Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 872

The Eye That Sees Fate (9)

Crash, shatter!

The complex cityscape shattered like glass.

Amidst the deafening cacophony, everything shimmered and cracked in a chaotic dance.

Even as every visible space crumbled, the gate to the Outer Sea, painting the scene with a mix of day and night, remained steadfast.

The [gate] to the Outer Sea that Deputy Mayor Amy Weinstein had guided them to was undoubtedly real.

It was just that no one had been able to reach the depths of District 19, which was said to exist beyond the Outer Sea.

“You knew Lapis didn’t have access rights.”

Lenok turned towards the Deputy Mayor, who stood at the edge of the collapsing rooftop, and asked.

Whoosh!

The flames that bloomed from his fingertips stretched out, leaving a fiery trail in his wake.

“Even after the bio-code scan, you were still suspicious?”

[Once I start doubting something, I never fully believe it.]

The Deputy Mayor answered calmly, even as she faced Lenok’s sharp intensity.

[Feeling unease is the correct answer derived unconsciously through countless experiences. Even if there is no basis, I trust my judgment completely.]

So, she was the type of person who trusted her gut feeling more than concrete evidence and reasons.

But if she had risen to the position of Deputy Mayor of Vulcan while adhering to such a way of life, it was natural for Amy Weinstein to think that way.

[Rather, aren’t you the extreme one? To come all this way and still doubt the existence of the [gate] after seeing it with your own eyes, and to try to save its owner.]

The Deputy Mayor’s eyes narrowed as she looked at Lenok.

[I thought that someone who knew the Outer Sea’s gate well would never doubt this situation… It’s so hard to read a magician’s intentions. You’re still an unpleasant bunch.]

“Alright. I understand that all your words, testing my reactions, were a ploy to control this situation as you wanted.”

Bang!

The flames that burst out melted the glass door at the back of the rooftop. Lenok, having blocked off any escape, stretched his hand forward.

The Deputy Mayor tried to evade him urgently, but Lenok seemed to read her movements, closing the distance and piercing through her defenses.

Her movements were much slower than Weinstein’s. But Lenok’s hand, as if drawn in, immediately grasped the Deputy Mayor’s collar.

Clutch!

[Cough, cough…!!]

“But if you wanted to deceive me until the end, you shouldn’t have mentioned the prohibition.”

The tips of Lenok’s fingers glowed red, then burrowed into the iron mask covering the Deputy Mayor’s lower face.

She struggled violently, but the iron mask, unable to withstand the heat, was torn off, revealing her bare skin.

Snap, crackle!

The Deputy Mayor’s mouth and jaw, hidden beneath the mask, were horribly mangled, as if melted by poison.

“If you say this happened as a consequence of breaking the project’s prohibition, and then you blab about the secrets of District 19, it’s only natural to be suspicious.”

“Ugh, ugh…”

Weinstein’s lips were torn, and she could only make simple sounds, as her teeth and tongue were gone.

Was she using the functions built into the iron mask to produce sounds in the first place?

Lenok, having shoved the half-melted iron mask back into her mouth, spoke.

“Why did you break the agreement and try to kill Lapis? In this situation where the inviolability treaty of the Philemon Dominion hasn’t been lifted, what benefit would the city government gain?”

[Kuh, heehee… So, you’re not going to kill me?]

“Why, do you want me to make it easy for you here?”

Lenok smiled.

“You’re not someone who can’t feel pain, or a madman who doesn’t know fear. You’re just an artificial body created using artificial human manufacturing technology.”

[…….]

“Considering that your original rank isn’t high, you probably can’t control multiple artificial bodies at the same time. Is it a method of transferring to a new body using the death of the artificial body as a trigger? You must have abandoned your original body long ago and only kept your spirit.”

Lenok, knowing that research on artificial humans had been conducted in District 19, thought it was highly likely that the Deputy Mayor was also aware of the related technology.

Even if artificial human manufacturing technology had influenced Vulcan’s high-ranking officials after the lifting of the prohibition, it wouldn’t be strange.

Moreover, Lenok had heard from Meyer that Amy Weinstein was a master of bioengineering and very open to related technologies.

Her boldness in guiding them through the closed area alone was not strange if it came from the confidence of having a spare body prepared.

Lenok had guessed this and, realizing that Amy Weinstein was an artificial body insensitive to pain, had tried to subdue her.

“The reason why your mouth and jaw are so mangled, even though you’re an artificial body, is because the price of the prohibition is always applied. It’s not a curse on your body, but on your spirit.”

