Chapter 123

Sprigo did not attempt expansion solely through his own power. The silver soldiers, Drachma, that he brought along were useful even as mass-produced troops, but Sprigo, now in his colossal form, envisioned a different application for them.

The Drachma were saturated with extradimensional mana. Naturally, Sprigo, the master of plant magic, could absorb the extradimensional force contained within the Drachma.

Simultaneously, Sprigo was also their commander. He rearranged all the Drachma across Algus City to locations where they could be more easily absorbed by him.

During this process, the wizards of the Amimone Magic Tower, who had been stuck in a deadlock, managed to catch their breath. They suspected there might be a connection between the massive tree that had risen in the city center and the retreat of the Drachma, but they couldn’t act rashly.

This was because all communications had been severed almost simultaneously with the explosive growth of the silver giant tree. In the ominous silence, the surviving wizards of Amimone had no choice but to focus on immediate survival.

At the root of this silence lay Ortes.

***

Sprigo’s expansion seemed endless. Perhaps fearing exposure if I observed his attempts at expansion nearby, he continued expanding underground through the tunnels beneath Algus City, devouring every silkworm sub-species he encountered.

I was waiting for Sprigo to consume all the silkworms. If even a single reserve force meant for contact with the Argeyirion headquarters remained, my carefully planned future would encounter numerous serious issues.

“No. I must already consider it a problem.”

Why does that Haltoes guy always immediately suspect me whenever something strange happens?

Sprigo has now devoured all the Drachma. This means I no longer need to strain myself trying to monitor multiple places; I can simply focus on Sprigo alone.

I quickly reached into my pocket and grabbed the vial containing the bubbles. Sprigo reacted swiftly.

“Gorgoph! Stop the adversary!”

I could see mana coalescing in the branches of the tree. It was likely gathering enormous power from its roots to project a message strong enough to overcome a storm.

Despite his depleted mana and injuries, Gorgoph attacked without hesitation. Unfortunately for him…

Before he could imbue his body with poison attributes or turn the ground beneath my feet into a swamp, I already held a wand for blowing soap bubbles in my hand.

With my breath, bubbles formed. Beyond the floating bubbles, which rose toward the sky, I could see Gorgoph’s distorted face.

This was the story as seen through the Thorn Field. To my eyes, however, I saw not just external features but accumulated information about the very existence before me.

Eliminating what was unnecessary, my target wasn’t Algus City or the Amimone Magic Tower. Given that the tower’s Magic Core was linked to the Ten Sages, erasing it smoothly would have been questionable anyway, and the Amimone Magic Tower needed to fall into Cnemon’s hands.

Thus, the only things visible to me were the physical substance that constituted Sprigo and the charging Gorgoph.

Confusion flickered in Gorgoph’s expression. In this situation? Why use such a thing?

Various spells exploded from the informant’s hands. Typically, a mage focuses primarily on honing a few talents, but with enchanted gear or magic-etched devices, one can temporarily bypass those limits.

The first spell Gorgoph unleashed was lightning, often symbolic of attack magic. Once it hit, many more spells would follow along the trail of magical residue. It was a clever choice.

But it was too slow.

Thanks to the mana-absorption phenomenon caused by the tree-form Sprigo, the lightning spell, which should have struck at the speed of light, was delayed.

An effect Sprigo himself might not have anticipated. Naturally, the mana absorption was not a deliberate magical construct but rather an innate trait acquired when his body transformed into a colossal tree. Like how ordinary plants absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen, this tree corrupted by the extradimensional plane absorbed mana and converted it into extradimensional mana.

A natural process akin to breathing for humans. The mana stored in the enchanted gear was drawn towards Sprigo’s pull, reducing the spell’s effectiveness. That bought me time.

Each flow of mana following the structure of Gorgoph’s prepared spells was projected onto the bubbles.

I had seen everything necessary.

I raised my finger.

Tap.

***

Danao opened his eyes. The sky still shimmered with chaotic hues, but the silver spire-shaped wizard who had divided his vision was nowhere to be found.

