Chapter 126: Social Ties and Cult Schemes (1)
In Carisia’s plan, Kynemon was essentially bait.
His role was to participate in the Tower Master selection process diligently and secure the title of Tower Master. In other words, to follow his ambitions to the fullest. Meanwhile, Carisia’s preparations for eliminating Argyrion would happen entirely in the background, with no one the wiser.
“We don’t know exactly what kind of tasks the Ten Towers will assign to test the candidates’ abilities,” Carisia mused. “But we can be sure everyone will be using external tactics.”
“Are you referring to assassinations?” Orthes asked.
Carisia nodded. The essence of the Tower Master selection was a ruthless pruning process until only one candidate remained.
“If you reduce the number of participants ahead of time, it obviously increases the chances of your favored candidate coming out on top.”
“Assassination would be the most straightforward, but there are other ways too. Sponsors might strike deals with one another to unify their support behind a single candidate. Knowledge is a commodity that can be shared.”
Carisia twisted a lock of hair around her finger, her voice growing cold.
“We’ll start by investigating the ones who are suspiciously quiet.”
Argyrion was a group that couldn’t afford to be noticed. The fewer people who knew about them, the deadlier they became. But using external tactics would inevitably expose the presence of the sponsors backing each candidate.
“There’s no reason not to use external tactics unless they don’t have a sponsor or can’t afford to reveal who their sponsor is. It’s rare, but it could also be that the candidate is so confident in their own abilities that they don’t need a sponsor.”
“I’ll compile a report on any candidates without sponsors.”
“No need,” Carisia replied. “Arabella will handle that.”
Somewhere, a full-body cyborg wizard with a spider-shaped enchantware groaned as she continued her overtime shift.
“Our objectives are twofold: protect Kynemon as the future Tower Master and track Argyrion.”
Orthes nodded in agreement. Even if Argyrion didn’t move to assassinate Kynemon, the sponsors behind the other candidates certainly would. However, a question lingered.
“Kynemon may have been out of the game for a while, but he’s a seasoned fixer who survived in extra-dimensional border zones. Do we really need to assign him protection?”
Here, the question wasn’t about the necessity of protection but its effectiveness.
The frontlines of the extra-dimension were treacherous enough to be described as “magic-infested.” For someone like Kynemon to have survived such a place with all his limbs intact and now live a—albeit, far from peaceful—retirement was no small feat.
Assassins sent to take out a man of Kynemon’s caliber wouldn’t be easily stopped by regular bodyguards.
They might send regular killers at first, underestimating him. But the moment it became clear who Kynemon was, any group truly determined to take him out—especially those who wanted to devour the corpse of Amimone Tower—would send assassins of terrifying skill.
‘To make a meaningful impact against assassins targeting Kynemon, we’d need someone on the level of Hydra Corporation’s directors,’ Orthes thought.
But therein lay the problem. Carisia’s directors were already drowning in work due to her plans. If Carisia left to hunt down Argyrion, the directors’ workloads would only increase further.
“We’ll assign Kine,” Carisia said nonchalantly.
“Pardon?”
Orthes, who had expected he would be the one protecting Kynemon while Carisia tracked Argyrion, blinked at the unexpected answer.
“I’ve tested her abilities several times. She’s perfect at hiding her holy power and projecting her mana.”
Kine’s combat prowess lay in her mastery over holy power. Unlike magic, which distorts the laws of the world, holy power reflects the world’s natural order, often promoting natural healing regardless of religious affiliation.
Carisia had focused on this aspect while training Kine.
“Kine can use holy power internally while masking it with external mana. It’s a kind of supernatural multitasking, you could say.”
Kine’s technique allowed her to constantly heal herself with holy power internally while cloaking her presence in mana externally, making it seem like she wasn’t using holy power at all. This gave her incredible endurance, allowing her to continue fighting as long as she wasn’t killed outright.
“In a worst-case scenario, she can heal Kynemon or, if everything falls apart and Kynemon is killed, she can use necromancy to hold his soul in place. No one would be a better protector.”
