Ch.137Proxy War (5)

Nastion explained the situation to the parasite. Somehow, the temples belonging to the Divine Faith had united and begun tracking them.

“So it was a demigod after all!”

The parasite’s confident exclamation. While Nastion had thought it realistically impossible, and something that should never come to pass, all circumstances pointed to Ortes being a manifested demigod.

But to Nastion’s rational mind, the advent of a demigod was impossible no matter how he thought about it.

This wasn’t to say that Nastion himself possessed the ability to see a thousand miles from where he sat or to penetrate the providence of gods beyond other dimensions, allowing him to foresee the birth of a demigod.

But the Ten Towers did have such ability.

The Eidolon, one of the three divisions of the Ten Towers’ agents, the Panoptes, were the watchers of heavenly secrets.

If a demigod had descended, the Ten Towers would have already entered a state of emergency and resolved to execute the demigod with their immense power before it could manifest its strength.

All circumstances pointed to a demigod, yet the very group that should have reacted faster than anyone else if a demigod had appeared remained motionless.

Nastion shared these concerns with the parasite, his temporary ally.

“What does it matter whether this Ortes fellow is actually a demigod or not?”

“What do you mean?”

“Haven’t I been saying all along? Even assuming he’s not a demigod, he’s still a threat of equivalent magnitude. Is there any difference in danger between a demigod and a being who isn’t a demigod but can do everything a demigod can?”

‘The parasite is right. Whether or not he’s actually a demigod, if he can do everything a demigod can do, what difference does it make?’

In fact, there was a difference.

The fact that the Ten Towers couldn’t detect him.

A being with the powers of a demigod yet not a demigod, thus undetectable by the Ten Towers.

This was an even greater danger than an actual demigod.

‘The best card I can play right now is still the False God.’

The limitations of the False God are determined by the performance of the core hosting the parasite.

Just as attempting metamorphosis required a transcendent magical storage capacity like the mana core of the Spirit Tower, a perfect metamorphosis needed a body with overwhelming magical talent like Carisia’s.

Of course, Nastion couldn’t prepare a body like the “perfect sacrifice” the mental parasite had mentioned. If the perfect sacrifice was the same as what the Argyrion executives called “another adversary,” such a body would be unique in this era.

Instead, Nastion decided to offer a substance that enhanced the mana core.

Just as Ortes had previously created the Thunder Pearl by fusing the Thunder Insect and the Silver Thread Worm, Argyrion had also researched ways to utilize the Silver Thread Worm.

The result was a combination of mana core and Silver Thread Worm. Though not yet officially named, this strange object would allow transformation into a much more powerful being than one using an ordinary mana core, even if it couldn’t match metamorphosis through a transcendent magician’s body.

The mental parasite accepted the Silver Thread Worm-synthesized mana core with satisfaction after hearing Nastion’s explanation.

“…However, there’s a problem.”

Even at this moment, the temple hunters were digging through every corner of Algoth City, searching for the parasite’s body. The number of bodies they had been forced to destroy had long since exceeded double digits.

If they attempted metamorphosis, the parasite would naturally be left defenseless. Of course, it could use magic even in its chrysalis state, and the shell’s strength would surpass ordinary metals, but…

“We’re dealing with the Divine Faith. And not the recent impoverished, shabby temples, but ones that spend believers like water, as in ancient times of prosperity.”

If the shell encasing the parasite was harder than steel, they would summon the priests of Polyphron, the blacksmith god, to melt it.

If it burrowed underground, the priests of Kydaria, goddess of earth, would be waiting.

What if they used every available method to block tracking?

Then the priests of Phoebus would step in. They would employ the extremes of irrationality—revelation and prophecy—to find the parasite.

Temples that could wield divine power without restriction were such formidable enemies.

Nastion fell into thought. To safely metamorphose the parasite, they would need to physically distance themselves from Algoth City. By the time the trackers arrived, the metamorphosis should already be complete.

But this method also had problems.

The biggest issue was timing. Suppose they fled far enough that the metamorphosis would be complete before the trackers arrived. The principle that greater distance requires more travel time applies equally to everyone.

