Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 403

Just as a person’s heart is not defined by a single form, the self-resonance field that reflects that heart is the same. Contrary to the powerful and transcendent fields that seem almost miraculous, there are also simple imageries that are closer to self-satisfaction. That’s why many people have tried to create powers similar to reflecting their imageries, rather than refining their hearts into a righteous form. Like an eternal shadow play behind a bright light, even if the existence itself is not true, if the form is similar, they could at least imitate the power. The Great Saint-level Defensive System created by the Achilles Technology Strategy Team, with the company’s fate on the line, was a power created with those desires more strongly than anything else. [What’s the system construction rate?] [It’s not going up from 50%. The magic pattern analysis is insufficient.] Fwoooosh!! On a rainy night street, dozens of people hidden in various places along the edges of the giant hemisphere spread out above the sky exchange messages with communicators throughout the area. The field response unit of the Achilles Technology Strategy Team, led by Graham Campbell. Experts who understand the defensive system better than anyone else and can adjust and build it in real-time on the battlefield. Although their combat abilities are not great, they are skilled in observing magic power and adjusting devices from a magical engineering perspective. In a way, they are one of the biggest human assets of the Achilles Security Company. These dozens of people were hiding in various places on the street, quickly analyzing the battle situation unfolding in the inner city area. [The analysis device is not progressing beyond observing the surface of the pattern.] [That’s impossible. He’s firing magic like crazy, and there are still parts we haven’t observed?] Although they haven’t seen high-level mages often, the technology team’s employees are not blind. The dance of thunder and lightning that relentlessly strikes the night sky even at this moment. The giant ice pillars rising above the building that was broken in half, and the blizzard raging through the rain. The heat haze that spreads out with a mix of cold and heat is enough to make even those who are observing the situation from thousands of meters away feel a chill down their spines. Technology Strategy Team Leader Graham is also a Saint-level mage of considerable skill, but he is not someone who can unleash that level of firepower. Then, all the destruction happening in that place right now is a disaster created by just one person. Yet, the fact that they still can’t properly observe the magic pattern. What does that mean? It wasn’t that they couldn’t understand it, but that they didn’t want to understand it. [Damn it…] A voice filled with deep regret echoes through the communication network, but no one can blame him. The ominous thought that perhaps being here in the first place was a mistake was slowly eating away at their minds. [It’s not over yet. Focus.] [Right, Team Leader Campbell was recognized as a skilled person even in the force response team. If we just hold on a little longer and buy some time…] Whirrrrrr! At that moment, thousands of bundles of paper fluttered up from the waist of the high-rise building that was broken in half. A white paper wind swirls and rages in the middle of the rainy night street, and a flash of blue light races through it, leaping up the ground and reaching the top of the hemisphere. While all the employees of the technology team were dumbfounded, screams were heard elsewhere first. [Magic pattern analysis rate 48… 47… 45… 40%…!! The observation rate is actually decreasing!!] [What are you talking about! He used more magic, so how can the pattern observation rate…!!] Before the technology team could react to the results that were completely contrary to the function of the spell defense system they had been steadily experimenting with, the crack that had opened once quickly spread to other places. [If it drops below 30%, the system cannot be maintained…!! The backup device for recovery is not responding!] [Connect the spare power supply we brought in advance!! Open the algorithm modification authority and find the problem right away!] [It’s wrong, it’s completely unresponsive!! No, rather, this is the control of this system…!!] The giant blue hemisphere spread out over the entire street. The direction of the blue light that had been constantly pouring towards one mage within it begins to change little by little. Not towards the freelancer of District 49, called Kyunrye, but towards their team leader, who was directly commanding the defensive system at the forefront of the technology team. [Technology team, are you listening…!!] It didn’t take long for Graham’s