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HELHEIM SCANS
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Chapter 153: The Game of Kings (7)
-... Enemy movement confirmed. Direction: East.
-Enemy squad consists of 15 from the Yellow Tower, 14 from the Red Tower, and 16 from the Blue Tower. A total of 45 confirmed.
Tension filled the northern base as scouts reported back from the city.
A staggering 45 mages were mobilizing under the dim moonlight.
"I can't believe they're actually trying to eliminate two magic towers in a single day."
"This is all going according to your plan, isn’t it?"
Iris glanced at the potion before speaking again.
"This is because of that, right? You had the Black Tower's injured members circle around the west today, and you made the Blood Tower take a precarious detour through the city."
"Exactly. I needed the Tri-Color Alliance to be absolutely certain that the potion exists."
From the start, he never intended to hide the existence of the potion.
Rather, he wanted the enemy to figure it out as quickly as possible.
"If this turns into a prolonged battle, they won’t be able to keep up with our sustainability. It was important to plant that idea in their heads."
Both sides would sustain injuries, but only one side had a way to heal.
With time, the damage would accumulate, causing the enemy to suffer disproportionate losses.
Once that realization set in, the Tri-Color Alliance would have no choice but to act quickly.
It would feel as if time itself was working against them.
"But this is bolder than I expected. Forty-five mages?"
Veronica furrowed her brows in suspicion.
"The Blood Tower won’t be able to hold out until we get there."
"Of course not."
"…Wait, don't tell me you planned to abandon them from the start?"
Iris’s face stiffened.
If that were true, then they could be discarded just as easily.
"I see what you're thinking, but no."
Oscar shook his head, rejecting her assumption.
"The White Tower never abandons its allies. At least, not until the Tri-Color Alliance is eliminated. For now, the Violet Tower, the Black Tower, and the Blood Tower are still our comrades. That means we won’t abandon them."
"…Then shouldn’t we be moving right now?"
"No, there’s no need to rush."
He tapped the center of the map with a branch.
"We clean up the remaining enemy forces in the city first, then gradually tighten our grip on the east."
"What? By then, the Blood Tower will be wiped out!"
"That’s only if they fight head-on."
Oscar slid the stone representing the Blood Tower southward.
"While the Blood Tower retreats south to stall for time, we take control of the center. Then, we encircle the Tri-Color Alliance from the north, center, and south—trapping them in the east and annihilating them."
The plan was seamless.
But Iris bit her lip and spoke cautiously.
"This is a real battlefield. It’s not some strategy game where you just move stones on a map."
"You think it’s unrealistic?"
"Of course! Your plan only works if every ally moves in perfect coordination. That’s nothing more than a delusion."
A delusion.
Oscar smiled quietly and spoke.
"You understand well."
"…What?"
"You said it yourself. Even if my plan is just a delusion, if everyone moves in unison, it can succeed."
"But that’s exactly the problem! It’s impossible!"
Iris gestured toward the city.
Even though it was only about 5 km away, they could barely make out the tops of the tallest buildings.
"This battlefield is vast. We can’t even see the city properly, so how are we supposed to know what’s happening beyond it in the east? And message magic won’t even reach that far!"
"It’s fine."
"Am I talking to a parrot? You keep saying it’s fine, but—"
Iris trailed off, staring at Oscar’s unnervingly calm expression.
Then, she looked around.
‘Am I the strange one here?’
The only ones worried about this situation were the mages from the Violet Tower.
The White Tower mages didn’t seem concerned at all.
Judging by their gazes directed at Oscar, they fully believed he would handle everything.
‘There is a limit to trusting people.’
She acknowledged that Oscar was an exceptional mage and leader.
From what she had seen so far, he was undeniably one of the Four Tower Aces.
But he wasn’t omnipotent.
‘This really feels like a religion…’
As the dizziness set in and her throat grew dry, Oscar finally spoke.
"As you said, for my plan to succeed, we first need to understand the battlefield."
At that moment, an intricate magic circle formed in the air before them.
A shimmering, circular spell appeared, resembling a projection screen.
It showed people.
"That’s…?"
Mages clad in red, yellow, and blue robes.
They were all moving hurriedly in the same direction, viewed from above.
"The Tri-Color Alliance?"
"That’s right. They’ve just left the city and entered the eastern territory."
Oscar glanced at the image with an indifferent expression.
"This magic… What is this magic?!"
Iris was as astonished as an ancient human seeing fire for the first time.
To clearly observe a place over ten kilometers away…
No such spell existed in the Violet Tower.
A 4th-level mage cast this, so… is this a mid-tier White Tower spell?
But as she looked around, even the White Tower mages seemed just as surprised.
Some of them had stepped closer, marveling at the image.
"This is a degraded copy of Sky Eye, a unique spell created by Magiro Wilson."
Magiro Wilson’s original Sky Eye could view events happening thousands of kilometers away.
But this version barely works at a distance of ten kilometers…
Attaching the word "sky" to it felt almost embarrassing.
Oscar shrugged.
"I’ll just call it Far-Seing Eye instead."
"Wait… You’re giving such a half-hearted name to such an incredible spell?"
The absurdity of it made her feel indignant for a moment.
Then, she nodded slowly.
So this was his trump card all along.
With this, everything changed.
They could see the enemy’s location, their movements, and their targets.
The only issue left was communication.
"Even if we have this information, we have no way to transmit it."
The Blood Tower’s outpost in the eastern plains was at least 10 km away.
Basic message magic wouldn’t reach that far.
Oscar crossed one leg over the other and asked,
"Iris Stella. If you push your mana to its limit, how far does your influence extend?"
