Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 638

Although Lenox had forcibly opened the closing gate using the access code within Elaba’s mind, he knew it would be difficult to seize the gate’s power as it was. Even if he acquired the related facilities at the point when the gate’s output was exhausted and closing, there would be limited actions he could take. Perhaps Hermes had also aimed for this, using Kashuin to buy time. That’s why Lenox intended to enter directly and see for himself what Hermes had witnessed inside. If he couldn’t slowly investigate the design structure and learn the principles from outside the gate, he had no choice but to go inside and see the landscape directly. ‘If we use the two keywords, Godslayer and Archangel, as a basis, I can figure out how much you saw beyond the gate,’ Lenox quickly gathered his magic power, layering it over his body as he spoke. Click!! He placed one foot on the huge ring of light, looking down at Hermes. ‘If I confirm what memories you gained beyond the gate, I can replicate the core configuration code of the Ascension Gate based on that recorded data.’ The other side of the gate, directly connected to the memories of the old world. Lenox knew that what existed beyond the Ascension Gate was not the actual old world. What existed beyond the gate was a fragment of a world where causality was already closed and the ending was determined. In other words, it was a consciousness space closer to a collection of memories and information, almost completely void. In a way, it was closer to the concept of the cybernetic realm where Davi resided. However, that’s why researching and exploring inside depends on how much of the memories and information beyond the gate one has seen. Hermes was a member of the Ex Machina council and one of the researchers who directly studied and managed the gate in this city. Therefore, by securing the same amount of information about the Ascension Gate as him, he could seize the management authority. This meant that if he met the necessary conditions, Lenox might be able to create a replica of the gate himself. At least at this point, it was an opportunity he couldn’t afford to miss. Only then did Hermes, who had been silent, realize Lenox’s intentions and let out a low laugh. ‘Do you think you can do it?’ ‘…….’ ‘If you know the most dangerous secret of this world, you wouldn’t be an ordinary person… perhaps one of the great observers…’ Hermes asked. ‘But can you be sure that the you who has seen beyond the gate will still be you? Do you have the ego to match that arrogance?’ Before answering, Lenox looked at the shape of the gate he had opened and fixed himself. Beyond the endless distortion of space, a void leading to the other side of a completely different world. What did it mean to throw himself directly into that? Taking the risk that his body might be taken over by the information of the old world, like the Harvester, and moving forward. But Lenox firmly believed that this was the closest to the correct answer at this point. Hermes’s identity. The true purpose of the machine city, Machina. The secrets of the Ascension Gate and Atermeyer. The meaning of killing a god. All the answers were beyond this gate. If all the time Lenox had spent in the machine city wasn’t in vain, it might have been for this very moment. Even if he wasn’t fully prepared, even if this situation was an unforeseen danger, what did it matter? Before the end of this world, Lenox was still just an answerer hurrying to prepare. Click!! Stepping on the ring of the gate, Lenox took a step forward without hesitation. Beyond the distortion of space-time, a strange illusion where the sensations felt on his skin were completely distorted. In the sensation of his consciousness scattering amidst the overwhelming waves of information and memories, he traced the traces of the old world based on the information he had obtained so far. Even beyond the void where material sensations did not exist, a brilliant illusion of memory shone without wavering. The Godslayer and the Archangel. While coexisting with those two keywords, a legacy of the old world that shone more intensely than anything else. Lenox, convinced that this was the memory Hermes had seen and something connected to the management authority of the gate, grabbed it without hesitation. Whoosh!!! Lenox’s figure disappeared from that spot with a dazzling light. * * * When did it start? When astrologers, prophets, seers, and astronomers all began to mention the world’s end at the same time. I heard about the approaching end so much that it was deafening, yet I lived without being aware of it. ‘Is this world the second one? You’ve got to be kidding me.’ It was a life of living hand-to-mouth. I had talent, but I couldn’t be interested in personal success or advancement. ‘I’m sick of hearing about the world’s end.’ ‘Are you also trying to scam us by saying you’ll save us?’ It started with a very trivial encounter. It’s now a distant memory. ‘I’m sorry, but there is no salvation in this world.’ ‘……What did you say?’ ‘But there is a next.’ He smiled. ‘I know the way, but I don’t think it’s necessarily right. We only have a very brief reprieve.’ ‘……’ ‘I don’t know how long it will take, but there is something more valuable than the world’s existence. I’m looking for it.’ Was he a common treasure hunter? There were always guys who adorned themselves with grand words. Fortunately, he didn’t try to persuade me, and he just left without any regrets after saying that. I easily forgot his face, but strangely, his words remained in my memory for a long time. Time passed. Just when even the conversation we had back then had completely faded into oblivion, I met him again. ‘Are you still alive?’ ‘……You, are you that charlatan from back then?’ ‘A charlatan? That’s not me, it’s the other side.’ ‘What nonsense are you talking about?’ A considerable amount of time had passed, and the positions he and I were standing in had changed a lot. I, who had thought I would never seek success or status in my life, had risen to a position above all others using my talents. There was a great disaster that threatened the entire country, and we unexpectedly cooperated to resolve the situation. He left without any regrets, and I forgot him just as easily. More time passed. I lived for hundreds of years more using my talents. I stepped down from my position, looked back at the destroyed country, and traveled through the devastated continent. He was still alive. ‘The third time.’ ‘……Haha.’ I couldn’t help but laugh at his nonchalant words. Having lived for over hundreds of years, I had earned the ‘qualification’ to challenge. Having gone through countless trials, faced secrets, and passed through ordeals, I had killed more lives than I had saved. I had destroyed more countries than I had ruled, destroyed more civilizations than I had revived, and paid more sacrifices than I had saved. I now knew that the nonsense he had muttered when we first met was pointing to the truth of this world. ‘Something more valuable than the world’s existence. You said you knew it.’ ‘You remembered?’ ‘Answer me. Does the next really exist?’ He nodded. ‘At least this time.’ ‘……’ ‘But as I said, I’m trying to find another way. That’s because it’s not a salvation that fundamentally frees us from the shackles we’ve been given.’ ‘……What is it, then?’ ‘If you want to know, will you help me?’ He smiled. ‘The first is coincidence, the second is necessity, and the third is fate.’ ‘……’ ‘There is no fourth. This is the last of our meetings.’ What would have happened if I hadn’t nodded at those words back then? But I began to travel around the world with him, whom I had met for the third time. As time passed, people like me joined him, and then left again. I also cooperated with him, and then wandered alone again when the opportunity arose. Once I had sympathized with his cause, the meetings and partings that followed were just fleeting moments. More than that, we focused on observing and unraveling the events happening around the world. In the meantime, I learned some useless but trivial facts about him. ‘You’re a magic gunner, but why don’t you use a magic gun?’ The power I had seen him wield was eerily strong, but its essence was far removed from his abilities and rank. Even though he had transcended perfection in both mind and body, he was sometimes held back by that decisive misalignment and distortion. ‘My abilities are powerful, but they have a clear high point and limitations.’ He said nonchalantly, surrounded by other companions. ‘So, I’ve been looking for ways to get stronger without using my abilities for a long time.’ ‘……You’re like a monster.’ He had obtained a transcendent rank without fully utilizing his innate talents, so who could say that his method was wrong? Over the long passage of time, there had been outstanding and stellar geniuses and monsters, but he was by far the most dangerous and precariously shining star among them. Even while listening to the envious curses of others, he smiled calmly. ‘To overcome the limits, I have to redefine the concept of my abilities. Now is the time to properly try it.’ ‘You’re saying you’ll reorganize your abilities only after you’ve qualified to challenge the ascension……’ Even the transcendents who had reached the same rank as him could not easily understand his way of thinking, but as always, he did not explain. He doesn’t hold on to anyone who joins or leaves. He simply uses what is there and excludes what is not, as if it were something he always had to do. In the process, he did show some emotions or humanity, but it was so faint that even those who traveled with him could only feel a very faint fragment. Time passed again. There were countless battles and destructions, divisions, and creations, coexistence, and prosperity that surpassed them. He stopped the rebellion of the machine gods and suppressed the religious group that worshiped the great demon. He prevented the world’s end several times and also carried out destruction close to the end. He freely crossed the line between good and evil, and unraveled all the secrets of the world. Only one thing was clear: that all of this was to not stop until the end. Even so, he could not stop the end from approaching. ‘It’s not far off, is it?’ Above the vast ocean where no land was visible. I touched my face reflected on the surface of the water under the starlight. Unlike my hair, which had turned completely white, my face, which seemed to have been spared by time, looked awkward no matter how much I looked at it. I glanced upwards. The stars that had been shining in the sky exploded brilliantly, burning their light, and a huge eye passed over those stars. Inside the huge eye, tens of thousands of tiny eyes wriggled like maggots, looking down at the ground with greedy gazes. The monsters from the outside, swimming in the dark sea forever. They, who transcended the principles of the universe and dreamed eternally, recognized the existence of the world. The only solution was to challenge the ascension, gain the qualification, and cross over to the world beyond destruction. A supreme feat that no one could be sure was possible, even if all the time of all the worlds in human history was combined. But everyone gathered here knew that even that was just a brief reprieve. ‘This is the end. What are you going to do?’ After preventing the rise of the continent that had sunk under the sea, everyone knew that the journey would end. All that remained was a brief respite to find their own answers and challenge the ascension. Perhaps we would never meet again. Everyone who had gained the qualification knew that this moment itself was a miracle close to a fleeting moment. He stood up from his seat and dropped something he was holding. Clunk!! A magic gun that could freely change its shape. Despite having powerful and diverse output and abilities, it was the magic gunner’s exclusive equipment that he rarely held. The expressions of the others changed as they realized the meaning of him abandoning it without any regrets. ‘You……’ ‘The adjustment is complete.’ He said. ‘If I change the concept itself and expand it infinitely, I will surely be able to reach it.’ It wasn’t that he had abandoned and turned away from the magic gunner’s abilities themselves. He had only been constantly adjusting and changing the concept itself, in order to make his own essence the answer at this moment when the end was approaching. ‘By twisting the concept of shooting, I will redefine and rewrite the meaning of bullets and targets.’ He said quietly. ‘I plan to use the pillars of the world itself as bullets and pierce through the irresistible end.’ ‘……Is this the method you thought of?’ Someone asked, panting. ‘Is this why you stirred up the world, carrying out prosperity and destruction?’ ‘Once the adjustment is complete, I can only use my power in this way. That’s why I needed to be patient.’ He answered. ‘If the end of this world cannot be stopped, and ascension is only a temporary solution and a reprieve……’ His unfocused gaze turned to the eyes that dimly covered the night sky. Beyond the distant time and space, facing the outer god, he muttered. ‘I will shoot and kill the god to stop the end.’