Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 502

Both of them were individuals whose power and intellect could not be underestimated, but their reactions to confirming Lenok’s presence were completely different.

Soryu, recognizing the obsidian mask, turned his gaze this way, while Maiya ignored him as if she had no interest whatsoever.

Lenok’s current disguise was, after all, Victor’s identity.

Since Maiya Renslit had encountered Lenok under the name of Evan in the labyrinth, she would not know about Victor.

Even if she had heard rumors, it would only be information about a certain sorcerer participating in the jungle operation.

Soryu, too, after acknowledging Lenok’s presence, quickly turned his gaze away as if he had no interest.

Rather, it was two other people among the four who turned to look this way.

“I thought the old killer had returned, but it was you?”

The first to speak was a sharp-looking woman sitting on the statue’s knee, looking down at them.

Her hair was tied up tightly, and she wore highly mobile clothing, but Lenok realized that she was not a physical combatant.

The fact that she came dressed like that meant that she was very conscious of her movements.

A spellcaster. Judging by her sitting close to the statue, she must be a related party to some extent.

She smirked at Vernon and Lenok, who was standing behind him.

“And you’ve brought a strange guest. Is that masked guy one of us too?”

“Sabrina, as if I would bring someone I don’t even know!”

Vernon flung the liquor bottle he was holding back, pointing at Lenok. Sharp gazes naturally gathered towards him.

“You’ve heard about what happened in the jungle, right? This is the guy who participated as the last member in the well.”

Vernon, having emptied the remaining liquor in the bottle, tossed the bottle away.

As soon as they heard those words, the atmosphere around them turned cold in an instant.

“So, you’re the one they were talking about…”

“I heard you’re a very powerful special trait sorcerer.”

A muscular man with his legs wide open behind Sabrina yawned and turned his gaze away.

“Interesting. You’ll be a good opponent.”

Not only was his upper body completely bare, but his entire body was covered in dense tattoos. His black, long hair was carelessly let down, and he wasn’t even wearing shoes properly. He had a wild appearance as if he had never enjoyed the benefits of civilization.

Vernon snorted at those words and retorted.

“He survived working with the clown, so I think he’s qualified enough. If you have any complaints, ask that guy.”

“That crazy bastard is holed up in Talkerphuz and won’t come out. He’s probably busy managing the side effects, I bet.”

“Sabrina. The way he manages the hierarchy is a very delicate and precise form of causal adjustment.”

At the same time, a mannequin-like doll, over 2 meters tall, emerged from the darkness.

Its face, unpleasantly imitating a human form, had parts that separated, causing its jaw to clatter. The doll mumbled, its jaw creaking.

“It’s not something to be taken lightly with just a few words… After all, he did succeed in the jungle mission, didn’t he…?”

“Chebien. You’ve never even worked with that guy, so what are you talking about?”

The woman called Sabrina frowned and retorted.

“A few years ago, we were on the same mission, and he went wild on his own, ruining six of my ‘Word Pillars’.”

“…”

“If you’re thinking of working with him, you’d better be careful. He’s really out of control.”

Sabrina spoke as if threatening them, but few in this place were actually listening to her advice.

Soryu, Maiya, and the muscular man didn’t need to be mentioned, and even Vernon was just picking at his ear.

Only the doll nodded slowly, as if reluctantly.

“He’s much more dangerous than that old geezer in some ways.”

Having said that, she gestured without even looking back at the theater.

Thud…!!

Along with that, an unpleasant noise, like blood splattering and falling, was heard from the end of the hallway.

The old man with a shabby appearance, Blood Old Man, appeared last, and at the same time, the inside of the theater fell silent.

Only then did Maiya, who had been sitting on the lighting fixture a dozen meters above the theater, look down at those present and speak.

“It’s time. Bring the Doctor.”

As she said that, a drop of blood, which no one knew when she had drawn, fell from Maiya’s wrist.

The drop of blood that fell right in front of the statue spread out on the theater floor, turning into a small blood magic circle.

Whoosh…!!

A technique that could not even be compared to what Blood Old Man was dripping, creating a precise blood magic circle with just a single drop.

How skilled would one have to be to drop a drop of blood from the distant ceiling and complete a magic circle?

Even Lenok, who had a deep understanding of spell deployment, was amazed by the refined blood magic.

At the end of the Hanghasa Labyrinth, in the Cradle of Jintun, Maiya had also opened the door and summoned the commander through blood magic.

