Ch.174The Ten Commandments Frontline (1)

# 15 Minutes After the Declaration of the White Light Succession War

White Light had predicted that another of the Ten Towers was behind Hydra Corporation’s succession war declaration. The other Ten Towers thought the same. It was the only rational explanation.

Those seeking to check White Light’s power each expected the Tower manipulating Hydra to make its move. An alliance on a grand scale to prevent White Light’s dominance.

However, no such undercurrent communications occurred among any of the Ten Towers. Were they planning to face White Light alone?

Well, this succession war wasn’t aimed at all-out conflict with White Light. It was merely a warning demonstration. There was no need to involve other Towers.

That’s what they thought until that moment.

The Towers that had believed the succession war against White Light had nothing to do with them suddenly found succession wars declared against themselves one after another.

Before they could even assess the situation, war began amid the confusion.

The first troops deployed weren’t mages. Nor were they priests. In Ortes’s plan, they were trump cards to be deployed at the most dramatic moment of the war.

What Ortes put at the vanguard of the Ten Towers War—no, the “Ten Realm Revolution”—was:

“Huff, that damned fellow. Assigning such excessive duties to an old man like me.”

Knights.

***

Foreign mages who intrude into a Tower’s territory find it extremely difficult to control their magical power. Nevertheless, to claim the Ten Realms, one had to reach the center of a Tower’s domain, which was why the Ten Towers held absolute advantage in succession wars.

But for knights?

They used battle aura, not magical power. While somewhat affected by a Realm’s magical dominance, they suffered no critical penalties.

Conversely, mages had no reason to expect such an organized knight assault. Knights had been obsolete for centuries, defeated by the age of magic.

Their legacy of battle techniques was only applied to golem combat circuits; no organizations bearing the name “knighthood” remained.

Thus, when skilled warriors using battle aura engaged in close combat, the battlefield descended into chaos. No one could fathom the identity of the attackers.

The elders governing the Yellow Thunder Tower in place of its Tower Master, who could only stay awake a few hours a day, were shocked.

Somehow, even long-distance communication through the Ether Network wasn’t functioning properly. Only the elders could maintain remote communication by directly sending electrical signals to the other party’s communication device with delicate skill.

“Is it Black Darkness?! Did they excavate some ancient knights’ mass grave?!”

“Do those look like Death Knights to you?! No! They’re living humans! They must have hired Fixers from extra-dimensional contamination zones on a massive scale!”

“Fixers! What organization could hire those ruffians in such numbers?! It must be one of the Ten Towers!”

The Yellow Thunder elders argued back and forth. Then suddenly, they recalled a Tower that had hired numerous Fixers in a similar situation.

White Light.

The search request for “White Light’s Monster” that greatly contributed to creating Arguilion. Of course, that request hadn’t been openly issued under White Light Tower’s name.

The scale differed greatly from the current situation. The Fixers in the current battle numbered well over a hundred, while White Light had reportedly recruited at most five Fixers back then.

But originally, the Ten Towers didn’t associate with lowly groups like Fixers. Their own power was overwhelming, and when they needed anonymity, they could mobilize regular towers under their influence.

White Light had chosen Fixers only to conceal its involvement; it could have attempted to eliminate White Light’s Monster through other means.

Though the assassination attempt through Fixers ultimately failed.

This history only came to light during the interrogation of White Light after the disappearance of Blasphemia’s vice-captain, when it was alleged that White Light had secretly given them orders.

Since then, White Light hadn’t been seen issuing requests to Fixers. Naturally, since White Light’s Monster had been dealt with.

However, it was true that White Light had established channels to hire Fixers. Among the Ten Towers, only White Light had created connections to mobilize Fixers on such a scale.

“So White Light has concluded that we’re behind this attack! For what reason? Has everyone gone mad?”

“No, think about it. Even if White Light gathered these Fixers, the situation is strange. White Light’s succession war started less than 30 minutes ago. How could they deploy forces of this caliber so quickly? Does that make any sense?”

