Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 665

“So, this is what it feels like?”

“…Third Apostle?”

At the voice from behind, the boy, covered in wounds, glanced back.

Clad in the pure white robes of the Order, the followers looked up at him with reverence.

A gruesome hill of flesh and blood, with countless corpses piled high.

The thick, flowing blood and the pungent smell of gore filled the green citadel.

Paradox Green, the outer citadel of the central front, once full of life and prosperity.

Under the strict control of the Head Warlords, it was one of the most prosperous citadel cities in the demilitarized zone.

The fortress, once a hub of trade with thousands of mercenaries, soldiers, and superhumans passing through, was now covered in crimson bloodstains.

The slaughter was not carried out by the Order’s superhumans or thousands of Order soldiers, but by a single Apostle.

It was the Third Apostle, who had been imprisoned for decades beneath the Order’s main sanctuary and had never shown his face.

“If, by any chance, there is anything that makes you uncomfortable…”

“It’s nothing like that, so don’t worry about it.”

Disheveled black hair and a vacant, unfocused expression. A nonchalant tone that didn’t match his youthful appearance.

A wretched appearance with scars and cuts etched like tattoos on his skin, and chains larger than his own body binding his arms and legs.

Clatter!!

Here and there on the chains, pieces of flesh and blood, once belonging to living humans, were stuck and dripping down.

As the boy shrugged his shoulders, as if annoyed, the chain binding his left arm moved like a living snake and struck the back of his head.

Thwack!!

“Guh…!!”

With that single motion, the waist of the soldier who had been rushing at the Third Apostle from behind was crushed and severed.

The boy, not even glancing at the corpse convulsing and foaming at the mouth, sat with his chin propped up and raised his gaze.

“When I traveled with Him, I sometimes heard stories about angels.”

“Angels… you mean?”

Seeing the followers still tilting their heads in confusion, the boy chuckled.

“At the time, I thought it was just a vague metaphor for the paradise we desired… but it seems that wasn’t the case.”

The Apostle’s eyes, gazing at the cloudy sky, momentarily twisted into a sinister expression.

“Much dirtier than I thought, a vile reflux of emotions… I understand now that I’ve felt it directly. Could that be our origin?”

“…”

The Order’s Apostles were chosen as the incarnations of the Outer Gods, strategic weapons that had inherited some of their powers.

Therefore, in exchange for abandoning their humanity, they grew closer to the Outer Gods and suffered from madness that made it impossible to maintain their sanity.

The Third Apostle, Hughes, in the form of a boy, had also long ago succumbed to madness and been imprisoned in the Order’s main sanctuary.

Nevertheless, he had never forgotten the short journey he had taken with Him.

The brief journey he had taken with the Order’s master before becoming an Apostle.

He endlessly replayed the conversations they had shared, beyond the endless madness.

That was why the boy was able to immediately recognize the presence of an angel that had briefly appeared and disappeared.

An angel who had served the Order’s master before the Order itself, and had then vanished.

That presence had descended and disappeared somewhere in this world.

If it had been the old him, he would have immediately abandoned what he was doing and rushed to present the angel’s fragment to his master, but-

The boy was not the same as before, and He could no longer be in the main sanctuary.

The boy, gazing at the massacre he had committed, stood up, and the followers rushed to support his body.

The blood on the boy’s body stuck to the clean clothes of the followers, but they didn’t seem to mind.

“Apostle, our missionary group will serve you directly. Where shall we go?”

“Hmm…”

The boy, pondering, looked around and smiled.

“I want to wash up first, can you take me to a place where there is water?”

“Yes, sir!!”

Some of the dozens of followers supported the boy’s body, while others struggled to carry the heavy chains.

As the boy comfortably leaned back, carried by the followers, he blinked his eyelids.

The Second Apostle had granted his wish to die, but he had not actually deployed him to a dangerous battlefield.

Rather, it was as if he was testing how far the boy’s madness could endure, throwing him into places where he could commit massacres.

The boy, too, faithfully followed that will, focusing on tearing apart the lives before him.

The Paradox outer citadel that the boy had just destroyed was one of the key points of the central front under the control of the Head Warlords.

However, recently, problems had arisen in the Head Warlords’ leadership, and the Warlords’ territory was being devoured like crazy.

