Ch.175The Ten Commandments Frontline (2)

“Even if we’re talking about assassination, the target is one of the Ten Towers. Do you think the Lightning Tower Master would quietly allow himself to be assassinated?”

“For our Q&A, we’ve invited Mr. Demos here, who has actually attempted assassination. He works at the same place as Mr. Prodito whom I introduced earlier. They hold the same position.”

Lampades grabbed his head.

Demos, watching the momentarily confused Lampades, pulled Ortes aside to a corner.

“Are you sure this is okay? If he reports us…”

“Haha. Of course. Mr. Lampades isn’t that kind of person. He cares so much about his people.”

Ortes replied casually, making Demos’s hushed concerns seem unnecessary.

Of course, Ortes meant that Lampades cared about “his people, including his friends.” An expression of trust that once they were in the same boat, they would stick together until the end.

To Lampades, however, it naturally sounded like this:

‘You understand, right? If you mess up, we all die together.’

Ortes was right. Once on the same ship, if it sinks, everyone drowns. They had come too far to back out now.

Moreover.

‘I’m in charge of the lifeboat for this ship.’

More precisely, he was in charge of “creating” the lifeboat. Somehow, they needed to get their hands on the Lightning Tower to have an escape route if other Ten Towers sought revenge later.

Lampades steeled himself. For the sake of his Tower family. He had to put everything on the line for this battle.

‘The greater the risk, the greater the reward. I’ve bet everything, so I’ll win even more!’

It was a desperate resolve. All or nothing. Lampades once again hardened his determination. Hector, watching from the side, thought:

‘Ah, Ortes…’

You really don’t know how to make friends properly.

The master shed tears in his heart, sensing his only disciple’s catastrophic social skills. Though Ortes looked suspicious, there was no reason for such misunderstandings. It was truly unfortunate.

“Let me hear it again. What about the Lightning Tower Master?”

“Well. Our order has been oppressed by the Ten Towers as enemies for centuries. But even amid that, there were occasional counterattacks, and the current Lightning Tower Master was—”

Demos explained the general situation to Lampades, highlighting the Lightning Tower Master’s injury. After Demos’s assassination attempt, the Lightning Tower Master had stopped attending any external events outside the tower.

Finding this suspicious, the Divine Light Order used their spies within Argos to assess the Lightning Tower Master’s current condition.

“The rampage during my assassination attempt must have been critical, as I hear he can’t even leave the tower. He’s only conscious for about 1-2 hours a day.”

“If he’s asleep… incapacitated, that means we could certainly attempt an assassination.”

“Yes. But the problem is the elders. The elders I saw were skilled enough to subdue the rampaging Tower Master, even though they had numerical advantage.”

The explanation seemed to be wrapping up. Ortes gestured to Prodito, who had been looking around the reception room.

“That’s why Mr. Prodito’s role is crucial. Theoretically, he has the ability to open doors to any place in the world.”

“Well… it’s dangerous if the coordinates aren’t properly secured.”

“Lampades’s radar technology will take care of that. Perhaps we’ve created quite a dangerous combination here.”

Lampades wanted to argue that his radar was designed for extra-dimensional exploration, not for this world.

However, thinking about it, if he used the emission of Ten Commandment energy as a search criterion to calculate coordinates, it didn’t seem impossible. He swallowed his objection with tears in his eyes.

“So, Mr. Lampades.”

“What is it?”

“The problem is that Mr. Prodito’s technique uses divine power, and the Ten Towers tend to have seizures at the mere presence of divine power. They would probably notice as soon as sacred arts are used and put aside their pride to request support from other Ten Towers.”

Demos nodded. As a priest of the War God, he agreed with this analysis. The Ten Towers might quarrel over other matters, but they showed remarkable cooperation when it came to dealing with the Order.

“Therefore, Mr. Lampades, you need to paralyze the Lightning Tower’s communication system as soon as the succession battle begins.”

“Are you joking?”

Ortes shrugged as if to say “of course not.” His expression suggested he already had a plan prepared. But this time, Lampades didn’t readily agree with Ortes’s words.

“The main battlefield of the succession battle is within the Ten Towers’ domain. Unless we spend time usurping control or take a large quantity of magic stones, magic use itself is extremely limited. Without an artifact comparable to the Ten Commandments, such large-scale magic is impossible.”

