Ch.63Grave Robbing and Theft (6)

When I arrived at the gathering point, the two monsters were drawing closer to each other with the group of Solvers caught between them.

On one side was the mass of silver thread that the Arguirion mages had been handling with relative composure until just moments ago.

On the other side was…

The Lightning Giant. Inside what appeared to be a massive giant formed of storm clouds, lightning bolts writhed and emitted horrific screams. Thunder boomed each time it twisted its body. Evidence of its immense magical power.

‘What on earth is that thing?’

Judging by the position of the Solvers who seemed to have just fled, that creature must have crawled up from the deep layer. That fact only confused me more.

‘That thing wasn’t there when I came out earlier.’

I hadn’t properly analyzed the deep layer, but there definitely wasn’t anything that looked so insanely dangerous at first glance!

If something that dangerous had been there, I would have stepped back and made a proper plan first, regardless of any artifacts.

I fell into thought. How did something like that suddenly appear?

There was only one suspect. The final room at the bottom of the deep layer. Something that had been sealed inside.

‘But…’

I closed my eyes to prevent brain overload the moment I recognized it, but I could tell its seal had a relatively stable structure.

The Torres Magic Tower isn’t some inexperienced minor tower. Unless they completely ignored excavation procedures and forcibly tore open the seal, whatever existed inside shouldn’t have gone berserk like this.

“Stop the silver thread monster right now!”

A sharp voice flew at me as I was lost in thought.

***

The silver thread monster, which both Arguirion and Torres Magic Tower had desperately tried to suppress, had thrashed violently before being dragged to the gathering place. It had wildly lashed out its silver threads toward anything that could absorb magical power.

The Arguirion mages tried to bind the silver thread monster with telekinesis, but they couldn’t grasp every single thread. During the rampage, the power units of ships docked at Crete Island were destroyed. The result of silver threads detecting and burrowing into the magical power contained in the engines.

Through this process, the silver thread monster had been able to regenerate most of its lost threads. The Arguirion mages had already consumed more than 60% of their magical power—enhanced by the blessing of the “Great Cause”—just trying to suppress the monster with its enormous mass.

Nevertheless, they believed the situation had improved. If they had fought inside the ruins, the monster’s recovery would have outpaced their consumption. If the silver threads had invaded the magical core of the ruins, it would have become an unmanageable catastrophe.

But by dragging it to an open space with no magical power sources to absorb, the fight would become fair.

The blessing of the “Great Cause” had advanced not only their magical power but also their wisdom in handling magic. If they unleashed all their abilities, the silver thread monster, now unable to continuously recover, would soon be subdued.

What shattered that prediction was the Lightning Giant that had crawled up from the deep layer.

Overwhelming magical power could be felt from within the giant. If the silver thread monster absorbed the magical power composing the giant, it would be impossible to stop it with just the mages present.

The silver thread monster also detected the magical power emanating from the giant. Following the instinct engraved in its existence, it directed its threads toward the giant.

The truly ironic part was that the Lightning Giant, Thundering Void, thought the same way. Its enormous hunger recognized the pure mana inside the silver thread monster. If it devoured all that mana, it could satisfy its ancient hunger.

The two behemoths recognized each other as prey. It was a terrible situation.

Because no matter which one won, there would be no hope for the mages of Crete Island.

Thundering Void stretched its hand toward the sky. Ash-like particles rose from its body and dyed the clouds black. Then, rumble.

The sky roared as heavy rain began to fall. Lightning gathered, flashing within the dark clouds.

Compared to Thundering Void’s sophisticated magical attack, the silver thread monster’s strategy was simple: approach and absorb.

The silver thread monster began extending its threads in all directions, devouring anything with magical power that it touched. The mages instinctively knew they couldn’t allow either monster to devour the other.

They desperately tried to maintain the balance of power. When Thundering Void burned the silver thread monster with a lightning spear, they blasted its right leg; when the silver thread monster ensnared Thundering Void’s arm, they cut those strands.

The battle between the two monsters needed to end only after they had exhausted each other.

In the midst of this desperate struggle, Karuto spotted a silhouette in the distance.

The Blasphemia agent who had brought the silver thread monster. He was standing on the ridge.

‘That’s him. If I take him down, we can regain control of the silver thread monster!’

