Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 323

The cracks in the floor swallowed the countless debris of parts Lenok had created, as if they were being sucked in.

Kagagagagak!!

Immediately after, other researchers, noticing the anomaly, began to shout in harsh mechanical voices.

[We’ve lost control of the deck!! Is this the work of Pallard O’Con?!]

[It’s practically impossible!! At this point, with over half of the body synchronization complete, for someone other than the Ironclad to seize control…!!]

[No, the epicenter is near the calculation core. But how could they even think of competing in processing power from this distance!!]

Turning the mobile fortress into Trepen’s body was not the end of the matter.

Unlike the human body, machines do not move by sensation but require thorough calculations and logic circuits.

Naturally, to move each part of the fortress like one’s own body, a corresponding amount of processing power is needed.

However, it was impossible for Lieutenant General Trepen, who had lived his entire life as a physical ability user, to possess the processing power to control a fortress with a diameter of hundreds of meters on his own.

He might be somewhat intelligent, but the processing power to control a fortress of this scale was a difficult feat even for a Saint-level mage [a mage of exceptional power].

Therefore, the Gearsides researchers had prepared a calculation core so that Trepen could freely manipulate his body, and they were adjusting it so that Trepen could synchronize with his body while the core supplemented the fortress’s processing power.

However, even if the fortress’s processing power were to be stolen at this point when body synchronization was nearing completion, they thought it wouldn’t be a big problem.

But the scale of processing power being stolen from below the deck at an unbelievable speed was far beyond the Gearsides researchers’ expectations.

‘Dabi seems to be doing better than I thought.’

Lenok nodded, confirming Pallard’s presence quickly disappearing through the sensory range.

From the beginning, Lenok did not expect Pallard O’Con to do anything special.

The interior of the deck was shaking like crazy. It was an extreme environment where the passages could disappear at any moment due to Trepen’s body synchronization, and one could be crushed to death alive.

But despite that, the reason Lenok specifically asked Pallard to hold out until the limit instead of escaping immediately was because he was waiting for Dabi to find the location of the calculation core inside the mechanical sphere, taking advantage of the distraction Pallard created.

Crack!!

He gripped the head of a shattered robot with his gloved hand.

The voice that had been rapidly speaking just moments ago began to fade instantly.

[Backup network intrusion… Data, deletion… This can’t, be…]

“I needed to confirm exactly how far your plans reached,” Lenok replied, letting the fading voice pass.

“To thoroughly exploit the advantage in information and ability, I did my best to ensure that no data was transmitted whenever we encountered each other.”

Uzzzzzzzzzz!

Lenok began to walk, gazing at the shattered mechanical parts disappearing beneath his feet.

“Because I believed that the gamble I was taking would become a fatal blade to pierce Gearsides.”

[I see. Number 8, too, in this way…]

Charrrrrrrrk!!

From the deck floor that had swallowed the broken mechanical parts, countless mechanical soldiers began to rise again.

However, this time, the gaze of the soldiers who had reassembled and risen was not directed at Lenok, but at Trepen, who was standing far away on the palm of the giant machine.

Lenok, with a mechanical force surrounding him as if protecting him, slowly stepped forward.

“Let’s go.”

Clank!!

Kuuuuuung!!

Inside the mechanical sphere with a radius of hundreds of meters.

In the center of the chaos where hot winds swirled and waves of machines surged endlessly, hundreds of forces split in half and clashed with each other.

Kwaaaang!!

But this time, they were not facing a lone mage, but the same forces that shared the same parts and magical power sources as themselves.

At the same time as seizing some control of the mechanical sphere, Lenok had succeeded in creating a minimum number of allies to withstand the onslaught of numbers, using the forces around him.

All to face Trepen, who was sitting on top of the giant machine, waiting for the right moment.

“Around two minutes. The timing is about right.”

Lenok muttered as if whispering, and at the same time, he fiddled with the end of his sleeve, a pencil appearing between his fingers.

