Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 416

The sound of crashing waves fades, turning into a serene silence.

Following Madrich through the opened stone door, I walked down an endless corridor.

“I didn’t know that old man was also one of your familiars,” Lenox said, looking around with a blank expression.

“It was strangely suspicious how much he emphasized the rules of the race. I thought he had run away since he didn’t show up until the gang was annihilated.”

“The Grimmoire Gang’s Night Parade is one of the few remaining means for me to acquire familiars,” the old man, Madrich, replied in a cold voice, and with a wave of his hand, the scenery of the corridor changed.

Whoosh!

Numerous glass display cases were placed along the corridor that opened inward. Inside, different urns were neatly arranged.

While Lenox paused for a moment at the sight of the countless urns, Madrich, who had moved forward, spoke, “It was efficient to maintain the familiar ritual form, so I managed it separately. I didn’t expect them to be annihilated by just one mage, though.”

“You hid the terminals of your familiars within Achilles’ security network,” Lenox replied, wiping the dust off an urn with his finger.

“It was inevitable to communicate through familiars without directly intervening. It wasn’t difficult.”

“Achilles’ network is by far the best among reputable companies. You must know how much security companies care about internal control.”

He chuckled, walking ahead with his hands behind his back. “It’s your ability to break through that and accurately seize the coordinates of the terminals related to me that’s abnormal.”

“…….”

Even if Davi was a powerful cyber spirit, it would be difficult to break through a security network head-on without any medium or keywords.

The reason they were able to access Achilles’ security network at that time was because they used the head of the company’s tech team in the cyber realm as a living bio-terminal to connect to the network.

However, if Madrich didn’t know the details, there was no reason to explain it to him.

As the tedious conversation of probing each other’s intentions continued, the old man began to speak first. “Is that all you wanted to ask?”

The old man’s eyes, glancing back, met Lenox’s exactly. “The fact that you rejected my offer and came here yourself suggests that you are desperately seeking some kind of answer.”

“We’ve already confirmed what we want from each other,” Lenox replied indifferently. “The Black Consumer Project. You said that even if you can’t talk about it because of the ban, you can show it, right?”

“…….”

“Kaiser and Alcaide. What happened after the project failed?” Lenox asked.

“I want to know what kind of mistake was made that your influence still reaches the high-ranking officials of the city government.”

“You’re quite frank. It’s been a while since someone dared to utter those names in front of me,” Madrich burst into laughter.

“There was a time when just mentioning those names was punishable by treason.”

He said, walking through the endless display of urns. “That’s how great their contributions were, and how grave their mistakes were. Having witnessed the failure of the Night Parade, I couldn’t repeat the same mistake.”

“The failure of the Night Parade…” Lenox’s eyes flashed sharply.

“That means you were involved in the Ascension Project that determined the fate of two cities.”

The Night Parade of the familiar city, Yorta. The Black Consumer Project of the megacity, Balkan.

Though the time and methods were different, it meant that he had been involved in both of these massive projects that shared the single goal of ascension.

“Did you participate in the Balkan project using your experience from the failure in Yorta, and reach your current status in the process?”

“As I said before, I cannot directly tell you the specific secrets of the project,” Madrich replied leisurely. “The ban left by Alcaide is so severe and fatal that even revealing his name and existence is forbidden.”

“…….”

Since Lenox had first recognized and mentioned Alcaide, was it possible that Madrich could also mention the name?

“However, it’s not difficult to explain why I still have influence in this city.”

Whoosh…!!

The end of the corridor gradually widened, turning into a vast open space.

White light seeped in, and a warm glow shone down on my face.

Madrich’s familiar, with the light behind him, turned his body completely and looked at Lenox. “It was a project that started with the dream of eternity, but there were many who wanted insurance. Because they were people who clung to life so desperately, they wanted to be guaranteed the continuation of time.”

Following the urn display that had been filled with cold air until just now, a splendid and neatly decorated white chamber stretched out.

In the middle of the display wall filled with thousands of urns, a giant sat with his hands clasped together, his back straight.

The giant’s face, which seemed to be hundreds of times larger than that of an ordinary human, was extremely pale, and his flesh was gnawed away in places, revealing the bone fragments inside.

Hundreds of long glass tubes, tied with strings, hung from his arms, knees, shoulders, neck, head, inside his eye sockets, and on his hands and feet.

A bizarre sight, as if the giant’s body was supporting hundreds of glass tubes.

Behind the giant, on the wall of the chamber, thousands of urns lined up on countless shelves, looking down at the two of them.

At that moment, when Lenox was speechless at the truly bizarre and illogical scene.

The giant, who had been still as if dead, and the old man standing in front of Lenox, began to speak at the same time. “Even if it’s just a hollow, sweet illusion.”

[Even if it’s just a hollow, sweet illusion.]

“…This can’t be.”

Only then did Lenox realize what Madrich’s true form was, and he gaped blankly.

The wretched appearance of the giant, whose flesh was barely clinging to his bones, as if he had been dead for a long time.

