Chapter 252 God Slayer Cannon
Despite the immense pressure the Hightower HQ faced from mages in Europe, preventing them from utilizing the mana in the mana font, their influence within the common world was unmistakable. Within a few days, numerous news channels, newspapers, and media outlets around the globe ceased reporting on their revelation.
This respite provided a breathing room for the Hightower, but the pressure from the European branch persisted. The vampire societies across Europe showed significant resistance to the Hightower HQ, refusing to allow them to use the mana font in Germany and France.
— Atlanteus Base - Command Center —
In the command center, Odysseus sat at his desk, watching the news alongside Daniel's high command forces in the room—Daniel, Envy, Penthesilea, and Hermes. Vlad and Maria remained in The Sanguinis Clan in Germany.
"Currently, only some news stations and media in America are reporting on this, Oh! and also the media based within our Sector Alpha City. Other than that, no one dares to report the revelation of the London HQ," Odysseus began after the high command personnel had watched news from various channels around the world.
Upon hearing this, Envy chimed in.
"I heard that Lord Montmorency is leading the French mages in protesting against the Hightower HQ. They are objecting to the HQ's attempt to make use of their mana font by abusing their authority. He even put forward a condition that as long as Cyrus Ashborn, the one responsible for violating the law by exposing magic to common people, remains in power, the European Mage circle will break away from the Hightower. This really puts the Hightower in a bind," Envy said with a smile.
"Huh?" Daniel turned toward Envy. "You told the secret about who messed up to the Montmorency Patriarch?" he asked.
"Yes, it's me!" Envy proudly admitted with her proud smile, then continued. "With this secret leak, Golden Scale will have no choice but to put Cyrus on trial!"
"What do you think the result of the trial would be?" Daniel asked.
Envy went silent, contemplating the result of the trial before letting out a confident smile. "There would be two results," Envy showed two fingers, then kept one and said,
"The first result, Golden Scale will have no choice but to strip Cyrus of his position, and all the authority that comes with the position of the Hightower Grand Councilor would be null. While still keeping Cyrus alive, hoping that he would see the greater good and continue with the plan to open the hell gate. But... this is the less likely scenario that will happen," Envy explained, then kept her hand behind her back and continued.
"The second result is the more likely scenario that will happen. Cyrus will be stripped of his Grand Councilor position, but during the trial, he will be given an opportunity to prove himself useful for the mage populace within a time limit. If he has been proven useful, he will be able to maintain his Grand Councilor position, but under a 50-year probation," Envy explained.
Hearing this, Odysseus frowned, then turned toward Envy with a tablet in his hand, checking the Hightower law and the information about Cyrus. He then raised the question.
"Wait… According to the Hightower Law, this is a very serious offense, even among capital offenses against the Hightower law. Cyrus needs at least two votes from the Grand Councilor to be able to put him on trial and maintain his position. But you're here with us, and according to the old law, The Hightower took a lot of time before appointing a new Grand Councilor," Odysseus asked.
"That's a good question, Mr. Odysseus," Envy agreed, then let out a cunning smile. "The reason I'm here is that this body is but a homunculus body that Daniel created for me. My soul was forced out and replaced with an unknown entity. That's why there's a really high chance that the unknown entity will have some dealings with both Golden Scale and Cyrus, then fake being me while residing as one of the judges in a trial and give them the vote," Envy explained, sharing her speculation.
"I see… and the entity that most likely replaced you should be… a devil from hell. I don't know which one, but I'm sure that it should be a devil since Cyrus has had a lot of dealings with devils and studied many forbidden magics from hell," Odysseus acknowledged while looking at Cyrus's information on his tablet.
"I see…" said Daniel, then he fell into a moment of contemplation before asking his strategist, Odysseus, "Then… Odysseus, which is the most likely place that Cyrus will try to… prove himself?" Daniel asked this question, as he was certain that Cyrus would attempt to open the hell gate somewhere.
He also had a guess about the location based on Cyrus's temperament, which he had read and heard from the information.
Odysseus closed his eyes, pondered for a moment, then provided his analysis.
"I believe it would be here, in Sector Alpha City.
First, this city has no one powerful residing other than you, my lord.
Second, since Cyrus considers you an enemy and you reside here, he would most likely choose to open the hell gate here.
Third, based on historical and the Hightower operational records, there seems to be an ancient city buried beneath this city. That city holds many secrets from hell. According to the information Maria sent me just ten minutes ago, even the Hightower hasn't explored all of it, and there are still sealed and unexplored sections," said Odysseus.
"That's classified information in the Hightower. How did Maria get her hands on it?" Envy blurted out in alarm, then stopped to think. "Oh… I see. I almost forgot that most of the night shift employees in the German Hightower Branch are vampires," Envy said with a wry smile.
As the head of the intelligence division, Maria surely took advantage of this fact to acquire secret information stored in the branch. Perhaps, at this moment, all the secret information within the German branch was already cataloged in her little notebook.
"Yes, it's her profession after all, Ms. Envy. However, this means we should prepare a welcoming event against Cyrus and his goons…" Odysseus attempted to continue, but Envy raised her hand, cutting him off.
"No, it's too risky. We should end him the moment he's within international waters," Envy said with a solemn expression.
"Why are you so sure that Cyrus would travel by ship and not by plane?" asked Odysseus.
"It's because the ritual to open the hell gate uses a lot of precious materials that no one dares to sell to him here. The Montgomery Trading Company is the sole distributor of magical materials and ingredients in this city. And I know that he's afraid of Daniel, so he won't dare to sell his things to Cyrus unless Daniel permits him to," Envy explained, looking at Daniel, who was still trying to catch on to the key points.
Since he didn't have much information about the Hightower, he always focused on inventing new things, preparing weapons and countermeasures, and managing the city. All of these activities consumed all of his time, and the little free time he had was spent with his daughter.
"I never thought he would be afraid of me to that degree," Daniel blurted out, while Envy and Odysseus displayed wry smiles at Daniel's ignorance.
"Why wouldn't he be afraid of you? The first time he met you and the moment he had a disagreement with you, you used ancient magic to teleport him to his safe room! It may seem like a small punishment, but the moment he realized that you know how to use ancient magic, it triggered the fear of various ancient spells that could eliminate him from miles away without ever seeing your face," Envy thought to herself, maintaining a wry smile.
At this moment, Hermes chimed in, "You're wrong, everyone. 'Afraid' is an understatement. It should be said that he won't go to sleep until he checks under his bed to make sure that Daniel isn't hiding under it," Hermes said with an amusing smile.
"Hahaha!"
The High Command and many people in the command room burst into laughter at Hermes' joke.
"That's not funny, teacher," Daniel lightly told his teacher off for indulging in the joke.
"No, I speak the truth. A few days ago, I happened to need some alchemical ingredients, so I went to visit him. The moment he knew my name and realized I'm your Alchemy teacher, you should have seen the look on his face. It was like he just had a nightmare," Hermes said, maintaining his calm smile.
"That's because he's afraid of you, isn't it?" Daniel said. Hermes shrugged, choosing not to continue the banter.
"Okay, let's make a plan, everyone," Odysseus said after Hermes and Daniel ended their banter, gathering everyone's attention.
Daniel nodded and added, "Yes… I almost forgot. When you make a plan, include this as one of your cards too." Daniel handed his tablet to Odysseus.
Odysseus took it, examined it, and his eyes went wide.
"This… This God Slayer Cannon!? You finally made it!? My lord! You are truly a genius!" Odysseus blurted out, then slid to the next page, his eyes widening with surprise and excitement.
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