Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 876

“This is the worst possible situation.”

A beautiful hall enclosed by transparent glass walls.

In the grand hall, where even the smallest whisper echoed softly, several elderly figures sat around a large round table.

The city council members were seated far apart from each other at the massive round table, which could easily accommodate dozens of people.

This was an emergency meeting, hastily convened by the council members involved in this incident, between the upper and lower houses.

The attendants waiting in the back immediately refilled the glasses whenever they were empty.

However, the council members’ expressions were so stiff that they seemed unaware of what they were drinking.

At the center of the round table, a three-dimensional screen displayed the heart of the sprawling city.

Beyond the screen, which clearly showed the dilapidated downtown area of District 21, dozens of lightning bolts were falling.

Krrrrrr!

The camera, which meticulously shapes magic into fine units, could not even properly capture the form of the lightning.

Its movements and speed were so fast and intense that it could only barely capture fragments of the lightning streaks racing through the city.

Something wrapped in blindingly cold lightning was leaving the Vulcan 20s district at an incredible speed.

[Hwaaaak!!]

[Get out of the way, we’ll be blown to bits with the tanks…!!]

[The fortress defense barricades were breached in one go!!]

Where the blue lightning had swept through, only shattered tanks and fragments of barricades were scattered.

Without targeting anyone in particular, the overwhelming violence shattered and crushed all resistance and restraints simply by wielding and scattering magic.

It was clear who the monster was, disappearing with dozens of lightning bolts swirling through the dark clouds, and the sound of thunder echoing like a dog’s bark.

“Kyonroe kidnapped the Lighthouse Keeper…!”

“Is this even possible?!!!”

The great mage of District 49, Kyonroe Ban.

The fact that a mage, whose infamy was among the worst in Vulcan, had ignored the Central Council’s wanted order and taken the Lighthouse Keeper into his custody.

No one was not surprised that a madman, notorious for his bloodlust, had intervened and disrupted the situation, especially since it was not just any monster.

“How could the information leak out within half a day of the wanted order being issued? It’s utterly pathetic…!!”

“We should have deployed the suppression forces to the front lines and controlled access earlier. What on earth was the person in charge doing!”

They shouted fiercely, but they could not hide their panic and agitation.

They tapped the round table with anxious gestures, while also glancing at the screen, hoping for other news.

“Please calm down. What meaning would such precautions have against that mage?”

Among the enraged city council members, there were those who had not yet lost their reason.

These were the younger lower house members who had stepped into this matter but were not deeply involved.

Most of them had extensive field experience and directly received information from the front lines.

“Let’s put aside what has already happened. Let’s discuss the measures we need to take going forward.”

“We haven’t even prepared the official document to explain the wanted order. Once the clerks create the forms-”

“No, you don’t understand!”

A white-haired old man banged the round table irritably.

“The moment that mage stepped in, there’s almost no chance that Lapis Palshier will be handed over willingly!!”

“……”

“We shouldn’t have even mentioned it in the first place. We should have prevented him from getting involved from the start…!!”

At the old man’s words, the other lower house members’ expressions instantly hardened.

“Did you already discuss this matter with Kyonroe?”

“It was unavoidable. Because of the need for a meeting between the great ability users in this city, this absurd thing…!!!”

As the lower house members turned their gazes away from the old man, whose forehead was throbbing as if he were about to collapse.

They were also quite interested in the mad mage who had suddenly appeared and single-handedly turned the city upside down.

The council members added a word each, looking at the afterimages of the lightning remaining on the screen.

“All the troops and mercenaries deployed in District 21 were helpless. Is an operation that relies on numbers completely useless?”

“Half of the weather observation devices in the nearby area are broken. In this environment with dark clouds, there’s virtually no way to deal with him.”

“Even with the latest video recording equipment, real-time filming is all we can manage. The storage devices keep breaking, so the video team has already discarded all the recordings.”

Although quite some time had passed since Kyonroe’s infamy had spread throughout the city, not many had witnessed his manifestation.

This was partly because Lenok had been operating in the shadows of Vulcan, and also because the city’s area was excessively large in the first place.

