Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 153

Considering Lenok primarily used manipulation magic when he killed Brook, the answer was simple.

‘They want to see if I can use manipulation magic. This whole setup is a series of tests to verify if mana threads come from my hands.’

But conversely… Doesn’t that mean the exploration team hasn’t confirmed that Lenok is the culprit who killed Brook?

As Lenok’s lips stretched into a grin, the young man who had emerged from the shadows thrust his hand out, instantly slicing through the air.

Thud!

The hand, which had bent sharply in the air where no foot could be placed, was imbued with mana and slammed directly into Lenok’s shield.

Wham!

The shield shattered in more than two layers in an instant, sending a powerful shockwave through the narrow alley.

“Three more layers…!!”

So muttering, the young man began to move his hands even faster, accelerating his movements.

Thud thud thud!

Five shadow punches, hammered down in place, heavily pressed down on the shield.

However, rather than being shaken by the constantly fluctuating shield, Lenok was more interested in the words he had muttered.

“So you know that my shield is made of five layers? They did their research properly.”

Lenok said, immediately drawing up his mana.

“But that’s not enough.”

Whoosh!

The instant the young man thrust out his hand, the five layers of the shield, completely restored, rapidly swelled, throwing the young man backward.

With a flick of his fingers, two chains shot out, instantly wrapping around the young man’s legs and squeezing.

However, what was squeezed from the legs caught in the chains was not red blood, but dark shadows.

He had changed the components of his body into a part of the shadows to escape.

Even if he were to be restrained with gravity magic, it wouldn’t be able to hold the shadows.

“Tch…!!”

The young man’s expression was already horribly distorted, realizing that the powder he had initially scattered had no effect on Lenok’s combat abilities.

The confidence with which he had charged in was nowhere to be seen; his eyes were constantly searching for an escape route, and his fists had long since loosened.

He now realized that the distance between the two of them was far greater than he had thought.

It was only natural that he would be intimidated by a battle structure that was completely different from what he had initially imagined.

Moreover, a skilled martial artist would have had considerable confidence in his own judgment.

Therefore, it was not strange that he could not actively respond to the unexpected situation.

The young man’s body, which had been visibly retreating, disappeared as if sinking into the shadows.

Lenok, watching the futile escape in the midst of the snow-like white powder, laughed.

“Too late.”

Before he could even realize that his fingertips were getting cold, Lenok’s magic erupted.

Crack!

Five ice stakes, as thick as forearms, created by gathering moisture from all directions, circled around Lenok.

A move that, instead of expanding the air, conversely shrinks it to suppress molecular motion and interfere with the action of the dust.

However, the young man, keeping his distance from Lenok, scoffed at the crude solution.

“You fool. Do you think I’d just let that hit me…”

Thwack thwack thwack!

Five ice stakes pierced through the young man’s abdomen from behind as he quickly retreated.

They were all accurately tearing through his abdomen, destroying his organs.

Lenok, with a blank face, raised his hand, on which Davi, who had slightly changed his appearance to avoid attracting attention, had somehow climbed.

‘Just as I thought.’

The transfer ability of the relic he had discovered by chance at the university.

As soon as Lenok realized this ability, he immediately took Davi with him to delve into the limits and utility of the transfer ability and had achieved a reasonably good result.

If the location of the impact magic used by Roden could be changed, then conversely, the location of the magic used by Lenok could also be freely manipulated.

The results of several experiments revealed the following facts about the transfer ability contained in the Archangel’s Compassion.

‘The amount of mana that can be transferred at once is fixed, and the amount is not that large. The transferable distance is about 50m… After one use, the cooldown time is 30 minutes.’

Although there were many restrictions as a price for handling the ability to directly interfere with space, it was enough for Lenok.

No, rather, these restrictions were giving Lenok one conviction.

Even if it wasn’t the Archangel’s Compassion, there would be a relic somewhere that could transfer people with a suitable penalty.

And if the transfer ability that could transfer living things worked in a completely different way from magic, as it had just now.

Lenok could also use that transfer ability.

While organizing his thoughts, he lightly flicked his fingers.

[Harmonics]

At that moment, Lenok’s mana, which had been dwelling in the five ice stakes, resonated simultaneously, creating a massive vibration.

Right inside the pierced young man’s abdomen.

“Aaaaaaaargh!!!”

Even a martial artist who had trained his body could not withstand the pain of his internal organs being turned into a mess.

The screaming young man clutched his abdomen and collapsed, trembling.

The result of the short exchange was overwhelmingly, even absurdly, one-sided.

It seemed that he had made various preparations to face Lenok, but in the end, he couldn’t even lay a proper hand on him.

Clumps of blood, pouring out from the openings, fell with a thud, emitting a strong fishy smell.

If the young man was a proper martial artist, he wouldn’t die from just this.

There were still things he needed to ask him.

“If I leave it to Sebastian, he’ll make you open your mouth.”

Hiring a decent torturer was too easy for a broker.

Whoosh…!!

Lenok, who was about to grab the hem of his limp clothes and lift him up, stopped and raised his head at the strange resonance coming from behind.

Swoosh!

A streak of light shot out from a ripple that had appeared in the air.

It was an extremely sharp and swift strike that was difficult to withstand, but Lenok did not even try to avoid the approaching light; instead, he just stared blankly at it.

