“I assume everyone has seen the news that appeared on the Ethereal Network. It seems that Argos will also get involved in tracking Argeyirion.”
From the start, Caike’s expression darkened. On the other hand, the board members didn’t seem to feel the gravity of the situation as much as they should.
Arabel was the only one among the board members who looked troubled. Given her role in filtering and investigating information, she seemed to intuitively grasp the impact this scandal could bring.
‘Thinking about it, even excluding Bertrand or Mecoonion, who usually operate within Etna City, if the other board members aren’t feeling any sense of crisis…’
What is it? Do they all have some kind of confidence?
Neuro spoke first.
“However, Director, ultimately, isn’t this just a story about how the burden on Blasphemia’s Relic Control Squad increases with Argos getting involved? For us, who try to avoid the Relic Control Squad, the situation seems more favorable instead.”
When Blasphemia’s full nature was first revealed to the board members, it was described as merely a subcontractor for the Ten Towers, but now more details were known. They were the ones regulating faith in the lost gods and recovering relics.
Though there were still hidden aspects, it was an easy explanation for the board members to accept. The existence of ancient relics had been quietly known, but such rumors didn’t last long. It was common for posts on the Ethereal Network to disappear after some time. It was easy to guess that someone from the Ten Towers or the magical community systematically enforced regulations regarding relics.
“It might be true. Initially, yes.”
Who would lead the collaboration between Argos and Blasphemia hadn’t been decided yet. Issues like whether Argos would only intervene in the investigation of magic towers or also participate in tracking Argeyirion were still under discussion.
The coordination between two mismatched parties can sometimes be looser than a single entity acting alone.
But…
“So far, Blasphemia has been the sole force constructing the containment network around Argeyirion. Even with sufficient information, early action against divine blessings was possible. As you all know, Argos acts as the police force of the magical society. Their manpower differs by orders of magnitude compared to Blasphemia.”
A deep sigh followed. The bronze-scaled skin pulsed. A difficult question emerged from the dragon-headed giant mutant.
“Will their numbers increase?”
“Yes, Director Daro. If Argos fully deploys its forces—”
I calculated the scenarios where Argos’ manpower would be added to Blasphemia’s containment network. Even assuming no sabotage from within Argos against Blasphemia, natural rivalries between different groups are inevitable.
If Argos takes the lead in containing Argeyirion, they might nominally position Blasphemia as auxiliary support while effectively sidelining them during actual operations.
In that case, Blasphemia personnel might be left idling, tasked with vague responsibilities like maintaining order in the operation area or guarding nearby ruins.
That would be a major blow to small operators like us.
“The quality and quantity of surveillance networks will undoubtedly rise sharply. There won’t even be a need to distinguish between them. Surveillance effectiveness tends to correlate directly with the number of surveillants. Unless Blasphemia completely opposes Argos, we won’t be able to conduct our sacred investigations as freely as before.”
“Hmm…”
Caike stroked his beard. As the creator of the Artificial Tenth Rank, he was responsible for extracting divine power from relics and injecting it into the artificial rank.
“What is the completion rate of the Ten Sages?”
This was Carisia’s first question after listening silently until now.
“At best, less than 30%. Strictly speaking, about 20%. Our goal is finding the starting point of the path to transcendence—a point connecting to some metaphysical realm believed in by the vanished sects or the Wizard King—but we haven’t even secured enough output to reach the world boundary.”
“Completing 20% is impressive. But if the current situation continues, I don’t know how long it will take to achieve even 30% completion.”
“Yes. Since this research prioritizes the quality over the quantity of relics, if we had around ten relics like the crystal you and the former chairman retrieved, we could almost complete it immediately.”
As soon as Caike said this, a sigh escaped me internally. To place me on the same level as Carisia!
He should have just mentioned Carisia. With her meticulous personality, it wouldn’t be surprising if she started mocking both the chairman and director titles right away.
Unexpectedly, Carisia only furrowed her brow slightly. Was it due to the urgency of the situation?
“The functionality of that item is too useful to waste. We’ll need to investigate new relics.”
An artifact comparable to Phobos’ crystal.
Even the original Wizard King considered it “useful,” despite being in a weakened state. The fact that it received such high praise itself was unusual.
If it were such a high-level relic, it would have already been recovered by Blasphemia or sealed so thoroughly as to evade their detection.
‘This means either raiding Blasphemia’s database or seeking assistance from the Theistic Order…’
No. If we involve the Theistic Order, smuggling relics to our side would become nearly impossible. We only need a way to find the locations of the sealed ruins managed by the Theistic Order.
