Ortes received the coat handed to him by the Chairman.
“Isn’t this the one you were going to wear, sir?”
“I don’t have anything else. What I’m wearing now is more like rags than clothes, but I have to put something on.”
Ortes shrugged once before quietly putting on the coat. It was a free size, so it fit adequately.
“What did you tell the other board members you’d be doing?”
“I just told them to carry on with their work.”
Oh my head. Ortes sighed. At this rate, how can the company possibly run properly, Mr. Chairman?
While letting Ortes’ muttering go in one ear and out the other, Carisia asked,
“How exactly did the collaborative meeting turn into such a mess?”
“Oh.”
Ortes rummaged through his jacket, now resembling a beggar’s garment, pulling out a palm-sized round object.
It was Adusiam’s core.
“It seems to be a golem created by the Wizard King. This thing appears to have summoned the Ten Towers, but I can’t quite figure out Argeyirion’s involvement.”
“The Wizard King?”
Carisia, showing interest, took Adusiam’s core from Ortes. Her magical power dissected its structure thoroughly.
“There are performance restrictions placed on it?”
“Yes. These can only be lifted with the permission of the Wizard King or his proxy. I thought we might use this as some kind of Wizard King resurrection detector, so I kept it handy.”
Carisia’s magical power caused Adusiam’s core to vibrate.
『Ten Sages… Baegwang, detected… Permission granted for advancement to higher stage…』
The hand holding the core tightened. Loosening her expression after hearing the golem’s voice, Carisia tossed the core back to Ortes.
“There are two targets that this signal is set to notify. The disciples of the Wizard King, meaning the owners of the Ten Sages artifacts, and the affiliates of the Wizard King, namely other golems of his creation.”
Ortes frowned.
“Are you saying Argeyirion falls under the second category?”
“That much isn’t clear. We don’t know whether Argeyirion came because they received this signal or if there was another reason.”
Perhaps Argeyirion’s actions were somehow linked to the Wizard King.
It was an ominous sign.
Ortes decided to keep this possibility in mind just in case. While he didn’t know what Argeyirion would ultimately do, preparing for the worst wouldn’t hurt.
Carisia took a deep breath unnecessarily and asked,
“So, did you gain anything worthwhile?”
“Quite a bit. During my time as a troubleshooter, I developed a good eye for valuable items. I only took the best.”
Carisia, who had heard about Ortes’ abilities, understood that his talk about ‘discernment’ was his own kind of joke. She smiled faintly and changed the subject.
“Didn’t any ancient spirits speak to you like last time?”
“They wouldn’t have had the chance. I stuffed things in without really examining them.”
Though Ortes’ clothing looked like shredded rags, it was actually a high-end product. Boundary magic maximized the storage capacity of pockets and similar compartments while preventing items from easily falling out.
Moreover, the fabric itself wasn’t ordinary. Made from the fibers of the giant spider beast known as Arachnid, it was tougher than regular steel.
Thus, the amount of relics currently stored within Ortes’ garments was far greater than appearances suggested.
“Hmm. Thinking about it, I’m not sure if they’re still in good condition.”
Considering how Ortes hastily gathered everything before getting involved in the fight between Argeyirion and the Ten Towers, it was reasonable to assume that the relics suffered significant damage alongside his tattered clothes.
“Don’t worry. As long as they haven’t completely disintegrated, the divine power imbued in them will remain, and that should be enough.”
Ortes nodded. Since artificial Tenth Rank magic theory wasn’t his specialty, if Carisia, who was at the forefront of research alongside Caike, said so, then it must be true.
The two continued their casual conversation as they headed home.
*
The elders of the Ten Towers gathered in one place. Though not all were present, the fact that so many had convened was itself a historic event.
“Daro is dead.”
“At the hands of Argeyirion?”
“Based on the circumstances.”
“Is that even possible?”
The Ethereal Space buzzed with chatter. In the long history of the Ten Towers, it was exceedingly rare for an elder to be killed outside of succession battles.
“How many years has Daro served as an elder?”
“92 years.”
“Quite impressive.”
Among the elders of the Ten Towers, who were closer to magic than humans, there were monsters who lived for centuries, maintaining their title of elder. However, surprisingly, except for a few extreme cases, the disparity in skill among the elders wasn’t very large.
