Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 897

Kugwagwagwa!!!

Beneath the dazzling flames, a massive black serpent leaped up, coiling around the domain.

The colossal body, covered in an unknown black mud, stretched for tens of meters.

It writhed and convulsed like a living skyscraper, creaking and retching.

[Kahaaaaak!!!]

It staggered like a broken machine, each movement a repetition of stiffness and spasms.

Like a dead corpse in a fit, there was no vitality in its gestures.

Kkkkkkkkkkkk!!!

With a screech that seemed to tear the ears, the black serpent lunged towards the petals of the Ten Thousand Mile Fragrance.

Driven by instinct, it sought only the strongest energy in its path.

Yet, the flames and lightning that burned in the air continued to clash and explode, ceaselessly.

The aftermath of the relentless battle battered and pushed back the serpent’s massive form, which spanned the entire city.

The domain of the Ten Thousand Mile Fragrance, with its petals falling one by one, began to spread throughout the undeveloped city district.

And far away, a group of people watched the blooming flames.

“Those guys are relentless. Even in this situation, they’re still focused on their spell battle?”

“There’s no way they haven’t noticed the presence of the thought-form; they never intended to stop from the beginning.”

[The city government will be in an uproar. Didn’t they help prepare the stage?]

A blind man who had gouged out his own eyes, and a grotesque figure with a metal sphere floating in place of his head.

A silver-haired woman with an icy expression.

A giant baby with a severed umbilical cord, and a huge man made entirely of jewels.

On the roof of a skyscraper hundreds of meters high, a traditional tiled pavilion stood incongruously.

Some stood on the veranda, while others sat on the edge, adding their voices to the conversation.

The blind man, rubbing his eye sockets, spoke.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen such a monstrosity. That’s the guardian spirit of the Great Forest, right?”

[Its size is a bit different from my memory, but there can’t be another serpent like that.]

The magnetic-headed grotesque, Ollynik the Monobrain, replied.

[The lingering aura of that gloomy main force confirms it. It’s the thought-form of the serpent guarding the well.]

“Heh heh, how did that faithful guardian of the jungle end up like this…”

A voice like an old man’s escaped from the mouth of the baby with the umbilical cord, like a sigh.

The giant made of jewels shrugged, arms crossed.

=It’s not a thought-form created by the death of the main body. It seems like a fragment of a fallen consciousness that has materialized in reality by chance.

[That in itself is proof of the decline of the great ascendant.]

Ollynik said, his voice somewhat gleeful.

[If it were her from the past, she would never have allowed such a thought-form to disturb the mortal world.]

“……”

[Time is so meaningless. The great war from decades ago now feels like a dream. In the end, even an ascendant is just a beast-]

“Padme Kiesa was a transcendent who guarded the [Gate] of the Great Forest for a long time.”

At that moment, the silver-haired woman glared at Ollynik with an icy gaze.

A coldness that showed not even a hint of emotional change.

Her short, cropped hair near her nape seemed to suggest her resolute and ruthless nature.

“Show some respect, Ollynik. A being who has fulfilled their mission deserves to be treated accordingly.”

[Kiriya. If you’re so devoted to your mission, then you can help me with the burden of the Compendium.]

Ollynik scoffed, ignoring her cold, direct words.

[Ah, of course, you’d have to put aside the rules and pride you hold so dear. What use is honor when you’re dedicating yourself to the world?]

“Are you still going to continue a debate that ended decades ago? It’s so tiresome…”

The baby with the old man’s voice sneered at the two of them.

=Even if we consider the Compendium’s thought-form, what are we going to do about the battle between Thousand and Gyonroe?

The jewel giant asked, lightly crushing a wine glass into powder.

=Considering the planned meeting, it would be better if this was resolved here. If this fight ends ambiguously, it will disrupt the plan.

It was an undeniable fact that an unexpected variable had intruded into the long-awaited clash of the two mages in the Balkan region.

The problem was what would happen if the two mages stopped fighting or tried to avoid it because of the thought-form.

For them, who had planned to reflect the outcome of this battle in the meeting, it was not strange to consider intervening.

However, the blind man seemed to think differently.

“Well, I think this variable will actually lead to a decisive conclusion.”

=What?

The blind man said, rubbing his eyes as if they were itchy.

“I’ve been watching, and Gyonroe seems more passive than I thought. It’s likely due to the well-known rumors.”

[The injury he got for killing Onion? There was talk of it being a kind of curse.]

The baby shuddered at Ollynik’s question.

“That old man’s military magic was truly vicious… If Onion cursed him as he died, it’s not strange that he’s still suffering.”

“Forget about the old man who’s already dead, what I’m saying is that Gyonroe wasn’t going all out.”

