Chapter 250: Reunion (7)

Even though Desir had succeeded in infiltrating Divide, he fell into deep contemplation over what they had been greeted with.

‘Why are there so many soldiers stationed along the path we are travelling?’

He had expected the security of this route to be lax due to the looming full-scale attack from the Allied Forces, however, contrary to this belief, Divide had prepared thoroughly as if they had some reason to expect their attack.

Not only did they have troops along the path of the flying ship, but they had also mobilized anti-aircraft magicians, all searching the skies looking for a flying ship.

If the Valkyrie hadn’t had a stealth mode, his plan would have been in shambles.

‘They know our movements.’

Desir quickly worked out the possibilities:

First, a spy.

A spy was extraordinarily unlikely; Desir practically dismissed it immediately. Everyone who was a part of the operation had been kept in the dark until the very last briefing, so it was impossible for any information to have leaked before then.

He had completed a thorough inspection of everyone’s communication devices during the Valkyrie’s boarding process. In doing so, he had confirmed that no one present was in contact with anyone in Divide or worthy of suspicion. There was no way for them to communicate with Divide, unless…!

‘… … Is this the work of an artifact?’

Skull Mask had a number of artifacts with power beyond reason. Even if no one used an artifact to communicate with Divide, Desir thought that there might be artifacts that could be used to track the opponent’s movements.

This was the most likely inference.

Whether there was an artifact or not, it was clear that the Valkyrie’s movements had been exposed. It was the only conclusion.

Desir turned around and spoke to Priscilla and Donape.

“It’s been smooth sailing so far, but from now on, it won’t be this easy.”

Priscilla got nervous.

“You mean… we’re starting now… ?”

“It’s time to move on to the second phase of the plan. Everyone must go out onto the field, so please prepare.”

So far, they were able to avoid all contact with their enemies due to the stealth system, but that function would only remain operational for so long. After it was disabled, they would have no choice but to engage in an all-out battle behind enemy lines.

Their goal, behind enemy lines, was to quickly destroy the towers responsible for the creation of Shadow Worlds while the full-scale attacks of the Allied Forces limited Divide’s movement. To accomplish that, Desir reasoned it would be best to split up the troops and destroy the towers individually.

However, the total number of towers built in Divide was forty-seven.

Since one of them had just been destroyed, there were still forty-six towers left. They didn’t have enough time to destroy forty-six towers one by one. They were in a desperate situation already, and would soon lose the safety of travelling via stealth mode. However, Desir didn’t look too depressed.

“I will leave the remaining three to you.”

“So long as we break just four of them, they’ll lose the ability to create further Shadow Worlds. Really, this operation would have been impossible if we hadn’t learned that.”

“Without him, we wouldn’t have been able to execute this operation.”

Desir’s party was able to know where the towers had been constructed in Divide thanks to the information they obtained from someone.

Firstly, the forty-seven towers installed inside Divide relied on a central source of power. If that source was broken, it was possible to stop the creation of all artificial Shadow Worlds without destroying all of the towers. This meant they could end everything by just destroying that.

Secondly, that power source was hidden within a Shadow World. Through some means or another, Skull Mask had hidden the power source within a Shadow Word concealed in Pittsburgh. In order to destroy the power source, that Shadow World would have to be cleared.

Thirdly, four of the forty-seven towers played a critical role in maintaining the Shadow Worlds while the power source was active. These four did not create Shadow Worlds on the continent, but they were instead responsible for making a Shadow World within Divide. This Shadow World was the one that concealed the power source, making the four towers serve as a barrier of sorts..

‘I’m glad one of them was nearby.’

Tower 2, which Desir had destroyed just a few minutes ago, was one of those four towers.

Without this valuable information, they would have been forced to operate ineffectively and destroyed all of the towers one-by-one.

‘Now there are just three towers left.’

In order to quickly clear the situation, it was necessary to attack these three towers at the same time.

Desir chose Donape, Priscilla, and Zod for this task. Each would destroy a single tower.

Donape Aslan and the northern warriors would destroy the tower in the northwest of Pittsburgh, Priscilla Haicilkite would lead the Holy Paladins to the tower in the south, and Zod Exarion would destroy the tower in the east with the magicians of the Magic Tower.

Meanwhile, the main unit led by Desir would head to Pittsburgh and destroy the tower that held the power source. This was the order of attack, and Desir carried the largest responsibility in ending it all.

“It’s time to move. I’ll go first.”

Donape laughed cheerfully.

“Desir Arman, I’ll declare this in advance. I’m going to keep up with your performance this time.”

“I hope you will not get hurt in this war.”

“I will try my best.”

Following Donape, Priscilla left while wishing Desir luck.

Desir. who was left alone, stared at his finger with a complicated glance. A blue ring shone in the light.

S-Tier artifact, Memorize.

A supreme artifact that stored five spells and allowed the user to instantly cast them like normal spells, but without a mana cost or cast time.

It was an artifact that Crow Mask, Icarus Quirgo had owned. At least, he owned it after stealing it from the Hebrion Empire.

Looking at the brilliant blue light, Desir remembered the day when he obtained this information, five months ago.

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The basement of the Magic Tower.

