Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 486

“It’s time. Let’s begin the final service.”

Archbishop Izel Naidri, the Far East Branch Director of the Guido Order, took a moment to catch her breath before ascending the platform and opening the scripture.

With her advanced age, simply continuing the service for thousands of believers was already a struggle for her stamina.

If Izel had been a mana user, she might have been free from the issue of stamina.

However, those who traditionally served as priestesses of the Order deliberately refrained from enhancing their own personal abilities.

Accumulating ranks meant that one was complete and self-sufficient.

To receive and convey revelations from the gods beyond the Outer Sea, the priestess herself had to be essentially empty.

The priestess, who had to deliver the divine revelations right next to the Order’s leader, had to avoid anything that would hinder her mission.

Although it had been a long time since she stepped down from the position of priestess, Izel still strictly avoided accumulating ranks.

Just as Izel was about to start the service, even though the platform where the proxies were supposed to be was not fully occupied,

one of the priests kneeling in the front row opened his mouth.

“Priestess, I apologize for being presumptuous, but I have a question.”

“Speak.”

“Why did you move the Far East Branch’s location towards the Sea of Understanding?”

At the priest’s words, the commotion in the plaza quickly subsided.

This was because many within the same Order of priests were also curious about that fact.

“I understand that due to the great blessing bestowed upon the Far East Branch, we have been granted permission to sail the seas.”

“That is correct.”

“Then, wouldn’t positioning the branch in the Sea of Understanding’s territorial waters, close to the Philemon Autonomous Territory, be excessively dangerous at this time…?”

“…”

Izel stared intently at the priest without answering, and the priest quietly lowered his head.

“I am saying this for the safety of the priests gathered at the General Assembly. You know which organization has made the Autonomous Territory its base, don’t you?”

The Azure Eye.

At least among the believers gathered at this General Assembly, there wouldn’t be a single priest who hadn’t heard that name.

That name, which was insignificant before the bloodline of the Heavenly Eye took over, had now grown so immense that it was shaking the entire East.

Not only did they ultimately achieve victory in the Northern Hanghasa Labyrinth, but they also seized the Valley of the Broken Wings in the Middle East and opened a path towards the center, or so it was said.

There was no one so deaf that they hadn’t heard the news of a new force entering the stagnant front lines.

“If the Watchers [members of the Azure Eye] start appearing in the territorial waters, it might already be too late.”

“What is it that you wish to say?”

“If you allow it, I would like to offer the forces we brought from our branch to help protect the Far East Branch.”

“…”

“There is no need to elaborate on the excellence of the Correction Knights, but if the Priestess is willing to engage in conflict with the Azure Eye, we cannot stand idly by.”

Watching the high-ranking priest of the Far West Branch speak without a change in expression, Izel recalled a memory from a long time ago.

The memory of the day she commanded the Pantheon as a proper priestess.

After that person disappeared, the affairs of the Order had become so chaotic and ugly.

Even though she thought she had let go of everything, she couldn’t help but feel a pang in her heart.

“I appreciate your concern. However, there is no need for that.”

“But…”

“I will answer all your questions when the time comes, so let’s finish the service first-”

KWA-AAANG!!!

At that moment, a massive pillar of fire erupted from the giant crystal palace behind Izel.

* * *

“Did I just hear that correctly?”

Zaif’s expression showed that he couldn’t even grasp whether he had understood correctly.

“You’re going to kill Apostle Amrita…?”

The meaning and value that the Tenth Apostle Amrita held within the Guido Order were beyond words.

The Apostle Art Amrita’s Scale. It required immense offerings and sacrifices, but the strategic value of an art that enabled large-scale spatial teleportation was immense.

Naturally, the Order treated Amrita’s existence and location with extreme secrecy, to the point that no one knew where she was sleeping.

Even for Zaif, witnessing Amrita’s true form was a first in his long life.

To even talk about killing an Apostle, let alone daring to wake the sleeping Tenth Apostle, was absurd to Zaif, who hadn’t even considered touching her.

The fact that he wasn’t attacking Lenok immediately after hearing those words was proof that Zaif completely trusted Lenok.

As soon as Lenok saw Zaif’s reaction, he immediately took back his words.

“Calm down. I didn’t really mean I was going to kill Amrita.”

“…Then?”

