Orthes accepted the coat handed over by the boss.
“This isn’t the coat you wear, is it?”
“I don’t have any other clothes. What I’m wearing now is more like rags than clothes, so I’d better wear this.”
Shrugging his shoulders once, Orthes obediently put on the coat. It was one size fits all, so it fit just fine.
“What did you say to the other directors before coming out?”
“I told them to do well on their own.”
Oh my head! Orthes sighed. Will the company even function properly like that, Boss?
Carisia, half-listening to Orthes’s grumbling, asked, “What on earth happened to turn the partner meeting into a disaster?”
“Ah…”
Orthes rummaged through the ragged jacket here and there and pulled out a palm-sized round object.
It was Adoosiam’s core.
“I think it was a golem created by the Mage King. This guy seems to have called the Ten Towers, but I can’t figure out how Argyrion fits into this.”
“The Mage King?”
Intrigued, Carisia took Adoosiam’s core from Orthes. Her magic power delved deeply into the structure of Adoosiam’s core.
“There are limits on its performance?”
“Yes. The limitations can be lifted with the permission of the Mage King or his representative. I thought I could use this as a detector for the Mage King’s resurrection, so I kept it.”
The core, sensing Carisia’s magic power, began to vibrate.
『Ten Commandments… White Light, detecting… Permission to enter Higher Stage…』
Orthes tightened his grip on the core. Carisia relaxed her stern face and threw the core back to Orthes.
“For now, the two targets that are supposed to send a structural signal are the Mage King’s disciples, in other words, the Ten Commandments’ possessors. And the Mage King’s followers, like this golem.”
Orthes’s expression furrowed.
“Are you saying Argyrion is a second target?”
“Up to that point, I don’t know. We cannot tell whether Argyrion received that signal or appeared for some other reason.”
Argyrion’s agenda might be related to the Mage King.
It was an ominous sign.
Orthes decided to remember this as one of the possibilities. He might not know what Argyrion ultimately plans to do, but at least preparing for the worst wouldn’t hurt.
Carisia took a deep breath for no reason and asked, “So, did you gain anything?”
“I got quite a bit. While working as a troubleshooter, I developed an eye for valuable items. I selectively appropriated the good stuff.”
Carisia, who had at least heard something about Orthes’s eyes, realized that the mention of an ‘eye’ was his kind of joke. She chuckled and changed the subject.
“Didn’t an ancient spirit talk to you this time like last time?”
“There probably wasn’t a chance for them to speak. I stuffed everything in without properly touching it.”
What looked like a battered rag was actually a fine piece of clothing. It maximized the utility of barrier magic to significantly increase the capacity of its storage areas and prevent easy escape.
The very fibers that made up the clothing were also no ordinary fabric. They were crafted from the fiber of a massive spider beast called Arachnid, making it tougher than most steel.
Because of this, the amount of relics stored in Orthes’s clothing exceeded what one could guess from the outside.
“Hmm. Come to think of it, I wonder if they’re in decent condition.”
Since he had jumped into a fight between Argyrion and the Ten Towers while stuffing everything in, it could be reasonably inferred that the relics took quite a hit along with the damage to his clothing.
“Don’t worry. As long as they’re not completely shattered, the remaining divine power will be sufficient.”
Orthes nodded. Since the theories related to the Artificial Ten Commandments weren’t his forte, it made sense that Carisia, who was at the forefront of Artificial Ten Commandments research along with Kaicle, would know what she was talking about.
The two continued their trivial conversation as they headed home.
*
The elders of the Ten Towers gathered in one place. It wasn’t everyone, but the number that had convened was historically significant.
“Talo is dead.”
“To Argyrion?”
“From the circumstances.”
“Is that even possible?”
The Ether Space buzzed with commotion. In the long history of the Ten Towers, it was a rare occurrence for an elder to be killed for reasons other than succession.
“How many years has Talo served as an elder?”
“Ninety-two years.”
“That’s quite a while.”
Among the elders of the Ten Towers, who were closer to magic than humans, there were monsters who had lived for centuries. However, surprisingly, the skill level among the elders was not vastly different, except for some extreme cases.
