Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 380

Whoosh…!!

The cold wind seeped through his outstretched fingers.

Lenox, fully aware of the chilling sensation, slowly looked down at his hand.

He met the gaze of the Eye of Feigenbaum, the relic ring newly placed on his index finger.

Originally, this relic was meant to aid in analyzing the reverse side of spells or barrier formations through the imaginary dimension [a theoretical space beyond normal perception].

Due to its immediate use in the process of saving Evelyn, some of its functions were paralyzed, but because of that, one thing was possible.

He activated the ring, its function diminished, while making eye contact.

At the same time, he drew up the mana eye in his left eye, which seemed on the verge of shattering, and met the ring’s eye.

The mana eye and the function of observing the imaginary dimension intersected hundreds of times in a fleeting moment, endlessly stretching Lenox’s consciousness.

Ziiiiiiik…!!

With a sound like paper slowly tearing, everything around him slowed down.

It was the infinite division of consciousness that Jintun had used during their last conversation to talk with Lenox.

He couldn’t attempt it while fully conscious, but by combining the abilities of the ring and the mana eye, he entered a state of perceived consciousness that felt infinitely slow.

In that slowed-down timeline, Lenox completed a series of calculations in an instant and returned to reality.

Whoosh!!

“Hoo…!!”

Letting out a low sigh, he drew up his mana, and countless strands of mana extended from Lenox’s fingers, sticking to the underside of the floating island.

Swish, swish, swish!!

At the same time, he began to decompose the mounds of earth and stones that made up the island, quickly scattering them below.

The speed of the lightened floating island increased, but the time it could be maintained would be shortened.

“Evan? What are you doing…?”

Lapis, with a bewildered expression, opened her mouth, then stared blankly below.

The mounds of earth, which seemed to have fallen randomly along Lenox’s mana strands, were falling straight down from the underside of the island, beginning to construct something.

A vast maze of earth, drawn like a picture in the middle of the vast snowfield.

As the maze of earth imbued with Lenox’s mana was completed, the snow on the snowfield rose in response, reinforcing the thickness of the walls.

The labyrinth, quickly constructed from the ground, trapped the Watchers and Pursuers who were fighting below the floating island all at once.

Kugugugugu…!!!

[Run forward.]

Immediately after, Lenox’s telepathic message echoed from above the floating island.

Upon hearing those words, all the Watchers began to move without hesitation.

“They’re escaping, catch them!!”

“They’re escaping into the maze!”

“You fools, what can you do with such a hastily made labyrinth…!!”

The Pursuers also ran to chase the floating island, but as soon as they entered the maze, they noticed the anomaly and looked up.

Dada dat!!

Even though they were running at the same speed, the distance was increasing much faster than before.

Unlike the Watchers who exited the maze on the opposite side as soon as they entered, the Pursuers could not move forward even when they broke through the walls of the maze.

Only then did the Pursuers realize what Lenox had done, and they gaped in shock.

“Large-scale space distortion… To create this level of spatial interference with crude mounds of earth…!!”

“Is he identifying each entity that enters the maze and calculating the distance differently?!!”

“The Eye of Azure, how can he perform such a miracle without even using a domain…!!”

Other Watchers who were watching from behind also guessed what Lenox was doing and silently gasped.

Jintun’s Ideological Domain. Lenox’s small labyrinth, which imitated a fragment of the Hanghasa Labyrinth [a legendary, complex maze].

Lenox had succeeded in temporarily implementing the distortion of space, which twisted and moved differently within the maze, using Jintun’s barrier magic and mana.

An infinite fork in the road of the maze, where the possibilities and timelines of one person were implemented differently.

It was a feat possible only for Lenox, who had not only observed the principle from beginning to end but had also met Jintun directly and heard the answer.

Although it was infinitely crude compared to the true form of the Hanghasa Labyrinth, its effect was certain.

The Pursuers, realizing that breaking one or two walls of the maze was useless, quickly exited the maze, but it was already too late.

The floating island, which had increased its speed with its lightened body, and the Watchers who had boarded it again, were moving away towards the end of the snowfield.

In this situation, where they already felt the difference in the power of the mages, such a large gap in distance was fatal.

The Pursuers, quickly recognizing the situation, stopped first, and some who were slow to react had their bodies blown apart by the bombardment from the edge of the island.

Kwaaaang!!

While the Pursuers swallowed their bitter tears amidst the explosions erupting all over the snowfield, the figure of the floating island faded into the blizzard.

