Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 553

At Kaise’s resolute words, there was no further reply.

[…….]

A faint chuckle echoed as the ghost ship slowly passed over the power plant and disappeared into the sky.

At the same time, the hazy fog that had covered the sky cleared, and the clear sunlight began to shine down again.

As Kaise said, they were probably planning to spread their forces throughout the Ramahal area to find them.

Gileon, who had approached unnoticed, supported Kaise’s shoulder as he silently gazed at the sky.

“How much serum did you extract?”

Gileon asked with a calm expression.

“You overdid it right after finishing the work. It would be best to rest until your condition returns.”

Kaise looked slightly surprised at Gileon’s words, then smiled and pointed to his back.

The shape of one wing, completely melted after blocking Lenox’s extreme move.

“You don’t look so good yourself. Can you still fly?”

“It would be difficult.”

Gileon calmly agreed.

“But even with only one left, it’s enough to assist in manifesting my abilities. I can participate in the operation without any problems.”

“Take off the broken wing and give it to me. I’ll try to fix it while the research is underway.”

“First, we need to assign someone else to monitor the area around the power plant…”

“I’ll do it.”

McQueen, who had been watching the two with a displeased expression, spoke.

Although he was battered from the battle with Ilya, he was still able to move his body to some extent.

“McQueen, do you have a way?”

“Using my summoned creature’s ability, it’s not difficult to expand my sensory range over a large area.”

At Gileon’s question, McQueen turned to look at the giant stone statue he had summoned.

“However, doing so will divert most of the release formula’s capacity to detection. It will be of little help in combat, so do as you see fit.”

With those words, the stone statue standing behind McQueen began to slowly climb the transmission tower.

Reaching the top of the transmission tower, the stone statue sat cross-legged, closed its eyes, and spread its many arms in all directions.

Woo-oong…!!

At the same time, a yellow light emanating from the statue spread out like a ripple beyond the power plant.

McQueen sat below the transmission tower where the statue had climbed, and began to concentrate.

In contrast to focusing all his efforts on monitoring the power plant facility, he seemed completely defenseless against external attacks.

Behind Gileon, who was watching McQueen, Oliviera’s voice, tinged with laughter, was heard.

[Parden isn’t one to step forward in such situations.]

“…….”

[It seems he feels indebted to you.]

“It’s not just him who received help. Ultimately, one of my wings was damaged while trying to protect you.”

[Ah, it was a pointless act. It would have been better to focus on inflicting a fatal blow on that mage instead of protecting me.]

Oliviera shook her head at Gileon’s calm words.

[I only faced him briefly, but unlike his explosive magical power, his core was unstable. Perhaps it would have been better to push him into close combat from the start to disrupt his balance…]

Oliviera, with her chin resting on her hand under her veil, seemed lost in thought as she muttered.

There was no emotion or reflection on the fact that she had almost died.

Did she have a secret method or plan for survival that no one knew about, or was it the attitude of a madman who welcomed death even when facing it?

Gileon couldn’t understand it.

Kaise, who had been watching the two’s sharp exchange, chuckled.

“Don’t think useless thoughts, Oliviera. You’re injured too, aren’t you?”

[Hmm. Were you watching?]

“If you used your magnetic field and still took that much damage, it means the battle was that close.”

Kaise shook his head.

“You used the serum on vital organs like your heart, so you’ll have severe repercussions for a while. You might even have aftereffects if you’re not careful.”

The domain and spells that a powerful mage like her had built up boasted transcendent power, but conversely, the backlash when they were broken and collapsed was also severe.

Kaise didn’t know how Oliviera’s domain had gone berserk, but he knew that the backlash was not a trivial matter for her.

Moreover, since she had poured serum made from someone else’s blood into a vital organ like her heart, Oliviera’s condition wouldn’t be completely fine.

It wouldn’t be strange if she experienced a rejection reaction to the blood, rather than just a decrease in recovery or fatigue.

Kaise gave Gileon a look with cold eyes.

“There must be intact accommodations inside the power plant. Gileon, guide her to a place where she can rest.”

[I don’t need a guide. I’ll choose the time and place myself.]

Oliviera brushed past Gileon and walked past Kaise without hesitation.

A faint telepathic message, only audible to Kaise, echoed from under her veil.

[You already have an idea where that mage came from, don’t you?]

“…….”

[It’s not just us who are being worn down every moment.]

Her mana eyes flickered faintly from under the veil as she turned her head towards Kaise.

