Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 657

Crackling, crackling, crackling!!!

The platinum structures and the civilization built by Oroknier melted away.

The heterogeneous space, a result of the ideological domain and the magnetic domain mixing, was pushed to its limit, melting and then shattering into pieces.

Clang!!!

The extreme magic pulled from within the domain was so powerful that it shattered the domain itself and burst outwards.

The black flame wave that erupted from the rooftop of the workshop tower burned across the entire sky of the machine city, evaporating all the rain and clouds.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!!!

Without affecting the ground at all, the flames of the mind soared endlessly into the sky above the top floor of the workshop tower where Oroknier and Lenox stood.

Lenox’s figure, staggering and collapsing amidst the crumbling platinum mass formulas, was juxtaposed.

The black flames rising above his head devoured all gases, including oxygen, creating a space where humans could not survive.

It was possible that this single unfolding of his mental image might temporarily alter the environment of the entire Machina area.

Thump, thump!!!

Lenox, collapsed at the top of the crumbling workshop tower, stared at the black sky with a pale face.

“Haa, haa…!!”

Once when facing the mechanized corps, and twice when facing Oroknier.

The price for using mental image construction three times in a row, something that even Lenox himself knew would be an extreme strain, was severe.

Even with the help of drugs to forcibly enhance his body and adjust his condition, it was difficult for him to even breathe properly.

His blood vessels seemed to be tangled and twisted, and even the mana that was always under his control was now rampaging uncontrollably.

A ringing sound pierced his ears. He couldn’t even think of touching his throbbing head, and instead, he just hung his head low.

“Haa…”

It felt as if his senses themselves had died, completely stopped.

Without the usual feeling of his stomach churning whenever he overexerted himself, he was sinking so deeply that he couldn’t even feel nauseous.

A backlash so powerful that it was not only strong but also fatally crushing his mind and body.

Lenox knew that the price he was paying now was not simply because he had deployed the magnetic domain twice.

The Black Sea God Fall (黑解曜辰落) magnetic domain, formed and used as a projectile from the Doomsday Cannon.

A combustion domain that forcibly draws out and embodies the potential of reaching the extreme of fire-type unique magic.

However, even though Lenox knew the power of the Black Sea God Fall, he had never used it since burning the Apostle Walter Martinez’s divine body.

‘The Kaleidoscope’s domain is, after all, a miracle that brings the possibilities that could have existed into reality. But…’

Each time he built up his rank and expanded his horizon of perception, the output and backlash of the domain that brought that possibility to life also grew exponentially.

Moreover, fire-type unique magic was only a part of Lenox’s relatively frequently used wide-area bombardment magic.

The Black Sea God Fall magnetic domain, which had reached the extreme of that mental image, was also growing in power and backlash within Lenox’s inner self.

The possibility that had been in the five-pronged rosary of the magic tower when he killed Apostle Walter Martinez was now depicting the incarnation of the jade flame that burned the battlefield as the tower lord.

Each time Lenox grew and gained new insights, the domain of possibilities also continued to change and grow.

The problem was that Lenox himself could not directly control that change and growth.

The Kaleidoscope, which used the mental image of a structure that endlessly drew answers as its key, only continued to move forward without looking back.

Now, it was impossible to adjust its output by changing the scenery of the mental image, or to lower the output of the mental image.

All Lenox could do was choose the mental image that was growing uncontrollably.

The reason why he had never used the first awakened lightning-type magnetic domain was the same.

The lightning-type magnetic domain, which was practically Lenox’s own identity.

The power and backlash of the thunder mental image that had transcended ranks and reached the extreme would be many times greater than that of the Black Sea God Fall.

That was why he had been working so hard to obtain the end of the old world’s magic gun, Teremer, in order to find a way to control the output and backlash immediately after the domain’s deployment.

Controlling the domain’s output itself, even forcibly, with the power of equipment.

That was the only way to control the backlash of the excessively growing Kaleidoscope at the present time.

Lenox had been constantly researching to control this backlash and to perfectly handle his own power.

However, each time a magician’s talent gained new inspiration and enlightenment and grew, the power of the domain only stretched out of control.

“…Cough.”

Even though sticky blood dripped from his mouth, he couldn’t even cough properly.

Without the strength to vomit, he simply hung his head to the ground, feeling the passage of time.

