Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 279

Light and Shadow (1)

Among the heads of the eight families, there was no one who hadn’t heard of Ban.

A mage who rapidly rose to fame by selecting and successfully completing only the most difficult and challenging requests.

Despite being a high-ranking mage with immense talent, his martial prowess was said to be comparable to that of warriors.

A board member of the Cartel [a powerful organization].

The fact that he continued to work as a freelancer even after securing prominent positions, such as an external advisor to the Agency, was the most blatant proof of Ban’s skills.

However, despite all of this, not many people truly understood what had just happened.

The Platon Mercenary Office, one of the most renowned in the shadows of the mega-city.

A mercenary who had survived the harsh streets and experienced all sorts of hardships was defeated without even exchanging a single blow against a mage who was supposedly vulnerable in close combat.

If the bracelet on Ban’s right wrist hadn’t sounded an alarm during the process, it would mean that he had completely overwhelmed Adam using only his military-grade magic power.

They had thought he was skilled, but that was an understatement.

If he displayed such an overwhelming performance, even the family heads couldn’t help but be shaken.

The voices of the family heads, who were looking down at the unconscious mercenary Adam Brobeck being carried away, gradually grew louder.

“Is he really a mage?”

“His courage is remarkable. He knew an attack was coming, yet he unleashed that much magic at such close range.”

“It means he’s confident in perfectly controlling his magic power and potency… The bracelet was actually fine. The mercenary was defeated because he didn’t realize that.”

Regardless of everyone being conscious of Ibon’s gaze, the heads of the eight families were all outstanding warriors in their own right.

The heads of the citadel, who held an overwhelmingly dominant position in terms of hand-to-hand combat among the three leaders of the mega-city, couldn’t possibly fail to recognize the true value of the battle that had just taken place.

“A martial artist skilled in close combat was rendered incapacitated by just one spell.”

“The potency is impressive, but the casting speed is also noteworthy. He instantly manifested that level of ice-based physical attack.”

“If he’s this good even with the handicap of a proxy war…”

Ibon, noticing the serious expressions on the family heads’ faces, spoke.

“Let’s start the next ritual right away. It’s my proxy’s turn this time.”

“If it’s Ibon’s proxy…”

“Yes.”

Ibon smiled as he looked back at the other family heads, whose expressions had turned sour.

“He’s a very unique individual among the children I have. It won’t be easy to end this.”

As soon as those words were spoken, a pale-faced man walked onto the stage of the manor.

A slightly hunched back. Sharp eyes scanning his surroundings.

He seemed to shrink as if the sunlight pouring into the manor was unfamiliar, like someone who had never been in the sun in his entire life.

He stared at Lenok’s face for a moment, then awkwardly touched his own face.

“I see… The proxy war has begun. I was called out by the family head’s order.”

“…”

He stared blankly at the sky, then muttered quietly.

“Even after failing my mission, I am forced to serve him. That’s a fitting end for a member of this family.”

His appearance seemed to belatedly realize where he was standing.

Instead of trying to understand his words, Lenok quietly stared at the bracelet on his wrist.

The light on his opponent’s bracelet was one. The light on Lenok’s bracelet was six.

In the process of exchanging victories and forfeits in the proxy war, five proxies had lost their qualifications.

Now, if he filled two more chains with light, Lenok would be officially granted the right to decide the owner of this citadel.

It wasn’t just a formality, but direct control over the management rights of the citadel, which existed as a barrier.

Since the situation had escalated this far, Ibon would either try to defeat Lenok or somehow nullify the results of this proxy war.

Lenok wasn’t waiting for victory in the proxy war, but rather for that moment.

“Let’s begin.”

Ting!!

As soon as the bell rang, the man quickly formed hand seals.

Immediately after, several unknown objects began to rapidly rise from under the manor’s dirt floor.

He had no intention of giving his opponent time to prepare his spells.

If Ibon’s proxy wasn’t the opponent he was expecting, then the next opponent would be the one Lenok was waiting for.

He would finish this quickly and wrap things up.

Immediately after, a faint flash flickered across the clear sky, and a thick bolt of lightning struck the ice fist that was standing next to Lenok.

Fzzzzzzzz!

KWAANG!!