desperate scream to echo. [The spell defense system has been hijacked. Cut off the power device right now and stop the system!!!] * * * Whirrrrr! A mechanical auxiliary device popped out from around Graham’s waist. The way dozens of mechanical arms popped out and rotated looked almost like a tail. The powerful heat source emanating from the ends of those mechanical arms pierced through the spiders rushing at him one by one, stopping their functions. Fwoosh, fwoosh, fwoosh! Penetration power that is as fast and sharp as a laser. The clear magic power felt within it makes one guess that he is a magic user of considerable skill. Lenok watched the scene, leisurely crossing his arms and nodding his head. “He perfectly integrated his own magic power into the magical engineering equipment. Or did he completely modify a part of his body into a machine?” “Ughhh!!!” “There aren’t many cases of Saint-level transcendents attempting human body modification, but he must have been confident that he could balance the human body and the machine. If you’re the head of the Achilles Technology Strategy Team, you play with your own body in an extraordinary way.” “It’s not playing…!!!” Thud!! The sharp blades attached to the spider legs, the muzzle of the machine gun rotating below the abdomen. Even the automatic shotgun that sticks its head out from inside the red-glowing maw. All of that firepower is scattered by the dozens of mechanical arms that popped out from Graham’s waist, rotating wildly. Instead of Graham’s staggering body, dozens of mechanical arms grabbed the half-tilted building wall and quickly began to climb and run. Thud, thud, thud! Some arms scatter lasers, while others grab the building and climb, creating distance from Lenok. The moment a certain distance was created, Graham floated into the air, and at the same time, dozens of mechanical arms attached to his waist combined at once. It transformed into a super-large caliber energy launcher comparable to his torso and began to shine. Whoooosh…!! The red glow of magic power inside the pitch-black cannon. The dense energy, compressed to its limit, passes through several triggers in an instant and races through the rain, riding the cannon. [Achilles Combat Auxiliary Device mk.9: Annihilation Augmentation] [32-Layered Suppressing Cannon] KWAANG!! A compressed projectile fired using Graham’s own 7th-level Saint-level impact magic and the firepower conversion ability of the combat auxiliary device. As it is temporarily implemented by combining mechanical arms, the trajectory of the muzzle can be artificially bent, and at the same time as it hits, the compressed magic is split into hundreds of strands, pulverizing the impact point. It is a Saint-level magic bombardment that is infinitely close to a sure hit and annihilation. The red flash that cut and split the dark night sky up and down was fired directly at Lenok. The heat alone evaporates the surrounding rain, and the building that was broken in half vibrates and trembles before slowly sliding down. However, even while watching this, Lenok simply raised his head leisurely on the spider he was riding. At the same time, the mechanical spider he was riding twisted and rotated its body, easily avoiding the bombardment that was fired in front of him. Following the spider that had instantly turned to the other side of the building, Graham’s magic power penetrates the building and the interior offices, tracking him down, but… Chiiiiik!!! “Good performance.” “…!!” Immediately after, the light fired from the blue hemisphere that floated above the two people’s heads landed right in front of Lenok, blocking Graham’s Suppressing Cannon. Graham’s expression, being counter-attacked by the system he had built and deployed, was not visible. Kiri-ri-ri-rik!! The mechanical spiders, which had already stacked themselves on top of each other, were diligently biting and clinging to Graham’s auxiliary device, slamming his body into the ground. Thud!! “Eeeeek!!!” There is no need to say how Graham feels, who is now dealing with the spiders that were rushing at him just a moment ago. The combat ability of Araneia, a security weapon whose decision-making circuit itself has been converted using Davi’s cyber-hacking ability, is comparable to that of a 5th-level physical ability user. The cost of producing one individual and inserting a combat algorithm easily exceeds hundreds of millions of cells. There was no need to say how deadly the combined attack of dozens of such combat-capable beings, coordinating their breathing in fractions of a second, was when targeting a single person. But more important than that was that every time the spiders were killed, his magic pattern was being analyzed in reverse and recorded in the spell defense system. The blue hemisphere that had been intercepting Lenok’s magic power the