Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 455

The Ascended Compendium (2)

The Ascended Compendium coiled like a snake atop the towering altar, its form surveying all directions.

Above the spiraling altar, the sky cracked open as if space itself was breaking, revealing a glimpse of a vast, dark sea beyond.

A great Ascended being, awakened from a long slumber and summoned into reality the moment the well opened.

Just existing in the same space was enough to exert an overwhelming pressure that crushed and bound everything.

Even Lenok, who was manipulating mana from the middle of the stairs, had to hold his breath due to the shocking presence.

Lenok, peering intently from behind his mask, muttered involuntarily,

‘A snake guarding the well…’

Who would have thought that it wasn’t just a metaphor, but a blatant description of the Compendium’s true nature?

He thought he hadn’t taken a single word of the cult leader lightly… but that thought itself was a delusion.

The Ascended Compendium was not human, but a massive, sentient snake.

‘That crazy bastard…’

‘He actually woke up an Ascended being!!’

‘Is that… the spiritual snake of the Southern Continent, called the god of the jungle…?’

The superhumans, unable to even speak properly, gritted their teeth and slowly retreated.

The Redding Revolutionary Army, the Ability Awakening Front, and the Head Military Faction. Those who had been rushing to kill Lenok just moments ago were now distancing themselves as if they had made a pact.

A transcendent being challenging ascension at the apex of predators.

The human bodies before it instinctively cried out that they were nothing more than prey.

Not a human or even a humanoid with similar intelligence, but a pure spirit.

Born as a beast, it had honed itself, inherited a mission, and obtained the qualifications for ascension.

In this world dominated by humans, what had happened for that giant snake to reach its current position? Lenok probably wouldn’t understand even if he heard it directly.

That’s why Lenok could understand why information about the Compendium was so poorly known.

It was already unrealistic for a human to reach level 9, but who could understand that a monster, not even a humanoid, had reached that level?

The story that one of the beasts living in this jungle had overcome astronomical odds and achieved that miracle was hard to believe even if told in words.

Only those who faced the Compendium in this place and recognized its presence could understand.

The most powerful and greatest predator in this vast jungle.

An Ascended being who had not only reached the top of the food chain but had also transcended the basic laws of the survival of the fittest had appeared before their eyes.

The Compendium quietly observed the people, then slowly lowered its sharp pupils.

‘A familiar scene…’

Unlike other superhumans, the snake did not use telepathy.

It simply spoke clear human language, which was hard to believe was coming from a reptile’s forked tongue.

Lenok didn’t know it, but it was evidence that she had once tried to interact and get along with humans.

‘Where am I now?’

‘……’

Everyone held their breath at the Ascended being’s quiet soliloquy.

Those who didn’t understand the meaning of the words were frightened, and those who did understand were questioning.

Lenok also noticed that the Compendium’s words were strange and listened carefully.

‘The words don’t make sense. Is the timeline out of sync?’

According to the clown, this massive ancient ruin and altar were built for the purpose of offering sacrifices to the Ascended Compendium.

Even if a long time had passed and only traces remained, shouldn’t it remember the form and purpose of the plaza?

But the overwhelming transcendent being that was now suppressing the crowd seemed to have no idea where it was.

‘I thought I was having an endless dream… Am I awake now…?’

Naturally, the direction of the question turned to the clown, who was still standing in front of her.

The one who seemed to have opened the well at the end of the altar, with an appearance far removed from humans. The alien mana flowing from his body.

The first being to greet the Compendium. It was only natural that the next question would be directed at the clown.

But the clown’s answer was completely different from what everyone had expected.

[What does it matter where is a dream or reality?]

Where this place is. Why the Compendium was awakened. Why the well was opened.

The clown didn’t tell the Compendium anything. He just whispered in a sly tone, his burning eyes gleaming.

[The boundary between dream and reality, isn’t it up to you to decide where to stand?]

‘You’re trying to mislead me…’

The giant snake slowly lowered its head and closed its eyes.

As if trying to dredge up long-forgotten memories.

But only for a moment, the Compendium opened its eyes with a look of regret and slowly muttered.

‘But that’s not wrong. I don’t remember many things… I do know that two are missing.’

[……]

‘Cheon-gyeon and Jin-dun… I can’t sense their presence anywhere on this planet. Has the moment we feared and desired finally arrived?’

Lenok smiled bitterly, inwardly at the transcendent sensory ability that was hard to believe even after hearing it.

Was it saying that it had checked all the life signs of the Ascended beings while sitting in the middle of the jungle?

The clown, listening to the Compendium’s somewhat despondent voice, quietly began to form hand seals.

[Where is the end in the cycle of life and death?]

A truly audacious act of chanting a spell in front of an Ascended being.

But the Compendium was clearly aware of the action, yet it was just staring at the clown.

