Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 58

VROOOOOM!!

Barely a minute had passed.

Lenox was now in the old jeep the couple had been using, chasing after the same group of freelancers from before.

There was no need to elaborate on what happened to the couple who had pointed a gun at him.

This time, he cast [Bloody Chase] on the woman’s blood and followed the direction, speeding through the alleyways. [Bloody Chase is a magic spell that allows the user to track someone through their blood.]

Unlike the man named Mount, the woman seemed to have some magical skill to notice Lenox’s magic, but she didn’t seem to have the time to break it while being chased like this.

He attached the red-stained thread to the front windshield of the car and changed direction as his head swayed.

It would have been difficult if he were chasing a normal vehicle, but chasing a car with one missing rear wheel was easily within Lenox’s capabilities with his rough driving skills.

He drove up and down the worn-out alleyways, breaking through the narrow paths, and soon enough, he began to see a car wobbling in the distance.

He stepped on the accelerator and rammed into it.

CRASH!!

Lenox’s body shook violently along with the car, but the shield around his body was strangely compressed according to Lenox’s magic control, preventing any bruises.

He turned the steering wheel hard, smashing the car into the side of the road and grinding it.

CRRRRRRR!!

The old stone wall scraped away, and the passenger door of the car was instantly mangled.

Lenox grinned, listening to the unknown screams coming from inside.

He wanted to keep pushing until the side of the car was completely destroyed, but soon the narrow alley ended, and an open space appeared.

The front yard of an abandoned, old five-story building.

Next to it, a long, closed railway line stretched out, full of rust, remnants of the past.

As soon as there was space, the car quickly swerved to the side, escaping the jeep’s body slam.

Lenox watched them leisurely instead of stepping on the accelerator again, even though he saw the car speeding away.

‘There’s nowhere to run.’

He had already confirmed it with his magic sense before entering the open space.

Lenox was blocking the way back to the alley and the wide-open railway.

They would have to stop here unless they were planning to climb the abandoned building and escape.

Even if they were, they wouldn’t want to turn their backs on Lenox when he was right in front of them.

And by now… they should have taken the bait and shown their teeth, taking advantage of their numerical superiority.

As expected, the car, which had been wobbling but still running well, stopped abruptly, and the car doors swung open.

The two people who got out of the car didn’t run away; instead, they slowly started walking towards Lenox.

Mount massaged his stiff neck, grinding his teeth.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve been hit while driving. It reminded me of the old days. Thanks a lot, you bastard.”

“Mount.”

“Trisha. Don’t stop me. Seeing how he followed us all the way here without missing once, he’s got a good sense. We need to get rid of him cleanly here.”

“…You’re not wrong.”

The woman called Trisha finally noticed the [Bloody Chase] Lenox had used on her and raised her magic to shake it off.

She glared at Lenox, her eyes sharp.

“Hey. You’re a freelancer too, right? It seems like Madison is so desperate that he’s reaching out to anyone, but it’s no use for a moron who tried to sell company secrets to struggle now. Why are you interfering in something that’s already over?”

“If it was really over, you wouldn’t have left Madison alive.”

Lenox answered nonchalantly.

“…What?”

“If you already had a buyer for the blueprints, there’s no reason to leave Madison alive and well. Wasn’t he just someone to pin the blame on while you sold the blueprints elsewhere?”

Unfortunately, backstabbing in this world means just that.

In a place where lives are staked on profit and loss, and trust is shattered like a piece of paper, if you’re going to betray someone, you should do it properly.

In that sense, Mount and Trisha’s actions after betraying Madison were extremely awkward.

They looked like experienced people who had been around the block, but they let the naive Madison go with just a bruised lip. It wasn’t because they suddenly developed sympathy; there must be another reason.

And that meant the blueprints were still in their possession.

Lenox, preparing for battle, took out a new cigarette from his pocket and lightly flicked his hand.

“Hand it over. If you hand it over now and leave, I’ll spare your lives.”

It was the best consideration Lenox could give to a fellow freelancer.

However, the two seemed to have taken Lenox’s words quite offensively.

“No, seriously… we’re the ones trying to resolve this peacefully. If you can’t understand, we have no choice but to use force.”

From their perspective, with their numerical advantage, Lenox’s overbearing attitude was completely incomprehensible.

It was strange that they were even having a conversation when their thoughts were so different.

And none of the three gave any meaning to the conversation.

Trisha muttered, raising her magic with a murderous expression.

“Spare our lives? I’m just going to kill you, so you better start begging!!”

WHOOSH!!

At the same time, ten long strands of magical threads extended from her hands, instantly attaching to the car, and like a wild horse that had been started, it charged straight towards Lenox.

VROOOOOM!!

As soon as Lenox saw it, he immediately realized what kind of mage Trisha was.

‘Manipulation-type unique magic. And a rather refined type at that. If she can manipulate a car from that distance and make it crash like that…’

Earlier, he was focused on identifying the two people’s presence in the chaotic situation with smoke bombs, so he couldn’t pinpoint it, but if Trisha was a manipulation-type mage, then everything that had happened earlier made sense to some extent.

The reason why the car, with no one in the driver’s seat, suddenly started moving, and why it was able to get this far even with one rear wheel destroyed, was probably because of her presence.

Manipulation-type magic is notorious for requiring extremely precise techniques among various spells, but it also has the advantage of being able to respond flexibly to a wide variety of situations, provided that one has the ability.

However, the inherent difficulty of the magic is high, and it is very difficult to increase the range and scope of the ‘magic thread,’ which is the basis of manipulation magic, so it is difficult to achieve great success unless one is born with the relevant talent.

Or, unless they have the ability to modify the magic itself on the spot, like Lenox.

