“…I haven’t seen the power of the Ten Towers.”
Kine murmured quietly as she stepped out of the appraisal meeting room.
Well, that makes sense. The reason Carisia brought Kine to Elysion was to see if she was genuinely willing to cooperate with Hydra Corporation to confront the Ten Towers.
Is it possible to have a grudge against them without being daunted by the immense power of the Ten Towers?
However, the Ten Towers did not take action in this terrorism. While Blasphemia could also be considered a force of the Ten Towers, Kine had yet to witness the moment they wielded the true mysteries they possessed.
I nodded.
“That’s certainly true. I thought the Ten Towers would swiftly crush the attack from Argyrion, but surprisingly, a confrontation with Blasphemia was established instead.”
“From the Ten Towers’ perspective, do they think they don’t need to intervene? Perhaps they believe that just Blasphemia is sufficient?”
I had no way of knowing the thoughts of the Ten Towers’ leadership.
The moment we arrived at the Magic Engine Train station, static noise crackled again, and the loudspeaker activated.
It wasn’t like before, where Argyrion was broadcasting pirate signals by seizing the lines.
“Ladies and gentlemen of Elysion, please be cautious. Extra-dimensional infections spread by terrorist groups are still lurking throughout Elysion.”
“Special personnel have been dispatched to deal with the infections, so please refrain from approaching if you spot one and contact the Elysion Safety Disaster Department.”
“It appears the infections have been released in areas with a large flow of people, including social infrastructure—”
Kine visibly tensed. The Magic Engine Train station was indeed a prime spot for the Silver Thread Hosts to lie in wait.
“Don’t worry, Miss Kine. We have the boss with us, don’t we?”
“Orthes, are you planning to push the work onto the boss?”
Carisia took my words as a joke. But I wasn’t joking. Honestly, I doubted whether Kine could take a single injury from however many Silver Thread Hosts attacked.
“No, that’s not it. Something feels ominous…”
I saw a group approaching in the distance, wearing visors. I could sense the magic power of Darkness swirling around them.
Carisia quickly identified their identities.
“They’re the undead soldiers from the Dark Magic Tower. Considering it, it seemed likely that either them or the Silver Iron Tower would take action.”
*
Even after the situation had concluded with Argyrion’s self-detonation, the Ten Towers didn’t take their eyes off Elysion.
It was because they inferred that there couldn’t possibly be just one terrorist sent by Argyrion. If the main culprit was killed before the objective was achieved, it would mean a waste of resources for Argyrion.
Even if the main culprit were to be killed early, the Ten Towers initiated additional search operations under the judgment that there had to be at least one reserve person to continue the plan.
Of course, that reserve person was long gone, having been brain-fried by Carisia’s magic, but the Ten Towers had yet to receive any information on those who had attacked the appraisal meeting room.
As for the search party’s personnel composition, the Silver Iron Tower and the Dark Magic Tower were at odds. The Silver Threads that were produced from being infected by a mage became a power source for mass production.
To minimize the damage caused by Silver Thread infection, it was agreed that the automaton of Silver Iron or the undead of Dark Magic would be the best fit. Those could be destroyed and still be reproduced.
“Don’t you see the Silver Threads and think otherwise? The automaton from the same metal class doesn’t seem well-suited against them. Sending forth the undead is the least variable countermeasure.”
“On the contrary, it could be tested since they belong to the same category. Perhaps the Silver Iron could control those Silver Threads through sorcery.”
It was undoubtedly true that both sides felt a sense of greed towards the extra-dimensional artifacts.
By principle, the entire Ten Towers should jointly seal and monitor those artifacts.
However, the Ten Towers know. Everyone backstage is researching the extra-dimensional realm for hints of ascension.
This time, only the two towers most suitable to combat the Silver Threads openly displayed their greed, but depending on Argyrion’s secrets, the entire Ten Towers could shift their gaze.
The two towers that weren’t willing to give up their new clues dispatched their forces while agreeing not to interfere with each other.
The automaton and undead forces, strong in Elysion, scattered according to their masters’ orders. Under the pretext of eradicating the remaining Silver Thread Hosts, a paranoid search operation commenced.
It was purely by chance that Kine faced the undead of Dark Magic rather than the automaton of Silver Iron.
*
Kine felt a familiar power emanating from the undead. Alongside that, confusion engulfed her.
This power could not exist within the sacred magic realm of Elysion.
Divine Power. The power of those who believe in the divine.
The undead battalion slowly dismantling the Silver Thread Hosts was very different from the usual image of skeleton soldiers one would think of.
