Ch.184The Ten Commandments Frontline (5)

Ortes was lying spread-eagled. All he could see was the blue sky. No trivial information like the history or composition of objects, nor text showing the magical concentration of the surrounding atmosphere appeared in his vision.

For the first time, he saw this world without any pressure.

A shadow fell over Ortes’s head. White hair tickled his cheek. Golden eyes came into view.

“Boss.”

“You’re alive and well!”

“Indeed I am.”

Ortes laughed hollowly. Whether his eyes had gone bad from overuse, whether it was temporary or permanent loss of function, he couldn’t tell right now.

But one thing was certain.

He had defeated Baekgwang.

“Did we really defeat him…?”

Carisia muttered.

“That’s a jinx.”

“You believe in such superstitions?”

Carisia shrugged. She looked around. The top of the Baekgwang Magic Tower was surrounded by arch-shaped pillars, but there were no walls between them, leaving it open.

The wind moved freely in and out, and the faint sounds of struggle from Etna City below reached their ears.

And at that moment, the tower rumbled with a groan.

Carisia instantly changed her stance and channeled magic into her gauntlet. The gauntlet, having been injected with excessive magic in an incredibly short time, was on the verge of breaking, but Carisia somehow managed to charge it with magic.

The tower groaned again, and they heard an ominous sound of something falling.

The current state of the Baekgwang main tower flashed through Ortes’s mind. His thoughts connected one after another.

As his thinking accelerated, information began to invade from the edges of his vision, but suddenly returned to normal sight.

‘So my eyes aren’t permanently damaged after all.’

It seemed he had used his eyes too intensively for a moment and they had entered a temporary recharging period.

His focus shifted from his eyes back to the Baekgwang main tower. The situation where Etna City, with its overwhelmingly greater mass, had pierced through it.

The tower hadn’t collapsed because the magic of the Ten Planes flowing through it had constantly attempted repairs.

But now, Archmage Baekgwang, the controller of the Ten Planes, was gone.

He and Carisia had defeated Baekgwang.

The tower master connecting the tower and the Ten Planes had disappeared. Then the magic of the Ten Planes that should have been circulating through the Baekgwang Magic Tower…

“It’s gone?!”

“What is?”

“Boss, connect to Baekgwang! This sound—the magic tower is collapsing!”

“Wow. That’s great! I was disappointed we couldn’t make it explode.”

Seeing Ortes’s shocked expression, Carisia stuck out her tongue slightly and added, “Just kidding.” She turned around.

In the center of the summit surrounded by arch-shaped pillars, a massive crystal sphere-like artifact came into view. The sphere, easily over 10 meters tall, had white light swirling inside.

Until just now, Carisia had been fighting inside it. With the disappearance of the magician who had created a second dimension using the Ten Planes Baekgwang as material, the Ten Planes must have returned to their basic form.

She wanted to destroy it.

The impulse swirled in her mind. She wanted to blow up the artificial Ten Planes right now, erasing the entire tower, the Ten Planes Baekgwang, and herself all at once.

Carisia turned her head. She saw Ortes, who was just barely managing to stand up.

She decided to postpone her destructive impulse. Carisia’s hand touched Baekgwang.

Slowly, light emanated from the Ten Planes. It didn’t have the overwhelming presence of Baekgwang’s light that seemed to bleach everything around it. It was a comfortable, background-like radiance, like clouds in the sky or snow accumulating in winter.

Carisia deliberately limited the amount of magic she received from the Ten Planes. Now that she was receiving magic from the artificial Ten Planes as well, there was a possibility that magic beyond her control could gather.

‘The magicians of the Baekgwang Magic Tower must have been bewildered since the moment Baekgwang fell.’

Because the magic supply from the Ten Planes had been cut off. And now, it was time to make a perfect victory declaration.

***

I silently watched Carisia. My eyes were defective—they hurt just from being open, and if I tried to impose restrictions to reduce their performance, the restrictions themselves would cause headaches again.

I should take in as much as I can while I can see the world so clearly.

As Carisia placed her hand on the Ten Planes, the Baekgwang Magic Tower, which had seemed about to collapse, quickly began to stabilize. Conversely, the sounds of fighting magicians subsided. They must have understood what Baekgwang’s silence meant on the floors below.

