Chapter 579 - Assault (3)
The top floor of Bohemirn magic tower.
Tilon Narger, Angelo, even Crodon Olentia, the powerholders filling in for the absent tower master, were gathered in one place.
Each of them bore hardened expressions at the unforeseen circumstances.
Angelo clenched his molars, staring at the staves that had lost their Coercion.
"This is, nonsense."
After Lauen Seedger's life response had been cut off on his way to the Principality of Riviant and scouts were dispatched, the life responses of those sent to the other four small nations were cut off one after another.
Before they could even react…
They could neither understand nor accept this situation.
How could it be that someone had pinpointed the location of the national brainwashing project—information that, without a doubt, could never have leaked out—and launched an attack?
"According to reconnaissance… Lauen Seedger's corpse vanished, and only his direct subordinates' bodies were confirmed. By the circumstances, the severing of Coercion's connection was not by sealing… but by death."
At Tilon's murmur, Crodon straightened in his seat and asked.
"Elder Tilon, whom do you believe responsible? I suspect Black Hour."
"Indeed, in terms of possibility alone, that side is the highest. There's precedent, and coincidentally, just now a report arrived at the tower that Dark Moon has appeared on the front lines…"
Yes.
Dahit Wethroel had once again ended his disappearance and emerged.
It wasn't that he destroyed the coalition's bases or kidnapped Rovellin. The coalition's mages had simply confirmed his presence from afar.
Even that alone had already put the front lines on razor's edge.
The disruption of the national brainwashing project, and the appearance of Dark Moon.
Reason and instinct both stubbornly refused to dismiss the overlap as coincidence.
Tilon groaned.
"I cannot for the life of me discern Dark Moon's purpose. To deliberately reveal himself and yet do nothing, it feels as though he is baiting prey with his own body."
"Even so, we cannot simply sit still and watch. We must at least deploy the mage corps to track him down. I will go myself."
"I judge differently."
When Angelo looked about to rise immediately, Crodon opposed him.
"By some unknown means, our secrets, which we had concealed, were seen through clearly. And now Dark Moon is committing strange acts, while our master is absent. Moreover, we know not the enemy's aim, nor can we predict the coming situation. We must respond as conservatively as possible."
"Mm, that is not without merit. However, this is the second time already. I can accept the first reconnaissance being lost, but from here on we must respond with force."
"I have heard that our master clearly ordered the status quo maintained. If, then, by Elder Angelo's unilateral decision, the tower suffers greater loss… will you take responsibility?"
Angelo, Tilon, Luminaria.
The three top forces within Itium on the side of strength, and the mage corps of Bohemirn tower, remained intact.
But even with the losses so far, it was already a stain on the tower's history.
If the mage corps were lost here, or another elder-level figure were to die… the damage might surpass recovery.
Like losing the very power source of the tower.
"..."
Angelo closed his mouth and ground his teeth.
Silence was consent.
Crodon, having neatly refuted the tower's most hawkish and arrogant man, swelled inwardly with pride, and pressed his point further to Tilon.
"Still, just because matters have come this far, Sandir Paen is unlikely to be struck. Send someone there to confirm whether there has been an attack and report back. For now, the national brainwashing project is suspended."
"I shall convey it so, Lord Olentia."
"By the way, do you not know when our master will return?"
The ideals the Bohemirn tower master harbored were known only to Angelo and Tilon.
Not even Crodon, designated successor as the next tower master, was permitted to know.
The two shook their heads.
It was not evasion, but the truth that they did not know the precise time.
Only conjecture remained, that since several days had already passed, he would return before long.
Well, fine.
'At any rate, there will be no worsening of the situation from here.'
Crodon judged coldly, objectively, or rather, optimistically.
***
A few days before now, after the official declaration of all-out war—Black Hour's fleet had moved a great distance via a large-scale spatial teleportation array.
Three mid-sized airships and seven small airships were concealed within thick white clouds. Nearly eighty percent of the grand hall's strategic weapons.
The personnel aboard numbered well over a hundred.
