Chapter 121

“Urgent news from abroad?”

The Chancellor looked at the hunter, Rohaim, with a baffled expression. This man was an agent of the Empire’s intelligence division, but even his family and friends didn’t know about it. Everyone thought he just hunted wild boars with a hawk to make a living. Not once had anyone suspected him of being involved in intelligence work.

It was a relief that he hadn’t run away and stayed, but what significance did news from abroad hold right now? The Chancellor’s head was about to explode from figuring out how to deal with the burning cities, the arsonists, and the fleeing officials.

“Is it dangerous news from the Citadel?”

“Not immediately, at least.”

“Then can’t you tell me later? I’m busy figuring out how to handle our own mess…”

“Elvenheim has been destroyed.”

The Chancellor’s mouth, which had been about to complain, snapped shut. He had thought it would be some trivial conflict between the Church Country and the Empire, but this was completely out of left field. The information might be wrong, but there was a chance it could be true.

“It’s the work of the Primal Demon King, Grimudo.”

“Go on.”

The Chancellor’s heart rate quickened without him realizing it. He couldn’t calm his breathing. When you thought about it, all of this had started because of one monster Grimudo had sent as a joke.

That guy could definitely do something like this. His motives were unclear, but he certainly had the power.

“Keep talking.”

“That’s all the information we have. The handwriting is messy, scribbled all over the place. It’s not neat at all. Considering that one of our highly trained agents was mentally shaken to this extent, they must have seen something horrifying.”

“Horrifying?”

Silently, the hunter pulled out another piece of paper. It was attached to the hawk’s message. The paper was filled with words written in blood. As the text went on, the characters became less like words and more like squiggly, worm-like scribbles.

“Dark. Swallowing me. My body is turning black. Becoming one. And… undecipherable. I have no idea what this is trying to say.”

“…Are you sure this is really Grimudo’s doing? Couldn’t someone have been drunk or high when they sent this?”

No matter how many times he looked at it, it was too bizarre to be about Grimudo. In the midst of the confusing silence, another hawk circled in the air and chirped. It landed on the hunter’s arm and spat out another piece of paper.

– Feltman County in danger! Solzent Kingdom’s border forces collapsed. Elvenheim mutated.

This time, a more composed spy had sent a clearer message. The hunter muttered to himself.

“When we really need to send secret information, we feed it to the hawks like this. This guy must be the spy stationed in Feltman County. He probably sent the message this way because of extreme censorship.”

“Mutated…? What does that mean? Couldn’t he have written more details?”

The Chancellor clicked his tongue. From Elvenheim to here, it was practically from one end of the continent to the other. Whatever was happening over there was still far removed from their current concerns.

When they were on the brink of collapse, the Empire had only offered a token amount of help, and the Church had only cheered them on with words. Now it was time to reap what they had sown. In truth, the Citadel no longer had the strength to help them. So, deep down, he felt somewhat justified.

“The world is getting more chaotic. Does the Demon King think there’s still not enough chaos in this world? I’d rather believe he did this intentionally. If he’s doing this without any awareness…”

The Chancellor muttered to himself and disappeared somewhere. At any rate, this didn’t seem like urgent information for him right now. The Citadel had overcome today’s hardships, and now it was someone else’s turn.

Let those who fled to the Empire and didn’t return deal with it. The current Citadel had neither the means nor the motivation to help them. Whatever happened to Elvenheim, it wasn’t his problem to worry about.

*Whoosh!*

– Imminent explosion.

A short while later, a hawk from the Capital arrived and spat out another piece of paper. Given the time it took for the hawk to fly from the Capital to here, if the explosion had been imminent, it might have already happened by now. The hunter’s eyes widened.

“The Temple and the Imperial Palace are clashing… at a time like this? What does this mean? Are they giving up on dealing with the Demon King?”

Or, as absurd as it sounds, could it be that they still haven’t grasped what’s happening in their own territory?

No way. That couldn’t be. How likely is it that a country where a volcano erupted and the people set fire to the capital would get information faster than the Empire and the Church?

“Well, they’ll figure it out themselves.”

The hunter fed the hawk a piece of meat and lost interest. Even if someone was in big trouble because of Elvenheim, the Citadel would be the last to fall. It’s just too far away.

Now it’s time to watch the fire from across the river.

*****

“You’ve arrived.”

Archbishop Armata bowed his head and greeted the woman stepping out of the carriage. She was wrapped in translucent fabric, her face covered, exuding a cold aura.

“Archbishop. What is the meaning of this?”

The Archbishop, at a loss for words, could only bow his head. Inside, he was fuming, blaming Elwin for leading them astray.

In truth, it wasn’t entirely Elwin’s fault. To some extent, it was his own mistake in giving the wrong orders.

– Destroy the Imperial Palace’s magical defenses and disrupt all magical communication methods, rendering them blind and deaf even if attacked.

That was the detailed order he had given to Yanid. Yanid faithfully followed the instructions, cutting off not only the Imperial Palace but all magical communications to and from the Capital. The problem was that most of the Empire’s wired communication circuits passed through the Capital, and the Church Country was also within the Empire’s territory.