Apart from being an incredibly skilled physical combatant, the fact that she also had considerable knowledge of blood magic made Maiya Renslit a dangerous existence.

The fact that such an opponent was still in Pandemonium, lending her strength, felt eerie.

The other members must have felt the same way as Lenok.

In the meantime, the fully bloomed blood magic circle rapidly contracted, then rose up as if drawing with a 3D printer, shaping something.

Squeak…!!

Making a strange noise, it formed flesh and blood on the spot, transforming into a living being.

A small, white fur ball, the size of a human head, was alive and moving.

After wriggling and adjusting its skeleton and muscles, it quickly looked around and uttered a deep voice that did not match its appearance at all.

“Good evening. Or is it daytime near the Balkans right now?”

“It’s night, Doctor.”

At Sabrina’s words, the fur ball jumped up and climbed onto the statue.

“I see. I haven’t been outside for a month, so my biorhythm is a bit strange… But I still remember the orbital cycle, so I didn’t really think I’d be confused.”

The Doctor chuckled and asked.

“Some faces have changed again since last time. Everyone seems busy.”

“Kangara and Fransel are dead, and Agilon is missing. He’s probably dead.”

Soryu said in a cold voice.

The Doctor mumbled as if slightly surprised at those words.

“Fransel is one thing, but Kangara and Agilon…”

“They didn’t return from the operations with the Order Alliance and the warlords. Considering the discipline of the two organizations, they’re probably being dissected as test subjects by now.”

The Doctor slowly nodded at Soryu’s cold answer.

“That’s unfortunate. Considering their rare abilities, it would have been better to retrieve their corpses.”

“…”

Is he more concerned about their abilities than the well-being of his acquaintances?

Well, such an indifferent attitude might be the most common and normal reaction in this organization.

A criminal organization with no sense of organization, teamwork, or harmony.

Considering what they do, it’s only natural that some would not return alive.

The operation in the jungle was also a fierce battle where it wouldn’t have been strange if everyone there had died.

“Well, the most unexpected opponent in this place today is someone else.”

The fur ball’s gaze fell precisely on Lenok, who was lost in thought.

Those transparent eyes were precisely aimed at Lenok’s mask.

“I’ve heard a lot about you, Victor. Agneta, the clown, and Freya all spoke about you.”

“…”

“I heard you were recommended for membership by Myung? Personally, I was really surprised.”

“What do you mean?”

“To be honest, I thought… Myung wouldn’t find anyone who met his standards.”

At the Doctor’s meaningful voice, the gazes of the others naturally began to gather towards Lenok.

Perhaps because Myung’s name was mentioned, even Maiya, who had not reacted at all since the Doctor was summoned, was now watching this situation.

The Doctor, not even caring about the strange atmosphere he had created, continued to speak to Lenok.

“He’s a man who views himself and others with the same standards. With ordinary talent or specifications, it’s difficult to even stand before the line he has set. He recommended you for membership without even getting the commander’s permission. Do you know what this means?”

“…”

The fur ball chuckled and let out a low laugh at Lenok’s silence.

“I thought it would just be a pastime, but you never know with people… To think he would bring a space manipulation sorcerer who he had been searching for so long.”

Even as he said that, the Doctor kept wriggling and climbed to the top of the statue’s head.

“Does this mean that there are limits to what can be achieved with just probability, statistics, calculations, and research? I’ve never sympathized with that logic, even though I understand it, but a great mage born from a noble lineage would think that way.”

The Doctor chuckled and continued.

“It’s also true that you have the qualifications and ability to make such thoughts a reality.”

“Is that useless sentimentality finally over?”

Lenok looked up at the Doctor with his arms crossed and smirked.

“I don’t really care how you or Myung think of me.”

“…”

“If there’s any preliminary work needed, I’d appreciate it if you could finish it quickly. I don’t want to waste time talking with some worthless sacrifice.”

Lenok’s words, which even felt brutal.

It was an answer tailored to Victor’s notoriously arrogant personality, but no one here showed any discomfort or annoyance at those words.

The muscular man was watching Lenok with an expression as if he was amused, and the doll Chebien was tilting its head.

The Doctor, who heard those words, also burst into a pleasant laugh.

“You’re not wrong. Shall we start quickly before I get more complaints?”

Whoosh…!!

As the Doctor tapped the top of the statue, the statue’s massive body began to shine, enveloped in a powerful magical light.

The statue with two heads and eight arms slowly moved, changing its fixed posture.

