Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 462

At the clown’s sharp remark, Leya also turned her head, as if she had something on her mind.

“Oh, right. Victor, were you originally acquainted with that person? I also talk to him whenever I meet him, but he hardly ever responds, it’s strange.”

“…Was that what you call talking just now?”

Lenok muttered, dumbfounded, and the clown quickly picked up on it.

“That’s right. Leya, are you saying you were talking to him? You were trembling and stammering, was that your way of initiating a conversation?”

“No… !”

“You and I are not that different, so let’s not be so harsh on each other. Huh?”

“You and I do completely different things, what nonsense…!!”

Ignoring the clown and Leya, who had started bickering again, Lenok quietly checked his physical condition inside his robe.

‘The effect of taking the Archangel’s Tear is definitely noticeable.’

A relic of the old world, a treasure said to extend one’s lifespan.

In reality, it was more about restoring the body’s internal time than extending lifespan, but Lenok was keenly aware of the elixir’s effects.

Considering the continuous operations from Kaius to the jungle, it would not be strange if Lenok’s body was in tatters by now.

However, he was still conscious despite fully deploying the Uroboros magic system [a complex and powerful magic system] and witnessing the outer sea.

Considering that he could not maintain his usual level of doping due to wearing a mask, it was proof that his baseline physical condition had improved.

He fumbled inside his robe, taking out ampules and elixirs, and administered them one by one.

‘If I mix painkillers and stimulants, I can hold out until I leave the jungle.’

The fact that he felt pain in the shoulder muscles where he injected the drugs was a positive sign for Lenok.

When his body was completely broken, like during the battle with Madrich, even his sense of pain would become numb.

When he felt that the painkillers had taken effect and his body could move, Lenok flicked his fingers.

Whirr!!

The mana threads that sprang from his robe grabbed onto the collapsed jungle bushes, carefully lifting Lenok’s body.

The clown watched Lenok, who was adjusting his mask and staggering to his feet, and asked.

“Oh? Victor, you’re not even answering, where are you going?”

“I have nothing to say about Kraken Acilius. You should know that he is not the kind of person to give such an opening in the first place.”

Lenok said, adjusting the shadow weave robe he had received from the Eight Peaks Fortress.

“If the operation is over, I don’t care whether the result is a success or a failure. There’s no need to stay in the jungle any longer.”

Even though he had undoubtedly shot Gye Baek into the Eye of the End above the outer sea, Kraken had called it a failure.

Was that referring to the plan that Lenok and the clown were carrying out, or was it because Kraken himself had a different purpose?

What exactly was the method Kraken used to return the codex?

Even though the operation had ended after many twists and turns, there were still many things he did not know, but Lenok decided not to worry about them for now.

Regardless of the success or failure of the plan, the achievements Lenok had gained from this operation were immeasurable.

He had confirmed the secrets of ascension and the other side of the transcendents, and in the process of facing the scenery of the outer sea and the end, he had absorbed various realizations and inspirations.

By synchronizing with Gye Baek’s consciousness, he had increased his understanding of the Geas [a magical binding or oath], and by going in and out of the well, he had recognized the crossroads of time and space. Lenok realized that his rampaging mana and intuition were gradually becoming organized.

It was proof that the Uroboros magic system, which had been unstable even after being fully implemented during the battle with Madrich, was beginning to stabilize in earnest.

It meant that Lenok was mastering his own power through more transcendent and higher-dimensional intuition and senses.

It was more urgent to check and stabilize his own achievements than to finish the aftermath of the operation right away.

There was no time to delay.

However, the clown shrugged as if he could not understand Lenok.

“No, why do you have to walk? Let’s go out together.”

“…”

“As I said before, I quite like you. I have something to talk about, so let’s not be in such a hurry.”

“I don’t know where you think you’re going with that body.”

Lenok absentmindedly fiddled with the cigarette in his pocket as he retorted.

“If you move carelessly, the bone fragments in your whole body will harden in an irreversible direction.”

Lenok, who had intervened at the last minute to finish things, was fine, but the clown, who had directly participated in the battle of the ascendants, was in terrible condition.

With all the bones and joints in his body shattered, even the slightest wrong move could lead to irreversible aftereffects.

He should not overdo it and wait for reinforcements, or someone should transport the clown with extreme care.

Of course, Lenok had no intention of taking on the task of carrying the clown out of the jungle by himself.

“Given that the airship is damaged, there won’t be any suitable means of transportation.”

“Sh, sh*t… It couldn’t be helped. Who told me to take charge of the commander’s cargo anyway?”

Leya’s face turned red as she stammered, trying to avoid responsibility for Lenok’s words, but Lenok had no intention of saying anything about it.

