kscans

Chapter 633 - Overlapping Beacons

"—Haru."

"You're as fast as ever."

Lured by the light of the teleport, I descended once again upon the god-made playground after four months.

Amidst the warriors hastily preparing during the brief setup period, I barely had time to react to the strange sight visible from the maze entrance. A name was called, I turned, and caught a 'scroll' that was already right in front of me. Looking beyond it, the Insighter who had tossed me the fruits of his labor wore his usual smile.

It was a given that Istia's shadowy backbone was an all-powerful, perfect, and lightning-fast workhorse. With a mix of exasperation and admiration, I offered my praise—"Yeah, yeah, as expected"—and unrolled the heavy, meter-wide scroll. Open… open… come on…!

"…Didn't we do this last time?"

Even if you say that, it's not as easy as unrolling a poster. Gladly accepting help from Tetra, who reached out from my side as I fumbled, I spread it out again.

Then, I stared intently at the densely marked map. One, two, three.

"Okay, perfect."

"Honestly, I'm still half-convinced you're bluffing."

"Now who's the one who never changes?"

As soon as I finished imprinting the 'maze's' structure onto my virtual brain like a clear photograph, I was met with a suspicious look from my number one junior and passed the map to Goldow, who had approached.

And then, I turned my eyes once more…

"Well, this much is fine—but sorry, there's no way I can just ignore that, unlike the 'water' last time. If I try to sprint, I'll be flattened in an instant."

"Probably. But the enemy's advance will be restricted just the same."

A web of black iron with a metallic sheen. It's unclear whether the entire maze area is covered in it without actually entering, but either way, it's troublesome… or rather, an extremely annoying environment for a runner.

In fact, if the entire maze is like that, it's not just annoying for runners, but for all players.

First, visibility is poor. Spotting enemies will naturally be delayed, and from the perspective of a long-range mage, it's a frustrating mess of obstacles blocking their spells.

It looks like a difficult field for many melee classes too.

Since it's arranged not just above but also at the very bottom, it's essentially a very uneven terrain. Just moving on the ground would take unnecessary effort.

Of course, if a high-agility specialist tried to run in a straight line, they would inevitably be crushed in an instant. Even in combat, the combination of a multi-leveled footing and numerous obstacles seems to foreshadow a chaotic battlefield…

Well, in short—

"To be blunt, it's not a problem for you, is it, Acrobat?"

"Nah, not a problem at all, General Commander."

Just as Goldow said, the enemy's speed is also restricted. In the end, our speeds will just decrease equally, and the more agile one will still take the initiative.

If anything, a field with lots of footing is my specialty, practically my home turf. I've even created my own footing in large quantities to jump around on.

And in addition to that.

"—This is a tailwind for you, Kanata. You could even call it tailor-made, couldn't you?"

"…I'll do my best!"

A field with countless continuous, three-dimensional platforms. It was an unexpected environment that meshed perfectly, almost too perfectly, with Kanata's Rebellion.

This could turn out to be more interesting than I thought. We'll be acting separately for the most part, so I'll look forward to watching the archives later.

—Now then, with that said.

"Haru, I'm not gonna give you a bunch of detailed orders anymore. Do as you please."

"Roger. I'll do my best to live up to your trust."

"Good. Kanata, it's just as I told you before. Respond to orders quickly and without hesitation. Don't worry about making a few mistakes. We'll back you up as much as you need."

"Yes!"

"Worst case, that senior of yours will probably do the work of two, three, or even ten people."

"Yes!"

"Well, uh… yeah, that was the plan from the start, but still."

The countdown displayed at the edge of my vision dipped below one hundred seconds, and the time for battle drew near. The various squads were already in position, and the number of eyes on us grew in proportion.

A familiar sense of tension—but now, most of the players were comrades I'd met before. The feeling of being an outsider that I had felt in the past was completely gone.

Kanata… as expected, seems relatively calm, so there's no need to worry. A little tension is unavoidable, but once things start, he'll just get swept up in the heat of the festival.

It wouldn't matter if he messed up and died two or three times. In fact, he should drive the enemy to despair by showing them 'this is the level of player who's coming back after dying.'

So, the most important thing is… and this might be a bit repetitive, but.

"—Alright, let's have some fun!"

