kscans

Chapter 203 - The Queen's Camp

“—Whoa…!!”

Kicking off the final corner leading to the base, the path to the strangely constructed, still-unfamiliar castle opened up before me. The tension left me all at once, and I hastily corrected my slightly wavering posture to land—no, to land in the water.

Man, this water is a real pain.

On top of the discomfort of my clothes clinging to me, which felt just like reality, the added weight from being wet seriously messes with my avatar control.

That last move against Tora-kichi, I jumped into the water with all that momentum to look cool, and I regretted it a second later. My outfit has an auxiliary effect that keeps it from falling off even during high-speed maneuvers, so it probably doesn't look like much to an observer, but…

No, seriously, it was hell inside my hood. Never again.

Well, I guess it is a game, so the fact that I dry off within a few dozen seconds of getting out of the water is a saving grace… but that aside.

“That’s one down, I guess…”

Well, in exchange for a ranker, it's a huge plus, bigger than anything else I could have done.

I crushed one of the plain blue armlets hidden under the sleeve of my [El-Gran Series Outer] with my fingertips.

As if sensing its wearer's will, the easily shattered accessory transformed into a pale blue magical light, reminiscent of water. It enveloped the [Crimson Red Ruby], which had been raging uncontrollably since its activation, as if to seal it away.

As if to seal it—well, it actually is a seal. This custom-made, brokenly overpowered divine accessory of mine, once activated, has its effect persist until I either seal it like this or die. It’s basically a handmade cursed object…

Apparently, there’s a better way to handle it, but the fact that it ended up as a rush job is my own fault for not thinking to request it in advance. It's completely on me.

Nia really did a great job in such a short amount of time… As I was thinking that and quelling the pulsing flame, I looked up to see a black shadow walking toward me from ahead.

“Oh, heading out?”

“The orders have been finalized.”

If you just look at the numbers, he’s at the bottom of the ranks. And according to him, he’s “definitely” the youngest—that’s Tetra… but considering his behavior so far, in my mind, he ranks pretty high among the Ten Seats in terms of 'composure.'

He’s friendly, yet he maintains a calm and composed atmosphere… Simply put, he has a mysterious reliability.

“Things were pretty heated over here too. Good work, senpai.”

As we passed each other, the boy raised a hand with a childish smile. That 'senpai' thing, though, is something I can never seem to get used to—

“Thanks, kohai. You do your best too, Tetra.”

“Leave it to me. Though I’m sure my idea of ‘doing my best’ is a bit different from yours, senpai.”

We high-fived, and he waved his hand, his body rising silently into the air without splashing a single drop of water. The boy’s avatar, presumably heading for the maze wall…

“...The rankers are all a bunch of superhumans.”

—pop, vanished in mid-air, his presence, his aura, everything, disappearing from before my eyes.

With my tension gone, I stared blankly for a few seconds before turning my head back to the front. There, waiting for me, the [Acrobat], were the players of the defense squad.

At the very back, Goldow stood with his arms crossed, a satisfied look on his face. Beside him, a little one was bouncing up and down.

Next to her, another little one was standing quietly. Our eyes met.

“Haha… of course.”

The sympathy, the slight excitement, and the immense pity in her light-blue eyes told me everything. I sighed at the future I already knew was coming.

Resigned, I took a step forward, and immediately, nearby players started to gather, their faces overflowing with excitement and curiosity.

After two, three steps, I steeled my resolve.

“Ah… —One question per person, please.”

I plastered on my killer customer-service smile and charged into the army of my allies.

Doesn't the smile not work if you're wearing a hood?

◇◆◇◆◇

—An hour had already passed since the start of the Four Pillar War.

Aside from one particular point, there had been no notable movements other than the abnormal event of a Title Holder being eliminated early on.

And that 'one particular point'—the fact that all of the 'Pillars' that had popped and repopped so far, a total of thirty from the North and South combined, had been utterly destroyed—was no doubt providing excitement in both the virtual and real worlds.

