Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 22

He further reinforced the barrier around his body with magic, sharpening his senses.

Meanwhile, the man was single-handedly turning the tide of the battle, brutally attacking the mercenaries without discrimination.

“Hold the line!”

“We have to stop his rampage…!!”

“Delin, get out of the way!”

However, the mercenaries’ movements were severely hampered as they had to protect the incapacitated second squad while facing the man. Conversely, the man was able to withstand the mercenaries’ attacks to some extent without losing any of his attack speed.

Eventually, the formation was breached, and mercenaries began to die indiscriminately.

“Kuaaaak!!”

Working in this kind of environment, it was natural to not know when you might die, but it wasn’t easy to maintain composure when your comrades were dying one after another before your eyes.

As the blood flowed more freely and the lives lost mounted, the mercenary group fell into a panic, their limbs stiffening and their senses dulling.

At this rate, they would be annihilated without even putting up a proper fight.

Having made that judgment, Lenok immediately abandoned the magic he had been preparing and began to construct a new spell to subdue the man.

The magic power he had gathered in advance for the spell scattered into the air, but Lenok’s powerful magic control ability gathered all the stray magic particles and reconstructed them within his mind.

A talent that defied the heavens, controlling magic at the particle level to produce results beyond efficiency.

If the mage who had died bleeding on the third floor had seen this scene, he would have been driven mad with the desire to kill him by any means.

The magic, completed at a terrifyingly fast speed, descended from the air, omitting the inaudible incantation and invisible hand seals.

[Thunder Calling]

A flash of blue lightning pierced through the clear sky and struck the center of the fourth floor building’s rooftop.

Kwaaaang!!

The force was so powerful that the building, supported by solid concrete, shook violently.

However, the damage range of the lightning strike was precisely aimed to avoid the mercenary group and the power generation facilities.

This was because Lenok had intentionally adjusted the power of the lightning strike by accurately calculating the amount of magic power and the damage range with his transcendent perception ability.

It was impossible before coming up to the building because he couldn’t properly grasp the location, but now that he had a clear view, it was not impossible to recognize all the coordinates of the space… Lenok judged so and tried, and succeeded perfectly.

Even though it was only the second time he had used magic, Lenok’s immense talent was making that unbelievable control possible.

Hoo-oong!!

Even as he saw the mercenaries with blank expressions after witnessing the lightning strike in front of them, Lenok did not stop manipulating his magic power.

It would be ideal if the man was directly hit by this attack and incapacitated, but Lenok had a clear picture in his mind of what would happen if that wasn’t the case.

A very brief sign before the lightning strike. If you could notice it with your eyes or intuition, it was also possible to evade it.

Lenok, who had already experienced the threshold of a creature called Kraken, could easily calculate the movements of any superhuman.

The most likely scenario was that he would jump into the mercenary group to avoid the area attack or use them as shields to endure.

And if the man really avoided the lightning strike in that way, the next target would be—

Tuh-uh-uhng!!

Lenok himself, who had cast the spell.

Talent is…

Lenok’s body was thrown backward as the shield he had erected shattered from the intense impact, but Lenok was not flustered.

He had anticipated that the man would target Lenok by tracking the source of the magic, and he had layered multiple shields for that reason.

Furthermore, instead of increasing the strength of each shield by adding magic power, Lenok had deliberately taken measures to absorb the impact by having them shatter upon impact.

If you know where it’s coming from and are prepared, you can withstand even an anti-tank weapon.

Lenok’s shields were shattered one after another by the man’s arm, which was swung at a speed incomparable to before, but Lenok’s body was unharmed.

“Mage-nim!!”

The horrified mercenaries moved quickly, but instead of fleeing from the spot, the man swung his arm violently once more.

He was convinced that it was better to kill Lenok, even if it meant enduring the mercenaries’ attacks, than to miss this opportunity.

The power of the lightning strike he had used was at a level rarely seen among mages.

Swaaeeek!!

What could possibly stop him from breaking a shield that had already been shattered once?

