Chapter 190: The Pope's Masterstroke (1)
Amidst the chaos, several coincidences overlapped.
First, Nastion faithfully carried out Halto's instructions. To summon Eidolon's Director of the Observatory to the Green Wood Front.
This had already been ordered before Orthes came up with the White Light impersonation plan, and had already been done before accepting White Light's reinforcements in Green Wood and opening the passageway.
The betrayal of Eidolon, whom the Ten Towers trusted most among Panoptes, was an unexpected event even for the ancient elders. The betrayal was even more fatal when considering what kind of powers Eidolon could exert.
Eidolon were observers of the Otherworld. Within the magic society, they could be said to be the highest authority on the Otherworld. Projecting the Otherworld specimens they had collected so far, the spatial magic for observation as a force.
Halto's opening and closing of dimensional gates was on the level of power, not magic, but those belonging to Eidolon could reproduce similar results to a limited extent with magic.
Magic to increase the clarity of Otherworld observation was also magic to 'safely approach the Otherworld', and if safety was removed from this, it was the same as pouring in the Otherworld.
Eidolon's magic is added to Halto's power as an axis. The amplified power creates a crack into the Otherworld. Fatal contamination pours into Green Wood.
The ancient elders had each succeeded in elevating themselves into a single world. Their blood and flesh were magic power and formulas.
However, that made them even more vulnerable to Otherworld invasion. The Otherworld pollutes magic power itself, so it acts more powerfully on bodies made of magic than on bodies made of flesh and blood.
Originally, given the ancient elders' level, the magic power of the Otherworld, no matter how much or how concentrated, would be decomposed and disappear the moment it touched them. However, this Otherworld flood was no ordinary one.
This was like the relationship between fire and water. Originally, fire would go out if covered with water. But if the fire is big and fierce enough, and the amount of water isn't.
Rather, a reversal of the relationship occurs where the fire evaporates the water.
The superposition of Eidolon's observation magic. The dimensional wall becomes infinitely thin. As the power Halto received from the cause was added, the magic power of the Otherworld began to overflow. Like the flood that covered heaven and earth in the old era.
The ancient elders were not flustered. It was an attack of the predicted direction from the point where Eidolon appeared on the battlefield and was not an ally of the Ten Towers at the same time.
They avoided direct contact between the body and the Otherworld and moved to repair the crack in the dimension. It was a wise choice, but it also meant that the powerful firepower of the ancient elders who were maintaining the front line was excluded from the battlefield.
Halto and Argyrion did not miss the opportunity. The sharply increased magic power concentration of the Otherworld increased the power of Argyrion, and the path to Green Wood was empty due to the ancient elders who had withdrawn from the front line.
And at this point, Lampades's jamming signal was withdrawn. This was the second coincidence. The Green Wood Tower Lord believed in White Light's support declaration as it was, and formed the Eleusis passageway for White Light despite the space being unbalanced by the Otherworld.
At this point, two passageways had been formed at the summit of Green Wood.
The first is connected to the Otherworld, and the second is connected to White Light.
From this point on, the instability of space had reached the critical point. Extremely powerful mages had gathered in a limited space, and the dimensional wall had collapsed and the Otherworld was flooding in. However, it was still barely below the limit.
There is also a limit to the range of magic power support from the Ten Commandments. When Carisia descended to Green Wood, she had to give up the magic power support from White Light and the Artificial Commandments and enter.
If Carisia had entered while maintaining magic power support, the already torn dimensional wall would not have been able to withstand another massive magic power structure and would have caused a great catastrophe.
However, here, the third coincidence overlapped.
It was the Divine Cult's judgment.
They agreed that this battle was a decisive phase that would move the tide of the entire Ten Commandments Front. So the Divine Cult projected the most powerful hidden card that the Cult had been hiding as much as possible until now.
A secret dagger that only the Pope and Hyacinth shared.
It was the Commander of Blasphemia.
***
The Commander of Blasphemia is in seclusion. This was a well-known fact among those in the know. However, it was not known 'why' she was in seclusion.
Even Salmosia, the Auditor General of Blasphemia, did not know the detailed reason. It was only known that she had stopped all external activities at some point after the failure of the Golden Desert Operation.
The Commander of Blasphemia was a person who was suitable for the position of Commander. Appropriate skill and political power, and above all, a sense of responsibility that befits the leader of the group.
She wanted to somehow retrieve the elite agents of Blasphemia who had been deployed and evaporated by her decision.
