Chapter 232: The Tin Knight and The Witch of Heaven's Change (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 232: The Tin Knight and The Witch of Heaven's Change (2)
"The Head of the Tower of Protection. I have him and the rest of the riffraff. If you want them back, come to the Tower of Control by the appointed time."
The message left by the witch Mombi was passed from one survivor of the Tower of Protection to another until it finally reached the Tin Knight and his party.
Upon reading its contents, Dorothea commented, "It's like they don't even care that this is obviously a trap."
She grumbled that nothing ever seemed to go their way.
"Whether we like it or not, we have to go. From their perspective, there's no need to hide their intentions."
At Sophia's words, an uneasy atmosphere settled over the group.
Dorothea's party wasn't fighting the Tower of Control on equal footing with their strength alone. They had been able to wage a guerrilla war, hitting and running in various places, only because the Tower of Protection had deployed its forces to check the Tower of Control, preventing them from moving freely.
The problem was that, in the first place, not many in the Tower of Protection were keen on this war. And now, their leadership, including Hermina, who had been leading the tower and fully backing the party, had taken a massive blow.
The mages of the Tower of Protection were terrified by the power of the Witch of the North, who had single-handedly invaded and brought down their tower. The front line was only holding on by a thread thanks to Hermina's last-ditch efforts to ensure the other mages escaped, which had preserved some of the leadership, and because the Tin Knight's party had obliterated one of the enemy's core cities.
In other words…
"—From the perspective of the survivors of the Tower of Protection, we are the only group they believe can fight on equal terms with the Witch of the North. If we refuse this invitation and turn our backs on their Tower Head, the Tower of Control will launch a massive propaganda campaign, claiming we let him die because we were afraid of the Witch of the North. That would be the end. The survivors' morale would be completely shattered, and having lost our backing from the Tower of Protection, we would be forced to either continue a lonely fight or flee."
As Sophia concluded, casting a dark mood over the party, a new voice chimed in.
[‘Tin Knight’ says that all they have to do is go to the place the enemy called them to and win!]
[‘Tin Knight’ expresses a positive view, saying it’s much more straightforward to have one big, clean fight like this, rather than having the enemy avoid a direct confrontation and just chip away at their rear!]
The Tin Knight raised his right hand as if to say, I said that well, didn't I?
Watching him, Dorothea let out a deep sigh.
"Right, let's just go with that. Invading the enemy's main stronghold, a place the Witch of the North has probably booby-trapped to hell and back, just to take her head—sure, that's a very straightforward task."
Though her words were laced with sarcasm, she had no intention of refuting the Tin Knight. While she was more calculating than he was, Dorothea ultimately disliked overly complicated situations just as much.
Now that their course was set, all that remained was to see it through.
"Fortunately, the deadline gives us a decent amount of time."
"They're probably trying to eliminate any excuses we might have. The more time they give us, the harder it is to make other justifications."
"Thanks to that, the Tower of Protection should be able to fight alongside us this time."
"You said they were scared of Mombi. Will they even be helpful?"
"It's true that many are frightened, but just as many are burning with rage. If someone broke into your house, destroyed it, and killed the people inside, wouldn't you naturally be consumed by a desire for revenge? Besides, we hit Balascamb so hard that, if you just count the number of high-ranking mages, we actually have more."
"We may need to divide our forces depending on the situation. The deployment—"
*
The Tower of Protection gathered the forces that had been defending its territories and began to march deep into the domain of Control, toward the tower itself.
As if to welcome its impending visitors, the Tower of Control desperately scraped together its power from its half-shattered territory to prepare for the decisive battle.
Foresight and Annihilation remained silent, taking neither side, but kept their soldiers ready to move at a moment's notice. The other nations, too, watched with bated breath to see how this civil war would unfold.
And then there was one group, looking down on the affairs of the world from a high mountain as if they were celestial beings enjoying a leisurely game.
Their robes were immaculately clean, their skin was unblemished by even the smallest scratch, and their faces were serene.
Had anyone from the world below seen them, they would have been struck with astonishment.
Priests of the Kingdom is Heaven.
Unless one was a high noble or of royal blood, it was rare to meet even one in a lifetime, yet here were nearly five of them gathered in one place.
"We've tried to incite them a few times, but the Tower of Foresight seems to have no intention of getting involved."
"The same goes for Annihilation. Their belligerence is welcome, but their needlessly sharp intuition makes them a bother."
"A pity, truly a pity. If things had gone according to the Tower of Control's initial plan, we could have painted a grand picture of the Empire and the Magic State clashing."
"I don't think this is so bad. Lotbart Rognir is an exceptionally cautious man. If his plan had succeeded too easily, there was a risk his power would have grown beyond our ability to control."
"Indeed. If he hadn't been cornered like this, that cunning old man would never have resorted to the extreme measure of unsealing the witch Mombi. But he did, and now he's in a situation where he must bring the other towers to their knees through physical warfare, not the political offensive he originally planned."
"But has he not gained a great weapon in the witch Mombi? Is she not far more dangerous than Orin, who has remained in seclusion and barely moves?"
"The witch Mombi is a hedonist. She may align with Lotbart for a time when their interests coincide, but she is by no means a person who will obey him indefinitely."
"The old man may be able to seize the Magic State with Mombi's power, but the process will be exceedingly violent and destructive. The Magic State will undoubtedly be greatly weakened. Above all, the old man has already borrowed our power, so controlling him through the contract will be a simple matter."
