Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 944

Anathema (5)

The end of the world, where even the methodologies of the Transcendent and the answers of the forerunners lose their meaning.

While reflecting on all the failures and follies, he still seeks answers within himself.

The reason he hesitated to face the answer he had vaguely realized from the moment he recognized the conclusion.

The reason why he is still digging into the answers left by other Transcendent.

It was because he believed that every moment was a journey towards the answer.

If a fourth does not exist in this world, if Lenok himself could become that answer.

If a process could exist that takes precedence over the result.

“……”

[Indeed, is that so…]

The Commander is silent, and the Cult Leader laments.

[The creation of possibilities. The reorganization of branching points… That too must be a choice only you can make.]

Unlike the Commander, who seemed to understand Lenok’s answer, the Cult Leader could not easily take his eyes off Lenok.

The Cult Leader’s gaze blurred for a moment beyond the distorted noise.

[Among all the cause and effect in this world, I must admit that you are the only one who did not chase us…]

“……”

Lenok, too, could not speak and closed his eyes at the Cult Leader’s calm words.

Was this moment right? Isn’t it too early to speak the answer?

Even while thinking and worrying like that, he ends up acting as his heart leads him.

Because he didn’t know when such a moment would come again. Because he didn’t know where or how his own time would end.

Such a coincidence, a necessity that throws out an answer as if being led, might never happen again.

What one desires does not always come to hand, and sometimes even wishing is not allowed.

Even holding hopes and wishes is not permitted in ignorance and agony.

But an answer that had to be conveyed, even like this, existed for the three of them.

[You don’t have to worry too much. There’s no reason to suffer…]

The Cult Leader smiled gently, looking at the silent Lenok.

[The fact that our answers all diverge in different directions is an unwritten but predetermined result.]

“……”

[It is inevitable to break away from the role determined at the moment of transcending fate. It is the logic of coincidence that each of our paths diverge.]

The Cult Leader, slowly turning towards Lenok, whispered.

[In the end, our origins are designed to circulate, regress, and return to their original state, as if in a loop. Even for you, escaping this chain of cause and effect will not be easy…]

“That’s probably true.”

Lenok agreed.

“But even so, I will try to break free. It’s not just because I think it’s right.”

Whoosh…!!

As if time that had stopped began to move again, the light in the sky flickered intensely.

The miracle created by the Ascendant Naoise Penn reached its peak, a fleeting moment pulling down the world.

Under the gloomy and beautiful sky covered in black-green, Lenok looked back at the two of them.

“Without changing, nothing can be overcome. No matter how much I struggle, it would only be a process of repeating the path I’ve already taken.”

“……”

“Whether it’s fate or not, it doesn’t matter. From the beginning, what I wanted was not such a role.”

Lenok, tilting his head back, said quietly.

“I’ll start by not being bound by anything.”

[That’s an excellent answer.]

The Cult Leader, slowly approaching Lenok, murmured.

[How much of a price did the former me have to pay to reach that point…]

“……”

[Is it possible to change this much just because the beginning was different? Or is there an even greater gap…]

The Cult Leader, who had been whispering with his hands behind his back, suddenly stopped.

A sense of incongruity, as if he was pondering something and piecing together his thoughts.

The gap between his will and actions awkwardly broke off, a strange reaction as if there was a delay.

In the ominous silence, the air sharply heated up.

The Cult Leader, who had been looking up at the sky silently, said quietly.

[The fact that we cannot continue this dialogue to the end feels sadly regrettable.]

Crack!!

At that moment, a vertical, pure white eye appeared behind the Cult Leader.

A pure white eye that split open, forcibly opening memories.

A sinister and pale flame, as if freely wielding the power of an Outer God, pierced through Lenok.

Bang!!

A pale flash pierced through Lenok’s body, vertically crossing the floating Shadow Sanctuary.

But Lenok was not surprised by the Cult Leader’s sudden action, and glanced back.

“……”

The Ascendant Naoise Penn, who was engrossed in performing the miracle of Dapcheon [a ritual to ascend to a higher plane] in his memories.

He was now standing right behind Lenok, staring intently at him.

A black-green light gleaming from inside the empty eye sockets of the skull.

As if gazing at something invisible, yet intensely and eerily gleaming as if he had noticed Lenok’s presence in this place.

[As for the talent to sense things that are not concepts of this world, it was said that no one could ever match it.]

The Cult Leader smiled with his hands behind his back.

[Even if it’s just a being in memory, if he and I remember it, it’s the truth. It wouldn’t be strange if he recognized our existence like this…]

“……”

The memory of ascension shared by the Commander and the Cult Leader.