moment it was exposed to the outside now changed its direction and began to target Graham. The laser that burst from the end of the auxiliary device could not even extend properly and was intercepted and scattered by the heat source of the spell defense system. Only then did Graham’s complexion turn pale as he fully acknowledged that the system had been hijacked. “No…!! This is wrong from the premise…!!” Every time he kills the mechanical spiders that are rushing at him in reverse, Graham’s magic pattern begins to be recorded in the system in reverse. From the moment the analysis rate exceeds 50%, the moment his magic power is released to the outside, it will be intercepted and scattered, just like it was with Lenok a moment ago. From that moment on, Graham has no means left to resist the mage in front of him. Lenok chuckled as he watched Graham frantically take out his communicator and yell for the system to stop. “Was it Graham Campbell? I remember seeing that name on the Achilles’ executive organization chart.” Lenok said as he watched Graham desperately shake off the spiders and grab his communicator. “At that time, it wasn’t the Technology Strategy Department, but the Force Response Team… I think he was one of the executives in that department. If he didn’t change his position in the meantime, it means he had a foot in both camps from the beginning. It took me a while to remember because of that.” [All system power has been cut off!!] “But why is it still…!!!” Why isn’t the spell defense system that is binding him disappearing? Because of the system’s function of intercepting magic power that is exposed to the outside, the mechanical arms of the auxiliary device that are desperately blocking the spiders are becoming tattered. Kaga-ga-gak!!! As the auxiliary device inserted near the lumbar spinal cord is twisted by the impact, Graham’s expression also distorts in pain. “Impossible…” He can still fight much more. The magic power remaining in his body is still considerable, and his physical condition is not bad. Nevertheless, the moment he tries to use a spell, all attempts are intercepted by the spell defense system floating above his head, tying his hands and feet and making him unable to do anything. Not a defeat where everything is used up and burned away, but a death that approaches without being able to use his power, even though he has it. That unfair and resentful feeling makes Graham struggle even more. “Aaaaargh!!” In a hurry, he covers his whole body with magic power and strengthens his body, but his body and senses, which are not those of a physical ability user, cannot withstand the sudden strengthening. The magic power flowing out between his fingers is intercepted by the defense system and scattered away. Although it is called a spell defense system, even a clumsy physical ability user who cannot properly handle their magic power cannot escape the system’s influence. The magic power that filled his whole body quickly bottoms out, and Graham’s miserable figure, with his fingers and limbs gradually being crushed and bleeding amidst the waves of spiders rushing like swarms of insects. “Help me, someone… help me…!! Where is everyone!!” In response to Graham’s desperate plea for help, Lenok replied with a dumbfounded expression. “Didn’t you throw them all away as meat shields to buy time for you to build the system?” “Useless bastards… The technology team, the board of directors, the vice president…!! Where are they all doing!! I’m dying!!!” Graham, not listening to Lenok’s words, screams desperately. His eyes rapidly become bloodshot, and the blood vessels below his neck stand up, and soon, blue bruises begin to spread here and there. At the same time, the auxiliary device inserted in his waist vibrates, and dozens of mechanical arms rotate wildly, drawing unknown trajectories. “Hoo.” Lenok, realizing that it was an act of drawing complex hand seals at once using mechanical arms, stopped his movements for a moment. Graham, whose white pupils were also dyed red, gritted his teeth, swallowing blood. “Even if the power is cut off, if the system doesn’t stop, I’ll crush it with force!!!!” Fwoooosh!!! At the same time, a colorless wave erupts from Graham’s center. At the end of the wave, where a strong and desperate thought is felt so clearly, a cluster of light appears, and the scenery of the rainy night sky seems to be about to turn upside down. A pure mage’s self-resonance field, exhaled with all his wishes at the end of death. But even after seeing Graham’s desperate struggle, Lenok smiled. “Too late. You’re completely the opposite of that language mage from before.” “What?!” “It wouldn’t be bad to decorate the beginning and the end like this.” Was it only after being driven into such a corner that he decided to activate his self-resonance field, even forcibly, to turn the tide