The impact shattered the thick ice into hundreds of pieces, scattering intense flashes of light throughout the manor, reflecting the sunlight.

“Ugh!!”

“I can’t see!!”

Even Ibon’s proxy closed his eyes to avoid the flash for a moment.

As the ice crystals surrounding the proxy shattered, a storm of chilling cold swept through.

Dududududu!!!

Lenok, with his hands in his coat pockets, calmly observed his opponent’s reaction.

A battle between proxies. It took the form of a match, but it was only for the ritual to inherit the rights of the citadel lord.

That was why the mediators of this proxy war had no intention of cleaning up the manor or the stage even after the battle was over.

A solitary ritual that continued until the last proxy remained.

Interfering in that process was forbidden.

“…”

However, Lenok couldn’t help but frown when he saw the opponent who had emerged from the storm of cold.

The proxy, who had only been one person when he first formed the hand seals, had now split into six.

“Oh! Is that a clone technique?!”

“It seems they’ve prepared a few things as well!”

“Now it’s getting interesting!”

The audience became boisterous at the sight of the suddenly increased number of proxies.

However, Lenok simply stared at the proxies before shaking his head.

“A clone technique… It’s a much more bizarre and alien technique than that, at least.”

“…”

“Is it a necromancy that forcibly grants a body created by capturing the consciousness of the living?”

It seemed that others were too distracted by the storm of cold to notice, but Lenok clearly recognized it.

The five wooden blocks that the man had pulled up from under the manor had instantly been inhabited by different spirits, transforming into the same appearance as the man.

A strange method of forcibly imprinting human memories and behavioral principles onto inanimate objects to make them move.

Moreover, all of them had reached level 6, having awakened to the nature of magic power.

Considering the unusually high efficiency compared to the process of the spell, it was highly likely to be a technique of the cult that increased efficiency at the cost of life.

It was likely a method of offering human spirits, where the forcibly summoned souls were used and then discarded.

“Six against one… Was this your intention from the start?”

Lenok muttered, fiddling with the bracelet on his wrist.

To prevent Lenok, a Saint-level mage, from using his full power, and to overwhelm him with numbers at the same military-grade level.

It was a rather simple and obvious trick, but he couldn’t deny that it was effective.

The man who stood up on the far left regained his composure and spoke.

“For the sake of the citadel’s safety, I will not hesitate to use any sorcery.”

“…”

“It is my duty to establish the family’s order by confronting outsiders, as I have not been able to fully serve the family!”

Fwip fwip fwip!!

With those words, the six figures scattered like mist, instantly taking positions at the edges of the manor’s stage.

One mage intersecting at the end of six different gazes.

As if they had made a promise, the six identical figures pulled out countless throwing weapons from their pockets.

Daggers and throwing stars with spell inscriptions densely engraved on their surfaces, and countless improvised bombs rained down like a bombardment towards the center of the manor.

Dudududududu!!!

It wasn’t just about throwing explosives.

The throwing weapons thrown by Ibon’s skilled individuals, who had been operating in the shadows of the citadel and had mastered various stealth and assassination techniques, were fired with the speed of bullets, putting pressure on all sides.

At the same time, the spell inscriptions on the surfaces of the throwing weapons that had left their hands glowed.

Fwoosh fwoosh fwoosh!!

They caused a massive explosion that filled the manor stage.

“Uwaaaaaaak!”

“Th-the heat…!!”

The intense explosion was enough to terrify the citadel residents sitting near the manor stage.

The flames that erupted continuously were so hot that the inside of the stage was barely visible.

Only those with the skill and insight to see through the heat, such as the family heads and their subordinates, widened their eyes in the midst of this chaos.

Not stopping there, the six proxies simultaneously formed hand seals and released their magic power.

Woo woo woo!

Six streams of magic power instantly intersected, drawing a massive hexagram on the manor floor.

The countless symbols and characters densely packed within it glowed, rotating to erase a single person.

Unique geomantic spell.

[Six Harmonies Resonance]

[Mountain Breaker]

Kugugugugugugu!!!

The massive root tendrils that extended from under the manor wrapped around Lenok’s figure and crushed him.

As its name suggested, the destructive spell, originally used to collapse mountains and build residential foundations, was unleashed to destroy only one person.

