NOVEL FROG Chapter 14
A mysterious figure nonchalantly shared secrets that Kaiicle had spent his entire life researching.
Kaiicle focused his magic power on his mechanical eye to uncover their true identity. Visual data sent from his biological left eye separated from the results observed by his right eye.
The left eye still saw a blurry human face.
However, the magic-powered mechanical eye only reflected a shadow of a human, with no shape discernible.
Biological eyes have countless blind spots. Compared to the meticulously designed mechanical eye, they are vastly inferior and incomplete.
But why was it that the mechanical eye failed to capture that?
There was no way to explain this bizarre phenomenon.
Creak. It took a step closer.
“How strange, that is quite the odd statement.”
Step. Kaiicle took a step back.
“Didn’t Simon Magus challenge ascension? The procedure to rise to the celestial seat where the gods reside. Is it that absurd to deduce that anyone aspiring to reach the level of the gods possesses divinity?”
“Because they hid it!!”
Kaiicle shouted in a fit. Everything that was being stated was a secret the Ten Towers had hidden.
“They concealed the fact that the culmination of magic, which expelled the gods, ultimately led to the birth of another god! Who are you? Where did you come from!”
“Well, that level of information is hardly embarrassing to call a secret.”
The intruder muttered that if the Ten Towers truly wanted to conceal something, they would have changed the very term ‘ascension’.
“Shall we get practical? Up to a certain point, quantitative expansion likely equated to qualitative improvement.”
That was true. The more he absorbed the essence of Mount Etna, the more sophisticated and powerful the magic he could exert using the magic power from the Artificial Ten Commandments became.
“But there’s a limit. Even if the amount of magic power rises, there comes a stage where the level of magic does not increase. You seem to have been stuck at this stage for quite some time now.”
On the left, the figure’s smile was visible. Through his right eye, he saw the darkness shaped like a human that filled the space.
“I know of your failure, of course. But I must commend you for the fierce effort that led to that failure.”
“Who are you?! Where are you from? Are you an assassin sent by the Ten Towers?!”
No. The Ten Towers were not an organization that cared enough to pay attention to such failed products. They were too busy controlling other towers to race towards ascension.
But what kind of person could create such an unfathomable being if not from the Ten Towers?
“Oh dear. Did I not introduce myself just a moment ago?”
The Lernian Tower? No way. There couldn’t be such a being in a tower of that level.
Come to think of it, hadn’t he said ‘the closest would be’ the Lernian?
Something from the Lernian Tower? No. The Lernian Tower was hardly large enough to contain such a bizarre entity.
Kaiicle steadied his trembling body and fixed his gaze on it. He needed to integrate his left eye’s sight and his right eye’s observations once more.
No matter how much he observed the being with his right eye, one thing was clear: he couldn’t understand anything. He had to return his vision to its original state to overcome the fear.
Snap.
At that moment, it clapped its hands.
There was no enemy present, but the movement was enough to shake his focus.
“Excuse me. You seem unable to concentrate.”
‘Did it recognize the magic acting only within my body?’
It wanted Kaiicle to observe itself with his right eye. The reason behind that was utterly unfathomable.
“I believe there’s a misunderstanding, so let me introduce myself again. I am Orthes from the Hydra Corporation.”
“Hydra Corporation?”
The entity that called itself Orthes shrugged its shoulders.
“It will be in this month’s information prepared by the automated information collection program of Pythos Tower. The new tower that annihilated the Lernian school and took their place.”
“Are you the boss?”
The smile visible only in his left eye deepened.
“Boss? No way. I doubt I even receive a directorial role in the Hydra Corporation. By structure, I’m probably just an ordinary employee.”
Unbelievable. In extreme confusion, Kaiicle fumbled through the purpose of the entity’s approach.
“You came to find me because of the Artificial Ten Commandments… because of that ‘failed product’ you acknowledged?”
“Until now, it has been a failure. However, if you join us, things will change.”
As the shadow advanced boldly, Kaiicle could only retreat helplessly.
Thud. He realized there was nowhere left to step back. He had backed up to the control device of the Artificial Ten Commandments.
“Is this the Ten Commandments? Compared to the real Ten Commandments, it may have become somewhat oversized due to its lack of efficiency, but the magic compression ratio is incomparable to any ordinary magic stone.”
