「…This is not going to work.」
The psychic biological entity murmured with a solemn resolve.
「Is there no way to call for Argyrion’s support?」
「That’s impossible. The attention of the Ten Towers is focused on this city. If we carelessly use space magic, we might get tracked immediately.」
Even if the spatial coordinates of Argyrion’s main base were discovered by the Ten Towers, it wasn’t a situation where they would be worrying about being attacked right away.
Argyrion’s abode was situated in an extra-dimensional middle ground, and simply reaching it required breaking through numerous defensive magic systems.
But they were dealing with the Ten Towers. If the spatial coordinates were uncovered, it wouldn’t take a month for them to launch a large-scale attack.
Nastion thought that perhaps it was time to abandon the psychic biological entity and retreat along with Algoth City. There seemed to be no solution in sight.
‘A union of the Divine Cult and Blasphemia.’
Who could have imagined such a situation?
Nastion wasn’t just idle, though. From careful observation and espionage, he realized that only Blasphemia was under Orthes’s control among the gathered members of Panoptes.
He momentarily held onto the hope that he could prevent the bizarre cooperation with the Divine Cult by leveraging the old grudge between Argos and Blasphemia.
But in the first place, what was the reason for the current vacancy of Amimone Tower?
It was because an investigator from Amimone Tower, Argos, had suspicions of collusion with Argyrion.
Now Argos had only the authority to ensure the smooth progress of the tower master selection, and he couldn’t utilize his investigative powers against the other dissidents in Algoth City.
Every surveillance mechanism established in the city was tracking the shadows of Nastion and the psychic biological entity. Even if they managed to evade the network of machines, the Holy Power of the Divine Cult still remained.
Nastion felt as if the city itself was hostile towards him.
To speak the truth, all the infrastructure in Algoth City was connected to Amimone Tower, and currently, the Mage Tower Core of Amimone Tower was being temporarily managed by the committee for the tower master selection.
Moreover, a majority of that committee was comprised of Blasphemia, who was playing in the palm of Orthes’s hand; thus, it was almost a straightforward fact that the city was opposing them.
As Nastion reflected on how things had come to this point, the psychic biological entity reiterated, ‘This isn’t going to work.’
「There’s no proper way to turn this situation around.」
The psychic biological entity calmly admitted their disadvantage. It realized that even the overwhelming numbers it thought it had with countless physical bodies were now reversed.
As long as Orthes could utilize Blasphemia and even Panoptes, the number of human resources Orthes could mobilize was nearly limitless.
If they were outmatched in both quantity and quality, victory was always impossible.
The discussion returned to square one.
How would they forge a fable?
「If this goes on, won’t the trap we prepared in Argyrion become useless?」
「Yes. Our collaborators could be captured before the final battle even begins.」
That was precisely what had occurred. The list of traitors they had spread to ensnare Hydra Corporation. No one knew what means Orthes had used, but he selectively captured only those truly marked as traitors.
Not every traitor’s name was written on the list, but Orthes captured and imprisoned other traitors who had connections with those listed.
At this point, Halto’s plan had already been half-crippled.
Who said that adversaries create traps instead of gold? Nastion couldn’t help but reminisce about the failures that the executives of Argyrion had frantically confessed about in the past.
At this juncture, perhaps he should recognize the failure and withdraw. Leaving Algoth City and completing the fable of the false god in Argyrion’s main base and setting the next trap might be wiser.
But the words of the adversary echoed. ‘If you miss once, you won’t meet again until that person reveals themselves.’
He couldn’t let such a dangerous being go free like this. They needed to inflict at least enough injuries to prevent any activities, at least for the time being.
As Nastion wrestled with his thoughts, the psychic biological entity unexpectedly proposed a plan.
「Just once. Just once, if we can approach without being seen by Blasphemia. Do you think it’s possible?」
「……」
It seemed absurd at first, but it was the only method.
*
“They’ve disappeared, senpai.”
This was Niobe’s response. I had drawn a montage of all the psychic biological entity’s spare physical forms I could remember, but it seems they were no longer visible in Algoth City.
