Turning back the clock hands, around the time when news of Balascamb’s fall had spread to even the lowest ranks of the Tower of Protection.

As if to prove that the world’s happiness and unhappiness was a zero-sum game, the atmosphere on the Tower of Protection’s side was almost like a festival.

“Hiya, they’re real monsters. No, how did they attack that fortress?”

“They’re the Witch of the East’s top apprentice, aren’t they? With Lady Gale there too, what can’t they do?”

“Lady Gale? Laaaady? Oh ho, look at this guy. Wasn’t it you who always gossiped about how she only played with dolls and brought shame to the tower? Now you’re talking like this?”

“Ahem! Don’t say things that others might misunderstand! I’ve respected her from the beginning!”

In fact, in the early stages of the war, morale on the Tower of Protection’s side was close to rock bottom.

The story about Orin and Mombi was known only to the top echelons of the four towers and Gale, her direct mentee. To ordinary mages who didn’t know the detailed situation, this situation was unreasonable in itself.

The Witch of the North they had been serving suddenly betrayed them and joined the Control side, and they were suddenly branded as “evil ones who tried to use the Magic State’s great teacher as a puppet” by those around them.

They were just going along with the atmosphere, muttering, “Uh huh,” because they would lose their heads if they didn’t fight right away. In a situation that couldn’t be called active even in empty words, the war situation was even the worst.

On top of this, there were Control’s agents inside the tower subtly spreading doubts about the upper echelons and dissatisfaction with the war. It would have been strange if morale was high with this.

If not for Tower Head Hermina’s reputation, the Tower of Protection might have collapsed without even fighting properly.

But now, the situation had changed.

The gloomy war situation was reversed in an instant, the enemies were defeated surprisingly easily, and they had taken various strategic points held by Control, seizing about half their territory.

Of course, enemy units still remained inside the seized territory, but cut off from their base, which could be called the tower, the only paths left for them were to wither away while surrounded or surrender.

Even if it was a battle that flowed without really knowing what was what, victory was truly sweet and joyful.

If Control collapsed like this, the price Protection would receive would certainly not be small.

Was it because they were intoxicated by such a sweet future?

The gatekeepers guarding the tower’s main gate noticed the visitor who appeared before them relatively late.

“Hello, everyone. You’re working hard.”

White magician attire. Blonde hair and blue eyes. Top hat and cane.

While her appearance alone was that of a perfect young lady, her actions exuded a strange mix of charm and casualness.

Gale Elilaz, one of the most famous figures in the entire Magic State right now, was there.

The backs of the mages assigned as gatekeepers, who had been chatting casually with relaxed attitudes, straightened.

“Lady Gale! Welcome!”

“We heard you were at the front lines…”

“I have something urgent to tell the Tower Head, so I came back briefly alone.”

Gale casually approached the main gate and—

Swish.

The magic dolls waiting near the door all blocked her path at once.

“Oh my.”

“Ah, ah, sorry. Please wait a moment.”

As Gale stopped with a surprised expression, one of the gatekeeper mages flusteredly gave the retreat order to the magic dolls.

This was one of the reasons why mages could chat leisurely.

While it wasn’t particularly noteworthy for mages to supplement their weaknesses with familiars, the Tower of Protection, specializing in magic tool production, had reached a level where they operated units made entirely of magic dolls and golems.

The reason Gale was originally criticized was for pouring money solely for high specs while completely ignoring cost-effectiveness, and for bowing her head to forces other than the Tower of Protection to gather techniques to strengthen the White Knight. Ordinary mages also operated magic dolls as weapons in the usual way.

Even though they were called gatekeepers, since the dolls took care of actually guarding the gate, the mages didn’t need to be on edge focusing on guarding the surroundings.

As the magic doll unit that received the order opened the way, Gale walked between them with confident steps.

The main gate guarding the Tower of Protection was an iron gate so huge and heavy that ordinary people wouldn’t dare try to open it. When a mage different from the one controlling the magic dolls ordered the huge golem next to the gate, the golem moved and opened the gate.

“Thank you, everyone. Then, take care.”

After leaving an elegant and stylish greeting, Gale boldly entered the tower interior.

As the war was in full swing, the tower interior was quite crowded and noisy.

Some mages greeted Gale, some glanced at her from afar, but either way, none blocked her path.

Like that, when she reached the 7th floor.

The stairs leading to the 8th floor were firmly blocked by various types of magic barriers, and the mage guarding in front of it showed a puzzled expression upon seeing Gale’s face.

“Gale Elilaz. Why are you here?”

“I have something urgent to tell the Tower Head.”

“I didn’t receive any prior notice, though.”

“Because it’s dangerous if it leaks outside, I returned secretly by myself.”

“…Wait a moment.”

The mage approached the wall with a cautious face and manipulated a magic tool in the form of a black glass panel.

Then shortly after, the glass panel brightened and the Tower Head’s face appeared beyond it.

《What’s the matter?》

“Gale Elilaz says she has something to tell the Tower Head. Is it alright to send her up?”

《Gale?》

The gaze of the Tower Head reflected in the glass panel turned to Gale.

Gale greeted elegantly and said:

“Hello, Tower Head. I have something to tell you privately about future operations, can you spare a moment?”

《Hmm, can’t you send it through transmission magic like last time?》

“It’s content that would be dangerous if it leaked out even slightly,” Gale answered calmly, and the Tower Head nodded.

《Alright. Let’s hear it. Pim, open the barriers up to the 9th floor. My room on the 10th floor is so heavily protected with defensive magic that even disabling it is a major task, so let’s meet on the 9th floor.》

“Understood.”

