Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 1117

Aftermath (6)

Outside the western front’s border, in a secluded alleyway beyond a train station on a railway line.

On an old bench overlooking the plains outside a small city, Lenox met the person he had been waiting for.

The Ascendant who pursued the greatest challenge in Kundara.

The long-lived species banished beyond the [Gate] along with the thoughts of the Seonjong.

Maleon Gnosis.

Clunk!

Lenox, having pulled an ion drink from a vending machine, offered it to Maleon.

“Want a drink?”

“……”

“It seems the quality of drinks sold in the Western Continent is better than in the Eastern Continent. Is it the influence of the Talkerphers?”

Maleon didn’t answer.

Instead, he just stood in front of the bench where Lenox was sitting and reached out his hand.

The moment Lenox placed the aluminum can on Maleon’s hand.

Fsssh!!!

As acrid black smoke rose, the can melted in Maleon’s hand.

The drink inside evaporated completely before it could even fall between Maleon’s fingers.

“……”

Contaminated magic power. A force that erodes and destroys any substance it touches.

The stained silver glow emanating from Maleon’s entire body. The overflowing magic power had been thoroughly corrupted in a harmful direction.

Lenox stared at Maleon’s hand for a moment, then pulled out another drink and sat on the bench.

“How long has it been since you regained consciousness?”

“…About two days.”

Maleon closed his eyes.

“I collapsed somewhere in an unnamed plain… in this state.”

“It hasn’t been long then.”

“……”

Before answering, Lenox finished the remaining drink cleanly.

At the same time as throwing the can, the magic user squeezed it as if crushing it, and slammed it straight into the trash can far away.

Thwack!!

Watching that, Lenox took out a cigarette case from his pocket.

“Although I won the fight, it wasn’t essentially a power that could be perfectly controlled.”

Fsssh!!

Lenox, with a cigarette in his mouth, lit it and said.

“So, I couldn’t be sure when you would be able to ‘return’ again.”

“……”

“But I knew that if you did return, it wouldn’t be difficult for you to find my location.”

Lenox nodded, exhaling smoke.

“That’s why I was waiting. Because you were the last person I had to meet.”

“……”

In the final battle with the Seonjong, Lenox opened the [Gate] and sent the Ascendant into a future where everything was destroyed.

The gate that opened within the Ascendant did not distinguish between the Seonjong and Maleon, leading both beings beyond the end.

Because he forcibly opened the possibility of uncontrollable destruction, Lenox did not control it.

Maleon’s existence should have been extinguished along with the Seonjong’s thoughts in the future where the end was determined.

But-

“Sit down. You must have something you want to ask me?”

Lenox flicked the cigarette between his fingers and pointed to the seat next to him.

“Isn’t that why you came looking for me like this?”

“…You ask if I have something to ask?”

Maleon asked back in a faintly trembling voice.

His voice trembled with an emotion he couldn’t hide.

“Tell me… what I shouldn’t ask.”

“……”

“Why… why did you save me?”

Thud!!

Maleon knelt on the spot, tearing at his face with both hands.

Scales that had split between his fingers fell down in a flurry, but he didn’t even care.

“I, I failed… I betrayed those who believed in me.”

“……”

“Everyone believed in me, they dreamed of the same future as me, but I… that city, with my own hands…”

Fsssh…!!!

From Maleon’s entire body, which was covering his face, black-stained magic power flowed out.

The magic power that flowed out from under his feet began to melt the nearby pavement where Maleon was kneeling.

The magic power that once shone like stars was nowhere to be seen, only the polluted and corrupted, dirty magic power remained.

The intense emotions contained within seemed to show how frustrated and desperate he was.

“You saw what happened to Kundara.”

Lenox said.

“But it’s not your fault. It wasn’t your responsibility even until the very end.”

“No! It was my fault.”

Maleon shook his head fiercely.

“It happened because I… was an unqualified being.”