She had done more than expected by dropping the cargo in the plaza at the right time.

However, despite Lenok’s words, the clown grinned.

“You’re underestimating Pandemonium’s financial power, Victor.”

“What?”

“Of course, that airship was made with the precious technology of the old world, but still.”

Thud thud thud!!!

At that moment, a rough engine sound began to grow louder in the sky above the jungle.

Along with the noise that began to be heard through the morning mist, a dazzling light began to illuminate the open space.

The robe Lenok was wearing and Leya’s flamboyant dress fluttered wildly in the wind pressure.

As Lenok narrowed his eyes at the second airship that appeared from the sky, cutting through the complex jungle bushes, the clown chuckled.

“There’s no way we would have only prepared one of those.”

Behind the wide-open cargo hold of the airship, several Glens [genetically engineered soldiers] with red eyes were positioned, looking down at the ground.

* * *

Thud thud thud!!!

Although it was the second airship, it was slightly smaller than the first one they had taken.

However, it was capable of flying in the sky above this jungle, and it had the advantage of being able to look outside through the side doors without having to open the cargo hold.

No, if you had to point out something, it would be the power of Pandemonium, which was capable of operating several of these airships.

Lenok thought as he grabbed the handle next to the helicopter door and looked down at the receding ground.

Whoosh!!

The jungle scenery quickly passed by.

Lenok’s sharp mana detection captured various forces hiding in the jungle and watching this place.

The remnants of the Head military faction and the Reding Revolutionary Army, who had barely survived the monster war, or the elite troops of the Ability Awakening Corps.

The corpses of the sorcerers who had become food for the elephants he had summoned, and even the curse of Maengrok, who had not lost the power of the main force.

In addition, countless armed organizations were fighting each other in the jungle, not even knowing that the work was over.

The airship quickly glided between the giant trees amidst the smoke and flames that were constantly rising.

The clown, with IV drips all over his body, gestured with his chin towards the bottom.

“Victor, do you see it?”

“…”

The deepest part of the jungle, where human hands had not yet reached.

Even deeper than the ruined ancient civilization city where the well they had been making a fuss about was located.

At the top of the waterfall that was constantly falling without knowing its depth, a dozen people were clearly looking this way.

Their eyes were all shining brightly with a bright yellow light.

The clown also watched them intently and grinned.

“They are the Blood Spirit Tribe who live in the Great Forest. I thought they wouldn’t get involved in this, but they still showed their faces at the end.”

“…”

“They are a tribe known to read the movements of the stars and predict the future. At one time, they were the target of poaching because of the speculation that their abilities might be directly connected to the outer sea, but what about now?”

The clown smacked his lips.

“I wanted to take one as a specimen and study it if I had the chance, but it’s a shame.”

“You seem to have a similar hobby to the professor.”

At Lenok’s indifferent reply, the clown’s eyes lit up.

“Oh… This is really an unusual remark for a newcomer. Could it be that someone I know is wearing a mask and acting?”

“…”

It was not worth responding to, so Lenok simply ignored it.

The clown, as if he had not been serious, changed the subject without a care.

“Well, it’s not that we don’t have anything in common, but I guess you could say that what we do is different. He gets his hands on everything, but I tend to avoid things that are inefficient.”

The clown said, smiling with a bit of his makeup smudged.

“It’s not something to be proud of, but sometimes I need to ‘vent’. You can understand that, right?”

“Ugh.”

Leya, who had been constantly tapping on the phone that Glen had brought from behind, made a disgusted gesture.

The clown ignored it, but Lenok’s feelings were not much different from Leya’s.

A very talented and cunning illusionist. His abilities were enough to call him a big shot even in Pandemonium, but he was someone whose inner thoughts should not be trusted.

How could he be so uninhibited as to reveal his flaws and disgrace and make them a joke?

His appearance, mocking himself and others with his mind so broken, was worthy of being called a clown.

That was why Lenok decided not to talk about the clue he had obtained while looking at the scenery of the outer sea at the last moment.

It was just an unconfirmed guess. If he did not properly confirm this and look back at his actions so far…

“Victor, are you listening?”

“…Continue.”

The train of thought that had been following was abruptly cut off by the clown’s words.

One of the many Glens who had been waiting quietly behind him spoke softly.

“We need to decide on a destination before we completely leave the jungle. It’s the only way to avoid being checked.”

“…Checked?”

“The main forces of the Reding Revolutionary Army and the Head military faction will be waiting outside this jungle, not inside.”

The Glen replied with a blank face.

From the moment he had willingly offered his heart as a tribute to the clown, there had been a hint of it, but his emotions seemed almost non-existent.