“It just meant that we needed that much commotion to buy some time before the Archbishop starts the ritual.”

Lenok looked up at Amrita with his arms crossed.

“At the very least, the Archbishop’s goal through the ritual is definitely related to the Tenth Apostle. Isn’t that right?”

“…”

“Then, we need to make sure that the suspicion that something is wrong with the Tenth Apostle is firmly imprinted.”

“Y-yes, I see…”

“And someone has to stay behind and take responsibility for all of this in front of the Archbishop.”

Before Zaif could answer, flinching at those words, Lenok spoke first.

“I’ll stay.”

“Wait, that means…”

“You escape from here and hide while the ritual is in progress, and when I signal, you come out and help. How’s that?”

“It’s dangerous.”

Zaif’s face hardened.

“If you touch Amrita-nim, you won’t be able to avoid her wrath. No matter how much you try to stop the Archbishop’s rebellion by disrupting the ritual…”

“Wasn’t this the plan I proposed from the beginning?”

Zaif was speechless at Lenok’s calm words.

“Even in the worst-case scenario, it’s right for me to take responsibility for all of this.”

“…”

“If everything goes wrong, it’s enough if you report all of this rebellion to the main Order.”

“Apostle Evan…!!”

Zaif called out to Lenok with a choked voice.

In his mind, Lenok was already no different from a martyr sacrificing his life for his mission.

Lenok looked at Zaif’s moved face and quietly patted his shoulder.

“It was an honor to be with you, even for a short time. Even if all of this plan becomes irreversible…”

“No, I won’t say goodbye.”

Zaif bit his lip with a determined expression and turned his back.

“I’ll be waiting for the signal. I will definitely… only think about stopping this rebellion and seeing you alive.”

“…”

“I’m going.”

With those words, Zaif’s figure vanished from the room as if washed away.

He was probably planning to escape to the outskirts of the island and hide quietly where the Archbishop’s gaze couldn’t reach.

Only after confirming that Zaif’s presence and mana had completely disappeared and moved away did Lenok let out a soft sigh.

“Hoo…”

Of course, Lenok had no intention of taking responsibility for all of this and gloriously sacrificing himself in Zaif’s place.

He had simply left a suitable justification for separating Zaif at this point and left room to use him in case of an emergency.

Lenok slowly moved and stood in front of Amrita.

Without any intellect or will, she was simply focused on taking the food she was given and breathing evenly.

Nowhere in her body could one feel the grand power or high intellect of an Apostle, or even the traces of an Outer God.

However, at the foot of her massive body, a single old mirror, carelessly discarded, caught his eye.

“…!!”

Lenok flinched slightly and immediately grabbed the mirror with a mana thread.

A transparent crystal mirror processed into a hexagonal shape. Lenok had heard about the existence of this mirror once before.

While searching for a thesis on the projection rate, he had found a thesis that mentioned a rumor about such an object.

A mirror that reflects the will of existence on the land that runs on the sea.

To be precise, it reflected an existence with the same projection rate as oneself, but that was as good as saying it was another form of oneself.

Lenok looked at the mirror, took a slight breath, and subtly reflected Amrita’s figure instead of his own.

WHOOSH!

The mirror didn’t reflect a giant fur ball, but the figure of someone sitting with their back turned, not looking this way.

“…”

It was clear that it wasn’t an ordinary mirror.

Lenok took a deep breath and stood in front of the mirror.

Along with him, his own figure quietly appeared in the mirror.

However, in the reflection in the mirror, there was something else besides himself.

A single old gun, discarded at his feet. And faint letters reflected far behind the mirror.

-Waiting.

“Waiting…?”

The moment Lenok, stunned by the message he couldn’t understand, held his breath,

[…It’s ironic.]

From behind Lenok, a voice suddenly echoed.

A tall, masked figure with a talisman on his face stood with his hands behind his back, looking up at the giant fur ball.

[Even the Apostle who supported the Order’s power with the most strategic force is now just a beast that has lost its intellect and fallen into depravity.]

“…”

[Would you believe that all the atrocities happening here are purely a desperate attempt to keep her in reality?]

Gapseon’s quiet murmur was clear evidence that he also understood what was happening here.

