Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 562

Kaise’s voice echoed with a somewhat hazy sensation.

Kiiing!!

“I knew you’d find your way here quickly.”

“……”

“The only places with enough power to handle the stabilization device’s energy supply are the underground power room and the top-floor power exhaust.”

It was a voice and conversation he had already heard once.

“It was difficult to maintain operation by connecting the circuits, but it’s not impossible if you manipulate the power plant’s internal facilities well.”

His familiar words, as if knowing what would come next, echoed in his ears.

Time repeating, Kaise’s technique using language as a trigger to reverse the perceived time and cast an illusion.

“It’s strange. This particle power plant is so noisy and falling apart, yet no one thinks of returning.”

“……”

“We can’t reach our colleagues on the front lines either. There’s no sign or trace of them. I thought it was just because of the anomalies inside the power plant, but in fact…”

The conversation should have stopped here and shifted to the topic of Oliviera.

However, what came out of Kaise’s mouth was completely different from before.

“Actually, it was to test you.”

“……”

Lenox didn’t answer.

He just stared at Kaise with a blank face, his complexion looking somewhat dazed, even after hearing those words.

Kaise stared at Lenox’s face for a long time, then lowered his head with a hint of disappointment.

“I guess you can’t escape the manipulation of perceived time… It was as I thought.”

Contrary to his words, with a clearly disappointed expression, Kaise slowly raised his hand and touched Lenox’s forehead.

“If you can’t immediately break free from the reverse flow of magic, that’s fine. From now on, I’ll reverse your memories to confirm what happened… Yes, that’s enough.”

However, contrary to what he said, Kaise hesitated to gather his magic power for a long time.

As if what he was about to do was irreversible.

Finally, as if having made up his mind, Kaise gritted his teeth, gathered his magic power, and plunged it directly into Lenox’s mind.

He began to peek into Lenox’s memories through the illusion of reversed perceived time.

Kiiing!!

The proposal of innocence that urged entry into the restricted area, the danger of the radiation phenomenon, the space-time distortion phenomenon encountered after entering the area through the water barrier.

And a vast and developed landscape of Vulcan, far removed from Kaise’s own memories.

Each time he checked Lenox’s memories, Kaise’s complexion grew paler, and his hand trembled faintly as he confirmed the truth.

[I heard Kaise’s granddaughter runs a bar in the back alleys?]

[I heard she’s quite good at being a broker.]

“…!!!”

Kaise, with a stiff expression, couldn’t pass by that keyword and stopped.

Like someone facing a truth they didn’t want to confront, he hesitated to hear the ending that he and his blood relative would face.

But he gritted his teeth and unfolded Lenox’s memory of walking into the bar.

A black-haired woman standing with her back turned inside the bar. Her somewhat curly hair and tilted posture were exactly like Kaise himself.

As she noticed Lenox’s entrance, she turned her back, and in that fleeting moment when her face was about to be seen through her hair.

“That’s enough.”

Thud!!

Lenox grabbed Kaise’s wrist and lifted it straight up.

“You know that going any further won’t help, right?”

“……”

Kaise, who was staring blankly at Lenox with a suffocated face, shook off the wrist he was holding and stepped back.

He wiped the sweat from his forehead and then, finally realizing Lenox’s reaction, he quickly raised his gaze.

“The manipulation of perceived time… It didn’t work from the start. Then your memories are…?”

“I just thought it would be better to show you if you’re so determined to see it yourself.”

Lenox answered indifferently with his arms crossed.

“I’m the same way.”

The illusion of reversing perceived time using specific words as triggers.

Lenox was not caught by Kaise’s technique, which even Ilya couldn’t resist.

However, to fulfill what Kaise wanted to confirm, he was directly showing him his memories.

He didn’t expect that Kaise would try to find and confirm the clue that it was his granddaughter in the meantime.

“……”

Kaise hesitated for a long time even after hearing that answer. As if he was wondering what to ask.

The existence of his granddaughter seen in Lenox’s memories and his current goal of confirming Lenox’s capabilities.

