Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 1149

Swaaaaaaaash!!!

A night sky with pouring rain. The heavy, humid air pressed against the skin.

A massive, ancient fortress shimmered faintly in the downpour.

A dark, old castle where no sign of human presence or light could be seen.

Lennok, along with the other knights, walked through the sewer tunnel leading to the castle, getting soaked by the rain.

A plan to open the [Gate] and obtain the remains of the ‘dead god,’ according to Aronbaiger Kabahim’s plan.

Squish, squish!

Each step sent the rainwater pooled beneath their feet splashing and squishing.

They were walking through the ruined sewer, heading towards the distant castle.

“It’s said that this fortress was once used as an underground stronghold to protect the royal capital,” said Yujel, the young knight walking next to Lennok, with a smile.

He wore a thick raincoat over his sturdy armor to protect himself from the rain.

Even while carrying his gear and walking with his fellow knights, Yujel showed no signs of fatigue.

“However, after an unfortunate accident at the fortress, it was abandoned, cut off from the royal capital, becoming a tragic ruin.”

“So, this old castle is a fortress that was abandoned even by Kabahim?”

“That’s why His Majesty chose this place for the plan.”

Yujel nodded with a faint smile.

“We’ll be there soon.”

“……”

Indeed, there were no signs or traces of people anywhere in the sewers around the castle.

The environment itself was proof that it had been left unattended for a long time.

Thinking this, Lennok glanced at the other knights walking around him.

Several of the knight commanders who had helped him with his training, and the high-ranking knights under their command.

They were leading the way, wearing armor and raincoats, clearing away the debris.

At the center of these knights, a handsome man walked ahead.

Aronbaiger Kabahim.

Chiiiiiiik…!!!

The heavy rain couldn’t even properly soak him, evaporating before it could touch him.

Like an invisible barrier, the steam rising above Aron’s head swirled in the rain.

It spread out behind the monarch like blurry wings of mist.

Kuoohhh!!!

Lennok’s gaze deepened as he watched Aronbaiger.

‘Just by circulating his mana, he’s generating that much heat… It’s monstrous.’

Most mana users circulate mana throughout their bodies when using it.

It’s a common and safe method, but if mana is circulated excessively, heat will inevitably be generated.

Just like an engine generates heat when it’s running, heat is an unavoidable byproduct of drawing energy.

A mage like Lennok could suppress heat generation by maximizing mana efficiency.

However, most mana users, including those with physical abilities, cannot optimize their mana circulation process to that extent.

But Aronbaiger didn’t bother suppressing the heat generated by his mana circulation.

Instead, he was using the heat generated by constantly circulating his mana to evaporate the pouring rain.

‘If he’s evaporating rainwater with the heat from his mana circulation, his cells should already be melting. Just how strong is his body?’

Aronbaiger Kabahim is an 8th-level physical ability user and a dual-talent holder.

If the information from the strategy meeting was correct, Aron must have another talent comparable to the 8th level.

The problem was that Lennok had not yet confirmed which of Aron’s ‘second talents’ it was.

Unlike the knight commanders he had sparred with during training, Aron had never shown his power in any official setting.

Confirming how strong the monarch of Kabahim was, and what dangerous talents he possessed, was essential for this operation.

This might be an opportunity to see Aron’s power in some way.

Thud!

As they stopped walking, the massive castle came into full view in the darkness.

The ruins of the old castle walls, soaked in the pouring rain, were covered in moss and overgrown with weeds.

Creak…!

The knights who had walked ahead pushed open the collapsed castle gate with all their might.

A dark corridor appeared, accompanied by the sound of rotting wood being crushed.

Rainwater dripped from the ceiling, and the damp air felt heavy and musty.

The inside of the silent castle was so quiet that it felt deafening.

Clank, clank!

The sound of the knights’ armor clashing against each other echoed rhythmically through the dark space.

After walking through the endless corridor, they arrived at a large hall with staircases spiraling on both sides.

Aron, looking at the neatly aligned knights with his blue eyes, spoke.

“From now on, I, along with the great bloodline, will begin preparations to open the [Gate].”

“……”

“In the meantime, you are to surround the castle and ensure that nothing leaks out, either inside or out.”

The atmosphere was so subdued that it felt solemn.

“Though the glory of Kabahim may have begun in this royal capital, I will not let it end here.”

Aron’s expression turned cold for a moment as he looked at the knights.

“I will personally demonstrate that your swords can reach beyond the center.”

“We obey Your Majesty’s command.”

Thud!!!

The knights lined up in the castle lobby knelt and bowed their heads.

The other knight commanders, including Yujel, also knelt solemnly in their places.

Hundreds of high-ranking knights raised their mana, resonating with each other and spreading their heat in all directions.

They instantly dispelled the dampness inside the castle, creating a tense atmosphere.

