Ch.173Conquest of the White Light (4)

I wasn’t someone who believed all problems could be solved with violence.

That was Carisia.

But some things could be solved with violence. For example, making it impossible for anyone to approach the White Light’s main tower.

I pulled out a sacred artifact bomb. Right now, I couldn’t recreate the explosive power of when Carisia had planted dozens, perhaps hundreds of sacred artifacts throughout Amimone City over several days and detonated them all at once with a magic circle. Nevertheless, this bomb contained enough power to reduce any ordinary building to dust.

But throwing it at the main tower in its current state would be meaningless.

Being intercepted by vigilant mages wasn’t the issue. They had long since rushed to the upper levels in pursuit of Carisia.

The problem was simply the defensive power of the White Light’s main tower itself.

The durability of the main tower, which received the Ten Realms’ magical power at its closest point, couldn’t be meaningfully damaged without extraordinary means that defied common sense, like the descent of Etna City.

It would be the same even if I used my eyes to disrupt the protective formulas and attacked while their strength was temporarily lowered.

That tower was more magical than physical in structure. Even if I were lucky enough to completely blow away the lower part of the main tower with a bomb, it wouldn’t collapse. As long as the image of the magic tower was engraved in the Ten Realms, the tower would stand firm even without its foundation.

And not just stand firm. It would regenerate itself by molding materials from magical power. Therefore, my goal wasn’t to physically block the passage.

I open my eyes.

The vast, boundless flow created by the Ten Realms strikes my mind directly. A wave of information crashes over me the moment I open my eyes. I’m reminded of the fractal information chain I witnessed when trying to peer into Nastion’s thoughts.

The difference from then is that while Nastion’s mental defense system tried to damage my cognition with an infinitely repeating structure, the White Light magic tower’s pure volume of information simply exceeded what my brain could handle.

But I endure it. At least in this moment, I’m the only one who can perform this role.

I analyze the structure of the defensive barrier surrounding the White Light magic tower. I give up on the additional formulas extending to the second and third barriers. I only need to understand the formula connecting the first barrier to the main tower.

I detect the order in which magical power flows. Just as calligraphy has its brush techniques, magic circles also have structured sequences. Despite thousands of years of refinement, I can see an astonishingly elegant formula without a single redundancy.

Concise to avoid errors and flawless to accept any amount of magical power, no matter how vast. Truly befitting the defensive magic of one of the Ten Towers.

This time, that elegance was a mistake.

I compare it with White Light’s magical system that Carisia had taught me from memory. The similarity is astonishing. They probably didn’t feel the need to hide or change the structure since knowing the formula wouldn’t provide a way to counter it. I grasp the sequence in which magical power circulates.

I turned my head to look at the sky. From where Etna City and the White Light’s main tower collided, the artificial Ten Realms and White Light’s domain were waging an invisible battle to erode each other. A repulsive action seeking to purify each other’s heterogeneous abilities.

Yes. The White Light magic tower’s barrier doubles as an extra-dimensional purification barrier.

And naturally, Etna City’s magic tower also had an extra-dimensional purification barrier.

The two formulas had commonalities at a fundamental level. This commonality would be the invisible dagger that would pierce the White Light.

I look at the smooth white wall of the White Light main tower. It seems climbable if I run fast enough.

Above all, I wanted to inflict wounds on that pure white wall. Weren’t the White Light people the ones who thoroughly messed up my magical society life while I was bringing Carisia out?

I take out a specially processed sacred artifact and set the detonation timer.

Now it was time to run.

***

Ortes sprinted along the tower wall, tracing a spiral trajectory. The mages who should have intercepted this audacious intruder were either confronting Carisia or moving to destroy Etna City, which had rammed into the main tower.

No one was watching the most dangerous chaos on this battlefield.

The sacred artifact bombs Ortes had scattered landed precisely in their designated places. Not much time remained until detonation.

He activated the communicator built into his gauntlet. Ortes shouted, thinking that at least one of the directors would hear:

“Temporarily cease combat! Brace for impact!”

Though some voice came through the communicator, Ortes had no time to respond. Detonation was imminent.

In Ortes’s eyes, the light circulating through Etna City’s magical pathways shone. As did the flow of magical power circulating through the White Light magic tower.

At the point where Etna City had burrowed into the White Light’s wall, the magical flows of Etna City and White Light were about to meet.

Only seconds remained.

