Chapter 87

Argeyirion split into four groups and advanced into an unknown ruin from all directions.

The group that entered from the east left only a horrifying scream on their communicator before losing contact.

Clearly, something was wrong. The commanders of the other three groups were hastily exchanging opinions.

Splash.

It sounded like water through the communicator.

Through the static-filled communication lines, a voice came through, filled with menace.

“Haha, where are you all in such a hurry to go?”

***

The commander of the western infiltration group immediately cast a spell upon seeing a suspicious figure. It was a Blasphemia agent’s instinct.

The projectile of lightning was powerful and swift, designed for subduing individuals. Five bolts of thunder spears were fired, each aimed at different vital points.

However, the lightning never reached the man. From the moment the magic was prepared, ‘water’ rose up, blocking the magic and rushing toward the commander.

The defense barrier activated by the artifact was assaulted relentlessly by the water, which was no ordinary liquid given its weight and density.

Splash. The man stepped on the water again.

“It is unfortunate we meet this way. You could have remained good friends of the Ten Towers.”

Clearly mocking words. The agents of Argeyirion easily identified his identity.

“Ten Towers…!”

So, the rescue signal was indeed a trap set by the Ten Towers? Or was it information obtained through torture?

“I thank you all for gathering here. It’s regrettable I had to come out personally instead of waiting for you down below.”

The arrogance characteristic of members of the Ten Towers was evident. Such self-display could only come from someone who believed they held absolute superiority. Argeyirion could deduce much from the man’s tone.

This ruin was a well-constructed trap. The deeper one went, the greater the cost to escape.

“Escape immediately! It’s a trap!”

“Ah, did I not prepare enough yet?”

“What’s happening! Report the situation!”

“The rescue signal was all a trap set by the Ten Towers! Find a way out!”

In an attempt to counter the transparent ‘water,’ the commander gathered mana once more, causing the liquid to move faster. Having served as a Blasphemia agent, his intuition was sharp.

“A liquid-type servitor that tracks magical power! Suppress all your mana and retreat to the surface! I’ll buy some time!”

His subordinates didn’t fall prey to unnecessary sentimentality and quickly evacuated while suppressing their magical fluctuations.

The Argeyirion commander glared at the Ten Towers mage standing across the defensive barrier. His vision was obscured by the ‘water’ continuously eroding the barrier.

But somehow, he could make out the annoying smirk on the mage’s face.

Always like this. Members of the Ten Towers always carried themselves this way.

Like children playing with ants, intoxicated by the power to trample life as if it were a toy — cruel absolutists.

The artifact’s durability was reaching its limit. He would need to manually redeploy the defensive barrier. To delay the Ten Towers mage even a second longer…

“Damn Ten Towers traitors…”

With gritted teeth, the commander unleashed a spell. The fire magic activated just before the barrier completely broke managed to momentarily dry up the water flow.

With the cleared vision, he could now recast the defensive spell—

Ortes’ blue eyes met the commander’s gaze.

The ominous blue light entering the commander’s retina dredged up faded memories, illuminated by blessings from an outer dimension. A nightmare of blue light.

“You…! You’re…”

“Troublesome.”

Ortes activated the high-frequency blade. In the next instant, the commander’s entire field of vision was flooded with that eerie blue glow.

***

A warning alarm popped up in Daro’s mind, transmitted directly to his computational artificial brain from the observation drones scattered around the temple.

“Fluid object observed near the entrance.”

Daro smiled.

“You’re quicker than I thought. Naturally, since you’re lapdogs of our Ten Towers.”

The caster of the liquid metal controlling them must be on the ground rather than inside the temple, having abandoned infiltration to directly eliminate the threat.

It was a fast and accurate judgment. Typically, the stronger the servitor, the weaker the magician’s personal defenses.

Powerful servitors usually equate to massive mana consumption. Thus, there are two main combat styles: staying close to the servitor for protection or fighting entirely from a distance using only the servitor.

If the caster is far from the battlefield, it’s reasonable to assume they focus solely on mana supply and have low personal combat ability.

