Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 842

“Even if there’s only failure at the end of the challenge, nothing truly begins without obtaining the qualifications.”

Watching Evelyn, who had stiffened, Lenok tightened his grip on the cigarette.

The cigarette, which hadn’t even touched his lips, burned away in his hand.

“That’s the only thing I learned from this journey. So, at the very least, I have no choice but to aim to stand on the same starting line.”

“……”

Chasing Evan’s records in the military city and traveling through Yorta.

Trying to decipher the cause and effect by looking into the memories of the cult leader.

Fighting Dore’s body, obtaining the power of the Avatar, and forcibly creating the warrior’s function.

All those moments that could never be experienced without trying and failing were Lenok’s answers.

Everything was to solve the unknown and find meaning beyond the ending.

That was how Lenok was trying to explain who, or what, Evelyn had seen through the lighthouse.

“I… I don’t know…”

After a long silence, Evelyn quietly replied.

“Qualifications aren’t something you can just obtain easily just because you decide to.”

“……”

“What does it even mean to challenge the ascension in the first place? Is it some kind of inspiration we can directly see and awaken to?”

Evelyn asked.

“All the remaining ascenders are either crazy or turning into monsters. Even if you get the qualifications, you can’t ask for help.”

Evelyn, who was gripping the wet ground with her bare hands, spoke with a sorrowful tone.

“Even if something goes wrong, no one can help you.”

“That’s probably true.”

Lenok nodded.

“But everyone was probably the same at the beginning.”

“……”

“Not everyone who challenges succeeds. Likewise, not everyone who obtains the qualifications can challenge. But…”

Lenok, who had swept back his wet hair, gave a faint smile.

“While there’s still a chance, I want to choose with my own hands. Even if that ending is not choosing anything at all…”

“……”

Now, he felt like he could understand the meaning of what the Captain had said.

The meaning of the words the Captain had explained when he recovered Jintun’s corpse at the end of the Infinite Labyrinth.

He had said that when the end is near, all standards are consumed by a single value and begin to move.

Having already experienced it once, he knew that when that moment came, there wouldn’t even be a chance left.

There was still time before the end of the world, and until then, Lenok could choose what he would select.

Then, the moment the Captain would move would be that one instant right before the end completely arrives.

Chiiik…!!

The moment Lenok realized that, the noise that had been obscuring the Captain in his memory seemed to clear a little.

It was the process of understanding the Captain more deeply and finally looking into his essence, Lenok realized.

“Right.”

Evelyn muttered.

“Maybe, challenging the ascension is…”

It might start from constantly reflecting on the meaning in every moment of building up one’s tier [a measure of power or rank].

At least, that was what Lenok had been like in Evelyn’s eyes.

A continuous struggle to give meaning to every moment of his life and to not forget it.

The magic of eternity that Lenok had shown contained that wish so clearly.

Realizing that fact, Evelyn’s tier fluctuated greatly for a moment, and a vortex began to form within her.

Woo-oong!!

Even Lenok could clearly perceive the change that had started from her.

Even if it couldn’t change the tier itself, it was a rare sign of inspiration that could be a catalyst for growth for a superhuman like her.

“Haa… Okay.”

But instead of clinging to the realization she might gain, Evelyn sighed and raised her gaze.

“It’s not like I dragged you all the way here to get help from you. This is enough.”

“……”

Even after obtaining a transcendent tier that a human body could not reach, she wasn’t obsessed with going higher.

Perhaps it was because of that nature that Evelyn had been able to come this far.

Evelyn, who had closed her eyes while getting hit by the raindrops falling under the dawn sky, seemed to have finally sorted out her thoughts and grumbled in a much brighter voice.

“Ah, but I lost in the end. I thought it would be like this, but I was quite confident.”

“Wasn’t it a bit thoughtless to even choose this stage in the first place?”

Lenok asked, fiddling with the front of his coat.

“It’s not a good environment for a bowman like you. Especially considering your rank and status.”

He had chosen a closed facility where the surroundings wouldn’t be affected and where no one would see them.

Lenok knew that Evelyn’s choice of this place as a battlefield was not to discuss her chances of winning.

Evelyn’s essence was that of a bowman who had to fight from a distance.

Her talent was also specialized in drawing the bow, aiming, and hitting the target.

Of course, Evelyn’s combat ability was as good as her archery, but there was a clear difference in power.

