Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 496

“Cough, cough…!!”Lying face down on the cold floor of the Pantheon, he tried to raise himself, but it was in vain.Even though he had designed and reached this moment from the very beginning, Lenok couldn’t easily utter a single word to him.His head felt like it was being shaken to pieces, as if his brain was being struck. His insides were churning violently, and his magic power was boiling madly along with a throbbing pain that felt like it was digging into his temples.”Kuh, damn it…!!”It wasn’t just the exhaustion that occurred immediately after using a domain.The second Self-Resonance Domain he used to kill Amrita. The power of the branching point that sought immortality was now crashing down on Lenok as an aftershock.The Self-Resonance Domain, Gwangramuhaegung, was a power that sought and devoured transcendent phases like immortality within the domain.The apostle of the harmless, who does not serve a god. That domain, the temple of the madman, was nothing less than the natural enemy of all existing continuities.However, the power of Gwangramuhaegung, created by choosing a branching point of possibility that should not have existed in the first place, was bound to be accompanied by equally powerful side effects.It was the extreme of singularity that could only be obtained through a ridiculous geas [a binding oath or curse] that Lenok himself, with the reason of a perfect magician, would go mad.It was absurdly powerful and heterogeneous because it was established on the premise that Lenok would go mad, and as a backlash, he had to endure the madness of another self who had truly gone mad.Therefore, Lenok had predicted these side effects and tried to absorb the backlash as much as possible in advance with the power of the False Commandment Star, but.Even after succeeding in all his arrangements and designs, Lenok was still writhing on the ground in such pain.No, unlike when he first answered the Patriarch, his condition was getting worse as time passed.The Patriarch smiled softly, as if understanding Lenok.”To falsely claim a non-existent mortality, that’s what it means… For the time being, it will be difficult to even think properly.””…!!”The Patriarch began to walk towards Lenok, who had fallen with his hands behind his back.A dazzling halo spread behind him, completely obscuring his already erased face.”But I have to admit that this moment is the result of an amazing defeat… Are you willing to accept even your own madness for the sake of your goal?”The Patriarch, who had slowly turned his back and approached Lenok, murmured quietly.”A resolve to endure even the most unwanted moment… It was admirable. It’s something I could never have chosen in the past.””Th-this…!!”Lenok tried to answer somehow, but he still couldn’t get up.The mad self who had become a harmless apostle and the real self overlapped, hammering non-existent madness and chaos into his mind.If it were an ordinary human, it would not be strange if they had already become an idiot due to the overwhelming amount of information and overload.Lenok was barely holding onto his reason while enduring the aftereffects.The Patriarch stared at Lenok for a while, then quietly bent down and whispered in his ear.”The reason I answered your call today is because I respect that dazzling resolve. This is the limit…””Ugh…!!””There’s no need to hear your answer. Once the world is reset, even this conversation will lose its meaning.”The Patriarch, who had slowly stood up, passed by the fallen Lenok.”Soon my friend will arrive and take care of the remaining karma. If necessary, please accept their help…”The quiet footsteps gradually faded away.Beyond the magnificent scenery of the Pantheon, his presence became so faint that it seemed like it would disappear at any moment.The very moment the Patriarch was about to disappear like a bubble back into the fragments of Amrita’s memory without hesitation.”Wai… wait…!!!”Lenok, who had risen from behind, shouted with difficulty.”…”The Patriarch turned around silently and looked at Lenok.Legs trembling as if it was difficult to even stand properly. A face dripping with sweat.Eyes and lips shaking incessantly. He was in such an extreme state that it seemed difficult to even form words properly.The Patriarch knew how Lenok had damaged Amrita’s immortality and what the side effects meant.Perhaps he wasn’t even sure if he was speaking properly.His head must have been so broken that he couldn’t even check if the thoughts being organized in his head were working normally.A terrible sensation where all the senses and thoughts of his body were mixed up and fragmented.But even so, Lenok stood up from his seat and spoke to him again like a creaking doll.”This is troublesome…”The Patriarch smiled.”You, you don’t really want to become my apostle, do you…?””Wai-waited… Answer!!”Lenok desperately tried to keep his balance so he wouldn’t fall, and asked with difficulty.”You know, don’t you…!!””…”He forcibly pieced together the senses that had been twisted and lost within his body.He revived the void that felt lost from his memory and mechanically implemented it.Even though he had forgotten how to speak and even how to stand, Lenok’s transcendent cognitive ability learned and acquired all of it again in real time from the beginning.”