Instead, in front of him stood the self-proclaimed “agent” with glowing blue eyes.

“You…”

“Rest assured. The Amimone Magic Tower is safe.”

“What?”

“The mages who rushed out to chase after Argeyirion following you—they’re alive. The tower’s strength remains intact.”

Danao couldn’t detect any emotion in the man’s words—no mockery, no deception, just indifference.

‘Whatever his reason for keeping me alive…’

If I want to survive, shouldn’t I struggle as much as possible?

“Do you have some use for me?”

“No.”

The calm answer was also a brutally cold verdict for Danao.

“If so, why keep me alive?”

Danao scanned his surroundings. Somehow, neither the towering officer of Argeyirion nor the traitor from the tower was in sight.

“It’s because I promised to do so. Please listen for a moment.”

Tsk. The agent pulled something from his pocket. It was the “relic” intended to lure Argeyirion.

“In fact, this relic has already been used once—not as bait, but in its original function.”

“What?”

“This is Eystia’s Lantern.”

—

Eystia’s Lantern isn’t particularly useful in combat. Its sole purpose is to grant peaceful sleep to those who fall asleep under its light.

Ah, I see you caught that part.

Yes, it’s meant for people. We’ve experimented with various ways to use it for granting peaceful sleep.

People perceive peace differently. For some, a dreamless deep sleep might be peaceful, while others may find waking up refreshed after dreaming of good old times peaceful.

The standard of peaceful sleep judged by this relic depends on its user.

When you, Danao, and Gorgoph were deeply engaged in conversation with Sprigo, I knocked everyone gathered in the control room unconscious and disabled the communication relay function of the Magic Core.

Then I lit the lantern.

Indeed, lighting it while they were unconscious still fulfilled the condition of ‘falling asleep under its light.’

It showed them dreams.

In their dreams, they woke up bound, discovering a transmission via the Magic Core revealing both you, Danao, and Gorgoph as collaborators with Argeyirion.

In the dream, I revealed myself as an agent of Blasphemia and declared that this despicable conspiracy had finally ended.

The dream would conclude with the captured collaborators falling unconscious again.

***

Danao muttered in confusion.

“You… why…?”

The first thought that came to mind was how unnecessarily convoluted the man’s methods were. Whether killing or sparing him, manipulating events from behind the scenes like this was far less efficient than acting directly.

But the man had deliberately planted the false belief that he was a collaborator with Argeyirion.

An explanation flowed gently, like a teacher answering a student’s question during class.

“My goal isn’t your death but replacing you. Therefore, you cannot fall in battle ordinarily. I had to prepare a situation where Danao becomes disqualified as the tower’s leader.”

“So, you intend to make me a collaborator with Argeyirion?”

“Yes. Your qualifications as the tower’s leader will be completely revoked, and the position will pass to someone ideologically pure among the many factions of the Amimone Magic Tower.”

“Hah. Haha…”

Huh—hahaha! Danao burst into laughter. The title of Tower Master, which he had strived to protect until the end, would now vanish forever.

“One… no, two questions.”

Acceptance erased all hesitation. As the man nodded, Danao asked:

“Who will inherit my position?”

“Cnemon.”

“…Who?”

“The last direct descendant of Tabbing Tower, destroyed by your hand. This is his revenge.”

It was a faint memory for Danao. He had demolished countless towers beyond count.

“Once, a friend of mine mentioned over drinks how he wanted to carve his name into history by recounting how you dismantled each of his towers step-by-step, just like you did.”

This was exactly the situation now.

“I’m here to fulfill that request.”

Realizing everything was going wrong due to that “name,” Danao asked one last question.

“Name. Three characters. Tell me your name.”

Suddenly, the realization dawned on him—it was because of that “name.”

“What’s your name?”

“How many characters would you like me to use?”

“Start short, then tell me all.”

“Three characters? Utes—and—”

No one. No one at all.

What an absurd name!

The irony of the name meaning “no one” became Danao’s final emotion.