Moreover, Evelyn hadn’t even used the most powerful great bow among her weapons.

Lenok, who had faced her long-range sniping before, knew how tricky and deadly that great bow was.

In this field with only old bars, it wasn’t an environment where she could maximize her archery skills.

Considering her background as an agent, even if she had the mind to do so, she wouldn’t be able to use her full power for fear of the aftermath.

Even though it was a stage she had prepared herself, it was practically the same as fighting with more shackles on Evelyn than on Lenok.

“But if I hadn’t done it this way, I wouldn’t have come this far.”

Evelyn retorted with a sulky expression.

“If I hadn’t chosen a place where you could arrive right away, you would have run away.”

“……”

Well, he could see how much Evelyn didn’t trust Lenok in that regard.

Certainly, from the point of suspecting Lenok’s identity, it would have been difficult to be sure that he would properly respond to her request.

But Lenok slowly shook his head at Evelyn’s words.

“No, I would have agreed no matter what conditions you set.”

“Why?”

“That’s…”

Lenok also felt some guilt towards Evelyn.

Because he knew that as much as she trusted Lenok, Lenok had not trusted her.

The relationship that had started with him owing his life to Evelyn often ended in a sense of indebtedness even at this moment.

The cold reason of a magician and Lenok’s heart sometimes made different judgments like this.

It wasn’t because Lenok was strong enough to perfectly reconcile reason and emotion, but rather because he kept hesitating and wavering.

That’s why, instead of honestly confessing that fact, Lenok subtly turned his gaze away.

“Because I would have won in any situation. It’s the weak who worry about conditions.”

“Huh?! What’s that? That’s annoying!”

“Weren’t we both hiding our power and worrying about conditions?”

“What?”

Lenok asked with a smile.

“Your small universe that manipulates inertia. Even with my magic system, it’s impossible to completely analyze it. Even though I’ve known about that ability for a long time, this is practically the first time.”

“……”

Right after Lenok’s Ouroboros [a symbol of a serpent eating its own tail, representing infinity] and Evelyn’s inertia bias collided.

It seemed like the victory or defeat was decided when the inertia bias was broken, but Lenok realized that that alone couldn’t explain the current battle.

The Ouroboros was not a power that broke the opponent head-on, but a power that dismantled, analyzed, and devoured.

If the magic system had worked properly and dismantled the inertia bias, Evelyn’s small universe itself should have been temporarily neutralized.

But Evelyn’s small universe did not disappear at all, it only changed its direction and went astray.

If even the power of the Ouroboros could not completely analyze and dismantle the inertia bias, it must be because she was hiding an ability beyond simply manipulating inertia.

And that secret was probably the trump card that Evelyn was hiding until the end.

But Lenok didn’t bother to ask her to explain it or ask about it at this place.

He just gave a confident smile and pointed at himself.

“If you want to refute my words, try challenging me again next time. I won’t go easy on you then.”

“…I don’t want to.”

When Lenok had predicted his chances of winning against Evelyn before, what were the conditions for victory he had thought of?

Invincible if he deployed either the magnetic field or the Ouroboros. If he could use both, it was a guaranteed win.

But before that, he had to endure Evelyn’s checks and snipes and buy time to use the incantation.

And the fight that had happened today was just a special situation where Evelyn herself had eliminated those difficult conditions.

But Evelyn, as if she couldn’t agree with Lenok’s words, turned her head and glared at Lenok with a sulky expression.

“So, are you going to keep ‘preparing’ like that in the future?”

In the end, Lenok did not directly admit that he was Victor until the end.

Similarly, Evelyn had not heard that Lenok had entered Pandemonium [a chaotic or hellish place].

But it was clear that Lenok had been going through trial and error using that method until now.

Lenok shook his head.

“It’s not at a stage where I can say for sure that I can challenge the ascension right away. What I told you was just proof of my promise.”

Crack!!

When he touched the raindrops falling in the air, the raindrops froze and turned into an umbrella over Evelyn’s head.

Lenok explained, watching Evelyn, who was turning her gaze away as if embarrassed.

“It’s not something you can get just because you want it, and even the method is just a vague possibility.”

“…I guess so.”

“Maybe you’re right. If we meet transcendents who have already challenged the ascension, or are about to challenge it, we might learn something.”

That’s why Lenok was thinking of going to see Myung after he had rested enough.

The last time he had met Myung, he had already reached the end of level 8 and was clearly facing the door.