The moment he unhesitatingly stabbed it into his forearm, Lenok’s body traversed dozens of meters, leaping over the waves of forces.

Flap!

Without a single acceleration that would burden his frail body, Lenok, having leaped across dozens of meters of space, landed in front of Trepen.

With his coat fluttering, magical power surged.

Creation-type Unique Magic: Dual Forging

Biased Thunder, Building Fire, Flame Resonance.

[Crimson Thunder Kill]

Pzzzzzzzzzz!

A remnant of destruction created by forcibly combining close-range bombardment magic, which is considered top-tier in penetration and compression firepower.

The compressed mass of magical power, spinning violently in Lenok’s hand, glowed and dyed the flashing light red.

From the moment the uncontrolled power surged, the surrounding air began to burn and wither.

The moment the mage’s figure brushed past the target. The polarized light of the crimson thunder struck the crown of Trepen’s bowed head.

Kwaaaaaaaaaa!!

The aftermath of the impact. Just by slightly missing, the giant machine that Trepen was leaning on was half-destroyed, and the thick wall of the mechanical sphere evaporated.

[Kroooooooo!!!]

The roar of the giant machine, crying out in pain. Even its echo faintly disappeared amidst the debris swept by the fusion of lightning and flames.

A high-intensity, close-range compressed barrage that could be unleashed without prior preparation.

It was also a preemptive strike where he forcibly closed the distance and detonated it by driving five fingers of the Enac Pencil into his arm.

The judgment was to inflict a fatal wound before Trepen’s adjustment was complete and seize the initiative in the ensuing battle.

However, the voice heard through the evaporated wall of the mechanical sphere was incomparably calm.

[Indeed, a fatal move.]

“……”

Shuuuuuuuuu-

A strange sound of air escaping echoed through the wide space inside the sphere.

In the midst of it, Trepen’s low voice resounded loudly.

[To think that in that short time, you would hack the fortress’s calculation core, neutralize the facilities, and seize control… It’s hard to believe that you didn’t even do it yourself.]

“I thought you were unconscious, but you’ve been watching the situation all this time?”

[Why wouldn’t I be? Everything happening in this place is a part of me.]

Trepen’s words seemed somewhat detached.

Immediately after, something slowly rose from the corpse of the ruined giant machine.

Trepen’s human body was battered and bruised. But even so, the magical energy surrounding him was endlessly serene.

The iron mask he had been wearing fell off in pieces, and Trepen’s bare face was revealed above it.

Lieutenant General Trepen, whom Lenok knew as an old man. But among his sharp features and wrinkled skin, not a single piece of human flesh or muscle remained.

Smooth metallic skin. Eyes made of precise artificial crystals.

Defense Force Commander Trepen had truly succeeded in shedding his humanity and reconstructing himself into a mechanical body.

Whioooooo…!!

The wind blew.

Lenok, having realized that Trepen’s adjustment was complete, also did not move rashly and quietly observed his movements.

It wasn’t just because it was difficult to gauge how strong his opponent had become or what qualifications and power he had gained.

Lenok was also genuinely curious to see how far the man before him could rise.

He had grown tired of seeing Saint-level transcendents lamenting their remaining time and struggling.

But most of them were just futile struggles based on vague hopes without proper means or methods.

There had been no one who had shed their humanity through such systematic technology and procedures as Lieutenant General Trepen before him.

Even though the method and direction were completely twisted, Trepen had clearly succeeded in transferring his consciousness to a machine, breaking free from the human species itself.

The soul and consciousness of a Saint-level ability user who had already completed their hierarchy. What kind of result could be achieved if it properly combined with a body that had broken free from the limits of its species?

[It’s truly chaotic. I can’t even find a trace of order.]

Trepen muttered, glancing at the mechanical forces struggling below the giant machine.

[Shall we return everything to its original state for now?]

“…What?”

Trepen did not answer.

He simply disappeared from Lenok’s sight and reappeared as if leaping through space above the mechanical sphere.

Paat!!