[I know that it’s not strange to hide and conceal things now. It doesn’t matter if you know who that mage is. But remember that the project must be completed.]

Oliviera said.

[It’s a contract. A malignant contract that has placed our fates on the scales.]

“I know.”

[Is that so?]

She seemed to give a hollow sneer from under her veil.

[Actually, I still don’t quite understand.]

With that final message, Oliviera disappeared without a trace.

Even though she had clearly taken a heavy blow in the battle with the mage just now, even Gileon found it difficult to guess her whereabouts.

McQueen, too, trusted his master’s abilities without a doubt, so he had chosen to focus on guarding this place rather than assisting her.

Kaise, with a calm demeanor, looked at the melted wasteland of the power plant and opened his mouth.

“I’m going to re-examine and restore the research data from the beginning. It’s enough if you just prevent intruders from entering the power plant during that time.”

“Understood. By now, the last member of the operation should be returning.”

Gileon replied, his dark eyes raised.

“Once that man returns, we won’t have to worry about external attacks.”

“No, there’s one thing I need to assign to him separately.”

“…A separate task?”

Kaise nodded, his expression unreadable.

“Yes… I think I know how to finish this research now.”

* * *

Inside a half-collapsed apartment building.

Felix twisted the doorknob of a relatively intact room, and the solid metal handle bent like taffy.

Clunk!!

“This place seems okay.”

Felix gasped for breath and slowly lowered his waist.

He placed Lenox, who had been slung over his shoulder, next to the collapsed sofa.

As soon as Lenox was off Felix’s shoulder, he quickly took out medicine from his pocket and swallowed it.

“Cough, cough…!!”

A combination of stimulants and painkillers to quickly alleviate the side effects of the battle.

The magical power and energy consumed while fighting Oliviera were directly impacting Lenox’s fragile body.

While he was trying to suppress the damage and alleviate the pain, a nosebleed trickled down.

Lenox, not even thinking about wiping the blood staining his front, quickly focused on first aid.

Felix and Ilya watched Lenox with pained expressions.

“I’m sorry, Ban. I was foolish.”

The bird-headed giant said, carefully supporting Lenox’s back as he coughed.

“The moment I was separated from you, I should have excluded other possibilities and rushed to the power plant. I entrusted the most important task to you while you were injured, and I was just doing useless things…”

“No, Magat-nim. It’s my fault.”

Ilya bit her lip hard.

“I couldn’t achieve any meaningful results against Kaise during the time Ban-nim bought for us. I should have secured him… It’s a huge mistake.”

“Cough…!! Are you two trying to have a confession session or something…?”

Lenox chuckled, wiped his nosebleed, and stood up.

Felix firmly supported Lenox’s staggering body.

“You need to rest. Your magical power is extremely unstable right now.”

“There isn’t much time.”

Lenox muttered.

“Before their forces are reorganized, we need to recover our posture and move first.”

Otherwise, instead of solving the radiation exposure, they might be hunted down by them.

Now that they knew that Kaise held the key to the current strange phenomenon, they had to find a way to break through that gap.

Above all, Lenox had no intention of letting the opportunity to confront Kaise directly slip away with just one failure.

“So, are you saying you’re going back to the power plant in this state?”

“No, would I do that?”

“…….”

Lenox looked up at Felix, who was at a loss for words, as if he was the strange one.

“If I were, I wouldn’t have even thought about escaping from there. What I’m talking about is something completely different.”

“…Come to think of it, you said you were going to find Azlan-nim.”

“It’s not just about finding his innocence and informing him of the situation. There’s something else I need to confirm as quickly as that.”

“What do you mean?”

Instead of answering, Lenox glanced around.

“This apartment is too unsuitable as a hideout. If we rest here for too long, we’ll be discovered soon.”

Lenox, who had pushed open the front door that Felix had half-crushed with his strength, nodded.

“Let’s move. If that ghost ship is really Madrich Onion’s, I know a suitable place.”

The group quickly packed their things and left the apartment.

A damp chill filled the streets. The eerie wails that echoed in their ears made their skin crawl.

It was evidence that Madrich Onion’s military command spell had begun its search, covering the entire area.

However, Lenox, unconcerned by the signs of the military commands felt everywhere, headed straight towards the downtown area.

The appearance of a small aquarium on the outskirts of the downtown area.

In the empty aquarium, various aquatic creatures of unknown species were swimming inside the tanks.

Felix, too, was making a strange face, as if it was his first time using such a place as a hideout.

“Are you sure this is okay?”

“Madrich Onion’s military command spells have difficulty detecting influence inside waterways.”

