Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 679

Thump, thump, thump!

The image of a truck speeding across the barren wasteland.

“It seems Senator Reisen Azamaha has been personally gathering information about the oldest lineage for a long time.”

The young man driving the truck put down his phone and turned his head.

“In the process, he is presumed to have contacted black mages and planned to embezzle funds with their help.”

“…….”

“Although he failed and was consumed by an unknown power, that was probably….”

Lenok silently took out a small relic ring from his pocket and looked at it.

A ring he obtained in exchange for fulfilling the request of the old black mage, Raul.

An item that showed no special abilities other than taking the shape of an old tree through the transformation of magical power.

Lenok knew that it was an item symbolizing a very old wizard family, but he could not find any other clues.

He thought that he would have a chance someday and ignored it, but he never imagined that he would be involved again because of the Outer God.

The shape of the tree drawn on the ring and the fragment of the withered tree that Lenok obtained.

If there was no relationship between these two concepts, that would be more strange.

‘The oldest lineage, huh….’

Lenok traveled the continent and explored knowledge, and he knew that there were many old wizard families.

However, what is related to this incident is definitely about the lineage that uses black magic with the withered tree as a symbol.

And Lenok had some idea of who the owner of this lineage was.

The young man, Armand, continued his explanation while driving the truck.

“If the black mages hold the secret of the situation, it would be a priority to hear about Reisen’s corruption from them.”

Before answering Armand’s words, Lenok glanced at the rearview mirror.

“I think I need to hear why the Central Council aide is still accompanying us. Don’t you think so?”

“…….”

At that light remark, Armand broke out in a cold sweat, looking nervous.

“…Our aides represent the Central Council in preparation for emergencies.”

“Represent?”

“In cases where the council’s involvement needs to be proven in external activities, the aides act on their behalf.”

Armand answered while gently turning the steering wheel.

“Of course, in the case of official intervention or major incidents, the special task force directly under the council also acts on all authority, but….”

“It means that they are sometimes deployed when dealing with things secretly.”

“Just by accompanying me, there will be no need to request attendance or testimony regarding this matter. That’s why the aides exist.”

A position that exists to assist in all the work done by the Senate.

Lenok didn’t know why a unique psychic like Armand was involved in this, but as always, he didn’t bother to ask.

He just held the fragment of the withered tree branch he had obtained from Reisen and focused his mind.

Kiiing…!!

Projecting magic power synchronized with the Outer God’s possession through omnidirectional magic power detection.

Lenok, who quickly found the direction with the strongest reaction near the undeveloped area, pointed towards the setting sun.

“That way.”

Sweat began to bead on Armand’s forehead as he drove the truck towards the sunset.

“Wait, that place is….”

As soon as they crossed the ridge of the sand dune, the traces of a huge construction site spread out below.

All sorts of equipment of unknown purpose and workers were busily moving around, and large drums were constantly moving.

Every time the thick pipes installed in various places pulsed, black liquid leaked out and soaked the sand.

The hot heat rising from the ground and the strong smell of oil that made him forget even that sensation.

It was an oil field.

“…….”

Armand, who had been staring blankly at the scenery below for a while, turned his gaze.

“Um… Mr. Ban. This place is….”

“Yes.”

“We need to be sure, Mr. Ban.”

Armand’s expression was shaking.

“If we turn the oil field upside down and don’t get any results, we’ll both be charged with huge damages.”

“…….”

“I’m not afraid of dying, but my account becoming a minus account… my card being seized… Ugh!!”

Armand grabbed his stomach as if he was getting a stomachache just from imagining it.

Lenok turned his gaze without even scoffing.

“Stop talking nonsense and let’s go down.”

“Mr. Ban!!”

He had already gotten out of the truck and was going down the sand dune. Armand sighed and followed him, leaving the truck running.

Lenok, who had crossed the oil pipeline with oil flowing down, approached the workers without hesitation and stared at them.

The workers, covered in black oil, belatedly discovered Lenok and frowned.

“What? Who are you?”

“Why are you looking at people so annoyingly….”

The workers, who were about to shout, stepped back slightly after checking the elegant silver staff and the black coat.

“…Are you perhaps the manager?”

“If you have business, go to the site headquarters over there.”

The workers kept grumbling as if they had to say something, even while watching Lenok.

“Damn it, I can’t even get a proper rest.”

“I want to close my eyes and rest quickly….”

“Mr. Ban.”

Armand, who followed, carefully opened his mouth, glancing at Lenok.

“They are ordinary workers. If you kill them because you don’t like them, you will be held responsible later….”

“…….”

Lenok seemed to know what Armand thought of Kyunroe, but instead of responding to that, he said to the workers.

“You can rest if you want.”

“What?”

“I’ll take responsibility. Close your eyes and rest. I’ll talk to the site headquarters.”

At those words, the workers’ faces instantly brightened.

“Oh, it’s been a while since a manager who understands us has come.”

“Well, then I won’t refuse… wait a minute… hehe.”

