Ch.207Emergency Meeting (3)

Amidst the confusion, there were directors who showed particularly resolute attitudes. Bertrand and Arabelle.

Bertrand didn’t think much about it. His duty wasn’t to fight. He was a miner and blacksmith who dug the earth and worked with metal. He had neither the ability nor the will to deal with a mythical being like the Demon King of Magic.

However, he disliked the idea of the land he stood on disappearing. That’s why he supported Carisia, who had both the ability and will to stand against the Demon King. This was why he carried out his duties as a director without hesitation.

Arabelle was the opposite. She had many thoughts.

Most were about not wanting to work, and occasionally about not wanting to die.

Sometimes she thought she’d rather die than work, but ultimately the desire to live prevailed. By being dragged along with Kaikel and Bertrand’s tasks, she had been able to track the Demon King’s movement patterns and the major disasters that occurred along his path.

If we leave that thing alone, the world will end. Without a doubt.

Having made her judgment, she chose to work in order to survive, holding back her tears.

The directors who couldn’t make a decision pondered the president’s words that “they were needed.” Hadn’t Ortes and the president essentially handled the entire battle during the White Light offensive?

From the mouths of such people came words about needing others. They wavered between a sense of crisis about how serious the situation was and skepticism about whether their assistance could actually change anything.

“Ah, hell. I might as well just ask directly.”

Divius, the unlicensed doctor, headed to the president’s office to find out exactly why they were needed.

Knock, knock. The moment he knocked on the president’s door and entered.

“Oh.” “Oh?”

He saw K17, one of the trainees he had modified during his time at Blasphemia.

“Hmm? Do you two know each other?”

“Well, yes, but…”

Divius trailed off. Why is she here?

“She’s currently the head of Blasphemia. She seized power in a coup.”

“What?”

The reunion was unexpected. Both the place and the status of the person he was reuniting with.

Carisia gestured for Divius to come in and close the door. Divius was surprised to see quite a number of people gathered in the president’s office.

Besides Lampades and Cnemon, who were in charge of the Ten Commandments, there was the “kid” that Ortes and the president had been raising, another kid next to that one, and even Meconion was there.

Meconion’s presence was quite unexpected. Divius had thought he would spend his last days drinking alcohol and taking drugs without caring about such matters.

“So, if we have the grapevine¹ I raised and the kid you raised, we can keep that dying man breathing?”

“Yes, Director Meconion. Bacchus has a tradition of being born twice, a myth of resurrection. If Miss Kine, who is currently the only remaining priest of Bacchus, uses Bacchus’s wine, she should be able to recreate the miracle.”

Meconion nodded.

“Say, has anyone here experienced other dimensions?”

Ortes cautiously raised his hand. Since his days as a fixer, Ortes had spent time in other-dimensional contamination zones. He had countless experiences of being doused with disgusting decontamination solution after being exposed to other-dimensional residue.

“How does it feel when you go in there?”

“Nothing special. Just makes you feel a bit queasy.”

“…Not pleasant, I suppose.”

Meconion stood up as if he had made a decision.

“Fine. I’ll bring it, so wait.”

As Meconion strode out, Divius felt something strange. Meconion believed that those present could face the Demon King.

Despite the opponent being a mythical magician equivalent to a god in the magical society, he had absolute faith that Ortes and Carisia would fight.

The same was true for Divius himself.

The extraordinary connections and strategies Ortes had shown so far, the bizarre ideas that had materialized in the Ten Commandments Revolution. He had consistently proven himself, and finally, by bringing down the White Light Tower, he seemed to have made all impossibilities possible.

The Demon King was the final gate before them. The only mountain that could stand in the way of those who had even toppled White Light.

“Now, Director Divius. What brings you here?”

“Nothing. I had something to think about, but I’ve sorted it out. Instead, may I speak with K17, no, Niobe?”

“Miss Niobe?”

“You’ve finished discussing what Blasphemia will handle, right? So…”

Divius, who had modified K17, faced her, now Niobe.

“Fate is a strange thing. Meeting like this.”