What the Commander wanted to rely on was the Prophet in the Basement¹. A future prediction organization created by connecting the brains of the prophets secured by Blasphemia.
The Son of White Light, who was the cause of the Prophet in the Basement's malfunction, had also been excluded. There were deficiencies in the maintenance, but speed was important in order to completely find the agents who had gone missing beyond the Otherworld.
So the Commander used the Prophet in the Basement at maximum output.
She was caught in the Pope's trap.
She wanted to see the future through the Prophet in the Basement, but the Pope and Hyacinth had realized early on that Blasphemia was predicting the future. For some reason, they prepared a trap for the Prophet in the Basement while Blasphemia was suspending future predictions.
The moment she tried to observe the future, the Commander's soul was sealed in a maze of constantly diverging time. It was the result of the Pope's power being added to Hyacinth's Holy Incantation.
A hollow body with a soul peeled off. Originally, it should have ended as a vegetative state, but commands could be entered through the Prophet in the Basement, which was connected to the Commander.
The Pope handled this very delicately. If espionage activities through the Commander of Blasphemia were discovered by the Ten Towers, the Ten Towers would immediately dispose of the Commander.
Therefore, the Pope decided not to use the 'Commander' until the very last moment. Outwardly, it was a seclusion due to the frustration of the failure of the Golden Desert Operation, but in fact, it was the Pope's concealment process to avoid being suspected by others.
And now.
When a battle to determine the fate of the Ten Commandments Front, and furthermore, the fate of the world, was about to take place at the summit of Green Wood.
The Pope finally pulled out the 'Commander' card.
***
Suddenly, the Commander of Blasphemia stopped her seclusion and stood up resolutely. However, the Commander did not want to receive the authority of Panoptes back from Salmosia and Niobe.
What she wanted was a fight. She herself was largely responsible for the birth of Argyrion, so she was determined to put an end to the fight.
What was needed were powerful relics that Blasphemia had confiscated from superstition followers. Forbidden items that were too powerful for an individual to possess and had been sealed.
However, the position of the Commander was the position, and the justification was the justification, so it could not be stopped.
Niobe contacted Orthes at the same time as the Commander's departure. She said that the Commander had participated in the war while equipping all of the highest-grade relics in the Blasphemia Relic Vault.
It was the fourth coincidence that Orthes had no time to confirm this news.
***
Halto shouted with all his heart. All requests for reinforcements were traps.
However, the Green Wood Tower Lord had no time to listen to the enemy's words. Why should he believe the enticement of a crazy invader group like Argyrion?
The tide, which had been overwhelming Argyrion thanks to the activity of the ancient elders, collapsed due to Eidolon's betrayal. In order to correct this terrible situation, the power of the same Ten Towers was needed.
"You disgusting servants of the Otherworld! Taste the power of the Ten Towers!"
Green Wood opened the passageway without hesitation. The sky parted and a staircase of light unfolded.
From the heavens, a mage descends loftily.
The oldest mage. An apostle of magic who has lived since the Mythical Era.
Green Wood rejoiced with the stairs behind him. Halto noted that the silhouette descending from the sky was not one, but two.
"Orthes…."
Even in the dazzling backlight, that terrifying blue light was clear. What agreement had White Light and Orthes reached? No. If White Light was also a mage, there was no way he could tolerate that.
If White Light could not tolerate Orthes, then it was only natural that Orthes could not tolerate White Light. If so, one of the two should have perished.
Then what is the White Light that is coming down now?
An infinitely similar but more vicious monster than White Light comes to mind. Another monster who used to hang out with Orthes.
'The Son of White Light' is…?
Is he imitating White Light?
Halto felt unprecedented fear and at the same time, joy.
In the end, even Orthes himself had to come out to fight directly in this game. In the previous Golden Desert, he gave the guy room to escape, but this time it's different.
No matter what sacrifice it takes, if I just defeat that guy──
It was then. A distortion of space was created that Green Wood had not approved.
Eventually, the distortion concretized into the shape of a golden gate. The golden gate was imbued with divine power, the bizarre powers of the old priests.
The huge gate opened without friction. A sense of heterogeneity that was not of this world.
And beyond the gate was someone who was more than familiar to Halto.
The reason why he, who had opened his eyes to the cause, had been trying to recruit Blasphemia agents, even at the risk of being discovered by other Ten Towers. The person who should have been the standard-bearer of the cause together.
His former master, whom Halto served as a confidant.