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I half-heartedly ignored Arabella's whining and transferred all the data left in the dozens of production models of the Pythos Tower into one folder.
If my guess is correct, combining and decoding this dummy data in a certain way will yield the periodic reports Kaicle receives.
How do I figure out that specific method?
"Please, Director Arabella."
"Yes?"
Without looking back, I quickly exited Arabella's hideout.
Everyone has their own strengths in this line of work. I'm specialized in physical tasks, so it's best to leave technical work to the experts.
From behind me, I could hear the mumbling, "The boss and the secretary have the same awful temper…!"
I must have misheard. Unlike Carisia, who issues orders without care, I only make requests within feasible limits.
I need to verify the authenticity by the end of the month to intervene in the ritual at the beginning of next month.
There are about three days left. With Arabella's skills, she should be able to figure it out by then.
***
Arabella gulped down water. Given the extent of her magi-cybernetic implants, she could sustain life with just a supply of magical power without the need for food or water.
But right now, she craved the refreshing coolness of water. She felt like she was burning up inside.
"Damn…"
The reason she couldn't outright dismiss Orthes was that he was right; there was something hidden in the data.
It wasn't the latest encryption methods used by the modern magic towers. Instead, it was the opposite.
The encryption used was the Holy Script from the ancient cults of the lost gods. It was so ancient that it was nearly impossible to think of.
Arabella had initially poured her efforts into decoding the data Orthes had dumped on her, but after several failed attempts, she found no clues.
In frustration, she ran all known decryption methods from the information database through an automatic simulator, and it hit on an encryption technique from centuries ago.
"Holy Script. The language of the gods."
In ancient times, there was a technique called Sacred Command, which allowed one to perform miracles by receiving the power of the gods.
These names have now faded into the waves of history.
"Come to think of it, Sacred Command could explain Orthes' presence even without magic."
Arabella briefly entertained the thought that Orthes might wield Sacred Command but dismissed it with a laugh.
That man as a high priest? Maybe if he worshipped his boss as a god, but not anything else.
More importantly, it made no sense that the gods would grant power to someone with such a vile temperament.
Suppressing her deep-seated anger, Arabella headed towards Orthes' office, clutching the report.
She wanted to throw it in his face, but instead, she carefully handed over the stack of documents.
Orthes read through the report with a smile, which Arabella found provoking, as if he was saying, "See, I told you so."
That thought vanished with the conversation that followed.
"Just as I thought. We need to prepare."
"Prepare? For what? Digging up the ground?"
"No. If Kaicle is a mage of his caliber, he would have made preparations for an incursion like this. So, we should enter through the front door he prepared."
"The front door…?"
Arabella remembered that Orthes initially approached her claiming something was suspicious about Pythos Tower's monthly sacrificial ritual.
"Are you planning to dive into lava?!"
Orthes shrugged as if it were no big deal.
"It's certain…"
That smile undoubtedly came from satisfaction in confirming his report to the boss.
A loyalty, no, fanaticism that would allow him to die if it brought him closer to Carisia's goal.
A powerful mage might survive in lava. Evidence suggested that they would be transported to another place rather than simply sinking in the lava.
Even so, accepting lava diving so willingly was on another level.
Arabella felt a chill run down her spine. How did Carisia create such an extreme follower?
Would she become like Orthes someday?
She was terrified at the thought.
***
I cursed the fate that prepared me for such a situation.
Since the moment I was made to open my eyes in this world, I knew luck and destiny were not on my side.
Even so…
While I was prepared, diving into lava was too much.
It had been a while since I'd faced such an absurd situation.
I couldn't express dissatisfaction in front of the director about a project crucial to the company, so I struggled to keep a neutral expression, but Arabella's subtle grimace left me unsure.
She might have sensed my displeasure, so I better set the stage in advance.
"Director Arabella."
"…Yes."
"Please keep this a secret from the boss."
We serve the same superior, after all. Please, just overlook it this once.
***
At dawn, Orthes easily infiltrated the area where the automata of Pythos Tower had lined up the sacrifices.