To be precise, once they inaugurated as an elder, their skills tended to standardize after roughly 100 years. It took on average a century to develop all abilities with the wisdom of the Ten Commandments. Beyond that, one had to explore on their own. Only the Tower Masters could access the deeper powers of the Ten Commandments.
The depths of the Ten Commandments. The realm surpassing magic.
For those who were not Tower Masters, achieving mastery in the unknown realm on their own could be done only by a few exceptions or fresh elders who had just been inaugurated, making the disparities in skill among elders quite distinct.
That’s why news about Talo’s death was even more shocking.
“I thought Blasphemia could handle them.”
“According to Salmosia’s report, not only Blasphemia but also Argos. In other words, it appears that there are quite a few infiltrators across Panoptes.”
“It seems the matter has grown too large to leave to just one lower organization…”
The elders recalled an unpleasant and terrifying hypothesis related to Argyrion’s “cause.” The abilities displayed by a mere gathering of eroders could be explained under that hypothesis.
“Celestial Inquisitor.”
“Yes.”
A young man summoned to this gathering of the esteemed elders of the Ten Towers. He was the leader of the observers belonging to Eidolons, who monitored extra-dimensional beings.
Among those in Eidolons, the Celestial Inquisitor occupied a special position. Considering the task of scrutinizing the signs of the stars and estimating the future, it was the closest field to that of the followers of superstition, and because he took on the role of tracing the Mage King’s echoes, the path of ascension, he also shared the Tower’s intimate secrets.
“What about the extra-dimensional disturbance?”
“The extra-dimensional movements are steadily intensifying. They are attempting to open doors across the world and make contact with Doomsday Cultists.”
“Is there a possibility that an extra-dimensional being imitated the Mage King and brainwashed Argyrion?”
“I can’t say for sure. It is not impossible for extra-dimensional beings that grasp the echoes of ascension to mimic the Mage King’s actions. However, during the previous observations, there were no known occurrences of extra-dimensional beings engaging in such actions.”
However, the Celestial Inquisitor began to speak.
“It would be foolish to state that just because something has never existed thus far, it won’t exist in the future. If I had to declare it in clear terms, I would say it is a possibility.”
“Could it be the Mage King’s consciousness? Or an extra-dimensional being that has begun to understand humanity more intimately. Either way, it’s certainly a fearsome adversary.”
The elders’ opinions coalesced into a consensus. This was a matter that could not be contained by merely Blasphemia.
“We must issue an emergency command to Panoptes as a whole.”
“However, didn’t you mention there are infiltrators among them?”
“Only Eidolons’ purity is guaranteed. Hm…”
Clap. Someone clapped. It was a figure made not of flesh but of deep blue mist. How it made a sound was a mystery.
It was the elder of the Jade Wind Tower.
“Let’s do this. There’s a list exposed by Argyrion, isn’t there?”
The elders nodded at the lowly tactics Argyrion had used to shake the magical society.
“We will carry out a large-scale investigation into them. Those who have nothing to hide will cooperate fully, and we can identify those among Panoptes’s investigators who are being passive about the inquiry as suspicious.”
“Are you suggesting we use the investigation as bait to filter out dangerous individuals? That’s quite a moderate approach for you.”
“My principle of ‘the more souls, the better’ hasn’t changed. However, whether it be an extra-dimensional existence or the Mage King, it is clear that we must confront a foe that requires the full might of the magical society. What a great loss it would be if a loyal servant of the magical society were to transform into a demon stone.”
Various opinions circulated among the elders. Some communicated telepathically through magic. Others exchanged messages via simple mana proxy. After some deliberation, a resolution was reached to carry out a large-scale crackdown on the Argyrion spies.
As silence gradually descended upon the Ether Space, the Celestial Inquisitor suddenly spoke up.
“Didn’t the Tower Masters have any orders to issue?”
“It seems they are regarding Argyrion’s threat as a lesser issue, compared to finding the clues to ascension. The Tower Master of the Silver Iron Tower even commented that if he ever meets an angel, he’d like to capture it next time.”
The Celestial Inquisitor nodded.
The Tower Masters still hadn’t made a move.
“I’ll convey the message to the others.”
“Then, you may leave. I’ll soon notify everyone of the decisions made in the Panoptes meeting.”
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