Because it is a scene that the two who transcended the world remember together, it is infinitely close to reality at this moment.

That is why Naoise Penn, even while performing the ascension ritual, was aware of the presence of the three through his unique sensitivity and was looking back this way.

The deepest part of the Infinite Labyrinth. A divine skill that forcibly invades and interferes with another’s timeline, just like what the Commander showed in Jintun’s Cradle.

[The danger of showing you my ascension is precisely this…]

The Cult Leader said.

[The ‘me’ of that moment is no longer an existence under my own control, but an independent timeline. If you chose my memory as the stage, he would immediately notice the anomaly and try to intervene like this.]

“Cult Leader. There isn’t much time left.”

The Commander said in an emotionless voice.

“The collapse of the sanctuary is inevitable from the moment the necromancer recognizes and intervenes in an external timeline. It’s just a matter of how long it can hold out in memory.”

Beyond the noise, his eyes watched the Cult Leader’s movements.

“Withdraw your power. Let’s end it here.”

The Commander’s words were very brief, but Lenok intuitively understood their meaning.

The Cult Leader had raised the eye of an Outer God in his memory to prevent Naoise Penn from recognizing the external timeline and to preserve this moment.

But even considering that, it was clear that the Cult Leader’s response was excessively broad.

It was clear that there was another intention, since he had gone to the trouble of drawing in external power when he could have stopped a single Lich.

The Commander had noticed that fact at the same time as the Cult Leader’s reaction and was stopping him.

[I know. It’s just pathetic to linger in a place like this…]

But the Cult Leader smiled gently even as he said that.

[But if our fate has refused to be the end, wouldn’t there be something we should take back first?]

Whoosh!!

The moment the eye of the Outer God that had appeared behind the Cult Leader flashed intensely.

Lenok felt as if something was being forcibly pulled out of his body.

Not a concept like talent, vessel, or aptitude. The Cult Leader wouldn’t have been able to interfere with Lenok in such things in the first place.

A part of the authority that was not originally Lenok’s, but was granted later.

A power that was closer to the Cult Leader’s origin and essence than Lenok’s, trembled and was pulled out from the tip of his wrist.

Kiiiiing…!!!

The authority of the High Priest that Seina Naidri had left to Lenok.

The ability to execute the ritual that makes the priestess of the Order exist as a priestess was trying to escape from Lenok’s body.

[The power that is connected through Naidri’s name is originally a right that should be used for my children…]

The Cult Leader smiled gently and nodded.

[It’s a power that will only hinder your path, so I’ll take it back here.]

“No.”

But Lenok shook his head firmly, looking at the Cult Leader.

“It’s not a conclusion that will be decided by the presence or absence of authority. This is just one method.”

[…….]

“From the moment I decided on the answer, all possibilities are cause and effect that must reside within me.”

Lenok smiled, looking at the silent Cult Leader.

“So I won’t let anything be taken away anymore. Even if you’re the one doing it.”

Crack!!

At that moment, pale wings pierced through space and spread out behind Lenok, unleashing a tingling surge of power.

[Cult Leader-!!!!!]

The palace of memories and the twisted rifts mixed and became distorted, collapsing in an instant.

The world’s rifts grew uncontrollably. The Cult Leader’s sanctuary was collapsing in real time.

Kugugugugugugu!!!!

The sea split and shattered, and the sky melted away like water.

Even as the sanctuary of memories was destroyed and collapsed, the eye of the Outer God that had risen in the sky was still clear.

Amidst that, someone’s fierce surge of power echoed.

[My, my-]

Contaminated wings spread wide through the rifts in the sanctuary, and they soared up to enter this sanctuary.

[Hateful God-!!!!!]

Kiiiiiiing!!!

The flame of the fallen archangel went madly berserk, stopping the collapse of the sanctuary.

That immense thought, willing to burn all of his remaining time to stay in place, burst out, blocking the space between Lenok and the Cult Leader.

[My pitiful angel. My beloved apostle…]

The Cult Leader, who had been listening to that voice quietly, smiled slowly as if he had just remembered.

[It seems that you too have gone through your own preparations to meet me.]

“……”

Kashuin, the archangel of the Second World who had awakened beyond the Ascension Gate and was belatedly taken into Lenok’s hands.

Lenok had not forgotten the existence of the angel who had been placed within the archangel’s compassion in exchange for meeting the Cult Leader.

Immediately after defeating Anathema, Lenok had taken out Kashuin and talked about the upcoming three-way meeting.

He had prepared for Kashuin to recognize the Cult Leader’s presence and intrude.

In the worst case, if the Cult Leader tried to harm Lenok, it was to create a brief opening through Kashuin’s intrusion.

