Ch.92The Great Chaos (9)

“What on earth are you doing, Boss?!”

My tongue moved without permission from my rational mind. Karisia is someone who must hide her identity from the Ten Towers, Arguirion, and the Divine Faith Order.

For her to personally come here… this should never happen.

‘Did she seal her voice with wind magic and send it to me? That means she must be somewhere nearby…’

Karisia didn’t answer. I’m not sure if she couldn’t hear my response, or if she simply didn’t need to hear it.

She showed me through action instead.

The dozens, hundreds of warheads about to explode are neutralized. The magically ignited flames die down instantly.

Magic interference?

It’s a technique where one casts magic of the same type when a specific spell is being cast, stealing the opponent’s magical power to collapse the structure of their spell.

To use magic interference, one must target the moment when “magic has been cast but not yet completed.” However, Talo’s magic was clearly complete, and Karisia interfered with already completed magic, rendering the spell ineffective.

How is something like that possible?

『I hacked one of the computational auxiliary brains and canceled the command. It’s not the orthodox way of dismantling through magic interference, but rather an unorthodox method.』

Her answer flies in as if she knew what questions I would have. It’s chilling sometimes.

So for Karisia, dismantling hundreds of spells one by one is the orthodox way? Most people would think about blocking or avoiding them. Her way of thinking is rather strange, isn’t it?

『They haven’t noticed my intervention yet, but there’s a limit. At best, a few seconds, or with luck, about a minute. Finish quickly and come back.』

I’m dumbfounded by the level of confidence in her words. Telling me to “finish quickly” against an Elder of the Ten Towers.

I have no choice. Since I made the boss come personally, it’s my duty as her loyal servant to finish this as quickly as possible.

I readjusted my grip on the high-frequency blade.

***

Ortes had various reasons for using a high-frequency blade, but they could be summarized into three main points.

First, ease of supply. Being mass-produced, it was easy to obtain anywhere. Not a big loss if lost.

Second, versatility. Since it could use magic inscription drives, it was adaptable for various situations when facing magicians.

And third.

The “vibration” of the high-frequency blade was perfectly suited for Ortes’s eyes.

During the battle with Adusiam in the deepest part of Pluto’s Great Temple, Ortes demonstrated his skill by adjusting the vibration of his high-frequency blade to counteract sonic projectiles.

Adusiam’s sonic projectiles worked by vibrating at materials’ natural frequencies to destroy them. Ortes responded by constantly changing the frequency of his blade to prevent the sonic projectiles from identifying its vibration frequency.

The reason he could devise such a response on the spot was simple.

The technique Ortes used through his high-frequency blade and the principle of sonic projectiles were fundamentally identical.

In the moment before another explosion command could be issued, Ortes leaped up onto Mecha-Talo’s massive body in one breath.

Talo calmly analyzed the canceled explosion command. There was a problem with one of the auxiliary computation devices—the auxiliary brain in the lower abdomen responsible for lower body calculations.

Though uncertain how the hacking occurred, the approaching enemy was too fast to immediately expel the hacker’s influence.

‘Is the hijacked auxiliary brain preventing direct attacks against this guy? Then I’ll just use a method that isn’t an attack!’

Talo responded with an environmental change rather than an attack. He applied “alchemy” to the giant’s body. Not to give it properties that would harm by mere existence, like extreme heat or cold.

The property altered through alchemy was friction.

Talo stripped friction from the giant’s armor. The friction coefficient approached zero. The giant’s armor became smoother than an ice wall.

The explosion in the thigh had destabilized the giant’s posture. As a result, Ortes’s climbing angle decreased from perpendicular to acute, but the giant’s erratic movements became an obstacle beyond mere angle.

Removing friction from that surface made climbing virtually impossible.

The “eye” perceives the change.

While altering the alchemical formula itself might be impossible, changing the properties of metal already transformed by completed alchemy couldn’t be done by spell overwriting. He would fall soon.

Ortes decided to push his high-frequency blade beyond its limits earlier than planned.