The mage called Pim nodded casually and manipulated the black glass panel again.

Then the barrier to the 8th floor was released, and Gale climbed the stairs again.

And, it was the moment she reached between the 7th and 8th floors.

— Beeeeeeeep!

— Intruder detected, intruder detected! Everyone enter battle positions!

— The enemy is currently isolated between the 7th and 8th floors!

Gale’s footsteps came to an abrupt halt.

Looking at the barrier that trapped her like iron bars coming down from above, Gale Elilaz—no, the face of the witch Mombi was covered with a dry sneer.

“How did you figure it out?”

《Simple leading questions. I have no obligation to tell you the details though.》

“No, I can roughly guess. I see, you don’t use transmission magic? Or did you say to always be suspicious if someone comes without prior appointment, or that certain keywords must be said during conversation?”

《…》

“Tsk, you won’t give unnecessary information? Wise, but not fun.”

After saying that, Mombi regained her original form.

However, not the seductive adult woman’s appearance shown when facing the Tin Knight, but in the form of “Witch Orin”.

The atmosphere of Hermina, head of the Tower of Protection, was tinged with anger.

“It’s a gift and mischief for your wisdom and caution. I’ll face you in this form.”

Hermina’s voice was no longer heard.

But as if this itself was the answer, tremendous flames surged from above and below the stairs.

Even in the face of that heat that would melt even steel swords unable to maintain their form, Mombi was calm.

The gray old man said that Orin and Mombi shared memories, but that guess was only half correct.

It wasn’t that she couldn’t read them at all, but parts were missing.

The same was true for techniques.

Enchantress.

Mombi couldn’t fully utilize Orin’s magic, which specialized in protection.

But if it was a portion of her techniques, say only the magic that safeguards her own body rather than techniques that protect others or spread huge barriers—she had already perfectly mastered it.

The defensive magic that had been shaved off once by the Tin Knight had long since been restored, and this level of high heat was merely a warm breeze before one of the Four Great Witches.

Mombi spread her right hand to the side. Right after her fingertips changed into blades, she swung her arm with all her might.

Crack!

The repulsion was intense.

No matter how much she changed her body structure to become blade-like, the base was still a human body.

It might be possible with an ordinary stone tower, but it was impossible to cut through a tower slathered with all sorts of defensive magic.

But.

Orin’s defensive magic giving her a body that “doesn’t get damaged by external pressure” made all the difference.

Slash!

Not only the barrier blocking the front, but the entire tower was cut diagonally as if slashed askew.

Rumble.

With a roar, the upper part of the tower slid and fell to the ground.

As the ceiling blocking above disappeared and the blue sky was revealed, the evil witch burst into laughter.

She jumped down towards the ground just like that.

Magic dolls rushed at her.

Befitting a tower evaluated to have the continent’s best technology related to magic dolls, the level of the dolls was extremely high.

Moreover, their strength, which had received the unique enhancements of enchantresses, was incomparable to ordinary knight orders.

“How trivial. That guy was the strange one after all.”

But the Witch of the North was calm, even in the face of flying spears and swords.

While avoiding only attacks that obstructed her vision, she received ordinary attacks with her bare body, yet not even a small scratch appeared on Mombi’s body.

Ignoring the magic dolls that were just a waste of mana to hit, Mombi rushed towards the mages in the rear.

The mages each deployed defensive magic or tried to buy time until the dolls returned while fleeing backwards, but Mombi’s fingertips made contact with one of them.

The mage’s body swelled like a balloon, and the next moment, it exploded.

Just as fear was about to spread at that horrific sight, the head of the Tower of Protection, who had escaped from the fallen upper floors, shouted, “Avoid contact! And even if you make contact, if you calmly control the mana inside your body, you can prevent being forcibly transformed!”

Mombi smirked.

The theory itself was certainly correct.

The principle of Mombi’s instant death technique was to insert her own mana into another’s body, then manipulate it along with the original mana to “make that target use transformation magic on themselves”.

However.

“As expected of technician guys who aren’t combatants. They’re as good at armchair theorists as scholars.”

Bang.

Bang!

Baaang!

Among the mages who made contact with Mombi, only a few 4th rank and above personnel could actually execute this.

And even those few mages didn’t have much significance.

Being able to freely change one’s body with transformation magic also meant being able to make one’s body as strong as desired.

Those who succeeded in mana resistance and avoided instant death from body transformation had to offer their lives before Mombi’s physical power, which demonstrated monstrous strength and speed unbecoming of a young girl’s appearance.

An extreme binary choice where none of their attacks worked, while the opponent’s attacks were either instant death or fatal wounds.

The irrationality that the Tower of Control had to taste against the Tin Knight’s party was now unfolding against the Tower of Protection.

In the end, Hermina had to make a decision.

“Everyone retreat!! All of you escape!”

“But, Tower Head! How can we abandon the tower…!”

“Even if we go, the Tower Head must come with us!”

“People are more important! That’s enough, so hurry!”

After saying that, Hermina poured group enhancement magic on the golems and magic dolls on the battlefield.

As if to prove that the title of a tower’s representative wasn’t just for show, Hermina showed a brilliant struggle, but the Four Great Witches were beings on an even higher level.

Despite using all the magic dolls and golems guarding the tower, various magic tools, and barriers, they couldn’t fully restrain Mombi’s ankles, and many victims poured out.

After the battle finally ended.

Instead of instantly killing Hermina and the high-ranking mages who could be called her close aides, Mombi turned them into plants, put them in a sack, and leisurely spread her wings to fly away.

***

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