Within a place that used to be the research space for restraining and studying homunculi, there now was a man bound up in chains. He was held in the exact place the homunculus had been.

Equipment had been placed all around the man, various wires and devices attached to the man. Their purpose was to endlessly absorb the target’s mana.

Icarus Quirgo.

A person who was once known as the Revolutionary, a criminal who carried out numerous incidents of terrorism across the continent while wearing a crow mask as an executive member of the Outsiders.

Icarus, the second Seventh-Circle magician of the present era, was stuck in a kneeling position. He looked utterly powerless.

Desir looked down at him, his face stuck in a very cold expression.

“… … What do you want?”

It was Icarus who opened his mouth first, sneering.

“Execution.”

Desir was too calm to condemn him to an easy death.

However, Icarus didn’t look at all agitated, as if this was something he had already expected. He was all too aware that what he had done was something that could never be forgiven.

“If that’s so, then kill me now… Come on. Why aren’t you killing me yet?”

“I need you to tell me everything you know before you die.”

Icarus’s mouth twisted at this statement.

“Do you think I’ll give you anything?”

“If you really believed in making the world an equal place, if you truly believed in your conviction, then yes, I do.”

“What?”

In front of a confused Icarus, Desir pulled up something on his communication pad and showed it to him. On the communication pad, there was a map covered in blue dots. It displayed the locations of the Shadow Worlds that had appeared all over the continent and the cities that had failed in clearing them, cities that had fallen to the erosion.

Icarus, who had been looking at the map for a while, inferred information from this map, even though Desir hadn’t said a word.

“Were the towers built around Divide to create Shadow Worlds?”

“Exactly.”

Icarus had previously tried to find Skull Mask’s plan but ended up deeply involved in the construction of the towers, so he simply put two and two together and drew an answer.

“If this keeps up, humanity will be destroyed by Skull Mask. It is impossible to realize your ideals if we don’t survive. And to do that, I need more information.”

“… … ”

Icarus silently read the information drawn on the communication pad. The movement of each country was also closely displayed on the pad. He looked at these movements before speaking in a tone that indicated that things had happened outside of his expectation.

“All of the countries on the continent have united for a single purpose.”

Powerful countries and weak countries.

Northern people and continental people.

Enemies and allies.

When a catastrophe that threatened the entire continent struck, humanity united as one, temporarily throwing away everything that stood between them.

Through the sight, for just an instant, Icarus was able to glimpse the realization of some of the ideals he had pursued at great cost and with little success.

The unity of nobility and commoners.

A utopia where everyone could be happy without discrimination.

‘… … It’s clear who was right.’

It felt like the darkness intensified between the two. Two sets of eyes (sort of), as dark and as deep as the abyss, reflected off each other like mirrors. The silence stretched out towards what felt like an eternity.

Icarus, looked down at the map once more, before raising his head.

“… … I have one piece of information that might help you.”

After a while, he finally spoke.

“When the Outsiders swallowed Divide, I took care of all of Divide’s internal affairs. The towers built in Divide were done so through my hands. When Skull Mask established these towers, I searched them to try and glean what their purpose was, or how they functioned. I was able to learn one thing.”

While Icarus and Skull Mask cooperated with each other, they were still suspicious of each other, refusing to place their full trust in one another. In the end, the relationship of the Outsiders was one built on the selfishness of people working towards something similar.

“The towers built in Divide don’t have their own power sources. Instead, there is a facility within the Pittsburgh Palace that powers all of the towers. I called it the ‘power source’.”

At that moment, Desir remembered something and his face hardened.

Icarus asked when he saw it.

“Aha. I see you’re familiar with it?”

When Desir was passing through the barriers of the Royal Palace in the middle of the operation to rescue Swan Katarina, he felt a massive flow of mana under the palace.

Even though he could only detect a small amount of it, the energy that mana possessed was quite vast.

When Desir recounted those memories, Icarus nodded.

“What you felt would be the power source. The other towers will stop working if you break it. But to do so is almost impossible.”

Icarus asked Desir to display a map on his communication pad and pointed out four towers.

“These four towers were constructed slightly differently from the rest of them. I didn’t understand why at the time, but I’m fairly confident in their purpose now. These four are responsible for guarding the power source under the Pittsburgh Palace.”

That was the key information Icarus gave to Desir. He shared everything he knew, as if he had given up on doing everything himself.

Having shared everything he knew, Icarus couldn’t help himself from asking Desir something that had been bothering him.

“Do you really believe me? Why aren’t you probing me with questions, trying to figure out if I’m tricking you?”

“Hm? Oh, I’m certain that’s not necessary.”

Desir was well aware that Icarus was a person who did anything for his convictions.

In other words, it meant that as long as Desir walked along a path that matched his beliefs, he had no reason to lie.

“Well then.”

Desir stepped back. The conversation was over. There was no business here for him anymore.

“Ah, Desir Arman.”

As Desir looked back at Icarus’ call, he could see a half-smirk, half-smile carved into his scarred face. Des1r instinctively felt that this was the smile Icarus would make toward an old friend.

“I hope you succeed.”

This had become the last will of the Revolutionary.

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