The spell overwriting through the magic inscription drive interfered not with the enemy’s magic but with the high-frequency blade’s function. The vibration output limit was released.

Then the eye informed him of the natural frequency of the metals composing the giant. The blade’s frequency was calibrated.

Normally, even with identical frequencies, it would take considerable time to destroy a material, but with supernatural power intervening, things were different.

Vibration beyond the high-frequency limit meant for enhancing cutting power. The black blade of the high-frequency weapon began to gradually heat up. The heat generated by vibration burned Ortes’s hand.

The extreme vibration could only be maintained for about ten seconds. Any longer and the blade’s internal circuits would break.

Ortes plunged the tip of the blade into the giant’s body. The magical barrier covering the giant’s physical armor was disrupted by spell overwriting. The red-hot blade tip made contact with the giant’s armor.

A noise like tearing paper combined with an earthquake. The silver armor rippled, then crumpled and shattered. Destruction spread across the giant’s surface.

Armor fragments scattered. Finally, a foothold was created. Ortes ran with the blade tip embedded in the giant’s armor. The clear scar etched into the giant marked his trajectory.

From thigh to abdomen, to chest, and finally to the heart.

The path of destruction extended to where the brain chip was located. Seven seconds so far.

By now, the high-frequency blade was no longer black but glowing red, looking like molten iron fresh from a furnace.

Talo demonstrated the most basic defense method. Drawing metal from other parts of the giant to reinforce. As armor from other areas thinned, the area around the heart churned, trying to form a protective barrier.

Buying even one second to prepare magic. This was the best strategy for a magician’s combat logic. Time for analysis and judgment before the next move.

And that was the fatal mistake.

Because Ortes was not a magician.

The high-frequency blade was thrown. The reddened blade shot toward the giant’s heart.

What followed was an explosion. The blade, already at its critical durability point, shattered, fragmenting the wave of metal converging toward the heart. The giant’s inner flesh was finally exposed beneath its silver skin.

Beneath the steel bones and muscle fibers made of wires, the giant’s heart—circulating magical power instead of blood—became visible.

Having discarded his blade, Ortes raised his fist. A brutish action no wise magician would take.

He threw himself into the giant’s body. Steel spikes, transformed from the giant’s bones, drove toward Ortes.

He used the steel thorns targeting his vital points as footholds instead.

A violent movement somewhere between running and flying. Ortes’s hand tore into the giant’s heart.

Magical power gushed out. The power circulated by the brain chip lost control and erupted.

As the brain chip was torn out, Mecha-Talo’s entire body convulsed. It was like a giant who had lost its vocal cords expressing its death throes with its entire body.

The luster surrounding the giant gradually faded as it collapsed.

The giant, with one thigh already ruptured, finally lay on the ground.

From the explosion Ortes created to the giant’s downfall, it had taken only about ten seconds.

***

Karisia was using the Thousand-Mile Eye magic. From its name, it might sound like a visual enhancement magic belonging to the common magic system, but it was actually completely different.

Unlike visual enhancement that strengthened the physical body, this was magic that manipulated visible light reaching the retina. It was a light-attribute magic that maximized the visible light emitted by distant images, allowing one to see them as if they were right before one’s eyes.

Seeing the silver giant collapse, she sighed with both relief and anger.

‘Seriously…’

How did a meeting with collaborators end up like this?

Karisia sent another wind carrying her voice to Ortes. He was too far to hear her words, but understanding what he was saying was easy.

She could simply read his lip movements through the Thousand-Mile Eye.

What Ortes had just said was:

『What on earth were you thinking, coming here?!』

Rarely emotional.

Feeling an indescribable satisfaction at Ortes’s passion, Karisia answered concisely.

『The crystal warned of the future.』

『I wouldn’t die from just one Elder. It’s much more dangerous for you to come out personally, Boss.』

『Another one was coming.』

The future Karisia saw. Ortes was facing two Elders of the Ten Towers. And the spatial transport gate remained open.

A moment of silence. Ortes quickly replied:

『…Let’s go home!』