Chapter 86

The warning about the Ten Towers’ arrival left me disoriented.

No. The bitter sense of failure that had filled my inner self vanished in an instant, so in a way, I could say I felt cleansed.

There’s no time to linger lost in sentiment. I gripped the high-frequency blade.

A thunderous calamity has set off my survival instincts. Let’s first sort out the situation.

“Argyreion and the Ten Towers are here?”

Why would those two show up together?

The only one capable of causing such a high-level ruckus that would bring both factions together should have been me.

Surely, it can’t be that another successor to my chaotic legacy has appeared now. If there were a competitor of such caliber, it would completely derail my future plans.

I tried to organize my increasingly complicated thoughts.

Let’s assume, based on Pluto Priest’s reasoning, that Adusiam’s core caused something, resulting in the appearance of Argyreion and the Ten Towers.

If we consider that a golem created by the Wizard King sent out a distress signal, it was likely directed towards the Ten Towers.

Though this is under the premise that the golem is unaware of its creator’s betrayal.

So, did the Ten Towers intervene first, followed by Argyreion?

In the rare case where an elder-like figure from the Ten Towers personally deploys, Argyreion somehow detected it. They must have sensed the unusual situation through some kind of intelligence network and dispatched their forces just as quickly to interfere with the Ten Towers’ operation.

‘This seems like the kind of scenario that could play out…’

So, Argyreion knows about the Ten Towers, but the Ten Towers might not know about Argyreion.

If I can make these two factions aware of each other’s existence before they notice the Theistic Order, I might be able to incite conflict between them and slip away safely.

To execute this plan, I need to pinpoint exactly where both factions are located first.

In other words, I’ll need to use my eyes again—fully, not half-open like during the relic incident.

Today, it feels like I’m using my eyes more than usual. It almost feels like I’m getting dry eye syndrome. Maybe I should’ve brought some eyedrops.

I opened my eyes.

***

Kore’s senses expanded strangely. It was as if the entire temple had become an organ for her sixth sense, akin to how humans perceive taste with their tongues or sight with their eyes.

The chatter of the order members, the cloaked figures of intruders using magic, and the distorted air currents manipulated by drones hiding in the darkness—all were perceptible.

Ah—

Kore modulated her voice. No one inside the grand temple could hear her voice physically; it resonated on a more fundamental level.

To put it simply, this was a matter of reception. There were various ways to communicate in this world: physical utterances, telepathic waves, or even dialogues between souls.

Even within the same category, there were multiple ‘channels.’ For instance, while humans can hear sounds within a certain frequency range, there are also ultrasonic frequencies beyond our hearing.

Kore had the ability to broadcast her voice through all channels within the grand temple, but whether people had the capacity to receive it was another question.

Her current voice transmission was limited to a channel that only she, who was attuned to the temple’s representation, could hear. She began searching for other channels—the spiritual ones connecting individuals with divine power.

Suddenly, she sensed something strange.

Ortes was looking up at the sky.

As if he had heard her voice moments ago.

His icy eyes were no longer hidden beneath his eyelids. A cold, sharp gaze pierced the air before moving elsewhere.

‘What on earth…?’

As Kore was pondering this, an unfamiliar voice reached her.

“Can you hear me?”

It was Ortes’ voice. Yet, he continued running without stopping, and there was no one around him to talk to.

“I believe you can hear me. Priest of Pluto.”

His voice remained steady despite his running. As Kore’s eyes flickered, Ortes’ announcement continued.

“I’ll draw the attention of these two factions. Please ensure the other members of the order remain well-hidden.”

It was an odd reaction from someone who had just said that being discovered by the Ten Towers would cause trouble.

“There’s still residual backlash from the spatial magic used by Argyreion and the Ten Towers. Even if we attempt a teleportation ritual through the sacred circle of Proditus, there’s a high chance we’d be swept into another dimension. Once enough time has passed after their clash, then you may retreat.”

[What exactly do you hope to achieve?]

“Oh. Sorry, but I can’t hear anything you say.”

An outright dismissal.

Kore tried to reconnect with Ortes’ channel but couldn’t find it. It was difficult to even guess which channel inside him matched his peculiar abilities.

If she transmitted her message across all channels simultaneously, it would reach Ortes—but it would also alert the Ten Towers and Argyreion.

With doubts and frustration simmering, Kore refined her instructions to the order members.

She devised a path that avoided the movements of the drones sent by the Ten Towers and the gazes of Argyreion’s infiltrators, leading everyone to converge safely.

***

Ortes looked up at the ceiling again. It wasn’t a meaningful action since his vision had transcended the physical limitations of the retina.