In a situation where he had completely lost the initiative of the offensive, there wasn’t much he could do but endure the onslaught of explosions.

How long could he last without being disqualified, with the use of Saint-level magic power restricted?

Chen’s expression, who was watching from behind the stage, naturally turned serious.

“It might take longer than I thought. I need to prepare a plan in advance.”

[What nonsense are you spouting?]

At Manson’s retort, Chen immediately continued.

“Ban prefers to design the board with a very macroscopic perspective in battle. But that’s only possible if he doesn’t lose the initiative of the offensive.”

Manson, who had only worked with Lenok as a business partner, might find it difficult to understand, but Chen, who had been manipulated a few times, knew what kind of battles Lenok preferred.

“He’s been pushed back in the total amount of offense and defense throughout the battle because he started with a disadvantage in numbers. If it were the Ban I know, he would sweep away the surroundings with large-scale magic and reorganize the board, but…”

[The audience is the problem, isn’t it?]

“Yes. In fact, this kind of bracelet wouldn’t be a big problem for Lenok. He’s not someone who’s so weak that the restriction of his level would hold him back. But…”

Could he unleash magic powerful enough to counter the raging flames filling the manor, without harming the citadel residents watching this proxy war?

There was a possibility that a counterattack would be worse than useless if he didn’t carefully control his power.

However, despite Chen’s words, Manson sighed and smacked him on the back of the head.

[I was wondering what you were worried about, but you were worried that Ban might lose because he was concerned about his surroundings? That’s ridiculous.]

“Ugh… I think it’s a valid concern.”

Ban was very rational, quick-witted, and possessed both judgment and decisiveness.

Unlike his cold intellect, Chen knew that he wasn’t a heartless person without any compassion.

While he wouldn’t hesitate to do what he wanted, he wasn’t the kind of ruthless person who would unnecessarily throw people away as pawns.

In this situation, if he made even a slight misjudgment, there was a high possibility that he would continue to lose the initiative.

“If he makes even a small mistake, it’s over. If the citadel lord’s authority is transferred to them, we might be the ones who have to start causing trouble first.”

[You’re a businessman, but your judgment of people is terrible.]

Manson replied with a gloomy smile.

[If Ban hesitated because of such concerns, he wouldn’t have survived this long.]

His inorganic gaze slowly looked up at the center of the rising root tendrils.

[The reason why so many people revere that mage is because he doesn’t create situations where he has to worry.]

At the same time, dozens of cracks began to appear in the center of the crushed roots.

Kagagagagak!!

With a chilling cutting sound, the thick tree roots were completely severed, and Lenok walked out from within, looking perfectly fine.

Lenok stared down at the six proxies who were looking up at him with bewildered expressions, then suddenly threw the cigarette he had been holding in his mouth onto the ground.

At that moment, the dozens of root tendrils that Lenok was standing on began to burn spectacularly, as if they were oil-soaked firewood.

Fwoosh!

The family heads widened their eyes at the grand campfire that had suddenly appeared in the middle of the manor.

“He’s setting Ibon’s root spell on fire!!”

“That’s an absurdly intense fire magic…!!”

“No, wait, that’s…”

He wasn’t burning the root tendrils whole.

The fire, which had spread along the hundreds of magic threads intertwined between the tree roots, was engulfing and burning the root tendrils.

An immeasurable number of magic thread bundles, placed at an unknown time.

The mouths of the proxies slightly opened as they realized that some of the ends were even tied to their ankles.

“…!”

The fire that had spread along the magic threads tied to their ankles instantly began to burn the proxies’ bodies.

The ones who had been silently pouring out attacks without saying a word were now struggling against the flames that Lenok had created along the magic threads.

“Gyaaaaaaaak!!”

“Aaaaaaaah!!”

The six proxies writhed in agony, their bodies twisting.

Lenok’s magic threads, which had been attached to their bodies at an unknown time, were pouring an unquenchable fire into their bodies.

The traces of the explosions had completely disappeared, and all that remained were lumps of flesh that had become engulfed in flames.

With completely mangled lips, he asked tremblingly.

“N-no way… from the beginning…”

“It was over the moment you allowed me to make the first move, thinking you were deceiving the audience.”

Lenok, taking out a new cigarette from his pocket, brought it to the end of the burning flames and lit it.

