Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 52

It was a given that Jude Russell wouldn’t run away from this spot.

The only question was whether Lenok could see through Jude’s intentions and subdue him.

That was the only issue.

And Lenok believed in his own talent and the power he possessed.

He slowly walked forward.

A defenseless act that seemed to offer an opening.

However, instead of rushing in immediately, Jude slightly increased his speed, trying to confuse Lenok’s senses while observing the situation.

A drastically cautious attitude, unlike his arrogant words.

The gap made a faint smile appear on Lenok’s lips.

*Whoosh!*!!

In a fleeting moment that Lenok couldn’t possibly have anticipated, yet was not a moment later than expected.

Jude appeared from Lenok’s left side, thrusting his blade through the gap in his senses and thoughts.

A very light, natural movement that one would never feel if not conscious of it.

A single move that made one realize how skilled of a killer Jude Russell was.

But Lenok reacted.

*Kwaaang!*!!

The moment Jude appeared beside him, Lenok slammed a shock magic down, smashing his head into the ground.

As if someone had grabbed him by the hair, Jude’s upper body was thrown down.

And a purple whip instantly bound his limbs tightly.

With that, the battle ended in an instant.

Jude, whose all-out, deadly attack had been rendered useless, looked up at Lenok with disbelief.

“H-How…!!”

Lenok replied calmly.

“From the beginning.”

His gaze turned to the ice fragments still clinging to the hem of Jude’s coat.

A piece of his magic that Lenok had left behind using [Ice Round – a spell that creates small ice shards].

Even if it was difficult to discern the speed with the naked eye, Lenok’s magic detection ability was different.

Moreover, tracking the movement of magic that Lenok himself had spread was easier than chasing something invisible with wide-open eyes.

From the moment Jude Russell was splashed with seawater, Lenok had already seized the advantage.

Only then did Jude grasp the situation, his face turning pale as he struggled to get up, but the magic Lenok had prepared was activated first.

*Screeeech…!!*

The shadow beneath Jude’s feet turned into a huge mouth, swallowing his lower body whole.

The shadow-type ambush magic, which showed its true value in the dark, had worked perfectly once again.

The desperate scream that followed was a matter of course.

“K-Khaaaak!!!”

Jude, who had lost both legs in a single exchange, let out a painful groan and dropped his sword.

He slowly groaned, dragging his torso and trying to get away from Lenok by slowly pushing his arms backward.

But instead of chasing him, Lenok chuckled.

His last gamble was too obvious.

“You licked blood so deliciously in front of me, and you expect me to fall for that?”

“………”

At those words, Jude Russell’s body stopped abruptly.

*Fwoosh!*!!

Without a word, he turned into a red mist and began to flee through the night sky.

Vampire.

Powerful physical abilities. Cunning combat intelligence. A thirst for blood. The ability to create blood mist.

They were similar to werewolves, yet they formed their own factions and pursued pure bloodlines in a different way.

Was he finally meeting both of these similar yet different races?

But no further curiosity arose.

The vampire’s blood transformation was a very useful ability, but it made them much more vulnerable to attacks.

Taking that form to escape was truly a last resort.

A bolt of lightning struck the barren sky.

In the blinding flash, a faint silhouette turned to ash and disappeared, and Lenok, confirming that even the faint trace of a smell had completely vanished, slowly turned his back.

Only after the battle ended did his mouth become parched and his head start to spin rapidly.

Realizing that the drug’s effects were quickly wearing off, Lenok hurriedly lit a new cigarette.

“Hoo…”

He sat down on a piece of container that had been cleanly sliced by Jude Russell’s blade and let out a stream of smoke.

He could feel his sweat-soaked shirt quickly cooling in the night breeze.

It had been a long time since he had pushed his body so hard, and his lungs already ached and his legs throbbed.

The stomach that had been hit by the shotgun was also throbbing mercilessly.

When he lifted his shirt to check his stomach, a large, dark bruise had already spread across the lower part of his abdomen.

If it was this bad even while smoking Cashburn [a type of drug], the pain after the drug wore off would be considerable.

Negotiation

‘It wasn’t easy.’

He blankly let out smoke as he recalled the battle.

He had been prepared when he received the request from Dyke, but this job was indeed not easy.

Considering the requests Lenok had experienced so far, the level of his opponents was relatively high.

Both the bandit-like man and Jude Russell were not people to be trifled with in this world.

It was just that Lenok had a power and talent that they could not have anticipated, and he was able to use it precisely at the most critical moment.

In the end, that was all there was to it.

In the endless battles, Lenok had to constantly prove himself.

The easing of penalties, more money, a comfortable life… all of these were meaningless if he could not pass this basic premise.

And that was why Lenok was able to let go of all his thoughts and focus entirely on the battle at that moment.

He had even begun to feel that this time, when he was fighting for his life, was comfortable.

‘……This is dangerous.’

Lenok thought as he looked at the end of the burning cigarette.

In the end, it was the same as an addiction to drugs.

Once you start to enjoy the stimulation, it’s not easy to get out of it.

Instead of trying to get out of the swamp after stepping into it, you have to manage yourself thoroughly from the beginning so that you can avoid the swamp.

It was absurd.

