Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 250

White Lion (1)

Only then did Lenox, realizing his true purpose, look up at him with an absurd expression.

“You’re out of your mind. You’re thinking of stealing the furnace’s fire?”

“No, I’ve prepared everything for this very moment,” Geoniss said firmly.

“All the facilities near the furnace are made to control and manipulate the furnace’s power. In short, if we can keep just one spark alive and transport it, that’s enough.”

A declaration close to certainty. It was already impossible to dissuade him from this idea.

Noticing the ominousness mixed in his words, Lenox slowly rose from his seat.

“…So, there was a reason why you entrusted Mauzer with the furnace maintenance. You were planning to use the artisan’s hands while pretending to be generous?”

If Mauzer, who showed such deep interest in the furnace to the point of entering the control room, were to see something wrong with the furnace, he would be very likely to intervene.

The fact that he had deliberately left Mauzer alone was also a setup for this moment, which made perfect sense.

“I’ve already damaged the furnace’s function to some extent, and I’ve cut off the internal facilities to the point where it can be transported. If Mauzer just seals the cut-off parts, we can now perfectly extract only the essence of the furnace and escape.”

“…”

Was the furnace accident, which seemed like Geoniss’s trick, also an incident that occurred in the process of separating the furnace’s fire to the point where it could be transported, while also measuring Lenox’s skills?

But the specific details of that incident were not important now.

Geoniss smiled faintly at Lenox’s silence.

“Do you have any idea why I’m telling you all this?”

“…You want my cooperation.”

“Yes. I’ve been watching your skills. If you’re a skilled mage who can use that level of ice magic even in such an unfavorable environment, you can be helpful in transporting the furnace.”

What expression would Geoniss make if he knew that the skill he admired was learned from [Ice Magic that even beginners can easily master]?

Lenox was suddenly seized by an unknown impulse, but he quickly shook his head.

His answer had been decided even before he heard the proposal.

“To be honest, it’s not that I don’t understand your feelings.”

Who could guess the feelings of someone who was betrayed by his trusted master and reduced to a dog guarding the magic tower?

Lenox understood why Geoniss Verbane had gone to such lengths.

Perhaps this was also one of the futures Lenox could have faced.

He knew that he could have withered away as someone’s test subject or toy in an unknown magic tower, unable to even fathom his own future.

He still remembered what Grisha had said.

Everyone involved with Pandemonium would eventually either oppose them or join them.

This was the power of Pandemonium and the reason why they were so powerful and terrifying.

The proof that they could perfectly exploit the gaps in the human heart with their knowledge and power was right before Lenox’s eyes.

“But I don’t want to help you either. Even though you’ve joined hands with Pandemonium, you’ve made things too big… No one will be able to escape responsibility for this.”

Regardless of Geoniss’s circumstances, many people who had nothing to do with this incident had died.

The members of the Council of Elders, the missing mages of the magic tower, and the members of the mechanical city delegation. And even those who died in the furnace accident.

He had no desire to side with the magic tower, but he didn’t feel like helping him either.

After all, who could guarantee that Lenox wouldn’t be sacrificed to Geoniss as well?

“…”

Geoniss was silent.

“I don’t think you understand me.”

After a long pause, he took a slow breath and said,

“Or do you think there’s a reason to keep you alive?”

At the same time, flames erupted from under Lenox’s feet, engulfing him completely.

Whoosh!

A merciless attack. But there was not a hint of agitation on Geoniss’s face.

From the moment Lenox found this place, he had no choice.

He had only sought cooperation because he thought Lenox was a high-level ice mage, even after knowing his identity.

For Geoniss, who had sacrificed people who had nothing to do with his situation without hesitation, the option of letting his opponent live did not exist.

Whoosh!

“It seems you’re the one who didn’t understand my answer.”

“…!!”

Lenox, who walked out of the pillar of fire, lightly brushed off the heat and smiled.

“You can’t even buy one of my legs with those conditions.”

Immediately after, the shotgun in Lenox’s hand fired.

It struck Geoniss’s left shoulder accurately. The circular shockwave swept past him, collapsing the thick wall of the tower.

Boom!

Geoniss, who blocked the impact with the flames he pulled up from under his feet, took a step forward.

“I wonder if you’ll still be able to say that after I crush both your legs…!”

The two mages simultaneously raised their magic power and swung their hands.

