Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 488

The One Loved by the Gods (2)

The underground prison of the burned-down temple.

Lenok was confined in the most secluded and remote solitary cell.

Despite wearing the common overcoat provided at the lighthouse, a chilling cold seeped into his body without restraint.

He wanted to toss and turn to escape the cold, but the heavy chains binding his limbs suppressed even that action.

Clank!

The handcuffs made of navy alloy were thicker than Lenok’s forearms. They were likely a type of blocking metal designed to suppress the flow of mana.

However, Lenok was unable to move not because of the handcuffs’ function, but because of their sheer weight.

While a dozen Correction Knights surrounded the prison, watching Lenok’s every move,

Thud!

Footsteps echoed from the end of the corridor, approaching the prison.

It was Gerbin Melwood, the grim-faced captain of the Correction Knights, who arrived in an instant.

Gerbin stared down at the bound Lenok with a blank expression and muttered to the knights behind him.

“I told you to sever all the tendons in his limbs.”

“…We apologize. Our strength was not enough to pierce the skin of that mage.”

“Even after applying twenty layers of mana-blocking devices?”

“It seems there’s a special seal on his bloodline itself.”

Of course, there was no such thing. Lenok, unaffected by the blocking devices, was simply layering a simple barrier over his skin.

However, there was no way the Correction Knights could know that Lenok was not affected by the restraints.

The belongings they confiscated when they captured Lenok were just miscellaneous items like daggers and lighters, which Lenok didn’t need right now.

Gerbin rebuked the knights as if scolding them.

“You should have called the Executors to handle it properly. Didn’t we say that even if his limbs were severed, he would still be a suitable sacrifice as long as he was alive?”

“That’s…”

“Enough with the useless theatrics.”

Lenok, who had been listening to the knights’ conversation, chuckled.

“It’s hard to listen anymore.”

“What?”

“If you really intended to cut off my limbs, you would have done it right there with the Executors and knights gathered. Wouldn’t you?”

“…”

Of course, it wasn’t that Lenok had thrown himself into a reckless gamble, only belatedly worrying about his safety after being captured.

He remembered that all of the hundreds of corpses offered to the Apostle Amrita in the secret passage of the armory had no wounds other than the holes under their armpits.

In other words, it was evidence that the sacrifice’s body had to be without any wounds for a proper human sacrifice to the Apostle.

Lenok had been aware of this fact from the beginning, which is why he was able to confidently surrender in front of Izel.

If Izel really intended to use Lenok as a living sacrifice for the offering, she wouldn’t even think of touching Lenok’s body in the first place.

The fact that no one tried to inflict a wound, only bringing blades close, even when he was surrounded by the Executors, was also evidence to support his assumption.

“They can’t inflict any wounds until right before offering me to Amrita… Your subordinates must know that…”

“How dare you…”

Gerbin’s face, contorted with anger, suddenly withered as if a switch had been turned off.

Gerbin, returning to his expressionless face, affirmed in a gloomy tone.

“You’re right. This kind of thing doesn’t suit me after all.”

“Did you receive orders?”

“We need to give the impression that we can cut off your limbs at any time, so you’ll stay put until the ritual begins.”

Gerbin’s eyes sharply scanned Lenok’s entire body.

“Though, looking at you now, it doesn’t seem necessary.”

“Your loyalty is impressive.”

Lenok smiled.

Gerbin’s eyes flickered faintly as he looked at Lenok.

“You’re not afraid.”

“Afraid?”

Lenok, staring at Gerbin’s face through the bars, chuckled.

“I don’t really know what that ritual is in the first place. I’m not one to fear what I don’t know.”

“No, everyone is afraid.”

Gerbin shook his head firmly.

“Those who violate the great doctrine and try to plunge everything into chaos become like that. The unknown is frightening, eerie, grotesque, and makes them tremble.”

“…”

“But you don’t seem to be like that.”

He wasn’t wrong.

For Lenok, who possessed target-designation resistance, these restraints were practically meaningless.

Moreover, as long as he had the control code for Jindun, he was confident that he could remove all these restraints with his own power at any time.

He was only slightly uncomfortable moving his body, but in reality, he was recovering his mana in a state no different from when he first visited this island.

