Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 825

Binding (13)

The 4th Corps of the Dead Rise Private Military Company.

A military force created to intervene in disturbances across the Eastern Continent and profit from them.

Lieutenant General Mirva Neosoto, who leads the 4th Corps, is a commander who rose to the position of corps commander through countless actual battles.

Except for Daymus of the 7th Corps, she is a veteran whose command ability is unmatched among the generals operating in the field.

Even before being recruited by Dead Rise, she was a retired soldier who led her own warlord group, and one of the few talents among the generals who were granted independent decision-making authority.

Her presence in Jorta now was also the result of her moving her troops and stationing them in front of the Headrain River as soon as she heard the news that the memorial tower had collapsed.

By pressuring the chaotic military city to let her troops in and seizing Jorta’s core infrastructure, it would not be difficult to swallow the city whole.

Even if she failed, it would be no loss, and if she succeeded, she would easily gain control of one of the largest city-states in the Eastern Continent.

She thought she had moved quickly to gain a favorable position before other competitors on the central front who heard the news could move—

[Mirva~ Ah, you’re Mirva, right?]

She never even imagined that a Dead Rise general like her would be in Jorta.

Moreover, the fact that she was captured by some demonic sorcerer and was showing such a disgraceful appearance in front of Jorta’s spirits was also unexpected.

[Long time no see. What are you doing there?]

“……I think that’s what I should be asking you first.”

Mirva answered, pressing her throbbing temples with her fingers.

“Why is the commander there?”

On the other side of the communication screen, a white-haired young man was completely tied up.

His cheeks were frosted as if he had been stuffed in a refrigerator, and his coat was stiff and crumpled.

With a soaked body, he was lying prostrate at the feet of the masked sorcerer, looking this way and shaking his head with an innocent expression.

However, there was no one among Mirva and her staff who did not recognize that face.

One of only three commander-level generals within Dead Rise.

He was a swordsman who had gained a special position within this huge private military company due to his unique abilities.

However, Lenok, who had captured Songha, did not miss even that passing conversation.

[That’s interesting. This idiot is one of the commanders of Dead Rise?]

Crack!!

Lenok laughed as he stepped on Songha’s nape with one foot.

[I knew he was a general, but I didn’t know he was a higher-ranking officer than the corps commander.]

“……Pandemonium.”

Mirva frowned in annoyance and sighed.

“I’m canceling what I said earlier. So, let’s talk after you release the hostage.”

[Why? This is just a clone. Even if he dies here, it shouldn’t have any impact on the main body, right?]

“……”

Lenok, who had unhesitatingly revealed Songha’s ability, asked Mirva, who was silent.

[Unless his ability has degenerated to the point where you can’t distinguish between the clone and the main body, there’s no reason for you to react like that. Isn’t that right?]

“You insolent bastard……”

Mirva’s expression twisted, and the scar on her face rose up, emitting a fierce killing intent.

“You know everything, and you’re just trying to play games with me now?”

[You got it exactly right.]

Crack!!

At that moment, Songha’s neck twisted slightly in a bizarre direction.

[Ugh!]

With a short scream, Songha’s body slumped, and Mirva’s reaction on the other side of the screen stopped.

Lenok looked at it and said to Mirva as if showing off.

[I roughly know what you want, but I don’t want to be bothered by unnecessary interference right now.]

“……”

[You said you had troops stationed outside the Headrain River? Then that’s good. Stay there and wait quietly until I contact you again.]

“Who do you think you are……!!”

[While dealing with other forces that are coming to target the city like you.]

Click-!

The communication network was cut off on the spot, and Lenok and Songha’s figures disappeared from the screen.

Mirva, unable to contain her anger, slammed the screen and stood up, glaring at her staff.

“Sort out the situation immediately. What is going on?”

Looking at Mirva, whose blood vessels were bulging, the staff quickly replied.

“It seems that Pandemonium was involved in this incident where the memorial tower collapsed.”

“We don’t have a clear understanding of the specific circumstances, so we can’t know the current situation either……”

“No.”

Mirva said, puffing on a cigarette.

“The most important issue is, why didn’t anyone know that Commander Songha went into Jorta alone?”

“……It seems that communication between the central front and the outer perimeter has been frequently cut off, so the orders from the headquarters were not properly delivered.”

One of the staff members explained, looking through the communication logs.

“Judging from the fact that the 2nd Command tried to access the corps communication network several times, it seems that……”

“Ha, damn it……”

The corps commander, who had been silent with a frown, stood up from her seat.

“Stand by for now. If they don’t give us the hostage exchange conditions within a day, we move.”

“Understood.”