It was a place where, even if you lived in the same city, you might never encounter or hear news of someone if you didn’t want to.

“How did he manage to appear at that exact moment? Can we really consider this the action of a mad mage?”

“The intellect of a great mage is beyond comparison to ordinary people like us. Even if they’re half-mad, their intuition alone can reach the realm of foresight.”

“The accident during the visit to Lavatenon Magic University wasn’t a coincidence. Regardless of his injuries, he’s a monster who can do this as easily as breathing.”

“What should we do? Should we withdraw the wanted order now?”

With that, all the council members sitting around the round table fell silent.

From the start, no one had predicted that the situation surrounding District 19 would unfold in this way.

“Has Deputy Mayor Weinstein still not woken up?”

“It’s an extremely severe case of mental contamination. A mind-purging mage is working day and night to cleanse his brain. They say it wouldn’t be strange if he woke up as a zombie tomorrow morning.”

“It’s all his own fault. If you suddenly undergo surgery with unstable artificial human technology, it’s natural to become vulnerable to mental interference.”

“Would that woman obsessed with that technology even care about that? She was probably only thinking about using her own body as proof to promote its commercialization.”

A faint cynicism was mixed in the voices of the council members mentioning the deputy mayor.

Regardless of her abilities and tendencies, there were quite a few who did not like the deputy mayor’s attitude of opposing the council as part of the city government.

“The deputy mayor is the only witness to the situation in District 19. If we don’t have proper circumstantial evidence, we can’t gain the upper hand.”

“Let’s prioritize contacting Kyonroe’s magic tower to hear their position.”

“We’ve already received a reply. They say they know nothing about this matter and have no involvement whatsoever.”

The other lower house members’ expressions turned bewildered.

“Is that even possible? In this situation where the tower lord has kidnapped the descendant of an ascendant, he’s trying to deny it?”

“That answer shows the position of the magic tower in this city right now.”

“……”

Only then did the lower house members realize how absurd the current situation was and fell into silence.

Since the creation of the item market in the mega-city, they realized once again with that one statement how quickly the magic tower had established a powerful position in this field.

Despite the tower lord’s misdeeds, they had reached a level that even the city council could not overlook.

“I don’t know what to say. This is not something that can be handled by those involved in this matter alone.”

“For now, it would be best to move the media and see the reaction.”

“Even without that, all the news outlets in Vulcan are in an uproar. Since he kidnapped the Lighthouse Keeper, the news will soon spread to the central government.”

Even if a great mage kidnapped an ordinary human, it would be newsworthy, but since he had taken the leader who guides the Azure Eye, it was obvious how big the matter would become.

Moreover, since he had openly shown it among thousands of soldiers and mercenaries, it was inevitable that the rumors would spread.

The council members gathered here also knew from the start that it was impossible to cover up this incident.

“We should rather make the matter bigger. We need to inflate the tower lord’s infamy to a level that he can’t handle.”

“Do you think that mad mage would even care?”

“We still have to. If we can worsen public opinion with this and take away even a little of the tower’s position-”

Click!!

“From there, I will take care of it.”

Mayer, who had appeared by opening the glass door of the hall, said as he looked at the assembled council members, leaning on his cane.

Among them, the upper house members who had been observing the situation reacted when they saw the particularly old-looking man.

“Ah, Councilor Mayer. You’re late.”

“We were waiting for you. We definitely wanted to hear your opinion on this matter.”

“……”

On the other hand, the lower house members turned their gazes away with a somewhat subtle expression at Mayer’s appearance.

Mayer was a city council member who had started his councilor position in the lower house, moved to the upper house after serving as an auditor.

While his ability to achieve results and gain fame in difficult positions was recognized, it was inevitable that the lower house members felt a strange feeling.

Mayer, who greeted the council members who did not bother to hide their feelings, sat down in an empty seat.

“The media reports will start to inflate on their own without us having to worry about it. There’s no reason to provoke Ban’s nerves by interfering unnecessarily.”

“Come to think of it, you were personally acquainted with that mage.”

One of the upper house members asked subtly.

“How is it? Did you hear anything from him?”

“……”

At those words, even the other lower house members listened to Mayer’s words.