“……”

“It was the price for presumptuously dreaming of ascension and dreaming of an easy salvation. So…!!”

Whoosh!

Maleon’s presence swelled fiercely, then quickly subsided.

The dragon’s voice, which had been emitting ominous thoughts, became faint as if it were about to break.

“So, I was hoping… that you would decide my end…”

Even while despairing, frustrated, and angry, Maleon couldn’t even properly vent his anger at Lenox.

It was probably because he knew he didn’t even have the right to do so, that it wasn’t Lenox’s fault.

This immature Ascendant was a sincere being, so much so that he couldn’t be impulsively swept away by wrong emotions.

He was a seeker who worried about others until the very end, even while his body was being taken away and he was going mad.

He was a transcendent who did not regret being captivated by Lenox’s answer, even when everything was wrong.

That’s why Lenox knew that Maleon would definitely ‘return’.

“What exists beyond the [Gate] is a future where the end has come. It is the failed answer of my own self who accepted destruction.”

Lenox quietly opened his mouth.

“Everything that goes beyond that will only become part of the predetermined end. In fact, that’s what happened to the Seonjong’s thoughts.”

“…Then, I am.”

“Then, why were you able to return from beyond the [Gate], unlike the Seonjong?”

The gaze of the turbid silver dragon’s eyes met Lenox’s in the air.

Lenox, putting down the burning cigarette, said quietly.

“Because you chose it, Maleon.”

“……”

“Because you believed my answer was right, because you ‘chose’ my path… you cannot exist there.”

The root image of the corrupted branching point.

The realm of the end that opens the [Gate] is a power completely opposite to the kaleidoscope that Lenox possesses.

Therefore, Maleon, who understood and accepted Lenox’s answer, cannot exist beyond the failed [Gate].

A being who holds the next that Lenox draws cannot be in a future where the next does not exist.

Maleon used the answer that does not exist beyond the [Gate] as a signpost, and thus, he returned to reality.

“I…”

Maleon staggered back, as if shocked by Lenox’s words.

“I… chose, you say…”

It was probably because he, too, with his excellent insight, immediately understood what Lenox was saying.

Not simply to comfort Maleon, but because he realized that it was actually true.

Because he understood that this moment was his own choice, he was shaking so much.

Maleon stared blankly at his own black-stained hands.

“This painful ending, this filthy afterglow of life… I, wanted it…?”

“Why shouldn’t you want it?”

Lenox asked, getting up from his seat.

“Why shouldn’t it be painful and filthy?”

“…Th, that’s.”

Before he knew it, Lenox was looking down at the kneeling Maleon.

Looking at the Ascendant who was staring blankly up at him, Lenox muttered.

“Just, the desire to live, even like that… is that so grand?”

“……”

Maleon couldn’t answer anymore.

The last conversation they had in the consciousness space where the ideological and magnetic domains collided.

He remembered that he had sympathized with Lenox’s answer he had heard back then.

He had truly understood and accepted that answer.

No, he had not just remembered it, he had chosen it.

Because he felt that Lenox’s answer was closer to the next than his own.

Because he couldn’t deny it and had accepted it.

Even though Maleon had accepted the end, he couldn’t end it and was back in front of Lenox like this-

“Because you truly believed my answer was right, you didn’t run away until the very end.”

Lenox said quietly.

“That’s why you didn’t run away to the easy end of death, and you came back on your own.”

“…I.”

“Because you held the next I draw in your heart, you got the chance to choose.”

He spoke to the Ascendant who was staring blankly at Lenox.

“Then, for the answer you chose, take responsibility for that decision until the very end.”

“……”

“Live in my way until the end. Dedicate yourself to my path until the end of this world.”

Lenox’s words were so forceful that they felt almost coercive.

But Maleon couldn’t refute a single word and was just listening blankly.

Lenox looked down at Maleon and said as if declaring.

“That is the future you chose yourself, and the end I am deciding for you.”

Maleon had left hoping that Lenox would decide his end.