In fact, on this side, a full-blown game of tag between the regular players and the [Acrobat] had already kicked off, with huge commotions breaking out all over the place around the pillars.

As for the results of that, the scoreboard, which was being updated even at this moment, made it abundantly clear—

1st: Istia 3655P | 2nd: Nortalia 302P | 3rd: Sotalm 75P | 4th: Vestol 0P

Compared to their allied faction, Nortalia, who were supposed to be the point-getters in this war, the score difference was a staggering 12-fold. Needless to say, this was an unprecedentedly abnormal situation.

What was most unbearable was the fact that unless they took down the [Acrobat], his momentum would likely not stop until the end of the war.

In that case, they couldn't just sit on their hands forever.

Even if the number of points didn't matter for the method of victory they had envisioned from the start, letting him run rampant like this would damage their faction’s reputation.

“—Of the scenarios we considered, this is among the worst.”

Inside the wartime base of the Southern Faction, Sotalm.

Among the six shadows sitting on scattered chairs and sofas that grew out of the floor, the [Lady-in-Waiting]'s voice, despite her calm expression, was tinged with a faint bitterness.

“I didn't see it directly, but… well, considering our second-ranked ran back with his tail between his legs, I guess it’s true.”

“I know it’s lame, so could you stop?”

As Auerin chuckled wryly, arms crossed while looking at the scoreboard, Uni, who had declared something like “if I get carried away and beat him—” when he deployed, glared back sullenly.

“Just as Helena-san said, it’s the worst of the worst. I don’t think I’d lose one-sidedly, but I’d say there’s about a for… a thirty percent chance of an accident.”

“You were about to say forty percent, weren’t you?”

“Argh, Fuji, you’re so annoying—Honestly, Istia is just Istia. How is that guy ninth rank? He’s easily on par with the top-tier rankers.”

“By the way, what would my chances be?”

“You’re out, Auerin. The matchup is terrible. You’d lose a hundred times out of a hundred.”

As the young man gave a wry smile, thinking, Try to sugarcoat it a little…, Fuji—the fourth-ranked member of the Southern Faction, [Full Auto]—raised his hand and met Helena’s gaze.

“Based on what I’ve heard, it sounds like I have a good matchup. Shall I give it a try?”

From what he'd heard, the Acrobat in question had a style categorized as a high-agility evasion attacker. Furthermore, if his speed was not just 'excessive' but 'super-excessive,' then his other stats—most likely, his durability—should be close to 'nil.'

High agility, low durability… the more extreme it was, the more he was, without a doubt, [Full Auto]'s prime target.

This suggestion came from a logical inference, confident in his advantage. However, to his surprise, Helena shook her head.

“If you could force a one-on-one, you would likely have an absolute advantage. But since they are so clearly using him as their ace, they must have already allocated resources to deal with his natural counters.”

“Hah… well, I suppose he will be coming, then.”

“Come to think of it, she hasn't been on a rampage this time, has she? The criminal stealth bomber onee-san.”

“There have been a few reports of people getting hit by Hinayo-nee-san, but… that means she's acting separately from [Undying]. In the worst-case scenario, he could be lurking around, targeting only you.”

Having been told that, Fuji retracted his hand with a deep, wry smile.

If he were to face that boy clad in black, he would be taken down without being able to do a thing. He himself acknowledged this, which is why he accepted it.

“So in the end, it’s just as we planned from the start. Our only chance of winning is to capture their base.”

“Yes. It is a desperate measure, but we have no choice.”

As Auerin brought the conversation to its main point, Helena nodded quietly.

“It’s infuriating, but it seems ‘Father’s’ leak was not an exaggeration. We cannot win this war by taking pillars. Therefore… everyone, are you prepared?”

Her eyes, which usually held a sharp light, slowly closed as if to say, “I’ve already given up.”

“To the battle-crazed maniacs of Istia—we will wage an all-out war.”