The workers leaned against the oil pipeline with a somewhat happy look and tilted their heads back.

However, not long after, the workers got up from their seats with a puzzled look.

“…I can’t fall asleep.”

“That’s strange. I was so sleepy just now….”

“No, how do you even sleep?”

“…….”

While Armand’s expression was gradually hardening, Lenok asked again.

“How long have you been working here?”

“Huh? It’s been quite a while.”

“I’ve been here for years… Huh?”

The workers tilted their heads again.

“I’ve definitely been working for a long time. I can’t remember well….”

“Come to think of it, when did I go home?”

Lenok asked again.

“How old are you?”

“My… age… ?”

“Age? What is age… ?”

Little by little, the workers’ voices were cut off like a tape being cut.

At the same time, the faces of the ordinary workers began to twist little by little.

Lenok looked at the workers and asked again.

As if driving a wedge into the previous questions.

“What are your names?”

“…….”

The silent workers spoke.

“…I don’t remember.”

“Who, who was I?”

“I, I, I… what am I doing here?”

“This can’t be….”

Beyond Armand’s pale face, the dead who could not even remember their own names were writhing.

“I, I… I want to go back….”

“Where is this?”

“I, Iiii…!!!”

The workers’ skin turned inside out from the inside, and rotten muscles and bones popped out, transforming into the shape of a gruesome monster.

The appearance of a beast, covered in black oil, with bone fragments hanging everywhere, howling.

[Kkuaaaaah!!!]

Armand stared at the sight and muttered blankly.

“From the beginning, they were all dead people.”

“It’s an oil field that was abandoned long ago after drilling was completed.”

Lenok replied.

“Oil is leaking from the oil pipeline, but they have no intention of fixing it, and the drilling rig is broken and stuck in the ground. There are no villages or facilities that should be near the oil field.”

“That is….”

“There was a major accident, and all the people involved were killed and buried alive.”

“…….”

“In that state, they were using the corpses soaked in crude oil buried under the oil field like this, and pretending to be a normal oil field.”

[Kkegegek!!]

Lenok explained, pointing to the withered, pony-like oil monster rushing at him.

“Controlling the dead is in the realm of necromancy, but it is not impossible with other systems. Especially if it’s just holding the dead spirit in the body, necromancy is enough. But….”

The moment he brought his finger to the monster’s forehead, which was unable to break through the shield and was faltering.

[Raging Thunder]

Zap!!

Blue current burst out and blew up the lump of oil on the spot.

Boom!!

Ignoring the oil fragments that were slipping away, blocked by an invisible shield in the air, Lenok said.

“Before long, they will almost lose their intelligence and become monsters that have not even a trace of humanity left.”

“…….”

“There probably is a word to specify this phenomenon, but I don’t know what it’s called in the field of necromancy….”

Trampling on the broken oil pipelines and the convulsing monsters, he heads to the central drilling tower of the oil field.

The drilling tower, which was broken in half and covered in dust, made it clear that it had completely stopped functioning when viewed up close.

“…You are right, Mr. Ban.”

Armand’s clones, who had explored various parts of the oil field by creating several clones in the meantime, said.

“All the workers here have died and become monsters, and it seems that the facility has stopped operating for at least several decades.”

Whether they had been fighting monsters, there was an unknown oily substance all over the clones’ bodies.

Lenok looked at Armand’s clones with an interesting expression and asked.

“Your clones seem to have substance. What exactly is the principle behind how they work?”

“Yes… ?”

“Most psychic powers are like that, but it’s quite heterogeneous for an innate ability.”

Armand’s clones, who were looking at each other in confusion, said.

“Basically, it’s a replica… if you want to put it that way, it’s a method of replicating my mental image and injecting power individually.”

Armand 5 took over Armand 2’s words.

“Since we create a foundation with thought and build a substance by injecting magic power, it gets weaker as the number increases.”

“So, we use about two or three during combat, and only increase the number when exploration is needed.”

“I see….”

“I’ve explored the entire oil field through the clones, but I couldn’t find a suitable entrance or passage.”

While Lenok was lost in thought, Armand, who had been watching him, sighed deeply as he returned the clones into one.

“It’s certain that they are doing something near the oil field… I don’t know where to start.”

“They are not doing something near the oil field. You saw the oil leaking between the oil pipelines, didn’t you?”

“Yes?”

“There’s no way oil would still be leaking from an oil pipeline that’s been broken for decades.”

When it seemed like Armand didn’t understand, Lenok explained again.

“The cracks in the oil pipeline are recent. What do you think it means that they are pumping up oil through the broken pipes?”

“…….”

“These guys aren’t hiding near the oil field. Rather….”

Lenok said as he walked up into the drilling tower.

“They are taking a position and hiding right under the oil field.”

The moment Lenok found a lever that was unusually free of oil among the fragments of the broken drilling tower and pulled it.

The entire oil field began to sink as if it was collapsing downwards.

Kugugugung!!

The oil field, which had appeared to be a wide sandy field, sank as a whole, and oil fountains began to erupt from all directions.

