Chapter 173: The Siege of White Light Tower(4)
I wasn't someone who believed every problem could be solved with violence.
That was Carisia.
Still, some problems could only be solved with violence. Like preventing anyone from approaching the White Light Tower Tower’s main spire, for example.
I pulled out a relic bomb. While it wasn’t possible to replicate the explosive force Carisia unleashed when she planted dozens, maybe even hundreds, of relics across Amimone City and detonated them using an array, this bomb alone had enough power to reduce most structures to dust.
But just throwing this bomb at the spire as it was would be pointless.
It wasn’t about the mages intercepting it—those chasing Carisia had already gone higher up the tower.
No, the issue was the White Light Tower Tower itself.
The spire, receiving the magical power of the Ten Commandments at its core, was so resilient that only a method as absurd as the Etna City Drop could inflict any meaningful damage.
Even if I used my eyes to disrupt the tower’s defensive wards and temporarily weaken its structural integrity, the outcome wouldn’t change.
The tower wasn’t a physical structure so much as it was a magical construct. Even if I were somehow able to blast the lower section to pieces, the spire wouldn’t collapse. As long as the shape of the tower was imprinted into the Ten Commandments, the spire could stand firm without a foundation.
Not only that, it would regenerate, weaving its physical matter back together using raw magical energy.
So my goal wasn’t to physically block the passageway.
I opened my eyes.
The boundless flow of power generated by the Ten Commandments struck my mind like a hammer. A flood of information surged over me the moment I looked. It was reminiscent of the fractal chain of data I encountered when peering into Nastion’s thoughts.
The difference, however, was that while Nastion’s mental defenses were an infinite loop designed to overwhelm my perception, the White Light Tower Tower simply bombarded me with raw data that far exceeded the limits of what my brain could process.
Still, I endured. At this moment, no one else could take on this task but me.
I analyzed the defensive barrier surrounding the White Light Tower Tower. I abandoned any attempt to decipher the secondary and tertiary barriers. Focusing on the warding that connected the first barrier to the main spire would suffice.
I traced the flow of magic. Just as there are strokes in calligraphy, magic circles also follow structured sequences. The defensive spells were incredibly refined, with no wasted elements. It was a marvel of efficiency—proof of thousands of years of refinement.
Its simplicity was its flaw.
Cross-referencing it with the magical systems Carisia had described in the past, I found them almost identical. They hadn’t bothered to hide or modify the structure, likely confident that no one could counter it even if they understood it.
I pinpointed the order in which the magic flowed.
I tilted my head upward. From where the main spire of White Light Tower Tower clashed with Etna City, the artificial Ten Commandments and White Light Tower’s domain were locked in an invisible struggle, eroding each other’s alien powers.
That was it. The White Light Tower Tower’s defensive barrier also served as an extra-dimensional cleansing field.
Of course, Etna City’s magic tower had a similar cleansing field.
The two wards shared an essential similarity at their core. That shared nature would become the invisible dagger I would drive into White Light Tower.
I looked at the pristine white wall of the tower. It looked climbable.
More than anything, I wanted to scar that flawless white. It was White Light Tower that turned my life in the magical society upside down when I ran off with Carisia, wasn’t it?
I pulled out a specially crafted relic and set the detonation timer.
It was time to run.
***
Orthes sprinted up the wall of the spire, tracing a spiral path. The mages who should have intercepted him were either locked in battle with Carisia or trying to repel the force of Etna City that had collided with the spire.
No one noticed the most dangerous chaos unfolding in the midst of this battlefield.
Orthes placed the relic bombs precisely where they needed to be. There wasn’t much time left before detonation.
Activating the communicator embedded in his gauntlet, Orthes shouted, trusting that someone—anyone—on the council of directors would hear him.
"Cease fire immediately! Brace for impact!"
There was a sound on the other end of the communicator, but Orthes didn’t have time to decipher it. The detonation was imminent.
In his vision, he saw the glow of magical circuits coursing through Etna City. He also traced the flow of energy within the White Light Tower Tower.
The instant the magic circuits of Etna City collided with those of White Light Tower, the countdown reached zero.
Orthes kicked off the wall with all his might, leaping into the air above the massive fissure where the two forces had clashed.
The mages of White Light Tower, engaged in a siege against Etna City, turned their gaze upward, unable to look away from the intruder who had burst onto the scene. Orthes grinned and hurled the final relic bomb into the heart of the spire.
A flash.
The explosion came before the sound. A deafening roar drowned out all other noises as the relic bombs Orthes had planted detonated in succession.
The flows of magical energy from White Light Tower and Etna City intertwined, creating a new, unstable current. Each subsequent explosion built upon this chaotic interaction.
Orthes had placed the bombs precisely where the flows converged, ensuring that each detonation occurred at the optimal moment to twist the magical currents further.
Though both the artificial Ten Commandments and White Light Tower shared a similar foundational principle, their energies were fundamentally different.
The artificial Ten Commandments were rooted in divine power, while White Light Tower drew its strength from pure magic. A boundary separated these two forces, preventing them from easily mixing.
Carisia’s bombs obliterated that boundary, acting as a catalyst that fused the two energies through violent explosions.
The merging currents formed a single, colossal magical line.
At that exact moment, Orthes stood at the edge of the magical boundary shared by Etna City and White Light Tower. By throwing himself into the spire alongside the final relic bomb, he placed himself at the epicenter of their convergence.
Raising his high-frequency blade, Orthes drove it into the exposed mana conduit of White Light Tower.
Using a technique that overwrote magical formulas, Orthes fused the cleansing fields of the artificial Ten Commandments and White Light Tower into one.
Brilliant auroras erupted, not into the sky, but downward—into the spire of White Light Tower and the floating Etna City.
It was a towering pillar of light, a god-like judgment descending from the heavens. A kaleidoscope of chaotic colors, a blinding conflagration.
The barrier born from this collision was monstrous. A sealing field that annihilated everything it touched, reducing matter to particles smaller than atoms.
White Light Tower was isolated.
***
Orthes knew his mission had succeeded when he saw the mages of White Light Tower collapse, vomiting blood—or at least, he assumed it was blood. His own vision was clouded with red.
Using his monstrous ‘eyes’ to take in the entirety of White Light Tower and Etna City had pushed his body to its limits.
Each blink left a sticky residue on his eyelids—likely blood.
He staggered, struggling to remain standing. Though he had braced himself for the impact, enduring it was no easy feat. He reminded himself that Carisia was still fighting. It wasn’t time to collapse just yet.
He scanned his surroundings one last time.
The mages of White Light Tower, who had been connected to the Ten Commandments for magical support, were now overwhelmed. The alien energy Orthes had forced into their circuits burned through their magical pathways.
The pain must have been excruciating, like having their entire nervous system ripped apart.
Only those with cybernetic brains or extraordinary willpower could have endured it. Among them, of course, was the master of the White Light Tower Tower.
The mages of Etna City, particularly those in leadership positions, had been briefed on the plan. They only connected to the artificial Ten Commandments for magical reinforcement after the sealing field had stabilized.
The sole exception was Carisia. She was the vanguard, tasked with drawing all attention and confronting the tower master head-on.
Orthes could easily imagine her laughing maniacally, masking her pain as she fought. She wouldn’t show weakness in front of the White Light Tower Tower master.
Using his high-frequency blade as a crutch, Orthes forced himself to stand.
And then, he ran.
This was the final battle between White Light Tower and Carisia.
At the very least, he would be by her side.