That was the true identity of Madrich Onion.

A giant race with a physique that far surpassed that of an ordinary human. The familiarist who had survived since the city was built was not even a pure human.

The giant’s figure completely shattered the prejudice that he would have the physique of an ordinary human, given that he had served as the head of the judicial system for so long.

Madrich looked down at Lenox and spoke again. [This charnel house is a requiem for those who have already died. At the same time, it is the last refuge for those who have not yet given up on life.]

“…….”

[Since the project failed, I have been embracing the pitiful ones who could not let go of their attachment to life.]

“…I see. That’s why you were able to exert such a strong influence on the city government,” Lenox nodded.

“You’ve been forcibly extending the time of those who couldn’t let go of their fear of death, and holding onto their souls and bodies with the bait of hope for the afterlife.”

Most of the high-ranking officials of the megacity, with their immense power, were elderly, boasting considerable age.

It was obvious that their remaining lifespan was limited unless they became a superhuman who had completed a sufficiently powerful hierarchy.

Madrich Onion was exerting a powerful influence on the city government from the boundary between this world and the next by providing a space where he could postpone death for such people.

“Was your role in the project not to make the plan succeed, but to provide insurance for investors?”

Olivia’s words that the scope of the project was so vast that there were not many overlapping areas of knowledge were not false.

All that Madrich Onion, a familiarist, could do for those facing death was to make them his familiars and use them.

They were continuing a time worse than death, bound by the ritual of familiarism to forcibly postpone death.

Without even knowing that their existence could be extinguished at any time by the will of the familiarist.

The giant, Madrich Onion, smiled. [The foolishness of choosing an uneasy rest that is worse than death out of fear of death has not changed, either now or in the past.]

“…….”

[Those who practice familiarism often warn that no one is free from death, and that only regrets remain. But even after hearing the truth, people don’t change,]

Madrich said. [It’s because they are afraid of what they don’t know. The unknown is scary. The incomprehensible is an object of fear. Familiarism is a ritual that uses that foolishness and contradiction as a source of power… But even Yorta, a city of such familiarists, could not escape that contradiction.]

Yorta’s plan to gather all the spirits and bodies of this world and build a bridge to ascension, the Night Parade.

Lenox did not know well what kind of harm the failure of that plan, created by the secrets of familiarism, had caused to the city of Yorta, but it was clear that it was a very painful mistake for them.

Even the great familiarist, who had lived for more than a hundred years and killed and collected the spirits of hundreds and thousands of people, was faintly trembling at the end of his words whenever he mentioned the failure of the Night Parade.

A clear emotional fluctuation that superhumans who have lived for a long time rarely show.

It was a projection of deep emotion that one would rarely encounter in life, but Lenox had already seen something similar once before.

Maya Lenslit, the executor of the mechanical city whom he had met in the Infinite Labyrinth of Jintun, had also reacted like that whenever she mentioned the failure of the Ascension Gate.

How painful and fatal was that failure that those who could not forget that moment and regretted it were still wandering even after tens or hundreds of years?

Was it said that the act of challenging ascension itself was great?

However, the challenge of those who are not qualified is even more tragic when it ends in failure.

Lenox was facing an existence that had engraved that simple yet difficult-to-realize truth directly into his soul after a painful failure.

The giant’s sunken gaze pressed down on Lenox’s shoulders. [The tragedy that occurs when the bridge to ascension is severed cannot be simply explained in words. In a hell where the laws of causality are distorted and the natural order is reversed, the lives of individuals are insignificant.]

“…….”

[After experiencing such a failure, even those who had denied it with all their body and mind come to accept it.]

“Accept what?”

[If destruction is inevitable, they want to live on and move on to the next… A very selfish yet pure desire.]

As the giant’s finger twitched, the glass tube that was on the tip of his finger shook, and something fell out of it.

Thud!

At the same time as the green liquid spilled onto the floor, it wriggled and transformed into a human figure.

A naked man, without a single piece of clothing, rose from his spot and slowly approached Lenox, speaking.

The voices of the old man, the man next to him, and the giant echoed together. “If you wish, I will give you the opportunity to realize that most primal desire.”

“The opportunity to realize desire…”

“The end of all living things is approaching. You must already know that.”

“…….”

“Everyone must be sensing it. That’s why we can’t be negligent in our preparations. Before the power overflowing in this city becomes uncontrollable, we must sort out and refine the necessary talents.”

A powerful control mechanism that encompasses both the light and the dark. Are they planning to unite the power of the megacity and take action before time runs out?

The new project was one of the new attempts for that grand plan.

Madrich’s cold gaze landed directly on Lenox’s face. “If you learn familiarism and gain the ability to control the spirits of living humans, you too can participate in building a bridge at the end of the stream and move on to the next. You can do it. You can become the blade that best suits our purpose in this city.”

I had guessed it since Madrich had started the conversation, but it became clear with those words.

Rather than antagonizing Lenox, he was trying to actively use his talent and ability for the benefit of the city.

