Chapter 93 – The Prelude to Chaos (9)
Carisia didn’t fully explain the future she had witnessed.
In the vision, Orthes was already on the verge of bringing down the silver giant and seizing its heart.
But at that moment, the Ten Magic Towers dispatched a second elder.
Whether it would end with just two, no one could tell. Even as Orthes fought the elder who could crumble the earth, the spatial rift continued to shimmer, hinting at the possibility of another arrival.
Carisia looked up at the sky. Judging by the positions of the stars set in the celestial sphere, this was something that would occur a few hours from now.
『What about the meeting with our allies?』
『They were supposed to retreat on their own once the mission was complete. If they have any sense, they should know the situation has wrapped up and will pull out.』
In Orthes’ mind, it was likely that the priests from the Divine Cult had already retreated.
Despite the interference of Talos’ barrier, the second gate opened by Argyrion had done so rather quickly. Though it had been noticeably slower than the first gate, considering they had to bypass a barrier directly erected by one of the elders of the Ten Magic Towers, it was still quite fast.
Perhaps the angels had exceptional skill in breaking through the barrier, but there was a more rational explanation.
It was likely easier to breach the barrier because a gap had already been created through the Holy Incantation of Pyrios.
If an elder from the Ten Magic Towers had personally come forward, it would be wise to retreat as soon as possible, even if it meant taking a bit of a risk. Orthes, setting aside his slight disappointment with the cult, spoke to Carisia.
『Boss, do you happen to have any spare clothes with you? This one’s soaked with blood and sweat—it’s hardly fit to wear.』
『Do you think I would?』
Surely, she would. Given Carisia’s meticulous nature, she was the type to account for every contingency, no matter how small, even when pressed for time.
Orthes swiftly moved his body as far as it could take him.
Leaving behind the silver corpse of the giant, the scattered fallen angels, and the black stone cliff that loomed ominously over the sacrilegious battlefield.
He disappeared beyond the horizon, leaving all traces of the battle behind.
***
Just as Orthes had predicted, the priests from the Divine Cult evacuated the area in haste. Demus, initially opposing the retreat, had wanted to remain behind while sending the other Enyalius priests to safety.
However, even he couldn’t ignore Hyacinth’s persuasion.
“They say Argyrion’s angels are battling the mage from the Ten Magic Towers outside. Orthes is stoking the conflict from behind and will soon be in a position to retreat. Rest assured.”
“As the archbishop, you have the duty to protect the cult’s priests. In this dire and unstable space-transfer situation, anything could happen. Go and take care of your brethren.”
“…”
Demus could not turn his back on his responsibilities.
Hyacinth, a priest of Phoibos, stayed behind to announce the safest moment for the space transfer to the others.
‘It would’ve been helpful if Proditor were here.’
Proditor, the one who bestowed Pyrios’ Holy Incantation upon the priests, had not participated in this temple recapture operation. He was carrying out a secret mission assigned by the pope.
So it was only the elderly Hyacinth who remained in the deepest part of Pluton’s Temple.
Well, not quite alone.
There was one more.
Kore, the priestess of Pluton.
With trembling eyes, she gazed at the battlefield outside. No one had a clearer view of the unfolding battle around the temple than she did.
It wasn’t Orthes’ brutal and deadly combat prowess that surprised her.
What truly shocked her was the outrageous magic Orthes had displayed—magic that contradicted his vehement denial of any connection to the “vanished mage.”
When the silver giant’s cannons had opened wide, ready to fire upon Orthes, every single warhead suddenly stopped functioning.
It seemed like a miracle, a divine intervention. But Kore knew this was no ability that could be dressed up in such lofty terms.
Only the power of the “vanished mage” could nullify the magic of the Ten Magic Towers so easily.
‘With powers like those, and yet he denies any connection to that mage…?’
It was a ludicrous contradiction. He couldn’t seriously be suggesting that this was a technique akin to a Holy Incantation or divine spirit.
No Holy Incantation could interfere with the activation or completion of magic itself and render it inert. Perhaps a divine spirit gifted by the ancient gods, who embody the very laws of the universe, could manage such a feat.
The powers of the ancient gods, who manipulated time and space, were a mystery even to the Divine Cult.
But as far as Kore knew, there was only one person who could wield such powers of the ancient gods.
Suddenly, Kore caught sight of Orthes speaking something. The usual faint smile that always graced his lips was gone, an odd sight indeed.
‘A conversation?’
Talking to oneself in solitude is often seen as the first sign of madness. But Kore didn’t think Orthes was that type of deranged person.
