Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 620

With the crumbling surface of the statue between them, Renok and the man’s gazes met.

Behind the man, who was chewing on the end of his cigarette filter, the three Executors were looking this way with surprised expressions.

One of the Executors, belatedly recognizing the man’s face, muttered,

“Branch Manager Phileo… When did you…”

“Nasisa Solmer, the manager of the Upper Workshop District, has passed the critical point. I just heard that she finished emergency treatment in the ward,” Phileo said, tilting his head with a nonchalant look.

“That’s why I decided to come to the scene first.”

Renok’s gaze, which had naturally been on the man called Phileo, also changed cautiously.

‘A branch manager of the Execution Agency… Is he a high-ranking Executor like Isabella?’

Having spent a considerable amount of time in Machina, Renok was now somewhat aware of the Executors.

The elite military force of the Machine City, Machina, the Execution Agency, and a field commander with the authority to command other Executors.

To be precise, rather than being a higher rank than the Executors, it was more like they were given the authority to make the first judgment when an operation requiring group action occurred.

That was proof that the Executors in the position of branch manager had excellent judgment and thinking abilities.

“Why were you looking in the wrong place, leaving the most important thing behind?”

Phileo said to the Executors, tapping the statue with the back of his hand.

“If you look closely, this statue isn’t as solid as it seems. If you dig in with a purpose, it’s big enough for a person to hide.”

“Branch Manager…”

“This guy dealt with the assassin here, and as soon as you guys arrived, he hid inside the statue.”

When Uzat and the three Executors arrived, Renok had not escaped from the chamber. From the beginning, Renok had not strayed far from the chamber, but had dug into the statue and was hiding.

Near the side of the statue, which was not easily visible even on the statue of the Four-Armed Two-Headed God.

With the four arms on the left and right spread out in different poses, it was not easy to notice the crack on the side of the statue.

“Let’s start by thanking the brave citizen who took care of the assassin that the Execution Agency should have caught,” Phileo said, smiling as he looked down at the silent Renok.

“Well, I’d like to give you a commendation or something, but can you show me your ticket for identification?”

Instead of arresting Renok right away, Phileo’s attitude of honestly trying to talk made another Executor draw his weapon without hesitation.

Clang!!

“Branch Manager Phileo, this is not the time, we should immediately…!!”

“Ivan, stay still.”

At the cold voice, Ivan flinched and looked at Phileo.

Unlike Phileo’s somewhat relaxed words, the branch manager’s gaze toward Renok was sharp.

“This bastard put on some weird rag right before I found him. He hid here knowing he would be discovered.”

“…”

“Either he’s out of his mind, or he knows something we don’t.”

‘He’s quick to judge. He’s quite sharp-minded.’

As Phileo said, Renok knew that hiding inside the statue was not a safe decision.

To completely erase his traces, it would have been much easier to hide his presence and magic in a secluded corner of the chamber and escape with a blink.

However, there was a reason why Renok gave up that option and stayed near the statue.

The thought circuit he had pushed into the replica of the statue to exchange information from the old world.

Through the magic contained within, Renok had remained to trace the location of the original statue of this replica.

If he could find out even roughly the location of the original statue somewhere in the Machine City, it was worth the risk of being discovered by the Executors.

After thinking that, Renok had deliberately dug into it to perceive the flow of that magic near the statue.

Fzzzz…!!

By tracing the moment when Renok’s magic, which had disappeared beyond the invisible space, was being collected, he created a large-scale spatial map with a radius of tens of kilometers in his head.

Renok nodded and rose from his spot, confirming that the magic that had penetrated the barriers spread throughout the Machine City had disappeared in the deepest part of the city center.

He had expected it to some extent, but this made it certain.

The Doctor of Pandemonium is related to Ex Machina. Now, he had to uncover the secrets of Kaise based on that fact.

“…”

The three Executors, who had surrounded the statue, and Phileo, who was blocking Renok’s path directly in front of him.

If he was a branch manager treated as a high-ranking officer within the Execution Agency, his skills would not be low either.

