Demus was confused by the unexpected word. Had the Blasphemia crew discovered the existence of the Divine Cult?
No. They would have known vaguely that there was an organization with a position akin to ‘representative of various cults,’ including the Pope.
However, knowing it exists and knowing its specific name are two vastly different things.
The existence of the Divine Cult was the greatest secret among the People of the God. Even those formally ordained could not know that name unless they were assured of reliability.
But how did that guy know?
‘That’s not the only problem…’
He clearly said he possesses the Relic of Phoibos. How could a Blasphemia member have a relic, and why on earth did that relic choose him?
In the chaos, Orthes opened his mouth.
“It’s unilateral.”
“Hmph, you’re just making guesses clumsily. I can’t trust you unless you show the relic directly.”
“That’s a simple task. Right now—”
Suddenly, Orthes’ movements stopped. Was it a deception for an ambush?
However, it seemed strange for an ambush. Several seconds had already passed without any attack incoming. Demus glared at Orthes with his fists raised.
Thud.
Ah.
I gave that to Carisia.
I wasn’t flustered. I was usual with this sort of improvisation. So…
“Oh dear. I’ve just gotten the inspiration that I shouldn’t show the relic to you.”
“Are you playing prophet? Hah. Anyway, whether it’s my unilateral decision or not, the probability is one in two. Even if you guess right—”
“If you were the consensus of the Divine Cult, you would have done your best to win. You are the priest of the war god Enyalius. But isn’t there another war god?”
The priest fell silent. In the original story, the tales of gods weren’t dealt with very carefully. But I had knowledge accumulated from raiding the Blasphemia sector.
According to Blasphemia’s investigation, the divinity known as the war god usually had two facets. One represented the most primal aspect of war, symbolizing violence, Enyalius. The other symbolized the wisdom of advanced warfare, like tactics, Glaucus.
If the Divine Cult truly desired victory, they would have dispatched both forces ruling war—the tactician Glaucus and the violence Enyalius.
“But I don’t see the priest of Glaucus. Are you considering listening to me now?”
Thud.
Demus felt his head becoming increasingly more chaotic. Just the outside knowing the name of the Divine Cult would be a shocking event.
Moreover, to penetrate that cult’s patterns of behavior?
‘Is that really foresight from the Relic of Phoibos? But the chosen one of the relic is Blasphemia, right?’
“I am called by many names.”
That guy, still smiling, muttered.
“I’m called many names, but here, it would be best to introduce myself as ‘the enemy of the Ten Towers.’”
“Blasphemia as the enemy of the Ten Towers? What a ridiculous boast!”
“Yes, I’m also called Blasphemia. But that is not my real name.”
His serpent-like ominous eyes sparkled and nodded. Was it a signal for an ambush?
No. Apart from himself, that man, and the hostage girl, there was no one else around.
At that moment, the hostage girl slowly raised her left index finger. At the tip, a violet power was condensed. The scent of grapes brushed past Demus’s nose.
“Of Bacchus…!”
“That’s enough. If you do more, the Ten Towers might catch on.”
The grape-like fragrance flowing from the hostage girl’s finger dispersed. So…
“This little girl is a priest of Bacchus?”
‘I heard the Bacchus cult disappeared not long ago. Wasn’t she kidnapped by Blasphemia?!’
Demus looked back at the man’s face. The enigmatic eyelids, half closed yet seeming to see far. Was it the strange tendency of a prophet who sees both the future and the present?
“…No. I’ve seen the leader of the Phoibos cult before. Someone like you wasn’t there.”
“The priests of Phoibos see different futures. If the future seen by the leader differs from their own, which one they believe in is up to the priests’ hearts.”
“Who the hell are you?”
“For now, just call me the enemy of the Ten Towers, like you.”
Having seen the cooperative relationship directly with the girl wielding Bacchus’s divine power, he couldn’t outright deny that statement. Demus speculated on the man’s identity based on the revealed clues.
The enemy of the Ten Towers, and furthermore.
‘The prophet of Phoibos…!’
Taking a deep breath, he calmed himself and spoke as calmly as possible.
“I will ask one last thing. Why does someone called the enemy of the Ten Towers act under the guise of Blasphemia?”
“Who are the ones that most suppress and kill the cult?”
“Of course, it’s Blasphemia.”
“If I were to roam around warning the cult of the future with this body, there would be other cults that couldn’t escape. But what if I provided misinformation within Blasphemia and cleverly controlled their actions?”
Then they could gather more numbers. Understanding this, Demus frowned but nodded.
“Your words… hold some water.”
“Then let’s get to the main point.”
Clap. The prophet of Phoibos clapped his hands together.
Whoo. Success!
I was a million times glad I had texted Kine to follow. You must always prepare for a Plan B!
“Oh, please return that child. You know she’s not an enemy.”
“I am different from Blasphemia. I might have said that, but I have no hobby in killing children.”
The priest of Enyalius grumbled but let Kine go.
“I will tell you your biggest question first. Where have the kidnapped believers gone?”
I pointed at the ruins.
“That’s your answer.”
“What?”
“If you infiltrated during the chaos of Elysion, then you would have heard the statement from the eroders who called themselves ‘Argyrion.’”