It was more of a habit. He could see diverse fields of energy moving in complex trajectories.

He saw the alien dimensional field of Argyreion and the neatly organized magical fields embedded within the small flying bodies spread by the Ten Towers.

The members of the order moved in unison, as if receiving some kind of revelation.

They weren’t just moving; they were setting up ambushes at strategic points to annihilate the enemy.

‘Indeed. I thought something was off when the grand temple suddenly gained an inexplicable addition.’

While heading toward the Ten Towers with his heightened vision, Ortes noticed an additional, somewhat broken description added to the temple’s usual explanations of materials, creators, or assigned sacred symbols.

When piecing together the readable parts, the phrase “the eyes, ears, and mouth of the apostle” could be discerned.

Ortes guessed that this addition was related to the artifact he had handed over to the Priest of Pluto and adjusted his plan accordingly.

‘My face is public property anyway. It’s been used and hasn’t been forgotten. Using it a few more times won’t make much difference.’

Knowing that his face wouldn’t even appear clearly in cameras powered by mana, Ortes was confident that even if Argyreion’s combatants carried body cams, they wouldn’t capture his face properly.

‘The problem is if they realize their old enemy is alive.’

Ortes weighed the return against the risk. Since the leadership of Argyreion had ended up adrift in another dimension while trying to kill him and Carisia, they must already suspect that their target might still be alive.

Surely, there’s no chance Argyreion would share information with Blasphemia.

Within Blasphemia, they consider the target of the Golden Desert Operation dealt with. Ortes had ensured the circumstances supported this belief. The elder dispatched by the Ten Towers likely doesn’t care about lower operatives’ affairs and, even if they knew about the Golden Desert Operation, they wouldn’t suspect Ortes is alive.

Summarizing, Ortes concluded that while Argyreion might confirm their suspicions, neither Blasphemia nor the Ten Towers would learn of his survival.

‘Exposing my face isn’t a problem.’

Unless closely tied to Baegwang like Carisia, a nation without mana shouldn’t concern the elder of the Ten Towers. Ortes resolved to unleash his old tricks from the days he evaded Blasphemia.

***

Daro began moving his drones more actively.

After the first arm attachment, the remaining three quietly slithered, searching for the next host.

‘Hmm, looks like Argyreion just started their excavation.’

Surprisingly, the ruins were eerily quiet. Besides the incoming Argyreion agents from other directions, there were no signals from ancient artifacts or excavators within the ruins.

‘Seems they sent out a signal upon detecting the breach of the ruin’s barrier. Fortunately, the part contaminated by the eroded ones’ mana isn’t extensive.’

Here lies the marvelously preserved work of the Wizard King. Daro’s alloy skeleton quivered with a smile.

He shifted his gaze from the other three drones onto the Argyreion agent equipped with one of his drones.

After seizing control of a body, one usually reads the memories from the brain, but with the eroded ones whose brains have been altered by the outer dimension, reading memories is difficult.

Especially since the brains have already been shredded, accessing memories is nearly impossible. He formed the liquefied spirit metal into an artificial brain-like structure to control the eroded ones’ bodies, but their nervous systems differ from humans, causing continuous malfunctions.

Another Argyreion operative notices the irregular behavior and asks,

“Is something wrong? Did you detect any signs of curses?”

“Nothing’s wrong.”

Oh, my voice cracked.

Magic gathers in the hand of the suspicious Argyreion operative. Daro smirked as he manipulated the liquid metal.

With a sound like deflating air, the body of the agent equipped with the left arm exploded. Instead of bodily fluids, streams of liquefied metal gushed out from the torn body.

“What?!”

The liquefied metal coating the Argyreion agent transformed into gear-like structures. Countless nanomachines numbering in the tens of millions moved in perfect coordination, starting to grind the victims’ bodies.

Crack! Crack!

In an instant, the liquefied metal shattered the magical field and protective suits, grinding the flesh. Those who screamed were among the luckier ones; those who faced the liquid directly had their vocal cords destroyed first.

Screams echoed throughout the grand temple. Unfortunately, stealthy tracking was over.

Now begins the hunt.

All the liquefied metal stored in the other three pre-positioned drones is released. What appears to be merely dozens of liters of transparent liquid akin to water.

Daro issued his command: Grind everything with magic.

He turned his attention away from the drone issuing orders and began preparing a spell.

A secret art of a great mage that could easily overthrow any resistance from Argyreion.

***

Kore witnessed the horrifying scene of water-like substance devouring people. The undulating liquid army advancing.

One stream was on a collision course with Ortes, who was ascending. Before Kore could warn him, the liquid grazed Ortes’ ankle.

And nothing happened.

“…?”