“Weren’t you mistaken about who you should have been concerned about?”

He had allowed the cold storm that Lenok had unleashed to hide the moment they used the cult’s spell, but Lenok had already succeeded in attaching magic threads to all of the proxies at that moment.

The restriction of magic power. The initiative of the offensive. The limited battlefield. The audience watching the battle.

Before his choices were limited by such trivial concerns, Lenok had already secured the turning point of the match.

All that was left was to wait for the end of the offensive they had prepared, and then to strike at the gap they hadn’t even noticed.

Fwoosh fwoosh fwoosh!!

Six ice stakes that appeared in the air instantly pierced the burning lumps of flesh.

“Kuh, ugh…!!”

Ibon’s proxies were instantly silenced without even having a chance to react, and they returned to the wooden blocks they had been raised from.

Even the body of the proxy who had first formed the hand seals slowly crumbled and disappeared into ashes.

Looking down at the scattered and disappearing body, he muttered quietly.

“Family head…”

Oooooooooooooo!!

The audience, who had been watching the scene, erupted into enthusiastic cheers for Lenok.

An outsider who wasn’t from the citadel. His identity as a mage with an unfamiliar attire didn’t matter.

Lenok’s sophisticated response in the midst of the raging storm of flames, regardless of the duration of the battle, contained an artistry that excited the hearts of those who watched.

“Was he said to be the proxy of Oryun?”

“I thought they were completely rotten, but they managed to find a decent proxy.”

“They’re under Elder Samyoung anyway. It would be a good thing if he became the citadel lord.”

The bad image of Oryun. The fact that he was an outsider was glossed over under the name of Oren.

On the other hand, the family heads, who had been somewhat relaxed until just now, had significantly reduced their words.

“…”

A chilling atmosphere. Ibon’s face was coldly hardened.

“I heard he was a high-level lightning mage… Does that mean the magic he showed just now wasn’t his main skill?”

“Considering that, the types of magic he showed were too diverse. Considering that his magic power was restricted, it’s possible that he borrowed external power.”

The bracelets that proved the qualifications of the proxies were very delicate items.

If he used magic recklessly like Lenok, it wouldn’t be strange if it broke instantly and he was disqualified.

It was clear that he, like Ibon, had used some kind of trick.

“Even so, the speed at which he used his hands was too fast. If he had been saving his strength for the main battle…”

It was impossible to ignore the possibility that Ibon might actually lose.

The family heads all coughed uncomfortably, but there was no one in this place who didn’t understand those words.

Only then did the gazes of the family heads who had been on Ibon’s side begin to subtly turn elsewhere.

Towards Family Head Samyoung, Oren, who had been silent with his arms crossed since earlier.

Conversely, the shoulders of Family Head Paldoon, who had unintentionally joined Samyoung’s side, were rising high without knowing any bounds.

“Family Head Ilwon.”

Ibon, who had been silent, opened his mouth.

“Yes.”

“The family head’s proxy is the last one. You are prepared, aren’t you?”

Taoh’s expression shook violently for a moment, but he quickly regained his composure and nodded.

“…Yes.”

“Good.”

On the completely burned and devastated stage.

In front of Lenok, who was leaning against the collapsed tree root tendrils, someone wearing a thick robe was walking out.

“Nice to meet you.”

That was the first thing the robe that had come up in front of Lenok said.

Instead of answering, Lenok stared at him, at the opponent who had suddenly tried to start a conversation.

There was no need to exchange greetings. From the beginning, the only proxy Lenok had been waiting for was the one in front of him.

Wasn’t the whole point of planning all of this to draw this man out?

The robe, completely unaware of Lenok’s thoughts, continued to speak.

“I’ve heard the stories. They say you’re a very famous freelancer even outside?”

“…”

“Ah, I’m late with my introduction.”

He raised his hand and slowly took off the robe.

A middle-aged man with a venerable age. Bright blonde hair that didn’t suit his face.

An alien smile on his lips and an extremely pale complexion.

Lenok carefully observed the traces below his neck, which were bluish as if blood vessels were clumped together.

That appearance was strikingly similar to the appearance he had encountered when he had previously delved into the mind of the missionary.

“Walter, Walter Martinez, at your service.”