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HELHEIM SCANS
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Chapter 152: The Game of Kings (6)
Oscar stared at the envoys from the Black Tower before slowly opening his mouth.
"You're quite cautious."
—Is that a complaint?
"No, I actually like it. Nothing is more dangerous than a foolish ally."
Oscar shrugged toward the mechanical golems that had appeared at their base.
From the mouth of the leading golem, the voice of the Black Tower’s leader, Blark Heim, flowed out.
—Understand this. I can’t just blindly walk into a place surrounded by dozens of mages.
"Of course, I understand."
—...First, I should thank you. Thanks to the potion you provided, one of my comrades was able to avoid elimination.
"Glad to hear it."
With the formalities out of the way, Blark Heim got straight to the point.
—I have a question.
"I know."
As Oscar nodded, his opponent remained silent for a few seconds before responding.
—You know"? What do you mean?
"You're wondering if we knew in advance about the alliance between the magic towers in the central city and deliberately chose not to inform you, right? The answer is yes."
—…
Having his thoughts read so clearly, Blark Heim continued speaking.
—Why?
"For one, you wouldn’t have believed me even if I told you. The other reason was to make sure you'd come find me yourself."
—Hah.
The mechanical golem let out a dry laugh.
Oscar’s reasoning was spot on.
‘Even if I had heard that in advance, I wouldn’t have believed it until I confirmed it myself.’
The prideful leaders of those towers forming an alliance?
He wouldn’t have believed it without seeing it firsthand.
Which meant that the man before him had anticipated his reaction and skipped the tedious process altogether.
Blark Heim was honestly impressed.
‘...It seems minor, but handling things so quickly and efficiently isn't easy.’
Curious, he spoke again.
—Was your proposal to form an alliance with us made with this situation in mind?
"Exactly. I'm gathering a team to stand against the city mages."
—If you came to us with this offer, does that mean you were already rejected by the Blood Tower?
It was a logical assumption.
It was common knowledge among mages that the Black Tower and the White Tower didn’t get along.
So, when looking for allies, it would be more reasonable to approach the Blood Tower first, as their relationship was relatively amicable.
However, Oscar shook his head.
"No, I haven’t even asked them yet."
—…What? You came to us first?
Blark Heim took a moment to consider the reasoning before nodding.
—Why? Do you think we're stronger than the Blood Tower?
"Simple. They’ll come to us on their own anyway."
—Come to us? How can you be so sure?
Oscar smirked before answering.
"It’s a bit of a long explanation, but I’ll indulge you. Why do you think the Tri-Color Alliance first targeted the Green Tower in the south?"
—The reason?
Blark Heim hadn’t really thought about it.
He had assumed it was because they were weak.
—Wasn't it because they were the weakest?
"That’s part of it, but the real reason is much more political. If they were attacked, no other tower would come to their aid."
—What do you mean?
In a survival game, not helping other towers was natural.
Tilting his head in confusion, Blark Heim watched as Oscar picked up a branch and began drawing a rough map on the ground.
"Think about it from the perspective of the Tri-Color Alliance. Attacking the north first would have been a huge risk. It’s the only region with two towers, and—though I hate to say it myself—it's where I am."
—…
Annoying as it was, it was true.
The north had both the White Tower and the Violet Tower, along with the renowned noble of the White Tower and its divine prodigy.
It made no sense to attack there first when the west, south, and east each had only one tower.
"That leaves three directions, but attacking the west or east first would also be tricky."
—Because the Black Tower and Blood Tower are too strong?
Oscar shot him a condescending look, as if he were an idiot.
"Of course not. The Tri-Color Alliance has already joined hands, so they don’t have to fear anyone. In terms of raw power, no single tower can match them."
—Then why would attacking the west or east be a bad move?
"They’d risk being surrounded."
Oscar sketched a route from the central city to the west and east.
"If either the Black Tower or Blood Tower was attacked first, which tower would be the next target? Which tower would feel the most threatened?"
—…The Green Tower?
"Correct. If either the Black Tower or Blood Tower fell, the Green Tower would be next. Fearing for their own survival, they wouldn't have just stood by. They likely would have attacked the Tri-Color Alliance from the flank."
As Oscar drew a scenario where the Green Tower attacked the Tri-Color Alliance’s flank, Blark Heim spoke.
—I see. If that happened, the other towers wouldn't sit back and watch either.
"Exactly. It would be the perfect chance to take down the Yellow, Red, and Blue Towers."
In other words, the situation could lead to all the remaining towers uniting against the Tri-Color Alliance.
"No matter how confident they were, the Tri-Color Alliance wouldn't want to risk fighting five towers at once."
—…
Staring at the map, Blark Heim slowly nodded.
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HELHEIM SCANS
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—I see. By attacking the south first, they ensured that the White Tower and Violet Tower in the north couldn't interfere.
"Exactly. Plus, the Green Tower was already one of the weakest. Neither the Black Tower nor the Blood Tower had any reason to step in and help them."
