kscans

Chapter 190 - To the Battlefield

—Eastern Faction Wartime Base [Otherworldly Underground Castle - Ruvalest]—

“Hurry up and form your parties!! Get your rendezvous done and do your final checks!”

“My buffer’s gone missing!”

“All scouts, gather over here!! C’mon, move it! Is that AGI you’re so proud of just for show, you bastards!!”

“Defense squads that are formed up, go see either Zou-san or Duck-san for now!! Wait for your individual orders!!”

“Mika-kun, over here!! My leader’s wife is suddenly sick, he might not be able to make it!!”

“Seriously…!? I’ll be over to help later! For now, Henze, you take care of Mobile Unit B!!”

“You’re kidding me!”

“Anyone seen Genkotsu-san?”

“What… someone who can contact him! Spam-call Gen-san! He might be asleep!!”

“Ugh, it’s like this every time with us…! Maybe we should learn a thing or two from the North and South, huh!?”

“………………”

“How ‘bout it, newbie? Pretty lively, ain’t it?”

The scene was nothing short of pandemonium, with countless players darting around the entrance hall. The young man silently observing the festival-like chaos of the faction’s three hundred elite members could only offer a wry smile in response to his carefree general’s words, his cheeks twitching.

“Lively…? I mean, it’s certainly bustling, but…”

Peering down at the scene from the upper floor of the open-atrium entrance hall, he tried to stay hidden in the shadows of the railing. The much-anticipated newcomer, [Haru the Acrobat], muttered to himself, a nervous sweat beading on his brow as he clutched the front of his clothes.

“Even you get nervous, huh?”

“I don’t get what’s so surprising about that… You know I was a nervous wreck before and after the selection matches, right?”

It was understandable, but his uncharacteristically weak demeanor was so unlike him that it was almost funny.

It seemed that despite all the insane results he’d produced, his mental fortitude wasn’t quite as monstrous.

“I won’t tell you not to be nervous, but don’t you dare make a fool of yourself, you got it?”

“Hah… Well, I do have to look good for some people…”

“It’s tough being a popular guy.”

He had expected the usual comeback, but Haru just mumbled something and made a strange face.

“Hm? Something wrong?”

“No, well, it’s nothing…”

Aha…

“Something happen?”

“No…”

“Something definitely happened.”

“No, it’s just…”

“Is it that partner of yours? Or the little artisan girl? —Hey, don’t tell me it’s Ui.”

“—Ah, um!! Got a message, excuse me for a sec, will ya?”

Forcefully cutting off the interrogation, Haru turned away with an exaggeratedly dramatic gesture. As he watched him go with a grin, Haru shot a glare back over his shoulder.

He wasn’t old enough to be called an old man yet, but he had reached an age where he could feel the dazzling brilliance of youth like that.

Anyway, it seemed it wasn’t an act; he really had gotten a message. He opened a window and checked something, and then, as if on reflex, a relaxed smile spread across his face.

“Was it ‘her’?”

“It was a woman.”

When he returned, he tossed a teasing remark his way… but for some reason, Haru seemed to have regained a bit of his composure.

“I hadn’t been able to get in touch with my exclusive magic artisan who I was supposed to meet up with for a bit, but I just got a message of encouragement from her.”

“Ah, the little [Playful Fire User] girl.”

“You know about her too…? Well, yeah. Just a single phrase: ‘Do your best.’”

“Hah, sounds like you’re trusted. Can’t ask for more than that.”

“You’re right about that,” the young man said, smiling. His nervousness hadn’t completely vanished, but… it’s not like he was ever worried in the first place.

He remembered the fourth match of the selection tournament.

He’d thought the kid was frozen stiff, but then he’d moved like a completely different person, rampaging across the field—and in the end, he had brought down the unbreachable wall. A true monster.

Once the battle began, he would run wild on his own.

“So… is it okay to just wait here?”

“You are. As for me, it’s about time… ah, there she is. I’m being summoned.”

He responded with a glance to Hinayo, who was waving from the floor below. He then pulled the large hood over Haru, who was leaning against the railing with his legs crossed, and patted his head encouragingly.

“Well, you don’t have any embarrassing speeches like I do. Take it easy, Acrobat.”

“...Yeah, yeah. Roger that, General Commander.”

Despite all his grumbling, if this was all the nervousness he felt right before the grand stage of the Four Pillars, then—this kid really was something special.

So special that for those watching over him, anticipation far outweighed any anxiety.

“And while you’re at it, stick your chest out with pride. There aren’t many who can laugh at you now that you’re carrying two titles—Ninth Seat and the Sword Saint’s Disciple.”

“…………Thanks, I guess. Well, call me when it’s my turn.”

“You got it—well, that being said.”

—The [Four Pillar War] will begin shortly.

“Your turn is coming up right away.”

—All participating players, please stand by within your respective faction’s wartime base.

—Transfer to the wartime field will commence shortly.

—Transfer to the wartime field will commence shortly.

—Transfer to the wartime field will commence shortly.

Amidst the familiar announcements, he felt the gazes of everyone gather on him as he descended the stairs, one step at a time. This was his tenth time… and the ninth since he had started being called the [General Commander].

He no longer felt any nervousness—but even so,

—Sixty seconds until transfer.

“—Alright, you lot. Are you ready?”

What happened to the foolish racket from just a moment ago? He let his voice echo through the now silent entrance hall, looking out over them from the landing of the grand staircase.

—Fifty seconds until transfer.

Hinayo and the other members of the Ten Seats, who had been scattered about, gathered under Goldow… and spotting the Eighth Seat (Genkotsu), who had been absent until now, he breathed a secret sigh of relief.

“Well, this time, there’s no stuffy declaration of intent—ah, no… to be more precise, that declaration has already been made.”

—Forty seconds until transfer.

“Most of you here probably haven’t seen him, but we’ve got a new face among us recently.”

—Thirty seconds.

“I told him—that in this next war, with him as our hidden ace…”

—Twenty.

“I’d serve up a spectacular victory.”

—Ten.

“Well… that’s about it. You all know what I’m trying to say, don’t you?”

—5, 4, 3, 2,

—1,

“—Just like always, let’s go win this thing.”

There was no nervousness now. It was the same for most of the veteran players gathered here.

But even so, this pre-battle exhilaration.

This heat that boiled up from the pit of his stomach—no matter how many times he repeated this moment, it would never cool. Anyone who had lost that heat of battle couldn't possibly be standing here.

Indeed, no voices were needed to follow his declaration.

Into that space, filled with a tingling silence and a scorching heat,

—Executing transfer to the wartime field.

—The [Four Pillar War] will now commence.

A dazzling blue light of transfer burst forth.