Ch.53The King of Chaos (1)

Demos was confused by the unexpected words. Did those Blasphemia bastards know about the Divine Name Order?

No. They probably had a vague awareness that there was an organization representing “the leaders of various religious orders,” including the existence of the Pope.

But there’s an enormous gap between knowing something exists and knowing its specific name.

The existence of the Divine Name Order is the greatest secret even among God’s people. Even those who have formally become priests cannot know its name unless their trustworthiness is guaranteed.

So how did this person…?

‘That’s not the only problem…’

He clearly said he possessed Phoibos’s sacred relic. How could a sacred relic be in Blasphemia’s hands, and why did that relic choose him of all people?

In the midst of confusion, Ortes opened his mouth.

“It’s your independent action.”

“Hmph, you’re making a poor guess. I can’t believe you unless you show me the sacred relic directly.”

“That’s simple. Right now—”

Suddenly, Ortes’s movement stopped. Was it a deceptive tactic to launch a surprise attack?

But something seemed off about this supposed ambush. Several seconds had already passed without any attack coming. Demos kept his fist raised as he stared at Ortes.

***

Ah.

I gave that to Carisia.

I didn’t panic. I’m used to this level of improvisation. So…

“Oh my. I just had a revelation that I shouldn’t show you the sacred relic.”

“Playing prophet now? Ha. Whether it’s my independent action or not is a 50-50 chance. Just because you guessed correctly doesn’t mean you—”

“If it were the collective will of the Divine Name Order, they would have done their best to win. You are a priest of Enyalios, the war god. But isn’t there one more war deity?”

The priest was at a loss for words. In the original work, the stories of gods weren’t covered in much detail. But I had knowledge accumulated from raiding Blasphemia branches.

According to Blasphemia’s research, there were usually two deities called war gods. One was Enyalios, who symbolized the most primal aspect of war—violence. The other was Glaukikos, who symbolized the wisdom of advanced warfare, such as tactics.

If the Divine Name Order truly wanted victory, they would have dispatched both powers that govern war: Glaukikos of tactics and Enyalios of violence.

“But I don’t see any priest of Glaukikos. Are you now inclined to listen to what I have to say?”

***

Demos felt his mind becoming increasingly confused. It was earth-shattering enough that an outsider knew the name of the Divine Name Order.

And to think they even understood the order’s behavioral patterns so thoroughly?

‘Is this truly foresight originating from Phoibos’s sacred relic? But a Blasphemia member chosen by a sacred relic?’

“I am called by many names.”

The still-smiling man murmured.

“Though I have many, many names, in this place, it would be best to introduce myself as ‘the Enemy of the Ten Towers.'”

“Blasphemia, the Enemy of the Ten Towers? You’re spouting nonsense that doesn’t even qualify as a joke!”

“I am indeed called Blasphemia sometimes. But that’s not my real name either.”

His snake-like, ominous eyes gleamed as he nodded. Was this a signal for an ambush?

No. There was no one around except himself, that man, and the hostage girl.

That’s when it happened. The hostage girl slowly raised her left index finger. Purple energy condensed at its tip. A hint of grape fragrance brushed past Demos’s nose.

“Bacchus’s…!”

“That should be enough. If we do more, the Ten Towers might notice.”

The grape scent flowing from the hostage girl’s index finger dissipated. So that meant…

“This little girl is a priest of Bacchus?”

‘I heard the Bacchus Order disappeared recently. Wasn’t she kidnapped by Blasphemia?!’

Demos looked at the man’s face again. His eyelids were in an ambiguous state, neither fully closed nor open. Was this the peculiar habit of a prophet who sees both future and present simultaneously?

“…No. I’ve seen the leader of the Phoibos Order. Someone like you wasn’t there.”

“Phoibos’s priests sometimes see different futures. If the leader’s vision differs from one’s own, which to believe depends on the priest’s heart.”

“Who are you?”

“For now, just call me the Enemy of the Ten Towers. Like yourself.”

Having directly witnessed his cooperation with a girl wielding Bacchus’s divine power, Demos couldn’t completely deny his words. He tried to deduce the man’s identity from the clues revealed.

The Enemy of the Ten Towers, and furthermore…

‘A prophet of Phoibos…!’

Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Demos spoke as calmly as possible.

“I’ll ask just one last thing. Why would someone calling himself the Enemy of the Ten Towers operate under the identity of Blasphemia?”

“Who persecutes and kills the most religious orders?”

“Blasphemia, of course.”

“Even if I went around warning religious orders about their futures, some would inevitably fail to escape. But what if I could subtly control Blasphemia’s actions by feeding them false information from within?”

He could save more people that way. Though frowning, Demos understood and nodded.

“That… makes sense.”

“Then let’s get to the main point.”

Clap. The prophet of Phoibos brought his palms together.

***

Phew. I succeeded.

Thank goodness I texted Kine to follow me just in case. I always say you need to have a Plan B ready.

“Ah, please send that child back. You know she’s not an enemy.”

“I’m different from Blasphemia. I just said that—I don’t have a hobby of killing children.”

The priest of Enyalios grumbled but let Kine go.

“Let me address your biggest question first. Where did the abducted believers go?”

I pointed to the ruins.

“That is your answer.”

“What?”