No matter how hot-tempered Mirva was, it was impossible to move the troops when a fellow general was taken hostage.

Regardless of the special position Songha held within Dead Rise, his combat power was also a great help to the corps.

At least, they could not move until they had a proper understanding of the situation inside Jorta.

“And, investigate the Pandemonium masked sorcerer and bring me his profile. Right now.”

Mirva’s eyes, looking at the broken screen, shone coldly.

“I need to know what that bastard did in the military city.”

* * *

Lenok, who had abruptly cut off the communication with the Dead Rise corps commander, turned his head.

“That’s it, right? This bought us some time.”

“……”

“You handle the negotiations with them. You’re not going to be stupid enough to get caught with a general-level superhuman as a hostage, right?”

“……I don’t know what the hell is going on right now.”

Naimel said, rubbing her temples with a tired look.

“Even if we accept your help, the idea of us standing on the same side to fight against a warlord group is……”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I have no intention of fighting Dead Rise. That’s your problem to deal with.”

“……”

“I just prevented a troublesome disturbance from happening before I left Jorta.”

Lenok gestured to Naimel, who was looking at him as if she had lost her words.

“I have more to talk about with this idiot, so go out. I’ll hand him over to you when I’m done.”

“……Understood.”

Feeling that it would be difficult to get a detailed explanation of the situation here, Naimel shook her head and slowly retreated.

She cleared the space on the first basement floor where Lenok was trapped, and even the military spirits that had surrounded the area retreated neatly.

Naimel, standing at the entrance to the stairs leading to the ground, turned to look at Lenok and said.

“I will control and finalize the related situation outside. Please call me when you are done talking.”

“I will.”

“Cough, cough……!! You, what is your identity……”

After Naimel left, the first basement floor was empty.

Songha, who had collapsed under the shrine where the Headrain River water was overflowing, shook his head weakly.

“How did you shake the maintenance ability of the clone like this……”

The third improved version of the Thunder God, the Saseo Samgeuk, is a magic that increases the target’s reflexes and thinking speed.

Then, for Songha’s clone, who had limited his own intelligence as a constraint to maintain the clone, it would have been considered an act of breaking the constraint.

Perhaps because of that, Songha didn’t even seem to be able to properly guess what kind of magic was on his body.

“You don’t need to know. What’s more important is this.”

Lenok said, taking out a papyrus in front of the slumped Songha.

It was a travelogue left by Ethan Bajur in Jorta, and an artifact that was part of a series with the Papyrus Argenteus.

“……That’s the journal left by Ethan. It belongs to someone.”

Songha also seemed to recognize it immediately, and even though he was soaked and slumped, his eyes flashed.

“You shouldn’t have it……!!”

Crack!!

At that moment, the ice block that was holding Songha cracked and slowly shattered.

Even the restraints of the Cold Spirit Binding System, which had amplified its strength and binding power with ice magic, were being broken by pure brute force.

However, Lenok raised his hand towards Songha, who was trying to break free from the Cold Spirit Binding and jump out.

“If you move any further, I’ll tear this up.”

“……!!”

“Ethan Bajur’s journal is written here. If you damage this, you’ll never be able to open it again.”

Lenok slowly rolled up the papyrus, looking at the now docile Songha.

“Let’s make a deal.”

“A deal?”

“What you want is not the papyrus, but the contents of the journal itself.”

It seems certain that Ethan forgot the contents of the travelogue after he was resurrected. And there must be a reason why he needs to regain that lost memory.

If so, there were several ways to coax Songha here without handing over the papyrus.

“I’ll copy the records of the travelogue and hand them over to you. In return, answer a few questions.”

“……”

Surprisingly, Songha did not reject the offer, but instead made a thoughtful expression.

At this point, Songha also knew that it was impossible to take the papyrus away.

It might be better to answer the questions and get the records.

Lenok looked at the pondering Songha and slightly adjusted his obsidian mask.

“I don’t intend to be at odds with Dead Rise right now. A general-level officer shouldn’t die in a place like this, right?”

“Yes…… That’s right.”

Perhaps feeling something from Lenok’s question, Songha’s eyes changed eerily.

“Recently, Feisha also left like that.”

“……”

“That guy called Gyeonroe who killed Feisha, I have to kill him with my own hands.”

“I see.”

Lenok nodded, smiling calmly.

“To kill that mage, you have to save your life in a place like this.”

“……Okay.”

Songha stopped resisting the ice block and asked, as if he had made a decision.

“What are you curious about?”

“I saw earlier that the 4th Corps was near Jorta, away from the central front.”

Lenok organized the situation in his head and chose his words.

“Apart from the corps continuing individual actions, what is the overall goal of Dead Rise?”