He thought he was focusing and running towards only one thing more than anything else, but it was actually starting to hold Lenok back little by little.

But it was something he had started and was prepared for.

He had no choice but to endure it.

Lenok had not yet collapsed.

And he would continue to be so in the future.

With an uncertain resolution, the bloody smell that filled the harbor was being washed away by the sea breeze.

#

“I knew it would be like this.”

Killian, who had been watching everything happening on the screen, clicked his tongue.

“That’s why I said that if you pick people based on their careers alone, you’ll run into trouble.”

“…It was expected.”

Panoha replied, trying to look calm.

“Even the appearance of a traitor?”

“……”

She pursed her lips.

“If you want to pick out the rough diamonds from guys whose identities aren’t even clear, you need a filter. What’s the point of having guys who are only good with words? When you actually put them into a mission, they’re just a bunch of kids.”

Panoha turned her head sharply, showing a hint of irritation at Killian’s indifferent remark.

“If we had said we were going to do a test, do you think we could have picked team members with the same quality as now? We would have had to raise the compensation even more to appease the disgruntled guys. Are you saying that knowing our current situation?”

The development of this operation had resulted in a blatant exposure of their incompetence, but Panoha was not without a point.

Unlike what she had confidently told Lenok, she also had many obstacles to overcome within the company.

However, she couldn’t spout such excuses in front of Lenok.

Killian, who knew that very well, dismissed all those excuses with a single, indifferent word.

“That’s why it turned out like this.”

It was a result-oriented statement, but the problem was that it was not wrong.

If it hadn’t been for Lenok, Dyke’s plan, which had been started with a huge amount of money, could have easily failed.

Panoha had never expected that one of the freelancers would betray them from the start.

“…I underestimated the 40th district too much. I thought it would be okay if we gathered guys who hadn’t had any trouble so far… I never thought they would turn their backs so easily.”

“You’re working with criminals who have no prior records. You have to be prepared for a certain amount of risk.”

Killian said, gesturing with his chin towards the screen.

Lenok was sitting on the messy dock, smoking a cigarette.

“So, what are you going to do? That guy is the real deal. If you want to make your plan a success, you have to catch him no matter what.”

Even Killian, who had no liking for Lenok, could see that his skills were a finished gem in themselves.

It was difficult to guess what kind of unique magic system he was using because he handled various attributes, but what caught his eye was not the magic he used, but Lenok’s combat sense itself.

The boldness to not be intimidated even in the face of a powerful and cruel enemy.

The audacity to accept some losses in order to overcome the situation.

The judgment to use the terrain appropriately, and the shockingly accurate magic skills.

He was different from the magicians Killian knew, as he held back his magic until the last moment against superhumans with superior physical abilities, and then turned the tables and seized the advantage in an instant.

At the same time, he sensed it.

It was a talent that was different from simply being good at using formulas.

The way he suppressed fear and pain with a strong reason and pierced the weak points with sharp judgment was closer to a born gambler.

Killian knew how to treat people with such talent.

No matter what happened later, he needed to treat him well for now.

“Since things ended up like this, I think we need to call him in and fix things. If we want to work with that guy for a long time, that is.”

“…We’ll have to take some of the success bonus we promised to the other four and give it to Ban. For now, we can only hope that he’ll be satisfied with that…”

Panoha replied with a troubled expression, but her mind was busy calculating.

Although things had unexpectedly worked out, it was a great achievement to have gained a magician named Ban in the process.

He was a talent that she absolutely could not miss, considering the current state of the project.

She had to use this mistake as a stepping stone to continue working with him, rather than simply letting it pass.

“If Ban continues to be a part of our plan, we might be able to sort things out faster than we thought. We just need to expand the market and establish a sales network before other companies get involved.”

“We’ll have to gather people again.”

“I’ll have to ask Manya to pick out some more suitable freelancer candidates. This time, even if it costs a little more, it would be better to go through a test, as you said. We shouldn’t have skimped on money for this kind of thing, even if we’re short on manpower… I was definitely short-sighted.”

She said, quickly walking to her desk and tapping on the keyboard.

The company network. She was sending a message to all the employees she had gathered separately for this project.

First, by eliminating the drug dealer Paul Ackerman, they had succeeded in cutting off a major source of investment for the arms dealers in the 40th district.

From here, they had to penetrate the sales network by using a combination of threats and persuasion against the already established arms dealers, and at the same time, eliminate their competitors.

“It’s definitely easier to plan things under the assumption that it’s a lawless zone. The aftermath isn’t as big as I thought it would be.”

“That’s why you get guys who stab you in the back like that.”

“We just have to control that part from our side.”

She said, waving her hand at Killian.

“Now get out of here. Oh, and Manya will pick out the candidates and send them over, so print out all the resumes and bring them to my desk by tomorrow morning.”

“Damn it… I’m not here to be your errand boy.”

Killian grumbled, but left the office without any further complaints.

Panoha also tapped on the keyboard for a while, then immediately grabbed her coat and got up from her seat.

It was late at night.

The only reason she had stayed at the company until this time was to check on the series of plans that had taken place at the 48th district harbor.

Yawning, she picked up the remote control, turned off the drone’s camera that was showing the harbor, and entered the return command.

That was why she didn’t see it.