Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 450

The Well’s Boundary (1)

A vast ancient city, far too expansive to simply call it a ruin.

It was hard to believe that such a large and elaborate structure could be located in this humid jungle.

Even though only traces of it remained, swept away by time, it was clear that a considerable civilization and system had been established here.

Lenok, looking down at the city from the airship, narrowed his eyes behind his mask.

‘The light from the structures…’

Though obscured by moss and lichen, faint golden glimmers could be seen among the countless fallen structures.

It was unlikely that the entire city was a golden paradise, but it was reasonable to assume that some of the minerals that made up the structures still remained.

That would mean that the civilization that once stood in this jungle was incredibly powerful.

Powerful enough to have directly served and managed the Ascendant’s [a powerful, god-like entity] ideological domain.

“Victor, catch this.”

While Lenok was lost in thought, Leya, who had gone down to the cargo hold, tossed something to him.

Using his mana sense, he saw that it was a patch-like seal meant to be attached to the skin.

Strange, bizarre characters were chaotically drawn on the seal.

Leya showed him that she had attached the same seal below her ear and said,

“They say it suppresses the mental interference waves coming from the Well. It lasts for three days, so they told me to put it on in advance.”

“Mental interference waves?”

She shrugged at Lenok’s question.

“Well, Glen said that most people can’t last long with a clear mind and go crazy quickly.”

“…”

“They say that people start doing what the people who lived in this city used to do, but I don’t know the details.”

“Understood.”

After saying that, Lenok quietly heightened his senses without attaching the seal.

The moment the vast ruins within a radius of several kilometers entered his sensory range, an alien sensation pierced his mind.

It couldn’t break through the mage’s mental resistance, but there was an unknown force that was shaking his judgment and forcibly injecting unknown impulses.

Only then did Lenok realize that Leya’s words were not nonsense and nodded.

‘It’s not just a simple impulse. It’s definitely closer to some kind of vile ritual.’

The mental waves emanating from the deepest part of the ruined ancient city were not just the kind that drove people crazy.

Excessive excitement and pleasure, cannibalism, human sacrifice, and ritual offerings.

In a way, it was similar to the fanaticism and madness he felt whenever he encountered the priests of the Guado Order [a religious group known for their extreme beliefs].

The remnants of an ancient civilization that worshiped the Ascendant and enshrined his domain within their city.

That memory remained intact in this space, trying to dominate intruders.

‘So, the clown wasn’t just messing around earlier…’

If the reason he played a prank by casting an illusion on his new companion while he was unconscious was to test Lenok’s mental resistance, it wasn’t unreasonable.

Of course, the fact that the clown didn’t even explain it was proof that he wasn’t in his right mind.

Whooong!!

While he was lost in thought, the airship quickly circled half the city’s outskirts and landed on the border between the jungle and the ruins.

The airship’s balance didn’t waver even though a storm of unknown power was raging above.

Lenok realized this and also understood how valuable the old-world technology of Pandemonium [a powerful organization] was.

Normally, they would have had to compete with other forces to break through the complex jungle and arrive here after several days.

They had skipped all those complicated processes and arrived at this ruined city first, with just an airship capable of flying in this jungle.

“Hmm, so this is what it looked like. It’s much better preserved than I thought?”

Leya, who had landed on the ground as if she had been waiting for it, began to look around as soon as they landed inside the ruined stone wall near the city.

At the same time, dozens of people who had disembarked from the airship quickly ran out and began to spread in all directions.

Tatat!!

Without a word to Lenok and Leya, they disappeared into the city.

As the clown had said, were they planning to occupy two directions first and buy time?

Considering the number of forces and their direction and speed that he had remembered from the airship, there wasn’t much time to prepare.

“Was it Glen? What is the level of the armed forces that follow him?”

“Forces? Glen is just Glen. Not someone else.”

“…Are you saying that all those dozens of people are one person?”

“They said something about a hive mind, but I don’t know. They’re quiet and listen well, so I’m just using a few of them as my bodyguards.”

“…”

Come to think of it, as she said, a few people in black suits remained on the airship, finishing their preparations and starting perimeter security.

It seemed like a waste of time to ask any more questions, so Lenok shut his mouth.

Leya didn’t seem to know much, unlike the other members of Pandemonium who had participated in this mission, and her personality didn’t seem particularly malicious.

However, that wasn’t because she was less capable, but rather because she had such immense power that it made up for her personality and ignorance.

The clown had also suddenly cast an illusion on Lenok and tested him, but he didn’t even touch her when she hit him on the head.

He still had doubts about whether a strategy was possible with this composition, but Lenok decided to put his doubts aside and move.

“I’ll go first.”

“I’m going to look around the city. I wonder if I can take some pictures with my phone. Can I post them on social media?”