It did not seem difficult at all to break through Lenok’s remaining defenses and bring his five fingers to his heart.

However, Lenok did not back down or use additional shield magic even in the face of the man’s impending attack.

He simply quickly raised the revolver he was holding.

The magic power that had been prepared since immediately after using [Thunder Calling] was being arranged in an orderly fashion through his left hand, assembling concrete thoughts like a flash of light.

Woo-oong…!!

In an instant, the revolver pulsed with a blue light and began to tremble, but it felt distinctly more stable than before.

Lenok’s current abilities don’t allow him to cast two ordinary spells at once. However, support magic is different, especially shooting support magic. It has relatively low capacity and mana consumption and is something he mastered through gameplay.

He perfectly remembers the most efficient order to arrange support magic to unleash the most powerful force, and which support magic is effective for each type of firearm.

[Aim Correction]

[Trigger Acceleration]

[Recoil Control]

[Rapid Fire Correction]

Four support magic spells specialized for shooting enhancement.

One alone is just a support spell that enhances shooting power, but using four at once is a different story.

The synergy created by stacking four support spells into a single shot explosively increases the bullet’s power.

Ta-ta-ta-tang!!!!

Five bright blue flames, like lightning, burst from the muzzle and struck the man’s body.

Two shots hit the solar plexus, two hit below the abdomen, and the last one hit the head.

[Aim Correction], activated at close range, easily neutralized the man’s attack in a single moment, accurately targeting only the most lethal areas.

In contrast to the man’s blackened arm flailing uselessly, Lenok’s shots all struck critical points.

“Kuaaaak!!”

The man, hit by five counterattacks in a single moment, abandoned all attempts to attack and writhed in pain.

It seemed that the man’s skin, hardened enough to deflect ordinary shots by injecting a dark magic-infused drug, had mitigated the impact, but the temporary paralysis of his physical functions was unavoidable.

Lenok didn’t miss the opportunity and quickly drew up mana once more to finish him off.

The most efficient attack at this close range was predetermined.

Although his body was fragile, teetering between life and death with a single mistake, Lenok’s cold logic understood that sometimes he must not fear close combat.

Tuck!

Lenok, grabbing the man’s lower jaw with a shield-coated hand, clenched his fist tightly and drew up mana.

Nothing has changed since he first escaped the factory.

Lenok has survived every moment at the risk of his life, and he will continue to do so.

This magic was like a beacon reminding Lenok of his will.

[Bolt]

Pa-ji-ji-ji-jik!!!

A thick, bright blue current, far more powerful than when he first learned the magic, flowed and writhed between his five fingers.

A dazzling blue electric shock, enough to momentarily blind Lenok, burst out and struck the man’s head.

“Ugh-gh-gh-gh….Aaaak!!”

A non-lethal magic used for stunning, and a high-powered one at that, with the output pushed to the limit.

For an ordinary person, their head would have been turned to ash in an instant.

However, the man was still writhing and struggling madly, even after being hit by the Bolt magic without any defense.

“He’s holding out?”

The moment he realized he hadn’t subdued him in one go, he immediately shook him off and stepped back. A frighteningly calm response.

There are monsters who can catch bullets with their eyelids, so there’s no reason why he wouldn’t be able to withstand an electric magic to the head.

After facing the superhuman Crocken Acilus, Lenok was confident that he could remain calm against any enemy.

[Reload Acceleration]

Before the man could recover, he quickly reloaded the revolver and pulled the trigger again.

Bang! Bang!

One shot in each eye. One shot missed and hit the forehead.

Even if he had strengthened his entire body with dark magic, he couldn’t have hardened his eyeballs, as the sound of the man’s eyeballs bursting through his eyelids could be heard.

“Aha, haaaaak!!”

Even in that state, the man was flailing wildly, trying to land a hit on Lenok, but.

Lenok did not engage this time, but calmly looked down at the man.

Crack!! Splatter!!

That’s because the mercenaries who had rushed in had stabbed their weapons into the man’s back and pinned him to the floor.

