kscans

Chapter 191 - Divine Playground

The large-scale field that serves as the stage for the Four Pillar War changes its appearance dramatically each time the virtual world's sole grand festival is held. This change is not limited to the overall size or the structure of the maze areas; it typically extends to the environment itself.

Sometimes it’s a grassland, sometimes a wasteland, sometimes a forest… and other times, a land of extreme peril overflowing with lava.

It has no official name, simply referred to as the “stage of war” or the “wartime field.” According to the inhabitants of this world (NPCs), it is a playground prepared by the goddess.

An extradimensional space, illuminated by the light of countless stars, created solely for ‘Her’ to observe the festival of the otherworldly visitors (players).

And below a moon so enormous it seems to cover the heavens, a cross-shaped floating island amidst the clouds.

This place, overflowing with mysteries at the slightest touch, is a treasure trove of topics for enthusiastic theorists to satisfy their endless curiosity—however, for those who actually venture there…

“—Whoa…”

“Well now…”

“What is this?”

“Oh, come on, goddess…”

Depending on the situation, it can also become an irregular area that forces unreasonable hardships upon them, to the point where they want to scream “you’ve got to be kidding me” from the bottom of their hearts.

—Southern Faction, the [Wealthy] Sotalm.

Player after player was discharged from inside the castle that had synchronized with the battlefield… and their expressions twisted into various shapes, one after another.

Needless to say, the cause was negative emotion.

“Well, well… looks like this one’s going to be particularly rough.”

Following the regular players, five shadows emerged.

One of them, a tall young man with a greatsword nearly his own height slung across his back, offered a wry smile as he looked ahead. The long passageway extending from their base castle to the maze area was stained with—the starry sky.

No, it was a vast expanse of water reflecting the starry sky.

“A submerged field… or a flooded one? Either way, there’s a lot to think about.”

Appearing next to the tall young man was a slender man in a robe. Seeing the state of what could only be called a ‘waterway’ instead of a passageway, he too gave a wry smile and narrowed his eyes.

“Hey… shouldn’t we rethink our formations? It doesn’t look like it’s just the surface; it seems pretty deep.”

A short boy, observing the players who had already started testing the waters by stepping into the waterway, shaded his eyes to see into the distance.

With two daggers at his waist, he grimaced at the sight of the splashing water. “Ugh.”

“For light warriors, this is basically like being hit with a massive, constant debuff. I don’t think even I could move at 100% in that.”

“Mages are going to have strong advantages and disadvantages too… Fire-based players will have a tough time, while water and ice users will probably run rampant.”

“Yeah…—so, what’s the plan? Your Highnesses.”

The men, having each voiced their opinions, turned to face two women.

Sotalm’s former tenth seat, the [Lady-in-Waiting]—or, the Queen herself, Helena.

And the first seat, the virtual world’s strongest, the [Sword Queen]—or, the Princess, Iris.

One had a sharp, intelligent face, the other a calm one… or rather, simply an expressionless face devoid of emotion. Though their styles differed, they both wore composed expressions and looked at each other.

“...Helena, I’ll leave it to you.”

“As you wish.”

Those few words were all that was needed for them to understand each other.

No one questioned the ‘King’ as she turned on her heel and headed back into the castle as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

“We will reorganize the troops within the grace period. Aurin, Fuji, please gather the squad leaders.”

“Got it.”

“Right away.”

The [Lady-in-Waiting] gave her orders. The tall young man called Aurin and the slender man called Fuji moved as if shot from a cannon—

“Aren’t you going to go see… that one?”

The remaining boy posed the question before any orders could be given to him.

The [Sword Queen], her long, dazzling silver-blue hair swaying behind her like an illusion of brilliant light, stopped at the boy's words and glanced back slightly.

“...If I go out there from the start,”

The emotion reflected in the profile that peeked out was utterly flat.

And her voice, clear as crystal,

“—it might all be over before anything even happens.”

was laced with nothing but a somewhat lonely coldness.