Of course it didn’t. But this was the Ten Towers they were talking about.

The Yellow Thunder elders, who knew their own capabilities all too well, became increasingly confused about who was behind the attack.

The current chaos was proceeding according to Ortes’s plan.

***

The battle with Yellow Thunder Tower held a somewhat unique position in Ortes’s strategic plan. Starting with the contingency plan.

Other units on the Ten Realm front were instructed to retreat immediately if the capture of White Light failed. But Lampades was different.

Lampades recalled Ortes’s instructions.

“You must capture Yellow Thunder Tower no matter what.”

“Why?”

“Yellow Thunder is the weakest. Though the elders have been dispatched because the Tower Master remains, that Tower Master himself is not in proper condition. The ‘insurance’ plan I mentioned to you earlier is still in progress.”

“So after Lampades Tower is elevated to one of the Ten… you’ll seek refuge there if the worst happens?”

Ortes nodded. If one needed to hide from White Light’s furious pursuit, only a group with equal authority—another of the Ten Towers—could provide shelter.

If they had to retreat from the battle with White Light, he planned to hide Carisia in Lampades Tower.

“The second reason. If defeating White Light is the first victory condition, defeating Yellow Thunder is the second.”

Ortes focused on Lampades’ radio interference technology.

“Radio jamming powered by the Ten Realms’ output. You’ll gain the ability to control all communications across the Ten Realm front. You understand what an enormous tactical advantage this provides.”

Then Lampades was introduced to an elderly man who was Ortes’s friend.

“…Hector?”

“Oh? You know this old man?”

“Of course. You’re a great elder in our industry. The legendary man who resolved countless requests with just a single sword—”

Lampades naturally thought of Ortes. Indeed, he could see why they were friends.

“Elder Hector is actually a key figure in an anti-Ten Towers organization. He’s more moderate than Mr. Knemon, who calls for a magical society revolution.”

“What?”

“Ah, that’s not the important part. What matters is that the members of Hector’s organization mostly have Fixer backgrounds. A unit composed of suspiciously battle-skilled Fixers led by a Tower headed by a former Fixer. How do you think Yellow Thunder Tower will interpret this?”

Despite the confusion, Lampades answered earnestly, though he mostly wanted to ignore the chaos.

“Hmm. They’ll think the Fixer industry is taking advantage of the magical society’s turmoil to challenge the power structure.”

“That would be the common-sense interpretation. But you and I were close, weren’t we, Mr. Lampades?”

“What?”

“Pardon?”

“Ah. I meant we haven’t met for a while since our Fixer days.”

“I see. That’s fine. What matters is that you had a close relationship with a certain Fixer who was involved in White Light’s secret request.”

Ortes casually laid out the boss’s past activities. Actually, our boss was being hunted by White Light, and if the Ten Towers notice the connection between these associates, they might interpret the alliance between Mr. Lampades and Elder Hector differently—

Lampades felt his mind reeling from the sudden flood of information.

“Anyway. The confused situation and trust in the Ten Towers’ abilities will delay their judgment.”

Ortes added that they would be considerably bewildered by the attack from the unexpected emerging power of “Fixers.”

“There’s something that can only be done in this confusion. A very grave task that Mr. Lampades and Elder Hector must accomplish together.”

Lampades turned to Hector. The old man in the strange shirt was simply smiling with a mischievous expression. Perhaps he had already been briefed by Ortes.

“What task?”

“Assassination.”

“Whose?”

“Who else? The Yellow Thunder Tower Master.”

Lampades heard the warning sound from his enchantware alerting him to an abnormal rise in his blood pressure.

“That’s—”

“Ah, if the infiltration method is a concern, I’ve recruited an expert here.”

Ortes pointed to empty space. But the next moment, a golden door opened in the void. After confirming the boy beyond the door, Ortes slowly turned to Lampades.

“This is Prodito. To put it simply, he’s one of the twelve most dangerous among the priests of the old gods.”

Lampades closed his eyes.