Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 976

Dark Archive (5)

Thinking about it, the very existence of the Nox Biblio [Dark Library] was a space that directly contradicted the concept of the formulas Lenok had learned.

A subspace was a power that Lenok, who had mastered both space magic and manipulation formulas, could barely create with the help of a summoned beast.

To construct such a subspace on an overwhelming scale and use it merely as an archive, not to mention the unique eccentricity of collecting and storing the sorcery of the old world.

The transcendence that seemed to bypass the laws of this world, shaping, constructing, and manifesting a large-scale subspace regardless of location or environment.

The incongruity of the Dark Archive, possessing such power, existing without being bound by any profit-loss relationship.

Lenok had realized that this incongruity itself was a contradiction based on the power of a mighty transcendent who had surpassed the principles of the world.

The fact that the 8th-level black mage, Tillion, was content with the position of a librarian in the archive was proof that the existence of the Nox Biblio was based on a transcendent concept.

Not a 9th-level ascendant challenging ascension, nor an end swimming outside the outer sea.

A transcendent who challenged and succeeded in ascension in the second world.

The necromancer he had faced in his memories had ultimately succeeded in ascension, managing to imprint his existence in the third world.

“The you I saw was a madman who started wars for his own ascension, causing massacres by colliding two continents.”

Lenok’s eyes sank deeply as he looked at the grinning skeleton.

“Your method of ‘pulling down’ the third world to challenge ascension was an unprecedented idea that didn’t exist in any world.”

[…….]

“Why are you, of all people, content with acting as the owner of a mere archive?”

The necromancer who possessed a spiritual power superior to anyone in all three worlds.

The lich, Naoise Penn, did not treat ascension as a mere feat of crossing over to the third world.

He was faithful to his essence as a necromancer to the extreme, and he had summoned the third world that did not yet exist.

Even the cult leader did not hold back his praise for his idea of not transcending the world but ‘pulling it down.’

In the process, he started wars across two continents and committed countless massacres to increase the power of necromancy.

However, Lenok had to admit that the idea itself was truly at a phenomenal level.

The ultimate reversal of pulling down and summoning a non-existent future, completely different from other transcendents.

A transcendent who crossed the world not through ascension (昇天) [rising to the heavens] but through treading the heavens (踏天) [stepping on the heavens].

Therefore, while acknowledging and shuddering at the feat he had accomplished, it was also true that he was wary.

If he was a transcendent who had succeeded in ascension, it would not be strange if he was plotting something unimaginable somewhere in the third world.

But to think that such a great necromancer was residing in this subspace, engrossed in collecting sorcery.

Moreover, not just managing the archive, but personally translating the formulas of the old and current worlds with his own hands.

Lenok had realized this the moment he saw Naoise Penn, and he couldn’t bear not asking him directly at this spot.

[You seem to be mistaken about something.]

However, Naoise Penn merely chuckled at Lenok’s question.

He did not reveal any particular emotion or reaction.

A detached appearance that seemed to have no trace of the tyrannical necromancer Lenok remembered.

[I don’t know who you are. Nor do I know exactly what kind of being you are.]

“……”

[I only recognize that in some memory, the old me encountered you.]

Naoise Penn, in the form of a skeleton, shrugged his shoulders and said.

[We can’t say we know each other with that much of a connection. Defining oneself through the medium of memory is not my way.]

Naoise Penn was a transcendent who had succeeded in ascension, but he was not like the cult leader who had trapped himself in his memories.

Therefore, even if he recognized what had happened in the memories reproduced by the cult leader, he did not think of it as himself.

[Our meeting is just a picture drawn on the sand. If the sea comes down from the sky and the waves crash, it will disappear like a bubble, leaving no trace.]

The lich’s eyes glowed darkly as he looked at Lenok.

[Don’t you know that there’s no reason to cling to or be attached to such a chance encounter?]

“Then what are you doing here?”

Lenok asked with a stiff expression.

“Is translating the formulas of the old world and spreading them in this world the answer you have chosen?”

Oliviera had said that the existence of the Nox Biblio was a miracle that was established because of the ideology of the archive’s owner.

That the transcendent who maintained the archive wanted the transmission and propagation of knowledge.

Wasn’t that saying that the reason Naoise Penn himself maintained this archive was for the sharing of knowledge?

[I am waiting.]

“……What?”

Lenok flinched at the answer that sounded familiar, and Naoise Penn tilted his head.

[I knew that a fourth world would not exist even before I succeeded in ascension.]

“……”

[And I also understood that it could not be achieved with the same method as before.]

