Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 504

Charrrr…!!

Watching the statue’s eyes rapidly bloom open, Lenok thought,

‘I need to be careful.’

He had known from the moment he heard the Doctor’s explanation.

The midterm settlement to gather relics and information from the old world.

This settlement, taking place in the Demon Realm, could be a significant opportunity for Lenok.

While others could only participate in the settlement by searching for relics or records of the old world, Lenok was different.

The information from the 1st and 2nd worlds was none other than the knowledge of the games Lenok himself had played.

Whether the existence of the old world was actual reality or a world based on a game was still unknown.

But it was clear that those two concepts were bound by a strong connection.

Lenok’s game knowledge, which had been largely useless in this world, might ironically be helpful at this point.

However, even at this point where he was half-certain, Lenok did not rashly reveal his game knowledge. Instead, he first brought up the information about Amrita’s death.

‘There’s no need to rush. It’s enough to just grasp the settlement process and atmosphere.’

Considering what the other members had said, it was certain that these settlements were held irregularly.

If that was the case, rather than rashly revealing the game knowledge Lenok remembered at this point, it was better to first present a safe achievement.

The information about Amrita’s death was certainly important to both Lenok and Pandemonium.

But it was such a fatal blow to the Order that the secret would not be kept for long.

No matter how powerful the Order was, it was impossible to completely hide the fact that Amrita’s scale incantation was sealed.

The fact that the 10th Apostle of the Order had died would soon spread throughout the continent.

Lenok intended to gain a preemptive advantage over others by leaking the information beforehand.

‘Since Amrita’s death is directly related to the outer gods, it’s certain to be judged as information related to the old world.’

The only question was the level of its volatility.

He had blurted it out thinking he needed to profit before the value of the information dropped, but even Lenok could not easily guess its importance.

Click, click!

Five of the eyes on one face of the statue quickly opened, and then it moved to the sixth eye in an instant.

“It’s over level 6.”

“In the case of pure information, the volatility should be lower than relics… but it’s still that high?”

“It’s going higher.”

“That’s absurd. Victor is participating in this settlement for the first time-”

Sabrina’s words stopped as the statue’s seventh eye began to open.

“…Level 7. It has surpassed the numbering of the 1st world that Soryu brought.”

“From now on, the information is likely to be directly related to the fate of the world. We need to check carefully…”

“Be quiet.”

Maiya muttered.

“It seems there’s still more.”

“…!!”

The statue’s reaction, which had slowed down from the seventh eye, began to slow down.

Bloodnose, who was drooling, and the drunk Vernon. Soryu, and even Maiya, who seemed indifferent, all fixed their gazes on the statue’s movements.

Even the Doctor, who had been observing all those moments without a word, at that very moment.

Click.

The eighth eye stopped, faintly twitching.

“…”

Eight lights illuminated the dark main hall of the theater.

The statue’s eyes had moved in a fleeting moment, but there was no one who did not understand its meaning.

Vernon quietly put down the bottle he had brought to his mouth.

Maiya’s face hardened, and Soryu stopped his cold gaze.

A chilling silence fell.

“Level 8…!!”

“Volatility that has reached the beginning of level 8?”

“This is the first time I’ve seen this since participating in the settlement…”

The causal adjustment value far exceeded any settlement to date.

It was a result that could not be reached even with relics or high-level artifacts from the old world.

Those who understood what the measurement of volatility levels meant knew how absurd this was.

Rather than believing that a single word from Lenok had such a result, it seemed more plausible that the statue’s function had broken down.

No one rashly exchanged opinions anymore.

They just kept their mouths shut and focused on watching Lenok.

They understood that what had just happened was a critical turning point that was hard to believe.

“Doctor, what is the actual value of a level 8 volatility score?”

At Soryu’s question, the Doctor answered.

“It’s about the core information of a war or a large-scale project that determines the fate of the old world. If we were to compare it to this world’s history, it would be something like the Yorta’s Night Parade of a Myriad Demons [a legendary event of chaos and destruction].”

Lenok did not miss the slight trembling of Maiya’s fingertips at the Doctor’s words.

The fact that he did not mention the Ascension Gate of the Machine City, Machina, was probably the Doctor’s consideration.