=And you think Gyonroe’s reaction will change because of the thought-form?

“He was trying to stick to a strategy that would give him a high chance of winning against Thousand, but he won’t be able to do that now that the situation has changed.”

The blind man smiled.

“If it was something that could be stopped by an unexpected variable, they wouldn’t have tried to settle it this way in the first place. I’m actually looking forward to seeing what approach Gyonroe will choose.”

[What if the thought-form leaves the battlefield and spreads the damage?]

“Hmm, I didn’t expect you to be worried about that.”

At that moment, the blind man turned to Ollynik as if he was genuinely surprised.

“Is there still a part of your frontal lobe that worries about human lives?”

[……]

Ollynik crossed his arms with a displeased look, and the rotation speed of the metal sphere that replaced his head increased slightly.

The blind man chuckled at the sight and turned his head again.

“Don’t worry. Haven’t the protagonists of that battlefield already moved the stage to the outskirts of the city?”

“……”

“Accepting the Law of Prohibition was for the people living under the city government’s control.”

The blind man, looking at the Ten Thousand Mile Fragrance that was gradually distorting in the distance, smiled.

“The lives of the trash that have escaped control are no longer in my sight.”

Kugugugu…!!!

At that moment, the massive serpent thought-form began to burn above the flame flower that was about to bloom.

The power of the Ten Thousand Mile Fragrance surged over the thought-form, which was wrapped around the domain, and bloomed wide open.

[Kyaaaaaak!!]

The Compendium’s thought-form also screamed violently, tightening its body and striking all around the city.

A brutal scene of thick, black whips indiscriminately striking hundreds of meters above the ground.

At the same time, the dark clouds above the flame flower that was about to bloom cleared, and the sky began to open.

“It’s starting. Everyone, watch carefully and tell me what you see.”

The blind man, raising his gaze towards the empty sky where silent thunder rumbled, muttered.

“If Gyonroe has decided to move at this point, he will never hold back.”

* * *

“A transcendent who has the qualifications to challenge ascension realizes how to infinitely divide their consciousness.”

A vast space-time where an endless sea of darkness unfolded.

The boundary line where the world and the sea met and distorted.

Even the empty starlight shining beyond the outer sea, and the traces of civilization left below the ground, were clearly visible here.

“They gain the opportunity to divide, define, and regulate the time and memories they have lived through infinitely.”

The boundary between matter and consciousness. A hidden realm where all sorts of concepts mixed and flowed, existing without any specific definition.

The causal barrier that made this world exist as a world.

She stepped onto the pale horizon.

“In the past, I thought it was a miracle given to a seeker who had completely contemplated their life…”

Cheongyeon, walking out as if climbing onto a cloud, turned back and muttered.

“Now, I’m not so sure.”

“……”

Lapis did not answer.

As if she hadn’t expected an answer, Cheongyeon moved on.

Looking down at the ground, the complex cityscape was reflected in her eyes.

The image of a huge black serpent rampaging over the city, and the flame flower burning between them.

Beyond that, the sky was slowly opening, wrapped in lightning.

Cheongyeon said.

“Padme discarded her immature self through that ability. To fulfill her mission as an ascendant born as a guardian spirit, the memories of her instinct-driven days were a hindrance.”

“……”

“That choice is eating away at her remaining time. The reason why the thought-form of the Compendium, which had once become the [Gate] of the outer sea, has reappeared in reality is because of that.”

Cheongyeon, looking at the serpent thought-form with a complex expression, said.

“She hoped to become eternal as an ascendant by discarding her old memories, but it was those very memories that made her exist as an ascendant.”

“Memories…”

“Do you understand what I’m trying to say?”

Cheongyeon said, turning her body completely towards Lapis.

“Nothing is eternal, Lapis.”

“……”

“Neither great destinies, nor noble missions, nor even long-standing promises and memories… They are all like bubbles in this sea.”

With the sea of darkness above her head and the pure white world below her feet, Cheongyeon spoke.

The scenery of the boundary line that bisected the sky and the earth into black and white.

Cheongyeon, standing in front of Lapis, said.

“To gain one thing, you must discard another. Each time you discard, you move further away from perfection and completion, and you only structurally break down.”

“……”

“It’s the same, Lapis. To obtain a destiny not allowed to life, you must endure some kind of deficiency. The price for trying to circumvent and avoid it through a shortcut is-”

Cheongyeon gestured towards the serpent rampaging on the ground.

“Down there.”

“……”

Could it be that the very appearance of the Compendium’s thought-form in that place was a mistake caused by the Compendium itself?

At that moment, Lapis understood that this was a lesson Cheongyeon was giving her.

