Genius Wizard Takes Medicine [EN]: Chapter 986

“Fifth Corps Commander, you say.”

Lenok scoffed at the man’s declaration booming from the airship.

“Was that offer something the corps could just throw around so easily?”

Deadrise, a massive corps currently vying for a piece of the Central Front [a major battleground].

The Fifth Corps Commander of the alliance, a position that grants independent operational authority and command of subordinate units.

To offer such a position, usually reserved for generals of lieutenant rank or higher, to Evan so readily?

Lenok, aware that even Peisha Grisban hadn’t been able to secure a corps command, couldn’t help but chuckle at the absurdity.

“Handing over a corps command to a complete outsider doesn’t seem like a rational decision.”

[The head of the corps isn’t determined by background or major.]

However, the voice echoing from the airship remained calm despite Lenok’s retort.

[What matters is the ability to lead the corps. Your achievements in Balkan more than qualify you.]

“……”

[The decisiveness to burn down a city single-handedly, the martial prowess to carry it out, and even the macro-level judgment to rescue the lighthouse keeper in that complex Balkan.]

Now, the man’s voice was booming as if the speaker would burst.

[It has been verified that the defeat you accepted was not in vain. All that remains is for you to join hands with the corps!]

“Well, I don’t know. I’ve had my share of clashes with the corps while I was with the Eyes of Azure [a military organization].”

Lenok gave a cold smile.

“I’ve killed members of the cult, the corps, and the alliance alike. Do you think you can just pretend that never happened?”

[That’s impossible. But that is precisely why this corps has survived in the Central Front until now.]

“……”

[If you possess the necessary talent and ability, we will bring you under the corps’ banner, even if you were an enemy commander. Petty grudges are merely obstacles in the pursuit of the greater good!]

His resolute and uncompromising words were more akin to a medieval warrior than a modern soldier.

That was probably because Deadrise had its roots in a private military company before rising to its current position.

If they needed talent or resources, they would recruit and bring them to their side, even if they were enemies.

The more capable an enemy commander was, the higher they were valued within the corps, and the higher their chances of rising to a high position.

[Our 3rd Corps is currently carrying out an operation to recover the records of the cult’s sacrificial rituals that the gate search party acquired.]

The man’s heavy voice echoed from the airship’s speaker.

[Regardless of the search party’s achievements, that information must not be leaked outside this quarter.]

“……”

[Normally, we would have to prevent the search party from returning to the gate, but if you accept our offer, I can use my authority to cancel the operation and have them return to headquarters.]

Even while offering Lenok a scout, they were using the search party’s safety as a hostage, alternating between persuasion and pressure.

Although he used somewhat aggressive and rough language, his judgment and way of speaking had a roundabout aspect.

He wasn’t just a mindless person loyal to the corps, or someone stuck in one way of thinking.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t intend to decide my next move here.”

However, Lenok shook his head without hesitation, even knowing that.

“It hasn’t been long since I left the Eyes of Azure. Rather than joining somewhere right away, I’d like to look around the Central Front.”

[I see. Is the corps’ offer too soon to forget the pain of separation?]

“…That’s not what I meant, and you know it. In the first place, is a corps commander’s position something that can be given and received like a gift?”

Lenok’s eyes darkened as he looked at the five airships floating around him.

“The corps I know isn’t that kind of organization. At the very least, a decision like that wouldn’t be possible without the approval of a general. But the fact that you’re making me an offer despite that means…”

[……]

Lenok slowly put down the glass he was holding and said,

“It means you’re a soldier with enough power or justification to ignore those procedures.”

[You’re not wrong. I, too, am here to face you with a mission I cannot back down from.]

The man calmly agreed.

[Just as you are taking your time with my offer.]

BWOOOM!!

At that moment, the search party members who had rushed out of the shelter began to sprint towards the far side of the wilderness at tremendous speed.

Had they evacuated all the civilians left in the shelter, or were there no survivors left?

If it was the corps’ way, the answer would be obvious.

[A humble approach. Were you listening to me this long to buy time to prepare?]

“Because you’d try to kill the gate search party the moment I refused your offer.”

The moment they launched their first bombardment under the cover of night, the corps’ air assault unit could have killed the entire search party.

But the fact that they targeted the shelter instead of the search party was just a means to create a space to talk with Lenok.

A commander who sees the big picture but doesn’t assign meaning to every little thing.

He didn’t know who the other party was, but he was definitely a veteran who had been in the battlefield for a long time.

However, after hearing Lenok’s words, the man calmly denied his answer.

[That’s wrong. I had no intention of taking action the moment you refused the offer.]

CLACK!!

The gunports that had sprung from the airship tilted, aiming precisely at the search party approaching from afar.

