Ch.169Heaven-Splitting Stratagem (2)

Ortez’s visit was sudden. For Lampades, it was a disconcerting ambush. Wasn’t it clear that Lampades and his magic tower had been repurposed as insurance for the unlikely scenario?

That’s why Lampades’ attitude was cautious. He could somewhat guess what Ortez was going to bring up.

“Weren’t we originally meant to be kept as insurance for contingencies?”

“Oh. You’re guessing my point before I’ve even started?”

“Naturally. It’s hard to imagine any reason for you to visit at this juncture other than the war with the Ten Towers. Are you short on forces?”

Ortez shook his head. Questions surged within Lampades. If they weren’t short on forces, why come to drag Lampades’ magic tower into the war?

The simplest explanation would be that Ortez was lying, but Lampades knew that Ortez didn’t engage in such shallow deceptions. Ortez’s deceptions were more sophisticated.

“On the contrary. The problem is that we have too many forces.”

Ortez slowly laid out his plan. He intended to launch a succession battle while the main forces of the Ten Towers were tied up outside the dimensional wall, on the extra-dimensional route toward Arguirion’s main base.

“I’ve done some rough calculations… At this rate, there’s a possibility that forces beyond our control could win the succession battle.”

“So you need a figurehead, huh? You want to fully grasp several of the Ten Cycles?”

“Rather than a figurehead, let’s say we need ‘capable collaborators.’ That sounds better, doesn’t it?”

“You’re not even hiding it anymore.”

“I’ve always conducted honest business with my acquaintances, without hiding anything.”

Lampades reviewed Ortez’s plan. With seven Tower Lords absent, and the remaining ones having to allocate the Ten Cycles’ resources to the interdimensional lighthouse, the current situation was indeed most suitable for a succession battle.

However, there was still a problem.

Lampades and Knemon originally had many differences of opinion, but they agreed on one point.

That Ortez was an apocalyptist. And a radical one at that, to an unprecedented degree.

In that sense, Ortez’s current proposal had many suspicious points. Above all, the fact that he wasn’t planning to blow away the magical society.

Lampades expressed these doubts openly. Experience had taught him that with Ortez, it was better to ask straightforwardly than to give him an opportunity to distort answers through indirect questioning.

“If I had my way, I’d want to blow away all the Ten Cycles.”

Ortez admitted with a straightforward attitude. It was an answer that clearly revealed that the current plan was not what he originally desired.

“However, I must have mentioned this before. Something beyond the Ten Towers.”

Lampades nodded. Something beyond the Ten Towers. Such a thing was hard to even imagine, but if Ortez spoke of it with such a serious attitude, he had no choice but to believe it.

Ortez also answered that this entity was the backer of Arguirion. Someone who guided Arguirion—originally just a pawn of Ortez—to rebel against him and grow into an independent force.

Such an entity would plausibly be considered a sufficient threat even by Ortez. Unlike the Ten Towers, which still couldn’t make any guesses about Ortez, this entity had identified Ortez’s forces and swallowed them in reverse.

At the very least, the statement that they had surpassed the Ten Towers in terms of ability to analyze the situation and grasp the truth would be accurate.

“That’s precisely why we need other magicians. It’s an enemy of a scale that Hydra Company cannot face alone. Well… our CEO has also devised some creative uses for the Ten Cycles.”

Creative uses. Somehow, it was a word that gave an ominous feeling.

Lampades asked about what he could gain by joining Ortez’s plan, and what role he would have to play.

“First, the right to use the Ten Cycles. You’ll be able to freely use the Ten Cycles for at least a few days, and with that immense output, you’ll be able to explore extra-dimensional spaces.”

He added that rather than saying “you’ll be able to explore,” it would be more appropriate to say “you’ll have to explore.”

“You need to cleverly alter the interdimensional lighthouse formula, and use your extra-dimensional radar to hinder the return of the Ten Towers expedition force as much as possible. Completely blocking their return would be ideal, but the Ten Towers side will also have insurance for contingencies. It’s enough to delay their return until we can fully control the situation.”