Coo-goong…!!

With a slightly open-mouthed expression on both faces, it looked down at the ground, and its eight arms were neatly placed on the floor, lined up in one place.

It looked as if it was prepared for those gathered here, with its palms wide open.

Looking at the palms, where ancient characters were densely engraved and shining, Lenok glanced around.

Lenok, Soryu, Maiya, and Vernon. Chebien and Sabrina. Blood Old Man and the muscular man, who had entered the theater at some point.

That makes eight. Nine if you include the Doctor.

Vernon, who also felt it, gulped down his liquor and shouted.

“Doctor, is this right? It doesn’t seem like the numbers match!!”

“Don’t worry, drunkard. I’m going to take the trouble to explain it again, even for those who are new to the settlement.”

The Doctor said that as he began to roll around on the statue’s head.

“Collecting relics from the old world has been going on for quite some time, but the settlement itself is not a simple task.”

“What do you mean?”

“The relics that have flowed in from beyond the endings of the 1st and 2nd worlds move in a different direction from the basic laws of this world.”

The light of the statue began to grow stronger.

“It doesn’t mean that fundamental parts such as the principles of spells, the balance of cause and effect, and the duality of miracles are changed. Those essences are directly intertwined with the sea of darkness.”

“Then?”

“For example, would the spells called sorcery in this world have existed under the same name and system in the 1st and 2nd worlds?”

It was a subtle and indirect way of speaking, yet it had a mysterious tone that seemed to touch on a shred of truth.

“If you understand it correctly, you’ll know what I’m talking about.”

The Doctor suddenly turned his gaze towards Lenok, who was looking up at him.

“Victor, what do you think? I’d like to hear your opinion.”

“…”

“It is said that those who have mastered special trait spells are either born with innate talent or have grown up in special environments, creating a suitable vessel.”

The Doctor asked, looking at Lenok, who did not answer.

“Sorcerers like you must have a completely different filter for receiving information from the world. Otherwise, it’s impossible to manipulate space with a clear mind.”

“You speak as if you’ve tried it yourself.”

“There’s no need to mention how many researchers who have dabbled in magical engineering have coveted that feat.”

The Doctor chuckled, not caring about Lenok’s sneer.

“You have to endure an absurd amount of magical power consumption with existing methods or systems. If you’re directly handling a space manipulation system that is close to the worst in terms of efficiency, there are only two answers.”

Either you have the ability to directly endure the massive magical power consumption, or you have obtained a completely different approach to the concept of existing space manipulation.

The Doctor was subtly asking if Lenok’s special trait spell was the latter.

The fact that he was naturally changing the topic while explaining the midterm settlement was proof of how much interest the Doctor had in Lenok’s spell.

However, Lenok had no intention of discussing that topic with the Doctor in this place.

So, he had no choice but to give the correct answer to the question the Doctor had presented.

“It’s probably because of the compatibility of the rules.”

Lenok quietly opened his mouth while slightly adjusting his mask.

“The laws of the old world do not harmonize with those of this world and operate independently. That’s why you’re collecting relics from the old world to verify and compare their compatibility, isn’t it?”

“…Hmm.”

“If you think about it that way, it’s not hard to guess what the role of this statue is.”

Lenok glanced up at the statue and said.

“If it’s a method of analyzing relics or information from the old world to extract and preserve information, then it’s reason enough to bring such a thing to Bairuitz.”

And he could roughly guess the reason why Pandemonium was continuing such a cumbersome task and why a being like the Doctor was managing it.

If they could discover patterns and consistency in the laws or systems of the old world relics in this way and theorize them.

It would be possible not only to find relics from the old world but also to create them directly.

That doesn’t just mean producing and obtaining relics from the old world directly.

“Recreating the laws of the old world, which have already passed through an ending, directly in this world.”

Lenok looked up at the Doctor and smirked.

“Are you planning to create a miniature garden of the old world in this world?”

“…”

The Doctor did not answer.

He just stared down at Lenok, as if looking at prey that he could never let go of.

Collecting the laws of the 1st and 2nd worlds and implementing a miniature garden created with those laws.

If their goal was to directly recreate a part of the old world somewhere in this world.

It was not impossible to understand why this midterm settlement was being carried out in such a systematic and dense manner.

However, what came out of the Doctor’s mouth, who had been looking down at Lenok with interest for a long time, was not an affirmative answer.

“That’s a very interesting idea, but it’s not the correct answer.”