Lenok, who turned to look at Leya as she returned to the airship to find her phone, immediately kicked off.

Completely opposite to the direction where the dozens of people presumed to be Glen had disappeared.

Tatat!!

He extended and retracted his mana threads, pushing his body out into the jungle.

He climbed onto the tallest tree and carefully headed to the top at a speed that wouldn’t make him dizzy.

Lenok, who had successfully clung to the top of the giant tree, took off the watch on his left hand and tapped it a few times, and the watch strap transformed into a long telescope.

When he attached a sniper rifle scope to it, a powerful telescope that could see for several kilometers was completed.

Lenok put his eye to the lens and was unintentionally impressed by the first sight he saw.

“…Elephants?”

Booooo…!

A herd of elephants, leading their massive bodies from the outskirts of the jungle, was trampling through the forest.

Even from a distance, the destruction they were causing and the dust they were kicking up into the sky could be seen.

Riding on those elephants were people with copper-colored skin covered in tattoos.

They were constantly chanting unknown spells and emitting strange glows in all directions.

Lenok nodded as he noticed the green chain pattern engraved on their chests.

The Curse of Maengnok [a group of sorcerers], that the clown had mentioned. He had said that it was an organization formed by the sorcerers of the southern jungle.

“I need to start quickly.”

He didn’t know when the clown, who had fallen on the way, would return, but as he had said, he just had to do what he could.

“Dabi, scan the terrain within a 2km radius and simulate the installation of mana threads.”

[The mana density in the area is so strangely high that there will be a lot of errors. I’ll try to create an algorithm while taking that into account, but you have to be careful.]

“Don’t worry about that.”

Lenok quickly dropped down from the tree, and hundreds of mana threads began to spread out from both of his hands.

“I’ll take care of the errors.”

* * *

Ujijijik!!

The thick legs of the elephants moved incessantly, trampling through the trees.

In the meantime, the human bodies that had been hiding were crushed like grains of sand, scattering blood on the damp ground.

“Aaaack…!!”

Kayeon, a sorcerer riding on the back of an elephant, frowned at the fishy smell of blood rising from his nose.

“Like bugs.”

“I know, right? It’s starting to get annoying.”

The sorcerer next to him replied with a nonchalant expression.

“Were they called the Reding Revolutionary Army? They’re so persistent. If they had just followed quietly, we wouldn’t have even bothered with them.”

“It’s natural since we performed the rite of the Elephant King. How can soldiers who rely on swords and spears resist the laws of great sorcery?”

The Curse of Maengnok, a group of sorcerers based in the southern jungle.

It hadn’t been long since they had started moving as an organization, but their potential was something that no one in the southern continent could ignore.

It had only taken a long time for the selfish and self-centered sorcerers to unite, but each individual was already a skilled superhuman.

The massive elephants that the sorcerers were riding were not just simple animals.

They were summons summoned by offering massive sacrifices to the Elephant King, a deity symbolizing violent elephants, and their physical strength and durability exceeded that of a level 5 superhuman.

Considering the massive size and weight of the elephants, along with their physical abilities comparable to superhumans, they were nothing less than living war machines.

Who could stop a sorcerer unit that left close combat to the elephants and rained down sorcery from above?

It was a given that they were the most familiar with the terrain of this jungle, except for the Blood Spirit Clan who lived in the jungle with nature.

At the same time, they were using the elephant unit to crush the jungle and make a path, so there was no way they would be left behind.

Instead of following the path, they were crushing the trees and making their own path, making them one of the leading forces in this vast jungle.

Except for one airship that had disappeared into the sky above the jungle, as if mocking them.

“How long has it been since they passed over our heads?”

“About 2 hours. It’s been a while, but it’s enough to catch up.”

“We need to hurry. We can’t let the bugs that are holding us back delay the great work.”

“If we can get something from that demonic realm where we couldn’t even go alone, it will surely greatly increase our sorcery power.”

“…That’s right. Otherwise, there’s no reason to venture into the deepest part of this jungle.”

“If we can get an artifact from the altar where the Well was built…”

“Ahem, just thinking about it…”

Powerful greed filled the eyes of the two sorcerers as if they had made a promise.

Sorcery was influenced by catalysts that were as excellent and mysterious as the sorcerer’s talent.

In that sense, the remains of the ancient city that had been abandoned after its destruction were undoubtedly catalysts with immense sorcerous value.

The leader who had gathered these sorcerers and formed the Curse of Maengnok had also unified the southern jungle by wielding powerful sorcery with rare catalysts.

If it wasn’t for this moment when forces from all over the continent were gathering and invading the jungle, they wouldn’t have even dared to approach the Well.

All the other sorcerers knew that this moment of unprecedented crisis in the jungle could be an opportunity that would never come again.

