Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 552

The Monster of the Past (5)

Seeing Felix rapidly closing the distance from one side of the corridor, Kaise reached behind him.

The cart that had been carrying dozens of glass bottles until just now.

Kaise, taking out a glass bottle filled with red blood, threw it to the floor without hesitation.

Clang!!

With the sound of the glass bottle breaking, blood spread across the corridor floor, and the moment Felix stepped on the blood and rushed forward.

With a sound of one of Felix’s legs twisting backward, his massive body collapsed to one side.

Kwaaaaaaang!!

“……!!”

Even though the giant’s torso was deflected and slammed into the corridor wall, Felix didn’t make a single groan.

It was as if he had somewhat anticipated this situation, his eyes gleaming with a hardened gaze as he rolled and stood up.

His leg itself wasn’t broken or dysfunctional.

The moment he stepped on the blood, Felix’s leg was forced to step backward as if time was reversing, shattering his balance.

And Felix already had an idea of what the cause was.

“Kaise Bajur. I heard you manipulate time directly.”

Whoooom!!

The moment the flat side of the hammer struck the air and lashed out, a powerful shockwave burst towards Kaise.

Kaise also immediately took out another serum and threw it into the air.

Clang!!

The shockwave dissipated into nothingness the moment the serum was thrown into the air.

Immediately after, Felix, who had landed in front of Kaise, gripped the hammer with both hands and swung it down.

“Not so fast……!!”

Gilleon, who had intervened between the two, pushed one of his armored wings forward and blocked the hammer’s strike.

Kuuuuuung!!!

Gilleon standing in the way, blocking the hammer, and Kaise silently staring at Felix from behind the armored wing.

Felix pushed the hammer even more fiercely towards Kaise and said,

“If Ban, who was called an anomaly back then, had confirmed your abilities firsthand, it would be certain. I think I know how you use that power now.”

The bird-headed giant, gripping the hammer tightly, glanced at the cart behind Kaise.

“The serum you just used. It must be something you made by extracting your blood in advance, right?”

“Oh ho.”

“I’ve faced a few ability users with unique magic or constitutions. Most of them used their blood or bodily fluids as a medium to use their abilities. At the time, I couldn’t understand why they had to go that far, but…….”

Gooooo……!!

Felix said, facing the hot gust of wind blowing from below the broken corridor.

“It’s hard to control the ability, so you’re extracting it in advance and using it like a consumable. The alchemical value contained in that blood must be immeasurable.”

“…….”

The serum made from Kaise’s blood. Lenox also realized its meaning and glanced at Oliviera.

The unknown serum she used immediately after piercing her own heart with her hand. It would be strange if they couldn’t connect the dots.

The reverse-time magic contained in Kaise’s serum. Oliviera had used that power to forcibly neutralize a near-fatal injury.

‘I guess she used it to neutralize the injury she sustained just before…….’

I wouldn’t mind checking the extent and effectiveness of that, and how well it works on someone other than Kaise.

[Master, the network packet structure is changing entirely. It seems like they’re replacing the entire line.]

Davie’s urgent voice was heard from the earpiece in Lenox’s ear.

[We haven’t lost the progress itself, but they’re increasing the firewall in real-time, so the time it’s taking is……!!]

“…….”

Who could be noticing Davie’s hacking and responding at this point?

Lenox, standing amidst the collapsing ground, and Kaise’s gaze met behind Gilleon’s armored wings.

“So, it was your power that was shaking the network of the fixation device.”

Kaise smiled with a somewhat pale face and shook his head.

“I never thought you’d be able to hack into my independent network system to this extent in such a short time. Thanks to you, I’ve come out to the field for the first time in a while.”

A noticeably worse complexion than before. Somewhat labored breathing and unstable magic.

He didn’t know what method he used, but Kaise had also put considerable strain on himself to maintain control of the fixation device.

Considering the number of those serums, he probably drew a large amount of blood in a short time.

But despite that, the reason why Kaise didn’t avoid Lenox’s pursuit and confronted Lenox in this place.

It was because Kaise also wanted to see with his own eyes if his guess was correct.

“I’ve confirmed the reaction, so that’s enough. This is it for now.”

Kaise grabbed the cart handle with a slightly trembling hand and flipped it over.

At that moment, dozens of serums that were full in the cart shattered at once, scattering a bucket of blood.

It covered Felix’s entire body, who was wielding the hammer through the armored wings.

Kkkkkkkkk……!!

With a noise as if space itself was distorting, Felix’s massive body was helplessly pushed backward.

However, the magic of the past emanating from beyond the flat side of the hammer resisted Kaise’s magic, preventing his body from reversing backward.

