Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 1079

Kundara (13)

“Salma Blood. A potent poison made by refining the blood of demonic beasts.”

“Hmm.”

“…Hyunmong Poison. A hallucinogenic poison that confuses reality with dreams.”

“I see.”

“…Yomok Pill. Sunghon Powder. A type of hallucinogen that weakens vitality and damages the soul.”

“Doesn’t seem very useful.”

Bang!!

“Hey, how long are you going to make me play the merchant?”

Nibecks, who had been nervously pulling out all sorts of poisons from under her scales while watching Lenok, became irritated.

“I’ve shown you this much poison, so you should be satisfied and pick your compensation—”

“Oh?”

Lenok shook a small, purplish vial as if she had been waiting for this.

“You don’t need this, then?”

“……”

“If the Elixir of Ascension is such a precious and potent poison, I’d like to receive a poison of comparable value in exchange.”

“……”

“I’m even giving up entering the Nine Heavens and returning the elixir, so surely you can do this much, right?”

The white snake, with her mouth tightly shut, finally began to rustle her scales again and pull out more hidden poisons.

It had been ten minutes since Lenok had used the Elixir of Ascension, received from Maleon, as bait to make Nibecks docile.

Lenok had her sit in the middle of this massive Blood Shadow Palace, making her take out and introduce each of the poisons she possessed.

‘It’ll be difficult to make her reveal all her poisons anyway.’

Asking for a poison to exchange for the elixir was just an excuse; the real reason was to grasp the abilities and types of poisons Nibecks possessed.

In just ten minutes, Nibecks had pulled out over 300 types of poisons.

It was impossible to guess how many more poisons remained.

‘All the poisons she’s pulled out so far were made by others. She has no intention of showing the real ones from the start.’

The fact that she was stalling for over ten minutes while watching her showed that Nibecks had no intention of showing the poisons she had made herself.

However, Lenok didn’t pressure Nibecks to reveal other poisons.

After all, Lenok wanted to stall for time just as much as Nibecks did.

“Stop. That’s enough.”

Lenok, who had been watching Nibecks reveal her scales, slowly opened her mouth.

Lenok, who had taken a few steps forward towards Nibecks, who immediately stopped moving, looked up at her and raised her chin.

“Before choosing a poison, I’d like to hear a sincere apology for this incident.”

“……”

“You doubted me without basis, even after receiving a request from Oliviera, and you accused me of not keeping my promise.”

Lenok raised her chin.

“I was deeply hurt by those cruel words. Only a sincere apology can soothe my heart.”

“……You.”

The snake’s tongue trembled as she watched Lenok, who was shamelessly spouting nonsense without even blinking.

The wizard seemed to be enjoying this moment rather than being hurt, which must have been quite annoying.

However, Nibecks looked at the purplish vial in Lenok’s hand and bowed her head, gritting her teeth.

Thud!!

The giant snake, coiled up, slammed her head into the floor of the Blood Shadow Palace and lowered her head.

The ground shook and trembled just from the heavy head touching the ground.

She lowered her head so deeply that her pupils were not visible, and with all her thoughts suppressed, she spoke through gritted teeth.

“Due to my rash judgment… I doubted the results you achieved…”

“……”

“If… if I can get the Elixir of Ascension back… I will bow my head like this.”

Her words, which she was forcing out against her will, were broken and stretched out, as if the proud long-lived species was struggling to speak.

Her blatant attempt to gauge Lenok’s reaction by changing her words was obvious.

However, Nibecks’s attempt to avoid the issue and twist her words was also quite a sight to behold.

“If you offer the Elixir of Ascension, I will give you a suitable reward… Will you accept my apology?”

“……”

A messy blunder that was unclear whether it was an apology or an attempt to pressure Lenok.

However, Lenok ignored Nibecks’s words and stared at the top of her bowed head.

‘There are no particularly noticeable scales or areas. I was hoping, but it seems there’s no reverse scale.’

While Nibecks was pulling out poisons and revealing her scales, Lenok had examined all other areas, but she hadn’t been able to observe the top of her head.

So, she had used the apology as an excuse to check the back of her head, but there were no particular abnormalities.

“If you say so much, I suppose I have no choice.”

Lenok, who had finished her observation in an instant and averted her gaze, nodded.