“Damn it… Considering they don’t operate in the Northern Continent, this was practically our last chance.”

“It’s no wonder they grew so quickly into a dominant force in the East. They’re all exceptionally skilled.”

“At this rate, we might encounter them on the central front soon.”

“Let’s go back. It’s better to search through the remnants of the Hanghasa Labyrinth.”

Those who had been staring at the island with lingering regret began to turn away one by one.

* * *

As soon as they escaped the snowfield, a dry forest of withered trees came into view.

Slender trees, boasting heights of several meters, stood in a row across a cold lake.

The tranquil Northern Forest.

As if the calm, where not a single tremor rose on the lake, was a lie.

A huge floating island floated up and crashed straight into the lake.

Kwaaaaaang!!

Its entire weight fell onto the water, and the thin ice on the lake’s surface was completely overturned.

Waves crashed as if they had experienced a storm in the middle of the sea, spitting out all the water in the lake.

The floating island, half-flipped and crashed, couldn’t overcome its own momentum and jumped out of the lake, cutting a long path through the middle of the forest.

The majestic trees snapped and were pushed away like chopsticks, scattering dust in all directions.

“Cough, cough!!”

“That’s nasty…”

“Is everyone alright?”

The Watchers, covered in dust, rose one by one from the wreckage of the floating island.

The warriors, who had regained their senses first, quickly traced the path the floating island had taken and began to survey the vicinity.

“…They’re not here?”

“Yeah. It seems we’ve shaken off all the pursuers.”

One of the Watchers replied in a weak voice.

“If it weren’t for Evan, we might have had to fight for at least half a day. Things went easier than expected.”

“No, if you think about it, the island suddenly crashing into the lake was also because Evan used the island’s soil as he pleased.”

“He did his best. Can you say that after seeing that?”

“Ugh…”

The Watchers fell silent at the sight of Lenox, who was pale and clutching a fallen tree nearby, retching.

In reality, he was just suffering from motion sickness from the brief moment the floating island crashed, but from the outside, it looked as if he had pushed himself to the limit for the sake of the Watchers.

The atmosphere of the Watchers, looking at Lenox’s hunched back, became solemn.

“…There was a reason why Lapis values that mage so much.”

“He was also fighting three monsters from the Magic Tower and the Vanguard alone in the deepest part of the labyrinth, and his skills and judgment are extraordinary.”

“He’s not even a Watcher yet, but he’s worthy of being invited to the summons. Where did such a man come from?”

In the meantime, Evelyn, who had regained her senses, was patting Lenox’s back with a worried expression.

“Spit it out, spit it out.”

“Wait, if you pat my back like that…”

“It’s better to just throw up.”

Evelyn’s hand movements, patting his back, subtly stimulated Lenox’s empty stomach, causing him to vomit.

Lenox, who had unintentionally thrown up in front of her, turned his head with a crumpled face.

“…I never imagined I’d run out of motion sickness medicine. I’ll have to restock when we get back.”

He had packed all sorts of first-aid supplies for this journey, but he had used them all up while traveling through the snowfield, the labyrinth, and the floating island.

Before worrying about other things, Lenox first asked Lapis, who was lingering nearby, about the first thing that came to his mind.

“How is Grisha’s condition?”

“…She’s here.”

Grisha, leaning against a tree behind Lapis, waved her hand with a haggard expression.

Ironically, even that appearance looked better than Lenox’s, who had just suffered from motion sickness.

Lenox, looking at Grisha’s face, took out a potion from his pocket and handed it to her.

Grisha, who had been sweating profusely, widened her eyes at the sight, then chuckled.

“You went into the labyrinth and came out, and you’ve become strangely polite. You didn’t happen to get an etiquette injection from an Ascendant [a being of immense power], did you?”

Lenox also laughed lightly at Grisha’s jest, even as she opened the potion cap.

“Seeing that you’re friends with an 8th-level summoner, it makes me realize your age.”

“Ah, Nora… It’s already been over 50 years since that girl became the Matriarch of the Enolas Magic Tower.”

Grisha said, shrugging her shoulders with a sullen look.

“Enolas is one of the most powerful magic towers in the Southern Continent. If Nora says that, there might be a time when we can get help later.”

“It’s thanks to you. Before I saw your face, it looked like you were going to kill me.”

“Hehe… Nora has been very hot-tempered since she was young. She would become friends with someone she fought like she was going to kill them, and then turn into enemies again. Maybe she survived and became the Matriarch of the Magic Tower because of that eccentric nature.”