But at the last moment, Lenox handed that choice back to Maleon Gnosis.

Because he knew that if Maleon truly held Lenox’s answer in his heart, he also had the right to ‘choose’.

He knew that giving him the opportunity to choose was itself part of the end that Lenox was deciding.

It was a choice that had to be given to Maleon, who followed Lenox’s path.

“The end… that you decided… is it?”

Maleon repeated Lenox’s words blankly.

“Is this… my choice…?”

Each time he repeated the words, the hazy dragon’s eyes became a little clearer.

A slightly different emotion filled the pupils that had been gloomily sunken.

“…I see.”

The Ascendant closed his eyes.

“If this is the price for being captivated by your answer… if even this moment is my own choice…”

“……”

“…Then I must humbly accept even this end.”

Thud…!!

Maleon, who had slowly risen from his seat, knelt again towards Lenox.

He knelt on one knee and bowed his head to Lenox, speaking heavily.

“I will remain as a being who follows your answer until the end of this world.”

“……”

“I will chase the dream you dream, and I will live by drawing your answer in this world.”

Maleon said, raising his gaze.

“If that is the duty given to me in my remaining life… then I will do so.”

The Ascendant who reached level 9, Maleon Gnosis.

But what he held within was not something he had built up, but the answer of another.

The end of an incomplete transcendent who follows the path of another, even though he has earned the right to challenge ascension.

A seeker’s life, carrying Lenox’s answer in his heart and moving towards the end of the world for the rest of his life.

At that moment, Maleon realized that Lenox had truly decided his end and accepted it.

“It’s just that you got another chance to choose. There’s no need to think of it as something grand.”

Lenox answered quietly.

“Even this moment is the result of your choice. I won’t interfere with how you live.”

“I…”

“There’s no need to attach various reasons to this action now.”

Lenox said softly.

“I wanted you, who had sympathized with my answer, not to die because of it. That’s all.”

“……”

“The meaning after that will be enough if you find it yourself.”

What Maleon accepted was the image of a path that reflects infinite possibilities.

Then, it is up to Maleon to choose what is right and wrong.

Even if Maleon became a being who followed Lenox’s answer, there would be no reason to interfere in that process.

He had come a long way, but in the end, what Lenox wanted was simple.

He just wanted this Ascendant, who had been corrupted by thinking Lenox’s answer was right, not to die because of it.

“You… haven’t changed at all, even after experiencing such corruption.”

Maleon, as if he understood that, looked at Lenox with a complex gaze.

The silver dragon, kneeling, opened his mouth in a heavy tone.

“Was even this moment part of the choice you speak of?”

“……”

“Are you living to contain all these possibilities within your answer?”

“It’s not like I’m living only for that reason.”

Lenox answered, reaching out his hand.

When Maleon looked at his hand with a puzzled expression, Lenox asked.

“You were going to teach me primal magic, weren’t you? Did you forget already?”

“…Ah.”

Lenox smiled as he saw the Ascendant open his mouth with a look of realization.

“I can’t miss the opportunity to learn a technique that holds the secrets of the ancient world. You have to keep your promise.”

“I see.”

Maleon smiled and firmly grasped Lenox’s outstretched hand.

“You don’t necessarily need that many reasons to live… do you?”

The promise that began in a remote corridor of the Gugeop ends in a back alley of an unnamed city.

Obtaining the qualification to challenge ascension, and the promise to draw an answer while following a path.

It is enough if it is part of the journey of building up day by day and moving on to the next.

The night in Kundara was coming to an end.

It was time to return to Balkan.

* * *

After that, Lenox spent a day with Maleon outside the city, practicing techniques together before parting ways.

Learning primal magic was not easy, but grasping the principles and senses themselves was not difficult.

Even if he couldn’t use it like Maleon, who was born as a silver dragon, he would be able to understand what the ancient mysteries were if he studied them.

Maleon said that he would travel around the continent alone and find what he had to do.

