The terror began abruptly. A passerby’s body started to swell. The flesh, ballooning uncontrollably, burst under the pressure.
Shreds of skin scattered in all directions. Red droplets of blood and pale chunks of flesh covered the surroundings. At first, there was silence. Then came the screams. Chaos erupted among those splattered with gore and blood.
However, there were those who observed the screams calmly: the experienced mages of Elysion’s security personnel.
Surviving as a mage for a long time makes one familiar with such magical calamities. The seasoned mages drew their equipment and began assessing the situation.
This explosion seemed too weak to be a suicide attack. It resembled more of a curse targeting specific enmity relationships.
The first mages to respond were of two kinds: Baegwang, who wielded light elemental magic specializing in curse removal, and the Black Rock Tower, experts in curses themselves, utilizing dark elemental magic.
As the mages approached the scene, the corpse rose.
A pair of legs, having lost their upper body, stood up. Something white and glowing wriggled out from the ruptured muscles. Instinctively, the mages erected defensive spells and prepared for an attack.
At the tip of their staves, beams capable of melting human flesh in an instant began to form.
But the silver threads exploded outward faster than the beams could fire.
The risen lower body collapsed, and from the gaps in its torn muscles, streams of the white thread poured out. It was like watching parasites escape their host, only magnified to human scale.
Those initially splattered by the explosion fared worse. Silver threads embedded in the chunks of flesh extended and burrowed into their bodies.
Quick-thinking individuals immediately responded by burning the threads or even cutting off parts of their own bodies.
But those who reacted too slowly, or had the threads penetrate sensitive areas like their eyes, met a different fate.
The threads proliferated inside their bodies, using the mages’ own magical power as fuel. Again, the swelling began.
Thus began the flood of silver threads.
“What in the world is happening?”
Could it be that the mages of Elysion accidentally unleashed some bizarre biological weapon they’d been creating?
The cries began outside the examination hall. Several mages, bleeding, fled into the hall. Those taking the exam realized something was amiss.
The mages quickly worked together to seal the entrance with a barrier, preventing the chaos outside from reaching them.
Then, one of the people who had rushed in began to swell.
Just as silvery threads tore through his flesh—
A beam of light shot from somewhere. The precise ray obliterated the infected person completely…
Except it didn’t.
Only the silver threads disappeared. With them gone, the skin sagged grotesquely, resembling a deep-sea fish brought to the surface.
People urgently looked around but could not identify either the magic that removed the threads or who had cast it.
All except Lampades.
The moment he heard ominous sounds from outside, he had begun scanning his surroundings.
Where was Ortes, who had warned him and then left, as if knowing what would happen?
Ortes was nowhere to be seen. The only other person left in the same exam hall was Carisia, the CEO of Hydra Corp.
Finally, as the crowd outside began to pour in, Lampades saw Carisia raise her right hand, adorned with a black gauntlet.
In the moment before the host was about to burst, a high-level spell, incomprehensible to anyone present, unfurled from her index finger.
“Why save them?”
If Ortes’ goal was chaos, wouldn’t it have been better to let this happen? Lampades studied Carisia’s expression.
Her golden eyes glimmered.
“Not like Ortes… though, given that man squints, it’s natural we’d differ.”
Her demeanor—unlike Ortes, whose presence lacked any trace of humanity, Carisia radiated a sense of humanness.
While focusing on these differences, Lampades suddenly noticed the deafening noise outside had ceased.
Beeeeeep—
A piercing sound echoed from a loudspeaker, the kind used to test audio systems before broadcasts.
“Hello, fellow mages of Elysion. We have come forward today to expose the secrets hidden by the Ten Towers.”
Though the speaker said nothing about the terrorism yet, everyone understood: this voice belonged to the mastermind behind the attacks.
“The Ten Towers have repeatedly warned us about the dangers of the Outer Dimensions. They claim the evil lurking beyond threatens our world, cursing the blessings we’ve received! But isn’t that strange?”
