Ch.121Diversionary Operation

I was worried about Diana from the Blue Magic Tower, but there wasn’t much I could do about it.

Moving recklessly after already having engaged in combat would be nothing more or less than suicide.

‘For now, I can only pray she’s safe.’

With that thought, I briefly looked outside through the window attached to the wall.

As this was the Tower Master’s private room, it wasn’t a real window but more like a magical projection for security purposes, but it was sufficient to check the current situation at the Magic Tower.

The Magic Tower visible through the window appeared peaceful at first glance.

Personal disputes and conflicts that naturally arise in human relationships might exist, but at least there was no sense of warfare.

Though I’d never been to university, I imagined this might be what a college campus looked like.

The scene at the Magic Tower contained some good news of its own.

The immediate news was that if the mages and dark mages within the tower were to wage war, the mages would win.

‘If they could win in a direct confrontation, they wouldn’t be controlling information like this.’

Despite control of five of the eight pillars being taken over, it meant the affiliated mages hadn’t yet fallen.

“By my estimation, about 20 percent of each Magic Tower has been corrupted. Is that right?”

“Sigh… Both the Red Tower Master and I estimated something similar.”

The figure of 20 percent might seem abstract, but it wasn’t just a random number.

It was based on mages’ pride in their accumulated knowledge, their negative perception of the evil god, and yet the nature of mages to reach for knowledge despite this.

However, judging by Louise’s stressed reaction, the results seemed different from our predictions.

“From what the Red Tower Master Edeline and I have confirmed, it’s about 40 percent.”

“Hmm, that’s definitely high. No matter how I think about it, there shouldn’t have been enough time for corruption to spread that quickly through conventional means.”

There was a difference of nearly double, not just a slight error in prediction.

It meant not just a failed prediction, but that something unexpected had intervened.

Finding that something would have been a headache, but fortunately, the investigation into that something seemed to have been completed early.

“We thought something was strange too, so we immediately started looking for the cause. And we actually found it.”

“…What is it?”

“Demonic Insects. They burrow into people’s brains, absorb magical power, and grow in size.”

What Louise pulled out was a bug contained in a small, transparent vial.

The bug, about two finger joints in size, emitted a sinister aura as demonic energy slowly leaked from its body.

“Once they grow beyond a certain size, they gain the power to brainwash their host. What’s worse, if you try to forcibly remove them, they damage the brain, which is a real headache.”

“If they’re secretly implanted in traitors, there’d be no way to detect them… That’s a dangerous thing.”

“It was hard enough just dealing with dark mages, but with these Demonic Insects showing up too, one body isn’t enough.”

Louise showed a smile filled with deep fatigue as she mentioned the clone magic spell she had acquired because of this.

“It’s a shame the clone magic isn’t as effective as you hoped.”

“At first I was so shocked I thought, ‘What kind of garbage magic is this?’ But I saved my life thanks to it, so I guess it worked out.”

What Louise needed wasn’t simply two bodies, but another self who could help handle problems that couldn’t all be processed with just one mind.

As a result, Louise grumbled that it was garbage magic, her expectations thoroughly betrayed.

Then, acknowledging that it had been somewhat useful during the previous attack, she returned to the main topic.

“Whew, we got sidetracked for a moment. Anyway, we have three major problems to solve right now: the Demonic Insects, the dark mages, and the authority over each tower.”

“Let’s say we can solve the dark mages and tower authority issues by killing the enemy. Have you found a way to remove the Demonic Insects that have entered the brain?”

“I haven’t. The brain is complex, and once damaged, it can’t be restored with ordinary healing magic. So we need to find a way to extract them without causing injury, which isn’t easy either.”

Louise’s expression as she spoke was far from good. A glimpse of impatience could be seen passing across her face.

It was understandable, given that the current situation was far from comfortable.

The fact that the only remaining option would be to simply kill them if a cure wasn’t found in time also played a part.

‘I suppose it feels not much different from me cutting down the apostles who were forcibly possessed.’