Orthes had to admit that there was no one better suited for the job than Kine. While he hadn’t been paying attention, Carisia had turned a survivor of a fallen cult into a formidable operative.
“If Kynemon pulls ahead in the Tower Master selection thanks to our support, it’ll likely provoke other factions. While Kine blocks their approaches, we’ll focus on tracking Argyrion among the ones who don’t approach.”
Carisia nodded reluctantly.
‘If I were Halto…’
While trying to claim Amimone Tower’s remnants, he would have moved under the assumption that Orthes would interfere. Rather than merely preparing for the possibility of Orthes’ appearance, he would have built his entire strategy around the assumption that Orthes was already working against him.
That’s why Carisia had hoped to avoid being separated from Orthes. But her rational mind told her that would be a waste.
Among her cards, there was no one stronger than Orthes. If Argyrion decided to face Orthes head-on, they would need to prepare for something as significant as the assassination of a Ten Tower Elder.
Searching in only one direction at a time was terribly inefficient, and the means to threaten Orthes were limited.
Caught between her concerns and logic, Carisia settled on a compromise.
“We’ll split up to investigate. But call me immediately if anything seems off.”
***
Kynemon adjusted his clothes, feeling a bit uncomfortable. He stood in the grand hall of Algoth City.
Naturally, as a candidate for Amimone Tower’s Tower Master, Kynemon had been invited to this gathering. But the reason for his discomfort stood right behind him.
Carisia. Kine. And Orthes.
The main source of Kynemon’s unease was, of course, the last one. But the first one could also make him uneasy from time to time.
Like now, for instance.
“Kine is your insurance,” Carisia said casually.
“Insurance? What do you mean by that?”
“Against your death.”
Kynemon was a sharp man. That was all he needed to understand the situation. At Carisia’s subtle signal, Kine lit a small, ominous flame at the tip of her index finger.
It was pure dark mana of the highest quality. Despite her youthful appearance, it was clear that Kine possessed an impressive depth of knowledge in dark magic—more specifically, necromancy, as hinted at earlier.
“I suppose I should be grateful.”
The chance to rule over the heads of his family’s enemies—Amimone Tower—was now within his grasp. He had no intention of letting a mere assassination ruin his perfect revenge.
Better to continue living as a puppet controlled by necromancy than to be robbed of his vengeance by a premature death. In fact, wasn’t he already a puppet in Orthes’ hands? It wouldn’t be much different.
With that thought, Kynemon decided to stop worrying about his bodyguard—who doubled as his warden—and instead turned his attention to his potential rivals.
Meanwhile, Kine was feeling rather lost.
‘What am I even doing here…?’
She’d been summoned by the boss almost daily, dragged around here and there, and now she had suddenly been thrown into actual combat. Wasn’t her original purpose to infiltrate Museion Academy, get recruited into Black Dark Tower, and leak information from within?
Orthes had explained that there were other ways to draw attention from the Ten Towers. But this “other way”…
‘Stopping assassination attempts on a Tower Master candidate?’
She remembered Orthes smiling as he said, “If you flawlessly handle this mission, you’ll be recognized as a sudden genius among wizards, appearing out of nowhere.”
‘Sure, stopping assassination attempts as a little girl will definitely get me noticed!’
While Kine silently cursed Orthes, he surveyed the surroundings.
Despite being held in a city that had been hit by a magical disaster just days ago, this event was surprisingly luxurious—appropriate for a gathering meant to signal to the traitors that “there’s still a chance to redeem yourselves.”
‘I recognize some of those figures from Pure Tower records.’
Orthes wasn’t focused on the candidates themselves, but on their sponsors. If any of them had accepted Argyrion’s Silver Thread influence, tracking Argyrion’s movements would become significantly easier.
However, his half-closed eyes failed to detect any such collaborators.
‘Of course, things won’t go that smoothly. …Huh?’
Someone was approaching their group from across the hall. Orthes narrowed his eyes in suspicion.
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