“To be precise, it’s at a level where the established theories and premises themselves need to be completely overturned. I didn’t know there were still this many variables left. This is going to be a headache.”

The Doctor continued, sounding troubled.

“But before that, there’s one thing we need to check.”

The blue eyes buried in the white fluff turned towards the magician standing stiffly on the eighth arm.

The masked magician, who had created all these moments, wore a black robe without any reaction.

The other members were also watching his reaction as if they would not miss even the slightest movement.

The Doctor looked at Lenok and asked in a strange voice, as if he was very pleased.

“Victor. How did you know that the death of the 10th Apostle Amrita was information related to the old world?”

“…”

“The volatility of level 8 is a record that has only appeared twice since I started this work under the Director’s instructions… One of them was brought directly by Crocken Acilus.”

“Hmm…!!”

“That man…”

When a name that even Lenok could not ignore appeared, some of the members began to show a sharp edge.

If they had ever met that crocodile giant in any way, they would have had an unforgettable experience, just like Lenok had.

“I did say that the importance of information is not proportional to its volatility, but this is too much. I think I can ask about the related circumstances.”

The Doctor’s eyes shone sharply.

“I want to hear your opinion. Can you tell me?”

“…”

Instead of answering the Doctor’s words, Lenok was lost in thought.

He had not expected that the information about Amrita’s death would be evaluated with such high volatility.

Did that mean that Amrita’s death and the whole story surrounding it were important in measuring the causality of the old world?

‘It must be because of Amrita’s immortality.’

Amrita had gained some power similar to immortality by wielding the power of both a priestess and an apostle.

Lenok had succeeded in damaging it through the Self-Resonance Domain, Gwangramuhaegung [a unique skill or technique].

If such circumstances were judged to be a fatal variable in the information or causality of the old world, it would not be strange.

However, he could not explain such a fact to the people gathered here.

While Lenok remained silent, the others quickly exchanged opinions.

“No, more importantly, is that reliable information? That Amrita Praubel is dead. Are you talking about the Inquisitor I know?”

Vernon asked, gulping down his drink.

“If an apostle within the top 10 had died, that fact would have been revealed.”

“What is the exact time? How long has it been since she died?”

At the questions pouring in from all sides, Lenok slowly answered.

“I only know that it happened less than a month ago.”

“I can’t believe it…”

Chebien, the lanky puppet, who had been sitting with his head bowed, said.

“There are more than one or two curses on the highest-ranking apostles of the Order… Especially if someone like Amrita died, the news would have reached Yorta [a major city]…”

“…”

Chebien’s puppet eyes gleamed with a strange light.

“If you want to present that as information, I think you need more clear evidence…”

“Evidence, you say.”

“The 10th Apostle, Amrita Praubel, was a famous believer as an Inquisitor even before she became an apostle. You know that, right?”

Soryu, who had turned his cold gaze towards Lenok, added his opinion.

“Considering the total amount of curses placed on her during the Holy War, the disappearance of the curses should have been recognized in the Military City immediately after Amrita’s death. Almost all conceptual curses on the continent are observed in Yorta.”

Soryu asked again.

“Considering the strategic value of Amrita’s scale incantation within the Order, it seems that more reliable verification is needed.”

He understood what he meant.

The disappearance of the curses that would have been observed if Amrita herself had died. The commotion would not have gone unheard within the Military City, Yorta.

Soryu and Chebien were asking for additional explanations about the information Lenok had mentioned because of that fact.

As soon as Lenok heard those words, he roughly understood why that had happened.

It was probably because Amrita had died right after she was reborn in Izel’s body.

It was not surprising if the curses on Amrita’s original body, which the 2nd Apostle had recovered, had not disappeared.

If the spirit died and only the body remained, it was natural that the curses on that body would not disappear.

However, since Lenok himself was closely involved in Amrita’s death, he could not explain the whole story in detail here.

And if he rashly lied, he might be caught and things could get out of hand.

The answer he had to give from the beginning was already decided.

Lenok, who had crossed his arms and tilted his head slightly, answered.

“I can’t say.”

“Where did Amrita die? Where is the body now?”

“I can’t say.”

“Who killed the 10th Apostle?”

“I don’t know.”

“…What is the source of all this information?”