A low bass voice flowed from the lich’s mouth as he clicked his jaw, emitting a black glow.

[Knowing that it wouldn’t end with just one ascension, I was able to step on and surpass the world I was born in.]

Was he saying that he understood that the third world was the last even before he crossed the world?

That must have been possible thanks to the transcendent spiritual power that Naoise Penn was born with.

The answer that only a lich who had gained the talent to awaken the senses of the soul instead of losing the senses of the flesh could reach.

[But that’s why my treading the heavens (踏天) was not perfect either. This is the price.]

“Price?”

The lich’s voice seemed to be mixed with a bitter smile.

[A being who has succeeded in ascension must pay the price for the answer they have chosen. It’s the consumption value to make oneself, who originally did not exist, exist in the next world.]

“……”

Lenok knew what Naoise Penn was talking about.

Both the cult leader and the commander were paying a huge price just for existing in this world.

Lenok was vaguely aware that even monsters like them felt a considerable burden in paying the price.

That was why the cult leader hid his existence in his memories, and the commander only moved himself under a thorough plan.

There was a price and destiny based on origin, and there was something they wanted to achieve even by rejecting it, so they were in this world.

If so-

“The existence of the Nox Biblio itself is related to your origin, then.”

[…….]

Lenok’s eyes gleamed as he looked at the silent lich.

“Is this archive itself the ‘price’ you pay to exist in the world?”

[Hmm, you’re not someone who can enjoy a skeleton quiz for long…….]

The lich, tilting his head with a troubled look, said.

[Aren’t you being too intelligent? I don’t want to talk for long with someone who answers too quickly.]

“……”

[You knew how I succeeded in ascension. Then you should be able to understand what I’m saying.]

As Lenok was silent at the absurd answer, Naoise Penn, tapping the pen in his hand, asked.

[To pull down and step over a world, how much weight of a strong soul would be needed?]

“Weight of the soul?”

[I am looking for the answer to that question in this archive. No, to be precise, I should say I’ve already found it.]

The lich, raising his hand with a smile, said.

[That’s why I can stand here and tell you the answer, isn’t it?]

Whoosh!

At that moment, the darkness surrounding the archive deepened, and Lenok’s figure slowly began to sink.

It was as if the archive was forcibly trying to expel Lenok’s existence from within.

Was Naoise Penn’s ability to manipulate subspace so outstanding that he could expel Lenok, who had target designation resistance, from the archive?

“……No, that’s not it.”

It was not forcibly designating and expelling Lenok from the Dark Archive.

Leaving only Lenok behind, the entire Dark Archive was moving away from Lenok.

Just like he had pulled down the world instead of crossing it.

Answers and meanings that contradicted existing ideas were dormant in this archive.

Lenok, having thought that far, muttered.

“It’s not for the transmission and propagation of knowledge, but for the acquisition and absorption of knowledge that you created this archive.”

[…….]

“You said you were waiting for the end, but you’re actually planning to make it come to you.”

Lenok said, looking at the lich who had slowly turned his back.

“You haven’t given up on reaching the next one yet.”

[Heh heh…….]

At that moment, the aura of Naoise Penn, who had turned his back, twisted eerily.

Behind the unsightly skeleton, a massive darkness poured out, engulfing his body and exploding.

Kwaaaaaa!!!

The very image of the ruthless and tyrannical necromancer that Lenok had seen in his memories.

The lich, with his hands behind his back, looked down at Lenok’s figure sinking into the darkness from above.

[It seems that I can’t enjoy quizzes with you any longer.]

“……”

[Even if we don’t have destiny, there will surely be a next time.]

Lenok tried to answer, but the darkness of the archive quickly moved away, leaving him alone.

[Then, please be sure to keep the return deadline.]

At the same time as the necromancer’s quiet message, Lenok’s body was pushed out as if bouncing off a cliff.

Paah!

“……!!”

The black oil that had stained the cliff was nowhere to be seen, only a pile of white bones scattered in the wind.

Lenok, who had been staring blankly at the cliff, came to his senses when he belatedly saw the magic book in his hand.

Oliviera’s transmission echoed from behind Lenok.

[You’re late.]

“……Oliviera.”

Lenok, holding the magic book and turning around, closed his mouth as he faced the scenery behind him.

Whoooosh……!!

The dungeon that had been connected along the cave was split in half and crushed, a miserable sight as if the inside had been turned inside out.

At the end of the ruins where the terrain had changed as if a bombardment had swept through, Oliviera, with her arms crossed, was looking at him.