Sensors designed to detect magical power were meaningless against Orthes, who had none. Most security measures meant to thwart mages were rendered useless.
Although he didn't bring a magic-engraved drive to be cautious, it was no problem to breach an unmanned facility, especially one not guarding a core area but simply housing sacrifices to be tossed into the lava.
Hundreds of first-generation machines from various production lines were stored in container boxes. The scene resembled a museum or a department store of automata.
Orthes climbed into an empty powered suit.
"It feels like being the protagonist of that superhero movie, the one with the iron suit. Though he had trouble with cold places, not hot ones."
Rumble—
A heavy noise accompanied by vibrations traveled through the container box. The transport had begun.
As they neared the summit of Mount Etna, the heat increased. Despite the reduced firepower, a volcano is still a volcano.
The interior of the container, and the powered suit within, began to heat up.
"Damn it. What kind of place did Kaicle choose for his hideout?"
Orthes cursed Kaicle's real estate sense several times as his body slowly tilted.
It's starting now.
Orthes prepared for the possibility that he might not reach Kaicle's base even with a lava dive and made ready to escape the volcano immediately.
The hybrid combat techniques he had learned and modified in various places awakened his latent power. He was ready to rip the powered suit apart and leap away at any moment.
Thud, thunk. Creak—
Instead of throwing the container box, it seemed they were tilting it to pour out the contents. Orthes felt himself falling towards the inferno.
A gust of wind. The wind that brushed past the lava did nothing to cool the heated powered suit, only adding to its heat.
When the massive chunks of metal hit the lava, molten rocks shot into the air.
The temperature of lava ranges from 800 to 1200 degrees. The melting point of iron is 1538 degrees.
A magic-special alloy with heat resistance and durability far beyond steel couldn't be melted easily.
But that was the story from Orthes' memories of Earth.
The firepower contained within Mount Etna began to melt Pythos' special alloy. Orthes was alarmed.
"Could it be…?"
Could it be that the dummy data hidden within the automata was also a trick? Those paranoid mages!
As the faceplate of the powered suit melted, heat rushed in. Orthes reflexively opened his eyes wide.
And in the next moment, Orthes found himself standing on a floor polished to a mirror-like sheen of obsidian tiles.
It was Kaicle's hideout.
***
Kaicle walked with his head down, surveying the remains of the machinery with his glowing eye. The scan was complete.
Amid the melted scrap metal, he saw brightly glowing orange parts.
It was the storage unit of his creation. Approaching to retrieve the storage, he was overcome with deep melancholy.
He couldn't even sigh anymore.
This month would be the same as last month. The report showed that his creation had steadily absorbed the firepower of Mount Etna.
Yet despite this, the creation remained incomplete.
In theory, the magical energy was already sufficient, but it still didn't function properly. He continued to supply magic, hoping to find what was wrong…
Lifting his head with such thoughts, something blocked his view.
His mechanical eye didn't register any color. Adjusting the angle of view, he saw the whole picture.
"A person?"
Kaicle instinctively prepared a double incantation, muttering a spell while forming seals with both hands, but the approaching despair made him stop.
"So, they've finally tracked me down from above. Geryon? Or Lernian? Or perhaps an external force from outside Etna?"
"The closest would be Lernian, I suppose."
"What a pity. The thing you call the artificial Commandments is a failure."
Kaicle sat down on the floor.
***
Wait. What is this guy on about?
The giant, who was about twice my height, approached with one eye glowing and started lamenting as soon as he saw me.
He whined about investing years into a project with no progress and regretted not sparing some of the original tower inhabitants as research slaves—typical mage complaints.
This might actually be solvable through conversation. By pretending to empathize and offering research staff if he joins our company, we could secure the artificial Commandments.
I took the first step towards rapport by nodding at Kaicle's complaints.
"Exactly. Recreating the divinity within the Commandments isn't just about having enough magic, after all."
Kaicle, who had been literally pounding the ground in regret, froze.
"You… how do you know…?"
His mechanical eye began to spin wildly.
To read over 200 fully translated episodes, patreon.com/Denji02