Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 690

Lenox snatched the stamp gun from Halfman’s hand just before it was fired.

Even though he felt the sensation of the trigger being pulled, he couldn’t even properly register the moment.

“……!!!”

Halfman and Malasia’s expressions drastically changed as they belatedly realized Lenox’s presence.

Before they could even react in shock, the two disappeared as if they had vanished.

Kagagagagak!!!

They accelerated from their stationary positions with a speed close to the speed of sound.

In an instant, they abandoned Tatiana and surged towards Lenox, their magic power swirling intensely.

Kwaaang!!

Massive shockwaves erupted in front of and behind where Lenox had been standing, shaking the entire junkyard.

The impact sent Tatiana’s body flying like a toy, and she tumbled across the ground.

“Cough!!”

She dragged her exhausted body up with difficulty, and with trembling hands, she dabbed at the drops of blood falling from her neck.

Just as Tatiana, her hands covered in blood, was about to form a hand seal, Lenox appeared beside her and placed his hand on her shoulder.

“You’re shortening your lifespan. Is it really necessary?”

Could he have grasped the situation so quickly that he was able to simultaneously withstand the attacks of two people and then immediately stop Tatiana?

Tatiana looked back at Lenox, gave a wry smile, and wiped away the blood.

“Did you know?”

“I figured you’d have something to rely on.”

Lenox replied, scanning her disheveled appearance.

“But I didn’t expect you to put so much geas [a magical restriction or vow] on yourself just to use magic.”

“…….”

Tatiana had adjusted her own flame magic to suit group combat, placing a powerful geas on herself.

A specialized magic system created by forcibly adjusting the bombardment magic, which had expanded range and power and was specialized for group combat.

The need for a pre-prepared spark to use powerful bombardment magic was likely a side effect of that.

Tatiana must have carried several sparks with her in preparation for battle, but she had used them all up while fighting and fleeing.

Furthermore, not only was she using magic with sparks, but in the end, she was trying to rely on a completely different method.

“I don’t recommend using that kind of blood magic if you’re not a blood mage. You don’t seem to have an aptitude for it.”

“That’s…….”

Unless you were like Rayan Aiter, who had a natural aptitude, or Madam, who was born a vampire, dabbling in blood magic was suicidal.

Forcibly borrowing techniques from other systems was dangerous, but the moment blood became the medium, it was like giving up your life.

Not only would your lifespan and potential be diminished, but you could easily drop dead on the spot.

“It’s a technique you learned as a last resort, but using it will make it impossible to achieve your goal.”

Lenox said, turning his gaze away.

In the distance, acrid smoke was rising, and the two people’s intense gazes flickered towards them.

“The reason you ran away from the magic tower. Wasn’t it over there?”

“……Yes.”

Tatiana nodded, a smile distorted by pain.

“But I didn’t think to ask a mage who carries a life support device to help me that far.”

“…….”

“It’s something I started. Even if it doesn’t go as planned, I have to finish it myself…….”

She stumbles as she desperately tries to collect the dripping blood.

The bleeding she had suffered in the meantime was so severe that her hand gestures were unsteady, as if she had lost her sense of distance.

Lenox watched her silently, then shook his head and gently tapped her shoulder.

“Ugh……!!”

The light vibration alone caused her to collapse weakly.

“I don’t plan to kill you here, so give up.”

Lenox smiled.

“I plan to keep you alive and use you. Ah, should we pretend you didn’t hear what I just said since you’re about to pass out?”

“Hah…… I, I heard it all…….”

Tatiana leaned against a pile of trash and closed her eyes with difficulty.

Lenox, confirming that her breathing was still faint, turned his gaze away.

As he moved his staff, a pillar of silver light shot up, followed by blue lightning.

Pajijik……!!

Lenox smiled through the thick lightning bolts that flew in all directions.

“I heard you were one of the five rosary beads of the Blaver Magic Tower?”

“…….”

Malasia, with an unreadable expression, stared at Lenox askew, while Halfman’s face was distorted by the situation that had deviated from his plan. They crossed paths amidst the lightning strikes.

Halfman, biting his lip, stomped on the face of the fallen Cerberus Corps youth.