[She’s just a pitiful being who can only sleep soundly after eating humans. A beast that uses power as it eats, and is satisfied by spitting it out…]

Gapseon’s talisman mask quietly shook.

[Can that be called an Apostle who has received the revelation of the end?]

“Are you sympathizing with her?”

At Lenok’s quiet words, Gapseon laughed hollowly.

[Of course not. I’m just saying that you should also know. That is the end of the incarnation that has received the will of the end.]

“…”

[Even the most outstanding warriors and extraordinary superhumans cannot avoid such an end. That is the cruel truth.]

Gapseon continued to speak without taking his eyes off Lenok.

[It’s only because the power of the end she serves is exceptional that she is still alive. A fate worse than death awaits the believers of the Order who serve the end.]

With those words, Gapseon slightly raised his gaze.

[Just like that.]

At that moment, the fur ball’s back cracked open, and a mouth made of sharp teeth popped out, spitting out a corpse.

CHOP CHOP CHOP!!!

A truly chilling sound, as if savoring a delicious meal, gently chewing and swallowing.

However, Lenok focused more on the remains that Amrita had spat out than on the fact that she had vomited.

Among the inorganic matter that came out of Amrita’s mouth, the faces of the proxies that Lenok remembered were mixed in.

Lenok quietly muttered as he looked at the corpses being swept away at his feet.

“They were forcibly offering the proxies who attended the General Assembly to Amrita. So…”

Perhaps they never imagined that an Apostle would devour them, their faces were stiff, unable to even resist.

They were among the relatively lower-level proxies who had gathered in the plaza. Perhaps they only understood their fate at the moment of their death.

[Archbishop Naidri did not approach the Sea of Understanding for the Apostle selection ritual.]

Gapseon’s voice turned sharp.

[Perhaps their true goal is not a new Apostle, but to transform an already existing Apostle into a higher-dimensional being.]

“You suspected that from the beginning and were conducting a separate investigation?”

[I was somewhat certain from the moment I arrived on the island. Because it is an island like this, it might hold one of the Order’s most fatal secrets.]

So he had somewhat sensed Amrita’s existence and had been inferring the existence of this space from that point on.

There was no way to know what kind of experiences Gapseon had accumulated in the Western Continent, but it was clear that he had had a close relationship with the Order at least once.

[What is happening here is likely not the Order leader’s decision. That monster enjoys keeping everything under his control, more secretly and quietly, as if everything has already been taken care of.]

“…”

It was as if he personally knew the Order’s leader.

However, Lenok couldn’t rashly refute those words.

The words and actions of the Order’s leader that he had seen in the memories of Amila Bainzer, the head of the Order’s Northeast Branch, were no different from what Gapseon was saying.

Even while recognizing that it was just a fragment of someone’s memory, his subtle words and actions were as if he had experienced the events that would unfold in the real world.

As a result, all the words the Order’s leader had spoken about the Well of the Compendium had come true without a single word being wrong.

Considering that, it was understandable that Gapseon was certain that the current movements of the Far East Branch were not part of the Order leader’s plan.

“…So you think the Order’s movements themselves are the Far East Branch’s own doing.”

[Archbishop Naidri is a former priestess, and her influence within the Order is considerable. Considering that, all of this makes sense. If the current situation is not the Order leader’s plan but the Archbishop’s own doing…]

Was he saying that now was the only chance to destroy the Far East Branch and kill Amrita?

Only then did Lenok realize why he was so actively trying to resolve this matter.

A small variable that had occurred in the Order’s movements, where everything was under the control of the Order leader and the Apostles.

However, if they could seal the Apostle Art called Amrita’s Scale, which had tremendous value.

The possibility of conflict with the Order while searching for the hidden realms to build new lighthouses across the continent would be significantly reduced.

No, beyond that, it would be possible to drastically reduce the Order’s influence across the continent.

If they borrowed Lapis’s knowledge and judgment of the central front, they could even disrupt the truce agreement between the Magic Union and the Order in the long term.

Gapseon was saying that what was happening here could be the biggest blow to the Order.

“…Okay. I understand what you want to say. I’ll cooperate.”

Lenok slowly nodded, glaring at the humans being offered to the Apostle while screaming.

“However, it’s impossible for us alone. You know that, right?”

[…]

“We need the help of at least three or more high-ranking Watchers who are specialized in combat. We need to contact Lapis and request reinforcements.”

