Carisia didn’t clearly explain the future she witnessed.
Bzzzttt!
In the vision, Orthes was about to topple the silver giant and claim its heart.
But at that moment, the Ten Towers dispatched a second elder.
Vroom!
In fact, it was unclear if it would end with just two. Even as Orthes clashed with the earth-shattering elder, the spatial cracks still shimmered, hinting at the ‘next.’
Swish!
Carisia looked up at the sky. Based on the angle of the stars in the celestial sphere, it seemed to be a story from a few hours later.
Ding!
“How’s the meeting with the allies?”
Bloop!
“They were supposed to slip away once things were finished. If they have any sense, they’d know when to retreat.”
Orthes thought that the priests of the Divine Cult might have already retreated.
Whoosh!
The second gate Argyion opened, despite Talo’s barrier being a hindrance, was relatively swift. It was certainly slower than the first, but given they had to circumvent the elder’s barrier in the Ten Towers, it was fast enough.
Zap!
It was possible that the angels’ skills were remarkable enough to break through the barrier easily. However, a more reasonable explanation existed.
The barrier had already been punctured through the holy power from Phyrios, making the breakthrough easier.
Thud!
If someone like the elder of the Ten Towers took a personal approach, it would be wise to retreat quickly, even if it was somewhat risky. Orthes set aside slight disappointment towards the cult and spoke to Carisia.
“Boss, do you have any clothes on hand? I really can’t wear this blood and sweat.”
“Do I look like I have any?”
Oops!
I bet she does! Knowing Carisia’s nature, even in a rush, she would plan for every possible scenario before arriving.
Zoom!
Orthes swiftly shifted his body as much as his physical form allowed.
The lifeless body of the silver giant lost its brilliant glow. Angels fell intermittently above it. Lastly, the Black Rock cliffs hovered ominously over the battlefield.
Boom!
Leaving all traces of struggle behind, Orthes eventually vanished beyond the horizon.
*
As Orthes predicted, the priests of the Divine Cult urgently exited the scene. Demus, until the very last moment, insisted on remaining while sending other Enyalius priests away.
Snap!
Yet he could only listen to Hyacinth’s persuasion.
Outside, the angels of Argyion clashed with the mages of the Ten Towers. Orthes was encouraging the fight from behind and was in a position to retreat soon, they assured him.
“You, as an archbishop, have an obligation to protect the cult’s priests. In such a frantic space transition, anything can happen. Go take care of your brethren.”
Blam!
“….”
Demus couldn’t turn away from his responsibility.
Hyacinth, as a priest of Phoibos, remained until the end to inform everyone of the ‘safest’ timing during the spatial transition.
Yippee!
“If only Proditor were here…”
Proditor, who had granted all the priests of Phyrios their holy powers, didn’t participate in this Great Temple reclaiming battle. He was fulfilling a secret mission received from the pope.
And so, the last one remaining in Pluto’s den was none other than the aged Hyacinth.
Woosh!
Of course, naturally, there was one more.
Kore, the goddess of Pluto.
Gulp!
She observed the outside landscape with trembling eyes. No one other than her could accurately see the course of the battle surrounding the Great Temple.
Shazzam!
It wasn’t surprising that Orthes, who introduced himself with a lethal aura, showcased remarkable fighting abilities.
Whoa!
What was genuinely surprising was that Orthes strongly denied any connection with the vanished mage to the point of not even mentioning them.
When the port of the silver giant swung wide open to unleash its attack on Orthes, suddenly, all projectiles ceased to operate.
Ding!
It looked like some miracle worked by a god. However, Kore instinctively felt that it was no ability adorned with the noble word of miracle.
Only the power of the “vanished mage” could so easily nullify the magic that the mage from the Ten Towers had executed, right?
Gawsh!
‘With such powers, saying they have no relation to that mage…?’
It was an unbelievable contradiction. Definitely, they wouldn’t claim that was a technique of holy powers or sacred command.
What kind of holy power could interfere with the activation and completion of magic? If it were a sacred command granted by a primordial divine being, that might be another story.
The primordial being’s powers controlling time and space were also the realm of mystery for the Divine Cult.
Bing!
However, only one person could handle such primordial divine powers as far as Kore knew.
Suddenly, Kore caught sight of Orthes opening his mouth to say something. The smile that always adorned his face was gone, creating a rather alien scene.
Whooo!
“A conversation?”
In solitude, a dialogue is often considered a precursor to madness. But Kore didn’t think Orthes was that type of insane person.
Orthes gazed into the distance as if someone stood beyond it. Emotion bubbling forth, his expression changed. A faint smile, almost resignation.
