Ortes opened the box and repeatedly turned the power of Adoosiam off and on.
If a signal was caught once, it could be claimed as a malfunction or coincidence, but if it’s caught multiple times, such excuses are impossible.
‘This should be enough to be caught.’
Blasphemia’s eavesdropping radar, set up for evidence collection, was likely everywhere, so they must have certainly detected the waves emitting from Adoosiam.
With a triumphant smile, Ortes exited the Amimone Tower.
What Ortes overlooked here was the situation inside the Amimone Tower, specifically the situation of the Argyrion traitors trapped within.
The public denunciation of the Amimone Tower spread widely across the magical society via the Ether Space. Since it was a public denunciation, it was something that couldn’t be hidden in the first place.
Thus, it was only natural that Argyrion would ascertain that the dispatched members of the Amimone Tower were facing threats to their safety.
Argyrion had not acted directly because of a previously agreed plan with the co-conspirators. If it were truly a dangerous situation, they would send a distress signal.
That ‘dangerous situation’ did not include death. The traitors were fully sympathetic to the ‘Divine’ that Argyrion spoke of. They were even willing to swear an oath that they would not leak information about the Divine, even if it meant death.
But there were times when one must not die. Just like the situation where a mage from the Dark Tower specializing in Necromancy was ready to collect souls for interrogation.
If souls fell into the hands of the Dark Tower, they would dissect them and tear apart every thread of magic that composed their spirits to extract secrets.
At exactly such a time, the traitors had agreed to send a distress signal.
There were also other situations under which they agreed to issue a distress signal. For instance, if they obtained a powerful artifact but were being pursued by the Ten Towers, if they didn’t flee immediately, they could face being turned against.
However, the major premise that ‘if they don’t escape this spot immediately, Argyrion will face great damage’ was the same.
The leakage of a distress signal indicating such an emergency was a huge risk. Due to the incident at the Pluton Great Temple, Argyrion had assumed that the Ten Towers could imitate their distress signals by whatever means—though that was far from the truth—and they were in the process of developing a new distress signal with a different wavelength than before.
Had it been completed, they would have gradually approached those already recruited and provided them with information about the new signal, distinct from the old spherical one.
…That was if it had been completed. Argyrion was running out of time.
In fact, even if it were completed at this point, there was still a significant problem remaining.
It had not even been a month since the elder of the Ten Towers was killed at the Pluton Great Temple. The alert status of the Ten Towers had already reached a peak, making it difficult to make additional contact with the traitors in the Amimone Tower.
Argyrion had no leeway to contact the spies they had recruited.
Therefore, the distress signal sent by Ortes was akin to a storm of chaos.
*
“How should we judge this?”
One of Argyrion’s leadership, an elder who had participated in the Golden Desert Operation, spoke up. Discussion around the distress signal sent from the Amimone Tower had been ongoing for over an hour.
“We must be cautious. We already know that the Ten Towers could mimic our signals from that black cliff.”
“But the comrades from the Amimone Tower do not know that. The pattern of a distress signal that a real comrade could send is still just this one.”
“What if it’s another trap? Killing the elder was certainly a feat, but the annihilation of the entire dispatched unit would be a tragedy!”
The debate among the leadership continued. There were those insisting on opening the door immediately to dispatch a unit, and others warning that this might also be a trap set by the Ten Towers, each argument valid.
If discussions among the higher-ups did not reach a conclusion, there was only one person who could make a decision.
Voices slowly subsided, and the gazes of the officials began to converge. The table where Argyrion’s leadership deliberated was a round table symbolizing equality, but there was one person who had received the blessings of the Divine profoundly.
Everyone looked at Halto. He had been in the highest position since the Blasphemia days and was the undisputed representative of Argyrion, having received the most favor from the Divine.
Halto exhaled deeply.
“This matter….”
His deep gaze swept the round table. All of Argyrion’s officials, even Nastion, who always hid in the shadows concealing his emotions, awaited Halto’s decision.