“Ah—”

Carisia made a few meaningless sounds as if testing a microphone. Then she quietly declared:

“Announcement: Hydra Corporation has attempted a merger and acquisition of Ten Towers Baekgwang to reconsider its external competitiveness in the rapidly changing magical society, and this has been completed as of today, this hour. The company name will remain as Hydra Corporation, and accordingly, Hydra’s existing personnel system will also be maintained.”

Merger and acquisition—it wasn’t wrong. I couldn’t help but laugh.

“With the merger of the two companies, Hydra Corporation has secured an unparalleled position in the magical society, and we promise to demonstrate innovative methods of operating the Ten Planes Baekgwang that are differentiated from the existing ones.”

Right. The Ten Planes bomb was truly an innovative, even revolutionary method of operation. Carisia’s amusing satire was powerful precisely because it was amusing, diluting the fighting spirit of the Baekgwang magicians. It was as if she were dismissing the fierce war until now as mere discord in the merger process.

“In addition, there will be a comprehensive review of the existing Baekgwang Inc.’s contract terms and employment succession, and therefore, I order an emergency stop to all work currently being carried out by former Baekgwang Inc. employees. All former employees of Baekgwang Inc. are requested to disarm and remain seated. Detailed work guidelines and personnel transfers will be announced later.”

A mischievous smile played at the corners of her lips.

“Hydra Corporation, which continues to grow ‘explosively’ toward the future even today, will be waiting for you at the cutting edge of change in the magical society. Until the day we return your loving interest with amazing gifts, Hydra Corporation will continue to grow.”

Damn. She just had to leave people feeling uneasy. I trudged over to Carisia.

“This concludes the message from Carisia, President of Hydra Corporation.”

Having finished her speech, Carisia stood still for a moment, looking up at the sky. She may not have been able to blow up Baekgwang, but she had finally achieved her long-held dream.

Whether it was refreshing or bittersweet, it must have been quite emotional.

“How was it?”

“A bit long. It must have been painful for the employees to listen to.”

“Really? I thought it was a well-crafted announcement for something improvised.”

“So, Boss.”

Actually, there was something else I wanted to ask after defeating Baekgwang. But now was the time for a different question. The unpredictable variable that had invaded the Ten Planes front, Arguirion, still remained.

“Do you think Lampades succeeded?”

“Well, about 42 minutes have passed since the succession battle was declared. I’d say the chances are about fifty-fifty.”

“Depending on whether Lampades succeeded in claiming Hwangroe or not, the speed at which Arguirion’s slander spreads will differ. Our response plan will also change accordingly. Damn, even if we wanted to break the containment barrier made by combining the artificial Ten Planes and Baekgwang right now, it wouldn’t be easy.”

Carisia hadn’t been showing off with her victory declaration for nothing. She would have immediately moved to the Nokmok front if possible, but the forcibly combined barrier formula of the two Ten Planes was the problem. Like how tangling a thread takes an instant but untangling it takes ages.

Realizing she couldn’t immediately head to the Nokmok front, Carisia put effort into her speech to definitively break the will of the Baekgwang insiders. Understanding this, Ortes resolved to undo the formula as soon as his eyes recovered.

Hearing Ortes mutter about wishing there was a way to contact the outside, Carisia tilted her head.

“We can check, can’t we?”

“Huh? Isn’t communication with the outside blocked because of the containment barrier? Although Etna City is connected to its original terrain, you’d have to be Prodito to reach Baekgwang through that route.”

Carisia tapped the Ten Planes Baekgwang.

“The Nokmok tower master sent a communication here, right? Since the Ten Planes are connected to each other, it’s clear that communication between them is possible through the containment barrier. Let’s contact Lampades.”

Carisia was able to discover the formula used for direct communication between tower masters among the formulas accumulated within Baekgwang.

She carefully opened her mouth. As she modulated her voice, it felt exactly like ‘Baekgwang.’ Ortes felt that no one but himself could distinguish Carisia impersonating Baekgwang.

“Hwangroe. What’s the situation on your end?”