Chapter 155: Hydra Corporation Assembly (5)
I poured my heart into explaining the Plan of World Division. The strategy revolved around staging multiple succession wars triggered by the Argyrion expedition against the Ten Towers.
A surprise declaration of war would occur while the elders and primary forces of the Towers were absent. Other Magic Towers would then drain the Ten Towers’ reserves in prolonged skirmishes. At this critical juncture, Hydra Corporation would intervene, leveraging the Artificial Commandments to seize control of the Ten Commandments.
I laid out all the details that could be disclosed.
The directors didn’t applaud or celebrate after hearing the plan. Considering that their opponent was the Ten Towers, it was only natural for them to deliberate seriously.
***
“…There’s an issue,” said Neuro, breaking the silence.
“When wolves go hunting, there’s always a leader to guide the pack. Is there anyone in the current magical society capable of becoming such a leader to challenge the tiger that is the Ten Towers?”
“You needn’t worry. The new Tower Lord of the Amimone Tower is under our sponsorship, after all.”
Kynemon and the Amimone Tower were set to serve as the catalyst for the succession wars. More specifically, they weren’t intending to truly fight.
Their role was to declare a succession war against the Ten Towers and then prolong a stalemate for days, even weeks.
“A White Magic Tower that lost its mana core. A Ten Tower unable to conclude a succession war against such a weakened target. Soon, the magical society will begin to think—”
“‘Is the Ten Towers weaker than we thought?’”
In truth, Kynemon’s “endurance strategy” was bolstered by the Divine Cult. The Ten Towers, unable to mobilize their forces quickly due to their main army’s absence, would be further frustrated by the Amimone Tower’s advantage of using Holy Incantations to strengthen their defense.
It was enough to maintain a stalemate.
“The Ten Towers will no longer be seen as a tiger. At best, they’ll be regarded as a toothless tiger. Of course, everyone will understand that its dangerous fangs could grow back soon.”
“…And because of that, there will be those who try to kill the tiger before its fangs return, seizing wealth and glory for themselves.”
I nodded in agreement. Neuro always had a knack for explaining things logically, saving me the trouble of convincing the other directors one by one.
“And with Director Meconion’s help, we could empower one of those dreamers.”
“Me? Why me?”
Meconion, uninterested in the prestige of the Ten Commandments, was an easy sell. She would agree if I mentioned rare plants or magical techniques useful for her flora, supposedly hidden around the Nokmok Tower.
Her side business—illicit herb sales—required her network of contacts. Specifically:
“Director Meconion, don’t you have contacts among mages who were researching your half-dryad physiology?”
“Sure, though most of those connections dried up when you told me to lie low for a while and cut off my dealings with the Ten Towers.”
“Reach out to them. Ask if they desire the pinnacle of plant magic—the Nokmok Commandment. Once Kynemon and the Amimone Tower start the first succession war, and a second war begins for the Nokmok Tower, the other succession wars against the Ten Towers will snowball naturally.”
If two such sparks weren’t enough, I had a third bullet in reserve—though I hoped to avoid using it. The Lampades Tower, reluctant to involve itself in such dangerous schemes, would serve as a fallback option.
“When the Ten Towers’ combat capacity is depleted, we’ll act. With an insider feeding us intelligence, we’ll gauge the perfect moment. And at the decisive juncture—”
“Hydra Corporation will declare its own succession war,” murmured Geryon.
As a mage, Geryon must have once dreamed of claiming the great legacy of the Ten Commandments. Now, as a warlord captured by Hydra Corporation, he was paradoxically closer to achieving that dream.
Divius, who had remained silent until now, raised his hand.
“Hey, President and Director, I have just one question. I’ve lived off the Ten Towers’ resources for quite some time, so this is a critical issue to me.”
“What is it?”
“The Plan of World Division is brilliant—something the cults of the old gods would applaud. But its greatest flaw is its reliance on Argyrion.”