Just the fact that he had found Renok, who was hiding, at once, showed that he was a veteran with a lot of field experience.

However, even though he knew that he was surrounded by four Executors in an instant, Renok was not flustered.

Renok, who slowly adjusted his mask and checked its function, opened his mouth.

[I’m sorry, but I don’t think I’ve done anything righteous enough to receive a citizen’s commendation.]

Phileo frowned at the mechanical voice coming from behind the distorted mask.

The moment he realized that Renok’s other hand had dug straight into the side of the statue.

[I’ll politely decline.]

The statue, which had been still until now, swung its two left arms and slammed them down hard on Phileo’s head.

Kwaaaang!!!

The floor of the chamber exploded, scattering dust everywhere, and the Executors rushed toward the statue.

Three streaks of intense light flashed roughly from the head, shoulders, and side of the statue.

“Cut off its arms!!”

“It’s important evidence. Don’t damage it!!”

“This is not the time to be worrying about that…!!”

Thud!!

However, the replica of the statue moved quickly, not caring about its own body that was breaking down helplessly.

At the same time as twisting its waist greatly from its seated position, it bent its shoulder deeply to one side.

Right after taking a stance as if to throw something with its three right arms stacked on top of each other, someone was already on top of its palm.

Uzat, realizing that it was the figure that had been hiding inside the statue until just now, gritted his teeth and swung his three swords.

“Block it!!”

Swish!!

The moment Uzat’s three swords drew a sharp trajectory, two of the statue’s arms fell off on the spot.

However, the remaining arm pushed the figure on its hand up with all its might as if throwing it.

Fwaaaang!!

Something black smashed through the ceiling of the chamber and soared up at high speed.

The overwhelming scene of the statue, which had not moved for a single moment, suddenly throwing a human like a shot put.

The Executors, who had been gaping, finally realized the seriousness of the situation and moved quickly.

“Branch Manager, I’ll track him!!”

“Okay. I’ll take care of the field report.”

After saying that, Phileo threw away the half-smoked cigarette and yawned.

The chamber became quiet as Uzat and the three Executors chased after the black figure that was quickly moving away.

However, instead of investigating the statue left in the chamber, Phileo walked out of the chamber without hesitation.

A dusty old street.

A slum area where various ironworks, factories, and workshops were intricately intertwined, making it difficult to even know where the Lower Workshop District was.

Phileo began to walk skillfully through the streets of the slum, as if he could grasp them in his hand.

The scooter that appeared at the same time as he turned behind the alley passed him, sputtering.

The old junk was so worn out that the person riding it could not be seen properly because of the dust swirling over the scooter.

Phileo, who was covered in the dirt that had sprung up between the wheels, quietly muttered.

“Hey, you know what?”

Clunk.

Phileo said without looking back at the scooter that had stopped slightly.

“It’s been over five years since I took charge of this district. I know this area so well that I could walk it with my eyes closed. But you know…”

“…”

Click!!

Phileo, who had pulled out a long harpoon from under his forearm, turned his gaze with a grim smile.

“There’s no road for scooters behind this street.”

Only then did the person riding the scooter slowly turn his head and meet Phileo’s gaze.

[I didn’t know that.]

Phileo immediately infused magic into the harpoon towards Renok, who had transformed into a mask and shadow.

[Flash Flare]

Kiiing!

The light of the harpoon illuminated the alleyway as if reflected, cutting diagonally through the old wire mesh and walls.

However, the scooter that Renok was riding cleverly lifted its rear wheel to avoid Phileo’s attack, and then immediately began to flee beyond the alleyway, sputtering.

“…Heh, I told you there’s no road for scooters that way, you bastard!!”

Phileo, who let out a hollow laugh, immediately ran down the alleyway and raised his harpoon to surround Renok.

Boom!!

The vent under the scooter suddenly exploded, forcefully pushing Renok’s scooter upward.

“…Huh?”

