Chapter 202 - Accumulated War Results
Suddenly, the toll of a great bell rang out.
Seated on the stairs with her eyes closed, she lifted her head, her gaze turning toward a large skylight that overlooked the grounds outside the castle. What met her eyes was a golden pillar of light, blazing as it ascended to the heavens.
A signal of victory, even more grandiose than the effect for a Pillar’s destruction. It meant only one thing: one of the title holders had been taken down.
Her eyes widened ever so slightly. Then, she glanced at the system clock and was met with an even greater surprise. Only ten minutes had passed since the start of the Four Pillar War.
She opened a window and summoned the scoreboard. There, in Istia’s column—the only one of the three factions, excluding the West, to have already scored—was the abnormal figure of ‘1200’.
A shiver ran through her, and she suppressed the feeling that welled up inside.
To hope, only to be betrayed, then to fall into despair—she had lost count of how many times she had repeated that cycle.
One shouldn't hope. One should simply wait.
"...You’re not going?"
Just as she started to rise, she leaned back against the railing. A childish voice spoke from right beside her. A young girl, sprawled out on a large sofa that seemed to have sprouted from the staircase itself, rubbed her sleepy eyes from behind a curtain of long, pale violet hair.
"No, I'm not going."
After replying, she closed her eyes again. The girl who had asked watched her for a moment before letting her own drowsy eyelids fall shut.
Within the crimson citadel, only two quiet breaths could be heard.
The clamor of the battlefield was still far away.
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Looking back, my player-versus-player fights have always followed the same default pattern: Battle! -> Victory!! -> Applause!!!
It was only natural, since every single one of them had been a self-contained, one-off affair. So, that brings me to this latest bout… the one against [Great Tiger] that just concluded. It went from Battle to Victory, but what comes next?
The number of players who had been watching our duel with bated breath was easily over seventy. And they were split almost perfectly in two, warriors from the opposing Eastern or North-South Alliance factions… Needless to say, this place was the very heart of the battlefield.
So, here's a question for you. Now that [Great Tiger], a.k.a. Tiger Lucky, has been defeated and the [Forced Engagement] field has been lifted.
What kind of 'voices' are likely to erupt in the next moment?
A.1 Cheers. A.2 Jeers. A.3 Roars of anger. A.4 Screams mixed with all sorts of other emotions.
Maybe that was a bit too easy? The an-swer is… all of the above.
"""""-------------------!!!"""""
"Kid!!"
"I know!!"
I snatched the scabbard for [Samidorizuki] from the ground and immediately leaped back. In that instant, a hailstorm of projectiles and magic rained down on the spot where I'd been standing.
From the perspective of the Northern and Southern players, there was a title holder with low health (ten percent HP remaining) right in front of them, likely exhausted from the fight. It was perfectly natural for them to seize the opportunity and attack.
Anyone would do the same. Which means the course of action I should take is…
"—The rest is up to you!!"
"—You got it!!"
I slapped hands with Lotta, who surged forward with her unit to take my place, and slipped into the crowd of our allies.
"Nice fight!!"
"You were insane!!"
"Seriously, GG!"
"I'm in love, Ninth!!"
As my seniors raced past, shouting words of praise, I couldn't stop the corners of my mouth from turning up in a smile.
"Tch… You did too damn well, you idiot. Fall back and rest, Haru."
"Roger that!!"
I slipped through the Eastern Faction's forces. With the effects of my [Crimson Red Ruby] still active—or rather, un-able to be de-act-iv-at-ed—I skipped the acceleration phase entirely, my legs launching my avatar into the air.
…Just then, I had a hunch. I stuck my right arm straight out to the side and gave a thumbs-up.
Even if I looked back, I wouldn't be able to see anything at this speed, but I had a feeling that my friend Lotta, whom I'd left in charge, was probably doing the same thing.
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"…Yeah, well. That’s my take on it, I guess?"
"Understood. So you will not pursue."
"Yup. I probably wouldn't get steamrolled by a bad matchup like Tora did, but I can't guarantee a zero-percent accident rate against that thing."
"If there is even the slightest risk, then your judgment is correct. Return to base. Your time to act has not yet come."
"Right. Roger that."
Right after the battle began—in the corridor where a flashy spectacle that would undoubtedly become the first highlight of this war had unfolded—a small boy who had been observing from around a corner turned on his heel, following the telepathic command.
"Ah, um… what should I do about this? Should I… clean up?"
As he was leaving, the boy—Uni, the [Heavy Tank]—stopped again. He looked back over his shoulder, his hand moving to the hilt of the short sword at his waist.
"That will not be necessary."
"Mm, okay."
The response was immediate, without a hint of hesitation. And having expected it, he nodded obediently, took his hand off the hilt, and started walking again.
That's right. One or two Pillars—in fact, no matter how many more times the 'sweep' that had just occurred in less than ten minutes was repeated…
It had been decided from the very beginning that in this Four Pillar War, no matter how enormous the number… points meant absolutely nothing.