Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 1280

Inhuman Demon Realm (4)

Human sacrifice is a forbidden ritual that uses the bodies and souls of living humans as offerings.

Because it is the height of depravity to gain power by sacrificing humans, the process far exceeds the efficiency of normal rituals.

It was such a malicious and elaborate dark art that even until the moment the old man transformed into a flesh monster, there was no way to be sure of the signs.

Thud!

While Lenok was staring down at the transformed creature with a heavy gaze, the woman moved.

“……”

“Contact the train conductor right now. We need to cut off the fuel supply and get the train moving.”

The woman, wiping the mucus off her arm with one hand, spoke in a calm tone.

“There’s nothing but the underwater tunnel around here, and the outside is all sea. If we can’t escape, we’ll have to fight whatever turned that old man into that until we die.”

The maritime train was stopped at a massive underwater passenger terminal located beneath the Sea of Understanding.

The terminal was structured with several vast underwater tunnels branching out from the main building, which was akin to a giant glass structure.

If the main terminal building supporting the tunnels were to collapse, they would be buried alive under the Sea of Understanding right here.

Strong resistance that didn’t even get a scratch despite the sudden attack. An attitude that showed no aversion to this kind of transformed creature.

And even the cool-headed judgment to quickly grasp the situation and suggest the best course of action.

Apart from her unique, refined appearance, she was definitely a veteran who worked directly in the field.

“I understand what you’re saying, but… it’s already too late.”

However, Lenok agreed with the woman’s words but turned his gaze away.

“This maritime train stopped at the terminal for refueling. To follow procedure, someone must have contacted the terminal staff.”

“……”

“He even talked to me and got off later than the other passengers. If he ended up like this, then the others are already…”

Kugugugugu…!!!

At the same time as the terminal gate faintly vibrated, the train car connected to it also trembled.

Beyond the transparent glass wall of the gate passage, something with a pinkish glow was rushing towards the train at an incredible speed.

Screeeech!!

Screeeech!!

Bizarre screams buried in swollen flesh. Distorted human faces that had not yet lost their shape within the flesh.

The passengers who had been on the same train until just now were running through the underwater tunnel, their entire bodies swollen like balloons.

Thud thud thud!!!

“Ha, seriously…!!!”

The speed at which the flesh masses were rushing was unbelievably fast.

It took only about three seconds to traverse the tens of meters of tunnel from the moment they appeared.

The woman, turning her body sharply, ran towards the train door and shouted at the crew member.

“Close the door! What are you doing!!”

“Yes, yes? But-”

Before she could even finish two words, the flesh mass that had rushed through the gate covered the crew member.

Crack!

Crunch crunch crunch!!!

In the blink of an eye, it covered the train passage and surface, and frantically bit at the screaming crew member’s neck and face.

“Aaaah!! Aaaah-!!”

“Ah, seriously…!!!”

While the woman was closing the door behind the screaming crew member, Lenok, who had arrived in front of the engine room, raised his magic power.

Bang!

With a single gesture, he broke through the protective barrier, smashed the lock, and opened the door to the engine room.

Beyond the door, which was usually kept tightly closed in preparation for possible terrorist threats.

The conductor, wearing a blood-soaked shirt, was devouring the engineer’s intestines with his head swollen to a great size.

Crunch, crunch.

“Kueeeh……”

“……Gulp!”

The monster let out a satisfied moan each time it devoured the intestines, and the engineer let out a painful scream each time.

Poof!

At the same time as Lenok flicked his finger and sent the conductor flying to the side, he checked on the engineer.

His abdomen was in a terrible state, with nearly half of his internal organs having been eaten and torn away by the conductor.

It was beyond hope. Even as Lenok thought that, he used one hand to stop the bleeding from the engineer’s wound and asked.

“Can you speak? What happened?”

“I… don’t… know…”

The engineer gasped for breath and vomited.

“The conductor… was eating lunch… and then, suddenly…”

“……”

Are even the people who didn’t go outside the train being transformed? Lenok, who had been silent, spoke again.

“The train is currently stopped at the underwater terminal for refueling. Do we need to completely stop the supply to depart?”

Even if the conductor or engineer couldn’t move right now, as long as Lenok had Davi, it wasn’t impossible to operate the train.

What Lenok needed to ask wasn’t how to control the train, but how to get the train, which was currently being refueled, back on the normal track.