Renok, who had climbed onto the roof of a slum building in an instant, and Phileo, who had become a dog chasing a chicken under the wall.

Renok nodded as he looked at the branch manager.

[This vent is so old that sometimes the trapped air is released greatly.]

“What…?”

[The time cycle is 23 minutes with an error of 2.2 seconds. If you time it well, you can use it like this.]

Leaving Phileo speechless, Renok pulled the scooter’s throttle.

[You said you were in charge of the district, but you didn’t know about this.]

Bwaaang!!

Phileo smiled bitterly as he watched Renok, who had accelerated quickly from his spot and disappeared, as if the sputtering appearance from just now was a lie.

“He was much weirder than I thought…!!”

Phileo, who had jumped onto the roof in an instant with a light leap, began to chase after Renok’s scooter like the wind.

Thud thud!!

Even though he was running so fast that his feet could not be seen, the distance was not easily closing.

Contrary to its appearance, the scooter’s speed was considerable. Phileo’s eyes, which were observing the shape of the scooter, shone sharply.

‘Based on the Troster Type 86 bike, he mixed the designs of Zero Per and Annihilation Drive… It’s a common design around the Eastern Continent, but the engine sound and the stability of the internal steel frame are on a different level.’

By combining the knowledge of two-wheeled vehicle bodies that existed in his head, he reached the conclusion that the scooter Renok was riding was no ordinary object.

‘It’s just disguised with an ordinary appearance, but the output itself is a monster bike. If I can’t burst the wheels in one shot…!!’

Kugwagwagwa!!!

The weak roofs of the buildings collapsed one after another due to the chase between the two.

Phileo, who had jumped up by stepping on the collapsing steel plates with superhuman reaction speed, gripped the harpoon in reverse as he was collapsing.

Kiiing…!!

The magic that had risen from Phileo’s body sharply wrapped around the tip of the harpoon, and in the instant it was ejected, rotating as if piercing a fish.

Something huge rose up as if to block the two people’s path.

Kwaang!!

A huge steel pillar that rose more than a dozen meters on the spot.

In that perfect timing, as if they had planned it, Phileo began to be wary of his surroundings, and Renok, who was escaping on the scooter, said,

[It’s a prefabricated chimney. It operates a little after noon and the time is delayed by 3 minutes every day, so it’s venting at this time these days.]

Bwaaaang!!

With those words, the scooter, which had jumped down below the building like a ray of light, began to run through the complex alleyways.

It quickly passed by other vehicles and people who had not properly recognized the shape of the scooter.

Renok’s figure, which maintained a speed comparable to that of a superhuman’s sprint and naturally changed direction as if he had practiced it many times, disappeared.

Phileo’s expression greatly frowned as if he was at a loss at that unbelievable riding skill.

“…!!”

Phileo, who had retrieved the harpoon a step late, ran out from behind the steel plate and slid down to the ground.

Squeak!!

Amidst the complex downtown area where all kinds of machinery and people were coming and going, he quickly checked his surroundings while rolling his body among the passing vehicles.

Phileo’s body, which had confirmed the direction of the fork in the road that Renok had entered in an instant, leaped from that spot and disappeared.

Swaaek!!

The trajectory of the Executor, who was concentrating on the chase with only the minimum movements without stopping the movement of accelerating through magic, leaving only a faint sound of tearing through the air.

Without stopping the gesture of accelerating through magic, he aimed the harpoon at the rear wheel of the scooter.

At the center of the rough sense of speed, where all the surrounding scenery seemed to change from points to lines.

Just as he was about to throw the harpoon once more and burst the tire, a pile of garbage that had fallen from the sky blocked the scooter’s appearance exactly.

Thud!!

The harpoon that hit the pile of garbage shattered the contents inside, and conversely, obstructed Phileo’s vision.

“Damn it, it’s been happening since earlier!!”

[Satellite energy supply fuel tank. It falls from 500 meters above, but it tells you the drop location 10 minutes in advance.]

Taking advantage of that brief gap, the shape of the scooter changed direction and sped into another alley.