Lenok smiled, clearly feeling the increasingly cold atmosphere around him.

“I have no idea.”

At that moment, a chilling murderous intent burst out from inside the theater.

A thick smell of bestiality, as if a predator had opened its jaws towards him.

A more intense and blatant hostility than any monster or superhuman Lenok had faced recently.

Whoosh!

Rogier, a muscular man who had suddenly climbed onto the statue’s arm, stood next to Lenok with his hands in his pockets.

The muscular giant lowered his head and looked down at the mask. His face, covered in tattoos, was eerily expressionless.

Rogier, lowering his gaze towards Lenok’s mask, which did not turn its head, said.

“Hey, I’m not in the mood for jokes right now.”

“…”

“If you’re going to blurt out that an apostle is dead, you should have thought about explaining it. Are you going to keep being uncooperative?”

“I thought the cross-verification of the information was over.”

Lenok retorted calmly.

“If they judged it over there based on the causal volatility, isn’t that the end of it?”

“…”

“If I can’t say, I can’t say. If you can’t even understand that meaning, I have nothing more to say.”

“Is that so?”

In the rapidly rising tension, Rogier’s lips twitched.

“Then I’ll have to make you talk.”

KWAANG!!!

At that moment, Rogier’s arm seemed to disappear from its place, only to reappear in front of Lenok’s solar plexus, unleashing a shockwave.

A super-fast strike that was hard to even see the moment it moved. It was a blow that could have made the upper half of his body disappear.

However, at that moment, dozens of overlapping magic threads lined up densely in front of Lenok, absorbing the blow.

Kkkkkkk!

Not only did he receive Rogier’s preemptive attack head-on, but he also skillfully adjusted the tension of the threads to flow the impact outwards like a wave.

Right after Lenok’s robe fluttered faintly, the subsonic air that rushed behind him drew a circular ring and struck the back of the theater’s audience seats.

BOOOOM!

The giant body of the Eight-Armed Divine Statue faintly shook from the impact, and the shockwave that was shot out from the arm tore through the theater hall in all directions.

Rogier laughed, not caring about the huge path that had newly formed in the center of the audience seats.

“Good, so you have something you believe in?”

The tattoo on Rogier’s right hand was glowing with a faint red light as he said that.

“Keep going.”

“Rogier, stop it!!”

Zzzzzzz!

The moment Rogier grabbed a bundle of magic threads with his bound hand, the red tattoo on the back of his hand flashed, cutting the magic threads to pieces.

Before Lenok could react to the unexpected phenomenon, Rogier’s hand blade stabbed in once more.

The intention of thrusting his hand blade from under his chin to near his mask was obvious.

He intended to remove Lenok’s mask and reveal his identity. At the same time, he wanted to use that as an excuse to make him spill the information.

Less than 10 seconds had passed from the moment Rogier first picked a fight to this point.

It was a rather quick action for something that was done impulsively. It was right to think that he had been targeting Lenok to some extent from the beginning.

He needed a corresponding response.

The moment Rogier’s hand was about to shatter Lenok’s mask, Lenok’s figure flashed in place.

Instead, he grabbed Rogier’s hand and reappeared in place.

Kiiing!

Lenok grabbed the hand that was aiming for his mask and calmly put it down.

The moment Rogier instinctively tried to strike him, Lenok said.

“Incantation Imprint, conditional action activation through behavior?”

“…!!”

“Even if it’s very convenient, it’s rare for someone in their right mind to do something like this.”

Right after Rogier launched his preemptive attack, the incantation was assembled in the air on its own, cutting off the magic threads entirely.

An unusually short implementation time compared to its power. At the same time, the mark engraved between his fists had shown a trace of light.

It was a type of imprint to activate the incantation engraved on the skin through a specific action, and to quickly construct and use the necessary incantation during combat.

It had the convenience of being able to use incantations without any special chanting or hand seals, but even so, it was difficult to change or undo an incantation once it was engraved.

And because of the conditional restriction that it had to go through a specific action, not many sorcerers chose this method.

“It’s usually not chosen unless you have a lot of innate mana but, conversely, poor mana manipulation ability. There’s no need for it.”

Lenok said that and released Rogier’s hand, taking a step back.

