Carisia did not clearly describe the future she had witnessed.
In her vision, Ortes was already on the verge of toppling the silver giant and claiming its heart.
But at that moment, the Ten Towers dispatched their second elder.
In fact, no one even knew if it would end with just two. While Ortes clashed with the elder who sought to collapse the earth, the spatial rift continued to ripple, hinting at “next.”
Carisia looked up at the sky. Judging by the angles of the stars embedded in the celestial sphere, this scene would unfold a few hours from now.
“Meeting with our cooperative party?”
“We agreed to withdraw appropriately once the job’s done. If they have any sense, they’ll recognize when the situation is over and retreat.”
Perhaps the priests of the Theistic Order had already retreated, Ortes thought.
The second gateway opened by Argeyirion opened fairly quickly despite Tallo’s barrier acting as an obstacle. Though slower than the first gateway, it was fast considering it had to bypass a barrier set by an elder of the Ten Towers.
Maybe the angels’ skills were exceptional enough to break through the barrier easily. But there was a more plausible explanation.
The sanctum of Piraeus already had holes in the barrier, making it easier to penetrate.
Even someone of the rank of an elder should retreat as quickly as possible despite the slight risk. Setting aside some disappointment toward the order, Ortes spoke to Carisia.
“Chairman, do you happen to have spare clothes? This is covered in bl**d and sweat—unwearable.”
“Shouldn’t there be some?”
There probably were. Given Carisia’s nature, she likely prepared backup contingencies even amidst chaos.
Ortes moved his body swiftly within the limits of his physical endurance.
The corpse of the silver giant, now devoid of its radiant glow, scattered fallen angels, and a jagged black rock cliff seemed to silently narrate the final remnants of the battle.
Leaving behind all traces of struggle, Ortes eventually disappeared beyond the horizon.
As Ortes had surmised, the priests of the Theistic Order hastily withdrew from the scene. Demos resisted until the last, insisting on staying while sending other priests of Enyalius away.
However, he could not ignore Hyacinth’s persuasion.
Outside, Argeyirion’s angels were clashing with the mages of the Ten Towers. Ortes was allegedly orchestrating the conflict from behind the scenes but would soon retreat to safety.
“You bear the responsibility as Archbishop to protect the order’s priests. In urgent space travel where the situation is unstable, anything can happen. Go and tend to your brothers.”
“…”
Demos could not turn away from his duty.
Hyacinth, as Priest of Phobos, stayed until the very end to inform everyone of the safest time for teleportation.
“If only Proditus had been here.”
Proditus, who granted the sacred emblem to all initiates, did not participate in this recapture of the great temple. He was carrying out a confidential mission given by the Pope.
Thus, only the aged Hyacinth remained deep within Pluto’s sanctuary.
Actually, there was obviously one more person present.
Kore, the priestess of Pluto.
She looked outward with trembling eyes. No one else could observe the direction of the battle surrounding the great temple as accurately as she could.
The awe-inspiring combat abilities of Ortes, who had revealed his name himself, were not surprising.
What truly astonished her was the absurd magic displayed by Ortes, who so strongly denied any connection to the vanished mage that he wouldn’t even mention it.
When the silver giant’s cannons were about to unleash a barrage toward Ortes, they suddenly ceased operation.
A scene that felt like a miracle performed by some deity. However, Kore instinctively realized this was not some noble ability worthy of being called a miracle.
Could anyone other than the vanished mage possess the power to nullify the spells cast by the Ten Towers’ mage so effortlessly?
“How can he claim no relation to that mage while possessing such abilities…?”
It was an absurd contradiction. Surely, he wasn’t going to argue that this was akin to the techniques of saints or holy spirits.
What saint in the world could interfere with the activation and completion of magic itself to render it null? Perhaps a divine spirit granted by the primeval deities, embodying the principles of the universe, might achieve such a feat.
Even to the Theistic Order, the powers of the primeval gods who control time and space remained shrouded in mystery.
However, according to Kore’s knowledge, only one individual could wield such primeval godly powers.
At that moment, Kore noticed Ortes muttering something, his usual smile erased—a rather alien sight.
“Conversing?”