Kwajik!!

“Kuh, kuhaak?!”

The youth’s nose broke from the kick, and blood flowed out. The youth, his eyes wide with pain, looked at Halfman and turned pale.

Halfman glared at the youth and asked.

“Why didn’t you report immediately that you had made contact with the Iron Wall?”

“Cough, th, thaaat’s……!!”

“Ah, never mind. I don’t need to hear it.”

Eudeudeuk!!

The youth was flustered and tried to make excuses, but Halfman kicked his face again, breaking all his teeth.

“That’s why you shouldn’t use killer bastards for work. If you pick up just anything in a hurry, you always get into trouble.”

“Eubeubeube!!”

Chalkak!!

Halfman flicked a lighter above the head of the youth, who couldn’t even speak properly and was struggling.

He stole the flame that had risen with one finger and dropped it directly onto the youth’s broken nose.

The moment the droplet-like flame touched the youth’s blood-soaked face.

“Die as slowly as possible. Painfully.”

The flames that had risen on the youth’s face devoured his entire head and blazed fiercely.

Hwareureureuk!!

“Kkyaaaaaaaak!!”

The heat slowly, but surely, burned the flesh and muscles and incinerated the bones.

The desperate screams that had echoed faded quickly as even his vocal cords burned, but the pain remained, making his limbs tremble.

The youth’s limbs and fingers, unable to withstand the pain of his face burning, twisted and broke in the opposite direction.

Even that movement faded and stopped like a dying ember.

Lenox watched the scene and nodded.

“A method of transferring the concept of combustion using only intention, making the target into firewood. It’s much more refined than I thought?”

“……Did you hear that from Tatiana?”

“You don’t need to hear it. If you show it like that, you can figure it out quickly.”

By using a lighter to forcibly create a combustion point, the combustion process was forcibly transferred to a specific target.

Only the state of combustion was transferred, making even non-flammable objects burn like dry firewood.

The fact that the living human body, which is not easily burned by fire, was burned like a fallen leaf was also the result of that ability.

“Tatiana and the rosary beads of the magic tower all handle flame magic in unique ways.”

Lenox asked.

“Is that because your master directs the rosary beads in such a specific direction?”

“…….”

One of the five rosary beads of the Blaver Magic Tower, Melter Halfman.

He was the first to track down Tatiana, who had fled the magic tower with the Phoenix War Banner, and he was also the one who hired the Cerberus Corps to lure Tatiana out.

While buying time, he obtained the Achilles Corporation’s formula interception system, creating a one-sided situation.

He even perfectly blocked the few variables by bringing along another powerful superhuman named Malasia. There was nothing to criticize in any of his decisions.

He considered all possible variables, but he didn’t obsess over the possibilities of each individual, making appropriate choices.

Maintaining a balance between these two judgments was something that was difficult to do without experience.

Halfman was undoubtedly a mage who had survived countless real battles on the battlefield.

Lenox stared intently at Halfman’s face and muttered.

“I’ve always been curious about the skills of the experts who operate on the central front. This will be a good opportunity.”

“We feel the same way, Iron Wall.”

In Halfman’s hand, as he replied, was a complex mechanical device.

The Achilles Corporation’s formula interception system, which had been used to suppress Tatiana’s bombardment armament and ritual attire.

The blue net of light that had spread across the sky changed direction and began to suppress Lenox’s magic power this time.

Kiiing……!!

An intangible pressure suppressed the lightning bolts that were rising from the staff.

Halfman watched it and slowly began to loosen his body.

“There was a rumor that you were the most violent killer in the Balkans, but seeing you enjoying an outing with an injured body, it seems it’s not wrong.”

“…….”

“Seeing that you’ve chased us this far, it means you’re also aware of the matters of this magic tower to some extent, right?”

There was an inappropriate, desperate urgency in Halfman’s face as he muttered.

The reason he didn’t run away immediately after encountering Lenox and chose to fight at this point.

It was partly because he believed in his and Malasia’s abilities and recognized that Lenox’s condition had deteriorated.

But it was also proof that Halfman was in a situation where he couldn’t back down from this matter.