[But if you wish, I might be able to help you wake up from your dream, just for a moment.]

‘……A dream?’

[Kihihit, then do you think this is reality? This pathetic scenery where the city and civilization you cherished and loved have been ruined and abandoned?]

‘……’

Above the silent Compendium, Leya’s song echoed even at this moment.

A sound that shook the entire plaza, yet conversely, seeped quietly into the heart, enveloping the Compendium.

As if the songs she had sung so far were just a warm-up, the sound decreased and its density increased.

A quiet humming that seemed to be prepared only for a single Ascended being.

The Compendium listened intently, as if bewitched by the subtle tone that resembled a flute.

The clown didn’t miss the opportunity and whispered, completing the hand seals.

Crack…!!

[You want to pretend you don’t understand, even though you do. Even a lowly creature like me feels the same way, wanting to wake up from a nightmare as soon as possible.]

With those words, a dark green flame bloomed from the clown’s fingertips.

The flame, flickering slowly between his five fingers, was much larger than the clown’s body, but in front of the Compendium, it was as small and precarious as a mere candle.

But from the moment the flame bloomed, the Compendium’s pupils began to tremble slightly, following the fire.

[Once you fall into a comfortable sleep, you’ll wake up from your dream and return to reality, like a lie…]

‘……’

The clown’s actions were incomprehensible.

The other superhumans, who had been watching the scene with bated breath, gritted their teeth and cursed.

‘He’s completely insane… What the hell is he thinking?’

‘Is he planning to play the clown in front of an Ascended being?’

‘Does he think he can prolong his life even a little by doing that? Even if he’s not in his right mind, is he going to play tricks in front of a transcendent being like that?’

While others, unable to understand the clown’s actions, were uttering confused curses.

Lenok, who belatedly realized what the clown was trying to do, let out a hollow laugh.

‘Is he planning to deceive the Ascended being and cast an illusion… He’s definitely gone mad.’

The clown’s words and actions were somehow detached and calm. Even though the situation had reached this point, Leya’s voice continued to echo without interruption.

And surprisingly, the Ascended being seemed to be reacting to that series of events.

Considering the abilities of the two, there was only one conclusion.

The clown was planning to cast an illusion on the Compendium to deceive its perception until the moment Gye-baek entered the well.

The arrogance of daring to deceive a transcendent being challenging ascension with an 8th level power.

Who could dare to say that the very idea wasn’t a delusion born from madness?

But what was even more surprising was that the attempt itself didn’t seem entirely futile.

The snake’s pupils, which had been staring at the clown’s flame, slowly rotated at some point and began to close slowly.

Shuuuuuu…!

At the same time, the overwhelming presence that had been pressing down on the entire plaza gradually faded and changed, allowing them to breathe.

A miracle of an 8th level illusionist successfully casting an illusion on a fully realized Ascended being.

It was a result that was hard to believe even with one’s own eyes, but there was no way that this was happening without any reason.

Lenok nodded inwardly, guessing the cause and effect.

‘It’s clear that the Compendium’s memories are not intact. At that level, it must be suffering from a curse-like amnesia.’

The cult leader’s words that the snake guarding the well had forgotten its mission.

The story of the Blood Spirit Clan who had become so engrossed in their given mission that they had forgotten it.

The message that the snake’s time had turned back, and everything in the jungle had lost its meaning.

If all the circumstances were pointing to similar information, the answer was clear.

If the Compendium was not just suffering from forgetfulness, but had fallen into such a long sleep that it didn’t even remember what it was doing.

If the clown and Leya were aware of that fact and were planning to actively exploit it.

It might be possible to realize the delusion of trapping an Ascended being in an illusion at the boundary between dream and reality.

By using Leya’s song to forcibly maintain the Compendium’s mind in a state of calm, and to mislead the Compendium into accepting the clown’s illusion.

A reckless gamble that could never be attempted except for this fleeting moment when it had just woken up and its memories were unclear.

The clown was trying to succeed in a way that no one else could have imagined in this place.

‘So… it was all a dream…’

The illusory flame that an 8th level illusionist had fully chanted and ignited.

It was a kind of localized domain that compressed and materialized the clown’s twisted mental image.

The spell, amplified to its limit by the clown’s geas [a magical compulsion or oath], went beyond deceiving and twisting reality, reaching a point where it could manipulate cause and effect.

A true illusion is not about forcibly imposing and forcing it on the opponent.

The epitome of contradiction, so meticulously crafted that the opponent accepts that they want the illusion themselves.

Reversing the perception of the illusion itself, making the opponent desire it wholeheartedly.

The Compendium’s massive pupils slowly closed, and its massive head began to rest between the altar.