[Marionette]

He connected the magic thread extended from his index finger to the jeep behind him. [Marionette is a magic spell that allows the user to control objects.]

He poured magic into the magic thread, which could not increase its range due to the limitations of common magic, increasing its range and expanding its scope.

The headlights, which had been off, flickered on, and the jeep, which had started instantly, shot forward.

WHOOSH!!

Collision.

CRASH!!

The cars collided at an angle, making a loud noise as they bounced off in different directions.

Bumpers and car parts scattered.

The car barely missed Lenox, and the jeep flew far away, crashing its head into the old abandoned building.

Through the black smoke rising from both cars, Trisha’s eyes widened as if they were about to tear.

“Wait, just a minute… how can you use manipulation magic…”

“Idiot, focus!!”

It was the seemingly clumsy man who was more alert.

As he heard Mount’s shout, Lenox immediately raised his magic.

WHOOOOOOSH!!

The purple whip that scattered in the air shot out quickly, aiming at the direction where the two were.

Both Mount and Trisha easily avoided the attack, but the whip went far past them and stretched out—

It immediately grabbed the steel bars of the abandoned building behind them.

CREAK…!!

The [Gravity Bind] mixed with the supports of the abandoned building, which had been shaking from the collision with the jeep Lenox had rammed into it, and the powerful gravity pulled the unbalanced structure down. [Gravity Bind is a magic spell that allows the user to manipulate gravity.]

Trisha’s face turned pale as she finally realized Lenox’s aim, but it was already too late.

He pulled his arm back and grabbed it.

The old, rusty steel bars of the abandoned building could not resist the pull and collapsed like dominoes in an instant, covering the open space.

Shield.

CRASHHHHHH!!

The concrete that supported the wall broke down, and dozens, hundreds of steel bars poured out from inside.

The rusty steel bars shattered from the impact of the fall, and pieces of metal flew everywhere.

Lenox, having created the situation he wanted, immediately unleashed his magic once more.

WHOOSH…!!

He took a step forward and extended his hand greatly.

The magic flowing from between his fingers transformed into a concrete form, following the path of intense intention and mental image.

He quickly recombined the remaining magic, creating a new cluster of bright blue lightning in the air.

[Lightning Bound]

ZZZZZZZZT!!!

A sphere that flickered intensely, as if dozens of bolt spells had been condensed, came crashing down. [Lightning Bound is a magic spell that allows the user to create and control lightning.]

The intense light and heat that erupted turned the darkening sky bright blue for a moment.

WHOOOOOSH!!

The rusty steel bars resonated greatly with the intense lightning, and a current of bright blue light flowed like a wave, illuminating the ground.

It was an area-of-effect attack that was bound to hit unless one was exceptionally skilled.

He hadn’t gone too far with the couple in the old jeep, but these guys were different.

They were directly related to Lenox’s work, and they had taken the strong move of ramming into his car from the start, so he had no intention of holding back.

“………”

It should have hit them for sure, but there was only a deathly silence beyond the dust cloud.

Lenox put a cigarette in his mouth, inhaled the smoke, and waited quietly.

He didn’t think they would die from just this, and it would be a problem if they actually did.

If the blueprints weren’t in their possession, he would have to find the broker named Madam through them.

And the life signs that fell within Lenox’s sensory range did not betray his expectations.

CRASH!!

Like a mole digging through the sand, Mount burst out from under Lenox’s feet, rummaging through the steel bars, and swung his arm wide.

In his hand was a straight sword that resembled a sharp awl.

The bright blue magic light emanating from the blade flowed down, colliding with Lenox’s shield.

CRRRRRRR!!

The strike, filled with intense force, tore through two layers of Lenox’s shield and continued to dig in.

Its penetrating power was more than it appeared.

Lenox, sensing it the moment of impact, quickly stepped back and unleashed an impact spell.

THUD THUD!!

At the same time, he pulled out his revolver and fired one shot each at Mount’s shoulders.

BANG!!

However, Mount deflected the impact spell and dodged the bullets Lenox fired by swaying his body to the side, immediately closing in.

“………”

It was a concise movement, but Lenox’s eyes cooled down as he recognized Mount’s level with that one response.

Just the fact that he deflected the barely visible impact spell meant that he was no ordinary fighter.

The reason he dodged the revolver bullets was probably not because the bullets themselves were threatening, but because he was worried about what tricks Lenox might have set up.

The third shield was breached, and the fourth began to shake.

The power of Mount’s continuous attacks with that awl-like sword was comparable to the strength of the bandit-like man he had met at the harbor.

It was different from before when he could simply stack five shields to receive the attack.

He realized that he was facing increasingly skilled opponents.

CRRRRRRR!!

The fourth shield was breached. If the fifth shield was breached, it was only a matter of time before Lenox was exposed.

Moreover, the fact that Trisha had not yet appeared was also something that could not be overlooked.

It was an unusual crisis for a simple request, but Lenox’s face remained as cold as ice.

Despite the opponent’s skills changing day by day, Lenox’s answer remained unchanged.

Just like he had decided at the beginning, he would not avoid it, but would go straight ahead.

Wasn’t the magic research he had devoted himself to for so long prepared for moments like this?

SNAP!

At the same time as he snapped his fingers, the shield that had been desperately resisting Mount’s attack twitched.

WHIRRRRRR!!

It instantly began to rotate around an invisible point, as if it had an engine.

CRACK CRACK!!

The shield, which had initially appeared to be simply trembling, began to spin wildly as if it had an engine, instantly repelling Mount.

The point of impact, which had been concentrated in one place, shifted, and Mount’s blade lost its penetrating power and began to lose its force.