Ch.135Proxy War (3)

Haltos was a cautious person. Though now, as an appendage of the extra-dimensional, he could no longer be called a person in the biological sense.

By his judgment, the best move he could make was to deploy immediately upon detecting the Great Enemy in the city of Algoth.

To destroy the Great Enemy, he needed to create a decisive situation where no schemes could intervene—by pushing in unexpected forces at an unexpected moment.

Haltos recalled that the Golden Desert Operation had been precisely such a decisive maneuver. Indeed, during that operation, the two Great Enemies had been cornered more than ever before. They had been forced to face and fight the monster that had previously not even shown its shadow.

The operation wasn’t fully completed. An unforeseen natural disaster had intervened. That storm which had revealed the Great Cause to him.

Haltos felt no regret about being swept up in that storm. He had been able to abandon earthly glory and grasp the heavenly treasure—the true Great Cause. If he had one lingering regret, it was the “what if” possibility that the storm had arrived just a little later. A brief margin to finish off the Great Enemy.

But neither in the Golden Desert Operation nor in Algoth had the battle against the Great Enemy been concluded. Rather, the Great Enemy was now flaunting its intervention openly.

Like a matador. A provocation, waving a red flag to induce a frenzied charge.

Haltos had no intention of playing along with that provocation.

He needed a decisive strike.

A truly decisive one.

As Ortes had predicted, Arguirion had already made arrangements with several factions of the Amimone Magic Tower. Some of them followed the Great Cause with true hearts after learning the truth, while others didn’t even know that Arguirion was their sponsor.

The dividing line between the two was dignity. Those whose character was too base to accept the Great Cause. It was giving the defiled ones a chance to cleanse their sins by becoming sacrifices.

Haltos had divided these recruits into two groups solely out of caution against the Great Enemy. He suspected that the Great Enemy might be able to read people’s minds as easily as looking at their own palms.

The trap prepared to eliminate the Great Enemy employed both groups.

This trap was aimed at the final test, when the Tower Master Selection would intensify. According to what Arguirion had painstakingly discovered, the final test would take place inside a special barrier set up by the Ten Towers.

The mages who knew they were Arguirion’s collaborators, tasked with setting the trap, would actively showcase their abilities in the Tower Master Selection.

The Great Enemy would undoubtedly take great interest in the Tower Master Selection. They would closely observe the candidates who stood out.

Eventually, they would peer into their minds and notice “the place where the trap is prepared.” Naturally, they would then try to outmaneuver them by using a location without a trap.

At that very spot where the Great Enemy would head to mock Arguirion, there would be a line of people who didn’t even know they had become bombs themselves.

Even if the Great Enemy walked into the trap, that would be fine too. They would simply need to trigger it.

However, the news that reached Arguirion was of a chain of sabotage explosions starting from the eve of the Tower Master Selection.

Concerned about eavesdropping, the report was sent via spatial magic rather than Ether Space communication, and its final paragraph contained a strange sentence:

“‘We have the same enemy’…”

The writing, slowly hardening to a brownish color, was clearly written in blood. Investigation confirmed it matched the blood of the dispatched Arguirion member, but the magical traces emanating from it were somewhat alien.

Haltos glanced behind him. A black form bubbling up from within the shadows. It was Nastion.

“Do you have any idea who it might be?”

“…”

Though Nastion had been working in secret for many years to bring the Great Cause back to this land, there were things even he couldn’t understand. First among them was the Arguirion executives’ irrational, even fanatical obsession with these “Great Enemies.”

But this puzzle was simpler than that obsession.

Nastion had experience dating back to ancient times, and the method used by the entity that sent this proposal to “oppose the Great Enemy together” was quite familiar to him.

The distinctive magical energy of those who had not ascended was also familiar to Nastion.

“While the biological components of the blood are identical, the changed magical traces indicate that this member was in a possessed state or something similar, showing an alteration in mental structure.”

“They wouldn’t be so weak as to fall prey to mere ghosts.”

“They are superior compared to ghosts. Those who wrote this are beings like myself.”

“Like you?”