The fact that Councilor Mayer had known Ban for a long time was an open secret.

From the start, Mayer himself had not tried to hide his friendship with Ban, so the council officials knew about it.

“Isn’t that not what’s important right now?”

However, Mayer firmly closed his mouth at the council members’ words and turned the topic around.

“I’m on my way back from inquiring about the wanted order issued by the city government. It seems necessary to bring the government’s operational rights over here.”

“Operational rights?”

“I have an idea of where the Lighthouse Keeper was planning to go. Considering the secret hidden in District 19, it’s clear that she didn’t escape the city-”

Mayer’s expression, as he muttered to himself, was lost in thought.

“We need to mobilize the air force to occupy the quarantine zone in preparation for any unforeseen circumstances.”

“Quarantine zone. Could it be….”

“I don’t know why Ban kidnapped the Lighthouse Keeper. From the start, I can’t even guess his intentions.”

The moment the other council members understood Mayer’s words and their expressions slightly changed, Mayer looked around and said.

“We can’t secure Lapis Palshier’s safety right now. But isn’t there still one more person left?”

“That’s….”

“The pyromancer who uses the name Evan.”

Mayer’s eyes calmly shone as he took out a wanted poster with Evan’s face drawn on it from his pocket.

“Let’s start by confirming where this person, who has lost the master he should protect, is.”

* * *

“Catch him, he disappeared that way!!”

“Damn it, I’m sure I saw him here…!!”

A group of mercenaries ran out of breath, rushing towards the end of the alley.

With their magic sharply raised, they searched every corner of the alley, then gave up and disappeared.

Watching the mercenaries disappear around the corner with annoyed expressions, Lenok naturally reached out to his side.

“5,000 cells.”

“Isn’t that a bit expensive?”

“Then 4,000 cells.”

Lenok, who had bought an apple from an old fruit vendor, stood up and walked in the opposite direction from the mercenaries.

Lenok’s expression turned sullen as he took a bite of the apple.

“I should have haggled more.”

“Ah, there he is!!”

“Damn it, he was sitting next to the fruit vendor?!”

The mercenaries, who had returned to the alley, discovered Lenok and immediately raised their firearms.

Tatatatang!!

“Kyaaak!!”

Along with screams, bullets poured down on the food stall and shop signs.

As soon as he noticed the presence, he turned and jumped behind the sign to avoid the bullets.

Drrrrk!!

Ignoring the sound of the sign cracking as if it would be pierced at any moment, he ran forward.

Pat!!

“He’s escaping, chase him!”

“Damn it, how is he so fast…!!”

Even superhumans who enhance their bodies with magic struggle to keep up with his speed.

In an instant, Lenok’s figure vanished as he leaped between the shadowy walls.

Thud!!

The mercenaries, having smashed through the wall with their shoulders, immediately accelerated to find Lenok.

But Lenok wasn’t running away behind the wall; he was standing there, waiting for them.

“Here.”

He threw the half-eaten, soft apple at the lead mercenary’s face.

The moment the apple piece lodged in the mercenary’s mouth, throwing off his balance, Lenok swung his fist, landing it squarely on the mercenary’s jaw.

Crack!!

With the apple still in his mouth, the mercenary’s jaw dislocated, and his eyes rolled back.

“Ugh…!!”

“You bastard!!”

“Don’t resist pointlessly, you moron, just give up!!”

The other mercenaries surrounded Lenok, shouting insults in a frenzy.

“Do you think you’ll survive after picking a fight with that mage!!”

“You’re already dead, so just give us your money and die…!!”

“That mage… Ah, here it is.”

Lenok frowned, his brow furrowing at the strangely unpleasant way he was being referred to, now not even by his name. He bent down.

Lenok picked something up from the fallen mercenary’s grasp and lightly flicked his fingers.

“I was looking for this.”

“Grab him!”

Click!!

A cheap lighter that could be bought for a pittance.

The moment the mercenaries, with their guns raised and magic-infused daggers thrust forward, lunged at Lenok.

Lenok lit the lighter with one hand and carefully cupped the flame with the other.

[Ignition]

Whoosh!!

