Chapter 110: The Storm Sweeping Amimone (1)
Hydra Corporation had no significant presence in the magical society.
It was only natural. In a world where ancient towers with centuries, even millennia of history existed, a fledgling magic tower that hadn’t even lasted a full year—let alone a decade—was no more than a floating weed, likely to disappear at any moment.
Of course, there were exceptional cases where newly established magic towers made their mark immediately upon birth.
Sometimes it was a tower that had uncovered the ancient wisdom of a destroyed magic tower in old ruins, or perhaps a disciple from one of the Ten Magic Towers who struck out on their own, or a sudden genius who developed an extraordinary, unique magic. Such elements could draw the attention of magical society.
However, Hydra Corporation was none of these. Carisia wanted it that way, and Orthes made it happen.
Despite its aggressive expansion and formidable combat capabilities, its power was only enough to contend for dominance over Etna City. To the influential forces that could sway the entirety of magical society, Hydra was just another tower, indistinguishable from the countless others.
Even considering the skill Carisia had demonstrated during the Elysion Terror Incident, it remained that way. Carisia had deliberately avoided flaunting her position as Hydra’s president.
Hydra Corporation was merely a name that surfaced when people mentioned the unfavorable factors affecting the stock prices of the Kaicle Tower, whose master had mysteriously disappeared.
Because of this, Amimone Tower’s interest in Hydra Corporation far exceeded the average curiosity of the magical society.
There was only one reason Amimone Tower was interested in Hydra. It was because Hydra had been the one to bring down the Lernian Tower.
The founders of Lernian Tower were exiles from Amimone Tower. If Hydra were to leverage Lernian Tower’s legacy to fully enter magical society, Amimone Tower would have welcomed it with open arms.
Given the founders’ origins, it was inevitable that Lernian Tower’s research carried a trace of Amimone’s influence. If one were to expand upon this interpretation, one could argue that Lernian Tower’s legacy was essentially a stolen result of Amimone Tower’s own heritage.
Using this as leverage, Amimone Tower could slowly extend its influence over Hydra, potentially even attempting to absorb Hydra as it had with countless other towers before.
However, contrary to Amimone Tower’s expectations, Hydra Corporation was merely engaging in a small-scale land grab within Etna City. Eventually, Amimone Tower lost interest in Hydra altogether.
It would later be remembered as one of Amimone Tower’s gravest miscalculations.
Even if they had continued to monitor Hydra, it was uncertain whether they would have realized that Hydra was behind the storm that would soon crash down upon them.
***
The misfortune began with Panoptes. Any tower of significant stature knew to exploit legal gray areas to their fullest, placing their own mages within key positions at Panoptes.
And then, a scandalous accusation arose concerning an Amimone-affiliated agent within Panoptes, named Argos.
“Colluding with Argyrion?”
Amimone Tower’s master, Danao, screamed. What madness was this?
While his predecessors might have been more ambitious, Danao himself had no such grand designs. Join forces with Argyrion to bring down the Ten Magic Towers and rise to the pinnacle of all towers?
Ridiculous. He was already enjoying nearly the highest level of wealth and power, even if not quite at the summit. Why would he engage in such a risky gamble, which wasn’t even worth being called an adventure?
His ideal life was a pastoral one—quietly collecting patents from minor towers that would generate steady income for years to come.
“Damn it, what the hell is going on? I’m sure I sent enough bribes to the higher-ups in Argos.”
Danao ruffled his hair in frustration as he reread the report slowly.
“Blasphemia?”
These bastards. Danao gritted his teeth. Though Argos, Eidolons, and Blasphemia were nominally equal branches of Panoptes, Argos wielded the real power.
Argos had the most members, was assigned the broadest scope of work, and its duties were the most widespread and universal.
Blasphemia and Eidolons were more like secret organizations, operating for specific purposes, which made them less visible.
However, any master of a legitimate magic tower was expected to be well-versed in the internal power struggles of Panoptes.
