“Boss, what are you doing?!”
Without permission from reason, my tongue slipped. Carisia was someone who had to hide her identity from the Ten Towers, Argyrion, and the Divine Cult.
For her to personally come here was unacceptable.
‘Did she seal her voice with Wind Magic and send it to me? That means she’s somewhere nearby…’
Carisia didn’t reply. I couldn’t tell if she didn’t hear my response or if she thought it unnecessary to listen to me.
She showed it through her actions.
The detonation of dozens, hundreds of warheads was neutralized. The flames ignited by magic quickly extinguished.
Magic interference?
A technique that casts the same type of magic when a specific magic is being used to steal the opponent’s magic power and disrupt the structure of their spell.
To use this magic interference, you have to strike when “the magic has been cast but is not yet complete.” However, Talo’s magic was evidently complete, and Carisia had already interfered with the completed magic, nullifying its effects.
How is that even possible?
『I hacked one auxiliary brain for computation and canceled the command. It’s not a traditional method through Magic Interference, it’s more like a forbidden path.』
This reply flew in as if she predicted my question. Sometimes, it’s downright chilling.
For Carisia, dismantling all those hundreds of magics is merely routine. The average person would think about stopping or avoiding attacks. Isn’t that a bit strange?
『They haven’t noticed my interference yet, but there’s a limit. At best, we have a few seconds, lucky if a minute. Hurry up and finish this.』
I could sense an absurd level of trust in her words. Telling me to “finish quickly” against an elder of the Ten Towers, no less.
I had no choice. Since the boss personally came, it was only reasonable as a loyal subordinate to wrap things up as fast as I could.
I grasped the High-Frequency Blade.
*
There were several reasons Orthes used the High-Frequency Blade, but they could mostly be summarized into three main points.
First, it was easy to obtain. It was a mass-produced item that could be found all over the place. Losing it wouldn’t be such a loss.
Secondly, it was versatile. It could use the Magic Imprint Drive, making it easier to respond in various ways during combat against mages.
And lastly.
The “vibration” of the High-Frequency Blade was a perfect match for Orthes’s eyes.
In the depths of the Pluton Great Temple, during his fight with Adoosiam, Orthes demonstrated the ability to negate Sonic Bombs by controlling the blade’s vibrations.
Adoosiam’s Sonic Bomb works by vibrating at the material’s natural frequency, thus destroying it. Orthes parailed the Sonic Bombs by constantly changing frequencies to prevent them from recognizing the High-Frequency Blade’s.
The reason he could conceive such a countermeasure on the fly was simple.
It was because the techniques he used through the High-Frequency Blade and the principle behind Sonic Bombs were fundamentally the same.
Just before the order to explode could be given again, Orthes swiftly climbed onto the massive form of Mecha Talo.
Talo calmly analyzed the canceled explosion command. There was an issue with one auxiliary processing unit. The lower abdominal auxiliary brain responsible for lower body operations.
I have no idea how the hacking was done, but there wasn’t enough time to push the hacker’s influence away before the approaching enemies arrived too quickly.
‘Is the stolen auxiliary brain preventing direct attacks on the author? Then all I have to do is use a method other than attacking!’
Talo responded with environmental changes instead of direct attacks. He applied “Transmutation” to the giant’s body. It wasn’t about hurting the opponent by causing extremely high or low temperatures.
The properties altered through transmutation involved friction.
Talo drained the friction coefficient from the giant’s armor. It approached zero indefinitely, and the giant’s armor became smoother than ice.
As the explosion from the thigh caused the giant to lose its balance, Orthes’s climbing angle dropped from a right angle to an acute angle, but the giant’s shaky movements posed greater obstacles than the angle itself.
If he removed friction from that spot, climbing would soon become synonymous with impossibility.
His “eyes” detected the change.
Even if it was the transmutation spell itself, changing the properties of metal that had already been altered by transmutation was impossible through spell overlay. He would fall soon.
Orthes decided to push the High-Frequency Blade to its limits.
This time, the spell overlay through the Magic Imprint Drive interfered not with the enemy’s magic but with the functions of the High-Frequency Blade. The output limit of the vibrations was lifted.