The engineer seemed to understand Lenok’s words, and with difficulty, he answered while swallowing blood.

“Engine… each car… fuel tank… all must be closed… ah.”

“……I see.”

Instead of operating the entire train with one fuel tank, each car of the train had its own fuel tank.

This must be because each train car had to rotate magic power to float the metal body in order to run on the Sea of Understanding.

If each train car had its own fuel tank, and all the fuel inlets had to be closed one by one to stop the supply.

At this point, a normal escape was practically impossible.

While closing the eyes of the engineer who had stopped breathing and getting up, the woman who was blocking the door of the first-class car shouted.

“Hey! I’ll block the door, so you escape first…!!”

Kwaaaang!!!

Before she could finish speaking, the glass window on the train wall shattered, and flesh masses poured in.

The monsters that had clung to the surface of the maritime train shattered the thick glass windows and surged in.

Before Lenok and the woman who were blocking the engine room and the door could move, a wave of flesh masses swept through the car.

The flesh masses that had instantly covered the car body quickly covered the woman who was blocking the door.

Clang!

“Kuh…!!!”

When the weight of hundreds of people was concentrated at once, the woman momentarily couldn’t withstand the weight and was pushed back.

Even if she forced herself to raise her magic power and hold on, the number of transformed creatures pushing in from behind would only increase.

Having made a quick decision, she turned to Lenok and gestured with her eyes to the tablet placed on the seat where she had been sitting.

“The tablet, can you grab it-!!!”

Swish!

Before she could finish speaking, Lenok used the Archangel’s Compassion [a magic ability] to grab the tablet and throw it to the woman.

At the same time as she barely caught the tablet, her figure was covered in flesh and disappeared to the opposite side of the passage.

Kwaaaaaa!!!

“Kuhhhhhh…!!”

“Hheck……”

Inside the train car, which had instantly turned into a hellscape filled with transformed creatures, Lenok was left alone.

However, Lenok ignored the monsters drooling at him and immediately turned around.

Currently, most of the passengers and crew inside and outside the maritime train were either dead or had finished transforming into flesh masses.

If the first-class car that Lenok was in was like this, then the situation in the other train cars, as well as the main terminal building, would be no different.

Therefore, at this point where escape was impossible, what he had to do was not try to fix the train somehow.

The subject of the most malicious dark art that was turning people into flesh masses and making them eat humans.

The pinnacle of human sacrifice that transforms humans into monsters that eat humans while maintaining their human presence and life-

“The Cult.”

Thump!

He grabbed the face of the flesh mass that was rushing from behind and slammed it into the wall.

He dodged the attack of the transformed creature with its arms wide open by lowering his upper body and rotating his body.

He accelerated through the transformed creatures that were crowding into the train’s first-class car towards the tightly closed door.

Kwaaaang!!!

At the same time as he raised his magic power, Lenok turned his body, and the closed iron door of the train shattered and flew off.

At the same time as the flesh masses clinging to the surface were flung away, Lenok, who had climbed onto the train car, turned his gaze.

‘Where is it?’

The surroundings were a vast passage with underwater tunnels thousands of meters long stretching out in all directions.

There were only wide and vast tunnels that were so large that even if you drove a car at full speed, you wouldn’t see the end.

It was practically impossible to leave the battlefield here without being caught by each other’s senses.

Lenok and the opponent were definitely still here.

Then, as expected-

Fwoooosh!!!

At the same time as he surrounded himself with the Jeongryun Barrier [a protective magic barrier], he accelerated. He dashed through the flesh masses at a speed that couldn’t even be seen.

He swept low through the underwater tunnel, passing through the train cars filled with monsters, and broke through towards the main terminal building.

Lenok’s figure shattered the transparent glass wall and fell above the gate entrance.

Crash!

The moment he landed on the floor with the scattering glass fragments, he felt a squishy sensation.

The ceiling and walls of the vast terminal building were covered in sticky flesh.

The entire interior was covered with walls of flesh made by kneading humans, a bizarre sight that was writhing.

It had been a long time since he had seen such a grotesque hell since he had infiltrated the life domain of the Conjunctionist [a type of magic user].

Clang!!!

At the same time as a blue sword light cut through the glass wall, someone landed next to Lenok.