“The 4th Knight Order will move to the inner corridors of the castle. Seal all entrances and vents.”

“The 9th Knight Order will stand guard on the outer walls.”

“7th Knight Order, we’ll secure the facilities near the sewer. Let’s go!”

Each knight commander led their respective knight orders, moving swiftly inside and outside the castle.

The fully armed knight orders, along with the superhuman beings, quickly took control of the rain-soaked sewers.

“I didn’t expect Kabahim to be dreaming of advancing to the central front,” Lennok said, crossing his arms as he watched Aron amidst the busy knights.

Lennok understood the goal implied by Aron’s words to the knights.

“Is it just a pretext, or is it actually part of the process?”

“As you know,” Aron said, slowly turning around.

“Recently, the Outer City fell on the western front, officially announcing its advance to the central front.”

“…That’s.”

“The elders of Kundara explained it as an unavoidable disaster, but no one in the center fully believes that.”

Aron’s eyes flashed as he looked at the silent Lennok.

“Everyone knows that the end is near. That’s why the long-lived species have abandoned their clumsy outer shell and returned to the world.”

“……”

Aron’s answer indicated that Kabahim had also decided to advance to the center after seeing Kundara’s movements.

The knights protecting the royal capital had the advantage of being able to exert more power than their original rank through ‘blessings’.

Conversely, most of Kabahim’s knight forces were bound to the royal capital, resulting in an extreme form of centralization.

Aronbaiger Kabahim was planning to bring the remains of the dead god from beyond the gate and turn them into a forbidden weapon, instead of relying on the ‘blessings’ tied to the royal capital.

‘Considering the value of the dead god’s remains, it’s not entirely impossible…’

Kabahim’s knights were all highly skilled, and the blessings of the royal capital were incredibly powerful.

However, the forces currently dominating the central front were all powerful figures who spread their influence across the continent.

The Church and the Alliance. The elite forces leading the Ability Awakening Front and Dead Rise, and those attacking the demon realms on the front lines towards Ars Nova.

If Kabahim advanced to the center, could they secure the same position and status as them before the end?

‘Kabahim once sent a knight order to the Hanghasa Labyrinth to seize the legacy of Jintun. There was evidence that they had been dreaming of advancing to the continent.’

When Lennok participated in the Hanghasa Labyrinth raid, he had encountered a knight order dispatched from Kabahim inside the labyrinth.

Led by Knight Commander Dane, they had participated in the labyrinth raid, clashed with Jaun Odis, lost all their knights, and fled.

It was a long time ago, so Lennok’s memory was hazy, but it was clear that Kabahim had been dreaming of advancing to the continent since then.

It wouldn’t be strange if the monarch of Kabahim was now using the ‘power’ sleeping in the royal capital to advance to the center.

“If it’s for the goal you mentioned, we need to find the [Gate] first.”

Lennok, who had been lost in thought, raised his gaze.

He looked at the knights who were wearing helmets and standing guard in all directions of the castle lobby.

“I don’t feel any reaction that could be the [Gate] in this area.”

According to the clown’s direct confirmation, the coordinates where the [Gate] existed were in the underground of Kabahim’s royal capital.

However, Aronbaiger had led the knight order to a castle where there were no signs of people.

Was it a bluff to hide the location of the [Gate], or had the location of the [Gate] been changed since the clown’s visit?

Or, could the concept of the [Gate] even have its coordinates changed so easily?

However, Aron remained calm even after hearing Lennok’s words.

“The sewer where this castle is located was originally designed to be built outside the royal capital.”

Aron said as he slowly moved.

“It’s so damaged now that it’s hard to recognize, but the entire design of the sewer is a mirror image of the royal capital.”

“Are you saying that the entire sewer system is designed as a reversed version of the royal capital?”

“That’s why there is a conceptual reverse that can only be observed here.”

“……”

The existence of the sewer near the castle, designed in the exact opposite direction of the royal capital.

The [Gate] that exists in the underground of the royal capital, and the talent of duality that allows one to observe a single concept from both sides simultaneously.

“…Could it be.”

Lennok’s expression hardened as he quickly realized Aron’s purpose.

“From the beginning, you were trying to open the [Gate] outside the royal capital-”

“The [Gate] I intend to open with your help is not the [Gate] of the royal capital.”

Aron said, touching his eyelid with one hand and closing his eyes.

“I will open the reverse side of the gate that can only be observed in this castle. The [Back Gate] that does not originally exist.”

Thud!

As he took a step and raised his mana, a powerful aura surged from Aron’s entire body.

The heat emanating from his body as he twisted his head heated up the rain-soaked lobby.

Aron, who had begun to use his mana at full power, slowly removed the hand that had been covering his eyelid.

“This will be a shortcut to see the deepest part of the otherworld’s sanctuary in one go.”