[Chain Lightning]

[Nine-Fold Overlapping White Lightning]

[Exploding Fireball]

[Blood Flower Line]

Bang bang bang bang!!!

The two red and blue rays of light crossed each other dozens of times in an instant, tearing apart the floor of the tower.

The debris of the walls, cut and smashed by the intense firepower, shattered like grains of sand, instantly piercing through the nearby corridors and exploding in a chain reaction.

The sphere of lightning that Lenox threw exploded in mid-air, emitting a dazzling light,

and the disk of fire that Geoniss swung downwards endlessly grew in size, turning the surroundings into a sea of fire.

In the fleeting moment when their breaths intertwined.

The magic power that the two mages had raised transformed into more than a dozen exchanges, blooming a purple flower in the air.

Thud thud thud thud!

“…!!”

Amidst the intense flashes that erupted one after another, making it impossible to see properly.

However, Lenox did not miss the moment when Geoniss’s expression faintly distorted.

He must have guessed from the previous sparring what level Lenox’s combat ability and strategy had reached.

However, the fact that he had been instantly deprived of the initiative in a place where they had both exerted their full power and launched a preemptive attack made him waver in this situation, where suspicion had turned into certainty.

Conversely, Lenox was also faintly impressed by Geoniss’s initial response.

“The fact that he was active on the central front wasn’t just a rumor, it seems.”

At the same time as Lenox raised his magic power, he indiscriminately scattered it in all directions.

He deliberately smashed the floor of the research building, changing the stage to the conference room and expanding the battlefield.

At first glance, it seemed like a meaningless waste of magic power, but Lenox guessed that this was his own attempt to seize the initiative in the first exchange.

It was proof that he recognized that the battle between mages was clearly a fight for initiative with offense, defense, and strategy.

Even as Lenox quickly organized the exchanges, the battle continued.

Unlike Lenox, who did not move much from where he started the battle, Geoniss was already running fiercely down the corridor, creating distance between himself and Lenox.

At the same time, he drew a line on the floor with one finger, forming a seal with the magic power he had released, and transformed it into a powerful magic.

[Red False Army]

Boom boom boom boom!!!

Following the magic power that had been drawn lengthwise on the floor, a red crack opened in the middle of the corridor, and soldiers with their whole bodies ablaze rose from within.

Lenox, witnessing the unique summoning magic, smiled involuntarily.

“Oh ho.”

Instead of simply engaging in a head-on firepower exchange, he was thinking of summoning the vanguard to change the aspect of the battlefield once again.

That attitude of setting aside his pride as a mage and thoroughly confronting his opponent in his area of expertise.

It was a practical combat method that one would never expect from a mage from the magic tower.

Even though he possessed the deep-rooted unique magic of the Blaver Magic Tower, the way he fought was no different from the worldly mages who had grown up on the battlefield.

In a way, he was clearly a mage who had quite a few similarities with Lenox.

“Go!!”

A series of figures that quickly filled the vast corridor and moved towards Lenox.

They rushed towards Lenox chaotically, following Geoniss’s fingertips.

[Grrrraaah!!]

They forced a messy melee by directly pushing their bodies, which were burning with ultra-high temperature flames, towards Lenox.

It didn’t just end with blocking the flames; the burning heat completely incinerated the air in the corridor, even hindering breathing.

Lenox smirked and stomped one foot forward.

Boom!!

[Sinkhole]

At that moment, the floor of the corridor collapsed greatly, forming a huge hole, and the soldiers who were rushing towards Lenox fell helplessly to the lower floor.

“…!!”

Geoniss, who was chanting magic behind the soldiers, twitched his shoulder.

Basically, the internal structure of the magic tower uses magic-blocking materials to prevent interference from the mages’ magic.

It was inevitable that it would be destroyed by shocks exceeding the limit, but it was forbidden for mages to artificially tamper with the structure of the tower.

Nevertheless, Lenox nonchalantly opened a hole, instantly clearing the corridor and opening up the space between the two of them.

If he had smashed the floor with the impact, the aftermath would have caused the soldiers’ bodies to explode, and a massive fire would have filled the corridor and erupted.

Did that mage even think that far ahead and create a hole in the lower part of the corridor?

His internal conflict was momentary.

The moment he hesitated, he would lose the initiative.

Setting aside the specific questions, he finished the magic he was chanting, and a clear red light began to form in his hand.