The Order, which had made a truce with the Order Alliance, was also greedily swallowing the Head Warlords’ territory as if nothing had happened.

“If even failing is a failure, what is left for me?”

The boy murmured as he slowly closed his eyes.

“I won’t last long…”

In the Order’s main sanctuary, there were other Apostles like the boy who had started to kill themselves due to madness.

If the boy’s death could lead to meaningful results for the Order, then other mad Apostles would also be released with similar purposes.

The meaning of death he desired at the end of madness was just that much.

However, now that he didn’t know what the Second Apostle, who was acting as the Order’s master and responsible for all of the Order’s affairs, was thinking by releasing him like this.

He would just focus on enjoying the scenery of the world that he was seeing and feeling for the first time in a long time.

Leaving behind the blood-soaked citadel, the sound of the Third Apostle’s chains dragging on the ground began to fade.

* * *

Buzz, buzz, buzz!

Ring, ring, ring!

“…It’s annoyingly loud.”

Lenok, lying face down on the bed, flicked his fingers, and the phone ringing from all directions disappeared as if it were a lie.

The bedroom window where sunlight streamed in.

Lenok, who had fallen asleep face down in the dusty bedroom, blankly opened his eyes and gazed at the surrounding scenery.

District 20 of the megacity Balkan. The detached house he had returned to after several weeks.

He had fallen asleep as soon as he returned to this abandoned mansion, with no one coming or going, and had only just woken up.

The ringing now must be from other acquaintances who had realized that Lenok’s phone was back in service.

However, even knowing that, Lenok had no intention of answering the flood of calls right away.

[Master, are you awake?]

As he smoothed his tousled hair and went down to the living room, the cyber spirit was happily jumping around among all sorts of junk.

Artifacts and parts of various modification equipment that he had acquired while working as a craftsman in the mechanical city of Machina.

Davi had come out to the living room before Lenok and was playing with them.

Crackle, crackle!!

Violent sparks were flying everywhere, and the batteries were melting from the heat.

However, Lenok turned his back on the chaotic living room and took out a nutritional supplement from the kitchen, chewing and swallowing it with water.

“…”

[Hehe, this transfer repulsion device is really fun, isn’t it?]

Davi, jumping up and down like a spring on the extended electric field.

The form of a fox cub spun around haphazardly, rolling around every time it entered Lenok’s view.

[No matter how precisely I input the values, the results bounce around randomly, and it doesn’t move according to my calculations!!]

Davi possessed powerful computational abilities, and was a spirit who had reached at least the 5th level of hierarchy.

When she manifested her cyber-spiritual power at full strength, she could predict what would happen in the cyber world through predictive calculations alone.

Therefore, the transfer repulsion device, which did not allow her calculations to work properly, was like a fun toy for Davi.

Davi had shown a rare interest in this device since she was in the mechanical city, but it had been difficult to play with it due to the circumstances.

That was why, as soon as she returned to Lenok’s mansion, she was fiddling with the repulsion device as she had planned.

Lenok, sitting on the edge of the table, blankly watched Davi playing with the equipment and said.

“It seems like the battery is running out faster than I thought. Should I replace it with a new one?”

[Huh? But it’s too fast compared to the estimated power consumption.]

Davi, wagging her five tails and jumping up and down, tilted her head.

“Let’s see.”

Lenok said, bringing his hand to his right eye.

With a light rotation of magic power, Lenok activated his magic eye, looked inside the device, and nodded.

“The filter used as a particle receptor is very old. The power leakage is severe.”

[Eek?! Are you saying that the organic being who sold me the repulsion device was a scammer…!!]

Davi’s ears perked up and she trembled, and Lenok chuckled.

“It was something you bought near the lower industrial district. There was no time to check if it was a scam.”

Lenok, holding a glass of water, approached the repulsion device, lowered his head, and brought his magic eye closer.

Electricity violently sparked around the device, but not a single current bent towards Lenok.

As if by agreement, Lenok, with his chin propped up, muttered among the bundles of electricity that naturally veered away.

“I see. It’s a filter customized by borrowing technology from the Second World. It seems like I’ll have to go to Machina again to get a new one.”

Of course, it was impossible to return to Machina at this point, after having just returned to Balkan.

Davi, who had hastily checked the auction order delivery, drooped her tail in despair.