“Huuuuh……!!”

The bird-headed giant’s neck bulged with veins as he let out a low grunt, and at the same time, Felix’s body disappeared from that spot.

Pat!!

In an instant, Felix’s shoulder, which had turned behind Kaise, rotated diagonally.

The moment the heavy hammer was about to smash Kaise’s legs and grab his neck with the other hand.

Gilleon kicked the broken armored wing, slamming it into Felix’s face.

Woodudeudeuk!!

The shape of the armored wing crumpled, interrupting the rotation of Felix’s shoulder muscles for a brief moment.

Kaise plunged the last serum he was holding into his own neck.

Poook!!

“See you at the next juncture,” Kaise muttered with a smile, and with those words, all the blood spilled on the floor rose like a wave, covering his body and swirling.

Immediately after, the shape of the hammer barely grazed his back.

Bbeoeoeong!

The blood splattered in all directions as if it had exploded from the force, but Kaise was already gone.

“……!!!”

Only then did Felix realize that Kaise had brought out the cart filled with serums from the beginning for this moment, and he frowned.

Gilleon, who was looking at his broken wing, bit his lip and turned his gaze behind him.

The ground had completely collapsed, and Lenox and Oliviera had also descended into the deep sinkhole.

“Oliviera, cooperate.”

Gilleon quickly said to Oliviera, who was dusting off her robe with a much lighter demeanor.

“There’s no time. If the mercenaries enter the power plant, it will be even more difficult to hunt them down.”

[There’s no need for that.]

At Oliviera’s nonchalant answer, Lenox, who was also wary of her movements, turned his gaze.

Instead of answering Gilleon’s words, she smiled faintly with her arms crossed.

[Both the time and place have become coincidental. You had a good plan, but you were unlucky.]

A strange attitude that was the opposite of the murderous aura she had shown towards Lenox just a moment ago.

It was easy to see what Oliviera’s changed attitude meant.

The moment Felix tried to squeeze through the gap.

A bright yellow light burst from the end of the corridor, pushing Felix’s body out.

Kwaaang!!

At the same time, the appearance of a giant statue bursting through the corridor and the shape of a hyper-vibrating spear gliding between them.

McQueen, who was completely battered, screamed and came out from the other side, followed by the figure of a bloodied pursuer running fiercely behind him.

Hanging from the ends of two spears, a woman familiar to both Lenox and Felix flew up.

“Iriya……!!”

“Magat-nim!!”

Iriya, who had landed to avoid the fist of Arjumarta, the statue that was being swung down relentlessly, looked around with a flustered expression.

“I thought this was underground, how……?”

“We need to find Kaise.”

Felix asked, enduring the pain as he shook his tingling hand.

“There’s no time. If we don’t secure him quickly……!!”

“I lost him while fighting Parden McQueen.”

Iriya shook her head, biting her lip.

“I’m sorry. Ban-nim went to the trouble of creating an opening…….”

Lenox, who glanced around with a blank face, spoke quickly.

“Now that I’ve found Iriya, I’ll give the next instructions in place of clearing her name.”

“We can split up and enter the power plant to find Kaise.”

“It won’t be easy, but…… I’ll do my best.”

The figure of a fallen monk walking out from behind Arjumarta, Gilleon with one armored wing spread, and Oliviera looking down at them with her arms crossed.

The moment Iriya, looking at the superhumans who were all emitting unusual magic, gripped her spear, and Felix lowered his stance, raising his hammer.

Lenox shook his head.

“No, securing Kaise is on hold for now. Let’s retreat at this point.”

“……What?”

“Ban-nim, what do you mean……?”

“Look at their reactions. Do they look like they’re about to fight us to the death?”

Lenox rubbed his forehead with a tired look, looking at Oliviera.

“They’re stalling for time. There must be a powerful variable that can overturn the current situation in an instant.”

“A variable, you say?”

“Perhaps the monsters of the past who participated in Kaise’s plan are not just them, but-”

Saaaak!!!

Above the heads of the bewildered Felix and Iriya, a sudden chill descended, enveloping the surroundings completely.

At the same time, the eerie screams of ghosts were heard from all directions.

[Aaaaaaaaah……!!!]

[Die, die, die, die……!!!!]

Dark fog settled in the clear midday sky, and unknown vengeful spirits flew around in all directions.

Felix and Iriya both realized why Lenox was in such a hurry due to the sudden change in the environment near the power plant.

The superhuman forces that were guarding and patrolling outside the power plant following Kaise’s orders began to return to the main base.

Entering the power plant to find Kaise as it is now would be nothing short of suicide.

As Lenox said, they had to escape immediately and find another way.