The choice was already made from the beginning.

Kaise closed and opened his eyes once and asked.

“You were able to resist the reverse flow of magic. Do you know the reason yourself?”

“I didn’t resist your magic.”

Lenox answered calmly.

“If I had, I wouldn’t have shown you my memories in the first place.”

“Then…?”

“Even if time changes, I don’t change. That’s all.”

No matter how much time is turned back or manipulated, Lenox does not return to the path he has already passed.

The powerful ego established as the essence of transcendental talent and the identity completed through self-contemplation do not waver in the flow of time and only move forward.

Since the first time he opened his eyes in this world, Lenox has not changed for a single moment.

If he is aware of that, Lenox can stand in his place.

He can maintain his center even amidst the constantly fluctuating space-time and world lines.

To not waver even while holding the image of a kaleidoscope reflecting possibilities within, and to exist as Lenox himself through countless versions of himself, that was the meaning.

“To be completely yourself even at the end of space-time… That’s admirable.”

Kaise, understanding the meaning of that answer, let out a faint exclamation.

“You already have the qualifications. It’s enough to just draw out the answer within you.”

“……”

“Okay. That’s enough. Putting everything else aside, the one thing I wanted to confirm with you was that. How much you can withstand the reverse flow of magic, because the limit of your mental strength will ultimately determine the success or failure of this matter.”

After saying that, Kaise turned his back without hesitation and stood in front of the stabilization device.

The appearance of him wavering at the existence of his granddaughter was nowhere to be seen, and his eyes were calmly settled.

“Let me explain. Why I had to tell you directly about this whole situation.”

* * *

“After finishing the research with you and manifesting the scattering phenomenon through the stabilization device, I realized it.”

Kugugugu!!!

Kaise, standing in front of the giant pillar of light, said as he turned to look at Lenox.

Kaise’s eyes looked somewhat sad.

“Originally, the space-time stabilization research shouldn’t have been completed at this point. The sense of unease I felt throughout the research was because of that.”

“……”

“Because the research failed in the original history, the future me chose this moment to stabilize space-time. I realized that too late.”

“You chose this point because it failed?”

“The reason why the research that should have failed succeeded is because the possibilities of the future mixed in as you helped with the research.”

“……”

“I couldn’t create anything through the scattering phenomenon, so I couldn’t achieve any results, but I was convinced as I reviewed the results of the completed research.”

Kaise said that and tapped the stabilization device.

“The moment this is completed, the world will fall into corruption.”

“…Corruption?”

The moment Lenox frowned at that unfamiliar word, Kaise smiled bitterly.

“Perhaps the future me was aware of this fact and deliberately left it in an incomplete state. As a result of being left like that, you came into contact with it someday, and that’s why the research was completed so quickly.”

“……”

“Originally, the future where I would even realize this fact at this point wouldn’t have existed…”

Kaise muttered that, then crossed his arms and raised his gaze.

“The space-time stabilization research was a testbed for the success of the project and a vessel to contain my own ideals… but it’s not anymore.”

Unlike his powerless tone, Kaise spoke with unwavering eyes.

“This space is already being used as a vessel to contain the dreams of someone else, not me.”

“A vessel to contain dreams…”

“The reason why past existences, including me and Oliviera, can contemplate ourselves is because this space is not simply a distorted space-time, but a region that has been altered with a specific intention.”

Lenox easily understood what those words meant.

A space-time left behind in the past.

However, the people of the past who remain here think, judge, and even maintain their original powers as if they are truly alive.

That is possible because this space is not simply a result of being left as a distorted space-time, but a part of reality that is still being realized by someone’s will.

Kaise was expressing that phenomenon itself as a ‘dream’.

And if there is an existence that can construct and maintain such a space-time just by dreaming, who could it be?

The answer was already decided.

“Does that mean what’s happening in the restricted area… is related to the Outer Gods?”

“At least someone with power and status comparable to them.”

After saying that, Kaise was silent for a long time.

As if he was hesitating to say something, as if he would never be able to turn back once he uttered these words.