While listening to Ortez’s explanation, Lampades realized a curious fact. Ortez was assuming a confrontation with “someone” after obtaining all the Ten Cycles.

He seemed to consider that struggle more difficult than the fight with the Ten Towers itself. In contrast to his explanation that suggested Lampades would naturally obtain the Yellow Thunder, his attitude was extremely cautious when speaking about what would happen after the succession battle.

“…This is strange. Do you believe you can easily obtain the Ten Cycles? Even though the Tower Lords have disappeared across that sea of stars, the remaining forces would still deserve the title of the magical society’s strongest power.”

“We don’t underestimate the Ten Towers. That would be insane. However…”

Ortez frowned. Remarkably, Lampades realized that Ortez was expressing doubt about the unknown.

“Our CEO is convinced that the success or failure of this succession battle will depend on the outcome of the first succession battle.”

An explanation that somewhat diverged from the original flow of conversation. But Lampades nodded anyway. It was fundamentally correct. The traditional structure of a succession battle was a fight between one of the Ten Towers and a coalition of magic towers united under one leader.

Since each of the Ten Towers symbolized a specific attribute, the magic tower challenging them was usually of almost the same category. Unlike the challengers who formed alliances, it was customary for the Ten Towers side not to ally with other Ten Towers.

However, in Ortez’s scheme, this traditional structure would be completely destroyed. At first glance, it would appear that separate magic tower alliances were challenging each Ten Tower individually, but in reality, all those magic tower alliances converged into one massive force controlled by Hydra Company.

If this fact were discovered, the Ten Towers side would not adhere to tradition either. If the fight transformed into a confrontation between the entire Ten Towers and the entire Hydra alliance, the effectiveness of a surprise succession battle would become meaningless.

That’s why Ortez and Carisia were focusing on the first succession battle. Lampades suspected that Hydra Company possessed a decisive weapon capable of rivaling the Ten Cycles.

If the first succession battle resulted in a victory for Hydra Company, they could dispatch that decisive weapon to other battlefields in addition to the support of the Ten Cycles.

If they succeeded in suddenly changing the balance of power in the succession battle through this, it wouldn’t be impossible for them to seize all the Ten Cycles. Especially since the magic towers’ highest combat forces capable of fully utilizing the Ten Cycles were absent.

However, this surprise attack must occur before the Ten Towers side becomes aware of Hydra Company’s entire plan.

Therefore.

“Hydra Company intends to engage in a succession battle with the White Light. It’s clear that the current center of the Ten Towers’ power, the highest authority, is the White Tower Lord. By eliminating him, we’ll paralyze the Ten Towers’ entire information sharing system and overthrow them.”

“…You’re going to fight the first succession battle against the strongest magic tower?”

“It’s the only way to paralyze the Ten Towers. Our CEO has determined that ‘the battle must be concluded within one hour for the plan to succeed.'”

To conquer the White Light within one hour after declaring the succession battle. It was an absurd statement.

But it was clearly a strategy that could shock the entire Ten Towers if successful.

“Is this even possible? For instance, if you and your CEO storm the White Light together.”

“Haha. Don’t joke. How could just the two of us annihilate magicians supported by the power of the Ten Cycles?”

“Without that, it seems impossible. Even if you unleashed that weapon you used in Algoth City, conquering the White Light would be nearly impossible.”

Ortez agreed. He too had not yet guessed what method Carisia had guaranteed could “end everything within one hour.” A Ten Cycles bomb? No.

That was the last resort to confront the Demon King of Magic. Despite his doubts, Ortez relayed Carisia’s words exactly.

“But she said there’s a way. She said she’s been preparing Hydra Company solely for this one purpose.”

From Ortez’s words, Lampades could discern two conflicting emotions: doubt and conviction. The doubt stemmed from curiosity about what this method could be, while the conviction came from trust that Carisia would undoubtedly be able to prepare such a method.

If Ortez was betting everything on this operation, the chances of success were not low.

“Even transporting troops would be impossible within one hour, so do you mean within one hour after the formal engagement begins…?”

“Please give your answer by the day before the Ten Towers’ expedition departs. We need to determine the location from which to emit the interference waves through the extra-dimensional radar.”