“Damn it, have I been caught in some hierarchy war between these two factions?”
Or maybe it wasn’t just a simple hierarchy war. Rumors had been quietly circulating that Argyrion had once been a Blasphemia agent who had turned into an Eroder. The more non-Blasphemia members Argyrion gathered as collaborators, the less burdened the organization would become.
“It’s odd that the suspicion is being directed at my tower. Is there a mage within Blasphemia trying to undermine us?”
Danao recalled the rival magic towers that had been expanding in the same fields as his tower. There was no need to count how many rival towers resented his indiscriminate expansion, but few would view him as a serious competitor.
The accumulated knowledge and expertise they had built over generations couldn’t be overturned by a few patents from minor towers. Danao himself wasn’t trying to directly compete with these established towers, but rather diversify his business by acquiring patents.
‘That narrows down the potential enemies to those who have a real grudge against my tower. Maybe another tower whose expertise overlaps with ours, competing over the market….’
Danao considered the possibility that a rival tower might be orchestrating the current situation but ultimately shook his head. Amimone Tower was only the first target. The Ten Towers’ policies, such as relic audits, meant that most towers were too busy managing their internal affairs to focus on external rivalries.
So that left only one remaining suspect.
The losers who had been defeated by Amimone Tower.
It was entirely plausible that the survivors of some minor tower had joined Panoptes in a desperate attempt to find a way forward. If any of them were talented enough to be recruited by Blasphemia, it was possible they had orchestrated this retaliatory accusation.
“Hmph. A pathetic attempt at revenge, that’s all they can muster.”
Anyone with a decent mind could think of accusing Amimone Tower’s agents by taking advantage of the tensions between Blasphemia and Argos.
But unless they could present concrete evidence of actual treason, the accusers themselves would face backlash instead.
Naturally, Amimone Tower had no traitors. Danao was a man who loved his institution more than anyone.
With the authority and power that a legitimate magic tower held, vague suspicions would soon be buried with time. By then, the false accusers would be ostracized within Blasphemia, and the chance to eliminate them would come naturally.
True power struggles didn’t play out like this.
Even if the accusations were false, the accusers needed to prepare thorough evidence that could make the lies seem real. The defeated lacked the capacity to fabricate such evidence.
This was the difference between the powerful and the defeated.
“To resolve this quickly, I’ll need to find out who’s behind this. I’ll have to seek out people who have connections to Blasphemia.”
And the very next day…
Amimone Tower was hit with additional charges: the crime of hiding relics.
***
“Wow, it’s off to a smooth start!”
Kynemon trembled as he listened to Orthes’ explanation. From the very first step, the plan to accuse Amimone Tower’s Argos agents through Blasphemia was beyond Kynemon’s comprehension.
How could Orthes manipulate Blasphemia, control their intentions from Etna City?
This time, though, it was even more dramatic. A large quantity of relic fragments had been discovered in the city where Amimone Tower was located.
“They may only be ‘remnants,’ as the divine power has been extracted, making them not true relics. But we can easily pin this on Amimone Tower. We can claim that they stripped the divine power from the relics to avoid detection during inspections, only to re-empower them after the inspections were over.”
Orthes kindly explained the intent behind the grand performance. It was a plan that could only be realized by manipulating both Blasphemia and Argos while procuring an unknown quantity of relics.
Kynemon realized that Orthes wasn’t kidding when he said it would take some time before he could give Kynemon the title of tower master.
If this was just the first step, how far would Amimone Tower fall into the abyss?
“What’s the second step?”
“Oh, nothing much. Isn’t the reason the Ten Towers are acting so defensively because of Argyrion?”
“If it’s because of Argyrion, are you going to summon them?”
“Oh, Kynemon, you’re as sharp as ever!”
‘What kind of insane nonsense is he talking about now?’
Kynemon stared at Orthes in shock.
Orthes smiled as he recalled the core of Adoosiam, which he had secured from the grand temple of Pluton.
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