…You know.”Lenok’s language, which had returned to fluency, was now back.Lenok, who had desperately gathered his thoughts, spoke once more.”You know everything.””I’m listening.”The Patriarch nodded.Lenok calmed his breathing little by little and whispered quietly.”The mirror abandoned in the basement of the temple.””…””It must have been you.”It was so quiet and silent that it felt like his ears would go deaf from the silence.The Patriarch did not answer Lenok’s words, but quietly stared at him.Lenok asked the question he had hesitated over hundreds of times and pondered over thousands of times in front of him.”Was it you back then too?””…””Was it me back then?””…”Why was a mirror that reflected someone with the same existence rate as himself placed in the basement of the Far East Branch temple?Wasn’t it a trace of someone who once had the same worries and ideals as Lenok, trying to find another someone?A single conclusion that bloomed after countless worries and anguish.Lenok asked.”Were you… me?””Heh heh…”The Patriarch smiled silently. Without any answer.As if that was an answer in itself.A suffocating silence. A fleeting eternity that seemed like it would last forever.But as if all that wonder was meaningless, the scenery of the Pantheon began to collapse little by little.Kugugugu…!!The huge pillars and the scenery of the temple, the magnificent corridors with a diameter of hundreds of meters, were gradually being lost and disappearing.Amrita’s memories were losing their existence and disappearing, and the scenery contained within them was also disappearing.The Patriarch’s memories, which only existed in her memories, would also disappear like bubbles along with her.Looking at the Patriarch’s memories fading little by little, Lenok gritted his teeth.”Answer me. I have the right to hear…!!””…”The Patriarch raised his face, which had been erased in the scenery, and quietly turned his gaze.Amidst the collapsing scenery of the Pantheon, he spoke.”We stand in the same place but are not the same, and we are not different even if we stand in different places.””…!!!”The Patriarch’s tone of voice had completely changed at some point.Unlike before, when he seemed somewhat powerless, his voice was now that of an absolute being, filled with overwhelming and imposing self-esteem.”The Great Outer World Reduction Formula I showed through Amrita is part of the ending we desire. It is a point of arrival that should never be changed.”The Patriarch smiled.”It may be unavoidable at the moment when all destinies intersect, but until then, we must not meet each other.””What the hell does that…!!””Don’t you understand yet?”The scenery of the Pantheon collapsed as it was, and the vast corridors, spires, and pillars shattered and fell into the abyss below.The cracks that had formed from the far end of the corridor instantly devoured everything and turned it into a handful of emptiness.Only the space where the two people were facing each other remained, shaking madly, and then just before it shattered and disappeared.The Patriarch passed by Lenok and said.”I am not you.”A single word that passed by as if that fact had no meaning.Immediately after, even a handful of fragments that made up the memory disappeared, and Lenok’s body fell as if disappearing into the darkness.Only the Patriarch’s words echoed in his empty ears.”If we can meet again at the end of the reset, that will be enough.”His tone of voice as he looked back at Lenok seemed to contain a faint smile.”It was very, very enjoyable.”* * *Chiiik…!!”Ugh…!!!”Frowning at the pain that stung his forearm, he rolled among the ashes.The moment he jumped up, he was hit with dizziness and a shock that turned his stomach inside out.”Ugh!!!”Unable to hold back, he fell over and vomited roughly.Only after raising his trembling hand and touching his face with difficulty did Lenok realize that he had returned to reality.”What the hell was that just now…”[Master…]Davy, who had crawled out of his arms, looked up at Lenok worriedly.The spirit, who shared consciousness with Lenok as his electronic spirit, would also be aware of the memories of the moment he met the Patriarch just now.That’s why Davy was also worried about Lenok and showed his face even at this point when the situation was not over yet.”…”In the end, Lenok failed to properly accept anything the Patriarch said.Or perhaps he knew the meaning vaguely but couldn’t be sure.He had reached a meeting that should not have existed in the first place, using Amrita’s death as a medium, but in the end, it only ended with asking a question.It was doubtful whether the denial the Patriarch left behind at the end was an answer to Lenok’s question.No, more than that, could he trust all the words the Patriarch had said without hesitation?Without being able to present any proper basis for all those questions, Lenok had just thrown a gamble to meet the Patriarch.But if it wasn’t for that kind of opportunity, such a moment would never have come again.”Hoo…”He doesn’t regret it.The time to choose was too short, and making a decision was only a matter of the heart.Even if only worries remained after the conversation, he thought that he would never stop.But even so, Lenok found it difficult to easily guess what exactly it meant that he had heard from the Patriarch at this point.”The battles in other places…”[It’s not over yet.]Davy answered.[Most of the Cult’s forces inside the Far East Branch Island have been suppressed. Currently, only the final battle between the Watcher and the Agents is continuing.]”