Woo woo woo…!!!

Aronbaiger’s dual pupils, glowing blue between his fingers, flashed, rotated, and intersected.

The two pupils, swirling wildly inside the iris, narrowed the distance each time he raised his mana.

At the moment when they overlapped into one pupil inside his eye, like a solar and lunar eclipse.

Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiik-!!!!!

With a bizarre noise that seemed to tear the eardrums, space twisted and something appeared.

A bizarre rectangle, as if drawn with rough black lines.

‘Something’ that was violently convulsing and flickering, forcibly dragged out in front of Lennok.

As soon as he saw it, Lennok realized that this crack was the [Back Gate] that Aron had mentioned.

The reverse side of the [Gate] that existed in the underground of the royal palace.

A result of forcibly observing a concept that could not originally exist, using the talent of duality.

Crack!

Blood flowed from Aron’s eyes as if glass was breaking.

The sight of Aron’s eyes breaking and bleeding just from observing the [Back Gate] was gruesome.

However, Aron did not flinch even with the pain of his eyes splitting, and calmly turned his gaze.

Aron, bleeding from his eyes, calmly looked back at Lennok and said quietly.

“Now.”

Clank!!

Before Aron’s words could even finish, Lennok was already raising his mana.

Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiik-

A black mana thread was violently drawn out, covering Lennok’s left arm and rotating wildly.

Then, a glass-colored gauntlet summoned from within the mana thread was hidden by a black ring.

Clank!!

Lennok, who had put on the gauntlet while avoiding Aron’s gaze, walked forward and reached out towards the [Back Gate].

At the same time as he raised his mana, the mana thread covering his left arm rotated violently, accelerating like a black ring.

The moment Lennok clenched his fist and thrust the gauntlet hidden by the mana thread into the spatial crack in front of him.

Bang!!

The [Back Gate], which was closing as soon as it appeared, began to twist with a bizarre sound.

A violent reaction as if trying to close and hide itself, sensing the power of the forbidden weapon that Lennok possessed.

Crack, crack…!!

The spatial crack pressed against his wrist, squeezing it as if it would cut off Lennok’s hand.

However, Lennok calmly focused his mind despite the pain that was crushing his wrist.

The mana thread rotated violently around Lennok’s wrist, spinning like a black ring.

He slowly began to push back against the pressure of the [Back Gate] that was pressing down on his hand.

Woo woo woo!!!

He had already practiced using the power of the forbidden weapon without taking it out several times.

If that was possible, it wouldn’t be difficult to recall the sensation of grasping a visible ‘concept’ like this.

It was a difficult task that relied entirely on innate intuition, but that was precisely why Lennok was unlikely to fail.

He moved his intuition and instinct simultaneously from deep within, ‘grasping’ the invisible back gate.

The crack, which had been vibrating and narrowing, slowly widened as he slowly turned his hand.

At the same time as Lennok opened the [Gate], the scenery of the sanctuary beyond unfolded…

Fwoooosh!!!

The frozen snowfield that he had once encountered through the Ice Artisan.

The ice monument embedded at the end of the snow mountain, and the frozen knight kneeling on it-

“…Wait.”

Lennok stopped his hand, realizing that the scenery in front of him was completely different from his memory.

There was no freezing cold wind, nor a snowfield where everything was white.

There was only a huge hole rotating in the sky, shattering and scattering like glass.

Kuoohhhhhh!!!!!

A huge black circle rotated under the broken sky, shedding black tears below.

The black tears fell like a waterfall, turning everything around them into a pitch-black darkness.

In the darkness, a huge knight sat on a massive throne, his entire body broken and shattered.

The knight, radiating a chilling cold, wore a precarious armor that seemed as if it would crack and shatter at any moment.

A black hole, dyed black, rotated and pulsed above the heart of the knight, who was leaning weakly on the throne.

A black sphere that pierced through the chest of the giant knight.

A strange, intense, and mesmerizing pulsation that seemed to replace his heart.

However, Lennok intuitively understood the essence of the scene unfolding before his eyes and closed his mouth.

“……”

The scenery and appearance of the sanctuary he had seen through the Ice Artisan were completely different.

The black realm, which was endlessly twisted and corrupted, was rather familiar to Lennok-

“You succeeded.”

Aron, who had wiped the blood flowing down his eyes, said from behind the silent Lennok.

“That is the remnant of the dead god sleeping in this royal capital.”

A calm and composed voice that did not feel pain or emotion.

However, Aron’s eyes, looking at the sanctuary, were shining intensely as if they were burning.

“And that demonic realm where the remains are kept is… the prestige domain of the Half-Palace, ‘Mandala’.”

Aron whispered quietly, leaving Lennok, who had momentarily stopped breathing.

“It is a vessel of the world that can contain even the death of an Outer God in its original form.”