Thud thud thud!!!

The speed at which the elephants trampled and broke the trees in the jungle was increasing.

The trees in the relatively inner areas, where human feet had not reached, were easily breaking and their roots were shaking.

The Well was getting closer. The sorcerers who realized this also began to urge the elephants they were riding on.

“Hey, you’re walking too slow!!”

“I should ask the Elephant King to give me a faster one, hahaha!!”

They didn’t say it directly, but they were subtly conscious of each other and competitively increasing their speed.

Every time an excited elephant sped up, the elephant next to it also leaned forward as if not to be outdone.

As they increased their speed, the surrounding scenery blurred, and they began to pay more attention to the sorcerers on either side than to their surroundings.

They were unaware that their minds were being eroded by an unknown mental wave that was quietly penetrating the minds of the excited sorcerers.

Kayeon was also trembling with excitement, as if competing with the sorcerer he had been chatting with just a moment ago.

“Faster, faster…!!”

The moment the thick legs of the elephant were about to crush a broken tree and scatter sap, trying to move forward.

Chwararararak!!!

With the sound of something falling in front of the elephant, countless threads began to scatter in all directions.

* * *

[Southwest swamp secured.]

[Establishing a line of defense on the northern mud plateau.]

[4 demonic beasts have been subjugated. Disassembling the corpses and starting transport to the airship.]

[Defense line 8 is running out of ammunition. Fire support requested.]

[The main ammunition depot is moving. Can any remaining forces come out and receive it…]

“Ah, shut up!!”

The communicator was constantly ringing inside the airship hangar.

The voices constantly coming from the communicator were strangely all from the same person.

Leya, who was lying sprawled among the cargo, munching on potato chips, snapped in annoyance.

“Glen. I can’t concentrate on my drama, can’t you be quiet?!!”

On the laptop in front of her, a drama series that she hadn’t been able to watch due to her busy schedule was playing at several times the speed.

The communicator crackled, and then a quiet voice was heard right next to her.

The man who was standing stiffly next to Leya, as if guarding her, was directly conveying his intentions.

“…I’m sorry. However, since the clown was stranded on the way, the area we have to cover has also expanded.”

“That’s your problem. Be quiet until the operation starts. Don’t you know I’m managing my condition?”

Freyja, who was famous throughout the continent, was a celebrity who lived without a break, with a schedule full all year round.

On the days when she was dragged into Pandemonium’s work, she was unintentionally given free time to enjoy the content she hadn’t been able to watch.

Leya was giving the ridiculous reason of managing her condition while watching a drama series, but Glen couldn’t easily answer her.

That was because Leya’s abilities and power were something that Glen could not ignore.

Even the ridiculous excuse of managing her condition could not be ignored because of the possibility of hindering her abilities.

“I will try to reduce the volume of the communicator as much as possible. However, I hope that Freyja will also listen to the communication in preparation for any possible situation. There is a possibility that someone might break through the defense line and intrude.”

“Okay. I know that, so let’s try to work together. Tell the other friends what I said. Okay?”

“…”

Glen closed his mouth instead of answering.

He was probably conveying the conversations they had just had to the other ‘Glen’.

Leya had roughly explained Glen’s identity to Lenok, but she was aware that he was a much more complex being.

Glen wasn’t just manipulating multiple bodies with a single mind.

There were dozens of people who believed and acted as Glen, and they were thinking, moving, and fighting as if they were one.

More like fanaticism than a mental illness, a kind of infection phenomenon from outside this world.

The dozens of people gathered here who believed themselves to be Glen were all once members of the Order who had faced the end of the outer sea and suffered from the same madness.

[I’m only saying this because we’re in this situation… but you need to be wary of the man named Victor. He might not be an ally.]

Leya chuckled at the words of another Glen that came from the communicator instead of the Glen right next to her who had closed his mouth.

“So, are we friends then? Good colleagues? Would you give your life for me?”

“…”

“I don’t like that I was suddenly dragged into this operation, but I have to understand that he’s a pick that Myung chose after going through auditions all over the continent.”

[I don’t doubt his skills. However, I’m not sure if his combat abilities are suitable for this kind of operation…]

“Stop, stop talking.”

Leya waved her hand without taking her eyes off the highlight of the drama series playing on her laptop.

“Victor is probably covering the empty area because that clown messed up anyway, right? Let’s just wait until dawn and then think about it.”

“…”

“Let me watch my drama. Okay?”

“…”

“Haa… Seriously. Fine.”

Leya sighed and got up from her seat and headed towards the instrument panel of the airship.

“I’ll watch Victor’s area and help if it looks like he’s in trouble. Is that okay?”

“…That’s enough.”

“No, even if it’s someone Myung chose, there’s no way he’d do a sloppy job… um?”