Chapter 92 – The Prelude to Chaos (8)
“What are *you* doing here, boss?!”
My tongue moved without permission from my rational mind. This was Carisia—someone who needed to keep her identity hidden from the Ten Magic Towers, from Argyrion, and even from the Divine Cult.
And here she was, in person, at this place. This should *not* be happening.
‘Did she seal her voice with wind magic and send it directly to me? That means she’s somewhere nearby…’
Carisia didn’t respond. Whether she hadn’t heard me, or simply didn’t feel the need to answer, I wasn’t sure.
Instead, she showed me through her actions.
The detonation of dozens—no, hundreds—of warheads, all about to explode, was neutralized. The flames ignited by magic were extinguished in an instant.
Was this magical interference?
It’s a technique where you cast the same type of magic as your opponent at the moment they begin, stealing the mana and destabilizing the spell structure.
To use magical interference, you have to wait for the magic to be “cast but incomplete.” However, Talos’ magic had already been fully completed, yet Carisia disrupted it even after it was done, turning the entire spell null and void.
How was something like that even possible?
『I hacked into one of his auxiliary processing brains and canceled the command. It’s not magical interference in the orthodox sense but a dirty trick instead.』
An answer flew at me, as if she had already anticipated my question. Honestly, sometimes it’s eerie how she does that.
For Carisia, individually dismantling each of those hundreds of magical instances is the orthodox method, apparently. Most people would try to block or avoid them. Her way of thinking is… unusual, to say the least.
『They haven’t noticed my interference yet, but I won’t last long. At best, I’ve got a few seconds to maybe a minute, tops. Finish this quickly and get out.』
The sheer trust conveyed in her words was almost ridiculous. Telling me to “finish quickly” while fighting against an elder from the Ten Magic Towers.
Well, I had no choice. If I’d forced the boss to personally intervene, it was my duty as her trusted subordinate to finish this as quickly as possible.
I tightened my grip on the ultrasonic blade.
***
There were several reasons why Orthes used an ultrasonic blade, but it could be boiled down to three main factors.
First, ease of supply. It was a mass-produced commodity, easy to find just about anywhere. Losing one wasn’t a big deal.
Second, versatility. Since it could use a magic-engraved drive, it was highly adaptable when fighting against mages.
And third.
The “vibration” of the ultrasonic blade was perfectly suited for Orthes’ eyes.
In his battle deep within the Pluton Temple against Adoosiam, Orthes demonstrated his mastery by neutralizing Adoosiam’s soundwave bombs by modulating the blade’s vibrations.
Adoosiam’s soundwave bombs worked by vibrating materials at their natural resonant frequency, shattering them. Orthes continuously altered the frequency of his ultrasonic blade so that the bombs couldn’t match it.
The reason he could come up with this countermeasure on the spot was simple.
The technique Orthes used with the ultrasonic blade was fundamentally the same as the principle behind the soundwave bombs.
In the split second before another explosion command could be issued, Orthes sprang onto the massive form of Mecha-Talos.
Talos analyzed the canceled explosion command calmly. One of his auxiliary processing units seemed to have a problem—the one located in the lower abdomen responsible for processing in the lower half of the body.
He didn’t know how it had been hacked, but the approaching enemy was too fast to eliminate the hacker’s influence in time.
‘The hijacked auxiliary brain is preventing me from directly attacking them? In that case, I’ll just use a method that isn’t an attack!’
Talos responded by changing the environment rather than launching an attack. He applied *alchemy* to his massive body. Not by raising extreme heat or cold that could harm an opponent simply by existing.
No, Talos altered the property of friction.
He stripped the friction from the giant’s armor. The coefficient of friction was reduced to nearly zero. The armor became smoother than an ice wall.
The explosion on the thigh had already destabilized the giant’s posture, making Orthes’ climb angle drop from a right angle to an acute one. But the giant’s violent movements created more obstacles than the change in angle.
With friction eliminated, climbing became synonymous with impossibility.
But Orthes’ eyes detected the change.
While overwriting the alchemical properties directly would be impossible, as the transformation was already complete, altering the nature of the transmuted metal was out of the question. A fall was imminent.
Orthes made an early decision to push the ultrasonic blade to its limits.
This time, instead of interfering with the enemy’s magic, he used the magic-engraved drive to interfere with the blade itself. The limits on the blade’s vibration output were released.