“This bastard…!!”

“Hold him tight, everyone!!”

Dududududu!!

“Kuaaaaak!!”

Even with blades stuck all over his body, the other mercenaries fired their guns to kill him, but the man only screamed in agony. He didn’t seem to lose any strength as he thrashed about.

Even while collapsed, his strength was so immense that the other mercenaries holding him down momentarily staggered.

The mercenaries were dumbfounded at the man’s appearance, as he seemed completely unaffected even after they had poured more than one magazine of bullets into him.

Their shots, which didn’t target his eyes like Lenok’s, didn’t seem to cause the man any pain at all.

“This monster…”

“Can we even kill him here?”

“Captain, what are we going to do?”

The mercenaries looked at Drey with anxious gazes.

Many of their comrades had already died at the man’s hands. If they couldn’t finish things here and now, it would be incredibly unsettling.

Drey, who was holding the man down with a sword stuck in his left shoulder, hesitated for a moment before looking at Lenok.

With his limited knowledge of magic, it was impossible for him to accurately assess the man’s current state.

The only person who could provide insight into the drug the man had used and its effects was Lenok.

“Mage, is there any other way?”

At Drey’s question, all the other mercenaries, who had been chattering noisily, fell silent and looked at Lenok.

The three electric magic spells he had shown in the previous battle had reminded them what a real mage was.

His skill in summoning bright blue lightning from the barren sky as if it were his own was neither a lie nor an illusion.

“It’s dark magic,” Lenok answered.

“The principle itself isn’t that complicated. It greatly increases strength, recovery, and durability, but at the cost of sacrificing other things. It seems to primarily use human flesh or blood as fuel, and if that becomes insufficient, cognitive abilities, including language, deteriorate.”

The man had clearly spoken and moved normally for a while after injecting the drug, but during the brief time Lenok had unleashed lightning and withstood his attacks, his mind had become so unstable that he couldn’t properly continue speaking.

It seemed that if he didn’t constantly kill people and consume their blood and hearts, his cognitive abilities would deteriorate to a dangerous level.

At this point, it was understandable why he had deliberately spared the members of the 2nd squad.

“Dark magic…”

The other mercenaries’ expressions darkened rapidly at Lenok’s answer.

It wasn’t forbidden to learn and practice dark magic in the great city of Balkan.

However, the conditions and costs required for its acquisition and use were difficult and dangerous, and it was extremely selective of the user’s aptitude. Therefore, despite being infamous for its powerful and diverse spells, the number of mages who had mastered unique dark magic was not very high.

Naturally, few people knew detailed information about dark magic or its compatibility, and many didn’t know how to deal with an enemy who had actually benefited from dark magic.

The other mercenaries gathered at the Creamgal Mercenary Office were no different.

“………”

Instead of responding to the mercenaries’ sighs, Lenok quietly narrowed his eyes and looked down at the struggling man.

To be precise, he was looking at the movement of the dark magic flowing around him, not his body.

He had used a mix of various magics to subdue the man, but Lenok had no intention of letting him live.

He couldn’t leave any loose ends, not knowing what might happen in the future.

He wouldn’t even allow the possibility of a one-eyed man coming back for revenge later.

And that method was, to some extent, visible to Lenok now.

‘…I’m getting a grasp of it.’

Right after the drug injection, there were no gaps in the dark magic flowing through the man’s body, but the magic after being battered by all sorts of magic and gunfire was different, with holes here and there.

Lenok, watching the dark magic move unnaturally as if it were trying to avoid his gaze, extended his hand while generating magic.

Thud!

“Kahak!”

He placed his hand on the man’s shoulder and poured magic into him.

Using the magic he had slammed into his body as a rake, he scraped away all the dark magic flowing through his body.

It wasn’t difficult. Using the repulsive force of magic controlled at the particle level was enough.

There was only a strange conviction in Lenok’s mind that this would work.

“Udeudeudeudeud!!”

The man’s strength drained away, and his eyes, which had been dyed black, returned to their original color as if they had been instantly bleached.