The warning that the Ten Towers have arrived sent my mind into a haze.
No. The bitter emptiness that filled my insides vanished in an instant, so in a way, I can say I feel refreshed.
There’s no time to dawdle in sentimentality. I gripped my High-Frequency Blade.
My survival instincts rang alarms at the catastrophic disaster coming down like thunder. Let’s get a grip on the situation.
‘Arghyrion and the Ten Towers have come?’
Why is that guy here too?
The only one who could stir up such a high-level ruckus to bring both of them here would be me.
I hope a new troublemaking rival hasn’t suddenly appeared to succeed me. If such a classy competitor exists, my future plans will get messy.
I sort through my convoluted thoughts.
First, let’s assume, based on Pluton’s priest’s reasoning, that Ardoosiam’s core did something to trigger the emergence of both Arghyrion and the Ten Towers.
If the Mage King’s golem sent a distress signal, it most likely targeted the Ten Towers.
That assumes this golem is unaware of its creator’s betrayal.
So, the Ten Towers intervened first, and Arghyrion came later?
How did Arghyrion detect this rare instance of their elder heading out? They must have sensed the unusual emergency through some piece of intel and hurriedly dispatched troops to derail the Ten Towers’ actions.
‘This seems like the scenario…’
In that case, Arghyrion knows about the Ten Towers, but the Ten Towers are unaware of Arghyrion’s presence.
If I can make them recognize each other’s existence before the Divine Cult does, I might be able to slip out of here safely.
To execute this plan, I first need to accurately locate where both entities are.
In other words, it means I need to use my eyes again. Not just partially like when I was gathering relics, but in full bloom.
It seems I have a lot of eye work to do today. I feel like I’m developing dry eye syndrome. Should I have brought some eye drops?
I opened my eyes.
*
Kore’s senses unusually expanded. Just as a person tastes with their tongue and sees with their eyes, it felt as though the entire temple became a sixth sensory organ.
The sounds of the cult members chattering. The sight of intruders draped in shadow magic. I could feel the air disturbed by drones moving stealthily in the darkness.
Ah—
Kore adjusted her voice. Currently, no one inside the Great Temple could hear her. This was because her voice emanated from a more fundamental level rather than a physical one.
It was a matter of reception. There were many avenues for communication in this world: physical vocalization, mental telepathy, or even soul to soul conversations.
Even within the same category, there are various layers of channels. For example, sounds that humans can hear and those that are ultrasonic.
Kore held the capacity to transmit her voice through all those channels internally, but whether others could hear it was another matter.
The current voice was transmitted through a channel that only Kore, who resonated with the temple’s representation, could hear. Kore searched for other channels. The spiritual channels established among those with divine power.
Then suddenly, she felt something strange.
Orthes was gazing up at the air.
As if he had just heard her voice.
His cold eyes were no longer confined beneath his eyelids. That icy, razor-like gaze fixed on the void before turning to dash off somewhere.
‘What on earth is this…?’
With doubts creeping in, Kore connected with each cult member, when unexpectedly, a distinctly foreign voice came through.
“Can you hear me?”
It was Orthes’ voice. However, Orthes was still running. There was no one around to talk to.
“I hope you believe me when I say I can hear you, Priest of Pluton.”
A voice unshaken despite moving. As Kore’s vision wavered, Orthes continued with his update.
“I will draw the attention of those two forces. You just hide the other members of the cult as best as you can.”
This reaction was too bizarre for someone who had just said, ‘It’s a big problem if we get revealed to the Ten Towers.’
“Right now, the aftershocks of the space magic used by Arghyrion and the Ten Towers are still lingering. Even if we try to move using the Sigil of Proditor, there’s a high chance we’ll get swept into the extra-dimensional space. Retreat only after enough time has passed once their collision happens.”
What the heck are you planning?
“Oh, I’m sorry, but whatever you say, I can’t hear it.”
What a blatant disregard.
Kore tried to find a channel to connect with Orthes, but she couldn’t find it at all. It was nearly impossible to guess which channel was compatible with the peculiar otherness residing in him.
If she were to send out through all channels within the temple simultaneously, it would reach Orthes, but that would also alert the Ten Towers and Arghyrion.
Kore steeled herself, suppressing her doubts and indignation, to prepare the instructions she would give to the cult members.
The paths that could connect all while circumventing the movements of the drones extended by the Ten Towers and the gazes of the intruders from Arghyrion.
*
Orthes looked up at the ceiling once again. It wasn’t a particularly meaningful action. His visual field had exceeded the physical limits of the retina.
It was a kind of habit. A myriad of extraordinary ability fields moved in complex trajectories.
He could see the peculiar high-ranking mage signature magic fields embedded within the alien extra-dimensional field of Arghyrion and the small flying devices scattered by the Ten Towers.