The fact that he mentioned his own abilities and the secret that high-ranking city officials wanted to postpone death was also to incite Lenox’s desires.

Is it because the important thing is the control that can suppress both the light and the dark of Balkan, and the form doesn’t matter?

Apart from joining hands with Achilles Security Company to build a defense system, does he think that Lenox’s existence can act as a comparable control?

“…That’s certainly not a bad offer,” Lenox smiled.

He had been scouted and persuaded by many organizations and forces, but this was the first time he had heard such a specific and elaborate plan directly.

The control that encompasses both the light and the dark ultimately comes from a force that does not belong to either side.

It was a rather unfamiliar plan, but it was difficult to say that the idea or logic itself was wrong.

Instead of deeply involving himself in one side, could he reach the core of the city in this way if he moved alone?

Having clearly recognized that, Lenox was able to make a decision.

“And I’m also sure that I don’t need to make a deal with you.”

“…What?”

“The head of the judicial system. A powerful familiarist. A person involved in the project… But in the end, all the power you have comes from this charnel house.”

Madrich had told him various stories to persuade him, but Lenox had never once taken his eyes off the essence.

“I don’t care about the pretexts of having connections with the council or being the designer of a new project.”

Lenox smiled, staring at the silent naked man. “The condition remains the same. If you want to use me as a blade, tell me what happened in the project.”

What good was it to be a great figure, an influential person, a high-ranking city official, and a powerful maintainer?

All of Madrich’s words were ultimately just an offer to work under them in exchange for the secrets of the project.

He had no intention of throwing away all his past actions and bowing his head for such a thing.

“…The project, that damn project… Do you really think it’s that valuable?” The man, who had been bowing his head, asked quietly.

At that moment, the white chamber of the charnel house where the two were standing began to shake slightly.

“The Black Consumer Project was not a plan for the future. It was a turning point of the end that was heading towards destruction. Do you really still not understand why no one tries to mention that secret?”

“That’s not for you to judge,” Lenox said, taking out a cigarette from his pocket and putting it in his mouth.

He snapped his fingers to light it, took a deep drag, and then opened his mouth. “It’s something I’ll decide after seeing and hearing everything with my own eyes and ears. But you’re not reluctant, you’re afraid.”

“…….”

“You use the failure of the Night Parade as your own driving force, but you’re afraid to even mention the failure of the project?”

Madrich’s words were so firmly rooted in his own ideology and concepts that it was not difficult to infer his emotions.

That was not because Madrich was clumsy at hiding his thoughts, but because he had not needed to hide his thoughts for so long.

For this chief justice, who had lived for so long, it had been decades since someone had asked him for the truth, offered him a deal, or stood in front of him and confronted him like this.

“…You don’t know anything.”

“I don’t want to be afraid just because I fail. I don’t think I will be.”

That was why Lenox could unhesitatingly break through that time gap and ask him.

He provoked and awakened the emotions that he had hidden deep inside, touching his most sensitive reverse scale without hesitation.

“At least, I can’t imagine such a person standing at the end of the world.”

He denied and ridiculed all the answers that Madrich had longed for in his life from the root.

The aftermath was something that Lenox had not imagined.

“Is that so? Can you say that even after knowing what was born at the end of the project?”

At that moment, the mouths of the man and the old man standing in front of Lenox opened at the same time.

Black sparks began to fly from inside their lips.

Crackling!!!

A violent collapse phenomenon, as if trying to block the statement they were about to make.

A sign that the knot of the ban, created by binding their own power, was becoming tangled, twisted, and broken.

The sides of their lips were torn apart along the sparks, their jaw joints were shattered, and their tongues were crushed.

At that moment, when Lenox frowned at the terrible side effects of the ban, which suppressed and destroyed their own words with their own power.

The two men, grabbing their own lower jaws that had begun to completely collapse, spoke at the same time. “The Black Consumer, the failure of the project, caused the, collapse of the central city, even if it’s, a lie, a lie, a lie!!”

Thud thud thud!!

At that moment, the heads of the two men standing in front of Lenox were crushed as if they were being pushed into their necks, and they spewed out a fountain of blood.

They refused and accepted even the expression of their own will with their own will.

An extraordinary feat of embodying all those actions with their own bodies, as their heads, which had burrowed into their bodies, tore at their own hearts and shattered the blood vessels of their entire bodies, staining them crimson.

Lenox stepped back, watching the two familiars who had disappeared in an instant, turning into a puddle of blood.

“…I see.”

The influence of the ban did not end with just the familiars, but reached the giant, who was the main body.

This was the extent to which Madrich Onion, a familiarist, had used his familiars to disperse the penalty of the ban.

The power was such that it was understandable why Olivia did not mention the secrets of the project at all.

Because he was a powerful familiarist and a superhuman, the knot that he had tied using his own power created more terrible pain when it was broken.

But more than that, the last words that Madrich had said were filling Lenox’s head.

“The destruction of the central city, Ars Nova. Was the cause a byproduct of the failure of the Black Consumer Project?”