Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 1094

“Disguise, huh….”

Oliviera’s words, pointing out Maleon’s clumsy disguise and declaring that he couldn’t be trusted.

However, Lenox didn’t forcefully deny her words or dismiss them as nonsense.

“I understand what you’re saying. It’s definitely a reason worth considering.”

Oliviera Ron Maze was a transcendent being with outstanding intellect and judgment, even among the great mages of the 8th level.

Apart from her cruel and arrogant nature, she was one of the most capable people Lenox knew.

Lenox had always respected her judgment and actions since he first met her.

Now, the possibility of Oliviera spouting nonsense just because she didn’t like Maleon was almost zero.

In particular, the sense of unease she mentioned about the disguise was definitely a topic worth considering.

Why hadn’t Maleon ever dropped his disguise since meeting Lenox?

Even while the long-lived species of Kundara freely transformed into their true forms, Maleon alone hadn’t changed from the appearance he had when they first met.

It could simply be that he was comfortable in his disguised form, but what if he hadn’t dropped his disguise even during the ascension ritual?

What if he was hiding his true form and maintaining his disguise even in the moment when he was reconstructing himself to become an Ascender [a being who has transcended the limitations of their previous existence] ?

Lenox also acknowledged that, as Oliviera said, it wasn’t a sense of unease to be taken lightly.

“Is it possible that he can’t return to his true form for some reason, or that his current form is his true form?”

[It’s too late to consider such a hypothesis at the point when he succeeded in the ascension ritual.]

Oliviera replied immediately.

Perhaps it was because he listened to Oliviera’s words immediately, even while cooperating with Maleon.

Her sharp demeanor had softened slightly.

[At the point when he reconstructed himself, that was the form he desired the most. Within Maleon, he firmly believes that his disguise is his true form, more so than his actual body.]

“……”

[Isn’t it far more sinister than a flaw that exists in that seemingly perfect jewel dragon?]

“……Do you always have to say things like that?”

Lenox pondered, letting Oliviera’s cold sneer pass through one ear.

“But she’s not wrong. Maleon’s actions have gone beyond the level that can be explained by simply preferring a disguise.”

A powerful obsession to maintain his disguise until the moment he reached the 9th level and was reborn as a new Ascender.

It was undeniable that it was an expression of emotions and motives that hadn’t been seen in Maleon until now.

As Oliviera said, it was clear that Maleon had a secret he wanted to hide.

“He hasn’t even mentioned the disguise to the long-lived species that follow him. It’s clear that the secret is a very sensitive issue for Maleon.”

Lenox said, looking around.

“But if we pursue this fact right now, there’s a possibility that our relationship with Maleon will be strained before we even reach the Ten Gates.”

[So, you intend to leave him be and watch him.]

Oliviera whispered with a strange tone.

[By the time we reach the Nine Calamities, we won’t have any energy left. Shouldn’t we find out Maleon’s true intentions now?]

“……Stop trying to provoke me from the beginning.”

Lenox sighed softly.

“From the start, the fact that you told me this was to prevent me from acting rashly.”

[…….]

“You wanted to discuss our future actions so that I wouldn’t become hostile to Maleon after noticing his disguise, right?”

Oliviera knew that Lenox didn’t completely trust others from the start.

She must have guessed that the sense of unease about Maleon could immediately turn into a reason to reject him.

If Lenox were to notice the unease about Maleon’s disguise alone and try to become hostile to him, the plan would be disrupted.

To avoid such a thing, Oliviera had tried to make him aware of this fact in advance, in a place where Maleon wasn’t present.

The very act of testing his response now was to gauge how Lenox would react to this fact.

“I don’t intend to clash with Maleon until we reach the Ten Gates, so don’t worry.”

However, Lenox also understood why Oliviera was acting this way.

“We must cooperate with the Ascender as much as possible until we reach Kaise’s corpse.”

[I never worried about anything.]

“From the start, Maleon’s secret doesn’t necessarily lead to the conclusion that he’ll betray us. He’s sacrificed quite a bit to get this far.”

Lenox said, getting up.

“Of course, we can’t rule out the possibility that Maleon has other intentions, but it’s not an issue we can conclude right now.”

Maleon had suffered considerable injuries while breaking through the trials with his bare body to enter the Nine Calamities with Lenox.