of the battle? But if he wanted to turn the situation around, it was too late. If he was thinking of forcibly escaping this battlefield by crushing it with force, he should have taken a gamble earlier. “Look up.” Following Lenok’s gesture, the moment Graham inadvertently cast his gaze up at the hemisphere spread out above his head. [Hello.] Davi, who had climbed to the top of the hemisphere and transformed into a giant three-tailed fox, shook her three tails. In the face of that completely unexpected scene, Graham forgot his incantation and stopped, and blue cubes began to fall from the sky like snowflakes. [Magic pattern analysis 120%. Pattern reverse occupancy distribution.] [Partial deployment of the cyber-domain based on the spell defense system.] [Dreamscape Projection: Realm of the Heart] A cyber-domain that occupies the already deployed spell defense system and is artificially partially deployed within it. The reason why the system was still maintained and pressing down on Graham, even though Achilles’ technology team had cut off the system’s power, was, of course, Davi’s doing. Beyond simply taking control of the system, she executed a partial deployment of a domain that was difficult for Lenok’s own power to deploy right away, based on the already established base. She materializes the cubes of the self-resonance field, Dreamscape Projection, in reality. Fwoooosh!! The moment the cube, a proxy that materializes the will of the cyber-spirit, appeared, the battle was over. Following Lenok and Davi’s gestures, the cubes that occupied the space inside the hemisphere gathered into one, rapidly narrowing the area of the hemisphere. [System miniaturization algorithm inserted.] [Cerebral cortex surface scan complete.] [Sentence: Spell Defense Cyberization] Fzzzzzzzzzz!!! The blue sphere, which had instantly narrowed in size, rotated like lightning and pierced into the center of Graham’s crown. “Ugh…!!” With a final, faint cry, Graham collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut. Lenok stared down at the scene, then got off the mechanical spider he was riding and quietly rubbed his waist. He had been riding on the spider’s round body for a long time, and his waist had started to ache. “…It’s not something designed for people to ride on.” [I told you to ride on my back.] Davi, who had lightly landed next to Lenok, said proudly in the form of a giant three-tailed fox. [The soft back of a spirit is much better than this scrap metal.] “…It was an opportunity to test out a newly learned technique. I couldn’t miss it.” Lenok replied, wiping away the rain with one hand. “Spell defense system… It’s a much better technique than I thought. It’s impossible with my power, but it won’t be difficult to use within the cyber-domain.” If it can tie up a 7th-level mage, it should work to some extent even against a mage of a higher level. Although it is a technique that can only be used within Davi’s Dreamscape Projection, it is a useful weapon that has been added. [Master will become more aware of the importance of spirits. It’s not a bad thing.] Lenok, cleanly ignoring Davi’s boastful words, grabbed Graham’s shoulder with magic threads and turned him around. Graham’s eyes, staring blankly at the sky, no longer had any focus. The rain falling from the sky hits his eyes, but he doesn’t even think about closing them. He looks mechanical, as if he has lost even the ability to communicate about such basic life responses. Lenok sighed softly as he looked at the miserable sight. “I wanted to see his self-resonance field if possible, but his judgment was too late.” Graham Campbell’s judgment, who used his subordinates as expendables to buy time and build the spell defense system and fight Lenok, was not necessarily wrong. Even if he didn’t cling to the system, Graham’s own combat power seemed considerable, and he actually showed Lenok some of that potential. However, the clear mistake was that he did not change his style by quickly deploying his self-resonance field instead of clinging to the system the moment it was hijacked. It was a completely opposite case to the language mage, Levioer Mortenson, whom Lenok had faced for the first time. If Levi had prematurely deployed his domain and was defeated and killed from the start, Graham had saved his domain until the end, which turned out to be a misstep. “Considering the time I promised Panoa, I should wrap things up around here.” [The field staff from Dyke are waiting. Shall I contact them?] “Davi, are you asking even though you know the answer?” Lenok said, placing his hand on the forehead of Graham, who was lying blankly and getting rained on. “That’s why I forcibly read his cerebral cortex and slammed the system into his head.” Fzzzt…!! At that moment, complex programming languages floated above Graham’s blank eyes, reflecting Lenok’s face.