"…About 800 meters."
Gasps of admiration echoed around them.
For a 4th-level mage, that was quite a wide range.
"Not bad."
"…Not bad?"
Iris frowned.
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She prided herself on her exceptional mana detection and range.
"What’s your range, then?"
She shot back defiantly.
Oscar tilted his head in thought.
"Hmm. I’ve never measured it exactly, but let’s see…"
At that moment, mana poured from his body.
Like an unraveling spool of thread, it expanded in all directions.
It surged outward at an astonishing speed, stopping only after reaching the southern region.
"Ah."
Oscar let out a sigh of disappointment.
Back in his prime, he could have covered an even greater distance.
"…You…"
Watching his mana spread endlessly, Iris asked in a trembling voice,
"Just how far is your range?"
"Hmm. Right now…"
As he calculated, the vast mana field continued to extend southward.
Oscar, having finished his calculations, responded.
"Approximately a 13 km radius?"
* * *
"……."
"……."
A long silence filled the VIP room.
Dozens of screens were displayed before them, but everyone's gaze was fixed on just one.
Oscar Crucian.
It was impossible to look away from the brilliance of the young genius.
"This is absurd."
Kudel Redmane let out a hollow laugh.
A child of that age could cover a 13 km radius with magic?
That could only mean one thing.
'That entire area is within the palm of the White Tower brat's hand.'
Unless he allowed it, his enemies couldn’t even approach unnoticed.
At least within that space, he was nothing short of an omnipotent god.
"If I recall correctly… I saw the Eye of the Sky once when I was young."
The Violet Moon turned to Sasha and spoke.
"It was the unique magic of Magiro Wilson, wasn't it? Am I right?"
"Uh? Oh, uh, yes."
Sasha swallowed hard, completely unprepared for her master to use such magic so openly.
She herself didn't even know that spell.
"I heard that many of the great magics of the White Tower had been lost, but it seems quite a few have been restored."
"Y-yes, well, we've been investing in it."
The moment this match was over, she would have to beg her master to teach her that first.
As Sasha desperately tried to keep up the lie, the battle began.
"Is Oscar not participating in the battle directly?"
"Huh?"
Sasha, belatedly turning to the screen, wore a blank expression.
Just as the Violet Moon had said, Oscar remained seated in his chair at the northern stronghold, not moving an inch.
He merely moved the pieces on the map as if playing chess.
"But even that is more than enough."
A battlefield needed not an aggressive commander, but a competent one.
And as if proving that point, Oscar was utterly decimating the Three-Color Alliance.
"Tsk."
Unable to bear watching any longer, Kudel Redmane stood and left the room.
He must have thought there was no point in watching further, as the outcome was obvious.
As the Violet Moon watched him leave, she covered her mouth behind her veil and chuckled.
"He would be a reassuring ally, but a terrifying enemy… much like your master."
"……Yes."
Sasha could only stare blankly at the screen.
This was the first time she had seen her master commanding a battlefield.
'He's on another level.'
This wasn't something that could be judged with simple words like "skilled" or "unskilled."
It was enough to make her doubt whether she could ever do as well if she were in his place.
"……Hmph."
Watching the screen intently, Tony Havertz of the Yellow Tower slowly nodded.
* * *
'What the hell.'
Leo Brult wondered if he was dreaming.
He had never felt anything like this before.
"Damn it, damn it!"
"Where are the enemies?"
"Northwest—no, now north… wait, northeast? What? Now they're in the west?"
It felt like fighting ghosts instead of people.
In the tall reeds of the eastern field, they were being utterly decimated.
'What the hell is this.'
Every move they made was seen through as if by magic.
On the other hand, they were constantly caught off guard by ambushes from unexpected angles.
The only messages his magic detection brought him were reports of disaster.
'The Yellow Tower's Amelia Party… annihilated.'
'The Blue Tower's Bierson Party… eliminated too.'
'Wait, when did my own team's signals disappear…?'
Before he knew it, more than half of their forces had been wiped out.
And throughout it all, Leo Brult had never even seen the enemy mage’s face.
'At the very least, if I had lost in a fair fight…'
If they had clashed head-on, exchanging spells in a battle of skill, he could have accepted it.
He would have been frustrated, but he would have accepted defeat with grace.
But this—this was different.
'Why do I—why do we have to lose like this?'
They were strong.
In a direct confrontation, they were confident they wouldn’t lose to anyone.
And that made the sense of helplessness weigh even heavier on Leo’s shoulders.
It felt as if he were shackled in heavy chains, unable to move.
"Leo!"
The surviving mages of the Red Tower gathered around him.
"What about the Blue and Yellow Towers?"
"Haven't seen them in a while. Judging by the situation, they're probably already taken out."
"……."
Three of the Four Great Towers had joined forces, yet they had been defeated without even putting up a proper fight.
Then who was their enemy?
As he asked himself that question, only one name instinctively surfaced in Leo Brult's mind.
'Oscar Crucian.'
The moment he pictured that elegant face—
Rustle, rustle.
Over seventy enemy mages emerged, parting the reeds as they finally revealed themselves.
"……Hah."
There was only one reason for them to show themselves now.
'The Blue and Yellow Towers must have already fallen.'
And the next Tower to fall was obvious.
Drawing in his magic, Leo Brult shouted.
"Come out, Oscar Crucian!"
Even if he was fated to lose, he wanted to see Oscar's skill with his own eyes.
Perhaps facing him directly would ease the weight of frustration in his chest.
But as if mocking his challenge, Oscar never appeared.
—Finish them.
Oscar’s voice echoed in their ears as his mages slowly advanced.
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Night]
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