It would be strange if he were afraid in this situation.

However, Lenok knew what Gerbin was talking about, but he didn’t bother to pretend to be afraid.

Rather, if he were to be caught faking such emotions, it was clear that they would become much more wary and try to pressure him even more.

“If you’re hoping for help, you’d better give up.”

Gerbin threatened, as if reading Lenok’s thoughts.

“Now that we’ve dealt with the internal problems of the Order, all remaining forces are focused on external security. There won’t be any more brazenly crawling in through the sewers.”

“I see… You already knew that much.”

As Lenok closed his eyes with a calm demeanor, Gerbin was about to say something more, but.

He quickly lowered his head at the rustling sound of fabric nearby.

Izel Naderi was standing there, looking perfectly fine.

Although she was wearing the splendid attire of the Grand Priestess, her skin was as white and pale as porcelain, as if she was about to perform a ritual.

Izel, with a bizarre appearance where the blood vessels were visible on her bleached cheeks, nodded with a blank face.

“Gerbin, there are knights who need your strength. Go.”

“But, High Priestess, this one’s abilities are not something that we alone can stop…”

“Gerbin.”

Gerbin’s words stopped abruptly at Izel’s soft voice.

Gerbin silently bowed and disappeared without saying anything more.

Izel, looking around the quiet corridor near the underground prison, chuckled with her arms crossed.

“This prison was originally made to restrain and transport Apostles. It’s located underground in the temple, but it’s designed to be detachable.”

“…”

“When I was the High Priestess, there were many shortcomings in how I managed the Order. Because of that, I often had to use coercive measures when I couldn’t properly convert those with sufficient aptitude.”

A faint smile appeared on her hard, porcelain-like face.

“But now that we have enough followers and can reliably select those with aptitude internally, it’s all just a distant memory… Huhu.”

“You seem happy.”

At Lenok’s blunt words, Izel turned her gaze.

“Yes. To be honest, I am happy. After a long period of anguish, I feel like I’ve finally earned the right to return to my true nature.”

“…”

“While He wandered in an endless dream, I also tried everything, but I couldn’t find any answers. I was impatient and made mistakes, and I lost the power of revelation.”

The faint smile on Izel’s face was instantly replaced by anger.

Her emotional fluctuations were extreme, as if boiling. It was clear that she could no longer maintain the emotions of an ordinary human, both mentally and physically.

Otherwise, there would be no reason for her to come to Lenok and tell him her personal story like this.

“I thought that all the meaning we had built together had lost its luster. Even so, I tried to lead the Order in a better direction… but I realized that even that was something I couldn’t do as I pleased.”

Lenok did not miss the sight of the tiara on Izel’s bowed head.

“The way to atone for my mistakes and return to His side was not to dedicate myself to worldly affairs. What I had to do was not in this world, but to hear the revelations coming from beyond.”

“…”

“I would do anything to regain that power.”

Izel whispered.

“And that no one could hold me accountable after the plan succeeded.”

Only then did Lenok understand why Izel was telling him these things directly.

Her absolute confidence in the success of this plan. She was convinced that there was no possibility of failure now that things had progressed this far.

Clearly, Izel also had a vague idea about Lenok’s identity and the existence of other Watchers.

Perhaps she was aware that the mage Evan was a War Mage who had survived the Hanghasa Labyrinth.

But even those variables, she had already concluded, were meaningless in the face of the ritual she was about to begin.

Thump!

At that moment, the entire underground corridor of the temple moved as if it were writhing, changing the terrain and forming a huge slope leading to the surface.

The prison where Lenok was confined moved as if sliding, rising through the slope.

Lenok frowned, realizing that it was not just the ability of this prison, but a natural phenomenon that was familiar to him.

“The rising currents of mana that only exist in the Sea of Understanding. Have they gained enough skill to apply it to a limited local area?”

Izel did not answer.

However, Lenok understood that the silence was, in a way, Izel’s answer, and his eyes widened.

If she, who had been unable to control her emotions and had been blurting out her own story, suddenly fell silent on this topic.

There must be a significant meaning in that itself.