Even in the demon realm where all sorts of monsters lurked, the two of them boasted a unique strength.

They had also been constantly raising their own tiers and ranks, showing talent and growth comparable to Lenok.

But unlike Kroken, who only focused on his own problems, there seemed to be some secret beyond Myung’s strength and growth.

One of the oldest magician families that Myung himself recognized as his lineage.

Lenok was thinking that maybe that secret was related to the problem he was facing now.

“Ah, speaking of transcendents, it just reminded me…”

Evelyn made an awkward expression as if she had suddenly remembered something.

It was as if she had just remembered the reason why she had come to see Lenok.

“Maybe that precedent you want. It might be related to this matter.”

“What do you mean?”

“While you were gone, I still couldn’t get reinstated as an agent, so-”

“So it wasn’t your choice not to get reinstated.”

“Listen to the end.”

Evelyn, who had coughed in a flustered manner, said.

“Anyway, I took on a few jobs from the Azure Eye… and in the process, I got some help from Lapis.”

“So that’s why we could use the lighthouse to find the mansion. So?”

“Lapis said she’s planning to visit Balkan soon.”

“……”

Lenok was speechless at the unexpected words.

“She said she has important business, and she’s planning to meet with the city council with only a small number of people.”

“…Lapis is coming to meet the Balkan city council in person?”

Lenok, who had muttered after Evelyn’s words, asked.

“I thought the chaos in the eastern part of the central front, where the Azure Eye is currently advancing, was extremely severe.”

It wasn’t that Lenok had neglected to gather information before and after leaving Balkan.

If he didn’t have a way to get information before, now he was in a position where he couldn’t handle information because he was short on time.

Nevertheless, Lenok, who had been collecting news from the central front through Davi from time to time, knew to some extent what was happening there.

The war between the Order Alliance and the Church had started again, the Head had been pushed to the brink of being defeated by the warlords.

The Azure Eye was expanding its power in the eastern front, and a battle was taking place over the first gate leading to Ars Nova [a new art or new beginning].

Among them, the news about the Azure Eye led by Lapis was the most frequent, and it was heard with quite a few victories.

Was Lapis, who should be busier than anyone else right now, coming to the megacity in person?

“From here on out, it’s classified information. I can’t explain it to you many times, so listen carefully.”

Evelyn’s expression changed to a serious one.

“Lapis completed her tier while the Azure Eye was active on the central front.”

“……”

“In the process, the function of the Heavenly Eye became stronger, but on the other hand, it seems to have become more difficult to control.”

Lapis was the direct granddaughter of the Heavenly Eye Madrea Falsier, a descendant of an ascender who had inherited that bloodline.

Her leading the Azure Eye and traversing the central front was also to continue the will of the already deceased Heavenly Eye and to preserve this world even a little.

“So, she needs to stabilize the unstable function of the Heavenly Eye through a ritual, and that place is-”

“You mean Balkan.”

Lenok asked back.

“Is there no other option?”

“It seems like they considered other secret realms, but the safest candidate is here.”

“Safest…”

It was a city that was not even remotely related to the word safety, but if Lapis said that, where were the other candidates?

“The discussion with the city council is over, and she’ll come to the city with one or two attendants in a few days to make a deal.”

“What’s the deal?”

“The inviolable intervention rights of the Philemon Autonomous Territory that the Heavenly Eye had forced on the city council.”

Evelyn explained.

“In exchange for nullifying that and handing it over to the Balkan city council, they will rent out a part of a specific closed area for a few days.”

“They’re nullifying the inviolable treaty that the Heavenly Eye made in the past? I can’t understand it. At the time, it wasn’t the Azure Eye that was targeting the Philemon Autonomous Territory in Balkan.”

Lenok, who immediately understood the meaning of those words, frowned.

Because there was a fact that Lenok, who had already visited the autonomous territory once, remembered.

“The special environment of the autonomous territory was specialized in the production of elixirs, so they tried to forcibly incorporate it. That Lapis is giving it up herself…”

“It’s not giving it up.”

Evelyn shook her head, interrupting Lenok’s words.

“If the ritual ends as Lapis proposed, such an inviolable treaty will become meaningless.”

“……”

At that moment, Lenok realized what Lapis was thinking.

At the same time, he also realized that this matter might be connected to the purpose that Lenok himself desired.

“Could it be that Lapis… is planning to recover all the functions of the Heavenly Eye and take them back this time?”