ALL NOVEL Chapter 115
As Gorgopf flinched at the ominous word, Orthes sprang into action.
‘Staying here is simple suicide.’
Getting drenched in extra-dimensional waves is not just an average dangerous affair.
‘I lack magic power, so the risk of mutation is lower, but…’
Mutations primarily occur due to magic, but magic isn’t the only medium of mutation. Plants or rocks could turn into insane killing machines after an extra-dimensional shower, so imagining that a human with little magic would be immune to the extra-dimensional influence is a foolish notion.
Thus, Orthes devised the best immediate strategy for survival.
Clank!
He would charge directly into the Amimone Tower.
“Summon all the mages at the tower immediately.”
“Who are you…”
Orthes raised his hand. He held the identification received from Niobe as Blasphemia, camouflaged under the name of the Panoptes Special Inspection Division.
“In this situation, who else could come looking for you?”
“Blasphemia…!”
The gatekeeper of the Amimone Tower gasped. Orthes could infer a few things from his reaction.
‘Hmm. It seems the tower master has done an excellent job explaining the situation.’
When it comes to the executives of the Apex Towers, it’s natural for them to know the names and duties of the two secret departments of Panoptes, but it’s another matter entirely for a junior mage, appearing to be just newly initiated, to be aware of such facts.
‘Was his name Danao? It seems the mages working at the main tower have been roughly briefed on the situation.’
Tower Master Danao takes the current situation very seriously. He is engraining in every junior mage who is the actual threat pressuring the Amimone Tower.
The second thing that caught his attention was the young mage himself, displaying raw bewilderment.
‘On the other hand, there seems to be no thought of Argyrion here. He must be like a grad student just following orders from above without question.’
The mages’ mindscape revealed mundane desires rather than grand ideals and truths, more akin to the craving for a midnight snack after a long shift.
If there had been a significant faction supporting Argyrion, they would have likely stationed a traitor at the gate to prepare for an assault like Blasphemia’s.
‘If the tower master were a traitor, he would have fortified the door. The tower master is not a traitor. However, the pro-Argyrion faction isn’t organized enough to act without the tower master’s knowledge.’
The tower master firmly believes there are no traitors within the Amimone Tower, and if there truly was a traitor, it wouldn’t be too difficult to plant them throughout the tower discreetly.
However, the traitors confirmed in the Amimone Tower upon Orthes’s sighting of Gorgopf had yet to reach a level of sophistication for organized actions like that.
Instinctively gauging the atmosphere inside the tower, Orthes began planning his next steps.
‘The tower master and the loyal factions of the Ten Towers, no, the maintenance faction is dominant. The pro-Argyrion faction, including Gorgopf, is in the minority.’
‘But with such a catastrophe unfolding, suspicions will inevitably arise against the tower master.’
‘If I can artfully align the tower master’s suspicions with Gorgopf’s ambitions…’
He could finish things up before the extra-dimensional flood settles down.
Orthes smiled broadly to appear friendly. The mage staring at him felt an unexplainable chill.
*
The assembly of mages happened quickly. Thanks to the urgent alert triggered by the unusual energy detected above the tower, the Amimone Tower was on high alert.
Gorgopf glanced at the man who introduced himself as ‘an agent of Panoptes.’
‘Didn’t he just mention truths and divine?’
“There is less than 5 minutes until the extra-dimensional flood begins. If we maximize the output of the Mage Tower Core, we can block most effects from the extra-dimensionality near the tower.”
“But we would be isolated from the outside.”
Danao murmured with a gloomy expression.
“Yes. How long can we endure in an area contaminated with merged extra-dimensionality and this world? No one knows. But don’t worry.”
The man who appeared to be closing his eyes dramatically turned his body, spreading his arms.
“The highest commander of Panoptes who was already dispatched to Algoth City has fled the city to request reinforcements. The time needed for rescue will be minimized!”
The mages of the Amimone Tower showed little reaction. After all, the so-called rescue team had been pressuring the Amimone Tower for the past few days. Orthes, recognizing their underlying thoughts, chose his words carefully once more.
“Hmm. Let me phrase this differently since you all probably already know.”
