"What!?"
Arcane was startled.
The Knowledge Tower was one of the six major Mage Towers of the Sixth Ring World, sharing equal fame with the Wisdom Tower where Shinji was currently located.
Inside the Knowledge Tower sat another Sorcerer Supreme.
Consequently, if it were an ordinary attack, the Knowledge Tower would not seek help from the other five Mage Towers. For a Sorcerer Supreme to request aid from his peers meant that the attacker was undoubtedly troublesome!
Glory Alice said, "Could it be..."
Since outsiders were present, Alice did not speak the name of the Propagation Hegemon aloud, but her meaning was clear. The assembled Lampbearers quickly grasped the implication.
Arcane paused, his expression complex, unsure whether to feel relief or dread.
If it were as Alice suspected—that the unknown creatures attacking the Knowledge Tower were flesh puppets derived from the power of the Propagation Hegemon—it meant that Alice's plan had succeeded: they had successfully lured the Propagation Hegemon over from T33.
However, it also meant that the Sixth Ring World was now being targeted by two Hegemons simultaneously!
At this thought, Arcane looked toward the other Lampbearers in the conference room, seemingly seeking advice.
Yet, including Alice, the strategist behind the plan, every Lampbearer's face was filled with the same tension and uncertainty.
Everyone was encountering such a situation for the first time!
At that moment, the reporting mage said, "Lord Eveningstar requests that you lead a team to handle this reinforcement mission for the Knowledge Tower."
Arcane steadied his mind. "Did Sensei say anything else?"
The mage replied, "Lord Eveningstar also said for you to go and confirm something. As for what specifically to confirm, he did not mention."
Waving his hand to dismiss the reporting mage, Arcane addressed the group: "Sensei must have sensed something. Our plan might truly have succeeded!"
Alice shook her head. "It has succeeded by half!"
The old warrior agreed: "Yes, luring it over isn't success. Only if the two of them start fighting can it be considered a true success!"
Greedy Wolf Hengo said, "Let's stop guessing here. Let's go to the Knowledge Tower to confirm it first!"
Alice added, "There shouldn't be any mistake. Although the Storm Sorcerer Supreme of the Knowledge Tower is using most of his power to resist the Plague Hegemon's invasion, he is still a Sorcerer Supreme. Even with only a tenth of his strength remaining, it should be enough to handle most enemies. An enemy that gives him a headache must be extraordinary!"
Shinji said casually, "Pack up. Let's head out."
The group stopped talking and began their pre-battle preparations.
Glory Alice checked her weapon and power units. Her weapon units were high-end; besides melee weapons, she had a large fleet of support drones. One person's firepower was nearly equivalent to an entire army. Her power unit was a small nuclear reactor that followed her in the air, supplying her with energy at any time.
Greedy Wolf Hengo adjusted his war-grade prosthetic body. This unit was something he had spent a fortune to acquire from Heimtis; its overall performance was 20% higher than his previous one.
The old warrior donned new nano-armor. As for the arm he had lost fighting the Propagation Hegemon's flesh puppets previously, he had replaced it with the latest model of prosthetic limb.
Arcane, being on his home turf, was even more extravagant. Not only did he carry a large number of magic stones, but he also brought an extra staff as a spare.
While everyone else was busy, Shinji alone leaned against a wall. Through the floating tech-sphere 'Coalball' in front of him, he pulled up the coordinates of the Knowledge Tower.
Seeing this, Alice asked, "Akame, don't you need to prepare anything? There might be a big battle in a moment."
The old warrior also offered a reminder: "Don't be careless. Those flesh puppets are much harder to deal with than you'd imagine!"
As he spoke, the old warrior didn't forget to show off his prosthetic limb.
Shinji smiled and shook his head. "I'm already prepared."
Seeing Shinji say this, the others stopped advising. After all, every Lampbearer hid their own secrets. Since Shinji didn't want to show his, the others couldn't pry.
A moment later, the group was ready.
Arcane said, "Every Mage Tower is the core territory of a Sorcerer Supreme, so there are no direct teleportation circles. We can go to the Five-Day Ridge circle first; it's only half a day's journey from the Knowledge Tower."
"Fine!"
The group had no objections.
Shinji then spoke up: "There's no need for such trouble."
As he spoke, Shinji snapped his fingers. A space-time gate appeared instantly before the group.
"This!?"
Looking at the deep space-time gate, everyone was startled.
Alice couldn't help but ask, "Akame, you... how did you do that?"
Arcane was also full of disbelief.
The Sixth Ring World was not without teleportation magic, but even someone as powerful as a Sorcerer Supreme required a magic circle to perform spatial teleportation. He had never heard of or seen anyone who could open a space-time gate with a mere snap of the fingers!
"It's just a small trick."
Shinji didn't explain much. Carrying his tech-sphere 'Coalball', he was the first to step into the space-time gate.
Because they were all Lampbearers, they would have a chance to activate their Lamps to forcibly open a spatial rift and escape even if they fell into a spatial turbulence. So, although they were somewhat skeptical about whether Shinji's gate could deliver them precisely to the Knowledge Tower, they stepped through one by one.
The next instant, the group appeared before a towering, magnificent Mage Tower.
"!?"
After confirming that the Mage Tower before them was indeed their destination, the Knowledge Tower, Arcane's face was full of astonishment.
He never expected that the space-time gate Shinji opened could deliver them so accurately. Looking at the Knowledge Tower right in front of him, he felt the accuracy was almost excessive.
One must know that the perimeter of the Knowledge Tower was covered in restrictions that even magic teleportation circles couldn't bypass. He truly couldn't imagine how Shinji had opened a space-time gate directly to the Knowledge Tower with a snap of his fingers.
Shinji, however, didn't care about what the others thought. He stared at the massive flesh puppets currently besieging the Knowledge Tower, his expression turning solemn.
The appearance of the flesh puppets finally confirmed their previous guess: after the Plague Hegemon, the Propagation Hegemon had also set its sights on the Sixth Ring World.
Now, only one question remained: what would happen when two Hegemons targeted the same world simultaneously?