Lenox took out two old pencil stubs from his pocket and threw them to Felix and Iriya.

“I’ve confirmed that Kaise has put himself under considerable strain to stop our plan, so that’s enough. Let’s retreat for now and replenish our depleted forces…….”

Lenox took out the Archangel’s Compassion from his pocket and raised his magic while holding it in both hands.

“We’ll circle the outskirts of the closed area and look for Claude Azlan.”

The five fingers of Enakpil, an emergency escape artifact that forcibly teleports the user to safety.

However, Felix shook his head as soon as he received it.

“Ban, using something like this in front of an 8th-level Archmage is suicide. We’ll all be ground to dust by spatial friction.”

What was the point of using such an artifact in front of Oliviera, an 8th-level mage, and Gilleon, who had the ability to peel away space?

There was no need to stop the three people trying to escape from this place with the five fingers of Enakpil.

Even if they just intervened in the phenomenon that occurs during the teleportation process and changed the direction, the three people’s bodies would evaporate in the immense frictional heat.

But Lenox shook his head even after hearing those words.

“I can block their interference. I’ll give you the signal, so get ready.”

“What……?”

Lenox didn’t wait for an answer and immediately snapped his fingers.

[Huuuup……!!]

At the same time, Davie, who had been groaning in his pocket, puffed out his cheeks and unleashed dazzling magic from his spirit body.

A huge explosion erupted from the underground power room where the fixation device was located.

Kwaaaaaaaang!!!!

“……!!!”

Davie overloaded some of the internal network of the firewall he had previously breached, paralyzing the junction function.

At the same time, he drew all the power from the power room facilities and poured it into the device, causing the device’s power to surge.

The faces of the superhumans of the past, who had been watching Lenox, changed drastically at the sight of the flames erupting from below the ground.

Amidst the spatial collapse waves that erupted as the fixation device broke down, Felix and Iriya plunged the five fingers of Enakpil into their hearts.

“Where do you think you’re going……!!”

Gilleon quickly activated his ability to stop the three people from escaping, but

Lenox, as if he had been waiting for it, took out an old wooden rosary from his pocket and poured magic into it.

Faaaaaaat!!

The relic he had received as a gift from the lighthouse keeper, Lapis, the Pure Land Mantra. [A relic used by Cheon-gyeon, an artifact with the ability to isolate and stop space.]

The moment Gilleon’s power and the power of the Pure Land Mantra collided and canceled each other out, the three people leaped through space and out of the power plant.

Faaat!!

“Cough!!”

Lenox, who had tumbled onto the ground covered in dust, coughed.

“Did we fail to resolve the space-time distortion phenomenon……?”

The moment he realized that Kaise was desperately blocking Davie’s hacking.

Lenox tried to destroy the fixation device entirely rather than forcibly seize control of it.

If they were lucky, the distortion phenomenon itself would be resolved by destroying the device, and even if it wasn’t, it would at least buy them some time to escape.

However, it seemed that it was impossible to resolve the phenomenon occurring in the closed area with this.

Iriya and Felix jumped up and looked around.

The two people’s gazes turned towards the sky above the power plant almost simultaneously, and their faces turned pale.

“……!!!!!”

The two, who hadn’t said a word, exchanged glances and then picked up their equipment.

Felix, who had lightly grabbed Lenox by the scruff of his neck, slung his body over his shoulder and sprinted.

Thud thud thud!!!

Lenox’s body, which was hanging over Felix’s shoulder like laundry, shook wildly, and his face turned pale in an instant.

“Ugh, Felix……!! Slowly……!!”

“Ban, you were right. We should have escaped from that power plant even a little sooner.”

Felix said in a stiff voice, frantically putting distance between himself and the power plant.

“Look at the sky. If we had been even a little late, we would have already…….”

“…….”

Lenox, who was holding his churning stomach, struggled to lift his gaze upward.

The waves of vengeful spirits rippling in the now hazy sky above the power plant.

Amidst them, a huge ghost ship slowly revealed itself with a faint wave.

Kuoohhhhhh!!!

As if proudly cutting through the white fog of vengeful spirits, the magnificent ship floating in the air floated nonchalantly above the sky.

Numerous ghostly soldiers on the ship were panting as they rowed and pulled chains, preparing to drop anchor and stop.

An overwhelming scale that was difficult to grasp even while seeing it with their own eyes.

Lenox already knew whose power that ghost fleet was.

It was none other than the domain of the 8th-level spirit medium, Madrich Onion, the powerful enemy that Lenox himself had faced and settled the score with at the final moment, the Spirit Shackles of the Dead.

“Madrich Onion has returned.”

* * *

Kiiiiiiiii……!!