“To completely subdue the warlords in the central front.”

Songha answered calmly.

“They were large but not very effective, but their momentum changed when their commanders went crazy. They are one of the competitors on the front we are currently in charge of.”

“Is Daymus also participating in the warlord subjugation operation in the central front?”

“……Do you know Daymus?”

“Answer the question.”

Songha, tilting his head, answered.

“Lieutenant General Daymus commands the fastest mobile corps in the corps, so he rarely misses large-scale operations.”

The answer is more detailed than expected. As a general, does he know the internal situation to some extent?

“He’s the busiest person among the generals, so he rarely has any external activities…… How do you, a suspicious guy like you, know him?”

“I wonder?”

When Songha asked with a puzzled look, Lenok smiled and answered.

“Maybe he’ll tell you if you go back and ask him.”

“……”

No matter how specifically I ask about Dead Rise’s secrets here, Songha won’t tell me.

If so, I need to go around a bit rather than directly poking at the secrets.

Mainly, if I poke at high-ranking leaders like Songha and observe their reactions……

“I know that Gilleon’s activities have been infrequent within Dead Rise.”

Lenok asked.

“Is he dead?”

“……”

At that moment, Songha’s expression sank coldly.

The moment that name came out of Lenok’s mouth, Songha’s thoughts would naturally converge in one direction.

“You. Are you perhaps a project-related person?”

Songha’s question, scattering a fierce aura as if he would break the ice and jump out at any moment.

But Lenok smiled calmly, even knowing that.

“I’ve faced him once a long time ago. That’s why I remember him.”

“That doesn’t make sense. It’s clear that Gilleon was on the scene-”

“I once broke his ironclad wings myself.”

“……”

As it was an incident during the closed area, the events that happened then are no longer in anyone’s memory.

No one can find out that fact now, but it is certainly an answer close to the truth for Lenok himself.

Perhaps feeling that, Songha stared at Lenok’s mask for a long time before answering.

“Gilleon is…… very sick. He’s even sicker than me.”

“Sick?”

“He has a chronic illness. It’s a disease he had since before leaving Vulcan.”

“……”

“He rarely moves unless it’s about Ethan. And Ethan rarely wants that either.”

Compared to the reputation and power Gilleon had in the past, was that the reason why he had so few external activities?

Well, looking back at the time of the closed area, the power and abilities that Gilleon used were quite different compared to other superhumans.

It wouldn’t be strange if he, who flew in the sky dominated by Vulcan’s magnetic storms, was suffering from a chronic illness.

‘Should I push him further……?’

Should I stimulate Songha here to force him to reveal the internal situation of Dead Rise, or should I leave some room at the right time?

It’s been quite a while since I left the spire through the deal with Naimel, so if I’m not planning to escape Jorta right away, I should go back soon.

Lenok, who had been silently observing the remaining time and the flow of people moving in all directions of the city, nodded.

Crack!!

The ice block that had been binding Songha’s body split in two on the spot and melted away in an instant.

“Phew!”

“Good.”

Lenok turned his back, binding Songha’s soaked body with chains located on the first basement floor.

“I’ll copy the records of the travelogue and hand them over to you right now.”

* * *

After that, Lenok wrote down the contents of the Ghost Travelogue in a suitable notebook and handed it to Songha.

Lenok, who had chosen a common magic used for transcription and copied it into the notebook, handed it to Songha.

“Hee.”

Songha, who had been staring intently at the contents of the notebook, nodded as if he had understood after a while.

“I have a feeling. I don’t know if it’s really something Ethan wrote…… but if I show it to him, there will be some kind of reaction.”

“Is Ethan Bajur still staying with the main force of Dead Rise?”

“Sometimes.”

“……”

Perhaps feeling that his explanation was not sufficient, Songha scratched his cheek and said.

“After the corps’ command system was completed, Ethan gave up his authority. Most of the practical work is handled by lieutenant generals……”

“That means the commander-level generals are busy playing around like you.”

“……Why do you understand it that way?”

Songha stared at Lenok for a moment and suddenly spoke.

“You said you were affiliated with Pandemonium, right?”

“……”

“I’ve heard stories about a great mage who roams the continent while turning cities upside down, though I don’t know who he is.”

Songha said to Lenok with conviction.

“I need to check why you know Daymus and Gilleon when I get back.”

“Do as you please.”

Lenok chuckled and raised his magic power.

He knew who Songha was mistaking him for. And that his guess was not entirely wrong.

But there was no need to correct Songha’s misunderstanding here.

Therefore, instead of responding to that, Lenok immediately left the place.

“You’re late.”

Naimel said, leaning against the wall with her eyes closed.