As he spoke, Lampades pointed at Hector, gesturing that this was why they had brought martial artists as vanguards for the succession battle.

“That’s right. But Mr. Lampades, while we may not have artifacts comparable to the Ten Commandments, we do have one that can utilize them.”

“If such an artifact existed, our Tower would have become the True Magic Tower long ago!”

“You acquired it relatively recently.”

Recently? Dark memories stirred in Lampades’s mind. The artifact Ortes had given him as a “gift.” An excavated item from the Torres School.

The final legacy of the Manubia Magic Tower, which had challenged the Lightning Tower but ultimately failed.

“The Thunder Pearl…?”

“I told you the Thunder Pearl can perfectly convert mana into magical power. In fact, it has one more function.”

What followed was a disclaimer that this was “purely theoretical.” That it was merely a function inferred from the artifact’s origin, and if the theory proved false, they would need to revise their strategy. But Lampades instinctively knew Ortes’s words were true.

That was the kind of being Ortes was.

The Thunder Pearl’s hidden function: Not only could it convert mana into magical power, but it could also convert magical power back into mana. A perfect conversion without any loss, just like the other direction.

This bidirectional conversion was an unexpected function created by the fusion of Thunder Master Keranos’s technique and the silver worm. Carisia had simply adjusted this accidental result to be “processed using the silver’s properties” so it could be released only when needed.

Ortes entered the release command as Carisia had taught him. Silver patterns began to appear on the golden orb.

“Behold. The final legacy left by the Manubia Magic Tower.”

Mana to magical power, magical power back to mana. Lampades’s mind raced with the limitless possibilities this artifact held.

It was an artifact that existed precisely for the Ten Towers succession battle. It could revert the magical power in the atmosphere controlled by the Ten Commandments back into mana, then convert it into magical power that their allies could control. A perfect counter to the Ten Commandments’ control over magical power.

An artifact that the Thunder Master, the last Tower Master of Manubia who had challenged the Lightning Tower but ultimately failed, would have created.

Lampades trembled. Everything until now had been designed to bring down the Ten Towers.

But there was one last thing to confirm.

“You said this artifact was for Astrape.”

“Yes.”

How cold. Lampades was about to take a deep breath.

“However, exposing Miss Astrape in the current situation would be quite dangerous.”

An unexpected answer. He waited for what would follow.

“Miss Astrape wielding the Thunder Pearl would herald the revival of the Manubia Magic Tower. But that would draw too much attention.”

Astrape fully utilizing the Thunder Pearl was a hidden card for the battle against the Grand Archdemon. The Archdemon’s magic would be unparalleled. But the Thunder Pearl doesn’t interfere with magic itself, but with the magical power necessary for using magic. An artifact that didn’t exist in the original work, that no one could have predicted.

They shouldn’t reveal all the possibilities of the Thunder Pearl during the Ten Commandments offensive.

Lampades interpreted this as Ortes’s remaining humanity. He had once suspected a family relationship between Ortes and Astrape, and those suspicions hadn’t been completely dispelled. Once again, showing favoritism toward Astrape.

In a way, it was reassuring. It could be seen as evidence of Ortes’s earlier statement that he “didn’t intend to burn the entire world.”

“Too much attention, you say.”

“Yes. If the Ten Commandments front proceeds according to our plan and all Ten Towers fall, it won’t matter. But if not, it would be quite troublesome attention.”

The Thunder Pearl had been excavated by the Torres Magic Tower, which was revealed to be an informant for Arguilion. If allegations of collusion with Arguilion continued, their position could become precarious even after ascending to the Ten Towers.

Perhaps the Lampades Magic Tower itself might be seen as a front for Arguilion.

If Ortes intended to use the Lampades Magic Tower as insurance, it would be right to prevent such suspicions from arising.

But Lampades felt that this judgment wasn’t based solely on such “rational” reasons, and he continued his questioning.

“Then who will use it? Do you have someone else in mind?”

Ortes looked at Lampades with a face of incomprehension—a rare display of emotion.

“…Me?”

“The person doing the assassination should take the assassination tool, shouldn’t they?”