“Ha, seriously, how disgusting…”

The woman, annoyed, swept back her blue-tinted curled hair and walked into the terminal lobby.

The woman, holding a finely crafted gunblade in one hand, glared around with a sharp gaze.

“I don’t know why the Cult always does such disgusting things. Is it because they resemble their master?”

“……Was the reason you asked for the tablet because of that weapon?”

“That’s right. I stashed it in my luggage to avoid getting caught during the departure procedures.”

The woman replied, taking out a new pair of sunglasses from her luggage and putting them on.

“I had to put a seal on it to avoid detection, and to remove it, I had to update the random password key with the tablet.”

So, it took time to retrieve the equipment from her luggage after receiving the tablet from Lenok.

Seeing that she had escaped unscathed while being swept away by the flesh masses and even managed to retrieve her equipment, she was no ordinary skilled person.

However, even in the midst of all that, Lenok was carefully examining the gunblade the woman was holding.

‘There’s a firing mechanism, but no cartridge… Is she using it without loading bullets?’

A gunblade is a weapon with a gun barrel built into the blade, where bullets are loaded and fired near the handle.

It can be used as both a gun and a sword, and can handle both close and long-range combat, but it is so delicate and difficult to handle that it was the first time Lenok had seen a user.

However, the gunblade that the woman was holding was a very elaborate form, but there was no cartridge for loading bullets.

Was it that she didn’t use bullets in the first place, or was she using a different substance as bullets?

However, it seemed that Lenok was not the only one who had similar thoughts.

“I thought you were skilled, but you were even more outstanding than I expected.”

Click!

The woman, skillfully operating the firing mechanism installed near the handle with one hand, replied.

“To break through all the transformed creatures in that chaos and arrive at the terminal first… you’re a physical ability user, right? Just by looking, your movements are extraordinary.”

“……”

Did she not miss the moment when Lenok was fighting the transformed creatures in the train car?

The woman turned around, holding the blade, not caring about Lenok’s reaction.

“I’m Aileen from the Agency. As I said before, I’m a Ranger.”

“……”

“I won’t ask you to help me find Chun-beon, but please cooperate until we deal with the Order. You don’t want to be buried and drowned in the underwater terminal, do you?”

“What happened in the Demon Realm that you’re searching for Chun-beon near the Second Command?”

“Recently, there has been a major change in the internal environment of the Four Heavenly Demon Realm, and the situation has changed.”

Kugugugugu…!!

The woman, who introduced herself as Aileen, looked around the shaking underwater terminal and replied.

“There was a cataclysmic event where the existing environment and terrain were completely reversed, and the Order Alliance, noticing the anomaly, began to intervene.”

“……”

“It’s difficult to explain in detail to outsiders, but the central power structure is shaking greatly. With the movement of super-large forces, war is approaching.”

A faint anxiety was visible on Aileen’s face as she spoke.

“Even if Chun-beon doesn’t join us, we need to contact him at least to confirm his intentions in advance. Especially since the Order and the Alliance are very concerned about his name.”

“……”

The Order and the Corps are moving, and the Alliance is intervening in the Demon Realm.

At this moment, when the super-large forces dominating the central front are starting to move as if they had made a promise.

Is it really a coincidence that this is happening now, just as Lenok is heading to the Four Heavenly Demon Realm?

Perhaps the cause of the cataclysm in the Demon Realm is related to Lenok.

While he was lost in thought, Aileen moved first.

“Let’s move, it’s meaningless to talk while he’s absent. Based on my experience, this level of human sacrifice is the result of a Cardinal-level powerhouse’s involvement. First, let’s split up and search the main building and annex of the terminal-”

“No, there’s no need for that.”

“Pardon?”

Ignoring Aileen, who glanced at him, Lenok looked around.

“The opponent didn’t use any special techniques or powers, and they transformed hundreds of humans. That’s only possible because this entire terminal facility is already the Order’s territory.”

“……”

“The center of the ley line [a network of energy lines] that can declare this vast underwater terminal as the Order’s territory. The most crucial place in the facility is probably…”

“The basement of the terminal’s main building.”

Aileen answered immediately.

“It must be the engine room that supplies power to this entire massive terminal.”

Ding!

They went down to the underground shopping area by escalator.

A large area where all sorts of shops selling local specialties and medicinal herbs from the underwater terminal were located.