[Haha, you understand the prohibition that well.]

The Deputy Mayor said, fitting her iron mask back onto her mouth with trembling hands.

[You might not have thought I was an artificial body because of this injury. I guessed you weren’t an ordinary magician from the moment you inherited the access rights, but- Aack!!]

Thud!

Lenok roughly pushed the Deputy Mayor over and looked at her with cold eyes.

“Even if I kill you here, you’ll just wake up in a new body stored in a safe place. Why should I help you escape safely from here?”

[Ugh…!!]

He slammed the Deputy Mayor’s body against the flagpole at the edge of the constantly shaking rooftop, binding her with magic.

Crack!

With just that, the Deputy Mayor’s neck slightly twisted, and the sound of bones breaking echoed.

“Tell me. If it was an agreement you were going to break from the start, why did you bring Lapis here in the first place?”

[Puh, heh heh…!!! You’re curious about why I did this?]

At that moment, the Deputy Mayor, who had been gasping for breath, suddenly burst into laughter.

Even as she crawled on the ground, her eyes did not lose their gleam.

Amy Weinstein smiled as she turned her gaze with difficulty to look at Lapis, who was standing behind her.

[If you want such a trivial explanation, I can give it to you as much as you want. I can tell you that opinions were divided in the Central Council regarding this matter, and that in the process, the decision was made to exclude the Eyes of Azure.]

“…From the beginning, the consultation with the city council was a lie?”

[At a time when the Eyes of Azure’s position in the Central Front has become excessively large, it’s only natural that other large forces would not want to stand idly by. The council and the government have also made their choices.]

The Deputy Mayor whispered slowly, leaving Lapis in silence with a look of dismay.

[It’s just that there were more city council members with ties to the alliance and warlords than the secret society led by the granddaughter of the Heavenly Eye.]

“……”

[As a fallen Ascendant is emerging, the landscape of the Central Front is undergoing a dramatic change. The city government will also have to organize its position soon.]

The Deputy Mayor muttered, looking back at the collapsing outskirts of District 19.

[This matter is just a simple step to clean up the surroundings before that. Don’t you think it was too reckless from the start?]

A mocking smile was evident in Weinstein’s eyes.

[What on earth did you believe in, that you could get what you wanted in this city without any trouble-]

Crunch!

At that moment, something forcefully struck the Deputy Mayor’s jaw, tearing off the iron mask again.

She tried to say something, but it no longer came out as coherent sound.

Lenok looked down at the Deputy Mayor with an expressionless face and said.

“Oops, my hand slipped.”

“……!!”

“Don’t worry. I’ll put it back on soon. More importantly…”

Lenok, looking back at Lapis, who was bowing her head, fiddled with his wrist and opened his mouth.

“Patisha, how is Lapis?”

“There’s no major problem with her body.”

Patisha, quickly supporting Lapis and examining her condition, said.

“However, she used her powers excessively, so if she doesn’t rest for a while…”

The backlash from forcibly stopping what was about to be devoured by the gate of the Outer Sea, essentially with the power of the Lighthouse Keeper.

“Evan-nim. I’m fine.”

Only after hearing those words did Lapis lift her gaze with difficulty.

“I don’t want to stop after coming this far. Let’s stay here for now and try to find a way to pass through the gate.”

“No, that will be impossible.”

“If it doesn’t work, we can perform a ritual in front of the gate and-”

“That’s not what I mean. The Deputy Mayor tried to kill you as soon as you failed to open the gate.”

Lenok shook his head, stopping Lapis from speaking.

“There are two things we can learn from that fact. One is that the Deputy Mayor didn’t know if the access rights Clifton had would open the gate.”

Why did the Deputy Mayor guide them all the way here when she had no intention of keeping her deal with Lapis?

Lenok thought it was because the Deputy Mayor was not sure if the access rights Lapis was supposed to inherit would actually work.

“The other is, then…”

Lenok shook his head, looking at the constantly shaking and shattering cityscape.

“The possibility that this space itself won’t be maintained normally if we fail to open the gate is high.”

At that moment, the gate to the Outer Sea, which had been quietly flickering above the group’s heads, began to surge greatly.

Crack!

Kwaaaang!

An ominous magic power, the end of which could not be seen, flowed out from beyond the gate, instantly occupying all sides of District 19 and pouring down.

Intense magic power that indiscriminately destroyed and annihilated the surroundings, like pillars of black light crashing down.

[Every time the gate is opened, every time the attempt fails, it destroys everything and reorganizes it anew…]

The Deputy Mayor, having picked up her iron mask with difficulty, muttered.

