Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 41

“…”

“It’s presumptuous to ask you to move when there’s a mercenary from the Antares office here. But, would you allow us to rest here for a bit?”

“Rest?”

“Yes. If an Infected happens to pass by, we can just deal with it as we see fit, right?”

In the end, they were just saying things differently, but their intention to not leave this residential area was clear.

The problem was that if they pushed any harder, it would inevitably lead to a physical confrontation.

Mila also seemed hesitant to point her shotgun at mercenaries from Platon, so she just turned her gaze away.

Lenok, who had been watching Maoren walk away with a satisfied look, nodded lightly.

“This is it for me. See ya.”

“What? Why? No, wait!”

Mila hurriedly grabbed Lenok, who was about to turn his back and leave the ruins.

“If we agreed to work together, you should keep your word. Where do you think you’re going alone?”

“So, you want to compete with those guys to see who can hunt the Infected first? I’d rather wander around alone than do something so tiring.”

Lenok had no attachment to the task of subduing these Infected monsters in the first place.

They weren’t creatures that posed a significant threat to the great city of Vulcan; they were just unknown impurities created by some kind of experiment.

Against them, he couldn’t gain anything other than simple quick cash, not magical development or a determination to survive.

There was no need to waste time indulging in a pride battle.

He had a clear goal of buying the elixir, and this time he was just here to make up for the lack of funds.

However, Mila’s situation was different.

She didn’t have the ability to find other Infected with her superior detection skills like Lenok, and it would be difficult for her to gain an advantage in subduing the Infected against their numbers.

If they were to clash again, she might not die, but it would be difficult to get out unscathed.

The one who was in need made the first move, and in the end, she played her trump card.

“T-the charm! You know, the one you took. I’ll give it to you, so cooperate, okay? I bought that charm for over ten million cel [currency].”

Lenok’s steps faltered for a moment at the mention of the exorbitant price, but his resolve didn’t change.

Even if he sold a used item with a limited number of uses, he wouldn’t get more than the original price, and more importantly, he would have to cooperate with her here to get the charm.

He couldn’t waste time waiting indefinitely for the Infected to appear…

“Huh?”

Lenok, who was trying to shake off Mila’s tight grip on his clothes, turned his head sharply.

Mila, who was looking at him with a puzzled expression, also turned her head in the same direction, belatedly.

After a while, the other mercenaries also noticed something was wrong.

Thump, thump…!!

A commotion that was incomparable to anything they had heard before.

At the same time, irregular movements were rushing towards them from beyond the ruins.

There was no mistake.

The Infected. More than twenty of them were charging towards the ruins all at once.

Mila started to urge Lenok with a bright face.

“Hey! Are you still going to leave after seeing that? Let’s just try working together once. You have nothing to lose, right?”

“…”

“And, we can also get back at those shameless bastards, okay?”

Before answering, Lenok quickly scanned the faces of the other mercenaries.

Even if there was a large concentration of life signs in these ruins, it was strange for the Infected to appear all at once as if they had made an agreement.

It was more reasonable to think that there was a valid cause and effect rather than a coincidence.

As expected, among the mercenaries who turned their heads, Maoren was smiling with particular confidence.

Rather than surprise or joy, it was a sense of pleasure similar to when something expected came true.

Lenok made a decision in an instant after seeing that face.

“Fine.”

Even if bickering was a waste of time, it was absurd to back out here when so many Infected were approaching right now.

Gaining an advantage in the competition right now was the fastest way to bid on the elixir.

Lenok, who had the image of the Stemona [a rare plant] still on display at the auction house in his mind, immediately turned around.

“Run ahead.”

“What?”

“I’ll take care of the rest… just run, roughly. With your shotgun.”

Fortunately, Mila didn’t ask twice.

Click!

She immediately pulled out her shotgun, channeled her mana with all her might, and dashed forward, leaving the other mercenaries behind.

Before the mercenaries could follow suit, Lenok greatly amplified his mana.

Always start boldly and decisively. And make sure to aim for a single shot.

He dug down.

[Sinkhole]

Originally, it was a magic used to create a small pit by slightly collapsing the ground, and it was a useful magic for hiding when he was playing as a magic gunner.

He poured a lot of mana into it and increased its capacity. He increased the firepower and expanded the range and depth.

The results were immediate.

The dry, sandy ground collapsed.

Kuuuuung—!!

The pit, with a radius and depth of about 10 meters, swallowed the mercenaries in an instant.

“Wh-what the…!!”

“Damn it, what is this!!”

“What suddenly…!!”

Most of the mercenaries were struggling after falling into the sudden sinkhole, but about three of them quickly regained their senses and looked around.

They were not ruling out the possibility that this pit was not just a coincidence.

The look in their eyes showed a firm determination to escape, even if it meant stepping on other mercenaries.

Maoren, one mercenary who had particularly strong mana, and surprisingly, Claria, who was part of Miguel’s group, were among that group.

The fastest to react was Maoren.

Suddenly, a huge amount of mana, enough to make Lenok flinch, was released from his body, which had not felt any mana before. He crouched down and prepared to leap in an instant.