I meant it for my junior next to me, but my voice came out louder than I expected and was met with a response from nearly three hundred people. Goldow shrugged as if to say 'don't steal my job of giving the war cry,' and I gave him a sheepish grin as I stepped forward with my junior.

The countdown reached ten seconds, and countless pillars of light rose up in the black rock maze area. Ten, twenty—a total of twenty-four.

The number of 'Pillars,' the main source of points in the Four Pillar War, corresponds to the number of rankers participating from each faction. Since eight from our Istia are participating, excluding the Sword Saint and Screen, that means there are sixteen 'strong pieces' on the other side.

This is going to be one lively festival.

"Kanata, listen up—Right, left, right, right, left, right, left, left, right, left, right."

"Huh…?"

"If my estimate is correct, the closest one is there. Go take it down at full speed."

"Wh-what? Right, le… —W-wait a second, please…!?"

"Ah, no. I just said 'listen up' without thinking. You don't have to memorize it."

I'm prepared for times like this. I took out paper and a quill from my inventory and, with a wry smile, handed a memo with '1, 3, 4, 6, 9, 11' written on it to my flustered junior.

"Starting from the first fork, turn right on those numbers."

"…—I-I understand!"

Excellent. In that case, the path is already open—

"You've probably had your fill of encouraging words by now, right?"

"Yes!"

One last exchange of glances served as our starting gun.

"Alright… then all that's left is—try to keep up with me, junior!"

"—I'll keep up in spirit, if nothing else!"

We didn't bother to match our pace.

Showing him my back was more than enough.

One step forward from beside my junior, who had tensed into a running stance, and the maze entrance was right before me.

It's been nearly five months since I received it. Now, with the 'name' I've grown fond of, I'll slap a cheerful grin in the face of the world's will (system) that prepared this malicious stage.

My title is the Acrobat—as if a slightly complicated path could ever stop me!

◇◆◇◆◇

"That big bro/sis just slipped into the maze with some seriously gross movements again."

"That's probably him without thought acceleration. Senpai's movements are just a bug at this point."

"As usual, I can't see him clearly."

Watching their junior, who this time soared through the air on his own and vanished into the maze in an instant, the smaller ones commented on his speed and agility, which far surpassed that of their past encounter. Yet their tones were, as before, a mix of admiration and exasperation.

They knew that wasn't his top speed. But he was undoubtedly pushing the limits of what even the top high-mobility warriors could achieve… and yet,

They could only be dumbfounded as the monster plunged into the obstacle-ridden maze without much braking.

"…Putting that idiot aside, it looks like he did a good job with the junior."

Unlike four months ago, this abnormality was now widely known.

The 'junior' was seen off by cheers of excitement that surpassed shock and confusion. Setting him aside for a moment… Irori, who was watching the 'junior's junior,' muttered to himself.

—Or so he thought.

"When he gets serious about it, his skill at training others isn't half bad, you know? Though it seems he's picked up a certain someone's spartan habits."

"…So it seems."

He met the meaningful expression of his commander, Goldow, who had keenly picked up his mumble, with a half-lidded glare. Deciding it was best not to press the matter, he swallowed any further words.

The Acrobat, who had vanished in the blink of an eye, and the promising new face, who had vanished half a second later. It was too early to call him number two, but his talent was certainly polished—

"Don't get left behind, in more ways than one."

"First of all, I don't think I've ever been overtaken. …But, well."

And then, dozens of seconds after the two had taken their first step, though at different speeds.

"I admit there are things to learn from him—like this, for example."

Two pillars of light that rose at almost the same time. The samurai looked up at the beacons, unmistakable signs of a 'Pillar's' destruction, with a smile of admiration that had gone beyond exasperation.

"…Well then, let's follow our cheeky junior's lead and 'enjoy' ourselves."

"You bet. …Though this old man isn't used to brain work."

"You say that. I'm counting on you to support not just the junior's junior, but us as well, General Commander."

With a clash of fists, Goldow went back, and Irori went forward. Their positions, roles, and destinations were different, but the hearts of the men, stirred up by their younger agitator, were all as one—

"Now, what are you all standing around for? Our juniors are going to take all the glory."

"Alright, let's get moving, you bastards! It's festival time!"

—They surged onto the battlefield with a heat like a great fire.