The light, which had gently brushed past Lenok’s arm, pierced through the frozen young man’s head and completely shattered it.

Wham!

Although he had suddenly lost his interrogation target right in front of his eyes, Lenok was not disappointed.

After all, the reason he had tried to interrogate him was to find out if he was connected to the exploration team.

There was no need to go the long way around when the answer was right in front of him.

[I’m sorry to greet you in this way.]

A voice so cold that it sent chills down one’s spine.

It was pointless to try to gauge the hostility contained within it.

Clearly, the sound was being transmitted using the wave that had appeared in front of him, but the principle behind it was not easily understood.

Thinking about the explanation Sebastian had given him, this was probably a type of ability with a different principle than the techniques that top-tier artifacts possessed.

An unusual ability that only high-level relics possessed. A cold-blooded hand that could ruthlessly sacrifice even colleagues who were doing the same work as pawns.

There was no need to say who had appeared at this moment.

Irina Pesfield.

Lenok asked, pretending not to know.

“Who are you?”

[Are you asking me that now?]

“Well, if you just spout nonsense, what kind of answer am I supposed to give?”

So saying, Lenok took out a nutritional supplement from his pocket and poured it into his mouth.

The only reason Irina, who was probably watching the situation from afar, had appeared here was one.

In the end, Lenok had not revealed that he was a manipulation magic user in his fight with the young man, and the young man had not obtained any clues from him.

In the process of fighting him, he had used the transfer ability embedded in the jewel, but abilities that interfered with space were often difficult to notice even when seen from right next to them.

She had probably seen the transfer ability that Lenok had used just now, but conversely, she would have no choice but to be suspicious of his appearance, as he had not used any manipulation abilities.

‘Should I shake things up a bit more and see how she reacts? I need to see how she deals with provocation.’

Lenok chewed on the nutritional supplement, lost in thought.

He had no intention of dragging this out. He had a lot of things to do.

Therefore, he had to make a decision about her here and now and take action.

Depending on which side she leaned towards, he would have to drastically change his strategy.

[Let’s cut to the chase.]

Irina said in an icy voice.

[If you return that item right now and beg for forgiveness, I’ll spare your life. But…]

“But?”

[If you have any unnecessary greed, then a thief who covets an item that has an owner must be punished accordingly.]

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Lenok laughed.

A fleeting conversation. The first means of communication that Lenok chose in response to her cold behavior was…

“I think you’ve got the wrong person.”

A brazen denial.

Preparation (3)

She, who had been silent at Lenok’s words, spoke.

[The city changes so quickly. Don’t you think?]

“………”

[It hasn’t even been three years since I last left Balkan, and already a new mage like you has appeared.]

Was it a delusion to think that there was a faint hint of laughter mixed in her calm voice?

Despite Lenok’s provocation, her voice was full of composure.

[It’s annoying to even respond to the petty squabbles of a fool, but when someone’s attitude is so close to pushing my buttons, I have to say something…]

“Say what?”

[I want to see if you can still say the same thing after I’ve torn off all your limbs.]

Snap!

With a chilling declaration, the wave disappeared.

It was a gruesome threat of murder, but instead of cowering at the sharp killing intent, Lenok reached out and grabbed the disappearing wave.

Whoosh!

Although she had said that, Lenok had no intention of waiting idly until Irina came to find him.

He had no intention of giving up the treasure in his hand, and Irina had threatened him instead of offering an apology or a deal, so there was only one thing to do.

There was no need to make an enemy, but in unavoidable cases, one should not hesitate.

The ability of the relic worked on a completely different principle than existing techniques.

However, if it was a technique that worked with mana, it could be understood.

He sensed the mana of the faint wave that was disappearing in the air and pushed Lenok’s mana directly into the lower part of it.

Just like stimulating the heart of a dying person, he carefully adjusted the amount of mana input, reviving the wave with a constant flow of strength.

‘In the end, the key is the ability to locate and transmit voices from a distance. If so…’

It should also be possible to reverse-engineer and trace the location where the relic was used from this side.

The process was much more complicated, but the trick was not much different from before.

Just like when he had detected and reversed the exploration magic when he had subjugated the Scavengers with the Crimson Gale Mercenary Company, he could approach it in the same way.

Each time he deployed mana, his movements were jerky due to the reinterpretation of the ability, which worked on a completely different principle than existing magic, but he remembered the blocked part and immediately moved his thoughts to the next step.

In that way, he recognized and remembered the blocked part on the spot, reconstructed it, and grasped the circuit through which mana moved in real time.

He pierced through it in reverse.

Fizzle…!!

With the sparks that erupted in his head, a massive amount of data was derived.

Lenok took out his phone and immediately wrote down the numbers that were constantly popping up in his notepad.

They were randomly mixed, but they were definitely correct.

Raw information about the number of times the relic’s ability was used, the casting distance, the time the ability was activated, and the gaps between them.

They were just randomly arranged data now, but if he handed them over to Sebastian, he would be able to get some meaningful results.

The best thing to do was to launch a preemptive strike before Irina had time to reach out to him.

So thinking, Lenok immediately began to search his phone’s contacts.

It was the first time he was looking for colleagues to work with as a client rather than a freelancer, but it wasn’t that difficult.

As if to prove that the year he had spent in this city had not been in vain, his once empty contact list now contained dozens of numbers.

After much deliberation, Lenok naturally left the street and began to make a phone call somewhere.