The cult members were moving in an orderly fashion, as if they had received some kind of revelation.
They weren’t just moving—they were set up to ambush, preparing to annihilate the enemy in an advantageous position.
‘Indeed. With such strange explanations suddenly added to the Great Temple, I figured something was up.’
Wide-eyed, as he approached the Ten Towers, Orthes sensed an odd explanation had been appended to the temple that was not related to its material, creator, or the holy power granted to it.
Despite looking slightly broken in form, piecing together the recognizable letters, he could read ‘The eyes, ears, and mouth of the Apostle.’
He deduced that the reason for such an explanation must lie within the relic he passed to Pluton’s priest and refined his mental plan.
‘At any rate, my face is public property. Well-used and easily forgotten. It wouldn’t make a difference if I sold it a couple more times now.’
He knew that even with a magic-operated camera, it wouldn’t capture his face properly. He had no doubt that even if the combatants from Arghyrion had some kind of bodycam, they wouldn’t be able to fully capture his face.
‘Then the issue is that Arghyrion might learn that an old foe is still alive.’
Orthes weighed the risks and returns. Since Arghyrion’s leadership had attempted to kill him and Carisia, they had been thrown adrift in the extra-dimensional space, so they must already harbor some suspicion that the enemy they were chasing might still be alive.
Surely, there was no chance that Arghyrion and Blasphemia would share information.
Inside Blasphemia’s ranks, they likely reckon that the targets of the Golden Desert Operation have already been dealt with. I’ve prepared the circumstances so that it will seem that way. The elder dispatched from the Ten Towers has no interest in the affairs of the underlings, and even if they were aware of the Golden Desert Operation, they wouldn’t know that I’m still alive.
Summarizing: Arghyrion’s suspicion may turn into certainty, but my survival will remain a secret to Blasphemia and the Ten Towers.
‘It’s fine to reveal my face.’
Unless it’s Carisia, closely associated with the White Light, or a nation devoid of magic, the elder of the Ten Towers wouldn’t need to bother with me. Orthes resolved to unleash his old expertise from the days when he was chased by Blasphemia.
*
Talo began to move his drones more actively.
The remaining three fingers of his left arm, apart from the first installer, quietly slithered as they searched for the next installer.
‘Hmm, has Arghyrion just now started excavating?’
However, the ruins were unexpectedly quiet. Only Arghyrion members could be seen entering from different directions, but no ancient artifacts or their excavators were sending signals from inside the ruins.
‘It seems the barrier of the ruins has been violated, and they sent a signal. Thankfully, the areas contaminated by the Eroders’ magic don’t seem to be too extensive.’
He could witness the awe of the Mage King’s astounding technique preserved in its purest form. Talo’s alloy skeleton trembled with a smile.
He shifted his gaze from the drones to the Arghyrion drones being equipped.
Originally, one needed to seize the physical body before reading memories from the brain, but it was difficult to read the memories of the Eroder whose brain had been altered due to the influence of extra dimensions.
Moreover, since he had already ripped apart the brain, it was an almost impossible task. He had been controlling the Eroder’s body using liquefied spirit metal as a sort of artificial brain, but the nervous system structure differed from that of a human, leading to constant mismatches.
Noticing his comrade’s odd behavior, another Arghyrion agent asked,
“What’s wrong? Did you sense a trace of a curse?”
“Nothing’s wrong.”
Uh-oh. My voice cracked.
The suspicious Arghyrion agent concentrated magical power in his hand. Talo grinned as he controlled the liquid metal.
Pssht—with a sound like air rushing out, the body of the agent with the left arm now installed exploded. From his torn body, liquid metal gushed out instead of bodily fluids.
“What?!”
The liquefied metal adhered to Arghyrion’s entire body, transforming it into a serrated form. The tens of thousands of spirit nanomachines sprang into action, beginning to grind the bodies of the victims.
Gakakakakakak!
The liquefied metal swiftly crushed the magic fields and armor, annihilating the flesh. The ones who screamed were among the luckier ones. Those who faced the liquefied metal with their faces lost their vocal cords first, disappearing without a sound.
The screams echoed through the Great Temple. Unfortunately, stealthy tracking had come to an end.
From now on, it was hunting time.
All the liquefied metal stored in the other three drones was unleashed. It appeared to be merely a transparent liquid, around several dozen liters.
Talo issued a command: take down everything with magic.
He turned his attention away from the drone that had received the command and began to prepare his magic.
No matter how Arghyrion resisted, he would effectively use the secret arts of the Grand Mage to take them down.
*
Kore witnessed the ghastly sight of water devouring a person. The liquid army advanced with a sloshing sound.
One of its streams aimed straight for Orthes, who tried to rise from the ground. Before Kore could warn him, the water brushed past Orthes’s ankle.
And nothing happened.
“…?”
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