NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 8
Hydra Corporation’s Objective.
This was the first time Orthes had said anything directly about it, but it was already a topic that had come up several times among the directors.
Why did a powerful mage like Carisia come to Etna City?
Once a great city, it was now just a declining border town.
Consolidating wealth by uniting the city?
That’s not even a joke.
Carisia, with the ability to take down two existing Mage Tower Masters in an instant, had countless ways to amass her fortune without going through the hassle of unifying the Underworld into a new company.
The same goes for honor.
A powerful mage like that might even receive offers to join the Apex Towers, let alone being recruited by an ordinary tower.
‘Maybe…’
Arabella considered the possibility that such a powerful mage had not come to the city willingly, but had been ‘banished’ instead.
Perhaps she chose Etna City as a hideout to regain her strength after being ousted from a power struggle within a tower.
However, there was a problem with this hypothesis. For a mage of Carisia’s caliber to be defeated and forced to flee, even with a loyal subordinate like Orthes…
The towers where such a fight could occur were extremely limited.
Ignoring the uneasy gaze of Arabella, who looked at him with apprehension, Orthes continued his speech.
“We will become the new kings.”
King.
It did not mean a ruler of a nation who inherits by blood. The kings who once ruled the world, and even the gods who bestowed blessings upon the royal line, had all vanished from this world.
The governance structure had long been restructured around the Ten Commandments and the Mage Towers.
Among the privileged class of the towers, only ten could truly be called ‘kings.’
The ten towers that possessed the Ten Commandments, a legacy of the Mage King.
They had no need for cumbersome names like Lerni or Torres. A simple designation based on magic power color and attribute sufficed to prove their history.
All towers that used that type of magic were under their command.
The legacy of the ten towers that received the Ten Commandments directly from the Mage King had been passed down in the form of poetry.
White Light that heralded the beginning.
The Golden Thunder that divided heaven and earth.
The Red Flame that gathered heat.
The Blue Ice that bound cold.
The Green Wind that mixed all things.
The Blue Water pooling in the ocean.
The Purple Soil that shaped the land.
The Green Wood where life sprouted.
The Silver Iron that sharpened blades,
The Black Darkness that proclaimed the end.
The declaration of becoming new kings. Carisia’s light magic. The directors all recalled the eldest of the Mage Towers, the White Light Tower.
‘Most of the Tower Masters of the Ten Towers carry bloodlines that trace back to the Mage King’s disciples. Could it be that Carisia is the illegitimate child of the current White Light Tower Master?’
In the long history of magic, it was extremely rare for the owner of the Ten Commandments to change. The battles over the Ten Commandments were often compared to fights between kings and usurpers, and royal succession ceremonies.
‘A new usurper challenging the throne appears, and if that person is my boss…’
Just then, an announcement that exceeded the directors’ expectations followed.
“Of course. I’m not here to talk about the boring notion of seizing the Ten Commandments.”
This time, Carisia certainly smiled. Those directors who witnessed that pure smile felt a chilling sensation, as if cold air wrapped around them.
“I believe you know, Geryon. The Master of Pythos Tower. Kaicle.”
The story returned to the captured Geryon. He felt a mix of incredulity and fear.
The most powerful of the three towers in Etna City. The urban legend of Pythos Tower’s secret weapon.
“Is there still someone left who believes in that superstitious nonsense? That story is already decades old.”
Among the eight leaders who have been around Etna City for a long time, few understood what Geryon was talking about.
Arabella, who collected every scrap of gossip about the city as part of her job. And…
“…”
Only the old dwarf Bertrand, who had lived in Etna City for ages and was the head of the miner’s guild.
They momentarily noticed Orthes’s gaze sweeping over them. There was no doubt that Orthes was not one to fumble such a glance.
‘A warning, or a suggestion.’
It was either a warning not to act rashly or a suggestion to speak all that they knew. Each gesture had a way of binding people. Arabella raised her evaluation of Orthes from suspicious character to a lethal player.
“What if it’s not nonsense?”
“Hah!”
Geryon momentarily forgot he was a prisoner and laughed. The half-weight of his captured arm reminded him of reality, yet the laughter didn’t fade, and his skepticism didn’t diminish.
“You must know why Etna City is declining, Bertrand.”
The dwarf stroked his beard. There’s no exceptionally powerful mage or irreplaceable specialty product. Or the border town, far removed from the magical paradise, Elysion…
Many reasons could be stated, but from the perspective of someone who has been digging in this city for over a century, there was only one reason Etna was fading away.