“I’ll accept your apology. Perhaps it’s because I’m soft-hearted, but it pains me to see an elder in such a weak state for long.”

“……”

Lenok’s words were so shameless that Nibecks, with her head bowed, could be felt gritting her teeth.

However, Nibecks, who quickly suppressed even that feeling, finally raised her head and asked Lenok.

“Then, are you now going to hand over the Elixir of Ascension to me?”

“No, as I said, I will exchange it for a poison of equal value.”

Lenok said firmly.

“This is something I obtained as a prize from the Five Hundred Roads Tournament. Surely you don’t think that my efforts to obtain this elixir can be compensated with just an apology?”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t have many poisons left to show you.”

Nibecks flicked her tongue as if she was disappointed.

“Since I’ve apologized, I’d appreciate it if you could choose something to exchange for the elixir from the poisons I’ve shown you so far.”

“……”

Nibecks’s response, which was to not show any of the poisons she had made herself and to choose something to exchange for the elixir.

As expected, this True Blood species had no intention of engaging in a proper exchange or trade with Lenok.

Now that she had made a formal apology, she would probably try to take back the Elixir of Ascension with a straight face.

However, Lenok had already decided what she would ask of Nibecks from the beginning.

“There’s nothing I like among the poisons. I can’t exchange the elixir for such low-grade items.”

“Then, what do you want?”

Lenok chuckled as she saw the snake baring her teeth.

It was clear to Lenok that she wanted to snatch the elixir right away.

“How about exchanging the elixir for an antidote instead of a poison?”

“……An antidote?”

Nibecks, who had been showing hostility towards Lenok, stopped moving for a moment.

“You said before that a poison can be either a poison or a medicine depending on how it’s used.”

“……”

“A skilled poison master would also have expertise in creating antidotes.”

Lenok, holding the elixir in her hand, said.

“Let me be clear. This Elixir of Ascension, made from a potent poison. Bring me an antidote that is so powerful that it can neutralize this poison.”

“Why… why do you need such an antidote?”

“Because among all the potent poisons you’ve created, this Elixir of Ascension is the most potent.”

Lenok replied.

“If that’s the case, then an antidote that can neutralize this elixir would mean that it can neutralize any other poison.”

“……”

“Just like you, I don’t trust you. I can understand if you inject some unknown neurotoxin into my body as soon as the deal is over.”

Lenok smiled and asked Nibecks, who was silent.

“I just want to prevent such a situation. You understand, right?”

“……Fine.”

Nibecks, who had been staring at Lenok with an unreadable expression, said.

“However, I don’t have an antidote that can neutralize the Elixir of Ascension on hand right now. It is possible to create it, but…”

“If it takes time to create the antidote, I’ll wait.”

Lenok said, shaking the elixir.

“Would it be enough if I promise not to step out of your Blood Shadow Palace?”

“……Hmph. Wait.”

Nibecks’s massive body, which had snorted slowly, began to move slowly from the center of the Blood Shadow Palace’s hall.

Her massive body, spanning over ten meters, slowly turned and slid across the palace floor.

Until the moment she disappeared into the corridor, the viper’s white pupils stared intently at Lenok.

“Good.”

As soon as she confirmed that Nibecks had left, Lenok moved immediately.

“The snake has left. Now I can move around a bit more freely.”

[Master, you’re being true to your nature, but is it okay to break your promise right away?]

Davi, who had been watching the situation from inside her pocket, was momentarily speechless.

However, Lenok didn’t even blink and moved towards the opposite side of the corridor.

“The Blood Shadow Palace said that the Elixir of Ascension was made using Nibecks’s True Blood as a material. If that’s the case, then True Blood would also be needed to create the antidote.”

[Hee.]

“There’s no way she’d have such a thing on hand right now, so it’ll take time to make it. What I wanted was for Nibecks to leave for a while under the guise of making an antidote.”

[Ooh.]

Davi clapped her hands in admiration, then tilted her head.

[But True Blood is incredibly precious, isn’t it? Would she willingly give you an antidote made with True Blood just to get back the elixir made with True Blood?]

“There’s no way.”

[Eeh?]

“She made such a fuss about getting the elixir back, there’s no way she’d willingly hand over an antidote containing True Blood to me now.”

