Chapter 172: The Siege of White Light Tower(3)
In magical society, the fundamental structure of a city was simple and straightforward. First, there was the Magic Tower—a control apparatus for the mana core, which purified extra-dimensional mana. The sphere of influence of the mana core materialized in the form of barriers surrounding the city’s borders.
A magic tower and its barriers—these were the most basic components of a city’s structure.
The barriers were part of the magic circle linked to the magic tower and also served as the operational boundary for the extra-dimensional purification formula. You could even say they visualized the purification range of the mana core assigned to the tower.
In cities like Etna, which housed multiple magic towers, the extent of the barrier's coverage increased accordingly. The Etna City that Carisia had sent crashing into White Light included the entire city, outer walls and all. Its mass alone was overwhelming compared to an ordinary city.
But even such colossal mass couldn’t exceed the sphere of influence of White Light. The area within Etna City’s barriers was a result of the combined output of three mana cores, yet a single Ten Commandments far surpassed that combined output.
Thanks to the overwhelming output of the Ten Commandments, the Ten Towers structured their barriers as layered systems. The mana density between each wall was adjusted so that the closer one got to the tower, the purer and denser the mana became.
This served as both an artificially tailored environment for magical experiments and a symbol of social hierarchy—a stark reminder that purer mana was reserved for mages of higher standing.
Because of this structure, one could often predict the outcome of a succession battle based on the breach of the first barrier.
Under most circumstances, the first barrier was manned by the weakest disciples. By measuring how much combat power the challengers expended in their initial fight, the overall flow of the succession battle could be reasonably anticipated.
But this time, the circumstances were far from ordinary. White Light had stationed elders at its first barrier.
The most skilled elders had been dispatched to the Argyrion Expedition, while the remaining elders stood ready to intercept enemies at the barriers. As for the mages who stayed behind at the main tower, their level was below that of the elders.
Except for one—the Tower Lord.
This unusual deployment of forces was a direct result of Hydra Corporation’s succession battle.
The magical society at large viewed Hydra Corporation’s succession battle as an act of madness. The more rational members of the society speculated that there must be an underlying intent behind Hydra Corporation’s actions.
It was simply inconceivable for an ordinary magic tower, not even one of the Ten, to challenge the Ten Towers to a succession battle. There had to be a third party pulling the strings behind the scenes.
However, most analysts hit a wall when they reached the next question: “Who on earth stands to gain from such an absurd move?”
Surprisingly, White Light presented a convincing answer to this question.
“Another of the Ten Towers.”
The Lords of the Ten Towers were asymmetric forces in magical society. Officially, the Lord of White Light was the pinnacle of light-attribute magic; unofficially, they were considered the greatest mage of this era, among the most powerful of the Ten Lords.
While the era’s greatest mage remained behind, the other Nine Tower Lords had disappeared beyond the extra-dimension. This was White Light’s golden opportunity to extend its dominance, increasing its influence over magical society and rising beyond a mere member of the Ten Towers to its leader.
So, other towers had likely devised a plan: they would use the name of a lesser tower, like Hydra Corporation, to declare a succession battle.
White Light had identified the timing of when another tower approached Hydra Corporation—during the relic self-reporting period and the internal investigations of Hydra Corporation. Hydra Corporation, which had failed to unify even Etna City, suddenly gained the resources and influence necessary to involve itself in the tower lord decision battle of Amimone Tower. Such rapid growth was nothing short of extraordinary.
White Light Tower’s Strategic Planning Division analyzed this explosive growth as being the result of sponsorship from another of the Ten Towers. It concluded that a tower interested in recruiting Hydra Corporation into its sphere of influence had granted them overwhelming support.
A nameless tower from the outskirts had, in a short time, grown to the point where it could compete for the legacy of a Proper Magic Tower. Such growth was only possible under the shadow of the Ten Towers.
Initially, the Ten Tower supporting Hydra Corporation likely viewed their sponsorship as a simple means of expanding their faction. But when the Argyrion Expedition was announced, the situation changed.
To prevent White Light’s expansion, they would use Hydra Corporation as a stopgap measure. Since Hydra Corporation’s allegiance to a specific Ten Tower had not yet been confirmed, it was an ideal tool for this purpose.
White Light’s Strategic Planning Division deduced that Hydra Corporation’s role was “name borrowing”. Hydra Corporation would formally declare the succession battle, but the actual attack would be conducted by another Ten Tower.
It was a warning.