“If an existence comparable to the Outer Gods is having an endless dream here, and if that’s why we exist now, then I, I… I have to stop it.”

As if cutting off the remaining attachment, Kaise said.

“I didn’t continue the research for this. If the process itself is wrong regardless of the success or failure of the work, it’s meaningless. The space-time stabilization research is a failure.”

A result that does not correspond to the purpose is ultimately meaningless regardless of success or failure.

“I know why you came into this space-time looking for us. It’s because our existence now is a real threat in reality, right?”

“……”

“Considering the radiation phenomenon that occurred when conducting the space-time stabilization research, the most likely harm is a large-scale magic particle collapse…”

Kaise smiled weakly.

“It’s a special disaster that threatens the lives of tens of millions of people.”

Just by briefly glimpsing the memories Lenox had given him, Kaise understood all the facts.

The end point of the research that deviated from the original intention. The disaster called the radiation phenomenon born from that harm.

Even who should choose what to resolve this situation.

“Even if I am the one abandoned in a failed timeline, in a discarded space-time, still… I promised. When I vowed to discard all the failures of the world and move forward, I swore.”

Kaise muttered with a painful expression.

“Even if I am the one who ends up failing and being discarded, I will accept it…”

“……”

Lenox was speechless and quietly listened to his words.

Kaise was now saying that he would erase this timeline, even though he knew he was an existence of the past.

In other words, it was a declaration close to suicide, that he would create the end of space-time with his own hands and accept the result.

Furthermore, wasn’t it also a statement that he would bury his colleagues who were with him at the end?

“The reason why a person with the ability to resist the reverse flow of magic is needed is because I alone can no longer completely stop the operation of the space-time stabilization device. I needed someone to stop the device while I was working.”

Kaise, who started walking around the stabilization device, said.

“Oliviera has already used my serum several times, and she is also part of this space-time, so it’s impossible. I had no choice but to bet on you, the only sorcerer and outsider among your group. But it was also impossible to explain this fact to anyone else and ask for their understanding…”

Kaise said that and then tapped the control panel of the stabilization device without hesitation.

Bang!!

At the same time, the levers on all sides of the control panel rotated wildly and began to change the output and direction of the device.

The giant pillar of light split in all directions, and a path wide enough for one person to pass through opened at the end.

Kuooh!!

“This is the conclusion I’ve come to, Ban.”

Kaise stood in front of the path without hesitation and turned to look at Lenox.

“I will end this dream and completely close the failed world line. What about you?”

“……”

Only then did Lenox feel like he could somewhat understand what kind of person Kaise was.

Kaise Bajur is by no means a saint, nor is he a seeker who sacrifices everything for the salvation of the world.

If he was a person full of altruism in the first place, he wouldn’t have been able to reign as the king of the underworld in this hellish Vulcan.

In fact, all the decisions he makes are infinitely close to the correct answer, but the process of reaching them is terribly twisted.

He was just a human being struggling to find an answer in a collapsing world.

He still doesn’t think it’s the right way.

However, if that is the way of an existence that fully recognizes and accepts its own end…

“It won’t be enough to just completely stop the stabilization device.”

Lenox, who had been silent, said.

“If you don’t pull out and solve the root of the problem while the device is completely stopped, it will never stop.”

Click!!

Lenox, grabbing the control panel of the stabilization device, pushed the lever up.

Kugugung…!!

Some of the surrounding supports collapsed, widening the path that Kaise would pass through a little more.

“Ban.”

“It doesn’t matter how your method ends.”

Lenox answered, meeting Kaise’s gaze as he looked down at him.

“I will find the answer that I believe is right. You do what you want.”

“……”

In the end, what happened in this space-time was a story that began decades ago and was already concluded.

No matter how Lenox changes fate in this place, he is ultimately just a bystander.

Without the cooperation of Kaise, who is the initiator and instigator of all this, this situation cannot be resolved.

From the moment Lenox heard Kaise’s name, he had vaguely sensed that fact.

“I’ll help you end the dream. I’ll assist you, so let’s begin.”