talking about something too theoretical to be a reason why I shouldn’t kill the Necromancer.”

“……”

“Explaining the reason why you don’t intervene in reality like this means that it’s not because of the Necromancer’s issue in the first place.”

The leader had mentioned the Necromancer’s talent and said that such talent should be cherished.

Yet, the leader who had said that had nonchalantly broken the flower that had bloomed in the garden.

A contradictory expression that the leader themselves had no attachment to the life of the sorcerer, and had no intention of hiding it.

Lenok understood that that itself was just a justification for explaining why the leader themselves did not intervene in reality.

“The Necromancer’s issue is just a pretext. You’re gauging the ‘degree’ to which I can intervene in reality through me.”

Lenok asked, looking sharply at the leader.

“Was there something you wanted from the beginning, from speaking to my consciousness that synchronized with this garden?”

“To be precise, I was trying to confirm whether you were a being that met the criteria.”

The leader said calmly.

“Most of those who have earned the title of Apostle Slayer are too belligerent, so they are not suitable to discuss important matters with.”

“……”

“But your composure in this situation is commendable. That is a talent separate from your formula aptitude, so it’s about time we talked.”

The leader could be felt leaning back in the chair.

The leader, who had been looking at the night sky of the Glass Garden, finally opened their mouth slowly.

“The Alliance will soon begin a new reconstruction of the Great Connection.”

“A reconstruction of the Great Connection?”

“It’s the process of filling the position of the Great Sorcerer, which was left vacant after Chapman’s death, with a new candidate.”

The leader said casually.

“The next Great Sorcerer candidate has been decided, and all that remains is the ritual to formally connect the formula to the Great Connection.”

“……”

He had heard of it before.

Immediately after defeating the Grafting Sorcerer in the first gate, he had heard about the reconstruction of the Great Connection through his words.

He had said that it was part of a huge process of designating the next Great Sorcerer and adjusting the Great Connection to fit that formula.

While he was lost in thought, comparing the words left by the Grafting Sorcerer and the leader’s explanation, the leader continued.

“At the same time as the reconstruction of the Great Connection is completed, I plan to eliminate one of the Alliance’s troublesome enemies.”

“……”

“I am looking for a very powerful restraining force that can help me at that moment.”

Only then did Lenok understand what the leader was saying, and he crossed his arms.

“You wanted a sorcerer force that could become the power of the Alliance.”

“I know that even a thousand gold treasures would not be enough to buy the time of a sorcerer like you.”

The leader said.

“I will pay you enough.”

“……”

Since it was the leader of the Order Alliance, it didn’t sound like nonsense.

Whether it was the price they were offering, or the risks of the plan they were talking about, it wouldn’t be strange if it greatly exceeded the usual scope.

However, beyond rejecting or accepting the leader’s proposal, there was a question in a more fundamental part.

“Considering the power of the Order Alliance, it doesn’t seem like there would be a reason to borrow the power of an outsider.”

Lenok asked after pondering for a moment.

“Who are you planning to fight that you are putting in the effort yourself?”

“It has already been quite some time since the Alliance has been repeating truces and wars with the Order.”

The leader answered.

“We can handle a full-scale war led by the Apostles, but there is a monster in the Order that cannot be dealt with by ordinary logic.”

“……Could it be.”

“The First Apostle sitting on the left side of the Pope.”

The moment Lenok’s expression slightly changed, the leader said calmly.

“I plan to remove the Second Apostle from the seat of the Apostle.”