Ch.117Storm in the Tempest (4)

Carisia rolled the crystal in her hand. This sacred object no longer showed the same revelation as before.

It’s strange how chaos seems to follow wherever one goes.

But to Carisia, Ortes was like a human totem that carried storms with him. After all, wasn’t Carisia herself a storm that had brought tremendous upheaval to the magical society?

After adjusting Phoibos’s crystal several times and confirming that no clear image appeared, Carisia sighed.

“This time, he’ll return without any trouble, right?”

“?”

Kine, who was receiving one-on-one magic tutoring from Carisia, tilted her head in confusion at the seemingly random comment.

***

“You treacherous spies! How dare you try to deceive me with such sophistry!”

Gorgof activated the magic loaded in his enchantware. Deadly poisoned water poured down on those surrounding the Amimone Magic Tower.

“Are you insane?! The distress signal! You sent it yourselves!”

The rescue team from Argyrion, dispatched urgently in accordance with Haltos’s firm will, faced fierce resistance from the very person they were sent to rescue.

***

Haltos is a shrewd man.

Had he not been shrewd, he couldn’t have risen to the position of vice-commander of Blasphemia. Beyond his cleverness in acquiring and applying knowledge, he possessed extraordinary intuition that had allowed him to survive numerous brushes with death.

And then there was his accumulated experience from countless real battles. These three elements constituted Haltos’s survival instinct.

And now.

“I must go myself. None of the other executives can handle that adversary.”

“What madness are you speaking! Absolutely not. As long as you are the leader of Argyrion, that’s nothing but insane foolishness!”

His most loyal follower, Nastion, suspected that all three of Haltos’s essential elements had gone on vacation.

“I know the adversary better than anyone in Argyrion. I’ve seen more than anyone how everything touched by his hand behind the scenes goes awry.”

Based on Haltos’s accumulated experience and heeding his fiercely ringing intuition, this could only be the adversary’s handiwork.

Unfortunately, his shrewdness based on honed intellect had no role to play here. The adversary’s work was subtle and cunning, designed to evade logical reasoning or causal analysis. Yet it was evident that both his experience and intuition pointed to the adversary.

Nastion believed that Haltos had lost his mind from absorbing too much extra-dimensional magical power.

Absolutely not. What would happen if the leader of Argyrion recklessly stormed the location of the Righteous Magic Tower? Perhaps it might be different if a successor had been chosen to replace him, but otherwise…

Scorching an entire city to seize the Righteous Magic Tower. The tower’s social influence would be eliminated, but there would still be something to gain from victory.

The worst case would be if the Elders appeared. Though the possibility was extremely low, if surrounded by the Elders of the Ten Towers, Haltos’s victory couldn’t be guaranteed even in an extra-dimensional infiltration zone.

If the leader fell without a successor in place, Argyrion would collapse as well.

Nastion prevented Haltos’s personal expedition with desperate remonstration.

Having expended considerable mental energy in a short time, Nastion sighed heavily. And wondered.

‘Why on earth…’

Didn’t the other Argyrion executives try to stop Haltos?

When Haltos declared that only he could handle the situation, the executives showed discomfort but raised no objections.

‘What exactly did this so-called adversary do…’

Nastion believed that the collective delusion shared by Haltos and the other Argyrion executives couldn’t be real.

How could such a bizarre entity conveniently appear exactly as Haltos suspected?

However, he agreed that rescuing Argyrion’s allies from an extra-dimensional infiltration zone was an extremely difficult mission.

While spaces infiltrated by extra-dimensional forces were familiar territory for Argyrion, their intervention was tantamount to a major declaration, so the Amimone Magic Tower would be prepared for the ensuing attack.

The person Nastion carefully selected from among the executives was a plant-based magician skilled in both direct combat and escape. This magician, who had replaced his own biological tissue with that of plants, boasted extraordinary vitality.

“Sprigo. The highest priority for rescue inside is Gorgof. If conditions permit, you may help Gorgof and our other comrades capture the Amimone Magic Tower and retrieve its magical core, but if not, focus solely on the rescue.”

If a traitor within the Righteous Magic Tower was actually exposed, the magical society would be shaken once again. Originally, there was no intention to expose the tower’s informants so quickly, but if they were to be revealed anyway, they needed to make the best use of the situation.