Finally understanding the situation, the expressions of the external activity-focused board members darkened. What should we do?
‘Really raid a Blasphemia warehouse?’
No, that would be reckless. Doing so might prompt Blasphemia to declare the highest alert level, thinking ‘that guy is back!’
Actually, back then, Blasphemia was wary of Carisia, not me. So, it should be ‘that woman’ rather than ‘that guy.’
During the sluggish meeting, the gauntlet vibrated.
Ortes exchanged glances with Carisia. After she nodded, Ortes briefly stepped out of the conference room.
This was unusual.
For Ortes to leave Carisia’s side during a meeting. He was the type who stood steadfastly behind her, refusing to sit even when a seat was available.
Curious looks from the board members aside, Ortes reviewed the message delivered by Demos.
‘I’ve confirmed the opportunity you created. The Theistic Order plans to use this chaos to implement a grand liberation operation for the main temple. You qualify. If you wish to participate in the liberation of the main temple, return to the previous rendezvous location…’
Ortes carefully reread the opening lines of the message several times, but the content didn’t change. It seemed Demos truly believed Ortes had orchestrated the exposure of the magic tower scandal.
‘How does he misunderstand things so thoroughly?’
Putting aside the absurdity momentarily, Ortes focused on the Theistic Order’s plan. Given the scale of this incident, the Theistic Order must anticipate Argos’ significant movement.
So, how did the Theistic Order deal with the enhanced surveillance network?
‘We have spies inside Argos. You may have known about the skills of the priests of the Elimon sect.’
Ortes didn’t know. He recalled information about Elimon.
The goddess of pleasure and s*xual love. Likely using seduction tactics involving her followers. It made sense that the Theistic Order infiltrated Argos.
Unable to penetrate the secret organization of Blasphemia, they chose to embed themselves in Panoptes’ other divisions.
By planting spies within the relatively easier-to-penetrate Argos, they indirectly obtained information about Blasphemia. This was the result of the entire sect’s effort to survive.
‘Using them to disrupt Blasphemia’s movements could create opportunities for the liberation of the main temple. Knowing that the Theistic Order has spies within Argos and utilizing them are different domains. Creating a situation where Argos influences Blasphemia through such a massive exposure—your strategy as a priest of the war god impresses me.’
Ortes chuckled wryly. The situation, which twisted beyond control, turned unexpectedly favorable.
‘So, it’s not an informant for Argeyirion but for the Theistic Order.’
Salmosia’s imagined scenario of Argos disrupting Blasphemia became reality.
Just not due to Argeyirion but because of the Theistic Order.
‘Of course, Argeyirion controlling Argos would be impossible unless they had some sort of hypnotic app.’
Elomon’s followers could be seen as a form of hypnosis. Unlike Argeyirion, whose identity was exposed by the Elysion terror attack, they likely remain hidden as entities contrary to the magical society.
Ortes carefully reworded this unexpected piece of good news to report appropriately.
Haltos, the leader of Argeyirion, slowly read through the documents. Fortunately, most situations developed according to his intentions.
“Thankfully, our collaborators within Argos have done their jobs diligently.”
“Yes. The most important Proper Towers have successfully slipped through the surveillance net.”
The meticulously curated list of exposures, prepared by Nastiorn under Haltos’ instructions, excluded key collaborators. By diverting attention to other magic towers, they completely cleared suspicion.
“Unexpectedly, we received support from within Argos. Some officers oppose Blasphemia even without being our collaborators.”
“Isn’t that Blasphemia’s own sin? Praising themselves as executing the Ten Towers’ most secretive missions naturally invites resentment. Especially after their incompetence was exposed in Elysion, it’s understandable they want to suppress them this time.”
“Then… Should we recruit more people who hold such resentment?”
Nastiorn pulled out a square-shaped terminal from the flickering shadows. A holographic projector.
After pondering for a moment, Haltos shook his head.
“No. There’s no immediate need to increase our ranks. Those who can accept the truth might join, but those who cannot must inevitably be removed, right? The unity of opinions within Argos alone is sufficient.”
The hologram inside the terminal Nastiorn produced wasn’t ordinary.
It was a radiance of truth. Magicians who saw this light with their own eyes would ‘receive the truth.’
Magicians’ reactions to the truth were twofold:
Denying the truth and becoming hostile or joining Argeyirion.
There will come a day when the truth is revealed to the world, but now, before stepping onto the battlefield like the Ten Towers, it wasn’t the right time.