Haltos looked Nastion over once. This ancient being who volunteered as a servant to all of Arguirion had a strange history that made it difficult to distinguish whether he was a mage or a magical creature.

Though respected for having the deepest faith in the Great Cause among Arguirion’s members, many of Nastion’s own secrets remained hidden even from Arguirion.

“One of the servants that the Great Cause scattered throughout the world to spread His will. I didn’t know any would remain in this era.”

“Oh?”

“I will go personally. Though my powers are humble, my experience makes me most suitable for dealing with them.”

And so Nastion headed for the city of Algoth.

***

As expected, the representative of the mental parasite quarantine personnel dispatched by the Divine Faith Order was Demos.

They probably calculated it would be more comfortable for both of us if they sent the person I was most familiar with.

“It’s good to see you in person, but we don’t have time for small talk. Did you prepare the materials I requested?”

Demos pulled out a document envelope from inside his robe. It was quite heavy, but the important information was organized in a top-down format, making it easy to speed-read.

“When you’re done reading, dispose of it properly. It’s classified.”

“Of course.”

What I had requested were records of the Divine Faith Order’s suppression of those they called heretical orders, especially methods for dealing with mental parasites.

I’ll do my best to handle them before they ascend, but if they do succeed in ascending, the Divine Faith Order’s experience in dealing with “false gods” would serve as excellent reference material.

‘Binding them with the Oath of Aigio at the Cathedral of Oaths using clever rhetoric, then killing them by making them break the oath… I can’t use this.’

Rhetoric that could deceive a monster that had lived for hundreds of years? I don’t have such ability.

‘When they’ve ascended and inhabited sacred objects, unlike their larval stage, they develop a core which can be targeted for destruction… Damn. Most methods are for after ascension.’

When a mental parasite successfully ascends, its vast consciousness becomes concentrated at a single point, creating a “center of gravity.” Most of the Divine Faith Order’s methods for dealing with false gods involved destroying this center.

Conversely, during the parasite stage, there was no real “main body” even when using multiple hosts. The most certain solution would be to crudely destroy all bodies occupied by the parasite.

Though the feasibility is extremely low.

I needed abilities that worked directly on the soul or mind itself, like the Oath of Aigio method which was described as “most effective if it works.”

“Oh.”

There was a divine power that matched exactly what I was looking for. Pluton, the power of the god who governs souls.

Come to think of it, I had met a priest of Pluton at Pluton’s Grand Cathedral before.

“Are there any priests of Pluton here?”

Demos shook his head glumly.

“Not priests.”

It was difficult to understand immediately. Reading my confusion, Demos slowly added an explanation.

“There’s only one active priest of Pluton now. And due to circumstances, they cannot leave the Grand Cathedral.”

“That’s unfortunate.”

It was disappointing. If I could use Pluton’s divine power to send them away like exorcising evil spirits, things would be so much easier. I found myself looking around.

Hoping that the cleric who had secretly followed me from the Grand Cathedral might be hiding somewhere nearby this time too. But it seemed like a vain hope, as the shadows cast in the alley remained simply dark.

“If we can’t use Pluton’s divine power…”

I quickly read through the documents, focusing on methods used during the early stages of heretical cult activities.

Demos suddenly interrupted.

“It would be difficult to use methods that awaken the minds of those enchanted by heretical faith. The Hestia Order, which was originally responsible for mental recovery, has long since weakened and left the Twelve Orders, and as for the Bacchus Order that replaced it… you would know better.”

“Pardon?”

“If the heretical faith is in its early stages, you can awaken confused minds to prevent further corruption. Isn’t that the section you were looking for?”

Demos shook his head regretfully.

“You were protecting the last survivor of the Bacchus Order.”

“Yes. Kinera is her name. You saw her at Elysion, didn’t you?”

“At the age I remember that child being, she might be able to handle divine power but wouldn’t have received a clear divine ability yet. Divine powers that deal with the mind require at least the skill of a bishop.”

I recalled Kine’s grumbling from the previous night.

I massaged the mages’ brains with curses and then stunned their souls with divine power, didn’t I?