[Everything is already broken. The space of this closed area is now a false illusion that exists only for that gate.]

“……”

So, if they failed to open the gate, it would try to reorganize all the surrounding space-time?

If the Deputy Mayor knew this fact, it was understandable why she had been so relaxed even after being subdued by Lenok.

She knew that from the moment the plan failed, everything around them would be destroyed and mixed up.

[The space-time collapse phenomenon occurring in District 19 is not something a mere human can handle. What are you going to do?]

The Deputy Mayor coughed painfully but did not stop laughing.

Either die here with the Deputy Mayor, or escape from the closed area to avoid the collapse and reorganization of space-time.

She knew that once they came this far and the original plan went awry, there were only two options.

But Lenok, even as he watched the ominous darkness falling from above his head, sneered.

“I don’t like it. To be just taken advantage of because I don’t know, to be dragged around by your intentions, and to be chased away like this?”

The secrets and failures of the project existing in District 19 were clearly more than Lenok had thought.

But he could not tolerate being dragged around by the Deputy Mayor’s intentions and running away like this.

He was tired of being manipulated due to a lack of knowledge and experience.

The gate of the Outer Sea, mixing day and night, was surging.

Lenok, grasping the black magic power flowing from beyond it, raised his head.

“I can’t just leave with a loss. If I can’t go in… I’ll make sure no one else can either.”

[…What did you say?]

The moment the Deputy Mayor frowned at those words, Lenok began to absorb the magic power of the Outer Sea falling below the gate.

An overwhelming assimilation power that instantly depleted the dark magic power falling from beyond the gate.

In an instant, a strong attractive force generated around Lenok, and all the surrounding light bent towards a single magician.

Whoosh!

Screech!

Along with the intense sound of space bending and rubbing, the distorted inflammation of the Outer Sea scraped through his body.

It was a level of harm that would have driven an ordinary magician mad to the core the moment they were exposed to that magic power.

But Lenok, who had witnessed the will of the Outer Gods and delved into the end of the world, had never been shaken by such thoughts.

He realized how to make the will of the sea, which he had only considered incomprehensible, partly his own.

Perhaps, he had now embodied and melted into his body the fact he had known since the moment he encountered that possibility through the Gwangramuhaegung [a place or concept related to the Outer Gods].

Grrr…

He poured a massive capacity directly into his body, expanding his vessel little by little without any backlash.

Lenok’s maximum magic power, which had remained unchanged for a long time after reaching level 8, began to increase as if it were writhing.

Weeeeee!

[What is this…!!]

The moment the Deputy Mayor’s eyelids faintly trembled as she realized that he was using the magic power of the Outer Sea to increase his own magic power.

Lenok had completely swallowed and depleted the magic power that had been bursting out from beyond the gate of the Outer Sea.

In that instant, he had absorbed the source of power that maintained the space-time of District 19, completely paralyzing its function.

Crack!

A huge void, the end of which could not be seen, appeared below the ground.

The buildings created on all sides were destroyed, and the space that formed the sky and the ground began to collapse.

Kugwagwagwa!

Lapis, Patisha, and Lenok’s bodies fell through the cracked ground, and the Deputy Mayor rolled down.

Acrid fog was constantly convulsing beyond the void.

Beyond the fog, tens of thousands of people, their entire bodies stained with black darkness, screamed in agony.

[Aaaaaaack!!!!]

With their blackened upper bodies thrust forward, they reached out to Lenok, screaming indescribable screams.

[Kuaaaack!! Hwaaaack!!]

Corrupted beings, hating and cursing all living things, spewing out resentful cries.

Lenok immediately noticed that it was familiar, but he had no time to pay attention to it.

“Patisha!!”

“I’m here…!!

He grasped Lapis and Patisha, detecting their presence in the void where they could not be seen properly even right in front of him.

Lenok, grabbing a hard part that looked like a crane’s leg or beak, took out an old pencil and stuck it into Patisha and Lapis’s bodies.

Right next to them, Amy Weinstein’s body, having fixed her iron mask, staggered and fell.

[Ha, haha…!! I didn’t expect this…!!]

Even if she was a Deputy Mayor who could switch to a new artificial body after being soaked in those contaminated beings, she would not be able to withstand the mental harm.

It wouldn’t be bad to watch the Deputy Mayor, who had been relying on her artificial body, suffer here, but it would be more effective to keep her alive and use her as a hostage.

Thinking that, Lenok carelessly pulled up his magic power, felt his insides violently churn, and hardened his expression.