“Yes. But what does that have to do with us? The proficiency in tracking our cult’s hideout was Blasphemia’s.”
“The top brass of Argyrion comprised of Blasphemia agents turned eroders.”
The priest’s face hardened. He probably considered Argyrion as merely the enemy of the enemy. They could use it, being aware of no immediate trust in each other due to the shared opponent.
However, if they were originally Blasphemia, then compromise was impossible. It would merely mean adding another enemy.
I could roughly guess the process of how the cult members had disappeared.
Previously, Carisia had theorized that the silver threads injected into Sikton were for a ‘rehearsal for the Elysion terror.’
Then why did Argyrion choose the vanished God’s cult as their testing ground?
The reason was simple.
Because it was a group that wouldn’t raise suspicion even if they were kidnapped and killed right away.
If Argyrion had abducted people from some city, they would inevitably draw attention. Once the mage towers assigned to each region started tracking, it would become difficult for Argyrion to respond.
On the other hand, the disappeared God’s cult?
Capturing and killing them was Blasphemia’s job. If a few followers of superstition disappeared, they would rejoice rather than invite suspicion.
The group with the least risk of involvement in kidnapping.
Just like they tried the silver threads on Sikton, it was only natural to choose the cult’s believers as the first hosts to explode when infiltrating Elysion.
I summarized this reasoning as briefly as possible.
“Argyrion is a group of eroders holding the know-how and information from Blasphemia. The hosts for this silver thread terror were the cult believers, which were the most easily secured group.”
The priest’s previously flushed face turned pale.
“What about the kidnapped people?!”
“The terror has already begun. Most are likely consumed.”
Thud. The priest crumpled down, his strength leaving his legs.
“Ugh, Aaaaaaaah!”
The priest’s wail echoed. It was heartbreaking to rush someone who was suffering this much, but there was no time to waste.
“Listen carefully. I will tell you what you need to do moving forward.”
“My sister! My sister!”
“If you keep wallowing in despair, the only future left is to continue losing people.”
Thud.
Demus lifted his head. Orthes was looking at him against the sunlight.
The deity of Phoibos flashed in his mind. The far-seeing Phoibos, the one resting the highest, was also the sun god.
With the sunlight hiding his face, only his blue eyes shone through the shadows. In the midst of backlight, the prophet of Phoibos spoke.
“Argyrion will become your enemy. The wicked research to open extra-dimensional doors annihilated the Bacchus cult, and this child was the only life I could save.”
“It’s a danger that falls upon all cults aligned with the Divine Cult. So, priest of Enyalius, do not kneel to despair. Rise. Do not cover your eyes with that hand; instead, clench your fists.”
With gritted teeth, Demus stumbled and rose.
“What must I do?”
“I know what Argyrion will do in the future. Convey this to the Divine Cult.”
Thud.
Argyrion plans to use this terror to buy time to hide their base. Therefore, all hosts must not be captured here.
Fortunately, there is a magical engine train station in Elysion connecting to various regions of the world.
“At the end of this terror, they will declare that they have spread the host across the world.”
“How? Right now, Blasphemia agents are on the move, tracking the eroders all around Elysion. You should know their capabilities better since you’ve infiltrated!”
“The magical engine train. Before the terror announcement, they’ve likely already mixed in hosts among the passengers. If I say this, the Ten Towers will have no choice but to allocate resources to track the hosts. Argyrion will gain time to strategize.”
“….!”
“If there’s one advantage the terrorists have over the Ten Towers, it’s the ability to choose the timing of their attacks. Before the terror even begins, their real objective has already been accomplished, and they merely added more terror for a shocking display.”
This was the conclusion I drew after pondering why they were conducting such large-scale terror.
The Argyrion executives dispatched to Elysion were effectively here as a sacrificial group, and their real purpose was to facilitate the flashy debut of puppets to obscure the Ten Towers’ tracking.
“The Divine Cult can be a variable in the battle between the two. You could add weight to discovering Argyrion’s base, or sacrifice believers to bolster Argyrion’s strength and create a conflict with the Ten Towers.”
“Sacrifice believers! Do you think I could allow such a thing?”
“While you may not allow it, what of the will of the Divine Cult?”
The priest of Enyalius remained silent.
It’s going well. I quickly scribbled a mail address on a piece of paper and handed it to the priest.
“If the consensus of the Divine Cult gathers towards the destruction of Argyrion, please let me know. This mail address is that of Blasphemia agent L13. It’s one of the names you can call me.”
Thud.
As the priest of Enyalius received the note handed over by Orthes and left, Kine asked with a trembling voice.
“W-Wait. Are you really the prophet of Phoibos?”
Having foreseen the demise of the Bacchus cult and hurried here, it seemed like I recited the actions of the monstrous organization called Argyrion.
From the moment I brought myself to persuade the priest of Enyalius to now, everything moved according to Orthes’s plan.
An almost horrifying accuracy of foreknowledge. Could the leader of the Phoibos cult do even that?
Hearing Kine’s question, Orthes rubbed his temples.
“Kine.”
“…Yes?”
“If you remain that naive, you’ll be fooled by the wicked adults in society later. Let’s go see the boss.”
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