The gap was so huge that Lenok was slightly surprised, but if Maoren was using mana, it was even better for Lenok.

Just before the leap, he spread his mana in all directions, reaching into Maoren’s body and disrupting the flow of mana circulating within him.

Weeeeee!!

His experience of interfering with the magic that his opponents were deploying while facing two magicians.

He further deepened the sensation he had felt there, delving not only into magic but also into mana itself.

Lenok didn’t know how effective this method would be against opponents of a certain level, but it was definitely working on Maoren in front of him.

He broke the flow of mana surging from his head to his toes in one go.

Crack!!

At that moment, Maoren’s head, which had jumped up from the ground, popped out in a completely different direction, and he hurriedly grabbed his balance in mid-air, startled.

The shock, confusion, and anger that flashed across his face for a brief moment.

If it had worked on Maoren, who seemed to be the strongest among them, there was no need to talk about the others.

The moment the mercenaries below the pit tried to move by channeling their mana, he broke them all, interfering with their physical enhancement through mana.

Crack!! Crack…!!

“No, why is this…!!”

“My mana won’t move!!”

“Ugh…!!”

Annoyance, confusion, and fear.

Ericksen was even retching from the backlash of being interfered with while trying to move his mana.

The mercenaries were in shock at the betrayal of their mana, which had always obeyed their will.

Lenok calmly looked down at them and made eye contact with two people.

Miguel, who was looking at him as if he didn’t even know what was going on, and Maoren, who quickly grasped the cause of this and glared at him.

Miguel began to call out to him desperately.

“Anti-Mage! Can you help us? My mana isn’t working properly in this pit…!!”

“…”

Lenok just looked down at Miguel and shook his head.

“Miguel. Don’t you understand yet?”

“Huh? What do you mean…”

Still, he wasn’t completely clueless, and Lenok smiled as he watched Miguel’s expression slowly change.

Just seeing his expression slowly changing from bewilderment to surprise and then to anger made him feel like he was getting rid of something that had been bothering him.

Lenok lightly ignored their gazes and stirred the mercenaries again while amplifying his mana once more.

There was still work to be done.

Fzzzt, fzzzt, fzzzt!!

Three foxes that had sprung from his grasp began to run across the ground with wide gaps between them, and at the same time, they burned their bodies and resonated, forming a blue net of electricity.

The net of electricity, which had passed Mila in an instant, swept through the approaching Infected.

[Kkkkkkkkk…!!]

[Kweeeeeee!!]

They let out painful screams, but unlike before, the Infected were not easily falling to Lenok’s magic.

The power of the magic itself had significantly decreased as a result of reducing mana consumption and increasing its duration.

However, as the foxes continued to stir through the Infected, spreading the net of electricity in all directions, the Infected’s movements began to noticeably stiffen.

Even if the instantaneous firepower was weak, the cumulative damage would inevitably have a negative impact.

But this was enough. The important thing was to assist the mercenary who was running with a shotgun in hunting.

And, Mila jumped into the middle of the Infected, who had become sluggish.

“Ahahahah! This is awesome…!! I love it so much!!”

Bang!!

She shot one of the Infected in the head while running through the trembling Infected.

The Infected’s head, which looked like black sewage, exploded like fireworks, and at the same time, the Infected’s eyeballs turned into a handful of dust.

“That idiot…”

What was she going to do if she blew away the things she had to exchange for money while being intoxicated with excitement?

It was only after firing the first shot that Mila seemed to have come to her senses, and she made a face as if she had realized her mistake.

Lenok glanced down at the bottom of the pit as he watched Mila, who had lowered her gun and started aiming for the torso, as if she had come to her senses.

The mercenaries were slowly realizing that something unknown was interfering with their mana, and they were concentrating with tense expressions and channeling their mana.

Calculation

He nodded as he confirmed that the mana Lenok had spread was slowly being pushed out from the pit.

‘If the opponent is prepared to some extent, interference becomes difficult. Is this also due to the nature of mana…’

It didn’t matter when he was chanting magic because he was full of openings, but interfering with mana itself seemed difficult even if there was a difference in level unless the opponent was ignorant of interference.

Still, this was something.

At least it meant that he could twist the senses of the first opponent he faced at least once, so he couldn’t even imagine how great the efficiency of this interference ability would be.

While Lenok was nodding with satisfaction, Maoren, who had shaken off the interference first, stepped on another mercenary’s shoulder like lightning and jumped up.

Whoosh!

He quickly came up to the top of the pit and scanned his surroundings with an annoyed gaze before making eye contact with Lenok.

Stiff.

The two men, whose expressions had changed completely from before, stared at each other.

“…”

Lenok didn’t bother to avoid his gaze.

It had been decided who had to back down from the moment Maoren fell into the pit.

As expected, Maoren, who had glanced away, turned his body away as if he didn’t know anything.

The annoyed look on his face had completely disappeared.

Lenok smiled faintly as he watched Maoren’s back as he quickly ran through the Infected that Mila was rampaging through.

Unlike others, Maoren would have noticed who was interfering with his mana just now.

He was not stupid enough to make the mistake of confronting Lenok head-on even after recognizing his capabilities.