“I see. If the reason you stayed in the Sea of Understanding for so long was to fully understand and properly use the power of this sea, then in the end…”

“Keep babbling.”

Izel turned to Lenok and smiled.

“Everything has progressed faster than expected due to your existence, and all preparations are complete. All that remains is to create a vessel to receive the great revelation…”

Faint cracks began to spread across Izel’s skin, which was as hard as white porcelain.

Crack, crack…

She didn’t even care about the pieces of skin falling at her feet, as if they were about to break and peel off at any moment.

Izel gently stroked her cheek where the cracks were spreading and quietly murmured.

“I will be the first being in this world to reach a new ascension.”

* * *

A huge cage made of navy metal stood in the center of the grand temple’s chapel.

Several dozen Correction Knights surrounding the prison placed their hands on the blades at their waists and silently walked towards the altar beyond the chapel.

The Order’s military force, several times the size of the Correction Knights, filled all sides of the temple, and priests climbed onto the huge railings, guarding all sides without any gaps.

All of these series of actions were part of the process of transporting a single mage to the altar.

Lenok was watching the priests and knights of the Order, who were constantly moving busily around him, with a blank face.

A magnificent posture of not letting their guard down even after putting handcuffs and shackles as thick as steel bars on his limbs and sealing all of his mana.

Although parts of the huge crystal palace were scorched by the flames Lenok had unleashed, its shape and grandeur were still intact.

They passed through the chapel of the temple, which had been completely burned down, and headed to a huge altar located deeper inside.

The figure of the 10th Apostle, Amrita, sleeping while slowly breathing on the altar. Although her fur was slightly singed, she was as peaceful as if there had never been any commotion.

And dozens of magic circles drawn in crimson blood, forming a circular ripple around the center of the Apostle.

On all sides of the altar’s walls, hundreds of humans were hanging alive, uttering meaningless screams and spasms.

In the center of that grand and chillingly gruesome scene, Izel Naderi stood dressed in the neat attire of the Grand Priestess.

Behind her, a dozen Executors stood tall, as if observing the current situation.

They were the most powerful individuals representing each branch of the Order, but at this moment, they were all silent, with their mouths tightly shut.

It was because they understood that the ritual Izel Naderi was about to perform was a kind of revelation that was not easily seen even within the Order.

A selection ritual that she, who had already lost her power as a High Priestess, was performing by borrowing the special environment of the Apostle Amrita and the Sea of Understanding.

The authority of a High Priestess within the Order was practically equal to or surpassed that of an Apostle.

It was only natural that the Executors, who had been longing to be selected as Apostles through this ritual, had been waiting for this moment like madmen.

“Come closer.”

The cage where Lenok was confined slowly floated near the altar where Amrita was sleeping.

“Uu…”

“Uh, uh…”

“Huk…!!”

The groans of the people who were still alive and hanging on the altar.

Their bodies were automatically reacting and screaming, even though they had already lost consciousness due to the constant pain.

Lenok stared blankly at the gruesome scene of the altar that was right in front of him, and asked Izel, who was looking down at him from above.

“Are you planning to hang me among those people and display me now?”

“Of course not.”

Izel smiled gently.

“Naturally, the most delicious delicacy should be eaten last.”

“…”

“Right before the ritual ends and everything returns to its place, you will become the cornerstone of the great plan. You can be proud enough.”

“You’re just saying in a roundabout way that you’re feeding me to a beast.”

“Once the ritual begins, nothing can return to the laws of the world.”

Izel did not lose her composure even at Lenok’s mocking words.

“So, if you have any last words to leave in this world, it would be best to say them all now.”

“…”

Izel turned her head away from Lenok, who did not answer.

“I will now begin the ritual of selecting an Apostle.”

She slowly began to form hand seals and utter unknown divine words.

At the same time, a huge magic circle formed in a large circle around the altar, began to rise and emit light without ceasing.

Woo-oo-oong…!!

Lenok realized that the magic circle was a modified form of Jindun’s barrier formation.

After obtaining Jindun’s legacy, Izel had been using a part of the barrier magic, refining it into the form she desired.

Lenok, trapped inside the prison, calmly watched the glow of the magic circle and waited for the right moment.