To be precise, after roughly 100 years of serving as an elder, their skills leveled off.
On average, it took about a century to fully explore all the abilities one could grasp with the wisdom of the Ten Sages. Beyond that point, one had to independently delve deeper. Only the Tower Masters could access the deeper powers of the Ten Sages.
The profound domain of the Ten Sages. A realm beyond mere magic.
For all those who weren’t Tower Masters, save for a few exceptions and newly appointed elders, the distinctions in skill among the elders weren’t clearly defined.
Which made the news of Daro’s d*ath even more shocking.
“I thought Blasphemia alone could handle them well.”
“According to Salmosia’s report, not only Blasphemia but Argos too — apparently, Panoptes as a whole has infiltrators.”
“It seems the matter has grown too large to entrust to just one subordinate organization…”
The elders recalled an unpleasant and frightening hypothesis related to Argeyirion’s “cause.” If true, it could explain the capabilities exhibited by a mere group of infiltrators that exceeded their expected limits.
“Astronomical Official.”
“Yes?”
A young man called to the gathering of senior elders of the Ten Towers. He was the head of the observers belonging to the Eidolon, tasked with monitoring extraterrestrial dimensions.
Even among those of the Eidolon, the Astronomical Official held a special position.
Not only did he observe the signs of the stars to predict the future, a field closest to superstition, but he also held a confidential role within the Ten Towers, tracking the ascension path left by the remnants of the revered yet feared Wizard King.
“What about the extraterrestrial dimension known as JuSiChung?”
“The movements of the extraterrestrial entities continue to ripple. They are opening portals across the world and attempting contact with apocalypticists.”
“Could it be possible that an extraterrestrial entity mimicking the Wizard King brainwashed Argeyirion?”
“It cannot be determined. Extraterrestrial beings capable of perceiving the remnants of the ascension could potentially mimic the Wizard King’s deeds. However, during our observations, no such extraterrestrial entities have acted accordingly.”
But, continuing his statement, the Astronomical Official added,
“To assert that something hasn’t existed until now and therefore won’t exist in the future is the shortsightedness of fools. If you demand a definitive answer, I would say yes, it is possible.”
“Whether it’s a remnant thought of the Wizard King or an extraterrestrial entity beginning to understand humanity more deeply, either way, it’s undoubtedly a formidable enemy.”
The consensus among the elders crystallized: this was no longer a situation that could be contained by merely Blasphemia.
“We need to issue an emergency order across all of Panoptes.”
“But didn’t we say there are infiltrators among them?”
“The only ones whose purity is guaranteed are the members of the Eidolon… Hmm…”
Clap. Someone clapped their hands. Not flesh-and-bone, but a form composed of thick blue mist. How it produced sound was a mystery.
An elder of the Bi Pung Magic Tower.
“Let’s do this. Don’t we have the list exposed by Argeyirion?”
A low tactic used by Argeyirion to shake up the magical community, but the elders nodded.
“We’ll conduct a thorough investigation of those on the list. The towers without hidden corners will cooperate properly, and we can judge those within Panoptes who show reluctance in the investigation as potential threats.”
“Using the investigation as bait to filter out dangerous elements? That’s surprisingly moderate of you.”
“My belief that more souls mean more strength hasn’t changed. But whether it’s an extraterrestrial entity or the Wizard King, it’s certain that the entire magical community must unite against this adversary. Should loyal servants of the magical community transform into soulstones, what a great loss that would be.”
Several channels of discussion opened among the elders. Some communicated via telepathy using magic, others through simple mana proxies. Once the coordination was settled, a massive operation to root out Argeyirion spies was agreed upon.
As silence gradually descended over the Ethereal Space, the Astronomical Official suddenly spoke up.
“Did the Tower Masters give any specific orders?”
“Compared to finding clues to the ascension, they seem to consider Argeyirion’s threat minor. The Master of the Silver Iron Tower said something like ‘If we encounter an angel next time, please capture it alive.'”
The Astronomical Official nodded.
The Tower Masters still remain inactive.
“I will convey this message to the others.”
“Dismissed. We will soon inform you of the decisions made at the Panoptes meeting.”