He had personally swept away the long-lived species wandering the outskirts of the Nine Calamities, and even given Lenox the remains of a True Blood and the Wish-Fulfilling Orb.

He couldn’t label an Ascender who had even gifted him the Wish-Fulfilling Orb by sacrificing his own life force as a traitor just because of one secret.

[Alright, that’s enough.]

However, Oliviera stepped back willingly, as if that was enough.

[Planting a seed of doubt in your mind is just right. I don’t expect anything more than that in the current situation.]

“……”

From the start, if it weren’t for Maleon’s help, they would have had a much harder time entering the Nine Calamities.

Oliviera wouldn’t have even considered getting rid of Maleon before they reached Kaise’s corpse.

The moment Lenox opened his mouth to firmly decide on his course of action.

Thud!

“What kind of interesting stories are you all having?”

Maleon’s booming voice echoed from the other side of the corridor.

Maleon’s massive figure, covered in dazzling starlight, approached from the dark corridor.

Lenox frowned at the sight of Maleon, who was drenched in sticky fluid.

“What is that?”

“Ah, this?”

Maleon smiled wryly and wiped away the fluid covering his face.

“A Founder [one of the original beings of Kundara] wandering around here. Someone I knew.”

“……”

“He had a very troublesome ability even when he was alive, so I quietly mourned his death alone.”

Having said that, Maleon spread his magic and cast it over Lenox and Oliviera’s heads.

Primal Magic: Star Union Eight Extremes Style

Three Types – Inner Method

Right Star Circulation

Whoooosh…!!

The starlight spread out like an umbrella and began to absorb the spiritual pressure being exerted on Lenox.

“That will reduce the burden on your bodies from now on.”

Maleon nodded, lowering his hand with a satisfied look.

“However, primal magic cast on others is inherently not free from the caster. Don’t stray from my side.”

“Can you break through the trials of the Nine Calamities alone?”

“As I said, if you start to intervene, the situation will only become more difficult.”

Maleon’s expression became extremely serious.

“If they sense the presence of those who are not qualified, the Founders wandering the Nine Calamities will react even more violently than they are now.”

“……”

“The Founders’ true forms mostly have very sensitive senses, so we must also be extremely cautious.”

“Come to think of it, all the long-lived species we’ve faced so far were mummified with their true forms revealed.”

Lenox asked naturally, as if he had suddenly remembered something.

“When long-lived species die, does their disguise forcibly unravel, revealing their true form?”

“……”

Could it be that he hadn’t expected such a question at this point?

Maleon’s answer momentarily stopped, and Lenox felt Oliviera’s sharp gaze from behind.

It was probably because she knew that Maleon would react sensitively to the keyword ‘disguise,’ and was trying to test him directly.

However, Lenox thought that as much as he wasn’t hastily confirming Maleon’s betrayal, he had to confirm what he could.

Regardless of the fact that his actions so far had been quite favorable to Lenox.

Maleon Gnosis’s desired ending was ultimately closer to the salvation of Kundara.

This journey towards the interior of the Nine Calamities could also diverge from Maleon’s path at any time.

There was no reason to avoid the topic even when the flow of conversation naturally led to the true forms and disguises of the long-lived species, as it did now.

A subtle silence flowed between the three of them for a moment.

The moment Lenox felt the tension as if a string was being pulled taut and slightly tilted his head.

“……To explain that, I would have to explain how the long-lived species’ disguises are formed.”

Maleon paused for a moment, resting his chin on his hand, before answering.

“Basically, after determining their appearance, they synchronize their senses separately for each part of their body. The method of disguise also varies greatly depending on the desired form.”

“Synchronize senses by body part?”

“The physical organs of long-lived species and human species don’t all match in the same category.”

Maleon said, raising his arm.

“The sensation of raising a foreleg for someone could be the sensation of lowering an arm for a human body.”

“……”

“It’s easier to think of it as being done separately for each part, rather than all at once with the whole body.”

Although his answer was a bit late, Maleon’s response was more composed than expected.

At least, it didn’t seem like Maleon himself was extremely sensitive about the act of disguising itself.

Was Oliviera’s guess wrong, or was Maleon, as an Ascender, simply excellent at hiding his emotional fluctuations?

While Lenox was thinking about the method of disguise, Maleon nodded and turned to walk.

“If that was a sufficient answer, let’s move. It would be best to move before the barrier closes.”