Lenok gestured downwards as he struggled to climb the stairs.

“The Dead Rise general is tied up in the basement. Take him away before he escapes.”

Naimel responded by sending other military spirits down to the basement floor.

“It seems you got what you wanted from the crematorium ruins.”

She asked, quietly looking at Lenok.

“Was the arrangement that he left behind…… there?”

“……I wonder.”

Lenok turned to look at Naimel and answered.

“It was just full of corpses that were sacrificed like you.”

“……”

“I just found the root cause of why the cult was conducting this transaction. And if I had to say it……”

The body of arrival prepared for Kaise Bajur. And the map that Ethan, who had visited Jorta first, left in the Ghost Travelogue.

The topography of the map engraved on the papyrus will tell me where to go next when I go back and investigate.

I haven’t uncovered all the hidden stories left in this city yet, but I’ve almost achieved the purpose I had in mind when I first thought of Jorta.

“The ancient spirits that were sleeping in the basement with you. What are they doing now?”

“They are waiting for you at the festival. It is to hear the story of this incident and make a decision.”

It’s not surprising.

If the spirits exiled from the Night Parade were trying to regain power in Jorta, it was obvious that they would find Lenok someday.

Lenok also knew that, so wasn’t that why he was staying in this city to take care of other business?

“If you are ready, I will guide you myself.”

Thud!!

At that moment, the stairs where Lenok was standing began to shake violently.

The canals and ground that made up each level of the city were heaving, moving the stairs where Lenok was standing.

“The memorial tower was the center that maintained the foundation of the city, but conversely, it was also a wedge embedded in the stairs.”

“……”

“Originally, Jorta was a floating city built on the river. The fact that there is no center to bind the city means, in other words……”

“It means that all the stair sections of the city can be freely moved and relocated.”

Thud!!

The stairs, firmly bound by chains of mist, were pulled out into the middle of Jorta’s main street.

The strong figures of Jorta’s shadows, who were watching Lenok while emitting a chilling aura without hiding it.

Could it be that those who disobeyed the rule of the Soul Calming Order, but agreed with the cause that the Night Parade was advocating, were trying to watch the end of this commotion?

At the end of the wide-open street, a huge shrine shining pure white could be seen.

A beautiful and eerie scene as if countless souls had woven themselves together to create a structure.

Whoosh!!

A sharp wind echoed like a silent scream in the middle of the vast shrine hall.

At the same time as entering the shrine, the huge altar came into full view.

Beyond that altar, five antique thrones were lined up in a row.

On the thrones, spirits with different shapes and auras were looking down at Lenok.

“Naimel, you’re very late.”

A muscular old man sitting on the throne in the center opened his mouth.

“Did it take you so long to persuade this person?”

Lenok turned his gaze towards the old man, frowning behind his mask at the intense pressure.

‘The size……’

His appearance itself was not threatening, but his size was the largest among the military spirits gathered here.

Broad shoulders and a height of over ten meters. The size of the throne was also incredibly huge.

It was clear that the soul of a giant race, not a human, had become a military spirit.

“I apologize, Palunz.”

Naimel, who had followed Lenok, slightly lowered her head.

“As the matter is what it is, I thought it was something that could not be done without his consent.”

“Hmm……”

The old man called Palunz slowly wriggled his shoulders while leaning back on the throne.

Just that alone caused the mist to surge greatly, and it felt as if it was being sucked in around Palunz.

Thud!!

I had guessed when I heard that the ancient spirits had been exiled from the Night Parade, but were such powerful beings still left in the city?

Rather, it wasn’t strange if you thought about it.

This military spirit city is located on the border between life and death, and it is a city of ghosts that embraces even the dead.

It was not strange that extraordinary people from all over the continent died and became military spirits, wandering around this city.

Even Naimel, who was standing next to Lenok, was a former candidate for a priestess of the cult in her lifetime.

Just as Lenok was thinking that and looking around, a voice spoke.

“That obsidian mask.”

A spirit covered in black shadows, sitting on the far right of the throne, spoke to Lenok.

“It’s from a familiar family.”

“……Who are you?”

The black spirit did not answer Lenok’s words, but instead tilted his head slowly and muttered.

“To use manipulation techniques and wear that mask so openly…… Are you a person who tramples on and insults old pride?”

“……”

“Well, it doesn’t matter anymore.”

Just as Lenok lowered his gaze at the incomprehensible monologue, the spirit who had risen from the throne snapped his fingers.

Chijijik……!!

At that moment, dark black magic threads stretched out from between the fingers of the black spirit.

“If you are a descendant who has reached the destruction of Ars Nova, I have something to give you as a fellow noble.”