“Following you in this broken body would only be a hindrance.”

The dragon, who had covered his entire body with a large robe, smiled.

Even at this moment, the magic power flowing from his body was melting and festering the bushes under his feet.

As Maleon said, it would be impossible to enter places or cities where people gathered.

As a result of the magic power of his entire body being transformed into a property that contaminates and corrupts everything.

Even though he had returned to reality from beyond the [Gate], the remnants of corruption still remained on his entire body.

However, in the dragon’s eyes looking at Lenox, there was no longer any confusion or despair.

“I will find what I have to do in my own way.”

He had brought up the topic of Kundara, but he didn’t seem to have any intention of visiting the city.

Perhaps it was because he thought that he, who had caused the disaster, was no longer qualified to set foot in Kundara.

Either way, it was clear that Maleon had a considerable sense of debt towards Kundara-

But from there, it was not something Lenox should interfere with.

[The cross-continental train bound for Balkan will depart in 10 minutes.]

Fsssh!!

A train station filled with acrid smoke.

Among the countless trains moving on the rails, he bought a ticket and took his seat.

The city Lenox had visited to meet Maleon was a stopover on the outskirts of the western front where cross-continental trains passed.

Most of the routes were allocated to the Western Continent, but there were train services to the Eastern Continent every few days.

That’s why Lenox was also waiting for a train to Balkan while learning primal magic from Maleon.

“I have confirmed your reservation list. Thank you.”

After confirming the seat code with the conductor, he buried himself in the chair.

At the same time as the train departed, the scenery of the city slowly moved away outside the window.

Clunk, clunk!

While his eyes were closing in the warm air, something came to Lenox’s mind.

Long ago, after finishing the work in the Hanghasa Labyrinth, while returning to Balkan with Ivelin.

He had met Myeong in a train heading to a huge city like this.

The memory of hearing about the meaning of transcendence from him and receiving an invitation to join Pandemonium.

It was quite a long time ago, but it was still as vivid as yesterday in Lenox’s memory.

Sitting in this quiet cabin and closing his eyes, like the other people who were dozing off-

“……”

He opened his eyes.

At that moment, Lenox noticed that he was the only person awake in the cabin.

It hadn’t even been 5 minutes since the train had departed, but all the passengers had fallen into a deep sleep.

It was too coincidental to be a coincidence, and it was subtly not crossing the line to be artificial-

Tap, tap.

He heard the sound of something walking from the far end of the cabin corridor.

As the footsteps gradually approached, they headed towards the seat where Lenox was sitting.

“Ah.”

A woman with her hair tied in pigtails peeked her head out and made eye contact with Lenox.

She opened her mouth in a circle and made a sound, then nodded her head.

“You were here. I’ve been looking for you for a while.”

“……”

“I thought you would be in first class, but I didn’t expect you to be in economy class. You’re more down-to-earth than I thought?”

A face he had never seen before. But she spoke as if she had known him for years.

She walked down the cabin corridor barefoot, without even wearing shoes.

The woman, who naturally sat down in the seat opposite Lenox, said.

“It took some time, but the Federation has decided to condone what you did.”

“…What?”

The woman’s words, which were about something that could not be casually dismissed.

But she didn’t care and sipped the cold drink she was holding.

“The Kundara incident is a sensitive issue in many ways, but surprisingly, it’s not an issue that needs to be resolved immediately.”

“……”

“They plan to leave it alone until the Great Connection is re-established. I thought I should tell you this much.”

“…Before you bring up such a story, there should have been something else you should have said first.”

In this situation, there is only one organization that can mention the Great Connection and the Lord.

Lenox, gently gripping his staff, asked with a cold expression.

“Who are you?”

“Fairy Art Master. Ah, is that not what you were asking?”

The woman laughed.

“It’s not my intention, but I’m a messenger and spokesperson right now. I was the only one who could find you right away.”

“……”

“The Lord has left a message about the Kundara incident. Do you want to hear it?”