Damn. Lampades muttered quietly. Just from the opening lines, he could guess the identity of the speaker.
“If the Outer Dimensions are truly dangerous, why do all mages aspire to transcend to them? While preaching transcendence, they fear the outer world—a contradiction. As evidenced by those who ascend beyond this world, the truth lies within the Outer Dimensions.”
That distorted cognition. Believing that because they possess the ability to transcend the Outer Dimensional doom, the truth resides within destruction itself. An Eroder, or perhaps an Apocalypticist.
In reality, the difference between the two wasn’t significant. Either they were contaminated by the Outer Dimensions and went mad, or they were simply insane.
“To conceal this obvious fact, the Ten Towers spread falsehoods. Research into the Outer Dimensions has been monopolized by them. Fellow mages! Join us, Argeyirion (ἀργύριον)! Gain new eyes and ears to behold true wisdom!”
Lampades took a deep breath. Was this really the group Ortes truly belonged to?
No, it might be the opposite. While the Ten Towers focused on Argeyirion, Hydra Corp could carry out its sinister plans without interference.
“Is Argeyirion merely bait to cover Hydra Corp? Or…?”
Many mages sympathizing with their cause have willingly offered their bodies and powers. Now we shall perform the ritual to liberate this sanctuary, Elysion, from the domination of the Ten Towers…”
The Argeyirion mage never finished. The loudspeaker’s power cut off suddenly. It seemed Elysion’s administration had regained control of the broadcast line.
“Master of the Tower. What should we do?”
“Wait here. This isn’t the first terrorist attack on Elysion. Soon, the Ten Towers will—”
Suddenly, Astrape, who had come to submit her application for the admission test, crossed Lampades’ mind. She was alone now.
A disturbing possibility arose in his mind. He checked his equipment and remaining mana.
His remaining mana was below half, but he still had plenty of charging cartridges left, thanks to his habits from his days as an active solver.
“Stay here and set up a protective barrier. If—”
Ortes’ final message. Seek help from Hydra Corp if things become too overwhelming.
Would Ortes really save Lampades Magic Tower? Lampades believed so. Ortes must have proposed the alliance because Lampades’ tower still held some value.
Still, whether living as a pawn of the apocalypticists or dying, which would bring more happiness, remained uncertain.
Lampades’ gaze shifted toward Carisia. She had approached the host previously entangled in silver threads and was casting a healing spell.
Organs and blood vessels crushed by the mass of silver threads, and skin stretched to its limit, returned to their original state, recovering their forms.
From Carisia’s act of healing someone she had never met, Lampades formed a hypothesis.
“Perhaps…”
Carisia might be different from Ortes. Initially, she seemed unaware of Ortes’ truths, but after hearing his distinct speech patterns, Lampades revised his evaluation…
Actually, her nature hadn’t been entirely tainted by Ortes. That’s why she could heal the victims like this.
“Or maybe Ortes hasn’t revealed his true colors yet. Perhaps he’s skillfully masking his identity, brainwashing others to believe he’s an ally.”
Lampades reached a conclusion.
“If a situation arises where even the gathered mages here cannot handle it, go to Hydra Corp’s president and identify yourselves as members of Lampades Tower to request assistance. However, if the squint-eyed man approaches, do not engage in any conversation. I’m going to find Astrape.”
He decided to trust the compassion and kindness that might still reside within Carisia.
“After I retrieve Astrape… I must inform her that Ortes isn’t trustworthy.”
My life may be at risk, but this pure-hearted mage shouldn’t be unknowingly used by Ortes.
Lampades made that vow.
Carisia examined the host infected by the silver threads and thought.
“Hmm. Clearly, those silver threads are some sort of summoned creatures. Whether they’re technically living or non-living is secondary since a forced recall spell works on them. And if they hadn’t penetrated the host’s brain, healing magic would also have been effective.”
She adjusted her gauntlet.
“Argeyirion, huh? They won’t be difficult to deal with. I’ll have to inform Ortes when he arrives.”