Maleon said, creating starlight in his hand as he moved with firm steps.

“As I said, from now on, it will be a journey that is by no means easy.”

“……”

Lenox followed Maleon and moved towards the dark corridor.

[Invasion Rate 56%]

Squelch…!!

Each time they moved further into the corridor, the sticky fluid became more abundant on the floor, sticking to them.

It could be removed by simply manipulating magic, but the amount of fluid was unusual.

Only after walking for a while following Maleon, Lenox was able to confirm the source of the fluid.

Koo-oong!!

A giant centipede, boasting a size of tens of meters, was slumped under a half-destroyed barrier.

The fluid, which hadn’t even cooled down yet, was bubbling and flowing down between its disgusting legs.

Chiiiik…!!!

Even though it had been dead and mummified for a long time, the fluid itself seemed to be alive, possessing a terrible toxicity.

Only then did Lenox realize what Maleon had been doing, and his expression changed to one of bewilderment.

He had completely killed this giant centipede alone and returned to guide the group?

“Even before Kundara was established, he was unmatched in the art of handling poison.”

Maleon said, passing by the centipede’s corpse.

“The fluid itself has a powerful toxicity, and it repeats vaporization through the body’s organs, so I extracted his poison sac beforehand.”

“……It’s quite similar to that of Nivex Orosia.”

“Oh, how did you know?”

Maleon smiled at Lenox’s words.

“He was also Nivex’s teacher.”

“……”

At those words, Lenox turned his gaze towards Oliviera, but Oliviera didn’t react at all.

“Let’s keep going. We need to be careful from here on out.”

They passed the sector where the dead centipede was wandering and crossed the half-destroyed barrier.

[Invasion Rate 73%]

The moment they crossed the barrier, they felt a chilling air.

Their breathing gradually became difficult, and even opening their eyes became slightly harder.

An irresistible pressure that seemed to be crushing not only their bodies but also their thoughts, minds, and souls.

Before they knew it, even the transparent glass floor beneath their feet had frozen over.

Goo-ooo!!

A white, long-necked beast that seemed to be blindingly bright was wandering the corridor with unfocused, hazy eyes.

Each time its fins gently swayed and passed through the corridor, the floor froze over.

“Wait, that’s….”

It wasn’t simply projecting the ice attribute into the surrounding space.

The act of freezing the surroundings and scattering cold air was itself a direct projection of its own fundamental mindscape-

“A domain?”

“To be precise, we call it an invasion domain.”

Maleon said.

“It’s a method of not overlaying the fundamental mindscape onto reality, but rather of invading reality with a part of the mindscape.”

[That’s a method used by ancient sorcerers hundreds of years ago.]

Oliviera replied as if she had immediately recognized the method.

[I heard that the technique is almost obsolete now because of its poor practicality.]

“That’s right. The method of deploying a self-generating domain is, after all, closer to an old-fashioned method.”

Maleon nodded.

“The reason why they use invasion domains is because that was the mainstream method when they learned domains hundreds of years ago.”

“……”

Invasion domain, huh.

Only then was Lenox able to remember where he had heard that word before.

When he infiltrated the Infinite Labyrinth as Evan.

In the cradle where Jintun was sleeping, he had seen the ancient black mage Ermong using an invasion domain.

At that time, Ermong had also deployed an invasion domain and lamented that it was an old-fashioned method, hadn’t he?

He had remembered the gist of it and let it pass, but to think that he would hear that concept again now, against the long-lived species.

Well, just like Ermong was a figure from hundreds of years ago, the Founders of Kundara must have lived for that long as well, so it wasn’t strange, but-

That wasn’t the only thing that caught Lenox’s eye.

“Oliviera.”

[It seems you’ve noticed as well.]

Unlike before, Oliviera replied with a smile.

[Well, it would be strange if you had forgotten after seeing that dull appearance.]

“……Clarice Ritchelen. Right?”

The long-lived species using the ice-type invasion domain, white, long-necked, and with fins.

Among the long-lived species Lenox knew, wasn’t there someone with the exact same external characteristics?

The long-lived species who had cooperated in twisting the barrier, and the Saint-level mage of the Sinclair Magic Tower who was Aris Ritchelen’s teacher.

That long-lived species was the same type as Clarice Ritchelen.

[It’s called a Cloud Kirin.]

Oliviera explained.