Just like when they first met, she was wearing a splendid robe and a transparent veil over her face.

Except for the slightly dimmed magic eye light that leaked through the veil, she didn’t seem to have any particular injuries.

[It seems you have properly borrowed the celestial formula.]

Oliviera’s eyes gleamed as she looked at the magic book in Lenok’s hand.

[Good. I’m sure I saw that magic book in the archive once.]

“……”

Lenok, looking at Oliviera with narrowed eyes, asked.

“I didn’t know that having something to talk about with Tillion meant this.”

[It’s none of your business.]

Oliviera said with a snort.

[Anyway, Shandorei won’t make an issue out of this. Isn’t that enough?]

“……”

Oliviera was born with a strong sense of pride, but she was also a mage who carefully handled her power.

Apart from her talent and ability, it was no exaggeration to say that she had rarely stepped forward and wielded her formulas.

Lenok had only fought against the past Oliviera in the closed area, and he had never directly crossed hands with the current her.

Was there such a big conflict that she had to clash with Shandorei Tillion at this point?

[Let’s go back. Moving my body after a long time makes me feel tired…….]

Oliviera, slowly rubbing her neck with a languid gesture, turned around.

Was she planning to return to Balkan immediately without encountering Tillion any further?

It seemed that she had been planning to end things this way from the moment she arrived at this dungeon.

“How do you plan to use the celestial formula?”

[I’m going to call Claris Richelieu and have her teach the celestial formula.]

Oliviera answered as she walked through the ruined highlands.

[Subsek is a being born with excellent formula aptitude and has a vessel that is relatively free from the constraints of systems. To adjust the barrier and find a way to the outer city, it would be more efficient for a long-lived species to oversee the process.]

“……”

[Ah, of course, that will be after I take a short rest. I won’t tolerate any objections since I personally lent a hand for you.]

It felt as if Oliviera’s gaze was sharply shining through the veil.

[If you agree, let’s go back to Balkan and bring Subsek.]

Oliviera said that and moved her steps without hesitation.

[If it’s the long-lived species I know, she’ll surely be spending her time on some useless trivialities.]

“Her evaluation of Claris Richelieu is strangely low…….”

As Lenok, who knew Aris well, it was very awkward to hear her teacher, Claris, being spoken of like this.

He wondered if he should tell her about his meeting with Naoise Penn, but Lenok eventually closed his mouth and shook his head.

He understood that the existence of the archive itself was his ‘price,’ but there were still too many unresolved mysteries left in the archive.

Above all, he had to visit the archive again at least once to return the magic book.

Lenok, shaking off his thoughts, followed Oliviera.

“I have her contact information. If she’s still in Balkan, I should be able to reach her.”

* * *

The bustling downtown area of the central district of the giant city of Balkan.

A pilates studio where bright sunlight streamed in through the transparent front glass.

Lenok, who had come to find Claris, felt a sense of familiarity somewhere and silently raised his gaze.

“Now, narrow your elbows and spread your wrists.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

“In that state, bring your shoulders forward and take a deep breath!!”

“Hoo-ah……!!”

The studio, which had been deserted every time he had visited, was now filled with dozens of students.

Following the instructor who was giving instructions in a loud voice, the students were throwing punches in unison.

But what was even more surprising was that all the students filling the studio were mages of considerable skill.

“Is this the physical training center of that Lancia teacher?”

Next to Lenok, who was standing and staring at the studio, were mages lined up.

They were all formal mages of the tower, wearing antique robes and the symbol of the tower.

“The alternative incantation using physical techniques that Chunbeon showed in the battle with Gyeonryoe. There’s no place that gives better customized lessons than here.”

“It’s already rumored in other towers. There are more than one or two towers that have scheduled business trips to Balkan.”

Gyeonryoe. Chunbeon. Alternative incantation using physical techniques.

Several stories that he had half forgotten since the end of Lapis’s case were coming into his ears.

Stories that Lenok had never expected to hear in the studio he was visiting.

How was Lancia benefiting from the physical training craze among mages due to the duel between Gyeonryoe and Chunbeon?

While Lenok was silent, the students walked through the studio hallway and chatted.

“She’s said to be from a martial artist background, but how can she teach mages like us so well?”

“Well, it’s said that Lancia-sensei once taught a student who was very weak.”

“……!”

Lenok’s fingers, which had been crossed, twitched for a moment.

“She said that she was the weakest student she had ever seen, and that her skills improved as she taught that person.”

“Compared to that person, it’s said that teaching physical training to mages like us is ridiculously easy.”