A glass tube was burning with a strange sound on Rogier’s hand.

Chiiiiik…!!

The moment Rogier fully recognized the existence of that object, an explosion that erupted from his hand instantly engulfed Rogier’s body and turned into a sphere of light.

KWAHAAAAA!!!

Lenok, who had avoided the explosion he had caused with a blink and came down from the statue, shook off his robe.

Mana Resonance Range Domination Resonance Incendiary Bomb (MAPHI). A special item from the Machine City, commonly called Mafia [a powerful explosive device].

As Victor, he had used it once in the jungle, so there was no burden.

The small explosion, which had thoroughly controlled the aftershock, only covered Rogier’s body accurately and poured out all its firepower.

Ignoring the other members who were speechless at the drastic measure, Lenok turned his gaze slightly back and smiled.

The explosion caused by the resonance incendiary bomb was quickly decreasing in size.

What appeared in the place where the sphere of light had disappeared was Rogier, who was holding the glass tube in both hands and emitting smoke from his entire body.

“Hoo…”

Rogier had sensed that he could not avoid the explosion at the moment Lenok detonated it, so he had grabbed the small incendiary bomb with both hands and suppressed the recoil as much as possible.

It was not so much a reaction speed or judgment, but purely an area of instinct close to an animal. But that instinct had prevented Rogier from suffering a fatal blow.

Lenok looked at Rogier and quietly stroked the bottom of his mask.

“It wouldn’t be firepower that you could withstand with your bare body. You have tremendous durability. Or, if not that…”

His body began to swell, rapidly covered in black fur.

“Was he not human in the first place?”

“Krrrrrr…!!!”

In an instant, a silver werewolf, transformed into a near 3-meter giant, looked down at Lenok and let out a low groan.

The moment Rogier’s body, bathed in the moonlight flowing into the theater stage, shone with a dazzling silver light, he disappeared from the spot.

The moment he flipped his body halfway in the air like lightning and tried to slam his front paw, which had turned into that of a beast, into Lenok’s back.

ZZZZZZZZ!

The werewolf’s arm was surrounded by a huge block of ice and stopped in place.

A cold chill swept in from all directions in an instant.

Soryu, a young man with a cold expression, who had reached out his hand at the end of it, said.

“That’s enough.”

“Soryu…”

Rogier growled lowly and shattered the block of ice that was stuck to his hand.

“Are you going to interfere?”

“The answer that he can’t say might be literal. He might be in a state where he can’t reveal the secret because he’s bound by a geas [a magical compulsion] or oath.”

Even at the sharp roar of the beast, Soryu did not even blink and turned his gaze towards Lenok.

“It might just be that he doesn’t want to say it, but it’s taking too long to figure that out. I can tell from the fight just now.”

“…”

“Now that the judgment of everyone gathered here is over, the settlement of the results according to each person’s achievements is the priority. If you want to fight, do it later.”

“Are you saying we should just let it go when the guy who brought the news that an apostle is dead doesn’t give any explanation? Are you out of your mind?”

KOOONG!

The werewolf, who had trampled on the shattered block of ice, stood in front of Soryu.

Rogier, looking at Soryu with the face of a huge wolf, bared his teeth and said.

“I can’t stand it right now without asking that guy.”

A tense atmosphere as if they were about to fight.

But none of the people gathered in the theater tried to stop them.

It was probably because there was a reason for both Rogier and Soryu’s claims, and they thought that either side was reasonable.

Lenok, who had been watching the scene from the side, clapped his hands together and said.

“Then let’s do this. I have a good idea.”

“Now is not the time for you to be talking-!”

The moment Lenok clapped his hands, he activated the Archangel’s Compassion according to the trigger.

Fwip, fwip!

Immediately after, half a dozen bluish glowing glass tubes filled the inside of Rogier’s mouth.

Lenok smiled, watching the reactions of those around him change in an instant.

“Let’s put a muzzle on the noisy dog for now.”

“Wait a minute, you son of a bitch, that’s not a muzzle…!!”

Sabrina let out a shrill scream as she realized that what had filled Rogier’s mouth was the bomb that Lenok had detonated just before.

KWAHAAAAAANG!!!

With a dazzling light, the werewolf’s body was covered in a huge flash.