“The Mount Etna is cooling down.”
Cooling of the volcano, which was the lifeline of Etna City. Originally, the miners of Etna City made their living by mining fire attribute magic stones created from the energy of the volcano.
However now, as the yield of magic stones diminished, the volcano was also cooling.
“Pythos Tower did something to Mount Etna. They intercepted the volcano’s energy to prepare special magic. Although the rumors ran rampant, our miner’s guild investigated, and found no magical devices installed outside the volcano.”
“Kaicle is trying to condense the magic of Mount Etna to create new Ten Commandments!”
Geryon shouted theatrically. His expression soon turned bittersweet.
“I was once captivated by that rumor and almost overturned this city. Kaicle, was he an ordinary person? He was the official disciple of the Red Flame and then scouted by Silver Iron…”
Geryon cautiously looked at Carisia. Carisia showed no reaction to Geryon’s staring, her gaze fixed on Orthes.
“He’s a monstrous mage who once ventured alone to seize control of the greatest tower in Etna City, just like your boss.”
Perhaps recalling the memories of facing Carisia, Geryon hung his head. But he raised it again. It was a confidence born from firsthand knowledge and experience.
“But this is certain. There is no artificial Ten Commandments at Pythos Tower.”
“No. From the start.”
“That guy Kaicle isn’t even in this city.”
Right now, Pythos Tower was being operated unmanned.
The greatest tower in Etna City had no owner present.
*
Now, this much was expected.
Bertrand, who had worked as a miner at the veins of Mount Etna for practically his entire life, and Geryon, who had been in a power struggle with Pythos Tower.
The two were opponents capable of asserting that no artificial Ten Commandments existed at Pythos Tower.
However, I knew that ‘the Ten Commandments of Pythos Tower’ did exist.
To be precise, it was not exactly worthy of being called Ten Commandments.
How should I put it?
Future hope of the Ten Commandments? Candidate for the Ten Commandments? Ten Commandments (Pending Promotion)?
The two striking features of the Ten Commandments are massive magic power and latent memory. Just knocking on the door of the Ten Commandments allows mages to maximize their magic power and realize spells they have never even heard of.
The Tower Masters of the Ten Towers directly connected to the Ten Commandments wield almost infinite magic power and are able to use the Mage King’s spells.
However, Pythos Tower’s and Kaicle’s Ten Commandments were different. Due to Kaicle’s own limits of knowledge, there was a limit to the spells he could engrave.
But thanks to the long-term siphoning of Mount Etna’s magic, he had gathered magic that may not be infinite but was still enormous compared to general standards.
Of course, this was something I knew because the original 2077 had been used by the Mage King, Baek Mu-Myung.
How Baek Mu-Myung used these Ten Commandments was.
“Just blew it up, right?”
He used it as an explosive to vaporize Etna City entirely. It was an explosion that could barely be compared to a nuclear bomb and had to be described as an antimatter bomb.
When the conflict with the protagonist escalated to the maximum, it was a trap prepared to kill the protagonist.
Even using the Hydra Corporation’s main office as bait, when this plan ultimately failed, Baek Mu-Myung placed his life on the line to confront the protagonist.
In other words, if this is used for purposes other than being a bomb, it could minimize the chances of Carisia dying like in the original story.
I smiled at the directors and said.
“No. Kaicle is in Etna.”
*
Arabella was the first to notice the discomfort in Orthes’s words.
“Etna? Not Etna City?”
Orthes opened his mouth as if he had been waiting for those words.
“Yes. Kaicle is on Mount Etna.”
“But…”
Bertrand didn’t know how to refer to Orthes. He had never been granted any official title within the Hydra Corporation.
However, it was evident that he was the second-in-command at Hydra Corporation.
“You may call me by name.”
As if reading his thoughts, Orthes offered. Bertrand, feeling uneasy, pronounced the name.
“Orthes. Our miner’s guild has already investigated Mount Etna several times. But all we found there were only dimming flames.”
“That’s correct. The place you investigated, Director Bertrand, was indeed so.”
“Is there a place the miner’s guild hasn’t investigated?”
“I will explain more accurately. Kaicle is ‘inside’ Mount Etna.”
Orthes looked around with a chilling smile. Only Carisia, unmoved by that smile, was looking pleased.
“We will draw Kaicle out and take possession of the artificial Ten Commandments.”
His gaze turned to Geryon.