Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 328

KWA-BOOM!!

As Croken rose, the shattered ship tilted once more before breaking apart completely.

The ship, which had maintained its form even amidst the magnetic storm, was now being crushed like styrofoam by the mere step of this man.

Watching the crocodile giant slowly straighten his back, Lenok rapidly gathered his magic power.

“I’ll buy us time. Get as far away as possible.”

“I’ll help,” Aris said, rolling up her sleeves, but Lenok immediately shook his head.

“You’d be no help.”

“What do you mean…”

“You’ve already exhausted all your energy in the previous battle, haven’t you?”

“…”

“You’ll only be a hindrance. Escape towards the satellite city and find Felix.”

Click!

Lenok’s sharp words, as he gripped his charged shotgun, made Aris’s shoulders tremble slightly.

It was a harsh thing to say, but it was necessary in this situation.

Aris, lacking in magic power, would be of little help against Croken Acillus.

He needed to make her quickly realize the reality and get her out of there.

It would be best if all three of them could escape together, but Enakfil’s five fingers [a teleportation technique], which could only teleport a few hundred meters, couldn’t get them out of this desert.

Lenok, who had the most energy left, had no choice but to buy time and wait for backup.

Aris, as if understanding the urgency of the situation from Lenok’s tone, bit her lip.

The moment Hina supported her and tried to activate Enakfil’s five fingers, Croken appeared before her eyes and kicked Hina away.

WHAM!!

“KAH!”

Hina’s body was sent flying dozens of meters, crashing into a sand dune.

Sand dust exploded and fell from the sky like rain.

CRASH!

“Don’t move recklessly. It makes me want to kill you.”

Croken laughed as he lowered his foot.

“Weak. But your reaction isn’t bad.”

“Haa…!!”

Hina’s face was covered in blood.

In her trembling hand, the blade she always carried was shattered like glass.

Surprisingly, Hina had managed to block Croken’s kick with her blade in that split second.

Even though she had successfully defended, she had barely managed to survive.

But against the monster before her, even that was nothing short of a miracle.

“Your reflexes are too good for your level. Is that your doing?”

The miracle caused by the enhancement magic [Thunder God] that Lenok had cast.

Croken’s yellow pupils, having instantly recognized the reason, narrowed as he looked down at Lenok.

“You’ve gotten quite skilled. Did you complete your tier in the meantime? Hmm, then I have nothing to say to that guy, Myung…”

No one dared to answer Croken’s words as he stroked his chin with a nonchalant tone.

His shocking appearance, falling from thousands of meters in the sky and destroying a ship.

A body filled with transcendent power that made his destructive actions seem unreal.

Lenok swallowed hard and asked,

“I heard you disappeared from the 40th district a long time ago… What brings you here?”

“It’s because of this.”

The crocodile giant grinned and raised his left hand.

In his hand, covered with thick scales, a black sphere the size of a human head was quietly rotating.

Lenok held his breath as he realized it was the same thing that had been attached to the holes in the ship.

“They said this ship was equipped with an anti-gravity engine. I needed to confirm if this thing was a relic from the old world.”

“…”

“I came just in case, but I was wrong. It feels too focused on efficiency to be from the old world… It lacks that unpleasant obsession.”

It goes without saying how absurd Croken’s words were as he muttered indifferently.

The ship was built as part of a city council project. To check the identity of the engine installed there, he had simply destroyed the ship and killed all the people on board?

As if all the chaos happening in this city was irrelevant, Pandemonium [a mysterious organization] was still moving for its own purposes.

BANG!!

A gunshot from behind. Croken turned his head without even flinching.

Amidst the wreckage of the completely destroyed and burning ship, an old man with a star on his shoulder was holding a gun and glaring at him.

“How dare a dog of Pandemonium…!!”

A somewhat familiar voice. It was the same voice that had been threatening Lenok from the ship just moments ago.

Seeing that he had survived this chaos, the man must also be a physical ability user of considerable skill.

The man, having thrown his pistol behind him, pulled out a sharp saber from his waist.

“You should know how heavy the crime of defying the city council is. I’ll turn all of you into dew at the execution ground…!!”

“Come to think of it, I haven’t finished my work yet.”

Croken, bursting into a hearty laugh, jumped into the wreckage of the ship.

The man’s charge, infusing magic into his saber blade as he ran straight forward. Even to Lenok’s eyes, it was an extraordinary level of skill.

If he was the captain of a ship directly under the city council, he must have entrusted command and operation to someone of that caliber.

“Die, monster!!!”

SWISH!

The blade, slipping several times in the air, bent into more than ten angles in an instant.

A sharp strike that precisely targeted the space between the scales connecting the crocodile giant’s neck and head.

And Croken simply stared at the saber blade before grabbing the tip of the blade with one hand.

CRUNCH!!

The saber blade bent like taffy under his transcendent grip.