Grisha gave a wry smile as if she was reminiscing about a very old memory.

“I’m glad that an old connection was helpful in this way. I hardly did anything in this matter.”

“…”

That was not true, as without her presence, maintaining this floating island would not have been possible.

However, Grisha seemed to feel a considerable amount of responsibility for not being able to directly participate in the labyrinth’s events.

Instead of offering her a meaningless consolation, Lenox glanced around and asked her something else.

“I heard you’re acquainted with Oliviera Ron Maze, can you explain the details?”

He needed to meet her separately for the sake of his mana eye.

Jenny had said that when Oliviera came to see her, Oliviera had shown interest in the doll that Grisha had given her.

He should ask about her while Grisha was reminiscing about the past to get some general information.

However, Grisha did not show any particular reaction upon hearing her name, but rather gave an awkward smile.

“Oliviera… It’s been a while since I’ve heard that name. I’m sorry, but unlike Nora, I don’t have much to tell you about her.”

“What do you mean?”

“After Olivia settled in the megacity, she became a completely different person.”

“…”

“After that, we were only vaguely aware of each other’s existence, and we never met. I’ve only heard rumors that she’s been clinging to unknown research since the failure of the project.”

The black consumers of the megacities. The Ascension Gate of the Machine City. The Night Parade of a Hundred Demons of the Military City.

Each was a project to implement a grand and magnificent miracle, and all were remnants of the past that ended in a miserable failure.

Grisha was saying that Oliviera Ron Maze was also one of the people directly involved in that project.

“There was a time when everyone was full of hope. A time when we believed we could dedicate ourselves to a miracle greater than ourselves… Now it’s all meaningless.”

Grisha’s monologue, spoken in a hollow voice.

Her voice slowly faded as she rubbed her temples with a tired expression.

“But, I still… don’t regret it…”

Lenox, looking down at Grisha, who had bowed her head and fallen asleep in an instant as if her batteries had run out, slowly stood up.

It was only natural that Grisha’s body was not in good condition after moving the floating island at high speed for more than half a day.

Even if she had a vast amount of mana, it was an unreasonable operation that was difficult to imagine with a living body.

It was strange that Grisha was able to fall asleep so soundly after using her mana so much.

Lapis, who had been watching the scene from the side, carefully draped the coat she had been wearing over Grisha’s body.

“Considering Grisha’s mana capacity, she might not wake up for about a day.”

“Okay… We have no choice but to rest in this forest.”

The moment Lenox muttered with a small sigh, a heavy roar echoed from right behind him.

Kooong!!

It was the sound of the dog-headed giant, Reppard, placing the luggage he was carrying directly on the ground.

Lenox, realizing that it was a pile of firewood made by splitting all the nearby trees, gave a wry smile.

Jiel, who was carrying the veils used for tents, began to nag from the side.

“We need to make a fire and prepare to sleep before night comes, so move quickly. What are you still hesitating about?”

From all directions, the Watchers were clearing stones and trees to make a place to sleep and setting up tents.

Some were making a campfire, and others were starting to cook by finding food from the collapsed floating island.

The Watchers, naturally setting up a night watch and standing guard, were so skilled as if they had done this many times before.

In front of such Watchers, Lapis shrugged her shoulders with a triumphant look.

“Ahem.”

“…Why are you so proud?”

Lenox asked that, but soon smiled and turned his head towards the darkening sky.

As they left the snowfield, the air, which had been cold, became warmer, and he could feel that the sun was setting a little slower.

From being summoned to the Northern Continent snowfield, setting up camp outside the labyrinth, racing inside the labyrinth, and finally meeting the Ascendant to get an answer.

He was finally realizing that the long and arduous journey in the Northern Continent was coming to an end.

* * *

Lenox and Evelyn stayed in the forest with the Watchers for a whole day.

The Watchers seemed to guess that Lenox had met Jintun, but they didn’t bring it up first.

The first thing they saw when they arrived inside the labyrinth was Lenox and Evelyn, who had fainted, confronting three superhumans alone.

They all guessed how fierce the battle the two had fought inside the labyrinth to get there, and how amazing it was.

Perhaps Lenox’s power, which had held out against two 8th-level and one 7th-level, had left a deep impression.

There were no more Watchers who protested against Lenox’s qualifications.

Rather, perhaps they were impressed by the help Lenox had given in the process of escaping the snowfield, most of them approached him with a more friendly attitude.

“Evan, this bastard said before you arrived…”

“You don’t believe that, do you? I always trust our boss’s judgment.”