Sprigo, summoned by Nastion, nodded. However, something seemed to bother him, and after glancing around, he asked in a hushed voice:

“What should I do if I encounter the adversary?”

A tremor was felt in Sprigo’s bark-covered body. Nastion felt both bewilderment and anger.

Doesn’t this defy common sense? How could the ‘adversary’ who disappeared during the Golden Desert Operation and hadn’t shown a single hair since then suddenly appear now, at this particular time?

And to think that this person would be the cause of the Amimone Magic Tower’s excommunication. Had the Argyrion executives collectively lost their minds?

However, Nastion didn’t berate Sprigo or force him into the mission without answering. There was no need to diminish Sprigo’s mission enthusiasm.

“…Maintain high flexibility and respond with active improvisation.”

“?”

“Make whatever judgment you deem necessary. If the adversary truly appears, I delegate full authority to you on site.”

What other countermeasures could there be for a being that likely doesn’t exist? There’s no manual for responding to urban legends. Giving the field team maximum freedom to respond seemed the best approach.

Sprigo still looked puzzled, but nodded at the permission to do whatever was necessary—whether retreat or requesting reinforcements—and prepared for spatial jump.

Of course, Sprigo wasn’t traveling alone. Beside him, silver beings with features similar to Nastion’s featureless appearance, but silver rather than dark, waited in orderly formation.

The next stage reached when silver hosts aren’t consumed as suicide bombers but undergo the proper procedure. Silver soldiers, Drachma (δραχμή).

This battalion was prepared to end the situation before the Ten Towers could interfere with the extra-dimensional infiltration zone.

And this is how Sprigo’s rescue team…

“We’ve come to find our comrade who requested help from Argyrion! Those who haven’t yet awakened to the cause, join our comrades and resist the inferior rule of the Ten Towers—” “Nonsense!”

“You treacherous spies! How dare you try to deceive me with such sophistry!”

—came to face the fierce resistance of the very person they were sent to rescue.

***

Sprigo couldn’t understand.

“Our Amimone Magic Tower does not negotiate with the likes of you! Withdraw from Algoth City immediately!”

That person shouting loudly from the tower with its defensive barriers fully deployed was undoubtedly Gorgof, Argyrion’s comrade.

Argyrion’s recruitment report contained a photograph with his appearance and an evaluation of his character. Hadn’t the interview with Gorgof, which he briefly reviewed before departure, noted “remarkable sincerity toward the cause”?

“People who believe in truth and the cause! Open the doors and become one with us!”

“Cut the crap!”

How could such a sincere comrade show such lack of faith?

Yet simultaneously, Sprigo could understand everything.

‘It’s the adversary.’

The very person that the revered Haltos had noted from the planning stage of the operation. The malice etched into his soul like a scar, despite having discarded his worldly memories when reborn with the blessing of the cause.

With the adversary behind it, anything was possible.

***

“Indeed. As your insight predicted, there were those approaching us while impersonating Argyrion.”

Gorgof suddenly switched from informal to formal speech. First there was distrust, then trust. Now it was respect.

He seemed to genuinely follow Argyrion’s ideology of “the cause” more than expected. Judging by how he became increasingly favorable as I acted in Argyrion’s interest.

“You said to let in those who claim to be reinforcements from the Ten Towers from outside, but to attack if they claim to be Argyrion. With you present here, I didn’t expect them to employ such a shallow trick as impersonating Argyrion.”

“It’s thanks to my perfect disguise. In Blasphemia, we established a combat doctrine to infiltrate towers by disguising as comrades and attempting to recapture from within, should our comrades successfully subdue a magic tower.”

I added a few words with a relaxed smile.

“It was an excellent plan.”

Of course, that’s fabricated. In fact, the “protocol for when another force approaches from outside” was itself a deception prepared for when the real Argyrion risked attacking the Amimone Magic Tower.

I was startled when Argyrion actually appeared. Fortunately, Gorgof listened to me and actively showed hostility toward Argyrion.

“However, Blasphemia simply failed to notice the more subtle workings of the cause than theirs.”

“It’s only natural that those foolish ones who haven’t awakened to the cause cannot match a sage who serves the cause!”

Gorgof laughed loudly. As I listened to his laughter, I thought:

‘Argyrion’s battalion has arrived. Simply deceiving Gorgof isn’t enough. I need to bring in Danao.’

It’s time to use Operation “Temporary Alliance!”