In the center, a huge fleshy egg had sprouted and was writhing slowly.

Cough, puuuuuuu-

Bulge, bulge, bulge…….

“Ugh, uhhh…….”

“Huuuaaaah…….”

Every time the egg moved slowly, hundreds of humans attached to the surface of the fleshy egg groaned in unison.

A grotesque sight, as if a boil condensed from humans was sucking their lives away. As soon as she saw the alchemical fusion, Aileen began to draw up her magic power.

At the same time as a thin magical light appeared on the gunblade, Aileen’s figure accelerated sharply. She slashed at the writhing fleshy egg at an incredible speed.

Kagagagak!!!

“Uhhh…….”

“Kuegek…!!”

Leaving behind the eggshells that were making bizarre screams, Aileen charged in with a cold face.

The fleshy mass, with its mouth wide open, lunged at her, but she dodged them all with graceful movements and repeatedly stabbed her blade into it.

Chwaak!!

The moment the blade pierced, the fleshy egg momentarily stopped moving.

Aileen, without even looking at it, unhesitatingly drew up her magic power and activated the firing mechanism.

Kiiiiiing-

Click!!

Aileen’s magic power, acting as a bullet, accelerated through the barrel built into the blade.

The moment the sharply rotating compressed mass shot out of the blade at supersonic speed and into the fleshy egg.

The huge fleshy egg exploded from the inside, scattering in all directions.

Bbeoeoeoeong!!!

A powerful shockwave that momentarily shook the entire building made of transparent glass.

Blood and bodily fluids mixed and poured down like rain, vibrating fiercely throughout the underground area. The screams and thoughts of the transformed creatures surged like a storm, clouding the surroundings like fog.

However, even after bursting the fleshy egg, Aileen did not relax and stared at the epicenter with a hardened expression.

Even after eliminating the target, the aftershock seemed to linger in one place for an unusually long time.

This wasn’t death, but rather a way to deceive the opponent’s senses-

Kwaaaang!!!

Instinctively raising her blade, the woman’s figure was thrown backward.

Aileen’s figure, crashing through several layers of thick walls and sliding backward.

A murky voice echoed from within the dust.

[You have good instincts?]

Huuk-!

What walked out of the egg, cutting through the thick fog, was a man with a thick, muscular physique.

His head was not human, but rather took the form of a dull metallic object, like torn-off wings.

The opponent, leisurely dusting off his hands, spoke with a resonance that was not human.

[I was going to blow your head off in one shot, but your reaction is fast. Or should I say you’re experienced?]

“……It’s nothing special. I just thought it couldn’t be this easy if a bishop or cardinal of the Order was involved.”

The woman, who had risen to her feet, said while glaring at the man with a cold gaze.

“I didn’t expect a Saint to be rampaging in a place like this.”

She knew that the situation at the terminal was the work of the Order, but considering the nature of the technique that transformed humans into mutated creatures, she had thought it was the work of a high priest or cardinal.

However, the aura emanating from the opponent was neither that of a human consumed by fanaticism nor that of a religious person who had accepted faith.

A harbinger of the end, with an origin different from any demon or monster in this world.

A Saint was sitting in the center of the underwater terminal, sucking up its energy.

‘A Saint army that’s more powerful than I thought… Why is such a monster here?’

The mark engraved on her wrist throbbed intensely as soon as she saw the Saint, and a faint memory flowed in.

Proof that Seina Naidri, the priestess of the Order who gave Lenok the mark, had encountered that monster before.

In the flickering memory, all sorts of numbers swayed back and forth before settling clearly.

A harbinger of the end whose rank has fallen due to degradation. Former 9th Saint of the Guido Order.

The moment Lenok, who had realized the Saint’s origin through the mark, raised his gaze.

[Kekeke, that’s what I want to say. You unlucky woman.]

The muscular Saint, with his hands on his hips, chuckled lowly.

[I thought it was just the remnants of the Corps struggling, but a noble was messing up the board. I was going to make the entire terminal my altar, but it’s become awkward.]

Wooong!!

At the same time as the Saint took a step, a rotating sound like an engine started to resonate.

The Saint growled, rotating the engine that was fiercely glowing inside his chest.

[Thanks to you, the ritual that was supposed to be offered to the Pantheon has been delayed. How are you going to compensate for this?]