Lenok said firmly, watching Davi make a strange scream.

“She won’t even think about making the antidote properly, let alone give it to me.”

[……Then why did you ask for an antidote?]

“As long as I have the Elixir of Ascension in my hand, she’ll have no choice but to pretend to make an antidote. And either way, the manufacturing process will take a lot of time.”

Lenok, who had walked without hesitation down the corridor opposite to where Nibecks had disappeared, found a wide slope leading to the underground of the palace and hardened her expression.

“In the meantime, there’s one thing I must confirm in this viper’s palace.”

[That is……]

Davi quietly closed her mouth as if she had guessed something, and Lenok walked down the slope without hesitation.

The fact that there were no stairs in the entire Blood Shadow Palace was the only thing she liked about this stuffy jungle.

It was probably because Nibecks herself usually resided in the Blood Shadow Palace in the form of a viper.

Whoosh!!

As she went down the slope towards the lower part of the palace, a swamp landscape located underground unfolded along with the damp humidity.

The shape of a huge swamp lake hidden under the jungle’s bushes and vines.

However, what filled the lake was not water or mucus, but a dark navy blue toxic liquid.

Thud!!

A bizarre sight of the entire lake filled with dark navy blue poison.

The viscosity mixed in the toxic liquid was so strong that even when the wind blew, there was no ripple on the surface of the lake.

A huge white curtain that looked like a snake’s shed skin surrounded the lake in a circle.

Beyond the curtain of shed skin, there was a figure submerged deeply in the lake with its back turned.

Completely buried in the dark navy blue toxic liquid, it breathed slowly without even moving.

The moment she saw the back of the figure, who had tilted her head to avoid the toxic liquid and was wearing a wide black robe.

“……Oliviera Ron Maze.”

Lenok took a deep breath and slowly called her name.

“Since there’s no time, I’ll explain it simply.”

Lenok said immediately without waiting for a response.

“There’s someone trying to become an Ascendant in Kundara, and I’ve agreed to cooperate in that process.”

“……”

“I’m planning to enter the Nine Heavens with him, and I heard that Nibecks’s True Blood is needed to recover Kaise’s body there.”

“……”

“Of course, it’s not too late to cut off that snake’s head and extract her True Blood, but I came here because there’s something I want to confirm first.”

Lenok’s eyes shone coldly as she looked at Oliviera’s back, which was still motionless.

“Which side are you on right now?”

Lenok knew that Oliviera, who had witnessed the failure of the project, was particularly sensitive about Kaise’s matter.

Even if she was hiding her true intentions with all sorts of lies and deceptions, the goal of finding Kaise’s body itself was not a lie.

What Lenok wanted to know was the means.

If Oliviera had decided to recover Kaise’s body herself by siding with Nibecks instead of Lenok.

At this point, it was practically a given that the two would go their separate ways.

And if she was focusing on treatment while relying on Nibecks’s nest, it wouldn’t be strange for her to side with Nibecks at any time.

Lenok had made time to talk to Oliviera in order to confirm that fact before starting the work.

If, by any chance, she had given up on traveling with Lenok and was devising her own methods.

If she was thinking of siding with Nibecks, who was an acquaintance she had known for longer than Lenok.

Lenok would also need to drastically change her course of action.

It wasn’t because she didn’t trust Oliviera, but rather because she trusted her that much in this regard.

Knowing that she was a person who wouldn’t give up her goals due to mere sentiment or ties, Lenok needed to confirm her true intentions here.

“……”

“……”

The silence grew longer.

Even after hearing all of Lenok’s words, she didn’t show any reaction and quietly repeated her ritual of bathing in the toxic liquid.

At that moment, when Lenok, who was looking at Oliviera, was rubbing her wrist with a blank expression.

“Aha.”

Kwaaaang!!!!

The ceiling of the swamp exploded with a roar, and the white snake’s massive body fell from above.

“I knew it.”

Splash!!

The white snake crashed into the middle of the toxic lake, spreading waves of toxic liquid in all directions.

The toxic liquid that flowed out of the swamp instantly melted and evaporated the ground, expanding the area of the lake.

Nibecks, who had lightly shaken her tail to regain her balance and stood in the center of the toxic lake, looked down at Lenok with her white glowing pupils.