And the executives in charge of the operation's command, besides Adrian, were Grave Rudworth, Cain, Opea, Aldeban, Revana…
A unit forged from Black Hour, past and present, and Society combined.
Cain turned his gaze through the thin clouds, toward the ground ahead.
"…We have arrived."
Somewhere along the boundary where the western continent and the northern reaches of all continents met. The wide foothills at the heart of snow mountains and snow mountains—that was the destination.
"Even spreading magic power finely, I sense nothing. Can you cut it?"
"..."
At Grave's question, Adrian silently stepped up onto the railing of the airship's deck.
The black and deep-blue blade let out a chilling resonance.
"A pointless question. Entire fleet, steep descent!"
At the instant Grave's words fell, the airships all tilted at once. Through the raging wind they broke diagonally downward, out of the clouds.
Adrian, having gauged the timing, leapt powerfully from the airship as it sought to regain horizontal balance.
Thud───Kagagagagagak!
Sliding down the slope of the snow mountain blanketed in white under northern chill, he did not slow the momentum gained from the airship and gravity, but instead further concentrated his leg strength.
The snow beneath his feet burst upward like an explosion.
Adrian, wrapped in violet energy, became like a bolt of light.
Intensification 激化
It was difficult to accurately perceive a magic circle's presence by sense alone. Yet even if he did not know exactly where it lay, it mattered not for the operation.
Not vertical, but horizontal.
'If I cut down the entire foothill, that is enough.'
Upon reaching the bottom of the slope, he braked and spun. Twisted his waist. With both hands he swung the light-sword wide.
A violet sword aura, surpassing the speed of sound by far, swept out in a circle.
What Adrian sought to cut, was the magic circle inscribed by the omnipotent transcendent who had once dealt him his first overwhelming defeat.
But this time was different.
The sword strike of one who had reached the extreme could touch the realm of transcendence, and with sufficient will, there was nothing [Silendar] could not cut.
──────!
Trees and rocks within range, even the snow mountain itself, split deeply. The sword aura that sliced the sky collided with the concealed magic circle.
As the energy vanished, the magic circle was severed, the interwoven formulas unraveled and scattered.
Only then were the hidden structures revealed.
Unfortunately, just then, mages of Bohemirn tower conversing outside witnessed the strange phenomenon, their mouths agape.
In their sight, the fleet of airships bearing the emblem of Black Hour swiftly approached… no, had already entered effective range.
Adrian shouted.
"Commence assault!!!!!"
A battle cry announcing total war.
Magic power computed through spells flew forth.
Kwa-gwagwagwagwagwang───! Kwa-gwagwang!
Bombardments of elemental magic, mostly fire and earth attributes.
Buildings stripped of Balrog's magic circle were engulfed in heat and mass.
"Wh-what is this?!"
Splaaat!
As soon as inner members of the tower sensed the foreign magic power within, they were crushed under collapsing ceilings and died.
Some others who dodged the debris were blown apart.
The few mages who narrowly escaped death hid behind the ruins of buildings, gripping staffs and wands as they activated their mana circuits.
"Uwaaaah!"
"Black Hour?! Why are they here?!"
"H-hurry, report to the elders…!"
"They're coming again!"
Kwa-gwagwagwagwagwagwagwang!
There was no time to even show their panic under the storm of descending spells.
With only two bombardments, the fleet of Black Hour had cleared more than half the surface. From the fleet, high-ranking mages leapt down at the front.
"Deploy portable magic circles for defensive formation! Secure the underground entrance!"
A seasoned mage, grown through many years, gave rational commands.
"And next…"
"Shut up."
Adrian cut down the commander who was trying to restore order.
From the orb of magic released at the tip of Cain's sword, countless spikes surged forth.
The formation of Bohemirn tower, nearly complete, was struck at its weak point and collapsed helplessly.
Puk! Puuk! Aaaaargh! Kwa-ji-ji-jik!
The mages led by Grave and Revana, along with Opea and Aldeban, swept through, eliminating the remnants resisting one by one.