Before he could even marvel at the absurd sight, he thrust the hand holding the bent blade straight into the man’s chest.

THUD!

A strange sound like a drum being torn apart. But even more astonishing was Croken’s sheer brute force.

How much power would it take to reverse the man’s desperate strike from the end and crush his heart?

Croken looked at the man’s face and pushed his teeth up in a long grin.

“Interesting. Does the lifting of the restriction laws mean that these arrogant bastards will increase?”

“…”

There wasn’t even a scream. The man, his eyes bloodshot, collapsed, bleeding profusely from his entire body.

“That’s something to look forward to.”

POOF!!

A light flick of the hand to shake off the blood. At the same time, the anti-gravity engine part in his hand disappeared.

A popping sound echoed in the air as the man’s head disappeared entirely, replaced by the engine part.

Croken, leaving behind the corpse that was bleeding out, massaged his shoulder and turned his head.

“I’ve finished my work, and I’ve killed everyone I needed to kill, so shall we have some real fun now?”

“…What do you mean?”

“I did receive a request from the spider, but honestly, I didn’t come all this way to recover this junk.”

“…”

“I was wondering how much the potential I spared back then has bloomed… I think it’s about time I checked it out.”

CRUMBLE CRUMBLE CRUMBLE…!!

A surge of murderous intent. The heavy pressure of magic power pressing down on both shoulders.

Croken’s bright yellow eyes clearly revealed who the true target of this monster was.

From the beginning, he knew that Lenok was here and participated in this event.

Croken grinned as he looked up at the stiffened Lenok.

“Don’t disappoint me. Or I’ll kill you.”

Immediately after, a single step. Croken, having leaped dozens of meters, swung his fist.

WHAMMMMMMM!!!

The sheer pressure emanating from his body caused the desert sand to rise like a tidal wave, forming a massive wave.

The overlapping shockwaves. The immense destructive power resonated like a giant’s roar, leaving an oval-shaped scar in the middle of the desert.

Croken nodded in satisfaction as he confirmed Lenok’s figure standing firm in the center of the monstrous power.

“Not bad. Shall we try a little more?”

“I have no intention of fighting here…!!”

CRASH!!

Ten layers of shields and multiple ice walls. Even the resonance of [Anti-Thunder] and [Lightning Strike] that he unleashed to offset the impact were nothing more than expendables in front of Croken.

The contradiction of having to counterattack to offset the impact in order to survive at this moment.

The moment he turned his back and tried to run, all the spells and measures protecting Lenok’s body would be shattered, and he would be as good as dead.

‘Damn it…!!’

Lenok quickly turned his gaze towards Hina and bit his lip.

It was fortunate that Aris had created a bit of distance to check on Hina’s condition, but if this continued, it was only a matter of time before the shockwaves spread in all directions.

CRACK CRACK CRACK!!

The ten layers of shields were being shattered and restored at the same time. The restoration power of the barrier that constantly surrounded Lenok’s body was adjusted to be far superior to its durability.

But Croken crushed the regenerating shield like grains of sand with one hand and poked his face through the gap.

CRUNCH!

“If you’ve completed your tier, you should have one more trick to show me.”

“…!!”

“If you don’t want to die, show it to me right here.”

Croken said with a smirk.

“I can’t miss the chance to check your domain before the commander and Myung’s.”

“You went through all this trouble just for that…!!”

WHOOOM!!

“Ho?”

Croken’s eyes lit up as he checked the pile of carapace that had blocked his hand.

“It’s much harder than I thought. Did you make this yourself?”

“…”

Lenok didn’t answer Croken’s words and kept his mouth shut.

He had realized that a faint crack had appeared on the outermost layer of the carapace pile immediately after taking that blow.

It meant that even the outer shell of the Apostle [a powerful being], which had boasted an extraordinary level of strength, could not withstand Croken’s power.

He couldn’t afford to hold back and buy time against this opponent.

Realizing this, Lenok straightened his wavering mind.

WHOOOOOOOOOOSH!!!

A colorless wave erupted from beneath Lenok’s feet.

Croken burst into laughter at the sight of the hot sand dust being instantly covered and the surroundings being dyed in a different color.

“You should have come out like this from the start, kid!! Do you think you can face me head-on?”

“…I told you from the beginning that I had no intention of facing you.”

Lenok retorted, chewing on a handful of magic recovery potions.

“I rejected your scout a long time ago.”

The very faint remaining energy from defeating Trepen with Davi’s spirit domain [a personal space of power].

The scenery of the magnetic domain that he was forcibly expanding by boosting his meager mental strength.

He didn’t know how long it would last or how effective it would be, but Lenok humbly admitted that he had no other way out right now.

He couldn’t win against this opponent with half-hearted resolve.

A monster with whom he couldn’t even exchange proper blows without the will and intention to thoroughly kill him.