At the same time, she also realized that the Cheongyeon present here was not the person she remembered.

“Grandmother… you’re not the grandmother I know.”

“Grandmother?!”

Cheongyeon shuddered, her expression momentarily shocked.

Unlike the serious atmosphere until now, her face suddenly became awkward.

“Ah, yes… I knew it, but it’s a bit… to hear it from a child like you.”

“A child… am I?”

“Wasn’t that what you wanted to hear? Ah, that’s not it.”

Cheongyeon asked, then instantly grasped the truth.

Her eyes, looking at Lapis, sank deeply for a moment.

“You’re sad that I don’t know you.”

“……”

“It can’t be helped. The me here is Madrea Palshier from a time before you were born.”

Cheongyeon said quietly.

“Even if you are my granddaughter, I can’t really feel it. I am no longer a being left in the continuity of time.”

“I know that you, Grandmother, divided your consciousness beyond the boundary of the world to take on the role of the lighthouse.”

Lapis replied quietly.

“You told me a lot about what was needed to fulfill the mission before you left. But, what I really wanted to hear from you, Grandmother…”

“……”

“Was something a little more… ordinary, like a greeting…”

Lapis could no longer speak and closed her eyes.

The departed do not return.

Cheongyeon Madrea Palshier, who failed to ascend and died, no longer exists anywhere in this world.

Even while understanding that simple and clear fact, she still couldn’t accept it in her heart.

Even though she knew it in her head, was she perhaps performing this ritual while dreaming of a miracle of reunion?

Was she trying to confide the emotions she had been struggling with alone, without getting an answer from anyone, to someone who had already left?

Cheongyeon looked at Lapis, who was desperately trying to gather her emotions, with a pitiful gaze.

“Poor thing. You’re already carrying even the mission that I missed.”

“……”

“Knowing that you are this kind of person, the me in life must have passed on the mission without any regrets.”

Cheongyeon, with her hands behind her back, stepped back slightly and said.

“Is it hard? Lighthouse keeper.”

“…Yes.”

Lapis replied in a quiet voice.

“It’s… it’s too hard.”

“……”

“The more I move for the mission, the less I can convince myself. Is there any meaning in this postponed ending, or is it just a simple stalling tactic? How much sacrifice is needed for just a brief postponement…”

She poured out the words that had been piling up like a sigh.

The emotions that had risen to her throat poured out with just a slight tilt.

“Is such a miracle waiting for us at the end of this world…”

“……”

“Surely, probably not.”

Lapis’s voice, having come to her own conclusion, trembled slightly.

Lapis smiled weakly, facing the silent Cheongyeon.

“Regardless of the time and fate we have offered, causality will disappear and the end will come. The traces we leave in this world will have no meaning to the Outer Gods.”

“……”

“I know it’s futile, but I’m still trying, and I’m convincing myself. Everyone has been doing it so far. Everyone has been holding on. So, so I…”

In the vast machinery of the world, she was a cog.

She observes the outer sea and postpones destruction so that this world can exist a little longer.

So that the causality of this world does not disappear yet. So that the Outer Gods do not notice this feeble struggle.

She kills her emotions and suppresses her functions.

She focuses on the reality that is moving, without thinking about the future that is being worn down and broken.

But because it was Lapis’s duty to observe an ending that had no answer, she-

“I know. I was like that too. Seeing the future and postponing it is our reality.”

Cheongyeon said quietly.

“Our fate cannot stay in one time, and our time cannot stay in one fate. We have to see the end closer than anyone else, and we have to be bystanders from further away than anyone else.”

“……”

“Even while standing on the stage, we are always observers. We cannot hold onto the flowing time and connections, and the only way to lay down our mission is death.”

All the words she muttered quietly pierced Lapis’s heart so sharply.

It was probably because the young Cheongyeon had also suffered and worried just like Lapis, and had searched for someone who could understand her.

The pain that echoed through a lifetime, crossing the vanished time, reached the next successor.

Unable to even answer, she was tormented again by the words she had emotionally poured out.

Cheongyeon, watching Lapis with her head down and her shoulders trembling, slowly walked past her.

At the end of the extreme point where the boundary of the world, the outer sea, and the scenery of the ground overlapped and disappeared, Cheongyeon turned around.

In front of the extreme point that seemed as if it would disappear at any moment, she said quietly.

“So, if you want, I can take your place.”

“…!!”

At that moment, Lapis’s trembling stopped as if it were a lie.

“If we are on the boundary of this world, no one will notice even if we switch our roles.”

Cheongyeon smiled as if she knew Lapis’s feelings.

“Isn’t that what you wanted and why you came to find me?”