His eyes informed him of the natural frequency of the metal that made up the giant’s body. The blade’s frequency was adjusted accordingly.
Under normal circumstances, even matching the natural frequency of a material would require considerable time to destroy it. But this wasn’t a normal circumstance—this was a supernatural force at work.
The blade’s vibrations surpassed the usual limit designed to enhance its cutting power. The black blade of the ultrasonic sword began to glow red from the heat generated by the extreme vibration. The intensity of the vibrations scorched Orthes’ hand.
He could only maintain this level of vibration for ten seconds. Any longer, and the blade’s internal circuits would be destroyed.
Orthes plunged the tip of his blade into the giant’s body. The magical barrier enveloping the giant’s physical armor was disrupted by the overwriting process. The blade, glowing red-hot, made contact with the giant’s armor.
A sound like tearing paper mixed with an earthquake echoed through the air. The silver armor rippled and buckled, finally giving way to destruction. The damage spread across the giant’s surface like a virus.
Pieces of the armor scattered, creating footholds Orthes could run on. Blade still embedded in the giant’s armor, Orthes dashed forward. The glowing, jagged scars in the giant’s armor traced his path.
From the thigh, to the abdomen, to the chest, and finally, the heart.
The trail of destruction led to where the brain chip was located. He had taken seven seconds.
Now, the ultrasonic blade glowed not black, but red-hot, like molten steel straight from a furnace.
Talos attempted the most basic form of defense. He pulled metal from other parts of the giant’s body to reinforce the area. The armor on other parts of the giant’s body thinned as his heart area swelled and formed a new barrier.
If he could buy even a second, it would give him enough time to prepare another spell. It was the most logical course of action for a mage. He just needed time for the next step—analysis, then judgment.
And that was his fatal mistake.
Orthes wasn’t a mage.
The ultrasonic blade was thrown. The glowing red sword shot toward the giant’s heart.
Then came the explosion. The blade, already at its durability limit, shattered as it struck the barrier, obliterating the reinforced metal. Beneath the giant’s silver skin, its internal structure was exposed.
Beneath the steel bones and muscle fibers made of wires, where magic instead of blood circulated, the giant’s heart was revealed.
Having discarded his blade, Orthes raised his fist. A brutish action no self-respecting mage would ever take.
He threw himself into the giant’s body. The bones, now transformed into spears, lunged toward Orthes.
Each sharp point targeting a vital spot was instead used as a stepping stone by Orthes.
In the chaos between running and flying, Orthes’ hand grasped the giant’s heart.
A surge of mana gushed forth. With the brain chip torn out, the mana that had been circulating throughout Mecha-Talos lost control and erupted.
As the brain chip was ripped away, the entire Mecha-Talos shuddered violently, like a giant voicing its final death throes without vocal cords.
The giant’s once-brilliant gleam slowly faded, and its form crumbled.
With one thigh already destroyed, the giant collapsed to the ground.
From the explosive chain reaction Orthes triggered to the giant’s fall, all of this happened in mere seconds.
***
Carisia had been using the *Thousand-Mile Eye* spell. By name, it sounded like part of the common magical system for enhancing vision, but it was something entirely different.
Unlike spells that enhanced the physical body’s sight, this was a light-based spell that manipulated the visible light on her retina. It amplified the visible light coming from distant objects, allowing her to see them as if they were right in front of her.
She sighed, both in relief and frustration, as she watched the silver giant collapse.
‘What in the world…?’
How had a meeting with her allies turned into such a mess?
Carisia sent her voice through the wind to Orthes again. He wasn’t within speaking distance, but it wasn’t hard to understand what he was saying.
She could simply read his lips through the *Thousand-Mile Eye*.
Orthes’ words just now had been:
『Why the hell did you come here?!』
For once, he was emotional.
Feeling a strange sense of satisfaction at Orthes’ outburst, Carisia answered briefly.
『The crystal warned me of the future.』
『I wouldn’t die from just one elder. You coming here yourself is far more dangerous.』
『Another one’s coming.』
In the future Carisia had seen, Orthes would face two elders from the Ten Magic Towers. And even then, the portal for spatial movement was still open.
After a brief silence, Orthes quickly replied.
『…Let’s go home!』
______________
Bonus chapter for every review on Novel Updates