‘Not yet.’

He had to aim for a more decisive moment, a single moment where Izel and the Executors would not be able to avoid the backlash.

Kugugugugu!!!!

The magic circle deployed around the altar rose from its place and began to rotate.

The blood-red magic circle drew a three-dimensional trajectory, rotating around the altar and forming a huge spherical shape.

The humans trapped inside began to scream in agony, one by one losing their breath.

“S, save me…”

“I was wrong. I was wrong…!!”

“Aaaaugh…!!”

The more the lives of hundreds of humans were offered, the faster the rotation of the magic circle became, and the pressure intensified as if it would burst the space itself.

The spiritual pressure, swelling as if it would burst the sky above the altar, became endlessly heavy as if it would crush even the soul.

Finally, it surpassed its limit and burst something entirely.

Ppeo-eo-eo-eong!!!

The shockwave of the crimson-black ripple that swept through his vision reversed all the colors he could see.

Immediately after the ear-splitting roar, the surroundings calmed down as if by a lie.

It was not that the surroundings had become quiet, but rather an alien sensation as if the sound had been blocked.

The moment he noticed, the scenery around the altar was already submerged in endless darkness.

“Hmm…!”

“This is… could it be!”

The appearance of the altar, which had turned completely black, was completely different from the white scenery of the temple.

The Executors, who realized the meaning of the scenery that had darkened in an instant, let out different groans with stiff faces.

Lenok also stiffened his face, realizing that the déjà vu he was feeling existed in his memory.

‘The well…’

The scenery of the outer sea that he had seen through the well of the compendium.

It was because he felt the manifestation of the overwhelming presence he had felt there was approaching along with Izel starting the ritual.

The process of Izel Naderi receiving the will of the end through her power as a High Priestess.

It was not simply receiving and conveying the will of the Outer God wandering outside the outer sea.

In this world where the cycle of cause and effect had been closed, it was difficult to eavesdrop on anything that happened in the dark sea.

When she had her full power as a High Priestess, such obstacles were nothing, but now that she had stepped down and become the Grand Priestess, it was different.

That was why Izel had been preparing to receive the will of the Outer God by constructing the scenery of the altar as similar to the environment of the outer sea as possible.

In the Sea of Understanding, it was not just mana that rose above the sea through rising currents.

By linking it to a specific ritual, she was rapidly floating her own consciousness, indirectly creating an environment close to the outer sea.

It was for this very moment that Izel had risked being discovered and placed the island of the Order’s Far East Branch in the Sea of Understanding.

Goo-oo-oo…!!

A strange sensation as if the consciousness of hundreds of people near the altar were simultaneously soaring into the sky.

A sense of isolation as if all surrounding cognitive abilities were drifting away from one’s own will.

A chilling cold that froze his entire body and a deep emptiness that seemed to have no end gnawed at his head.

Between the gliding of hallucinations where his mind and body were separated and running around uncontrollably, even his breathing gradually became faint and thin.

An extreme environment that humans could never get used to.

However, the incarnation of the end, who felt more comfortable than anyone else in this environment similar to the outer sea, was also present in the same space.

[Hoo, hoo, hoooo…]

The huge fur ball, the 10th Apostle Amrita, who had been lying on the top of the altar, woke up, wriggling and breathing heavily.

[Here…]

Through the white fur, blue eyes quietly opened and calmly looked around.

The appearance of being immersed in endless gluttony was nowhere to be seen, and even a deep mystery was felt in her calmly settled gaze.

An environment close to the outer sea. That was why the mad Apostle, who had become a part of the dream of the Outer God and was wandering in the outer sea, had also regained her sanity.

Amrita had regained her intelligence and was properly manifesting in this place, and it was at this very moment that she was conducting the ritual.

If he had to intervene, it was right now.

‘I’m going.’

Just as Lenok was about to stand up, taking out the paper with the control code from his pocket,

[…Are you going to do it?]

A transmission more unique than anything else pierced Lenok’s mind.

The eyes, which were strangely clear and transparent, were looking directly at Lenok from the moment they opened.

[Are you going to end it with your own hands?]

As if she knew who he was.