Lenox said, taking out a druid’s amulet from his pocket.

“Then, wouldn’t the opposite also be true?”

He remembered that the former Chief Justice’s hideout was hidden deep beneath the sea.

That was proof that the military command caster’s own power could be somewhat blocked and concealed underwater.

If so, it was only natural that Madrich Onion would have difficulty finding those located on the opposite side of the waterway when searching for others.

A charm that concealed their presence on the condition that they didn’t move, and Nyx’s insignia that completely transformed their presence into that of another life form.

Using these two artifacts as a center, he drew a simple barrier and built a magic circle surrounding the aquarium.

Whoosh…!!

At the same time as a warm warmth blew in, the dark scenery of the aquarium faintly brightened.

Felix and Ilya finally leaned against the walls of the tanks and began to catch their breath.

“Hoo…”

They had been forcibly focusing their concentration because of Lenox, but they had also consumed a considerable amount of stamina and magical power in the previous battle.

It was nothing short of a miracle that all three of them had survived and escaped from the battle with high-ranking superhumans.

“If we survive… I will definitely pay for the artifacts we just used.”

Lenox chuckled at Ilya’s resolute words.

“You have a knack for saying ominous things.”

“Isn’t this not the time to say that?”

Felix, who had scolded Ilya, cleared his throat, glancing at Lenox.

“Ahem, of course, I’m not saying I won’t pay either. What I want to say is…”

“Explain exactly what happened at the power plant.”

Cutting off Felix’s useless words, Lenox explained how he was able to meet Kaise.

The conversation he had with Kaise, the purpose of the space-time research, and even Oliviera’s appearance.

The expressions of the two people who had been listening to Lenox’s words with focused expressions changed to astonishment.

“To fix the space-time domain itself and make it a testbed for experiments… That’s an idea that goes beyond human reason.”

“If it weren’t for this operation, I would have dismissed it as the ramblings of a madman.”

Felix muttered with a troubled expression.

“But that man not only kept his word, but also preserved the damage in this area. It’s truly a wicked act.”

“A wicked act…”

While Lenox was pondering those words, Ilya spoke again.

“The power that Kaise Bajur used was more unique and bizarre than any ability I’ve ever experienced. He… he can manipulate the perception of time.”

“…….”

“I missed the opportunity to secure Kaise because of that ability. I did manage to inflict some damage in the process…”

Felix held his head at Ilya’s words.

“The injury was reversed in time and healed on the spot? He’s not even human anymore.”

“His own rank seemed close to a Saint-level, but his magical power and body have surpassed the category of rank. Perhaps he has already obtained inhuman power through the project…”

“The most important fact is that Kaise himself understood that this space is a distorted space-time.”

Lenox said, rubbing his shoulder with a blank face.

“Based on the fact that nothing happened at the point when the research was successful, he concluded that my existence was a variable in the process.”

“That means his colleagues may already be aware of that fact.”

“That’s really the worst-case scenario… Maybe we should evacuate the area right now and contact the administrator.”

It was not strange for anything to happen the moment the superhumans of the past in the closed area realized that they were beings of the past.

The situation may have already escalated beyond their control.

However, Lenox thought for a long time at Ilya’s words, then slowly shook his head.

“No, I’ve been thinking about it, but Kaise doesn’t seem like he’s going to tell his colleagues.”

“Why?”

“Looking back, Kaise had plenty of opportunities to tell his colleagues about it. But none of the people we fought noticed the space-time distortion.”

“…….”

“And look at the group of military commands that are looking for us now. If Madrich Onion knew about that fact, would they be wasting time looking for us?”

Lenox shook his head, watching the expressions of the two people slowly change.

“There’s no way. It’s natural for them to lead the ghost ship to the end of the closed area and try to directly confirm the distorted boundary line. The fact that they didn’t…”

“Means that Kaise has no intention of revealing the truth.”

Lenox’s eyes quietly gleamed.

“If he’s keeping quiet even to his own allies, then he must be thinking something else. And that’s probably because of our existence.”

“Are you saying that man wants to contact us separately?”

“Well… we can’t know that.”

At Felix’s words, Lenox quietly took something out of his pocket.

“But if that’s the case, he must have left a message in a way that we can recognize.”

“Ban, wait a minute… that’s…?”

The other two’s mouths dropped open at the sight of Lenox smiling and shaking something in his hand.

Clear red blood sloshing inside a glass bottle.

Lenox had secretly managed to steal one of Kaise’s serums from the cart.