[I, it’s wrong… Even if I order the filter by missile delivery, it will take more than two weeks! By then, I’ll have played with it to my heart’s content and gotten bored!]

“…Missile delivery?”

Lenok, who had imagined that heinous delivery method for a moment, let out a hollow laugh.

He couldn’t tell if the world was really going to ruin, or if Lenok was just unable to keep up with the technological advancements.

“Well, there must be a way to get the filter without going to Machina, so don’t worry.”

Lenok said, pouring ground coffee into the coffee machine.

“I’ve thought of a way to use the variability of that repulsion device. Let’s tell Jenny the meeting place and get started.”

[Huh, Master? Are you going to experiment with it already?]

Davi, who understood the meaning, turned off the repulsion device and immediately climbed onto his head.

“We should try it when our senses are as sharp as possible to get good results, right?”

[But… your magic power hasn’t fully recovered yet.]

“I also need to explain why I was away, so let’s call them all together and deal with it this time. And use them as test subjects.”

Davi, pondering, perked up her ears.

[Test subjects… now that I think about it, that’s a very good idea.]

“Right?”

Lenok nodded with a tired face, and Davi’s tail also wagged in that direction.

[I’ll contact them right away!!]

She used the system on her phone to send different messages to her acquaintances simultaneously.

Lenok, sipping his coffee, suddenly remembered something and added.

“Davi, you know, but there’s no need to send a message to Aris…”

[Huh? I already sent it?]

“…Never mind, let’s get ready.”

Lenok, speechless at the efficient work, sighed and stood up.

“If we’re going to invite people to the mansion, we need to clean up and do some shopping.”

* * *

Across from the bustling street near Lenok’s mansion.

A group of sturdy men and women were gathered in a cafe, sipping coffee together.

Each of them had a unique appearance, drawing attention even from outside the street.

However, no one dared to speak to them rashly.

They knew that those with unique or flashy appearances in this city were dangerous people.

However, the people gathered in the cafe were too tense to even properly recognize such gazes.

“The world has changed a lot.”

Dylan muttered, awkwardly touching his neck.

A bizarre outfit with a pro wrestler mask and a neat suit underneath.

“I never thought the day would come when I’d receive an invitation from Ban to come to his house.”

“Yeah. I never thought I’d get a party invitation from that stiff guy.”

Mila replied from next to him, swinging her arms around as if uncomfortable.

She wore a blue-tinted shirt, and this outfit itself seemed uncomfortable for her.

“No, does Ban even know what a party is in the first place?”

[Don’t let your guard down, rookies.]

Mad Manson, standing next to them, scolded them with a pathetic look.

[If it’s Ban that I know, he might think that going on a bounty hunt together is a party.]

“…You, despite talking so rudely, you seem to be surprisingly well-prepared.”

A couple, a man and a woman, wearing tuxedos and dresses.

Absurdly, the man and woman each had a heavy robot head on top of their heads, as if they were a couple.

Mad Manson had brought two of the bodies he controlled to see Lenok’s mansion.

“Actually, aren’t you more excited about the party than anyone else?”

[That’s why you rookies… you don’t know how significant it is to be invited to the mansion of a high-ranking mage.]

Manson calmly replied to Mila’s mocking words.

[A mage’s mansion usually doubles as their laboratory. Do you still not understand what it means to invite a guest to their laboratory?]

“…Huh, really?!”

Mila frowned in disgust at Dylan’s voice, which had changed to that of a slightly excited boy, and the two Manson men and women nodded at the same time.

[If you’re lucky, you might get an artifact or a gift made by the mage. Therefore, it’s right for us to prepare to make a good impression on Ban.]

“You materialistic bastard. So that’s what you thought of Ban!!”

[If you don’t like it, you can stay out of it. But what’s with that comb?]

“Ahem, now that I think about it, I just tied my hair up roughly today.”

Mila, clearing her throat, naturally combed her hair neatly with a comb.

Dylan and Manson looked at Mila with cold eyes.

[Hoo, is that so?]

“Hmm… if you can’t even say that much.”

“I think you’re all misunderstanding something…”

Suryeon, who had been watching the spectacle from the side, sighed and shook her head.

“From the start, Ban isn’t the type of person who would be swayed by such tricks and give you something. Rather than being unnecessarily nervous, you should just go naturally.”