Even in the absence of a Tower Lord, the other Ten Towers would not sit idly by and allow White Light’s expansionist ambitions. It was an implicit threat to intercept White Light whenever it made any move to physically extend its influence.
White Light’s Strategic Planning Division had prepared this analysis the moment Hydra Corporation declared the succession battle. It was an almost instantaneous answer, provided by think tanks linked to Ether Space.
Thus, White Light positioned its elders at the front. Their intent was to adjust their response according to the severity of the warning prepared by the other Ten Towers.
If the warning proved powerful enough, they would acknowledge that it was not yet time to pursue dominance over magical society. However, if no sufficient force remained to stop White Light...
White Light would advance.
Towards ascension.
***
White Light likely perceived the situation this way. The fact that the elders were primarily stationed in the direction of the magic engine train tracks—linked to other Ten Towers—made it almost certain.
But all of these plans were rendered meaningless by Carisia’s “It’s Etna City! WRYYYYYYYYYY!”
While White Light focused all its resources on the falling Etna City, I managed to break through the three barriers and reach the main tower.
At moments like this, I found myself oddly grateful for my magicless constitution. After all, it rendered me immune to the creature-detection spells that were practically plastered all over White Light’s domain.
From the main tower, immense mana was pouring out. Not only was it supplied by the Ten Commandments at close range, but thanks to my earlier handiwork, even more mana was now concentrated in this space.
Even with my eyes barely open, I felt dizzy.
I swallowed hard. This was no time to clutch my head in despair. The mages who had been in the tower had already gone to the upper levels to pursue Carisia.
But they weren’t the only ones. The mages stationed on White Light’s outskirts would also head toward the tower to intercept Carisia.
And I had to stop them from joining forces.
I exhaled. It would be a difficult task, but it was nothing compared to Carisia, who was fighting White Light’s Tower Lord alone until I could join her.
Where should I start? Most of the mana within White Light’s domain was under the control of the Ten Commandments. While the artificial Ten Commandments’ encroachment had begun, its influence wasn’t yet sufficient to disrupt the main tower directly connected to Etna City.
Not that it mattered to me. Mana control was only relevant to those who could actually use magic. My own use of magical elements was limited to the magic-engraved drive. Tools like that, which operated on built-in mana, were still functional.
But such basic magic wouldn’t be enough to change the tide of battle. Overwriting White Light’s defensive spells? Impossible—the scale was far too massive. Adding a few formulae to the magic-engraved drive?
The basic spells of common magic-engraved drives couldn’t withstand White Light’s mana output. They would shatter before I even finished overwriting them.
If I couldn’t rely on magic...
Then there was only one thing left to trust in: divine power.
However, the god I prayed to was not one of the Twelve High Gods.
It was the God of Firepower.
I fiddled with the special relic-enhanced equipment Carisia had entrusted to me.
***
The elders stationed at the third barrier, White Light’s outermost wall, managed to maintain their composure despite the catastrophic fall of Etna City.
But even they could not fathom the principle behind such a massive spatial transfer. Moving an entire city would require a mana source on par with the Ten Commandments.
No matter how wary the other Ten Towers were of White Light’s dominance, it was unthinkable that they would deploy their own Ten Commandments in such a backwater region.
So how had such an immense mana supply been secured?
The elders’ thoughts raced. Suddenly, one of them spoke.
“What if they’ve burned through all the relics they’ve confiscated over the years?”
“What? Sure, deploying them all at once could momentarily produce an output comparable to the Ten Commandments, but... are you suggesting Blasphemia betrayed us?”
“Not betrayed. Those behind Hydra Corporation must also be one of the Ten Towers. Blasphemia wouldn’t have resisted an order to hand over the relics. They’d simply have obeyed.”
“Despicable. As the rightful heirs of magic, we, White Light, are naturally destined to be the first to ascend. And yet they resort to such measures to hinder us?”
The elders concluded that the party responsible for Etna City’s spatial transfer must have been one of the Ten Towers. Such a feat was beyond even the Proper Magic Towers, for they lacked the mana to perform such a miracle.
It was a logical judgment that informed their next move.
“In that case, we cannot rule out the possibility of a follow-up attack via the magic engine trains. Half of us elders will head to the main tower as reinforcements.”
“Will that be enough?”
“We still have the Tower Lord, don’t we?”
A statement of firm confidence. Yet, had they heard Carisia’s imminent scream, they might have realized the error in their judgment.
But the elders were not given the chance to correct their mistake.
Their path was blocked by Orthes.
A massive explosion echoed from the main tower.
And then another.
And another.