And then he began to walk in the direction where he was looking.
Click!
It looked like a scene of someone leaving upon a call.
Kore felt a terrible fear at the realization that something could command Orthes.
Who else could order the fragment of the vanished mage?
Only the vanished mage himself.
As Kore gasped in terrible fear, Orthes was crossing the Black Rock cliffs. It was unavoidable as where Carisia was watching him was in the opposite direction from where he battled Talo.
Skrrrt!
Climbing the cliffs and walking atop the rocks, drops of Orthes’ blood seeped into Pluto’s Great Temple.
As Orthes disappeared from the temple’s realm, the blood pooled deep within the Great Temple.
Fwoosh!
A strange resonance accompanied the shaking of the temple. Kore felt the immense pulsing of divine power flowing beyond her figure in tune with her.
“What is, this…?”
Gasp!
The temple suddenly felt like it had returned to the ancient mythological era. The holy powers that had slumbered for the past century regained their brilliance, granting resplendent authority.
Kachink!
Kore felt the Pluto Great Temple was now alive and moving. She instinctively realized she could wield this massive rock as if it were her own limb, perhaps even more effortlessly than that.
Thud!
Here lay the answer to why this temple could stand as the final stronghold against the Mage King.
Through a transparent helm, Pluto roamed the world unseen by any living being, just as Pluto’s Great Temple could shift its dwelling.
All the relics and the temple itself that had been waiting to awaken within this enormous edifice were now in the hands of the cult.
Kore felt a paradoxical wave of joy and sadness simultaneously.
Wah!
The sacred shine of the relics would ultimately fade in the Pope’s hands, after all.
*
The Pluto Great Temple disappeared without a trace. The Black Cliffs themselves clung to the earth like a gigantic shadow, vanishing just like that.
Zing!
The scene of this miracle was followed by colossal divine power. Blasphemia was the first to realize this fact.
Bam!
Blasphemia reported this to the Ten Towers, and in turn, the Ten Towers discerned that the location where the divine power’s waves had been emitted was the same place where the distress signal from the Mage King’s legacy had come from.
Something terrifying had occurred.
Shwoosh!
The Ten Towers tore through the space and dispatched the elders. What exactly happened at that spot?
Boom!
And they witnessed the corpse of Talo—the inner side of the faded giant. Talo’s brain chip had disappeared.
Although a secondary brain for processing remained, it was originally not a device for memory. It could only trace back the battle’s nature through the log analysis of the magic used.
Thwap!
And surrounding that were the angels—bodies touched by extra-dimensional waves.
Dooong!
Drenched in a color distinct from the silver of Silver Iron Tower, they were surely Argyion.
The Ten Towers thought.
‘Could it be that Argyion was strong enough to take down an elder with just a squad-sized force?’
‘What was the divine power’s wave and the signal referring to the Mage King? Could it be that what they’re talking about as the Divine…?’
*
Argyion thought.
As contact was lost with the dispatched Argyion agents, Argyion quickly sent new agents to the scene.
Beep!
The scene was shocking. The appearance of comrades who had yet to complete the angel transformation technique. Their proud wings were crushed and pitifully sunk into the ground.
Crack!
However, what was even more shocking was another body beside the comrades’ corpses. The body of a giant.
Whoooo!
The massive magic power felt from the mages looking down on the giant could definitely be from the elders of the Ten Towers.
So.
‘Are our agents the ones who took down the elder…?!’
“Argyion is strong!”
Yay!
A proud junior agent whispered, but a veteran tapped his shoulder, stopping him.
Shh!
He silently placed a hand over his mouth. Although this place was somewhat distant from the scene, the elders of the Ten Towers might employ some grotesque means to figure out their presence.
The best course was to extract quickly from the site and report to headquarters.
‘Just because my junior is confident doesn’t mean our agents are that strong.’
This was an objective judgment. Even considering the magical boost from angel transformation, only the high-ranking officers would be able to face the elders of the Ten Towers directly.
Gosh!
Nonetheless, the fact that the elders of the Ten Towers had been beaten back like this means…
‘We haven’t grown stronger; the Ten Towers have grown weaker!’
It wasn’t about the catalog specs increasing with time; it was the mental elements that could only be honed through life-shaking battles.
For decades, the elders who had wielded absolute authority and reigned atop the mage towers must have forgotten the very ability to wield that power despite being mighty in terms of magic.
Ker-chow!
‘Before they shake off their complacency and regain their mental sharpness, we must utilize this situation to the fullest.’
Delusions spread like a plague.
Bam!
Chaos came, utter chaos.
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