A behemoth covered in black reinforced synthetic muscles. The dull metal helmet veiled the face, preventing any vision beyond the visor. The metallic plates worn over the heart hinted at the undead cores embedded inside.
As Kine sensed Divine Power from the undead, Orthes whispered to her.
“Don’t be too tense. It breeds suspicion.”
“How…!”
“The undead treated in the Dark Magic Tower are different from traditional undead. The wizards who become liches often store their souls in relics to achieve a state of immortality, right? They’ve merely refined that method.”
They reanimate the souls of those they have killed in mana stones, creating a sort of artificial relic. They then produce the synthetic bodies that are to be fitted with those cores.
Their skeletons are made from a reinforced alloy, and their muscles consist of special fibers imbued with top-tier enhancement magic inscribed upon Blasphemia. Thus, the durability of the undead battalion from the Dark Magic Tower is on a different scale compared to ordinary undead.
It’s the crystallization of the capital that can only be realized thanks to the Ten Towers.
The sight of embedding souls into artificial bodies is akin to planting seeds, hence they are referred to as Sparti (Σπαρτοί), meaning “those sown.”
These special undead, steadily refined across the course of history by the Dark Magic Tower, can utilize the power of the souls while ensuring absolute safety by disengaging the connection between the mana stones and the bodies the moment the souls revolt.
“There’s one issue with this method. If you make a regular soul into a vessel, it’s just a sturdy undead. To match the cost-performance of Sparti, it would require those who can accumulate power within their souls, in other words, mages or…”
Orthes deliberately trailed off. That much was sufficient for Kine to comprehend.
Mages or the souls of priests.
Kine began calculating the number of Sparti that might have descended upon Elysion. At a glance, it appeared to exceed hundreds, and it might even approach a thousand.
The number of believers simply existing in faith might be tens of thousands, perhaps even surpassing a hundred thousand.
However, how many priests, who could exhibit divine power by accumulating the divine within their souls?
Even if the entire cult gathered their priests, it remained doubtful whether they could amass even ten.
Kine was stunned and asked, “How could there be so many?”
Orthes gestured. Carisia deployed a soundproof barrier. Moving slowly out of the sight of the mages controlling the Sparti, Orthes murmured.
“Oh, it’s a simple story, Miss Kine.”
Those who originally ruled this world were the priests. One could even say they corresponded to the present-day mages in both status and number.
“Where did all that priestly class go?”
The mana stones embedded in the Sparti were evidence of massacres stacked over thousands of years.
“Well, they wouldn’t really stick the souls that had endured for over a millennium into such mass-produced weapons. Souls that survived with no wear for that long are precious. Considering the compatibility of mana stones from different eras, perhaps about one or two centuries?”
“…Is it really that easy to dominate an enemy’s soul?”
“The wills and capabilities of a soul’s resistance should be viewed separately. The artificial bodies of Sparti are entirely under the control of the Dark Magic Tower. If one forcibly suppresses resistance and extracts power, the consumption of the soul will accelerate.”
How many mana stones must the Ten Towers have accumulated?
Orthes’s whisper concluded with such a question. Kine realized that the Ten Towers truly regarded the souls of the believers as consumables.
They were no different from batteries used to operate the Sparti. Given that the capable deity varies based on the embedded soul, perhaps it could be likened to a Magic Imprint Drive.
It was a horrific fate. The Ten Towers’ attitude of using humans as literal disposable items.
Kine did not see the power of the Ten Towers, but rather their ugliness.
The vague form of her vengeance solidified into a clear shape.
‘The talent I possess…’
Coincidentally, Kine’s magic power was of the Darkness attribute, akin to that of the Dark Magic Tower, which commanded the Sparti.
Kine realized what she had to do.
Orthes had used her family’s reunion as leverage to ensure she would learn Darkness magic. He claimed that through necromancy, she would be able to meet her family’s souls.
Necromancy dealt with both the summoning and banishment of souls. Orthes had been preparing himself from the start to face the Sparti.
It was a proposal she could not refuse, even knowing she was being used.
It wasn’t merely a calculation that to reclaim her family’s corpses, she had to submit to Orthes.
Having seen those souls exploited as they are right now, Kine could not turn a blind eye to their hardship and misery.
She had to send the captured souls back to where they truly belonged.
Certainly, from Argyrion’s terrorism to the sighting of the Sparti, every moment had unfolded within Orthes’s foresight.
Before an inescapable destiny, Kine opened her mouth with a solemn expression.
“…I’ve decided, Orthes.”
*
“I’ll join Hydra Corporation. You’re truly cunning, aren’t you?”
…?
Suddenly?
What is going on? I scratched my head and replied.
“Please discuss the employment contract with the boss. I’m not the one with hiring authority.”
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