Then, his eyes identified the natural frequency of the metal comprising the giant. The frequency of the blade was tuned.
Even if the original frequencies matched, it would take a substantial amount of time to destroy the material, but now with the intervention of supernatural abilities, it was different.
A vibration that surpassed the limits to enhance cutting power. The black blade of the High-Frequency Blade began to glow red-hot. The heat from the vibrations scorched Orthes’s hand.
He could maintain the vibrations beyond the limits for about ten seconds. Beyond that, the internal circuits of the blade would break down.
Orthes plunged the blade’s tip into the giant’s body. The magical barrier wrapping the giant’s physical armor was thrown into disarray by the spell overlay. The reddened tip made contact with the giant’s armor.
A noise that combined the sound of tearing paper with an earthquake. The silver armor rippled, crumpled, and was destroyed. The destruction spread across the surface of the giant.
Shredded pieces of armor scattered. Finally, a path was created where he could step and run. Orthes ran while embedding the blade’s tip in the giant’s armor. The vivid scar etched on the giant represented the path he took.
Through the thigh, into the abdomen, into the chest, and finally, the heart.
The trace of destruction extended to where the brain chip resided. It took 7 seconds to get this far.
Now, the High-Frequency Blade glowed not black, but red, as if it were molten metal freshly removed from a furnace.
Talo executed the most basic defense. Drawing metal from other parts of the giant to reinforce itself. As the armor from other areas thinned, the area around the heart swelled up in an attempt to shape a barrier.
He bought even a second to prepare magic. This was the best battle logic for a mage. The time for analysis and judgment for the next move.
And that was the fatal mistake.
Orthes wasn’t a mage.
The High-Frequency Blade was thrown. The crimson-tinted blade was aimed at the giant’s heart.
What followed was an explosion. The blade, which was already at its durability limit, shattered into pieces while scattering the flow of metals toward the heart. The giant’s inner flesh was finally revealed beneath its silver skin.
Where steel made up its bones and muscle fibers crafted from wires, the heart of the giant was visible, circulating magic power instead of blood.
Orthes discarded his sword and raised his fist. A foolish action a wise mage wouldn’t take.
He threw his body into the giant’s interior. Bone-like spikes transformed into blades surged toward Orthes.
Each moment, steel spikes aiming for key points served as a launching pad.
It was a thrilling midpoint between sprinting and flying. Orthes’s hand clawed at the giant’s heart.
Gurgle, splashing magic power. The magic circulating through the brain chip surged out of control.
As the brain chip was ripped away, Mecha Talo’s entire body trembled. It was as if a giant deprived of its vocal cords was letting out its last gasps with its entire body.
The sheen surrounding the giant gradually faded away and crumbled.
The giant, already with one thigh burst open, finally collapsed to the ground.
From the chain detonation caused by Orthes to the giant’s downfall, it all happened in mere seconds.
*
Carisia was utilizing the Thousand-Mile Eye magic. From its name, it sounded like a vision-enhancing spell that belonged to a common magical system, but in reality, it was entirely different.
Unlike the vision enhancement that strengthens the body, it was a magic manipulating visible light reflecting onto the retina. It was a light-based magic that maximized the visible light emitted by distant images to see them as if they were right in front.
Seeing the silver giant topple, she let out a relieved sigh filled with rage.
‘What on earth…’
How did meetings with collaborators turn into this?
Carisia once again sent a wind carrying her voice to Orthes. He couldn’t possibly hear her words. But understanding what she meant was easy.
She simply had to read the shape of his lips through the Thousand-Mile Eye.
What Orthes had just said was this:
『Why on earth are you here?!』
Rarely emotional.
Feeling an indescribable satisfaction at Orthes’s fervor, Carisia succinctly replied.
『Adoosiam warned me about the future.』
『I won’t die against just one elder. It’s much more dangerous for you to come out in person.』
『But another one is coming, you know?』
The future Carisia saw showed that Orthes was up against two elders of the Ten Towers. Furthermore, the gate for spatial transportation was still open.
A moment’s silence. Orthes quickly replied.
『…Let’s go home!』
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