This statement caused Cretone to furrow his brows in confusion. Meanwhile, Arabella, sharp as ever, gave a small gasp of realization and turned to me. It was indeed a valid concern.
“If Argyrion isn’t strong enough to fight the Ten Towers’ expeditionary forces and hold them off, there won’t be enough time for the succession wars to unfold. Do we have any assessment of their capabilities?”
“What about the death of Talo, the Warden of Silver Iron?”
“That was one elder. This time, each tower could send two, making twenty elders. Can Argyrion handle twenty?”
“Their headquarters being in the extra-dimension doesn’t help much, does it?”
“Not when it’s a full-scale expedition. The Ten Towers would overcome even dimensional barriers eventually.”
This was a perspective I hadn’t considered. Could Argyrion buy us enough time?
***
“There’s… a way. Not a solution per se, but a method to gain some time,” Geryon unexpectedly offered.
“During my time working with Bertrand, I was roped into all kinds of odd jobs. Being a prisoner, I didn’t mind. But the more I worked, the more I started to pick up a thing or two—particularly about engineering.”
Could his engineering insights really solve this? Even Bertrand raised a skeptical brow.
“While modifying Lampades’ radar system for Divine Investigation purposes, I learned something interesting. It was originally designed to locate safe extra-dimensional zones. The Ten Towers likely have similar observation tools or spells to map spatial coordinates.”
Bertrand, quick to grasp the idea, muttered to himself.
“We could reconfigure Lampades’ radar into a jamming transmitter. Disrupt their spatial magic and delay both their approach to Argyrion and their return from the expedition.”
“Spatial magic is inherently dangerous,” Geryon added. “Even the Ten Towers wouldn’t risk it without ensuring complete safety first. This could buy us significant time.”
I turned to Divius, who was deep in thought before nodding.
“Interfering with teleportation… Lampades’ radar itself is unprecedented, so the Ten Towers wouldn’t anticipate this. We could indeed gain the time we need.”
With Divius, the most knowledgeable about the Ten Towers’ current capabilities, acknowledging its feasibility, the first phase of the Plan of World Division—persuasion—was a success.
***
After the meeting, the top floor of Hydra Corporation held only Orthes and Carisia.
“Divius made a sharp observation. Without him, we might have failed due to an oversight,” Carisia noted.
Orthes grinned. Once the plan gained momentum, Hydra Corporation’s Artificial Commandments would ensure superiority in any direct confrontation with a single Ten Tower.
“Next is reviewing our allies?”
“Yes. We’ll coordinate with the Divine Cult and await Niobe’s report. However, none of this is urgent. Take a day off.”
Carisia nodded. With some free time, she decided to ask a lingering question.
“Orthes, you don’t have anything pressing to do right now, do you?”
“Ah, no. I was going to review the plan again, but it’s practically finalized.”
“Then explain more about that ‘tax-dodging consultant’ friend of yours.”
Orthes, unbothered, nodded and gestured toward the chair across from him.
“Where should I start? He was the first friend I made.”
“First friend?”
“When I woke up, his face was the first thing I saw. We’ve known each other a long time.”
Orthes described how the “old man” had taught him much.
“The spell-overwriting techniques I use require understanding the original spell. I’ve honed my skill, but it was the old man who taught me the foundational knowledge.”
“A detailed understanding of spell structures and dismantling techniques… Is that why he’s called a ‘tax-dodging consultant’?”
“Precisely. Modern magical systems are built on axioms proven by earlier research, and usage rights are taxed by the Ten Towers.”
The old man would meticulously dismantle spell structures, find obscure loopholes, and argue their uniqueness in court.
“No judge in Panoptes could outwit him. After dodging taxes—or rather, optimizing them—he’d vanish without a trace.”
“And now?”
“He reached out after seeing our sponsorship of Kynemon in the Amimone Tower announcement. His connections are ideal for our plans.”
Carisia couldn’t help but smile. Unlike Orthes’ other so-called “friends,” this one had contacted him first.
Maybe, she thought, this one is a real friend.