“Let’s ditch the façade of positions like Panoptes’s Special Inspection Division and speak plainly. Self.”
Orthes clasped his hands. Eyes turned toward him.
“Blasphemia will consider this incident as a definite collusion between you and Argyrion. A purge team under the guise of a rescue squad will come.”
His voice held neither cruelty nor strictness. Instead, it was delivered in a calm tone, almost like a mere explanation articulating the future.
“You will die.”
“The Amimone Tower is an Apex Tower! Such an atrocity cannot be accepted!”
“The moment a storm has struck over you, it means you are a betrayer who summoned Argyrion. The life of the tower has ended.”
Danao’s gaze sharpened. Decades of honed instincts told him this Blasphemia agent wasn’t using provocative words for no reason.
“Spare me the taunts and just get to the point. I know types like you. They won’t provoke without a reason. You don’t want to be a pile of magical explosion remnants, do you?”
“Haha. What a keen insight from you, Tower Master. Yes. I certainly have a purpose.”
Orthes slowly stepped away from the center where the mages gathered.
“But first, I should offer a prayer to the Mage King. I suppose you wouldn’t want to become an unmanageable monster swept up in the extra-dimensional flood?”
One, two, three.
A sound rang like shattering glass, mixed with the deep tolling of a massive bell, permeating the skies over Algoth City.
The sound of reality crumbling. The noises of conflicting extra-dimensional information finally poured down over Algoth City like a storm.
A massive hemispherical barrier unfurled around the Amimone Tower. The faintly glowing shield clashed with the kaleidoscopic shards of the extra-dimensional realm. The extra-dimensional magic reflected off the barrier, raining down around Algoth City, eroding reality.
The ground slushed away, and as water flowed down from overhead, pieces of the sky bore mouths, writhing to consume life.
Algoth City was now encased in an extra-dimensional contaminated zone.
Those living in the weak outer areas of the shield, or those who had fled outside Algoth City but couldn’t put enough distance between themselves, were melted away by the droplets from the extra-dimensional realm.
Niobe gritted her teeth, gazing at the chaotic scene in Algoth City.
I must reach another city as quickly as possible to seek salvation.
*
Vibrations, screams, and the murky current of magic amalgamated and poured out. More terrifying than the great noise or tremors was the bizarre wave of magic that scraped the bones of the mages.
Though the tower’s barrier was obstructing it, a nauseating presence was still felt. After a brief but intense moment of painful agony, the first to lift their head was Danao.
Danao watched as the Blasphemia agent, who had been firmly standing his ground, strolled out leisurely.
He seemed to walk as if he hadn’t felt a tremor at all, gazing up at the sky through the window.
“Well, it has come to this.”
“Get to the point.”
Danao stood up, maintaining as much composure as possible. Normally, provocations carry some meaning. Having mentioned death, he would likely present a way to survive.
“Even if you are the Apex Tower, if the collective will of all Ten Towers unites, dismantling the tower would be easy. But to do that would indeed be a shame.”
“A shame. Argyrion has never acted so thoroughly before. A traitor with such deep connections would surely yield much.”
‘I can guess the intention behind their suggestion.’
Danao’s expression soured. That figure was essentially saying, ‘Let’s kill each other from now on.’
“I will grant you an opportunity. Find those wicked individuals disobeying the Ten Towers. Identify the grains from the chaff among you before the purge squad of Blasphemia arrives through the extra-dimensional flood.”
Orthes shrugged his shoulders.
“Oh. If you wish to kill me to silence me, I won’t stop you. However, the moment you act on that, the last opportunity given to you will vanish.”
The mages held their breath and exchanged glances.
“Danao Tower Master, may I be given a vacant room? I’d like to start with personal interviews for the mages.”
Orthes pointed his finger at several individuals. It seemed a gesture as if he was randomly choosing anyone.
“You. You. You. One of the three among you can come inside, while the other two are to wait outside.”
Among those chosen was Gorgopf.
*
“Truth and Divine.”
‘What, what is this…?’
Gorgopf was engulfed in confusion while observing Orthes whisper the slogan of Argyrion.