"But... isn't it possible for Mombi and Lotbart to be defeated? In that case, the Magic State would suffer far less damage than we think, and controlling their movements afterward would become difficult."
At the question uttered by one of the priests, the others, who had been speaking so fluently, fell silent.
One of them quietly shook his head.
"That must not be allowed to happen."
Another priest agreed.
"If the Tower of Control collapses completely, the grand design will also be greatly distorted. To prevent that, lending the old man a bit more of our power might be a viable option."
"But will that be alright? The ones fighting the witch now are those who have collected the most relics. If they are all annihilated, will that not disrupt another one of our plans?"
"It's fine. If that happens, we can simply spread the value of the relics throughout the continent. If we advertise it as the power that crushed a major city of the Magic State in a single blow, there will be an absurd number of people drooling over it."
"It would be better to work from the shadows rather than intervening in the middle of a war. I will lend more power to the gray old man."
"—Hold on."
At the sudden interruption, the priests' expressions hardened in unison.
They were in a space thoroughly sealed by holy power, as they were discussing matters that could turn the entire continent upside down if leaked. Even if someone were to climb the remote mountain where they stood, they would see nothing but an empty, natural landscape.
Yet, someone had broken through all those defenses and casually intruded, so it was no surprise the priests were on high alert.
"I don't care if you kill the others. But not Dorothy."
It was a beautiful girl with black hair, black eyes, and a flower ornament in her hair.
Just as the priests began to draw upon their holy power, the one who appeared to be the eldest among them widened his eyes and hastily bowed.
"We greet one of the Lord’s four great swords...!"
At his words, the other priests, flustered, also bowed.
Extreme reverence for the girl was evident in their every expression and movement.
Receiving a welcome more reverent than that given to most kings, the girl nonchalantly brushed it aside and spoke.
"I know you all have your own things to do, so I won't tell you not to act at all, but Dorothy is an exception. Hmm, or is she?"
The girl suddenly tilted her head, then began to mutter to herself as if lost in thought.
"The best part about Dorothy is that wildflower-like quality she has. If I'm too considerate and she turns into some greenhouse flower, I feel like her beauty would diminish. I want to see her overcome a crisis, but if I'm the one adjusting the difficulty to 'let her overcome it,' it kind of lacks excitement... hmm. What to do."
Pacing back and forth in the same spot, the girl's muttering made her seem incredibly emotionally unstable, but the priests' attitude toward her remained unchanged.
Then, the girl clapped her hands together with a smack.
"Come to think of it, it's probably best if you all just do what you want. If Dorothy overcomes even that, I get to see something wonderful, which is great. And if she fails to overcome it and dies... well, then I can just plant her seed and keep her by my side."
The girl's face as she said this and smiled was innocent and beautiful, but the content of her words was utterly twisted.
However, none of the priests voiced any objection.
The girl was an angel.
One of the four swords that existed in the Kingdom is Heaven, an agent of the Great One's will.
When such a being declared she would do as she pleased with the life of a mere mortal on the surface, there was no need for anyone to argue.
If the heavens so decreed, the earth had to obey.
"—What utter bullshit."
And, on the surface, there existed a witch who utterly despised such celestial arrogance.
KWHAAAAAANG!
The impact of the air, compressed to its absolute limit and then released in an instant, was like a colossal bomb.
One of the high mountain peaks was sheared away, and the barrier that had been there was instantly destroyed.
The priests tried to protect themselves by drawing out an emerald light, but the overwhelming torrent of mana crushed all their defenses like insects.
For the priests who had looked down upon the world as if it were a chessboard, plotting their schemes, it was an all-too-hollow end.
As if quite pleased by this, a look of satisfaction flickered across the face of the witch, Algind Goodwitch.
Her doll-like, expressionless face, as if her facial muscles were dead, remained unchanged, however.
She spat her venom calmly.
"The mortal realm is not your plaything. Listening to you talk as if it were some kind of game board is so disgusting I can't stand it."
Her words, muttered as if to herself on the ruined peak, received a clear reply.
"You're not so different yourself, are you?"
It was the girl in black.
Despite being hit by the blow that had sent the priests to the afterlife in an instant, the girl appeared to have suffered no significant damage, other than her clothes being slightly disheveled.
"You're using Dorothy and her party like pawns yourself. What gives you the right to tell us what to do?"
At the girl's sharp accusation, Algind cleared her throat for a moment.
"Yes. This isn't a matter of qualification, but of preference."
—To hell with logic. I'm doing this because I hate your guts, so what are you going to do about it?
At this outrageously violent assertion, the black-haired girl's expression twisted.
"I don't like your type. I'm going to get rid of you quickly and go watch Dorothy."
"That's very good to know, you filthy dog of the heavens. I'll make sure you can't get anywhere near them until this is over."
"If you'd come in one piece, maybe, but for a mere half-form to dare...!"
Countless seeds scattered around the girl in black. In the blink of an eye, they sprouted and transformed into soldiers with pumpkin heads.
A masked figure appeared beside Algind. The mana of water and wind surged, creating a massive waterspout.
On Mount Bifrost, the highest mountain in the Magic State, located dozens of kilometers from the Tower of Control.
There, a bloody battle on the other side of history, one that would never be recorded, began to unfold.