“Don’t talk nonsense, for Lapis’s birthday present, this bastard gave her a magical engineering teddy bear…”

“Hey, hey, be quiet!!”

“They just see me as a complete child… The organization’s discipline is like this… We need to expel this rude guy quickly…”

Even though he had only been among them for a short night, Lenox could clearly feel the bond that existed among the Watchers.

It was not simply because they were working towards a common goal, but because of Lapis’s efforts to make the Eye of Azure like this.

Lenox understood the lighthouse keeper’s desire to make the Eye of Azure not just a simple association, but a place where various talented people wanted to be together.

Lenox also mingled with the Watchers appropriately, but he couldn’t explain to them what had happened with the Ascendant.

The conversation and secrets he had shared with Jintun were deeply related to Lenox’s fundamental essence.

Regardless of whether he thought the Eye of Azure was trustworthy, he had to choose his words carefully.

Instead, Lenox separately told Lapis and Evelyn only the fact that the leader of Pandemonium had appeared and taken Jintun’s life directly.

Considering her position and interests, having declared a full-scale confrontation with Pandemonium, he thought it was his duty to tell the two of them about this in advance.

Upon hearing Lenox’s words, Lapis stayed up all night without sleeping.

Once her worries were over, she would discuss with trusted people what Pandemonium was aiming for and what they wanted.

Lenox thought that from there on, it was up to Lapis’s choice.

Early in the morning of the next day.

Lenox and Evelyn were standing in front of the Watchers.

Lapis, who was standing in front of the Watchers’ formation, looked up at the two of them silently.

“Are you sure you don’t want to go back with us?”

“There’s an agent branch in a nearby city. If we get train tickets there, we can get back to the city in three days.”

Evelyn patted Lapis’s shoulder at her worried words.

“Evan agreed, so we’re going back that way. I’ve been away from my agent work for too long.”

“You do all that work and then go back to work again, people who live in the city are incomprehensible.”

Lens, the curse mage, laughed at Jiel’s words as he scratched his shaggy hair.

“Everyone values different things. If we can be where we need to be at the moment we need to be, like today, that’s enough.”

“The lighthouse keeper is too soft. It’s not enough to dedicate everything to the goal, that’s the doctrine of salvation.”

“Don’t talk old-fashioned nonsense. Does Lapis look like that kind of person to you?”

Lenox and Lapis laughed together at the sight of Reppard and the vampire youth starting to argue.

“I hope I can say hello to the other Watchers next time.”

“I’ve heard the story. It’s a shame I didn’t get to see the Watchers who reached level 8.”

He knew that there were extreme ability users among the Watchers who had been newly recruited through the previous meeting.

It would have been nice to meet them at least once before getting a sense of the realm, but everyone had their own circumstances.

Since the Eye of Azure was continuing its activities not only in this snowfield but also in various parts of the continent, it was only natural that there were busy Watchers.

Lapis, upon hearing Lenox’s words, asked with a slightly cautious look.

“Will Evan be standing in the same place as those people next time?”

“Well…”

Lenox only gave a wry smile and didn’t give a clear answer.

He had a rough idea of how to get off the path. He thought he had already obtained the direction and the method.

However, from now on, it was entirely up to Lenox himself.

Lenox had always believed in himself and had confidence, but this time, it was difficult to easily guarantee what kind of result awaited him at the end.

“What are you going to do?”

“Thanks to Evan-nim telling me about my grandmother, I’ve also finished my worries.”

“…”

The words about the Heavenly Eye that had been briefly exchanged in the conversation with Jintun.

Jintun’s despairing prophecy that there was no fourth, and the reason why the Heavenly Eye had acted that way.

Even though she had heard the truth from the Ascendant, Lapis had not changed.

She had been prepared from the beginning to move forward no matter what answer she heard.

“Until now, we’ve been focusing on activities in the East to build our strength, but from now on, we’re going to move towards the front lines.”

“The front lines, you mean…”

There were several front lines that could be mentioned by the leader of the Eye of Azure, but Lenox felt like he knew where Lapis was referring to.

The most intense battleground in this world, even after decades.

The great battlefield where the most powerful forces and wills clash across the entire continent.

“The last legacy left in the central city of Ars Nova… From now on, the Eye of Azure will stand at the crossroads to obtain that legacy and save the world.”

The Guiding Order, the Order of Spells, the Ability Awakening Vanguard, the Ether Garden, countless powerful magic towers and martial sects.

Lapis was planning to take a full step into the central front, where all of them were turning their attention.