The dark alleyway flashed with a red glow, and then, with tremendous heat, it became scorching hot.

A huge shadow of fire flickered behind the building and then vanished in an instant.

The street vendors, who had been hiding from the sudden gunfire, were sweating profusely from the heat.

“Hoo.”

Leaving behind the mercenaries’ presence, which had disappeared as if it were a lie, Lenok, who had walked out from behind the wall, sighed.

Lenok threw the melted lighter into the trash can next to the fruit stand and spoke to the trembling fruit vendor.

“One orange. I’ll buy it for 3,000 cells this time.”

* * *

“This is quite good.”

For some reason, the fruit vendor was kind enough to even cut the orange peel for him this time.

As Lenok tasted the orange with a satisfied look, a voice echoed from his fingertip.

[Mage. How long do you intend to keep this up?]

A familiar voice came from the pure white jade ring on Lenok’s finger.

The elegant white jade, shaped like a crane, faintly glowed, and Patisha’s voice was heard.

[I have been trying to be as patient as possible, considering your circumstances, but it is difficult to keep watching. Right now, Lapis is-]

“Quiet.”

But instead of being surprised, Lenok calmly retorted.

“If you had such an ability, you should have used it sooner to lighten the load.”

The ring Lenok was wearing now was a disguised artifact, with Patisha’s ability added to the guide’s ring he originally had.

Patisha, who had been introduced as a long-lived species from Kundara, was a being capable of merging with specific objects or people to change her form.

Her being the only attendant accompanying Lapis on this mission must have been due to this ability.

[It is not an ability I can use as I please.]

But even after transforming by merging her existence with the ring, Patisha was still talkative.

[Once I change form, it takes a long time to return. Originally, I was saving it until the very end to protect Lapis-]

“Wait a minute.”

At Lenok’s sharp voice, Patisha shut her mouth.

Lenok looked around the alley, then, with a cold expression, he entered the public restroom.

Lenok stood with his hands on his hips, quietly staring at the toilet, then slowly bent down.

“Ugh.”

[…What on earth are you doing?]

Patisha could not hide her bewilderment at Lenok’s sudden vomiting while kneeling.

[It’s strange how you’ve been obsessed with nutritional supplements, and you keep acting strangely since things went wrong-]

Patisha’s scolding voice suddenly stopped.

She had just realized that what Lenok had vomited was not just food, but blood-soaked vomit.

[…You.]

Ignoring Patisha’s voice, which could not hide her shock, Lenok quietly wiped his mouth.

‘I can’t keep this up for long.’

From the moment he summoned Kyunroe to kidnap Lapis, it was inevitable that he would have to operate the avatar simultaneously.

It was already difficult to control his magic delicately, and now he had to divide it between the avatar and Lenok.

Moreover, he had created a considerable distance to take Lapis away with the avatar.

The magic within his body was being consumed at a rate that felt like it was burning and evaporating.

Crack…!

If he had not learned the knack of natural magic beforehand, if he had not increased his maximum magic capacity, he would have lost consciousness and collapsed long ago.

But there was a reason why Lenok was still maintaining and operating the avatar at the same time.

Lenok walked with difficulty, lost in thought.

‘From the moment Lapis was kidnapped, it’s inevitable that the wanted order will focus on me. If I abandon Evan’s identity and disappear here, it will only increase suspicion.’

The city government was already prepared to fight the Azure Eye in this matter and tried to kill Lapis.

If Evan disappeared as he was, all the public power of the Balkan city government would focus on Kyunroe, who kidnapped Lapis.

‘Maintaining two identities until the end of this is a given. What worries me more is the city council’s response…’

From the point of being tracked, Lenok thought that the city council might have guessed that Lapis was heading to the Eight Directions Fortress.

If they knew that Lapis’s goal was the outer sea gate in District 19, it was obvious that they could target the fortress, which had a similar environment.

If they were aware of that, there was a high possibility that the city council would try to intervene in advance to prevent Lapis from reaching the fortress.

If his destination was foreseen while being tracked through the wanted order, Lapis’s plan would be practically over.

That was the decisive reason why Lenok was pushing himself to use the avatar and bring out Kyunroe’s identity.