“Strangely enough, we can’t track them.”
This was Demus’s reply. I rubbed my temples and asked.
“Can’t it be resolved with the Holy Power?”
“The Divine has no limits, but humans do. How can we use the Holy Power more accurately and over a wider range?”
“By using more Divine Power?”
“Correct. Right now, that person is probably somewhere so far away that even if the Hunter Priest used all of their Divine Power to extend the Holy Power’s range, they wouldn’t reach them. Or they might be hidden under the influence of a very powerful ability.”
“How powerful does it need to be?”
“Well, let’s say they threw themselves into an extra-dimensional space or went to the Ten Towers and hid under the shadow of the Ten Commandments?”
“Huh….”
Demus laid out several other scenarios that would complicate the search. If the amount of magic power of the psychic biological entity had significantly diminished, it would naturally become harder to find. There was even a laughing matter that, if they were already dead, the effect of the Holy Power would disappear as they would be declared a completed hunt.
But they couldn’t be dead. Life in this world hasn’t been easy since I fell here.
My neck felt stiff for no reason.
I wanted to see this through before running away. Amimone Tower might become Kine’s, but I couldn’t shake off the worries about future troubles.
“Well, it can’t be helped. I’ll ask you to search until the tower master selection is over.”
Demus, who had been nodding along, suddenly asked.
“What are you planning to do once you get your hands on the Apex Tower?”
“Hmm? This is a gift for Kine, isn’t it? It’s not something I can touch.”
An expression of doubt arose on Demus’s face. Did I not explain it?
True, this was a personal matter, so it wouldn’t be good for me to speak carelessly.
“Who came up with the plan to bring down Amimone Tower?”
“Me.”
“Did you personally bring it down?”
“I mentioned it, so I did.”
“…Why would someone else take it?”
“Haha. As I said, it’s a gift.”
*
After the arrival of the Divine Cult, Carisia minimized contact with them. Orthes had advised her, ‘It’s better to keep a distance.’
Therefore, what the Divine Cult had gathered about Carisia was merely a collection of very superficial impressions. A magician of exceptional skill. The paper boss of Hydra Corporation. An adult who took care of Kine.
Members of the Divine Cult, including Demus, speculated that there must be a common aspect between Orthes not directly ruling Hydra Corporation and Kine receiving Amimone Tower.
Because Orthes held the identity of a Blasphemia agent, he must have set up Kine and Carisia as nominal supreme authorities to avoid unnecessary attention. In other words, the two of them were the commanders of the power that Orthes wielded.
Demus didn’t agree with such views, but he couldn’t overturn the mainstream opinions put forth by Glaucus’s priests, who were considered the wisest among the Divine Cult.
Demus didn’t feel any desire for power from Orthes. If he were to make an analogy, he seemed like an employee dealing with everyday tasks that came his way. He had been keeping his mouth shut lately since every time he brought up such matters, whether they were the Saint faction or the Pope faction, they would reprimand him.
The fact that Demus had quietly slipped out during the meetings held by the Divine Cult priests dispatched to Algoth City every night was due to this reason. They spent a long time discussing whether Orthes was plotting something, and Demus had nothing to contribute to that topic.
As Demus wandered the yard of the building completely borrowed by Hydra Corporation, a few figures approached in the distance.
One was familiar. A slightly vague-eyed man who looked rather unremarkable.
The other was not familiar, but had an easy-to-recognize appearance. The long, flowing white hair was quite uncommon.
It seemed that Orthes had come out to meet Carisia, who was summoned by Blasphemia again today. Although it was performed formally, it was still an interrogation. A certain weariness was evident on Carisia’s face.
Just as Demus was about to turn his head away, Carisia’s golden eyes locked onto him.
At that moment, Demus felt a sensation like ice needles coursing through his veins. A chill rising from within, a crushing pain in his chest.
Resignation in the face of an unavoidable fate, felt only when death is near.
The Divine Power saturating his physical body screamed out, crying out against an invader that could not coexist.
He had felt this kind of sensation only once before.
It resembled the despair he felt before the Ten Commandments.