By the time they returned to Algoth City with the False God, Ortes would have seized the Amimone Tower without any interference.

Using spatial magic could reduce travel time to almost zero.

But the Ten Towers posed a problem.

Algoth City, chosen as the stage for the Tower Master Selection, was presided over by supervisors from the Ten Towers. While the Divine Faith could conceal traces of divine power with their arcane methods, spatial magic would need to evade not only the supervisors but also other surveillance networks.

The Amimone Tower itself.

A tower’s primary duty is to prevent extra-dimensional incursions. The mana core of the currently unmanned but operational Amimone Tower would be ready to sound an alarm the moment it detected spatial distortion. Supervisors hearing the core’s alarm would immediately request support from the Ten Towers.

Nastion slowly reviewed the problem.

To interfere with Ortes—and the Divine Faith under his command—they needed the metamorphosis of the False God.

But to perform the metamorphosis, they needed to interfere with Ortes.

It was a circular contradiction.

An impossible checkmate.

“…Wait.”

The Ten Towers.

Yes.

Were the Ten Towers enemies of Argyrion alone?

***

An anonymous tip arrived at the Amimone Tower Master Selection management department.

It was an exposé about suspected subversive groups secretly using sacred artifacts.

Naturally, the name of Hydra Company was mentioned prominently in this blacklist.

…However, the effect Nastion had hoped for failed to materialize.

***

“What the hell…”

Nastion’s shadow body bubbled with frustration. A move utilizing the subversive group issue that the Ten Towers was most sensitive to recently.

The list he had compiled contained a mixture of truth and falsehood. So it couldn’t be dismissed as mere lies. The scheme seemed to work effectively at first, with some Tower Master candidates being detained and sponsors hastily trying to flee.

Yet Ortes of Hydra Company, whom Nastion had targeted, was released after just a few formal investigations. Despite being the most suspicious person, having allied with the Divine Faith!

‘Did he anticipate this and prepare countermeasures…?’

But how?

How could he have prepared for a plan that was spontaneously conceived and executed? Had a new prophet emerged from the Phoebus Temple?

Something massive had changed within the Divine Faith. Nastion feared that this wind of change had blown unnoticed by anyone.

***

Unexpected mud was splashed on the Tower Master Selection. Participants and sponsors alike were accused of connections to subversive groups.

But I wasn’t worried.

Hydra Company had already completed its purity inspection. It happened around the time I asked Lampades to find Knemon. Our company had already undergone its tax audit, so to speak.

Only Carisia, who was summoned as our representative, was slightly inconvenienced.

However…

“They’ve used their heads.”

This “subversive group investigation” doesn’t mean much for Hydra Company. We’ve already verified our purity in advance.

But the problem is that the Ten Towers have summoned a large number of Panoptes to serve as thought police for purity verification.

“We’ve been using believers outside the city to avoid the supervisors’ eyes… but now the Ten Towers’ shadows are visible throughout the city.”

Demos, who had temporarily suspended tracking the parasite, clicked his tongue. Thanks to this political magic that multiplied the density of magicians in Algoth City several times over, the Divine Faith could no longer move freely.

“I didn’t expect them to make such a move.”

It was truly a cowardly act. Creating disturbances is the struggle of the weak, yet Argyrion resorted to such tactics.

“The situation has become quite intricate.”

“Should we bow our heads and wait for the storm to pass for now?”

However.

“This very situation enables methods we couldn’t use otherwise.”

The Ten Towers, responding to the subversive group report, urgently dispatched Panoptes magicians from the vicinity of Algoth City.

But which magicians had been stationed near Algoth City recently?

It was Niobe, who had come on special assignment from Salmosia.

The Blasphemia reinforcements that Niobe had urgently requested after witnessing the extra-dimensional storm were reassigned to search the areas around Algoth City for possible traces of Argyrion, as the original matter was resolved rather anticlimactically.

In other words, the Panoptes magicians now spread throughout Algoth City are naturally Blasphemia personnel, including Niobe.

If Argyrion used complaints as a weapon to summon the Ten Towers’ shadows, I will demonstrate corruption through power collusion.