Thus, the communication network collapsed completely. A force like the Magic Tower might have maintained emergency communications in such a situation, but they had already left the Capital and moved to Orphiel.

Now the Capital was blind and deaf. No matter how much information was sent from the provinces, it couldn’t be received or transmitted. The entire Empire’s communication network was paralyzed!

In fact, even beyond the Empire, most of the magical communication networks established by the Magic Tower passed through the Empire. To create a network with maximum coverage at minimal cost, linking with existing networks was essential. And now, all of that was shut down.

If they had wanted to prevent this, the Archbishop should have given more precise instructions, limiting the chaos to just the Imperial Palace. But without such specific orders, Yanid had simply destroyed everything in sight to fulfill the command. The Archbishop’s ignorance of the magical communication network had led to this disaster.

“Thanks to this, the Church Country is now full of complaints. Archbishop, can you handle this?”

“I have nothing to say, Saint.”

The intention was to blind the Imperial Palace, but the entire continent had been blinded instead. The Church Country was no exception, plunged into complete darkness.

Now, to know what was happening anywhere on the continent, they had to rely on primitive methods like signal fires or couriers.

But magical communication had been in use for nearly a century. If they tried to revert to signal fires or relay stations now, would those even be functional?

Signalmen are human too. Climbing up and down high mountain peaks in straw sandals, stacking firewood next to signal towers, repairing towers after heavy rains, clearing snow from towers after a snowfall—none of it was easy. It was sheer torture.

And who even used signal fires these days? Even if they prepared diligently, if there was no use for them, wouldn’t anyone become negligent? To use signal fires now, they’d have to rebuild collapsed towers, cut new wood, and light the fires.

And they’d need to recruit new signalmen. Even if they did, if the other signal towers weren’t prepared to see the fire, there’d be no way to relay the information to the Capital.

The relay stations weren’t much better. With magical communication available, why would anyone need to gallop on horseback, stopping at each station to deliver information?

Many relay stations had already declined, with some only having their signs left. If you wanted to travel long distances on horseback, you’d have to use inns instead of relay stations, which were more suited for travel than urgent information delivery, so the speed wasn’t what it used to be.

Several couriers had already set out from the provinces, but when they would reach the Capital was anyone’s guess.

“Is there any way to restore it?”

The Archbishop, not being a mage, knew nothing about magical communication. He could only admit his ignorance. Saint Sestine of the Hilrae Church closed her eyes and shook her head. She couldn’t grasp the magnitude of the disaster the Archbishop had caused.

One thing was certain: the Hilrae Church couldn’t let others find out they were responsible for this. If it was discovered that the Church had caused a continent-wide catastrophe, the people of Nemi and Elysia would be furious.

*****

Meanwhile, in the southern part of the continent, in the magical city of Orphiel, the people knew the answer the Archbishop didn’t. After all, this was where the Magic Tower’s main tower had relocated. The Tower Master and the most powerful mages were all gathered here.

The Oldman Tower Master slammed his fist on the table in frustration. He genuinely regretted not staying in the Capital.

Whether it was the Temple or the Empire that had caused this, both were insane. Why would they tamper with the magical communication network that belonged to the Magic Tower, even if it was on their land?

“Master, what should we do? Most of the communication circuits pass through the Capital to save costs. Should we go back to using crystal balls and magic circles to communicate?”

The no-magic scholar Gerard’s words only made the Tower Master smash the table in frustration.

“Damn it! We’re fine. We can just carve new circuits and create a local network covering Orphiel in no time. The problem is the Empire… no, the continent! The collapse of the communication network alone will bring unprecedented chaos!”

It would be cheaper to build a new communication hub elsewhere and create detours than to restore the destroyed hub in the Capital. But even so, the cost would be astronomical. Wired communication networks weren’t cheap to install.

“Damn it all. They’ve really outdone themselves!”

The Tower Master, restless, opened the window and looked at the distant thorny tree. It stretched skyward, covered in grotesque thorns.

“Isn’t it the Empire and the Temple’s job to deal with things like this, collecting taxes and faith? Why are they leaving it to us, a mere business group, to handle a Death God?”

The situation in the southeastern part of the Empire was beyond imagination. As unbelievable as it was, the Tower Master knew exactly who was behind this.

‘If only I could contact that disciple of mine.’

The hero was supposed to catch that guy, but both the hero and Parnell were out of contact. Even if they were part of the Magic Tower, shouldn’t they at least show their faces when the Tower was in danger?

“Everyone, pack up. We can’t handle this alone.”

“Master! Then all our investments in Orphiel will be lost!”

“If we wait any longer, we won’t even be able to escape. We need to survive first!”

If the Death God’s power was within a certain range, the Magic Tower might have gone all out to face it. After all, the Tower was one of the most powerful forces.

But this time, it seemed to have surpassed that level.

“Primal Demon King Grimudo.”

The Tower Master clenched his eyes shut as he looked at the spreading thorny thicket and the once-elves flying above it.

“What on earth have you created?”