Lenox quietly watched Halfman, who was trying to reaffirm his judgment, as he muttered to himself.

“Let’s see how skilled a madman who enjoys fighting even at the cost of his own life is……!!”

Chiiik!!

At the same time as those words, Halfman’s knees twisted greatly in a bizarre direction as he lowered his stance.

He divided the steps he took in a split second into dozens of parts, and Halfman, who had accelerated explosively, turned into a long, stretched-out flash of light.

Following the rosary bead’s leap, a long trail of flames followed like a tail, and he slashed down the threads of flames that surrounded him in front of Lenox’s eyes.

Swaeaek!!

A chilling sound of tearing air was heard a beat late.

But Lenox shook his head even as he watched the vortex of flames falling right in front of him.

“I don’t really like cruel things…… but it seems like even the rumors about me aren’t true anymore.”

Kwaaang!!

The threads of flames that had followed close to Lenox exploded in succession, like a fuse.

A chain reaction that seemed to have woven dozens of invisible threads around Lenox and detonated them sequentially.

Dodododo!!

Each time an explosion occurred, pillars of fire rose in succession due to the aftermath.

Halfman’s figure, which had dashed through the pillars, flickered like a mirage and melted Lenox’s shield.

Kuhwaaak!!

He flicked the lighter with one hand and held a flame dagger in reverse with the other, increasing his speed like a madman.

[Crimson Penetration]

[Thunder Step]

Pajijijik!!

The fragments of lightning that connected in response to Lenox’s gestures blocked and broke the one-sided offensive.

Piing!!

Lenox smiled as he saw the sharp flash of flame that brushed past his ear and disappeared.

“You weren’t using magic power. You used forced combustion transfer magic to burn the air as a fuse.”

The threads of flames that wrapped around Lenox were not shapes created by magic power or intention.

If that were the case, Lenox would have already taken control of them and toyed with them.

The identity of the emptiness where the combustion medium could not be found, even though magic was definitely being used.

Halfman was burning the air itself, which would not normally burn, using magic that transferred the combustion process.

If the battle continued like this, the oxygen in the entire junkyard surrounding Lenox would completely disappear.

“If you block breathing, there will be a time limit, and the speed of thought will slow down. If you succeed in setting up the board, you can take the initiative.”

A fighting style that continued to attack Lenox while creating a huge board for a one-sided offensive.

Was this the style that suited Melter Halfman’s actions and nature so far?

“But you’re too slow.”

“That’s right.”

Pat!!

Halfman, who had appeared flickering in front of Lenox, smiled.

“Burning the air to block breathing is just a smokescreen to divert your attention.”

Immediately after, Halfman’s hands rapidly chanted a series of complex hand seals.

At the same time, the threads of flames that had been burning around Lenox sank down as if they had been extinguished.

A bizarre choice to nullify the process of burning away the oxygen around Lenox with his own hands.

But Lenox understood Halfman’s intentions when he saw the huge magic circle of flames that had already been drawn beneath his feet.

The act of burning the atmosphere and taking away breathing at the same time as attacking was to block the opponent’s thoughts and divert their attention.

The real purpose was to detonate powerful magic that could even work on an 8th-level mage through a series of complex chants.

“Radiant, Shatter, Throw, Activate, Open. Designation declaration.”

Flame-type unique magic

5-layered chant complex resonance

[Flame Arrival: Flame Spiral]

[Five Metal Lock]

[Super Melting]

Uuuuuung!!!

The hellish heat boiling beneath Lenox’s feet instantly burst into a red glow, burning the space.

The flames of intention, boiling like lava, were about to pierce the ground and erupt like a volcano when.

“No.”

Kwajik!!

At the same time as Lenox lightly stepped on the magic circle, the melting magic circle made of threads of flames began to break apart.

“I know the magic used for the auxiliary chant, even if I don’t know the result.”

Lenox said, looking at Halfman, whose eyes were wide open.

“Then I can break it.”

“……!!!”

Piing!!

At the same time as the sound of tearing air brushed past his ear, Lenox and Halfman’s figures narrowly avoided each other.

An illusion as if space had been separated and peeled away diagonally.