…I see.”The moment Amrita died, there was no way the cult’s followers wouldn’t have noticed it.Perhaps most of the followers had lost their will to fight at that point.Lenok thought so and twisted his body with difficulty and slowly stood up.[The aftereffects of using the Dual Domain are severe. If you don’t rest as much as possible, there’s a possibility that your condition itself will have problems in the long term…]”There’s still work to be done.”He stretched out his tattered fingertips and carefully extended his magic thread.”It’s meaningless if we don’t leave any loose ends. I’ll finish what I started here.”[Really…]He pulled something up from the underground bedrock that had been burned by the aftermath of the battle and the scattered power.Thud!Amrita’s corpse, crushed to the point where it was difficult to recognize its original shape.It was not only charred black, but also torn apart and disappeared in all directions, making it difficult to find its former appearance.But conversely, it meant that the durability of her body was so excellent that it left a corpse even after directly enduring Lenok’s extreme of the lightning system.Thwack!!Lenok, who had unhesitatingly poked his finger between the corpses, closed his eyes and quietly pondered, then nodded.”It’s as I expected. Half a success…”Lenok’s attempt to forcibly overturn the laws of reality within the sanctuary and kill what could not be killed was successful.A single exchange that crossed paths in the domain of Gwangramuhaegung.At the end of it, Lenok had overwhelmingly crushed Amrita’s forbidden technique with the Thunder of the Mind’s Eye and killed her.However, death in the mortal world did not mean that the concept of an apostle itself was erased.The apostle, who represents the will of the end that floats in the Outer Sea, is the role of the incarnate body.Even if that body disappears from the earth, the will of the end continues to remain and searches for a new suitable person.Even if Amrita died in this place, a new apostle who inherits her power and will could appear at any time if they found a suitable person.Wasn’t that why Izel had also called the agents of each branch through the apostle selection ceremony to fill the vacant position of the apostle?”Davy.”[The pattern encryption is complete. Now, if you activate the trigger, it will activate.]”…Good.”The amber-colored crown, which still maintained its original shape even in the midst of the fierce battle. He pushed it deep into Amrita’s corpse.At the same time, the crown glowed in that spot, and the light began to seep into the inside of Amrita’s corpse.Using the control code left by Jintun, he extracted some of the power of the artifact.Using that as a geas, he sealed the will of the end remaining in Amrita’s body with the power of barrier magic.Kiriirik…!!Amrita’s corpse convulsed wildly with an unknown eerie sound.Even though she was already dead and her spirit had left the earth, the instinct engraved in her body was rejecting what Lenok was trying to do.[Deployment of 88-fold dimensional function encryption. Using the Great Barrier pattern, we connect and seal the entrances of the pattern!]It was not about touching the will of the end itself that had given Amrita power.To be precise, it was about twisting the way the end spread its power to this earth through the incarnate body to such an extent that it could no longer be touched.Even if a new apostle who succeeded her was born, the apostle technique that had manifested on this earth through Amrita was bound to be sealed so that it could not be used.The apostle technique ‘Amrita’s Scale’, which freely moved the Cult’s forces to various parts of the branch, was sealed so that it could never be used again.Zzzzt!! Zzzzzzt…!!Contrary to Amrita’s body reaching death, the will of the end remaining in her body was stronger than ever, a contradiction.This attempt would have been impossible if he hadn’t forcibly reproduced the laws of reality on Amrita at the center of the sanctuary and killed her.Lenok had broken Amrita’s sanctuary head-on and created the current situation for this very moment.[Encryption of the thought pattern is complete, and a 19-fold random variable array is applied to the decryption code to make it disappear. From now on, I will enter the blockade…!!]Not only twisting the power sent by the end that Amrita served so that it could not be used, but also additional work to block the signal itself.If it was possible to not only seal the apostle technique, but also to prevent the god she served from creating apostles again.If it was possible to touch the very root of how the Cult was established.Woo-oong!!!!The moment Lenok thought so and raised his magic power to quickly assist Davy’s calculations.”Interesting. Is that the method you chose to seal the apostle technique?”Someone in a suit was standing in front of Lenok.A man with thick glasses, looking at him with his arms crossed.The aura emanating from his body was of a different and deformed kind than any apostle Lenok had faced.”Oh, don’t mind me and keep going.”The man, noticing Lenok’s gaze, smiled and waved his hand.”I’m curious about where the spirits of high-ranking apostles like us go after we die. If possible, I’d like you to successfully complete the sealing.”The man’s eyes gleamed coldly behind his glasses.”Because I plan to bury everything that happened here today anyway.”