‘It was a terrible dream… I don’t want to dream it again… I want to wake up quickly and go back to my children… I want to go back to my children…’

[They must be waiting even now.]

The clown whispered softly.

[Once you have a comfortable sleep in your dream, you will finally be able to return to reality.]

‘Yes, I wish that were so…’

The giant snake’s body coiled around the altar and sank as if falling asleep. A silence so quiet that not even a breath could be heard.

A miracle that forced even those who had not understood the clown’s intention to deceive the Ascended being into sleep to understand.

At the very moment when the Compendium’s head seemed to twist and rest between the altar’s massive rings.

The snake muttered with its eyes closed.

‘But child, it has been hundreds of years since I last dreamed.’

[…Huh?]

At that moment, the Compendium’s tail disappeared from its spot and struck the clown’s body, which was standing on the altar.

KWAHAAAAANG!!!!

The clown’s elongated, bent body flew at supersonic speed and crashed tens of meters below the altar.

[Kyahak…!!]

The Compendium opened its eyes, looking down at the clown’s body, which was trembling and making an unknown screech.

At the same time, a massive pressure that was incomparable to before pressed down on all sides, and the atmosphere began to burst.

A storm raged.

KUOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

‘I loved everything that remained in the flow of time.’

The Ascended being, raising its head that had been leaning against the altar, muttered.

‘The children buried in the sands of memory. Everything I couldn’t hold onto and lost.’

‘Did it fail…!!’

For some reason, the Compendium had rejected the clown’s illusion and stood up.

Realizing this, Lenok immediately moved away from the spot and used a blink spell to distance himself from the altar.

He looked for the clown’s body, which had been hit by the Compendium’s tail and was buried among the debris.

‘This is…’

The elongated, demonic figure was still the same, but its upper and lower body were on the verge of being severed.

It was a gruesome sight that made it doubtful whether it was even alive.

[Eugegegegek…!!]

While Lenok hesitated, the clown, with burning eyes, let out a bizarre scream.

Crack!!

At the same time, its elongated body began to reattach and regenerate as if finding its place on its own.

‘……’

It was enough to give the illusion of seeing a mass of monsters rather than an illusionist.

The clown muttered blankly.

[The timing was close, but I failed… Should I have just waited for support?]

‘What?’

Just as Lenok was about to ask again, the blackening sky of the jungle turned completely black.

At the same time, screams and roars began to rapidly close the distance from the depths of the dense forest.

[HAAAAAAA!!!]

A terrible sensation as if tens of thousands of people were screaming at the same time.

It was difficult to endure even though he had experienced it once. Or rather, perhaps it was because he was clearly aware of its existence.

If Lenok was like this, it was obvious how the other superhumans would react.

‘It’s Gye-baek… The corrupted monster has arrived…!!’

‘No, no… Already… This isn’t right…’

‘It’s different from the plan, different… This sound… It’s calling… It’s calling me…’

[It’s calling meeeeeeeeeee!!!!]

At the same time as the bodies of a few superhumans who couldn’t endure it turned black, they were dragged into the depths of the forest with chains around their necks.

Immediately after, there was an impact as if the ground had been completely gouged out and the ground had collapsed, and a massive black sphere appeared at the outermost edge of the plaza.

[HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAK!!!]

A gruesome sight of tens of thousands of people, their entire bodies blackened, huddled together and flailing their arms.

There was no sign of intelligence anywhere in that form, and only a desperate scream echoed as if it had been covered in all the grudges and hatred of this world.

At the same time as the Compendium’s well opened, it accurately locked onto its direction and traversed thousands of meters in an instant.

In the process, the nature of the jungle was ruined and destroyed to the point where it would be difficult to restore it, but that was also a minor problem.

The giant snake, which had barely opened its eyes, and the monster that had become a living mass of geas, faced each other.

The plaza, which had seemed endlessly wide when hundreds of people were freely running around, now seemed narrow and full in an instant due to the confrontation of the two Ascended beings.

The Compendium and Gye-baek.

Now, there were less than ten left on this planet, transcendent beings who had earned the qualifications to challenge ascension.

One had forgotten its mission in the endless flow of time, and the other had gone mad, crushed by an irresistible fate.

Even though they had the power and qualifications to reach the pinnacle, they were still living and moving pathetically.

Even Lenok forgot to breathe and just stared intently at the confrontation of the two Ascended beings.

How many people had longed for and waited for this moment?

How many people were secretly holding their breath and stealing a glimpse of this moment?

With the massive well, revealing a glimpse of the outer sea, above their heads,

The two transcendent beings, their bodies and minds broken, faced each other for the first time.

[I need to completely revise the plan…]

The clown, who was pathetically buried in one side of the plaza’s debris, muttered while trembling.

[The Compendium refused to fall asleep. A war of Ascended beings is about to begin.]