However, Suryeon, who said that, was also wearing a pure white robe, the traditional ceremonial attire of her family.

Beep!!

“Ah, I got a message from Jenny.”

Dylan looked at his phone and tilted his head.

“She said she’ll bring the company staff, so we should go ahead?”

“Well, then there’s no need to refuse. Let’s get up. The coffee here is too bad.”

[Don’t you usually prefer alcohol to caffeine?]

They bickered incessantly, but got up and walked towards Lenok’s mansion.

The sight of the loud, large, and bizarre superhumans talking noisily drew the attention of the surrounding area in an instant.

However, the conversations that had been constantly going on began to gradually stop as they wandered around, unable to find Lenok’s mansion.

Even though they were sure they remembered the address Ban had given them, they had found themselves circling the same street from some point on.

“…Huh?”

“I can’t find the way. What’s going on?”

Dylan and Mila, flustered, scratched their heads and looked around.

Of course, it was rare for them, who were top-tier superhumans and skilled mercenaries, to make the mistake of getting lost.

Spatial perception was an extremely important ability for physical ability users.

Even if they didn’t have a knack for it, it was one of the experiences that they were forced to learn in order to survive in this world.

Manson, who belatedly realized the nature of the deja vu, nodded.

[I see. Everyone, stop your magic perception completely.]

“What does that have to do with this situation… hmm?”

The moment they reduced their senses according to Manson’s words, they strangely felt as if their sense of direction was returning.

It was as if they had finally fully recognized the discomfort they had not noticed until now.

Only then did the expressions of the mercenaries, who realized that this was not just a coincidence or a mistake, change.

“…It must be Ban’s doing, right?”

[Who else would do this if not him?]

Manson nodded and took the first step.

[It’s not about knowing the address and finding it, but about making it impossible to pinpoint the location with magic perception.]

“But this doesn’t make sense either. How can he distort the flow of thought just by sensing the use of magic…”

Suryeon also muttered as if she couldn’t understand.

All of the mercenaries gathered here were skilled individuals who had mastered the nature of magic or had obtained power equivalent to it.

However, they had gotten lost just by using their magic perception, and they hadn’t even noticed it.

The eerie truth that the mage was interfering with all actions mediated by magic, beyond the level of deceiving senses and perception.

It was not a level that could be dismissed as just another magic user.

If he had reached the point of playing with it, beyond the existing common sense and laws, then Ban was clearly-

“As expected, it’s not possible unless he surpassed the hierarchy in the mechanical city…”

[Isn’t that why we’re going to this invitation to ask him about it?]

The two Manson men and women standing on either side interrupted Suryeon’s words.

[He called us here because he has some intention of talking to us. That’s enough for now, we can check the rest later.]

“Yeah. That’s right.”

Dylan nodded.

“And even if Ban has changed, how much could he have changed? The friendship we had when we were rolling around with the Crocodile Elder won’t go anywhere!”

“Why is that your friendship?”

Fortunately, the atmosphere of the group, which had started to find its way properly, seemed to be returning to some extent.

However, the boisterous voices disappeared like a lie the moment they stood in front of the mansion.

“…”

A quiet street with trees standing on either side. An outer area where private mansions with large gardens were spaced apart.

Dylan looked back at the group with a slightly nervous look.

“Is this the right place?”

[…According to the address.]

“Should we ring the bell?”

“Wait a minute. Let’s prepare ourselves…”

Thwack!!

Before Dylan could even take a deep breath, the wall next to the front gate was smashed, and a dazzling light burst out.

Dozens of feathers, like the wings of an angel, scattered at the same time, sticking to and exploding in various places on the street.

However, the explosion was restored on the spot, as if time was rewinding, before it could even fly out of the street.

While the others were slightly stiffened by the unexpected reaction, a voice echoed from beyond the now open door.

“I won’t make you do anything dangerous enough to need to prepare yourselves.”

“…Ban.”

Lenok, with soot on his face and a hammer in his hand, was leaning against the front gate, smiling.

“Come in and let’s talk.”

Behind Lenok, a crack where space was breaking like glass was trying to crawl out of the door, as if it were alive.

Crack, crack…!!!

“…”

Was it an illusion that the quiet mansion had begun to look like a hellish landscape?

Mila, who was looking at the scene with a horrified expression, muttered unconsciously.

“It’s not a party after all…”