But their thinking was shortsighted.

Such ‘typical’ judgments might work against apprentices or junior members of the Ten Towers.

But Daro was already an elder of the Ten Towers.

To him, common magical knowledge was meaningless.

Even though he was still in the middle of completing a spell, dealing with inferior magicians not aligned with the Ten Towers posed no problem.

Allocating two of his three computational auxiliary brains to incantation, Daro plunged his palm into the ground. Metallic components buried hundreds of meters beneath the soil gathered together. Designs for weapons stored in his computational brain were output through his fingertips.

An armament factory utilizing soil as raw material. This was why Silver Iron Tower mages were called one-man armies.

He could see Argeyirion members approaching. He hoped all personnel deployed here would gather.

“So we don’t have to do this twice.”

He wanted to excavate relics in a comfortable environment. With a flick of his finger, autonomous artillery platforms locked onto targets.

***

“When did this happen!”

The Argeyirion members who escaped from underground were shocked.

They had fled the evil servitor, ‘water,’ maintaining communication to avoid being picked off individually.

Just as they were about to convene a meeting to decide whether to retreat, they saw magical constructs slowly approaching from the horizon.

Should they return inside and scatter through another exit?

But cold metallic gleams from the sky blocked their path. All exits were under surveillance. Scattering forces would only lead to being picked off one by one.

Until they entered the ruins, they hadn’t sensed any other magician’s mana. But how could such a dense network of magical constructs be possible?

Even deploying spatial magic would be nearly impossible. Not because the Ten Towers lacked transportation abilities, but because Argeyirion would have detected such large-scale spatial magic.

Unless it was the techniques of heretical believers that act through divine power rather than mana…

The commanders of Argeyirion quickly assessed the situation.

There was only one magic tower capable of deploying a small-scale space transfer and creating such a large unmanned battalion: the Silver Iron Tower, specifically one of its elders.

“They’ve booby-trapped the entire ruin and deployed an elder-level magician outside!”

“This is dangerous. The rescue signal may not have been forged but leaked from a captured comrade.”

Elders of the Ten Towers don’t move lightly. For those dedicated to ascension, worldly battles are trivial squabbles.

The fact that an elder would personally step in suggests that some plan known only to Argeyirion’s leadership may have been exposed.

“If we survive and return, we’ll need to thoroughly reevaluate the list of missing comrades. Was there betrayal?”

“Perhaps they’ve developed a way to extract memories from even minds blessed by the great cause. The power of the Ten Sages is limitless.”

They coolly analyzed the situation. Even with all Argeyirion operatives deployed here, taking down a single elder was questionable.

“I’ll do it.”

Thus, they made their choice.

One commander of Argeyirion drove a silver stake into their own heart. The silver stake slowly dissolved, circulating through their veins. As the commander’s skin turned silver, their body began to contort grotesquely.

Centered around the hole in their heart, the human form crumpled into a circular shape. With a crunching sound, the silver circle expanded.

The hole in the heart grew larger as well, and a silver wave began to flow out.

It was power descending from ‘the great cause.’

As the silver wave enveloped the bodies of the Argeyirion members, their forms began to mutate. Like the first commander who drove the silver stake into their heart, their skin turned silver, but the transformation didn’t stop there.

Their bodies metamorphosed as if cloaked in shining armor, and blade-like feathers sprouted from their shoulders, forming wings.

Grateful for the abundant power and grace, they flapped their silver wings. The mana imbued in their wingbeats freed them from the earth’s gravity.

At that moment, the magical constructs began firing. Amidst the gunpowder smoke, special ammunition of various attributes glimmered. The angels of the great cause soared forward to annihilate the enemy while the gate of grace remained open.

Watching from afar, Ortes lamented.

“Great. Now they can fly?”

***

Kore, observing Ortes through the power of the grand cathedral, muttered.

“What a ridiculous cheat…”

That he could drive Argeyirion to the ground with mere words and then engage in battle with a Ten Towers mage—was this man casting spells with his tongue?