In order for Lapis to reach the fortress and perform the ritual to meet the Heavenly Eye, a very large chaos was needed that even the city council could not control.

A chaos that everyone else could not control, but that Lenok himself could control.

‘By drawing the city council’s attention with Kyunroe’s identity, and stabilizing my magic with Evan’s identity.’

He sequentially brought up the thoughts he had prepared, amidst his continuously worsening condition.

‘If I narrow the distance with the avatar and guide it to meet at the promised place at the end, and shake off both the wanted order and the Central Council…’

The moment the most well-known mage in this city and the most nameless mage move in different directions and intersect.

A grand plan to disrupt and reorganize this board before anyone else, using the two identities that Lenok uses.

Wasn’t he helping Lapis to find out what the qualifications for ascension were, and what the ascendant who had left before had left behind?

If the Heavenly Eye’s ritual body was waiting for Lapis, Lenok intended to watch until the end what she was trying to leave behind.

Lenok straightened up, wiped his mouth, and said.

“I’m trying, so just be quiet for a bit.”

[Are you hurt? Since when have you been like this…]

Patisha gasped.

She had clearly seen with her own eyes when Evan had sustained such a serious injury.

[It was right after the clash with that demonic mage.]

“…”

The master of the lightning that shook the entire cloudy sky.

The irrational surge of murderous intent that even Patisha, who was from an outer city, felt her soul overwhelmed for a moment.

If a living murderous intent were gathered and created, would it feel like that?

A sentient being whose intentions could not be understood at all, even when faced directly.

A suffocating despair, as if facing the end that existed beyond the dark sea.

[There was not an ounce of exaggeration in the rumors. How such a broken being can still live normally in this city, I just-]

“Nothing major will happen right now.”

Lenok said, shaking off the blood on his sleeve.

“Lapis is still safe. If I bring her back before time runs out, it will be fine.”

[How can you know that…?]

“Because I have the authority of the fifth lighthouse.”

Lenok replied casually and walked out of the junkyard.

“If something happens to Lapis’s safety or mind, the authority itself will be lost.”

“…”

“I just need to find Lapis in time and get inside the fortress. That’s all.”

[…Can we do it?]

Patisha asked in an anxious tone.

[I’m not afraid of dying, but I don’t know if we can get Lapis back against that mage…]

“That’s why I’m wandering around like this now.”

Lenok said that and slowly moved his magic, then his face turned pale.

[Your condition seems to have gotten really bad. Are you really going to be okay like this?]

“…I’m fine.”

However, he was putting a considerable burden on his body by starting to operate the avatar techniques simultaneously.

He needed to find a way to shake off the pursuit of the wanted order and stabilize his magic.

“But it’s not like there’s no way.”

Lenok said, buttoning up his coat.

“Rather, my physical abilities themselves are much better than usual. I guess that’s what you’re doing?”

[I have a talent for enhancing your energy, but it doesn’t feel like something to rely on too much…]

“No, it’s very good. This is more than enough.”

It was not for nothing that Lenok was able to dodge bullets and run in the fight with the mercenaries.

The magic of the outer sea that he had absorbed was surging and instead of being controlled, it was forcibly enhancing his body.

He did not know why, but the energy enhancement that Patisha was providing was a very good fit for Lenok’s unstable body right now.

Contrary to the shaking inside his body, his physical abilities and vitality felt like they were constantly in an enhanced state.

Even if it was difficult to control the power of magic itself, so he had to borrow a medium or give up on controlling it altogether.

Even if his body moved like a normal physical ability user, Lenok could do much more.

“I know where the Eight Directions Fortress is. Let’s go there first.”

“Are you the new arsonist with a wanted order across the city?”

At that moment, Lenok’s body stopped abruptly at the familiar voice behind him.

“I don’t know how hot you played, but the city’s higher-ups are making such a fuss.”

A sturdy figure wearing a wrestler’s mask.

A menacing aura with all sorts of swords, spears, and firearms dangling all over his body.

Dylan, who was perched on a slowly blinking traffic light, looked down at Lenok with a crooked smile.

“This is perfect. Let’s see how dangerous you are compared to the witch who lives in our bar?”