[The second failure was very distressing and painful for me…]

The Cult Leader’s voice blurred for a moment, as if he had noticed Lenok’s arrangement as soon as he recognized Kashuin’s presence.

Nevertheless, he passed through the light that Kashuin was emitting like a seizure in one step and stood right next to Lenok.

Whoosh!!

[If it was an attempt to provoke my guilt, I would like to say it was excellent…]

“……”

The Cult Leader’s hand, which had reached out towards Lenok while saying that, stopped abruptly in mid-air.

The Commander, who had not reacted at all to the collapse of the sanctuary and Kashuin’s intrusion, was staring intently at this side.

Although no emotion was felt, he was trying to intervene the moment the Cult Leader made contact with Lenok.

If Lenok had sensed that, the Cult Leader would also be certain of it.

[If I could, I would like to embrace all my mistakes in this place… but very well.]

The Cult Leader, as if he had noticed that, slowly bent his wrist and withdrew his hand.

[If you intend to make even Naidri’s name a possibility, I will allow it.]

The Cult Leader smiled gently.

[After all, wouldn’t that also be proof that I was not wrong in the face of fate…]

“……”

[It’s a shame, but I will be satisfied because there is a next time. Whether what awaits you is the end, or the next.]

The blurred voice became clearer than ever in an instant.

The trailing words that had been losing power also became firm and sharp, as if it were a lie.

[Either way, even waiting will be a pleasure for me.]

The Cult Leader, turning his back to Lenok, smiled.

[I will see you again someday.]

“I will.”

The Cult Leader’s change of heart and the Commander’s intervention that happened in a fleeting moment.

But even so, Lenok did not lose his composure and nodded.

He had secured a way to escape through the rifts in the sanctuary the moment Kashuin intruded.

The Cult Leader was a powerful and mysterious Transcendent, but he did not seem to intend to awaken the being lying in his memory yet.

He had not been able to ask them anything about the project, but Anathema’s corpse was in Lenok’s possession.

The first being Lenok had encountered in this world that was not bound by the prohibitions.

The cause and effect of coincidence and luck that Oliviera had wanted so much that she had even bet the secret of the Outer City.

If he used that corpse, it would be possible to approach the secrets of the project more deeply, which had been difficult to even find clues about.

If so, this much was enough for today.

Kugugugugu!!!

The sound of the sanctuary, which was not originally the space-time of this world, disappearing, pierced sharply into his eardrums.

Beyond the splitting rifts, the Commander turned around, and the Cult Leader smiled gently with his hands behind his back.

The scene of the sanctuary was torn into thousands of pieces at the same time as the three of them turned in different directions.

Kaaaang!!!

The scene of a satellite city that existed in reality unfolded before Lenok’s eyes.

“Cough…!!”

Lenok, who had walked out of the collapsing sanctuary, coughed and bent over.

Under Lenok’s hand, who had knelt down and collapsed, dark red blood dripped down.

The powerful spiritual pressure that he had been facing from the moment he directly confronted the Commander and the Cult Leader.

Only after the pressure that had been crushing his soul disappeared did his body, which had not adapted, take the full brunt of the backlash in reality.

Snap!

The blood vessels in his head broke, as if even the speed of his thoughts had stopped.

Lenok, desperately holding onto his fading consciousness, struggled to lift his gaze and look around.

The priestess Ureka Naidri, who had been with Lenok, was nowhere to be seen, nor was the stone staff that had been used as the base for the sanctuary declaration.

Only the corpse of Oshto Duris, whose forehead had been pierced, was lying helplessly in the middle of the ruins where dust was scattering.

“……”

The intersection of coincidence and necessity. The answer of origin that had been exchanged between them.

What had he gained, and what had he given up?

It was clear that they were aware of each other’s existence and would not stop heading towards the conclusion.

It was also clear that the Commander and the Cult Leader would listen to Lenok’s answer and use it as a variable.

But even so, Lenok had also learned something new.

That there was something so important that the Cult Leader and the Commander had to meet directly to adjust the timing.

And that they were extremely concerned about Lenok’s existence regarding that matter.

The miracle of the three people’s time, which could not exist in one world, overlapping had ended.

In a conversation that was close to a fleeting moment, Lenok had decided on the answer, and he only intended to become a possibility.

If so, now he had to move forward.

Lenok, limping, got up from his spot and began to walk, dragging his body with difficulty, towards the direction where the pale light was bursting out.

Anathema’s corpse, and the archangel’s compassion that he had left on top of it. The soul of the archangel who had helped Lenok at the last moment and intruded into the sanctuary.

The first thing to do to wrap up and clean up this meeting was to start there.