[Regardless of the offer, I was going to kill the search party anyway.]

“……!!”

TU-TU-TU-TU-TANG!!!

The bullets pouring out of the gunports began to rain down like a storm on the ruins where the search party was fleeing.

The barrage of ammunition poured out by a dozen airships at once spread like a black curtain in the sky, surging forward.

Immediately, they carved out a dense pattern of scars on the ground, like a honeycomb.

DU-DU-DU-DU-DU!!!

As the relentless barrage chased them, the search party members pulled their throttles and drew on their magic power.

“Wolfhild!!”

“I know!!”

Wolfhild, who had sprung to the front of the search party, closed her eyes and focused her mind.

[Kinesis: Anti-Barrel]

WHAM!!

Wolfhild, sweating profusely, stretched her hand upwards, and a transparent barrier spread above her head, deflecting the bullets.

Psychokinesis [the ability to move objects with the mind]. A technique that specialized in the bullet-blocking function among them.

It was the result of Wolfhild, a level 4 psychic, adjusting her psychic power with Geass [a power-enhancing ability] to maximize her capabilities.

Since this ability, which operates on pure mental power, is bound to work to the extreme in either direction, Wolfhild was one of the lucky cases.

While Wolfhild blocked the barrage at the front, the other members took out their respective weapons.

CLACK, CLACK!!

The members who had taken out bazookas from the bike’s cargo hold quickly finished loading and pulled the triggers.

“Eat this, you bastards!!”

KWA-AAANG!!

Two airships hit by the bazookas shook slightly in the air from the impact.

War weapons directly produced by Deadrise. There would be damage, but they wouldn’t fall from just this much of a counterattack.

“That’s enough.”

However, Lenok raised his hand towards the airships hit by the bazookas and nodded.

“I’ll take care of the rest.”

[Halo Flame]

WHOOSH!!

At that moment, the flames that had sprung up from the spots where the airships were hit began to rapidly increase in size.

It was as if someone was forcibly increasing their size and heat according to their will.

Soon, a cloud of fire engulfing the entire airship began to burn the airship fiercely.

[Emergency, emergency!]

The airship engulfed in flames lost its balance and staggered before falling rapidly in front of the search party.

KWA-AAANG!!

The door of the crashed airship shattered, and hundreds of soldiers jumped out and ran.

“WAAAAAA!!”

“For the corps!!”

They were all fully armed and seemed ready for hand-to-hand combat, forming ranks.

Considering that the airship’s crash was caused by Lenok’s intervention, their response speed was abnormally fast.

The search party members, facing the 3rd Corps’ assault unit that had finished preparing for battle in front of them, all drew their weapons.

“Shit, seriously!!”

“I told you not to trust the corps bastards!!”

“Enough, focus!!”

Uluric, who had drawn his sword, shouted while looking at Lenok’s back, which was left far away at the end of the wilderness.

“We’ll make a path while Evan-nim helps. Everyone, get ready!!”

KWAGWANG!!

The search party members on their bikes and the Deadrise soldiers clashed violently in various places.

In the midst of the fierce melee, blades and bullets flew, magic power exploded, and screams erupted.

Lenok, watching the search party that had instantly entered the battle, tilted the glass he was holding downwards.

SWISH!

Lenok scattered the remaining beer in a circle at his feet and flicked the ash from the cigar he was holding.

The cigar’s flame transferred to the alcohol, instantly igniting a fire at his feet.

[Vermillion Fruit Divine Wheel]

WHOOSH!!

The flames rotating at his feet burned even more fiercely, and a pillar of fire rose from Lenok’s center.

In the center of the pillar of fire, which shone red enough to illuminate the night sky, Lenok clasped his hands together and formed a hand seal.

“Summoning magic.”

[Fire-Breathing Steel Turtle]

KU-GU-GU-GU-GU!!!!

Arms and legs stretched out from the pillar of fire, and the pillar of fire bent and transformed into a huge carapace [a turtle’s shell].

A turtle’s head popped out from under the red-hot carapace, opening its mouth wide and letting out a heavy roar.

[UWOOOOOOOOOO!!!!]

A giant fire turtle the size of an airship suddenly appeared in the middle of the battlefield.

At that moment, the airships, feeling the threat, all turned their fire towards the turtle instead of the search party.

DU-DU-DU-DU-DU!!!

Numerous barrages and bombardments poured down on the hard carapace.

The turtle slowly blinked its eyes, and Lenok, standing under its belly, summoned his combustion gear and grabbed it.

[GWE-E-E-E-E-EK]

The Fire-Breathing Steel Turtle, opening its mouth wide, began to spew out dark red lava from its throat.