Floating loftily in the air, he slowly extended his hand as he gazed down at the ground made of the deck.

At that moment, the other mechanical soldiers who were desperately fighting against half of the forces Lenok had seized control of, stopped moving all at once.

An unnatural halt, as if their power had been cut off. But Trepen’s actions did not end there.

Karararararak!!

At that moment, the forces under Trepen’s control began to regenerate their broken bodies in an instant.

The parts that had been crushed and shattered by Lenok’s bombardment and impact were restored to their original state as if time were rewinding.

The restored mechanical parts surged in all directions, constantly collapsing and resurrecting hundreds of mechanical soldiers.

The soldiers who had died once and risen again, unlike before, were now in perfect formation and quickly began to trample the forces Lenok had seized.

Only then did Lenok realize what Trepen had done and opened his mouth.

“He gave up the process of adjusting the entire fortress as his body. From the moment the calculation core was stolen, he gave up on the parts where control was lost and just finished the adjustment… ?”

[There is no more foolish act than dwelling on the past. Even the time spent trying to regain the stolen control is meaningless.]

Trepen, looking down at Lenok, said.

Did he know that he was uttering words that were completely opposite to the path he had walked until now?

But wasn’t this appearance, where his own values had been completely overturned, what could truly be called shedding his humanity?

Contrary to Lenok’s worries, Trepen’s words continued.

[I think I now know why Gearsides entrusted me with this wish.]

“……”

[Ascension is an impossibly distant and far-off ideal. That is why it is worth pursuing even if it means sacrificing everything.]

A declaration filled with conviction. Lenok shook his head at that unwavering voice.

“So, now you’re not seeking revenge against the City Council, but becoming a component for ascension?”

[Yes.]

Trepen, who had appeared behind Lenok, answered.

[Even if we all fall along that path.]

Kwaaaaang!!!

“Ugh…!!”

Shield completely destroyed. Three layers of ice pillars penetrated.

If he hadn’t recognized the reactivity that transcended space and responded, he would have suffered a near-fatal injury.

More than anything, the fact that the shield was shattered and Lenok was forcibly moved.

If he felt the same anomaly he had felt while fighting Rundle, a Gearsides combatant, the answer was obvious.

“Cough…!!”

Even if he minimized the burden on his body by dispersing the incoming shock and broken balance as much as possible, he could not stop his body condition from rapidly deteriorating.

His vision blurred in an instant, his head pounded violently, and his body lost its balance.

If it weren’t for the power of the forcibly doped drugs, it would have been difficult to even maintain consciousness.

Lenok, coughing up phlegm mixed with blood, looked up at Trepen and muttered.

“He’s manipulating the space inside the sphere. Even after hacking the calculation core and seizing control, it’s this much…”

Trepen’s body moves freely through space as if there were no distance limitations.

Even if he can’t completely manipulate space, it’s clear that he has touched its fragments.

It was somewhat similar to the divine power that the 8th-level monster called the Underworld King, a black mage of Pandemonium, had shown Lenok.

Even after using Dabi to seize control of the calculation core inside the mechanical sphere, it was this level.

If he had properly followed the process and completed the synchronization adjustment with the entire mechanical sphere, it was not difficult to imagine how much stronger he would have become.

The microcosm that Edmus Trepen had obtained: the Iron God’s Path, was the power itself that temporarily allowed him to transcend humanity within this massive body.

If it was the power of a microcosm that granted a part of the abilities of an 8th-level transcendent, it would be possible to borrow a part of the ability to interfere with space as a result.

Currently, he was only freely floating in space within that combat body because Lenok had seized some control of the mechanical sphere.

Originally, it might have been possible to manipulate and control the entire space inside this massive sphere.

[If you’ve realized it, you know that all this resistance is meaningless.]

Trepen, his eyes gleaming, slowly stepped onto the ground and said.

Immediately after, tens of thousands of parts that had burst out from the fallen giant machine began to rotate and be sucked into Trepen’s body all at once.