Orthes’s hand reached over him to touch the control device. Kaiicle’s right eye witnessed this.
───!
And a primal resonance filled the mountain, one that could hardly be expressed in words. It flowed up the mountain and finally vibrated the entire city.
Flames erupted where the cry seeped in, and the essence of fire surged. The heart of the nearly dormant Mount Etna pulsed once more.
Kaiicle understood what it was.
“Echo…!”
The echoes left behind by Typhoeus in this world. What Kaiicle had wandered his entire life in search of.
The legendary super beast known as the parent of all magical beasts. The king of magical beasts and a god. The last location where the traces of one of the now-vanished gods, Typhoeus, were recorded was Mount Etna.
The reason Kaiicle tried to create the Artificial Ten Commandments by accumulating the essence of Etna City was right here.
If the Ten Commandments were the powers left by ascendants, that is, humans who attained divinity in this world, could he not gather the remnants left by the gods and create something similar?
However, what Kaiicle did not foresee was time.
The ascension of the Mage King was already from a time called antiquity. It had been ages since the era of the vanished gods had become so nebulous that even records faded away.
Kaiicle had vastly underestimated the power of time that takes everything away.
No matter how much he accumulated the essence of Mount Etna, it was uncertain whether he could even find a remnant of the divinity that Typhoeus possessed during the era he inhabited.
Amidst growing despair, as Kaiicle prepared to acknowledge his failure.
Orthes caused a shift.
Kaiicle’s right eye vividly replayed what had just occurred. Orthes’s hand, which was nothing more than a shadow to his right eye, was the very one that touched the control device of the Artificial Ten Commandments.
Something surged forth from the shadow, enveloping the Artificial Ten Commandments.
Inside the Artificial Ten Commandments, the echoes of divinity stirred. Orthes had called forth the echoes of divinity back into the world, transcending distant time.
“Who… who are you?”
Kaiicle asked unknowingly while kneeling. Though once a giant, even on his knees, his eye level was still higher than Orthes.
However, Kaiicle could not feel the sensation of ‘looking down’ at Orthes. Perhaps if Orthes were observing him.
“What kind of being are you that reveals my hidden refuge and causes the old divinity to respond to your call?”
A silence filled with smiles. Beads of sweat accumulated on Kaiicle’s brow with each passing second.
“I am.”
Orthes broke the silence that felt eternal.
“I am a servant of the Hydra Corporation.”
That could not be an answer. Kaiicle was about to question.
“The answers you seek lie within us.”
How does Orthes know the secrets of the Ten Towers?
Why did his touch activate the Artificial Ten Commandments?
In front of the heretic who left the Ten Towers, there was someone extending their hand while saying they would reveal all the answers.
“Do not be afraid. The one I serve uses even the smallest things greatly, so with such a massive failure already redeemed by you, how much greater success will you be granted?”
Kaiicle grasped the hand he extended.
*
I don’t know. What is this? It’s scary.
From the start of the conversation, I felt that things had gone drastically wrong, so I pressed down hard with an utterly suspicious force to prevent Kaiicle from taking the initiative.
It was fine that I cornered him by casually tossing out elements from the original story.
Watching the giant’s expression shift from confusion to shock and then to fear was a bit painful, but isn’t it good if we can resolve it with words instead of fighting?
In fact, in the original scene where my nameless self suddenly used the Artificial Ten Commandments as a bomb, Kaiicle didn’t even appear. He probably would have been killed instantly.
To reduce the chances of Carisia following the same tragic path, I simply needed to scout a capable mage. A perfect plan.
I was about to end the pressure interview at a suitable moment, touch the inventions, shower him with praise, and offer him a job with some slick benefits when the bizarre phenomenon occurred as soon as I touched the Ten Commandments. I had no idea what was happening.
‘Is it because of that mysterious facility I was in?’
There were hypotheses, but not a single piece of solid evidence.
Kaiicle was staring at me with shining eyes, as if he were ready to prostrate himself.
The only option I had for a response was to pass everything over to Carisia.
If it’s her ability, she should be able to easily meet the expectations of a giant who’s been researching in a basement under a volcano and suffers from depression.