Karuto, an Arguirion mage, resolutely moved to eliminate the Blasphemia agent.

Of course, Ortes knew nothing about magic to control the silver thread monster.

***

“Oh? What seems to be the matter?”

The man responded with a slick smile. Karuto raised his hand, aiming a gun. A magical gun that fired bullets charged with a mage’s magical power.

‘He doesn’t react to this level of threat. That means he must be equipped with some kind of automatic defense artifact…’

As a former Blasphemia agent, Karuto was quick to assess the situation. Even with automatic defense artifacts, the method of defense varied. He needed more information.

‘Is the artifact portable? Or is it a fixed defensive type installed in the area?’

“What’s the matter? Can’t you see this catastrophe with your own eyes?”

“Catastrophe, you say?”

The Blasphemia agent, still smiling, looked down at the battlefield where Thundering Void and the silver thread monster were engaged in mortal combat. While the Solvers scattered in all directions, Torres Magic Tower and Arguirion, unable to abandon the ruins, remained to interfere with the behemoths.

From that eerie smile, Karuto realized two things.

‘He didn’t move from his spot, only turned his head. Fixed defensive type. Can’t break through with just the firepower of a magical gun. Need a proper spell.’

First was the type of artifact.

“You… you want everyone to die.”

Second was the nature of this Blasphemia agent.

The agent wanted death for the traitorous Arguirion, the Torres Magic Tower that had allied with traitors, and all the Solvers and mercenaries working under Torres Magic Tower.

While his hatred for Torres Magic Tower was understandable, sentencing innocent Solvers and mercenaries to death was a madness beyond words.

Blind murderous intent toward the enemies of the Ten Towers. It was truly fanatical.

‘But the fact that he set up a fixed defensive artifact means…’

When the silver thread monster was forcibly dragged out from the middle layer, the mage controlling it must have experienced backlash. He had chosen to stay in one place to focus on control because he was too injured to move while manipulating the monster.

He was clearly determined to eliminate the enemies of the Ten Towers, even at the cost of his own life.

“Don’t you value your life…!”

Karuto pretended to be overwhelmed by the agent’s madness and stepped back hesitantly. A natural gesture to buy time. During this interval, his auxiliary calculation device formulated a spell.

As soon as the signal indicating the spell was ready appeared in his mind, he launched his attack. This was to prevent the man from having time to cast his own spell.

If he could just take down this guy, his comrade Lugret could reapply the control magic on the silver thread monster and reverse the situation!

***

‘Ah, so that’s what a silver thread monster is. That’s what they call that mass of silver threads.’

The Arguirion mage ignited dozens of flames in the air and fired them.

If I had been unable to move properly because I was controlling the silver thread monster, as he thought, I would have died without escaping the explosion.

But I am not a mage.

My vigilance had been at maximum since the moment Arguirion approached. As soon as I saw the precursor to the spell, I prepared a counterattack.

Attack and evasion occurred simultaneously and crossed paths. A look of disbelief. In that moment of bewilderment, before the mage’s reason could re-engage in battle, my high-frequency blade bisected his body.

“You’re… not a mage…?”

The Arguirion mage collapsed before finishing his sentence.

The immediate threat was resolved, but…

‘What now?’

The silver thread monster was rampaging without anyone’s control, and the Lightning Giant was equally uncontrollable.

I looked down at the entrance to the deep layer.

‘What on earth did those Torres Magic Tower people trust when they opened the room where that thing was kept?’

They must have had something they believed in to unseal the giant.

I ran toward the deep layer. Fortunately, the giant had smashed all the traps and mazes on its way up, creating a new direct path connecting the final room to the entrance.

‘Let there be something—anything!’

***

The situation was desperate. Shortly after one of the Arguirion mages disappeared, telling his colleague, “I’ll go take down the culprit, so cast the control magic as soon as the silver thread monster is released from control,” the mages reached their limit.

They simply couldn’t prevent the head-on collision between the two behemoths.

Storm clouds filled with thunder enveloped the silver thread monster, while silver threads burrowed into the giant’s body. It was a grotesque entanglement of mutual invasion.

Footsteps approached from the distance. Lugret, who had been waiting for Karuto, turned her head.

The figure approaching through the dark clouds was not the person she had been waiting for.