He was certain that only the moment he fought with all his might would guarantee his survival.

WOOOOOOOM!!!

The moment the colorless wave occupied all directions and drew the domain. The surroundings instantly darkened, and a vast void took its place.

Even as he sensed that he was standing on an unavoidable battlefield, Croken was the only one smiling.

“Still, I like that you’re quick to grasp the situation. If you had hesitated a little longer-”

WHAMMMMMMM!!!

At that moment, a sudden barrage of explosions rained down from the sky, directly onto the spot where Croken had been.

Dozens of shells that had flown from behind Lenok concentrated their fire on the outside of the carapace mass. They burned brilliantly along with the shattered ship.

THUD!!

At the same time, a heavy vibration was heard from behind.

Lenok, turning his head, recognized the source of the vibration and relaxed his stiff expression.

The mobile fortress No. 2, which had been recharging in the satellite city under the control of the defense forces, and the figure of the bird-headed giant looking down from the distant deck.

Felix, who had taken over the control rights that Lenok had seized, had organized the situation in the satellite city and appeared to help Lenok.

With a heavy battle hammer on one shoulder, Felix raised his hand, and the mobile fortress’s gun ports opened,

and hundreds of shells began to pour down to kill a single man.

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!

The overlapping explosions echoed like a majestic waterfall.

Lenok, having risen from the center of the unbelievable heat, immediately turned his back and ran.

Deploying the magnetic domain here according to Croken’s will was suicide.

Rather, it was as if he was protecting him from the fortress’s barrage.

Now that Croken’s attention was diverted, he had to create some distance and plan for the future.

“Davi…!!”

[I’m ready!]

The moment Lenok pulled out his monster bike, Davi began to assist his movements.

VRROOOM!!

The bike, speeding through the rough sand pits, swerved and passed by Aris and Hina.

Immediately after, Lenok grabbed the necks of the two with magic threads, placed Aris and Hina on the spare seats, and sped towards the fortress.

The moment Aris, her face pale, tried to open her mouth,

WHAMMMMMMM!!!

A flash of light erupted from the impact point where the barrage had been pouring down on Croken.

Something that had been fired at supersonic speed pierced through the deck of the mobile fortress and exploded.

“Hwaaaaaaack!!”

“Shit, what is that!!”

The freelancers, who had never imagined that a counterattack would come from such a distance, even if it was only a thousand meters away from Croken, shouted in shock.

Felix’s eyes, who had been looking down at the ground from the deck, sank deeply.

“He’s still the same. That man…”

“Damn it, what the hell is he throwing?”

Palad, covered in dirt, brushed off the dust next to Felix and asked.

Felix had moved to help Lenok, leading the mobile fortress, and had even picked up Palad, who had escaped from the mechanical sphere first.

“It’s a shell.”

“…A shell? Are you talking about the one we were just firing like crazy?”

“There’s no need to explain. See for yourself.”

As the sand dust cleared, the scene of the impact point where thousands of shells had been poured down began to come into view.

The rain of shells falling from the sky. The crocodile giant was walking leisurely through the barrage of explosions that boasted a caliber as large as a forearm.

Without even flinching at the flames that were engulfing and burning all around, he wrapped his tail around the shells that were approaching nearby and stopped them.

SQUEAK!

He threw the stopped shell up, grabbed it, and rotated his shoulder joint. He threw it with all his might as if he were pitching a ball.

The shell that had disappeared from Croken’s hand sped towards the fortress at the speed of sound. It became a blinding flash that shattered the deck and exploded inside the fortress.

WHAMMMMMMM!!!

“…”

Palad blinked silently on the shaking deck of the fortress.

WHAMMMMMMM!!

The third flash of light exploded, and Palad, having accepted the reality of the sight of a man destroying the fortress with his bare hands by throwing shells, asked.

“What the hell am I looking at right now?”

“A monster.”

Click!

Felix said, pulling the cylinders on the handle of the battle hammer.

“He’s a demigod that even our commander can’t guarantee a head-on fight against.”

CHIIIIIIIIK!!

Steam was spewing out from between the heavy hammer, and a faint magic light flickered.

As he released the necessary locks and removed the limiters, black magic began to swirl between the hammer’s faces.

“If this keeps up, we’ll all be torn to pieces by that man. We have to settle this before that.”

“…I don’t know why Pandemonium had to appear now of all times. Is this also the city council’s doing?”

“That’s unlikely.”

Felix chuckled and slightly lowered his stance.

“Because this is how Pandemonium moves.”

THOOM!!

The bird-headed giant’s figure fell dozens of meters below.

In the middle of the vast desert, in the middle of the plains where sand dust was swirling, the two giants simultaneously met each other’s gaze.

Palad stared blankly at the scene before shaking his head and muttering.

“…I miss Team Leader Marcia so much today.”