[It’s one of the ancient long-lived species that forms a pair with the Blood Kirin, and they are now so few in number that they are on the verge of extinction.]

“……”

[I heard that they used to have authority and status comparable to the dragon species, but seeing them like this, mummified….]

Oliviera’s magic eyes narrowed as she stared blankly at the wandering Cloud Kirin.

[It’s just ugly. It makes me feel sick just looking at it.]

“But their innate talents and blessings aren’t entirely ugly.”

Maleon said, raising his gaze.

He didn’t deny that the mummified long-lived species looked ugly.

“Among the Founders of Kundara, there isn’t anyone who hasn’t mastered techniques like the invasion domain.”

“……”

“All the space-time of the Nine Calamities that unfolds from now on will be completely covered by invasion domains.”

Charrrr…!!

From behind the wandering Cloud Kirin, a dragon species with hard scales all over its body appeared.

Underneath its feet, hard irregularities swirled, grinding the floor and sending sparks flying, making a grating sound.

The Chain Dragon Clan. The dragon species that was the material for the Black Chain Dragon Scale Armor that Lenox had obtained was mummified and wandering the same sector.

Behind it was a dinosaur with plant-like wings, and beyond that, a giant water buffalo with a ring on its head.

At least seven of the highest-ranking long-lived species were wandering all over the corridor, each dragging their own invasion domain.

“This is insane….”

Lenox’s honest impression flowed from his mouth as he confirmed the unbelievable scene.

“All the deceased long-lived species are mummified, and they’re still deploying their domains even after death?”

[…….]

Even if they were low-balled, they were at least at the level of Angron. If their limits were pushed, they were transcendent beings comparable to Alogon or Nivex.

For such monsters to not lose their power even after death and drag their invasion domains around as if they were breathing, it was enough to make one’s breath catch just by looking at it.

However, Maleon wasn’t surprised even while looking at the cluster of domains of the monsters wandering in the distance.

He simply clasped his thick hands together tightly and began to draw up his magic power.

Kiyuuuung…!!

Dazzling silver light leaked out from between Maleon’s tightly clasped fingers.

A fierce resonance, as if he was creating starlight within his clasped hands and constantly circulating it.

“Let’s begin, Ban.”

Maleon said in a serious voice, turning to look at Lenox with a calm gaze.

“Don’t forget. Don’t stray from my side, and refrain from using any techniques under any circumstances.”

“……”

“Then, I will take you to the end of the Nine Calamities as promised.”

“Maleon, even if this is according to plan-”

If Maleon had been in perfect condition, Lenox wouldn’t have worried this much.

But now that they had arrived here, Maleon was in a situation that could not be described as normal, even as a euphemism.

He had just finished the ascension ritual and had scraped his entire body’s energy and reserves to the bottom.

He had suffered injuries while breaking through the Nine Calamities with his bare body, and had even extracted a large amount of his life force while creating the Wish-Fulfilling Orb.

Even if he was a 9th-level Ascender, Lenox didn’t know if he could endure all of these adverse conditions.

Not all Ascenders were invincible monsters.

They were still living beings, who would be worn down if they were scraped and would disappear if they were worn out.

Moreover, it was still unknown whether Maleon had truly reached a level comparable to the past Ascenders.

All sorts of negative assumptions and speculations flashed through his mind for a moment.

Before Lenox could even voice them, Maleon said quietly.

“I know that you are doubting me.”

“……What?”

It was an answer he had never expected to hear from him at this point.

However, Maleon smiled without being surprised, even while looking at the stiffened Lenox.

“It’s not strange. I even think it’s natural. You’ve come this far risking your lives, how could you not be cautious?”

“……”

“You can doubt and distrust me as much as you want. But that won’t change our promise.”

At the same time, Maleon took a step forward.

Koo-oong!!!

An overwhelming, heavy pressure that washed away all the negative assumptions he had made so far.

The entire space-time of the Nine Calamities seemed to tilt towards Maleon due to the concentration of his abundant presence.

The flow of power and energy that was flowing around without will momentarily turned towards a single Ascender.

Ahhhhhhh!!!!!!

The mummies wandering the space-time of the Nine Calamities raised their magic power with silent screams.

“Until we reach the end of the Nine Calamities as promised, I will not betray you.”

Click!

Maleon bent his forearm and slowly extended his hand forward.

“I will prove it to you from now on.”