The old world’s Ascended. Although it was a degraded ideological domain without an owner, the price for choosing to break through that domain head-on was just as severe.

[Master…!!]

Davie, who had been hiding while holding her breath, couldn’t hold back and called out to Lenox urgently.

The moment Lenox struggled to twitch his eyelids to respond to the spirit’s call.

Click!!

He felt the sensation of cold metal touching the back of his head.

“Huff, huff…!!!”

Someone was breathing heavily, as if they were mad with excitement. The shadow cast above his head was the shape of long hair.

“I… I won. Lyman.”

“…”

The human, Hermes, who had been lying bloody on the throne.

He, who was thought to have died after being taken over by the Ascended’s memories and losing his ego, was standing there holding Lenox’s revolver.

His white hair was a mess, cut and tangled.

His body was broken and damaged by the aftermath of the battle. His miserable appearance, with bones and flesh exposed between his tattered skin.

But even so, he had survived until now and was trying to seize victory at the last moment when Lenox had fallen.

“I wasn’t wrong. I found my true self beyond the door, and finally, I have manifested in this world.”

With trembling hands, he pulled the revolver’s hammer.

Click!

With the sound of the cylinder turning smoothly, a bullet was loaded, and the feeling of weight was placed on the head where the gun was pointed.

He muttered, trembling all over his body, as if intoxicated, unable to control his excitement.

“I am an Ascended… a great transcendent who has gained the qualification… Kill all who interfere!!!”

[How dare a disgusting organism…!!]

Davie shouted with an unprecedentedly furious tone, raising her mana.

The moment the murderous intent, as if boiling from the spirit who felt the threat to her master, burst out and was about to be assembled into an actual cerebral function.

Lenox silently stroked Davie’s ear lightly.

[…?!]

At that gesture, Davie briefly stopped her mana and twitched.

“Dieee!!”

Hermes pulled the trigger of the revolver he was holding in both hands.

Bang!!

The sound of gunfire echoed from the top of the collapsing workshop tower.

A personal firearm that Lenox had personally customized to modify its power and store magic bullets.

Using metal with high mana conductivity, he had pushed the adaptation rate of shooting assistance magic to its limit, making it one of his relatively favored pieces of equipment.

If he were to shoot at a target at such a close range, instant death would be unavoidable.

“W-what, what?!!!”

However, the event of hot blood flowing from Lenox’s head did not occur.

A bullet mark that had pierced the floor and was stuck next to Lenox’s head, which was still hanging down.

The moment Hermes pulled the trigger, the direction of the gun barrel twisted, avoiding Lenox’s head.

“Because you’re using a cheap gun…!!”

Hermes, looking flustered, fiddled with the revolver’s cylinder, trying to suppress his anger.

He breathed heavily, pulled the hammer again, loaded a bullet, aimed it at Lenox’s head once more, and was about to pull the trigger when.

Keeeng…!!

“…Huh?”

He let out a dazed groan as he realized that his fingers were not moving as he intended.

His mind desperately wanted to blow this magician’s head off right away, but the fingers of his hand holding the gun did not budge.

“Eek!!”

The moment he tried to forcibly pull the trigger with his other hand, his fingers froze in place.

“Damn it, what the hell is this!!!”

As Hermes said that and swung his arm to throw away the revolver, the gun did not fall from his hand.

Instead, his arm, which had lost control from the fingertips, moved in a direction different from his will.

“Huh? Huh?”

And the moment his arm moved on its own, aiming the loaded revolver at his own temple.

Hermes’s expression changed blankly as he realized that this was not a coincidence.

It was not that the functions of his body were broken or dulled.

Someone was directly manipulating Hermes’s body, putting the gun to his own head.

And, at this point, if there was anyone who could order that to Hermes, there was only one person.

“Wh-why…!! Why!!!!”

Hermes cried out with a completely broken expression.

“I summoned you to this land, so why to me!!!!”

No answer came back.

Instead, a young man standing with his hands behind his back next to Hermes walked out and looked at him.

A face with the same appearance as Hermes.

However, unlike Hermes, whose face was distorted with pain, the young man’s face was incredibly calm as he looked at him.

[To try to impersonate me when you can’t even perceive me this close…]

The young man, looking at the screaming Hermes as if he were pitiful, slowly turned his gaze.