The Doctor replied with a seemingly delighted expression.

“In a way, what you said hits the core, but it’s too inefficient and reckless.”

“Dangerous?”

“But it’s not entirely wrong. In a way, that’s also one of the goals of this long-term plan.”

The light shining from behind Lenok’s mask met the Doctor’s gaze.

“What if sometimes, preventing the opponent’s victory is the only opportunity given to us?”

“…”

“The commander has known that fact for a long time and is trying to prepare for it. Sometimes, I’m so curious about how far that man can see.”

Instead of Lenok, who had closed his mouth, the Doctor quietly laughed.

“Maybe that’s why I’ve been lending my hand until now, because I want to know that fact.”

“Doctor, what kind of Zen koans are you spouting from earlier?”

Sabrina, who had been listening to the conversation between Lenok and the Doctor, frowned.

The others who had been watching the conversation also added their opinions one by one.

“If you’re not going to explain the settlement to Victor, let’s start quickly. Why are you suddenly giving us quizzes?”

“I agree. Didn’t you say that the final purpose of the settlement could not be explained or understood in the first place…?”

The Doctor also nodded at the other members’ complaints.

“Well, fine. I didn’t expect such an in-depth question to come up. There was no need to explain it in detail. Let’s get to the main point.”

Whoosh!!

The light of the ancient characters engraved between the eight palms facing the sky slowly faded and quietly subsided.

“As Victor said, today’s gathering is a place to settle the results of the past and to verify the compatibility of the laws of the old world.”

The Doctor said.

“This statue was created for the purpose of extracting the laws of the old world from relics and organizing the cause and effect related to them.”

“…”

“To be precise, it’s a task to observe the phenomenon of the old world’s cause and effect being adjusted and to narrow the error range to increase the implementation rate… But if you don’t know about this field, you won’t understand even if I explain it.”

“Let’s make it easy. Like last time, we just have to put the relics of the old world on the statue, right?”

“Strictly speaking, it’s not just relics. Any information related to the laws of the old world is fine.”

The Doctor nodded at Vernon’s words.

“If you input the corresponding data into the statue, it will automatically judge the variability of the cause and effect and determine which world’s laws it is related to.”

Is he saying that it doesn’t matter if it’s information or a clue, not just relics?

“What’s the story about the variability of cause and effect?”

“It’s about how much the results you’ve brought deviate from the compatibility of the laws collected through the previous settlements. It’s about confirming how special and powerful the cause and effect was in the old world.”

As the Doctor said that, he wriggled the fur ball and spat out magical power into the air.

A long, thin line of magical power floated in the dark sky of the theater. The line that floated horizontally fluctuated greatly, like a heart rate graph.

“To put it simply, it’s ‘how much information has changed the world’s outcome’. It’s like measuring the absolute value of the variability by comparing it with the average value of the collected data.”

“…It’s not easy at all. Are we even speaking the same language?”

The muscular man, whose upper body was covered in tattoos, mumbled that, as the Doctor’s explanation was extremely difficult.

Lenok also did not fully understand the concept of cause and effect, so he could only guess what the Doctor’s intentions were.

The Doctor was used to such reactions, so he didn’t bother to explain further here.

“No matter how much I talk, it’s better than showing it once. Watch carefully.”

The Doctor tapped the top of the statue and suddenly uttered a word of power filled with magical power.

[There were originally three more ways for life to face its end, besides death.]

“…!!!”

At the unexpected words, Lenok paused and raised his gaze at that moment.

The statue’s eyes, which had accepted those words, slowly began to open.

Kee-ing…!!

The tightly closed eyelids opened, revealing the blue-green eyes inside.

A total of four eyes, half-opened, illuminated the wide audience seats of the theater.

The Doctor, not caring about the statue’s appearance, continued to speak.

“Depending on how large the measured variability of the cause and effect is, the statue’s eyes will open in order.”

“…”

“The example now didn’t have much variability compared to its importance, but that’s because it’s already meaningless… Generally, the greater the variability, the more important the information tends to be.”

Considering that there are two faces on the statue, and five eyes on each face, there are a total of ten eyes.

Is he saying that they will check how important the relics or information they brought are by how many layers of eyes open?

“Of course, remember that you can be compensated accordingly depending on how much variability you have brought.”

As the Doctor said that, the statue’s eyes began to close slowly again.

The statue’s eight palms, neatly lined up on the floor, quietly twitched.

“Then, let’s begin the settlement now.”