334 Heracles warning
— Japan - Naha State - 2 Days After the Incident —
Two days after the incident, Daniel stayed at the Grand Privilege Hotel, awaiting reinforcements. He received communication from the Oceanos that they would arrive near here this morning.
During these two days, Daniel negotiated with the former Daimyo and did everything in his power to secure benefits for his company. The most profitable deal he struck was gaining the right to purchase magic tamahagane from the haunted mine on this island.
In this short stay, Daniel discovered that the magic tamahagane mine was plagued by various demons and evil spirits. He decided to aid the locals and the new Daimyo, whom he personally supported on the throne, in forcefully relocating these entities away from the mine.
In return, his workshop gained new magic materials, and to his surprise, these magic tamahagane worked exceptionally well to strengthen metals when mixed in the forging process of his artifacts.
Now, his blades were nearly indestructible, marking the first time he created something without the power of the cards and approaching the word 'indestructible.' Of course, if he used his card powers, such as those capable of destroying artifacts, they would still be immediately destroyed. He had already tested it.
But beyond this, even Pride's full power could not make a dent or scratch in the material that contained tamahagane during the forging process.
In addition to this, he inspected the Hightower magic circle in Okinawa. Nikkos brought it to Daniel's attention, so he, along with Pride and Nikkos, went to examine it.
The magic circle's power had already been depleted, much like a spent battery. The Hightower lacked the resources to recharge it at the moment. Nikkos then brought Daniel to the Hightower Golden Scale Enforcer secret base to investigate further.
This base, concealed deep in the Okinawan mountains, was discovered to be empty. All equipment, furniture, and magic resources had been destroyed and burned to the ground. This was a precaution taken by the Golden Scale Enforcer against Nikkos, anticipating betrayal, which ultimately occurred.
All traces and information about the group and their operation were obliterated and unrecoverable, including the stored magic resources.
Moreover, from Daniel's examination of the remains, it appeared that the Hightower had prepared two magic arrays. One was for partially stopping time, and the other was for use in case of a large-scale conflict among the Curtained World's inhabitants—specifically, a power of forgetfulness.
Upon investigation, Daniel found that the forgetfulness power had been activated. This resulted from Yarimasa persuading Cyrus to activate it, and as a mage, Cyrus couldn't refuse the favor. He helped Yarimasa activate the magic array, forcing the Enforcers to respond.
Upon hearing this, Pride nodded and walked toward Daniel and his company, taking a seat opposite him at the same table.
"What do you want to tell me?" asked Pride.
Daniel sighed, glanced at Heracles, and then decided to share with her. "Regarding your goal of bringing the era of gods, are you sure that it's a wise move?" asked Daniel.
"Huh? Why not? The mana in the Era of God is denser, and the human body under that environment would be stronger too as mana will nurture their bodies," Pride asked, still not understanding what could be wrong with the Era of God.
Daniel began to explain, "That's the pros about the Era of God. Have you ever considered its cons?" Daniel left the question for Pride.
"Oh, I know what you are trying to convey. It's about the gods, right?" Pride smiled brightly, understanding that Daniel's question implied he might consider joining them.
Daniel nodded, eliciting a proud expression on Pride's face. She quickly presented her case.
"You don't need to worry about that, Lord Emberweave. We, the Path of Knowledge faction, have a plan to counter this problem. I assure you that we humans will not succumb to the gods' will like during the Era of God. We have discovered a secret! A secret from the ruins in..." said Pride.
"Are you talking about the ruins of Delphi?" The one who interrupted her presentation was not Daniel, but Heracles, who sat beside him.
"Huh!?" Pride was stunned. This information was highly classified, and only the research team and some higher-ups in the Path of Knowledge faction knew exactly where it was.
"And the thing that gives you confidence is some pillar that has a weakening effect against divine power, right? I don't know what it looks like now, but you probably found it in ruins with a lot of pillars that have this kind of effect, right?" Hercules pressed.
"What... How did you know!?" Pride was completely alarmed this time. Does this mean Daniel has a spy among their higher-ups?
"I know because I used one of those pillars to smash my father... I mean Zeus's head. I'll tell you, those pillars aren't enough. If it's just one puny god with not much power, then it is effective, but those gods need to stay still in the middle of the circle within those pillars.
And if it were to be used against major gods, such as Poseidon, Ares, Athena, Hermes, it can only restrain their power to a point that it's just a minor inconvenience. But if it was used against several gods at the same time, like in the war between humans and gods in the past, its effect will reduce to just some small minor inconvenience, like you feel like your feet just stepped on bubblegum. It may or may not slows you down. As I said a... very minor inconvenience." Explain, Heracles.