‘Magic power…!!’

What Lenok had just attempted was to absorb all the magic power that maintained the gate of the Outer Sea and forcibly accelerate the destruction of District 19.

Apart from forcibly increasing his maximum magic power, which had been delayed for some time, his goal was to completely paralyze District 19 so that it would not function properly for the time being.

However, because he had absorbed magic power that was not his own too rapidly and expanded his vessel, his internal magic power was currently unstable.

The Deputy Mayor’s smile deepened as she immediately noticed that.

[…It seems we’ll meet again next time.]

Amy Weinstein, falling upside down, looked back at Lenok and whispered.

[It won’t be a farewell, but another meeting.]

She opened her arms wide to welcome the tens of thousands of contaminated beings rushing towards her from beyond the void.

[Next time, let’s meet in a more decent place.]

Crunch!! Snap!! Crackle!!!

The Deputy Mayor’s body was torn apart with indescribable, terrible noises.

The Deputy Mayor’s face contorted in unbearable pain, then disappeared without a trace in an instant.

The contaminated beings, having devoured the living flesh in an instant, howled and rushed towards Lenok, unable to overcome their hunger.

Falling into the endless void, a strange sight of black fog bending as the contaminated beings rushed in.

It was as if they were running away from the flies that lived in the stomach of a huge monster.

But even in the midst of all this, Lenok was hesitant to use the five fingers of Enakpil [a teleportation technique] until the very end.

‘It’s impossible to specify the coordinates of others. If we can’t escape the closed area…’

The five fingers of Enakpil were a technique that randomly teleported the user a certain distance away.

Lenok could increase the distance of the teleportation with his magic power right now, but in this state, he could not accurately specify the coordinates.

Lapis and Patisha could all be scattered and they might not know where they fell.

“Evan-nim.”

But at that moment, Lapis quietly grabbed Lenok’s hand and whispered.

Blood droplets were slowly falling from between her closed eyelids.

“I can help you. I’ll be watching.”

“…!!

The moment Lenok, having understood the true meaning of those words, immediately activated the artifact.

Whoosh!

At the same time as an intense vibration that could not be compared to anything before, the surrounding scenery that surrounded the three people changed as if colors were mixed.

* * *

Screech!

Thump!

Behind a building made of old bricks.

Lenok’s body slid out as if bouncing through the ruins inside the fence where a lot of trash had been dumped.

Flap!

Patisha, having spread her wings, gracefully caught Lapis and naturally landed on Lenok’s back, who had collapsed.

“Cough!!”

Lenok, having coughed, glared at Patisha with a cold gaze.

“Get off.”

“…It wasn’t my intention.”

Patisha cleared her throat and stepped off Lenok’s back, holding Lapis in her arms.

Lenok, having jumped up, looked into Lapis’s face, who had collapsed.

“How is she?”

Right before using the five fingers of Enakpil, Lapis had forcibly ‘observed’ the destination using her power.

Thanks to that, the three of them were able to escape safely out of District 19 without being scattered all over the city.

But on the other hand, it was clear that Lapis had used her power excessively.

Lapis, who was slowly shedding tears of blood, seemed to have completely lost consciousness.

“She used her already delicate power of precognition excessively, so the backlash will be considerable. In the worst case, perhaps…”

“Tell me. What is it?”

Patisha barely calmed her trembling voice and said.

“She might have serious problems with her eyesight for a while…”

“……”

Lenok, hiding his troubled expression, took out his cell phone from his pocket.

Now that the situation had been settled by escaping from District 19, he had to contact Evelyn and inform her of the current situation.

But the first message that appeared on the screen was not a message related to Lapis or Evelyn.

It was Davi, as if he had been waiting, showing the news that had just been announced on the cell phone screen.

Lenok, who was about to casually swipe the screen, stopped at the announcer’s voice.

[The secret meeting with the Eyes of Azure, which was held in the closed area, ended with unfavorable results…]

[The leader of the Eyes of Azure, Lapis Falsier, is accused of attempting to assassinate the Deputy Mayor of the 1st Administrative Department, Weinstein, who participated in the meeting, and it is currently presumed that the Deputy Mayor is in a severe coma…]

[The city government has designated the Lighthouse Keeper and his subordinate magician as special terrorists, issued arrest warrants, and applied for a wanted list.]

“…This is.”

The screen of the Vulcan city was shown on the news being transmitted on the cell phone screen.

Lenok and Lapis’s faces were displayed on all the electronic billboards and screens on the streets.