With an eerie noise, the sky had turned gloomy.

Gilleon frowned silently as he looked at the ghost ship floating in the sky above the power plant.

It was the power of the domain he had witnessed several times in this civil war, but the eerie aura unique to spirit mediumship was never easy to get used to.

An 8th-level spirit medium. A judge of the spirit realm who commands thousands and hundreds of vengeful spirits like limbs.

The domain used by Madrich Onion was, in terms of its appearance, truly overwhelming compared to other mages.

Kiiiiiiiii!!

The wails of vengeful spirits flying in the sky.

Bizarre, pain-filled screams layered with various harmonies, eventually beginning to sound like one voice.

[How pathetic. I’m already busy, and you’re telling me I was being disturbed by some vermin.]

Madrich’s voice, muttering in a languid tone without even getting off the ship, echoed loudly in the sky.

[Where is Kaise? I need to hear directly when this tedious operation will end.]

The answer came not from the collapsed sinkhole and underground corridor below the power plant, but from a completely different place.

Bang!!

“Don’t worry, Onion, it won’t be long now.”

Kaise, who was perched on an outer transmission tower of the vast power plant facility, got up and retorted.

It was a completely different appearance from when he was fighting Felix in the underground corridor near the power room just a moment ago.

Kaise, who had gotten up, was holding dozens of bundles of wires tightly in his hand.

“It took too long to back up the space-time fixation device data. Now, all that’s left is to reconfigure the device and restore the test results.”

“Kaise……!! What the hell have you been doing all this time?”

McQueen said, unable to hide his annoyance.

“If we had held them a little longer, we could have captured all three of them at once. Isn’t it your response that gave them an opening, even though you knew that!!”

The situation would have completely reversed if they had just held out until Madrich Onion returned.

Kaise knew that, but he used magic to evade the battlefield, giving the opponent time to react.

If they had just stalled for a little more time and waited for Onion’s return, they could have resolved all the commotion at once.

But even after hearing McQueen’s words, Kaise shrugged with a frown.

“This operation itself could have become useless. You still don’t know what kind of power that mage has.”

“What the hell are you……!!”

“I’ve been thinking about why the mage is still here and stalling for time.”

Kaise retorted, coughing weakly.

“It’s us who have the advantage the longer it takes, so if they’re holding out, there must be a reason, right?”

“…….”

“Sure enough, they were hacking into the control system of the fixation device, which had blocked external intervention. They were aiming for this even while risking a clash with Oliviera.”

“……Are you saying that the mage is already proficient in manipulating cyberspace?”

Kaise, who was rubbing his temples with a pale face, nodded with a hollow laugh.

“It was already at a level that I couldn’t stop with my own hands, so I had to give up maintaining the status quo and focus entirely on backing up the data of the fixation device. If I hadn’t found the source of the hacking in the mage’s own body at the end, the entire Ramahal district might have suffered a blackout…….”

“…….”

Leaving McQueen speechless, Kaise dropped the wires and jumped off the transmission tower.

He landed lightly from the top of the tower, which was over ten meters high, and with his hands in his pockets, he gestured with his chin in the direction where Lenox had disappeared.

“A force comparable to Oliviera’s. A unique cybernetic interference ability that can intervene in the power plant facilities. Do you believe that all of this is a coincidence?”

“…….”

[He was a master of lightning magic.]

Oliviera, who had been listening to those words with her arms crossed, said as she pulled her veil back over her face.

[I don’t know if it’s possible, but it wouldn’t be strange if he had mastered the manipulation of cyberspace, going beyond the concept of lightning.]

“That’s exactly it.”

Kaise nodded.

“A situation where they’ve seen through our situation and sent an ability user specialized in attacking. There’s only one conclusion this points to.”

A mage who was capable of directly confronting Oliviera’s power, who could help Kaise’s research, and who possessed the intelligence and intuition to intervene.

What did it mean that a monster with such talent and capabilities was someone they had never seen before, even after living for decades?

“That mage is probably-”

Kaise was about to say that, but then he closed his mouth as if he had run out of words.

Like someone who was about to say something but was caught in thought before an important fact.

He naturally changed the subject.

“……His name was Ban, right?”

Even though he had somewhat figured out Lenox’s identity and secrets, Kaise ultimately didn’t share that fact with his other colleagues.

“Track that man down and bring him to me before the research is completed again. Can you do that?”

[Is it okay if I bring him back dead?]

Goooooo……!!

The desolate scenery of the ruined power plant where a cold wind was blowing.

Kaise’s eyes gleamed meaningfully in front of the four silent superhumans.

“It doesn’t matter. That would just mean that was all he was worth.”