Indeed, when the Green Tower was attacked, both the Black Tower and the Blood Tower simply observed without intervening.
Just as the Tri-Color Alliance had hoped.
"Now, here’s a question. After wiping out the Green Tower, who do you think the Tri-Color Alliance will target next?"
—…
Blark Heim, still staring at the map, muttered under his breath.
—The east… The Blood Tower.
"That’s right."
Between the west and east, the Blood Tower was the easier target.
"The Blood Tower mages use blood as a medium for their magic. Meaning, they need blood."
Their magic was most powerful on a battlefield filled with flesh and carnage.
This was because they could harness the blood of their slain opponents to complete even stronger spells.
“But the amount of blood they can use here is limited. At most, they can only draw a few drops by wounding themselves.”
That also meant the power of blood magic would be significantly weakened.
—…Now I understand what it means that the Blood Tower will come to us first.
They knew better than anyone that their next target would be the Blood Tower.
To survive, they would have no choice but to reach out to the White Tower in the north first.
Realizing this, Blark Heim felt a slight sense of self-deprecation.
'So, the mages of the Four Great Towers… are already capable of orchestrating such a complex plan?'
Of course, that was a major misconception on Blark’s part.
On this battlefield, the only one who could read the situation and devise a plan was Oscar.
Even the mages of the Four Great Towers were nothing more than puppets executing the strategies devised by their superiors.
“So, what do you think? If the Black Tower joins us, we’ll have an alliance of four towers—West, North, and East. That should be enough to take on the Tricolor Mages.”
Blark chuckled silently.
This was just a courtesy question—there was no real choice to be made.
—Will we be provided with enough potions?
“If you want, you can drink until your stomach bursts.”
—Not bad.
With that, the Black Tower's recruitment was confirmed.
* * *
As expected, the Blood Tower discreetly sent mages to request an alliance.
In reality, it was less of an alliance and more of an SOS signal.
“The White Tower, the Violet Tower, the Black Tower, and the Blood Tower. Forming an alliance of four towers is all well and good, but…”
Staring at a crude map made of wood and stone, Fran asked,
“Shouldn’t we consolidate our base first?”
“Why?”
“The enemy is all gathered in one place, but we’re too spread out.”
Despite that, Oscar hadn’t merged the Black Tower and the Blood Tower into the northern faction.
“The strength of our alliance is that we can easily surround the enemy—why would we change that?”
“But what if they decide to break through the East or the West? The fight could be over before we even arrive.”
“That’s why we provided them with valuable potions—to make sure they don’t fall so easily.”
Oscar smirked and continued.
“More importantly, those guys can’t move as one.”
“Why not?”
“Just because they’re gathered in one place doesn’t mean they share a single mind.”
“…Yeah, they’re too proud to follow one leader’s orders.”
“All we have to do is wait.”
Like a spider sitting in its web, patiently waiting for its prey.
Waiting for the enemy to make the first move.
* * *
In one of the few skyscrapers with intact glass windows, a group of mages had gathered.
“Potions?”
Viola Young, the leader of the Yellow Tower, frowned as she asked.
The one who answered was Finn Kennedy of the Blue Tower.
“It’s confirmed. Two Blood Tower mages visited the north and then returned to the east carrying potions.”
“Hm.”
Leo Brult of the Red Tower responded in a disinterested tone.
“But you didn’t actually see the potions, did you? What makes you so sure?”
“I dealt a fatal wound to a Black Tower mage who was observing our attack on the Green Tower. The injury should’ve been enough to eliminate him, but today, I saw him walking around the west as if nothing happened.”
“So you think it’s because of the potions?”
“It suddenly makes sense why the White Tower set up base in such a rugged mountain region—if they needed resources to make potions, that would explain it.”
Leo had to admit that much.
He had always wondered why the White Tower had chosen such a difficult location for their base.
“Potions, huh? Are they planning to fight us using sheer endurance?”
“If those White Tower bastards are smart, they would have used the potions as bait to bring the Black Tower and Blood Tower onto their side.”
“Not yet.”
Viola Young shook her head.
“If they had already formed an alliance, they would have consolidated their base by now.”
“…That’s true.”
There was no reason for them to maintain a disadvantageous formation if they had already allied.
After a brief silence, Leo Brult spoke up.
“We took down the Green Tower just a few hours ago. They probably think we’re exhausted.”
But the mages of the Four Great Towers wouldn’t tire from something so trivial.
Defeating the Green Tower had been as easy as twisting a child’s wrist.
“If we’re going to attack, we should do it before they merge their forces. Once they start mass-producing potions and resorting to guerrilla tactics, it’ll be a real hassle.”
“Hmm. So, you’re saying we shouldn’t give them time and should attack the Blood Tower immediately?”
“If you’re tired, you can sit this one out.”
At that, both Viola and Finn scoffed.
With three points awarded for each mage’s head, there was no reason to sit out.
“Tonight, we’ll leave only a minimal force in the city. The rest will strike the Blood Tower.”
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HELHEIM SCANS
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