CHIIIIIIK!!

The lava flowing out of its mouth flowed out in all directions, surrounding the battlefield.

The wave of lava melted the airships that had crashed to the ground and instantly swept away the soldiers who were surrounding the search party.

“KAAAAAA!!”

“Hot, it’s hot…!!”

“HAAK!! HAA-AAK!!”

There was a clear difference in mobility between the search party members on their bikes and the soldiers running on foot.

As fast as the lava flowed on the ground, the battlefield became more advantageous for the search party, which had the upper hand in mobility.

The 3rd Corps soldiers also quickly spread out and tried to avoid the lava, but Lenok, who was now engulfed in flames, fell from the sky and crushed the soldiers.

CHIIIIIIK!!

Using the huge igniter in his hand as a flamethrower, he breathed out hot flames like a dragon’s breath.

He supplemented the lacking firepower by chanting flame magic in real-time and took the airships’ fire.

“Initiate unique magic.”

Flame-type unique magic

Property change catalyst correspondence

[Molten Rock Seal]

[Heavenly Collapse]

BBUH-UH-UH-UH-UH!!!

A huge fist of lava that had sprung up from the flowing lava slammed down and swung its arm horizontally.

The arm of the giant made of lava swept across the ground, and the bodies of the soldiers who couldn’t avoid it were submerged in the lava.

CHIIIIIIK!!

[WOOOOOOOOOO!!!]

As the fire turtle roared and twisted its body, its carapace cracked open, and flames shot up into the sky like fireworks.

The flames directly hit the backs of the airships that were constantly bombarding them.

They caused countless explosions, shaking and unbalancing even the airships that were still intact.

PUH-BUH-BUH-BUNG!!

On the ground, they overwhelmingly massacred the Deadrise ground forces, clearing a path.

The summoned beast set the stage and occupied the sky, the search party opened the way, and Lenok eliminated the enemy.

The moment the tide of the battle, which the corps had unilaterally started, was instantly reversed and began to change the balance.

[The records of the sacrificial rituals performed by the cult are a black box that our corps must recover.]

The man’s heavy voice echoed through the airship’s speaker.

[This is a fact confirmed under Ultima Alert’s approval, and it is the highest priority objective in this operation.]

“…A black box?”

[Now that you have rejected my offer, all that remains is to achieve the operation’s objective perfectly.]

WHOOOO….!!

From the airship floating above Lenok’s head, he could feel the explosive increase in something’s presence.

[I regret that things have come to this.]

“Evan-nim!!”

SQUEAK!!

Uluric, who had skillfully tilted his bike to a stop, pointed to the opposite side of the front line.

“I’ll make a path over there. We’ll move first, so…!!!”

“No. Keep moving!!”

Lenok shouted and manipulated some of the lava to create a curtain-like barrier.

[Convert to fixed flight mode. Ejection port open. Ammunition loading complete.]

A mechanical announcement echoed from the airship floating above the two of them.

[Lieutenant General Robert Roberaide is descending. Prepare for impact.]

“…!!!”

Immediately after Uluric, who had heard Lenok’s words, gritted his teeth and increased his bike’s speed again.

Something that had fallen from the bottom of the airship collided with the ground at tremendous speed.

KWA-AA-AA-AA-AAANG!!!

It instantly shattered the lava barrier that had been protecting their heads, crushed the ground, and scattered a powerful shockwave.

The shockwave that crossed the entire battlefield, where flames and lava were rising, spread out in all directions along the ground.

Even Lenok had to draw on his magic power for a moment to protect his body from the aftermath of the impact.

KU-GU-GU-GU!!!!

From under the crater where lava and airship debris were mixed, something wearing thick armor stood up.

CHIIIIIIK…!!

CLACK!!!

Each time it moved its body, intense steam leaked from the seams of the armor.

It was a bizarre sight, as if it was forcibly releasing heat to move because it couldn’t control the power that had built up inside the armor.

The huge figure, draped in steam emanating from its entire body, slowly walked out and spoke in a heavy voice.

“Even after the fall of Ars Nova [a city or organization], the gate search party has worked hard on their mission and fulfilled their duties.”

KOO-OONG!!

The ground shook and felt like it was cracking the moment it took a step.

A middle-aged man with a metal case on his shoulder that was even larger than his own body.

The figure, wearing armor much larger than his body, felt overwhelmingly dense, as if it would burst.

“It is regrettable that I have to kill such excellent soldiers. But the corps will carry on their will.”

The man, standing in front of the expressionless Lenok and the stiff search party members, opened his mouth with a face as hard as a rock.

“I, Robert Roberaide, the 3rd Corps Commander of Deadrise, swear it on my name.”