“If you infiltrated during the chaos in Elysion, you must have heard the announcement from the Infiltrators who call themselves ‘Argyrion.'”

“Yes. But what do they have to do with this? The skill used to identify and track our order’s hideout was Blasphemia’s.”

“Because Argyrion’s leadership consists of Blasphemia agents who became Infiltrators.”

The priest’s face hardened. He probably viewed Argyrion as the enemy of his enemy—the Ten Towers—thinking they couldn’t be fully trusted but could be used against a common foe.

But if they were originally Blasphemia, compromise was impossible. They weren’t the enemy of his enemy, just another enemy added to the list.

I could roughly guess what happened to the missing order members.

Previously, Carisia had deduced that the gift injected into Sikton’s brain was a “rehearsal for the Elysion terror attack.”

Then why did Argyrion specifically choose vanished gods’ orders as their testing ground?

The reason was simple.

Because they were groups that could be kidnapped and killed without arousing suspicion.

If Argyrion had kidnapped people from some city, it would inevitably draw attention. The Magic Towers responsible for each region would begin tracking them, making things difficult for Argyrion.

But what about the orders of vanished gods?

Capturing and killing them is Blasphemia’s job. If a few groups of superstition followers disappeared, people would be glad rather than suspicious.

They were the group with the least risk associated with abduction.

Just as they had tested the gift on Sikton, it was natural to choose religious order followers as the first hosts to infiltrate and detonate inside Elysion.

I summarized these deductions as concisely as possible.

“Argyrion is a group of Infiltrators who retain Blasphemia’s expertise and information. The religious orders were simply the easiest group from which to secure hosts for this gift-based terror attack.”

The priest’s face, previously flushed with anger, turned pale.

“The abducted people!”

“The attack has already progressed. Most of them should be considered expended.”

Thud. The priest collapsed as his legs gave out.

“Aaaaaaaaahhhhh!”

The priest’s scream echoed. While it pained me to rush someone in such agony, we didn’t have time for this.

“Listen carefully. I’ll tell you what you need to do next.”

“My brother! My brother!”

“If you continue to wallow in despair, only a future of continued loss awaits you.”

***

Demos raised his head. Ortes stood with his back to the sunlight, looking down at him.

The deity of Phoibos flashed through his mind. Phoibos who sees far, Phoibos who stands highest—he was also the sun god.

With the sun obscuring his face, only his blue eyes gleamed from within the shadows. From the center of the backlight, the prophet of Phoibos spoke.

“Argyrion will become your enemy. Through their wicked research attempting to open a door to another dimension, the Bacchus Order was annihilated, and this child was the only life I could save.”

“This danger threatens the Divine Name Order and all orders aligned with it. So, priest of Enyalios, do not kneel in despair but rise. Don’t cover your eyes with your hands—clench them into fists.”

Gritting his teeth, Demos staggered to his feet.

“What must I do?”

“I know what Argyrion will do next. Relay this to the Divine Name Order.”

***

Argyrion is using this attack to buy time to hide their base. If that’s the case, not all gift hosts can be captured here.

Conveniently, Elysion has a magical train station connecting to locations worldwide.

“At the end of this attack, they’ll announce that they’ve spread gift hosts throughout the world.”

“How? Right now, Blasphemia agents are moving throughout Elysion, tracking the Infiltrators. You should know their capabilities better than I do, having infiltrated them.”

“The magical trains. Before announcing their terror statement, they would have already mixed hosts among the passengers. If this is revealed, the Ten Towers will inevitably have to divert manpower to tracking the hosts. Argyrion gains time to regroup.”

“…!”

“If terrorists have one advantage over the Ten Towers, it’s that they can choose when to attack. Even before the terror began, their true objective was already achieved, and they added more attacks just to make it more shocking.”

This was the conclusion I reached after considering why they would stage such a large-scale attack.

The Argyrion executive dispatched to Elysion was essentially a sacrificial pawn, and the real purpose was the spectacular debut of a puppet that would divert the Ten Towers’ pursuit.

“The Divine Name Order could be a variable in this fight. Will you add weight to the search for Argyrion’s base, or will you accept the sacrifice of your followers to create a scenario where Argyrion grows strong enough to mutually destroy each other with the Ten Towers?”

“Accept sacrifice? You think I would allow such a thing!”

“You may not accept it, but what about the will of the Divine Name Order?”

The priest of Enyalios fell silent.

Almost there. I scribbled an email address on a piece of paper and pressed it into the priest’s hand.

“If the collective will of the Divine Name Order aligns toward Argyrion’s destruction, let me know. This email address belongs to Blasphemia agent L13. One of the names by which I’m called.”

***

After the priest of Enyalios took the note from Ortes and left, Kine asked in a trembling voice:

“Y-you. Are you really a prophet of Phoibos?”

He had foreseen the destruction of the Bacchus Order and rushed to help, and he had recited Argyrion’s actions as if he had seen them in advance.

From the moment he brought her along to convince the priest of Enyalios until now—everything had moved according to Ortes’s plan.

Foresight so accurate it was chilling. Could even the leader of the Phoibos Order do something like this?

Hearing Kine’s question, Ortes rubbed his temple.

“Miss Kine.”

“…Yes?”

“Being that naive will get you taken advantage of by bad adults later in life. Let’s just go back to the boss.”