"Hurry, shut it! Quickly!"
"But outside…"
"Shut up and close it!"
The tower's internal personnel, prioritizing their own survival, rushed into the underground entrance and shut the gate.
This was an artifact directly designed by the current Bohemirn tower master, nearly impervious to most impacts.
They felt relief.
"With this structure, it won't hold for long. We must go down quickly and devise countermeasures to block the intrusion…"
But then, through the narrowing gap of the closing gate, something was falling. Something that looked like a massive rock.
The artificial golem of the first Demon King, Beta.
Dropped from the airship high above, it restored the compressed frame to its original size.
Its true height, over two meters.
Beta, glowing red from friction with the atmosphere, crashed directly into the entrance that led to the underground unofficial laboratory.
Kwaaaaaaaang!
If it were ordinary stone, it would have shattered alone, but Beta's frame was far more durable.
And the weight relative to its volume as well.
Made of a special material, it was overwhelmingly resilient. The supposedly impregnable structure crumbled to pieces.
As though a meteor had fallen, a crater formed. Only bloodstains remained below, fossilized into the ground.
"Ah, ah…!"
A mage of the tower, barely alive with grave injuries, cast a spell. Shards struck Beta's frame, but not even a scratch was made.
Beta swung its arm.
The mage, crushed along with his earthen barrier by sheer mass and speed, was hurled far away and killed instantly.
[Secured entrance to unofficial laboratory.]
Beta took the initiative, clearing the debris and uncovering the passage underground.
"This, this is the power of the golem that guards His side…!"
"A true strategic weapon."
At the overwhelming majesty of the golem, unseen until now, the mages of Black Hour and Society each swallowed hard.
At any rate.
Leaving officers and troops outside as precaution, they sealed external access with the protective barrier released by Beta's magic power.
"Advance."
Adrian took the lead.
***
A sudden earthquake shook the entire unofficial laboratory. The largest tremor was brief, but the commotion did not cease.
Pielle, the elder of Itium, engrossed in new variations of human experimentation and enhancement trials, twitched at the corner of her eye.
Lowering the mask-shaped magic item that prevented her own breath from disturbing the research, she spoke.
"Go see what's happening."
"Yes, Elder."
At her flat voice, neither high nor low, the assisting mage immediately took off his equipment and went upstairs.
When he returned, his complexion was blotched with panic.
Pielle asked.
"Well?"
"A, a raid."
"A raid, you say."
No place was less fitting for the word 'raid' than here.
And yet—raid?
"From their appearance… it looks like Black Hour."
"Black Hour…"
Without the slightest agitation, Pielle analyzed the situation.
Because of Dark Moon's super-tier magic, Elder Hiram had perished together with the unofficial laboratory that dealt with the mental world.
On the central continent, Rayshen Tailroad and Omar Boldrak had disappeared.
"Black Hour seems to know an awful lot about us."
"W-what should we do?"
"While attention is drawn above, seal the entrance leading here. If a large number of internal personnel die, Bohemirn tower will soon realize. Then, wait until reinforcements come."
The decision to sacrifice the rest and buy time was made at once.
Rational.
For the most valuable beings here were Pielle and the gifted individuals who had endured countless magical experiments.
The mages, obeying her command, began inscribing and linking magic circles, sealing the entrance entirely.
Srrrk.
A sharp sound.
A line was drawn across the entrance. And across the arms of the mages nearest it. Screams and blood burst out belatedly.
The disabled gate collapsed under a single kick.
'…Already?'
Even Pielle's conservative prediction had been exceeded, the intruder broke in far sooner. But only one.
Their eyes met.
Adrian's pupils widened, then his lips twisted.
"So you're the one in charge here. Lucky me."
A familiar voice.
"What?"
Only then did Pielle recognize the intruder's identity.
Even she, who never lost her composure under any circumstance, widened her eyes.
"Why is No. 89 alive?"
Pielle was the very one who, alongside Angelo, had taken Raymon right arm and left leg, and who led physical human experimentation.
One of Adrian's targets of vengeance.