Even though Lenox was just standing still, Halfman’s magic couldn’t hit him and was twisted and slammed into the ground.

Kwaaaang!!!

“Kuhak……!!”

Even as he rolled on the ground, Halfman desperately began to think.

Although one attack had missed, the chant itself had definitely reached the point just before success.

Considering that the Iron Wall barely managed to block the chant at the very end, it wouldn’t be difficult to create an opportunity if he worked with Malasia.

‘There’s a chance……!’

Halfman, thinking so, jumped up and was about to draw up his magic power again when.

“Huh……?!”

He staggered and sat down again, suddenly feeling dizzy.

His face was blank, as if he didn’t even realize why he had sat down again.

Lenox looked at Halfman and said.

“It’s surprisingly not difficult to exploit the weakness of a mage who believes their senses are sharp.”

“……What?”

“Most of them can’t even tell if it’s their own if you just mix in a little bit of modified magic power.”

The moment Lenox’s gaze, which was looking at the slumped Halfman, slowly lowered.

“You don’t seem to be much different.”

Halfman discovered that a twisted dagger was deeply embedded in his side.

“Th, this is…….”

The dagger was so deeply embedded that the blade could not be seen properly through his side.

He could only tell that the traces of all sorts of curse techniques spreading through it were eating away at his entire body.

A terrible and sticky curse was flowing through Halfman’s blood vessels, so much so that he couldn’t understand why he had only noticed it now.

“Ah, the artifact’s magic power…… adjusted to me…….”

Halfman gave a hollow laugh and slowly lowered his head without being able to pull out the dagger.

The dagger that was now embedded in his side was an assassination artifact with all sorts of curse techniques built into it.

He had made Halfman mistake the magic power of such an artifact for his own, and then stabbed it into his side in a split second.

In terms of time, it was the instant when their figures had crossed paths at close range.

At that point, he had already recognized Halfman’s magic pattern and sensory range, and forcibly created a weakness.

Even though he had definitely turned the Achilles Corporation’s formula interception system against Lenox, it was meaningless.

The moment Halfman had rushed at Lenox head-on, the outcome had already been decided.

Only after Halfman’s eyes rolled back and he collapsed on the spot did Lenox turn his gaze towards Malasia.

“I’ve caught one for now.”

“…….”

Lenox said, looking at Malasia, who was standing crookedly and smiling.

“I’ve kept the one who seems smart alive, so I don’t think I need you. What do you think?”

“Kheehee, well…….”

Malasia grinned and readjusted her scythe.

With a light twist of her wrist, the scythe hanging behind her back rotated smoothly, drawing a crescent moon.

Kiiing!!

A chilling cutting sound that sliced through the air just by the blade sliding was heard.

“Now that things have turned out this way, it doesn’t matter if we exclude the magic tower’s rosary bead and make a new plan.”

“Make a new one?”

A strange nuance as if Malasia’s affiliation was not subordinate to Halfman’s decision.

The moment Lenox sensed that the meaning contained in those words was unusual and frowned.

Tatiana, who had been closing her eyes and catching her breath, whispered with difficulty.

“The, the central front’s…… military corporation was mentioned…….”

“…….”

“Almost, definitely…….”

Lenox’s gaze changed as he instantly realized the meaning.

“I see. So you weren’t affiliated with Cerberus or the magic tower from the start?”

A private military corporation operating on the central front.

A powerful organization that could bind a superhuman who wielded such bizarre and unique weapons to a system called a corporation.

A big shot who had been a part of the Balkan Underworld Triad, and now the main force of a superhuman organization that had left the megacity.

“Dead Rise’s Demon War Unit, Non-Human Extermination Squad, 3rd Seat. Malasia Dendrose.”

Malasia smiled.

“In this city, the grandiose name of the Triad-”

“No, that’s enough. Let me ask you this first.”

The moment Lenox retorted and patted his shoulder, the armored wings that had unfolded from his waist wrapped around Lenox and soared up.

Chwaaaak!!

“……!!”

“There’s one thing I’ve always wanted to ask when I meet someone from Dead Rise.”

Lenox smiled, looking down at Malasia, whose eyes were wide open.

“The owner of this thing. Where are they and what are they doing now?”