[That’s… certainly not a good feeling.]

Lumia and I could quietly empathize with Louise’s unspoken feelings.

For me, it was because I was having similar experiences, and for Lumia, it was because she shared my emotions and memories.

[Hmm, isn’t there some good solution?]

‘I don’t know. I’ve never seen these Demonic Insects before.’

In the original game, all sorts of unknown items would occasionally appear as random drops.

No matter how many retries I went through, there could still be items I didn’t know about.

‘To begin with, this world has major variables like the evil god and apostles. There must be countless things I don’t know.’

[That’s true, but still…]

[It’s a shame. I wish there was a way we could help.]

Hearing Lumia’s slightly regretful voice, I fell into contemplation for a moment.

I wondered if I really had no way to solve this Demonic Insect problem.

Although they weren’t Demonic Insects, the game had many items that confused and manipulated people’s minds, essentially functioning as brainwashing tools.

And naturally, there were also items with abilities to counteract the effects of such items.

‘But most of them were specifically made for each item.’

[Isn’t there a way to use them as reference?]

‘As I said, even if the effects are similar, the processes are often different. They might serve as reference, but they won’t be solutions.’

Even among hypnosis-type magic that had somewhat similar processes, there were still differences between them.

The differences were especially extreme in how they responded when the magic was dispelled.

Some magic would distort and damage perception if you tried to dispel it with purification magic.

Some magic had mechanisms that would cause magical power to go berserk and self-destruct the moment it was dispelled.

‘There are some without such countermeasures, but this Demonic Insect probably has them. Otherwise, Louise would have knocked them out and extracted them herself.’

[Sigh, these designs really show human malice.]

‘In the case of this Demonic Insect, if you forcibly knock it out, the demonic energy would probably go berserk and crush the brain.’

Looking at the strangely unstable demonic energy of the Demonic Insect, I realized the problem that would occur if it were forcibly knocked unconscious.

Lumia spoke as if disgusted, but this was just one of many such mechanisms.

“Hmm, in the end, it seems best to induce the Demonic Insect to come out voluntarily.”

“That would be ideal. But there’s no good way to do that. If you try to interfere with magic, it immediately starts going berserk…”

“Hmm, wait a moment.”

While listening to Louise’s explanation, I thought of a possibility and tried to gauge the strength of the energy emanating from the Demonic Insect.

The demonic energy flowing from the Demonic Insect certainly gave a creepy feeling, but its actual size wasn’t that large.

To make an easy comparison, it was weaker than a slime, which is considered the weakest monster.

True to its bug-like appearance, the Demonic Insect was so weak that even a child could kill it just by stepping on it.

“I might be able to handle it with my ability.”

“What? Is that true?!”

“Yes, we’ll need to experiment before trying, but I think there’s a high probability of success.”

Just as I was about to calm down the excited Louise and explain my method, an alert sound was heard.

Ding-a-ling-

It was an ordinary alarm sound, but for some reason, it gave me an ominous feeling.

This came partly from my intuition, but also from a sense of déjà vu arising from Louise’s puzzled reaction.

“Hmm? Just a moment. It seems like a message from the Red Tower Master.”

“Oh, can you tell who sent a message just from the sound?”

“Ah, no. It’s just that only Tower Masters of each pillar can contact this terminal…”

Yes, that was the reaction—freezing up in the middle of responding to my words.

With that ominous reaction, I moved to Louise’s side to check the message that appeared on the terminal.

[Come to the Black Pillar by 7 PM tomorrow.]

[Naturally, I won’t accept refusal.]

[If you don’t come, this Magic Tower will fall and be destroyed along with the city below.]

It was a message containing an explicit threat.

At the same time, it was a problem we couldn’t deal with by any means at the moment.

“We’ve been had. Even knowing it’s a trap, we don’t have much choice but to go.”

[P.S. You need to come too, Frey, don’t you know?]

[Let’s meet face to face and have a chat after so long.]