Orthes was looking off into the distance, as if someone was there. After muttering something with visible emotion, his expression changed. A slight smile, as usual. Somehow, it felt like resignation.
And then, he started walking in the direction he had been gazing at.
It was as if he had been called by someone and was now leaving to answer the summons.
The realization that there might be something—or someone—who could give orders to Orthes terrified Kore.
Who else could command a fragment of the vanished mage other than the vanished mage himself?
As Kore gasped in fear, Orthes crossed the black stone cliff. Carisia had been watching him from a location opposite the one where he had fought Talos, so there was no other direction he could have taken.
Scaling cliffs and walking across the rocks, Orthes left a few drops of blood on the ground of Pluton’s Temple.
By the time Orthes had disappeared from the temple’s vicinity, his blood had seeped deep into the heart of the temple.
*Goooooong—*
A strange resonance echoed through the temple as it trembled. Kore felt a massive surge of divine power flowing into the symbols with which she was aligned.
“What… what is this?”
The temple suddenly seemed to have reverted to the age of ancient myths. The long-dormant Holy Incantations of the temple reactivated, radiating their divine power.
Kore realized that Pluton’s Temple was now alive. She could control the massive structure as if it were an extension of her own limbs—or perhaps even more effortlessly than that.
This was the answer to why the temple had been the last bastion against the Mage King.
Just as Pluton, wearing his transparent helmet, roamed the world without revealing his true form to any living being, Pluton’s Temple could also shift its location.
All the relics and the temple itself, which had been lying dormant, were now in the hands of the cult.
Kore felt a strange mix of joy and sorrow at the same time.
Because in the end, the divine radiance of these relics would inevitably fade in the hands of the pope.
***
Pluton’s Temple vanished. The black cliffs seemed to stretch out over the land like a vast shadow before they disappeared completely.
The site of this miracle was left in the wake of an immense amount of divine power. Blasphemia was the first to notice.
Blasphemia reported this to the Ten Magic Towers, and the towers soon realized that the location where the divine power surge had occurred was the same as the one from which the distress signal related to the Mage King’s legacy had originated.
Something terrifying had occurred.
The Ten Magic Towers tore open space and dispatched elders immediately. What in the world had happened at that place?
They arrived to find the corpse of Talos. The innermost part of the faded giant. Talos’ brain chip was missing.
The auxiliary processing brains remained, but they weren’t devices for storing memories. They could only be used to trace the combat log and analyze what magic had been employed.
And scattered around were angels—corpses imbued with extra-dimensional energy.
Their silver hue, while different from the usual silver of the Silver Iron Tower, was undoubtedly that of Argyrion.
The Ten Magic Towers wondered:
‘Could Argyrion really be strong enough to defeat one of our elders with just a small squad?’
‘What was the nature of that divine power wave and the signal referencing the Mage King? Is this what their so-called “greater cause” refers to…?’
***
Argyrion wondered the same.
As soon as contact was lost with the dispatched Argyrion agents, the organization quickly sent reinforcements to the scene.
The sight that greeted them was shocking. Their comrades, still in their incomplete state of angelification, lay broken. Their proud wings were crushed and pitifully strewn across the ground.
But even more shocking than the sight of their fallen comrades was the sight of the giant’s corpse beside them.
And the immense magical energy radiating from the mages hovering above the giant—undoubtedly elders of the Ten Magic Towers.
Which meant…
‘Our agents took down an elder of the Ten Magic Towers?!’
“We, Argyrion, are strong!”
A proud rookie declared, but the senior agent beside them swiftly silenced them with a hand on the shoulder.
The senior raised a finger to their lips. Though they were some distance from the scene, there was no telling what kind of strange methods the elders might use to detect them.
It would be best to retreat as quickly
as possible and report back to headquarters.
‘Our agents couldn’t possibly be that strong.’
This was the objective conclusion. Even with the power boost from angelification, only the higher-ups could possibly stand a chance against the elders.
And yet, an elder had fallen.
‘It’s not that we’ve grown stronger—it’s that the Ten Magic Towers have grown weaker!’
It wasn’t a simple matter of mana levels or magical abilities, but a psychological factor that could only be sharpened through life-and-death combat.
The elders, having wielded absolute authority for decades and reigned at the top of the towers, had undoubtedly forgotten how to wield their power effectively.
‘Before they shake off their complacency and regain their edge, we must take advantage of this situation.’
Delusion spread like a plague.
Chaos—no, *great* chaos—was coming.
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