Flame-type unique magic

Nature Transformation Emission Manifestation

[Red Lotus Connection]

Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh!!!

The red flash that rose from Geoniss’s hand rotated fiercely in place.

The flame-type magic power, divided into five branches, rotated in different directions, burning a massive amount of heat and erupting in all directions.

The clear red light rays that leaked out from the red spheres rotated once in place, cutting down everything at eye level,

and the lower floor of the tower, unable to withstand the aftermath, collapsed entirely.

Boom!

“…Is he going to push forward with a firepower battle rather than competing in the precision of the exchanges?”

Instead of losing his balance due to the unexpected power, Lenox, who grabbed the surrounding walls with magic power and escaped outside the tower, muttered.

The magic that Geoniss had just used was powerful enough to blow away the entire surrounding area if he had made a mistake.

To be precise, it was a omnidirectional firepower dispersion-type technique that operated on a similar principle to the nature transformation unique magic [Extreme Burn] that Lenox had used in his battle against the black mage Craig Tillion.

Even if he wanted to kill Lenox at all costs, he couldn’t possibly not know what it meant to unleash such a technique inside the magic tower, where buildings were stacked layer upon layer.

With this level of aftermath, it wouldn’t be strange if the current situation was conveyed to Ibelin, who was outside the tower.

If Ibelin were to rush to help Lenox right now, even their plan to steal the entire furnace would become useless.

But Geoniss was continuously unleashing powerful magic as if he didn’t care about such aftermath.

“You’re not even trying to hide it. Was this your plan from the beginning?”

“It was only a matter of time from the moment the Council of Elders was neutralized,” he replied, quickly forming seals with both hands.

“Even if the other branches of the magic tower don’t interfere with each other, there will be a problem if the regular reports are cut off. To smooth things over, I left those old geezers’ consciousnesses alive until the last minute… But that’s over now.”

“…”

“From now on, I have no choice but to use all the hidden cards.”

The members of the Council of Elders were all military mages of level 6 or higher.

In addition, they were old monsters who had accumulated experience while managing the magic tower for at least several decades.

There was no need to speculate on how meticulous and clever Geoniss’s skills were in seizing the consciousness of such seasoned mages and keeping them barely alive.

Moreover, what about his audacity in cutting off the results of the plan he had built up so carefully?

“He’s a dangerous guy.”

He was an opponent who thoroughly prioritized his goals and knew how to discard the process without hesitation for the sake of what was prioritized.

He was ready to throw away anything for the sole purpose of stealing the furnace and escaping.

If he concluded that killing Lenox was more important than stealing the furnace, he would not hesitate to throw even the furnace as bait for that purpose.

Knowing that, Lenox could not risk his life in the immediate battle.

“It’s hard to make a decision without hearing Ibelin’s opinion…”

Lenox was only facing this situation because of his interest in the Blaver Magic Tower and his deal with Ibelin.

The person who should be responsible for handling all of this was not him, but Ibelin Marcia.

Protecting the furnace and Mauzer, saving the lives of the unconscious Council of Elders, and killing Geoniss on the spot.

What was the first thing to do, the most prioritized goal?

Unlike Lenox, the other side had already finished calculating in his head long ago.

Above all, Lenox’s current condition was not at a level where he could guarantee victory against Geoniss.

Moreover, it was absurd to compare McQueen, who was clearly in decline among the level 7 Saint-level mages, with Geoniss, who had gained experience on the battlefield.

And considering his confident attitude, he must have a hidden card-

“I won’t let you escape. I told you,” Geoniss smiled as if he had seen through Lenox’s thoughts while he was lost in thought.

“It wasn’t me who ate the old geezers of the Council of Elders.”

At the same time as Geoniss smiled cruelly, the tower that was shaking behind Lenox collapsed, and a pure white flash flickered through the gap.

Boom!

Swimming through the shattered rocks, a huge figure with a lush mane and gleaming teeth appeared.

The eyes of the beast, which scattered a fierce murderous intent, accurately captured the mage’s figure.

“Kyahahahahahaha!!!!”

A giant over 3m tall. A huge double-edged axe, combining the beast’s body and human technology, struck the spot where Lenox had been.

Whoosh!

A huge shockwave erupted in the air, instantly blowing away the scattered lightning around it.

A strong wind burst out from behind Lenox, instantly carving out the stone slabs.