At the same time, the shape of the field rapidly descended below the ground.

The oil flowing under his feet acted as a lubricant, sticking to the parts where it rubbed against the passage.

Unable to withstand the frictional heat, it burst into flames, creating passages of fire in all directions.

The oil field, which had sunk tens of meters below in an instant, stopped in front of a dark underground cave like an elevator.

Squeak!!

An underground cave made of black bedrock, where not a single ray of light could be seen.

It was as if it was waiting for them to approach, with its mouth wide open towards the two of them.

Armand, who was holding his sword tightly with a nervous look, muttered.

“How can there be such a deep underground cave under the sandy beach…!!”

“They applied magic power extracted from corpses to the oil, mixed it with sand, and hardened it.”

Lenok lightly swept the black wall of the underground cave and admired it.

“It’s much harder than I thought. They forcibly mixed and hardened magic power, creating a strength that doesn’t exist in the original oil….”

“Mr. Ban.”

Armand asked in a stiff voice.

The moment he took a step forward, Armand’s body split into three.

“I will take the lead and clear the way here. Can you assist me from the rear, Mr. Ban?”

The oldest lineage. And the black mages related to the existence of the withered tree.

He didn’t know what was waiting for him on the other side of the cave, but it wouldn’t be strange if there was a secret hidden there that Armand was never allowed to know.

What he had to do now was to risk his life to assist the wizard.

The moment Armand, who was tense and pulling up his magic power, was about to slowly narrow the distance into the cave.

“I’ll cast a simple magic before we go in. It will be helpful.”

“Understood.”

Lenok, who was looking at Armand’s clones with an interesting look, said.

“Since things have turned out this way, there’s something I want to experiment with.”

“Yes? Experiment-”

The moment Armand 3, who was flustered, turned his gaze towards Lenok.

A powerful lightning bolt that fell from the sky struck Armand 3’s crown directly.

“Aghhh!!!”

“Mr. Ban!!”

“Why did you attack me…!! Huh? The pain….”

Armand 1, who was flustered, jumped and tried to quickly distance himself, but had a puzzled expression.

This was because he began to feel a power that was boiling over to a different dimension, not a burning pain.

Lenok looked at Armand 3, who was trembling in place, and asked.

“If I cast an amplification magic on only one clone, can the other clones share that power?”

[Binding Chain]

[Residual Thunder Body]

[Three Extremes of Thought]

“What is this…!!”

Zap, zap!!

Blue lightning flashed around Armand 3’s body, and the rotation speed of his magic power accelerated.

Blue light flashed in his eyes, and the sensation of his whole body’s presence sharply rising and condensing.

Everyone opened their mouths at the illusion of his hair standing on end and the tips of his hair being dyed blue.

Armand 3 looked at the ends of his hands, which were emitting electricity all over his body, with a dumbfounded expression.

“What is this…?”

“It’s the third revision of the electric amplification magic I devised.”

Lenok nodded, crossing his arms.

“Re, revision, you say?”

“Among the three versions, the output is the best, but on the other hand, the efficiency and fuel economy are the worst.”

“…….”

“After experimenting, it seems that the power is not dispersed even if I cast an amplification magic specifically on one clone. That’s a relief.”

At Lenok’s words, Armand’s other clones answered with a sullen expression.

“I don’t know what’s a relief….”

“I think I know.”

At that moment, Armand 3, who had been silently bowing his head, opened his mouth.

The gaze shining with blue light was already filled with an unknown conviction.

“Isn’t it that you directly acknowledged that I am the main body of the clones?”

“…What?”

Armand 1 and Armand 2 didn’t care about opening their mouths wide, and Armand 3 stepped forward.

“The issue of the inevitability of self-independence that must exist for a clone ability user. I have been directly recognized by the great mage.”

“No, no, what are you talking about!!”

“Damn it, why is my psychic power suddenly…!!”

Armand 1, who was flustered, tried to quickly retrieve his psychic power, but Armand 3 did not look back at Armand 1.

Instead, he asked Lenok confidently in a completely different tone.

“If a clone has more power than the main body, is it a clone or the main body?”

“…….”

“I realized that clones are also people, have egos, and are qualified to have equal rights as the main body. I pay my respects to you for teaching me that.”

Lenok smiled at Armand 3’s words and asked.

“Your personality seems to have changed a lot?”

“From the moment I was reborn with your power, I am no longer Armand Martins.”

Armand 3 replied with a confident tone.

“As you wish, I will cooperate as the vanguard in this situation. But after this is over, I will leave Balkan.”

“…What?”

“I’m sick of living as a Central Council aide.”

Armand 3 said, crossing his arms as if mocking the other clones.

“I will abandon the identity of a clone and enjoy the new life that Kyunroe has given me.”

“…….”

At that absurd declaration, Armand’s other clones looked at Lenok silently, unable to say anything.

Lenok tilted his head as he looked at them.

“I didn’t think about the enhancement of consciousness… Was it a bit too much?”