‘His power……’

Perhaps because he had been performing a sacrificial ritual until just before, the power he was exuding was unbelievable.

The fact that Aileen was pushed back even though she had read the Saint’s attack and reacted was because the output the Saint was wielding was that powerful.

That was clearly because of the miniature engine that was embedded in the Saint’s chest and rotating even at this moment.

The Saint, as if sensing Aileen’s gaze, tapped the engine embedded in his chest.

[Want to know? It’s a miniature nuclear reactor that supplies power to this entire underwater terminal facility.]

“……”

[The Corps discovered it while exploring the Yukraguihwang Demon Realm, an artifact of the Empire, and they were hiding it disguised as the power source for this underwater terminal.]

The Saint said, chuckling.

[It was a treasure that no one would have found otherwise, but when Chun-beon turned the Second Command upside down during the parade, a lot of information was released. I should thank him.]

“So, as soon as you found it, you pulled it out and embedded it in your heart?”

[That’s right. Many Saints are rushing their preparations ahead of the final battle with the Alliance. The 3rd Saint’s descent on the Eastern Front was also part of that.]

The Saint, who was taking leisurely steps while rotating the engine embedded in his chest, replied.

[It was as the priestess told me. The Corps’ generals died in droves during the subjugation battle, leaving this jurisdiction empty, and Chun-beon, who was granted the position of commander, stupidly ran away, creating a power vacuum.]

“……”

[Without a commander, it’s not difficult to ignore the Corps’ system and steal their treasures. They have a lot of treasures piled up despite being so stiff-necked, so their management is poor.]

Woooooong……!!

That fact could be seen just by looking at the engine rotating in the Saint’s chest.

This monster, who had settled in the underwater terminal and swallowed the reactor, had gained immense power.

Perhaps the Saint’s abilities were perfectly compatible with the reactor.

[I was synchronizing with the entire terminal facility to fuse this reactor with my body, and in the process, I needed over thousands of lives of non-believers…….]

Instead of facing him head-on, they needed to lure him out and whittle him down.

Aileen, having made her decision in an instant, turned her gaze to Lenok to share her plan.

At that moment, the Saint, who had twisted his body in place, accelerated explosively towards Lenok.

Kwaaaang!!!

[It seems like I need to sacrifice this bug as well to properly complete the ritual. Puahahahahaha!!!!]

“……!!”

His explanation was long-winded, and he was aiming for the gap in the ritual where information was momentarily lacking.

An explosive acceleration that even Aileen, a Ranger, missed for a moment due to her reaction speed.

If he was trying to complete the ritual that was interrupted by Aileen’s intervention by sacrificing Lenok’s life-

“Dodge it!!”

Kugwagwagwagwa!!!!

The Saint’s figure, crushing the air with tremendous speed and rushing towards Lenok like a bullet.

Lenok, looking up at the Saint with his bare hands, without any shield or barrier.

‘The timing……!’

The Saint’s speed was too fast, and Aileen was barely too late.

Even while thinking that, the moment she brought her blade to her wrist and drew up her thoughts.

A red light flashed before her eyes, and something was thrown backward from behind Aileen and tumbled violently.

Bang!! Kwagwagwagwang!!!

Bouncing off the floor and ceiling alternately, it crashed into the escalator, emitting acrid smoke.

The figure, completely blackened and emitting smoke, was not Lenok’s.

[Th, at……?]

The Saint, with his right upper body half-crushed, was slumped over, groaning blankly, unable to grasp reality.

The moment the woman realized that and quickly turned her gaze.

Lenok, who had walked past her, said.

“The final battle between the Order and the Alliance… That’s an interesting story.”

Click!!

A thick exhaust port opened, emitting heat and vibrating violently.

Red flames swirled through the intake device attached to his forearm, emitting a hot light.

Thump!! Chiik!!!

Lenok, who had lit a cigar at the entrance of the exhaust port, put it in his mouth and looked down at the Saint.

“I came out like this to hear that, so you’ll have to answer properly.”

The mage’s figure, engulfed in swirling flames, flickering like an incarnation.

A sign of a transcendent being who manipulates flames with thoughts alone, without using techniques or magic.

Above all, the unique way of overpowering the opponent with sheer physical strength without even warming up-

The sunglasses Aileen was wearing melted from the heat and fell off.

“……Chun-beon?”