The Watchers gathered here were capable individuals selected by Lapis’s insight, capable of dealing with various situations.

However, when it came to direct combat, they were somewhat lacking compared to Watchers specialized in that area.

Even if Lenok and Gapseon didn’t fit into that category, it was obvious that the two of them alone couldn’t face the entire Far East Branch.

“If we use the Autonomous Territory’s navy to block external intervention and directly attack Amrita to prevent the activation of the Apostle Art, we can also block the Order’s reinforcements.”

[The important thing is that we need time until the lighthouse’s reinforcements arrive.]

“I’ll buy time.”

[…You alone?]

“I’ve tampered with various parts of the temple to disrupt the ritual.”

Lenok turned his head.

“Just in case, I’ve also won over an Apostle. The safety measures are sufficient.”

In addition to that, Enakphil’s five fingers, more than a dozen remaining Blink Arts, and even the control code of Jintun.

Even if other Watchers were to die in this place, Lenok himself had more than enough means to escape at any time.

Rather, if he asked other Watchers to buy time instead of Lenok, there was a possibility that the various preparations he had made would all be ruined.

However, Gapseon seemed quite impressed by Lenok’s attitude, and after a long silence, he quietly nodded.

[That’s not an easy decision… I salute your dedication to the lighthouse.]

“Contact Pio and Leppard, and break through the Great Barrier with them.”

Lenok said, handing over a piece of paper with the control code hidden inside.

“If you use this, you can temporarily break through the island’s Great Barrier and contact Lapis. How you receive reinforcements from there is up to your abilities.”

Unlike Lenok, who was relatively specialized in moving alone, Gapseon, who handled talisman arts, would be able to receive Lapis’s help in various ways.

The reason why Lenok had to stay in this place instead of Gapseon was also there.

Gapseon, clutching the control code Lenok had given him, looked down at it silently and muttered.

[I was wrong. You are definitely similar to that man, yet different.]

“…”

[Since a young mage is so devoted, I will also do my best.]

Immediately after confirming that Gapseon had disappeared, Lenok silently looked at Amrita, who was breathing heavily.

A massive, almost completely white fur ball.

Ironically, its appearance was somewhat similar to the unknown creature that Dr. Bokmajeon had taken in the Hanghasa Labyrinth.

If it wasn’t a coincidence, then the experiment that the doctor was conducting through research was probably…

WHOOSH!

Putting aside the thoughts that he didn’t need to worry about right now, Lenok raised flames from his fingertips.

[Ignition (拔炎)]

[Evolving Fire (進火)]

[Advent of the Blazing World (赫世到來)]

Instead of simply expanding the flames as a result of the art, he combined several incantations to rapidly increase the size of the flames in a short time.

The dozens of streams of heat from the flames that rose in a spiral trajectory as if dancing along his touch, split and intertwined, instantly increasing in scale and size.

CRACK CRACK CRACK…!!

[Kuu, uuu…!!]

Amrita’s body, which had been sleeping, also trembled uneasily and cried out as the heat of the flames intensified from all directions.

Before the true form of the comfortably sleeping Tenth Apostle could fully awaken, Lenok grabbed the mana that was rampaging in all directions and chanted it into a hand seal.

Flame-type Unique Magic

[Red False Army (赤僞軍勢)]

[Lord of the Empty Flame (太虛炎主)]

At that moment, the flames that had gathered and swirled in the middle of the massive room rose straight up into the sky, transforming into the shape of a giant pillar of fire.

KWAAAAAAANG!!!

[KIIIIIIIIIIIIK!!!!]

The scream of the Tenth Apostle Amrita, who had awakened with a painful scream from the center of the pillar of fire.

The room where Amrita had been sleeping exploded as the pillar of fire soared into the sky, becoming a magnificent explosion that everyone on the island could see.

Lenok’s figure, which had soared above the room on the updraft of the pillar of fire, stretched out his hand, fully sensing the thousands of gazes looking down at him.

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH!!!

Hundreds of Correction Knights running from afar, the proxies looking back at him from the platform.

And even Archbishop Izel Naidri, who was looking back at this place with a stiff expression.

Lenok, who had taken all that shock and hostility alone, smiled as he gathered the surging flames in both hands.

“Let’s begin.”