“Indeed. I didn’t expect to find you around my senior, instructor.”

Senior? Feeling something odd, Divius questioned Niobe about her meeting with Ortes.

And he thought.

‘Ah, damn. I really don’t know.’

Could Ortes be a secret inspector from Blasphemia? Given his skill in exploiting Blasphemia so far, it was possible, but he lacked the characteristic modification traces of Blasphemia.

But being a “secret” inspector, he might not have received modifications that would easily verify his Blasphemia identity. Ortes’s true identity had remained unknown since his arrival in Etna City.

Divius soon smiled.

Yes, the world should have at least one mystery left to make it interesting.

***

Criton had somehow transitioned from a slave trader to a reconstruction specialist, somehow participated in the Ten Towers succession battle, and somehow survived.

He held his head in his hands. It was his last chance to flee, but the question was where to.

What help could he possibly be in the fight against the Demon King? As he was pacing, he saw Noiro and Taros.

“You’re not going to run away?”

Noiro’s question. Taros nodded.

“Family, all of them. In Etna City. Can’t move.”

What else could he do? He had to fight, betting on the hope that Carisia would win, and believing that even if he died in this battle, his people would be taken care of.

Reading Taros’s intention, Noiro nodded.

“Family, huh.”

Noiro had no other family. He had become a hunter simply by creating traps and finding ways to fight from a distance to survive alone.

After becoming the head of the Hunters’ Association, he began to take pride in being a hunter.

Because Taros couldn’t flee due to having a family, Noiro could flee unencumbered because he had none.

But there was one thing weighing on his mind.

The Demon King, an unprecedented prey. There would never be such a hunt before or after. The pride of being a hunter, which had started as a luxury after satisfying survival needs, had somehow deeply permeated his inner self and become a necessity.

If the world didn’t end, would Noiro be able to live without regret for not participating in this greatest hunt?

No, he wouldn’t.

“I see…”

Overhearing their conversation, Criton realized that both directors had resolved to join the fight. Even those two who had first mentioned fleeing?

Criton sensed that his own dilemma would deepen considerably over the next 30 minutes.

***

The next meeting was held not at Hydra Company in Etna City, but in Elysion, the center of the magical society.

And within Elysion, at the Magic Tower, the heart of the magical society where magical power transmitted from the Ten Commandments converged. At a round table there.

The Hydra Company alliance, led by Carisia and Ortes, welcomed the other-dimensional expedition forces.

It was as if they were declaring themselves the masters of the new era.

“Well. Since we don’t have much time, shall we get straight to the point?”

As Carisia opened with these words and looked at Ortes, she was interrupted.

“Wait.”

It was the former Tower Master of Black Darkness. He stopped Carisia. Carisia’s eyebrow twitched.

“Is not your representative Lampades, the Tower Master of Yellow Thunder? What is the reason for hiding the one who personally read yesterday’s declaration?”

***

What ridiculous misunderstanding is this now? I couldn’t help but sigh.

Back then, I just needed to get the word out to all Ten Towers as quickly as possible, so I had Lampades handle it.

Just as I was about to clarify this tiresome misunderstanding, I paused. This massive misconception that Lampades was our leader.

Looking at it differently, this could be useful.

The ownership of the Ten Commandments was currently complicated. Besides the five we had secured—White Light, Yellow Thunder, Silver Iron, Black Darkness, and Blue Water—the other four were in contention, with subcontractors engaging in delaying tactics while the Tower Masters returned to claim ownership.

I could see the desire for the Ten Commandments dripping from those Tower Masters’ eyes. If I told them we planned to use the Ten Commandments as bombs, they naturally wouldn’t listen properly.

But what if I used Lampades as bait and played a little trick with the alliance conditions?

What if Lampades proposed something like, “As long as my ownership of the Ten Commandments is maintained, we will recognize your ownership of the Ten Commandments. If this contract is broken, the party whose ownership is violated first will take ownership of the violating party’s Ten Commandments,” and enforced it with Aigio’s miracle?

We could then detonate Yellow Thunder and immediately seize the Ten Commandments.

The plan was taking shape.