Ortes kicked off the wall with all his might. His leap carried him to the airspace above the massive crack created by the collision between the White Light magic tower and Etna City.

The White Light mages engaged in siege warfare against Etna City couldn’t take their eyes off the uninvited guest who had suddenly surged up from below. Ortes grinned widely and threw the last sacred artifact bomb he was holding into the interior of the White Light.

A flash.

The explosion came before the sound. As the roar overwhelmed screams and reverberated, the sacred artifact bombs that Ortes had installed earlier exploded once more.

The magical flows of both White Light and Etna City mixed due to the explosion, creating a new current. The second explosion occurred along the extension of that flow.

The third, fourth, and all subsequent explosions followed the same pattern. Ortes had prepared sacred artifact bombs along every path where magical power would flow, and the bombs detonated precisely when the magic reached those locations.

Although the artificial Ten Realms and White Light were both called the Ten Realms, while their constituent principles might be homogeneous, the nature of their powers wasn’t identical.

The foundation of the artificial Ten Realms was divine power, while the foundation of White Light was magical power. Between these two forces existed an invisible boundary that didn’t easily mix.

Carisia’s bombs broke and shattered that boundary. The bombs, with sacred artifacts as vessels filled with Carisia’s magical power, became catalysts mediating between the artificial Ten Realms and White Light.

They unified the two powers through explosion, and added more explosions to each flow to twist the trajectory. Thus, a massive line connecting the formulas of both sides was created.

At that moment, Ortes was at the cutting edge of the formula boundary shared by Etna City and White Light. This was the result of throwing himself directly into the White Light after throwing in the sacred artifact bomb.

He raised his high-frequency blade high and plunged it into the magical conduit of White Light exposed by the explosion.

Ortes’s formula overwriting was a technique that created malformed magic by joining different formulas at exactly the same point in the progression of a spell.

The magic engraving drive wasn’t a formula that could be grafted onto White Light’s barrier. It would only shatter under the overwhelming scale of the formula that dominated the vast White Light region.

Then what if he clashed formulas of the same city-scale?

He combined the extra-dimensional purification barriers of the Ten Realms’ White Light and Etna City.

As the powers of the artificial Ten Realms and White Light collided as if devouring each other, they gave rise to a multicolored aurora.

This man-made aurora didn’t color the sky. A brilliant light descended upon the White Light main tower and Etna City.

It resembled a massive pillar of light. Divine judgment striking down from heaven to earth. A colorful chaos that seemed to gather all the colors of the world.

It was a barrier created by the artificial Ten Realms and White Light, two artifacts with inexhaustible power. A formidable containment barrier that, powered by the repulsion and mutual annihilation of the two forces, decomposed everything it touched into sub-particle units.

White Light was isolated.

***

Ortes sensed that his first mission had succeeded. The surrounding mages collapsed, coughing blood.

In truth, he couldn’t be certain whether it was blood or vomit. His vision was red. The crude use of the “eye” that directly observed the entirety of White Light and Etna City had pushed Ortes’s body beyond its limits.

Something sticky clung to his eyelids with each blink. Probably blood.

His body staggered. Despite being prepared for the impact, it wasn’t easy to endure. He reminded himself that Carisia was fighting. It was too early to collapse.

He checks his surroundings one last time.

The White Light mages were connected to the Ten Realms’ White Light, receiving magical power from it. And just now, Ortes had forcibly attached the artificial Ten Realms to White Light’s magical flow.

The quantity of supply wasn’t the issue. A heterogeneous ability that the White Light mages had never known would have rushed into their magical circuits like a burning flood.

It would have been a shock that felt like shattering every nerve in their bodies. Except for a tiny minority who could quickly shut down their pain sensors through brain-wide activation or endure through sheer will, the White Light main tower’s mages would have fallen into temporary combat incapacity.

…And that “tiny minority” naturally included the White Light Tower Master.

Etna City’s mages, or at least the director-level personnel commanding the mages, knew about the current operation. Therefore, the point at which they would receive magical power connected to the artificial Ten Realms was set for after the containment barrier’s activation.

There was one exception. The vanguard who had to storm the enemy lines and draw all attention. Carisia, who had to confront the Tower Master head-on.

Ortes could easily imagine her concealing her pain with maniacal laughter. She would never show weakness in front of the White Light Tower Master.

Using his high-frequency blade as a support to straighten his body, Ortes rushed forward again. This was the final battle between White Light and Carisia. At the very least, he needed to be by Carisia’s side.