“It is undoubtedly the doing of our great foe.”
“‥‥‥?”
Everyone in Argyrion knew who the great foe Halto spoke of was. Though their memories of the mundane had somewhat faded under the blessings of the Divine, they couldn’t help but remember the foe who had established and executed the Golden Desert Operation.
Even if the details of their appearance might have been distorted in the blessings of the extra-dimensional, it was impossible to forget the object of their hatred that had made them endure such hardship during the Blasphemia days.
But why was that name popping up here now?
“Earlier, the Divine foretold that the great foe would become our biggest hindrance. The current situation is now a dilemma that Argyrion has never faced before. I feel a shadow of the great foe behind this incident.”
Nastion in the shadows mulled over Halto’s words.
It was incomprehensible.
‘Because it is terribly difficult to make a decision, it surely must be the work of the great foe? Has Halto already lost his composure?’
Unlike the rationally thinking Nastion, other officials were agreeing with Halto’s words.
“Indeed! This dilemma! It must be the great foe’s long game!”
“Certainly. Creating a situation where no matter which option we choose, we will suffer harm, while he himself slips away and toys with us… That damned bastard’s pattern is identical!”
Nastion could feel the inexplicable consensus spreading among the officials. Halto nodded as if he had expected this.
“We have never achieved a proper success against the great foe besides the Golden Desert Operation. No matter how tightly we prepare our encirclement, if there’s once a gap, he slips away. Only in the unprecedented Golden Desert Operation could we finally face him properly.”
“Then?”
“To counter his trap, it must mean that we need to respond with a larger trap.”
Halto snapped his fingers.
The locations of the Silver Thread Hosts scattered across Algoth City manifested in holograms.
“If we can trace the great foe’s tracks even at the cost of exhausting all of them, then that is our victory.”
“Wait…!”
Nastion attempted to interject that this was simply a wasteful action. However, his voice was drowned out by the enthusiastic applause of the other officials.
In the shadows, Nastion lamented.
‘To think the leader of Argyrion would already lose his decision-making ability. Was he truly not enough to be a vessel for the Divine…!’
*
Ortes immediately returned to his lodging. It was a place provided by Blasphemia, meaning Ortes hadn’t spent a single penny of his own.
‘Not the most luxurious to avoid drawing attention, but still a decent enough place.’
As expected, Niobe would soon rush in. They likely detected traces of communication with Argyrion through Blasphemia’s surveillance equipment.
That way, he would gain a legitimate reason to enter the Amimone Tower.
No matter how much Ortes mobilized his abilities, it would still require considerable effort and luck to enter the Tower Master’s personal space.
But with this legitimate reason to rummage through the tower, Ortes could confidently step towards the place where the ancient relics were visible with his eyes slightly open.
‘With this, Hydra Corp’s purpose will be achieved.’
In addition to giving the Amimone Tower to Knemon, Ortes also had to find the hidden ancient relic of the Amimone Tower.
Should he find the ancient relic, he could use it as leverage to further entangle the Amimone Tower, achieving a truly twofold success.
Imagining Niobe appearing soon, and along with the Blasphemia agents surveilling the Amimone Tower, Ortes smiled.
Knock knock knock. The sound of a hasty knock came at the door.
“Senpai!”
As expected. Ortes opened the door leisurely.
“What’s the matter at this hour? Did some evidence come out?”
Of course, it would have. It would likely be something like, ‘We need to enter the Amimone Tower right now!’
“It’s not that! Look outside!”
‘Huh?’
Something was wrong. Ortes was dragged outside by Niobe.
Niobe pointed to the sky. Ortes’ eyelids twitched, his eyes widened.
‘Why is that?!’
A black vortex was swirling in the air. Within the center of the vortex, colorful waves of magic light flared.
“Extra-dimensional storm….”
A premonition of an extra-dimensional flood. A catastrophic disaster he had grown weary of seeing in his days as a Troubleshooter.
That storm was precisely swirling above the Amimone Tower.
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