The way he had subtly checked Lenok at first was gone, and he was now answering his questions obediently.

Was it a sign that his skills were recognized just by surviving this operation?

“Especially the Revolutionary Army is an armed organization mainly composed of the air force… Even with the power of illusion, it will be difficult to escape the surveillance network.”

“What are you going to do?”

The clown asked, looking at Lenok.

“We’re thinking of going to Tokerphuz to recover. There’s also a message left by Acilius, so we need to find a way to contact the commander.”

“It seems you can’t usually contact the commander.”

“You can say that again.”

The clown smiled, curling up the corners of his mouth in a playful manner.

“Even Agnetta can only contact the commander when he wants to. There’s no special way to deal with someone who manipulates the mental network better than a spider.”

“…”

It seemed that there were few people who could contact the commander even within Pandemonium.

He could understand to some extent why Soryu had reacted so sensitively to Lenok’s words that he had met the commander.

However, Lenok looked down at the jungle scenery as if he was thinking about the clown’s suggestion, and then his eyes lit up as if he had found something.

“Let’s get off here. Slow down.”

“…Are you serious?”

“I have something to tell Hylea separately. Tokerphuz is too far.”

Lenok also knew what Tokerphuz was like.

A city of entertainment and pleasure. One of the major cities that virtually leads the trends and culture of the continent.

In the history of the continent, it was a relatively recently built city, but it was located at a transportation hub in the Western Continent, where many external forces passed through.

It was probably also where Freya Kalins was preparing for her South Continent tour performance.

The problem was that the central front line was blocking the crossing between Tokerphuz and Vulcan.

He was curious about how Pandemonium would handle the situation, but if he returned to Vulcan from there, there was a high possibility that he would waste time unnecessarily.

The clown, realizing that Lenok had made a decision, smacked his lips with a regretful expression.

“Tsk, there are many interesting things to see in Tokerphuz, I wanted to show them to you, it’s a pity.”

“…”

Considering Leya’s crumpled expression and the clown’s nature, it was obvious that it would not be a pleasant pastime.

Lenok chuckled and was about to jump out towards the edge of the jungle that was slowly appearing as he slowed down, when the clown took something out of his pocket and threw it at Lenok.

“Here, take this.”

“What is it?”

It had an appearance similar to a playing card. The writing and pictures were different from what Lenok knew, but the atmosphere itself was similar.

As Lenok stretched out his mana threads to barely catch the card he was about to drop and turned it over, the clown said.

“There will be a gathering near the satellite city of Vulcan soon.”

“A gathering?”

“I heard that the people who recover the relics of the old world gather to do a mid-term check sometimes, I guess that’s it.”

Leya, who was tapping on her phone without even turning her head, nodded at the clown’s words.

“You might be able to receive unnecessary relics depending on your contribution, and if you take that, it might be helpful.”

The clown raised himself up on the stretcher and smiled.

“Even though I’m like this, I’m a pretty well-known name among the friends who work in the south.”

Was he already starting to recover his condition after getting a few IV drips?

Apart from being a master of illusion, the clown was also a powerful physical fighter.

“A check-up to recover and distribute relics of the old world…”

It was likely that he would see various talented people like Hylea and Soryu, rather than monsters like Kraken or the clown.

However, if it was something that would happen in a satellite city near a large city, it might not be a bad idea to go there once.

Lenok nodded, thinking that.

“I’ll keep it in mind.”

“If things go well, don’t forget my name. See you next time~.”

“If you don’t die and come to Tokerphuz, I’ll give you a concert ticket.”

The clown waved his hand, and Leya nodded, taking her eyes off her phone.

It was hard to believe that they were the people who had been risking their lives for a single goal until a day ago, but what did it matter?

If there was a strong sense of camaraderie or bond in this organization made up of all sorts of psychopaths and outlaws, that would be even stranger.

Many things had happened since he had left the big city for a while, but the harvest was enough to be sorted out and pondered over when he returned to the city.

Lenok did not look back and jumped out of the helicopter.

The robe that fluttered over the hot sky of the jungle seemed to disappear in a flash,

Then, riding the hot wind, he glided like a glider and plunged sharply towards the outskirts of the jungle.

Koo-oong!!!

The impact crushed several layers of shields under his feet, unleashing a massive shockwave in all directions.

It pushed the two forces that had been confronting each other in the bushes almost simultaneously to both sides.

“Kuh…!!”

“It’s a mage!!”

“Why is a dog of Pandemonium here…!!”

The exchange of mana that was constantly erupting from all directions.

It was no different from the fierce battles taking place in the jungle, but the opponents were very different.

“Oh my, this is perfect.”