[You are very lucky in many ways. It was only after all my power had disappeared that my will began to reach this one.]

It seemed that only after Lenox had completely shattered Oroknier’s will and mental image did his will reach the incarnate Hermes and stop him.

A miracle of expressing his will in this place through the existence of an incarnation, even after his power and body had completely disappeared.

Lenox, realizing his unbelievable mental strength and status, smiled bitterly inwardly.

Lenox, who didn’t even have the strength to open his mouth, asked in his mind.

[Are you satisfied? Yes, I am satisfied. No matter how many life-or-death situations I go through, gambling with my life is an unmissable pleasure.]

Oroknier, reading the thoughts Lenox had revealed, smiled.

[If I were alive, I would have been satisfied. I have lived a moment that was nothing short of fulfilling.]

……

[Originally, I was going to get rid of this wretched incarnation that was impersonating me and leave… but there is one last thing I want to ask.]

He asked, making eye contact with Lenox, who was crouching and collapsed.

[Beyond the mental image of the Kaleidoscope you unfolded, I saw something more than just a possibility. If you had shown me that from the beginning, I would have immediately understood.]

……

[The reason why you fought me and broke the incomplete ideological domain head-on, even though you must have known.]

Oroknier’s eyes shone calmly.

[That is also related to the answer you will choose in the end, right?]

At that moment, Lenox did not answer Oroknier’s question.

However, Oroknier also heard Lenox’s answer.

A fleeting moment when the paradox of not answering becoming an answer was established.

[Hahahahahah!!! Good, very good…!!!]

Oroknier, realizing the meaning of that instant that could only be exchanged in the depths of a consciousness that was split into countless pieces, burst into laughter.

[You’re like a madman. You’re not even sure if that can be an answer…!!]

Oroknier stopped laughing abruptly.

Somehow, his gaze towards Lenox seemed to contain a hint of warmth for a moment.

[But my journey with him was like that as well.]

……

[Excellent, challenger. I accepted long ago that I would not be at the end of that path…]

Oroknier, muttering that, raised one hand and cut the necklace that was hanging around his neck, placing it next to Lenox.

[Still, still, it will be possible to leave a meaning.]

Oroknier, slowly raising his body, smiled faintly.

[I feel like I have finally finished something I couldn’t do a long time ago.]

……

[I couldn’t catch up with him when I was alive. Even if it’s just a self-satisfying consolation.]

His will, turning his back without any regrets, gradually faded away.

Only Oroknier’s voice, which had burned all his remaining strength in that place and was disappearing as if vanishing, echoed quietly like a distant echo.

[I think it’s okay now.]

Whoosh!!!

A dazzling platinum radiance bloomed from the empty top of the workshop tower, illuminating the sky covered in black flames.

The jade flames that Lenox had failed to contain and were burning the sky followed that radiance, covering reality and beginning to restore it.

A beautiful sight as if pure white rain was falling from all directions.

Squeak…!!

Along with a fantasy as if the stopped time was moving again.

Instead, Hermes’s finger, which was resting on the revolver’s muzzle, slowly began to move and apply force.

Hermes, with the gun pointed at his own temple, screamed madly.

“You are me!! I am me…!! This can’t be happening!!!!”

Squeak, squeak, squeak…!

The hammer next to him turned, and the sound of the spring contracting made him go berserk.

“Please, please!!! Don’t do this!! Don’t…!!!”

“Committee Member Hermes!!!”

The clash between the magician and the Ascended.

As the aftermath gradually subsided, the side squad and the soldiers of the mechanized corps rushed through the collapsing workshop tower.

Thud, thud, thud!!

Superhumans who had instantly surrounded all sides, climbing over the collapsed stairs and walls, and the afterglow of a powerful gaze that was plunging down from a distant distance.

And at that critical moment when the gaze of the entire machine city was directed towards the top of the workshop tower.

Hermes pulled the trigger.

Bang!!

Blood splattered from the side of his head, which had been twisted sideways, dyeing his white hair red.

Hermes’s body, which had been trembling while standing in place, slowly fell backward in a strangely twisted manner.

Everyone was staring with their mouths agape at the sight of Hermes, who was holding the revolver in one hand and falling while scattering blood.