Every time he caught up with the scooter, all sorts of machinery popped out from all over the street as if they had made a promise, and the buildings collapsed and transformed, blocking the way.

Various structures in the workshop district that hindered the pursuit at every truly precarious moment.

Only then did Phileo, who realized that all of this was a scene intended by the opponent in front of him, grit his teeth.

“You crazy bastard. You deliberately planned the route…!!”

Kugwagwagwagwa!!!

In the city where all kinds of machinery were pulsating as if they were alive, everyone would stop and wait at least once.

However, the scooter that Renok was riding did not reduce its speed even once and continued to run, shaking off the pursuit.

Renok’s eyes, which were busy checking the map that had appeared inside the mask and the system messages that were being uploaded incessantly.

[37 seconds, southwest intersection, traffic jam.]

[1 minute 21 seconds, facing the movement of a very large container heading north.]

The information that Renok was using to shake off the branch manager’s pursuit was not all due to coincidence or luck.

In the Machine City, Machina, even in the most underdeveloped workshops or streets, they were benefiting from machinery and AI systems.

If he could perceive the changes in information in the entire street and collect data with Davi’s power, it would be possible to predict what would happen on this street on a second-by-second basis.

It was possible because he was a cyber spirit who had been assimilated into the network while spending a relatively long time in the Lower Workshop District.

At this moment, Renok understood this street more deeply than the branch manager of the Execution Agency, who had claimed to be a native of this street.

[17 seconds, welding starts at a nearby ironworks.]

[1 minute 34 seconds, small-scale power outage at intersection 7.]

[48 seconds, traffic light error at the three-way intersection.]

[2 minutes 49 seconds, mobile overpass closed.]

He collected the information that was appearing everywhere regardless of time and place, and created the optimal route on the spot and moved.

[Master, I really like this city, it’s like a toy!!]

“Concentrate. It’s not over yet.”

Stroking Davi’s head, who was excited and elated, he poured magic into the cyber spirit without holding back.

With Davi’s automatic driving algorithm, he created the basic framework, and Renok supplemented and fitted the missing parts on the spot.

The ground under the scooter’s wheels suddenly rose up, bouncing Renok’s scooter.

The disconnected power line that had lost its direction in the air received the scooter that had been bounced off and placed it back on the ground.

As if waiting for it, a circular train ran through the railroad tracks that had been skipped during that leap, completely cutting off traffic between the two streets.

Kwaaaaa!!!

The timing was so exquisite that it seemed impossible to succeed even if he practiced and challenged it thousands of times.

Even the other Executors, who had belatedly realized that they had been tricked by the dummy and had come running, were wielding magic everywhere to somehow interfere with Renok.

[Triple acceleration filter activated.]

[Ignition booster multi-deployment.]

[Exceeded the limit of maintaining the scooter’s appearance.]

Squeeeak!!!

The shape of the scooter that Renok was riding seemed to blur for a moment, and then it accelerated to more than twice the speed and slid away.

The bike, which had momentarily become close to the speed of sound, emitted a faint shockwave and crossed the entire street like a flash of light in an instant.

It then climbed up the overpass that had risen to the point of almost tilting and breaking, and soared into the sky.

Fwaaaang!!!

Uzat, who was watching the scene, muttered with a disgusted look.

“He’s out of his mind. If he jumps over the overpass at that speed…!!”

However, the other Executors gaped blankly as soon as they saw the direction the scooter, which had accelerated and soared into the sky, was heading.

The door of the barrier, which was located at the end of the overpass that seemed impossible to reach, a mechanical barrier of tens of meters, was now slowly closing.

The shape of Renok and the scooter disappeared leisurely beyond the barrier on the spot.

Kugugugu!!

Some were suffering from the back-and-forth of the train, some were suffering from complaints about the power outage, and some were hit by containers.

The Executors, who had missed the scooter beyond the barrier that was closing with a hair’s breadth, looked at each other with indescribable expressions.

“…What the hell is that bastard?”