Dialogue conducted in solitude often suggests the onset of madness. Yet, Kore didn’t think Ortes belonged to that category of lunatics.
Ortes stared into the distance, as if seeing someone beyond. After expressing some emotion, his expression shifted. A faint smile returned, somehow resembling resignation.
Then he took a step in the direction he was looking.
It seemed like he was departing upon receiving a summons.
Kore felt a dreadful fear at the realization that something could command Ortes.
Who else could command a fragment of the vanished mage?
Only the vanished mage himself.
While Kore trembled with terrible fear, Ortes crossed the black rock cliff. Since Carisia had been watching him from a location opposite to where Tallo fought, it was inevitable.
Climbing the cliffs and walking across the rocks, drops of Ortes’ bl**d seeped into Pluto’s great temple.
By the time Ortes disappeared from the temple grounds, the bl**d had reached deep into the inner sanctum.
—
BOOM!
The temple shook with an eerie resonance. Kore felt the massive flow of divine energy flowing through the symbols attuned to herself.
“What… is this…?”
The temple seemed to revert to the ancient mythic era. The sacred emblems, dormant for centuries, regained their brilliance and bestowed formidable power.
Kore sensed the temple coming alive. She intuitively understood that she could manipulate this massive rocky mass as if it were her own limbs—or perhaps even more effortlessly.
Here lay the answer to why Pluto’s great temple could serve as the final stronghold against the Wizard King.
Just as Pluto wandered the world unseen behind a transparent helmet, never revealing himself to the living, so too could the great temple relocate its base.
All the relics waiting for the awakening of this grand temple, along with the temple itself, now fell into the hands of the order.
Kore experienced a paradoxical mix of joy and sorrow.
For the sacred light of these relics would inevitably fade under the pope’s control.
Pluto’s great temple vanished. The black cliff stretched like a colossal shadow across the land before disappearing completely.
This miraculous site left behind immense divine energy. Blasphemia was the first to detect it.
Blasphemia reported this to the Ten Towers, who then realized that the location emitting the divine energy’s pulse coincided with the signal received from the legacy of the Wizard King.
Something ominous had occurred.
The Ten Towers tore through space and urgently dispatched their elders. What exactly transpired at that location?
They discovered Tallo’s corpse. Inside the faded giant, Tallo’s brain chip was missing.
Although the auxiliary computational brain remained, it wasn’t designed for memory retention. It could only reconstruct the battle scenario through log analysis of the magical usage.
Around them lay the bodies of angels, imbued with extraplanar energies—they were undoubtedly from Argeyirion.
The Ten Towers pondered.
“Could Argeyirion have been strong enough to overthrow an elder of the Ten Towers with merely a squad-level force?”
“What was the divine energy pulse and the signal related to the Wizard King? Could what they’re referring to actually be…?”
*
Argeyirion thought.
Upon losing contact with their dispatched agents, Argeyirion immediately sent new operatives to the scene.
The sight was shocking. Their comrades who used the incomplete art of angelification lay there, their proud wings crushed and crumpled, pitifully pinned to the ground.
But what shocked them even more was another corpse beside those of their comrades—a giant.
Above the giant, looming figures exuded immense magical power—undoubtedly the elders of the Ten Towers.
So…
“Our operatives defeated the elder…!”
“Argeyirion is powerful!” the junior agent proudly muttered before being stopped by a senior agent tapping his shoulder.
Though somewhat distant from the scene, one couldn’t underestimate the bizarre methods the elders of the Ten Towers might use to detect them. They should retreat quickly and report back to headquarters.
‘There’s no way our operatives are that strong, as the junior assumes.’
This was an objective judgment. Even accounting for the enhanced magical power from angelification, only the high-ranking members could stand against an elder of the Ten Towers.
Yet, if the elder had been defeated…
“It’s not that we’ve grown stronger—it’s that the Ten Towers have weakened!”
Not the raw magical power increasing with time, but the mental fortitude honed only through life-and-d*ath battles.
The elders, wielding absolute authority for decades atop the magic towers, undoubtedly possessed great magical power but had forgotten how to wield it effectively.
“We must take full advantage of this situation before they discard their complacency and regain their sharpness.”
Delusions spread like an epidemic.
Chaos arrived. Great chaos.
