kscans

Chapter 11 - The Battle Begins

On the day of the Clan War, Hayato and the others were transferred to the fortress on the battlefield thirty minutes before the start time.

The battlefield was an isolated field for conducting Clan Wars. Only members of your own clan and the enemy clan were here. There were no other players, let alone any monsters. All that was provided was a fortress to serve as a base for each side.

The battlefield was set at one square kilometer, but the terrain was randomly determined on the day of the battle. This time, it was a simple grassland. As a clan's rank increased, the locations would have more dangerous gimmicks, but this was a battle between F-rank clans, so it was just an ordinary, unremarkable place.

Inside the fortress that served as their base, Hayato looked around at all the members.

There was the maid, Esha. The mercenary, Ash. And the seven members of the mercenary group led by Ash. These were the companions who would win this Clan War. Even if they were NPCs, to Hayato, they were no different from regular players.

Over the past three weeks, Hayato had interacted with many NPCs, starting with Esha. Their thought processes might be driven by AI, but to Hayato, they seemed like ordinary people. It was the same as with the knife he owned. Even if NPCs were nothing more than programs or data, Hayato already had memories with them.

"Um, well then, everyone, I'm counting on you."

When Hayato bowed his head, for some reason, laughter erupted from those around him.

"Hayato, you're the leader of this clan, so say something that will raise our morale a bit more."

"Well, even if you say that... Alright. There's only one thing I can do. I promise to make good weapons and armor for everyone if we win. Of course, you'll have to provide the materials."

A cheer went up from the members of the mercenary group.

"I see. In that case, you'll be treating me to the highest quality sweets, is that it?"

"Ah, yeah. Okay, I'll prepare the highest quality. If you have any requests, I'll hear them later."

Esha silently raised her right fist in a victory pose.

Ash, who had been watching this exchange with a smile, turned serious.

"Hayato, just to confirm, you're leaving the command of the battle basically to me, right?"

"Of course. I've only ever watched during Clan Wars before, so there's no way I could take command. I'll contact you if anything comes up, but basically, you're in charge of everything, Ash."

"Leave it to me. Then, Hayato and Esha, you two defend the Clan Stone in this fortress. I don't intend to let the enemy get this far, but I can't say it's an absolute guarantee."

"You can count on us. I have no intention of letting the enemy get near here either. I promise to protect the Clan Stone firmly. And Master, too."

"Could you not say my name like an afterthought? It's true the Clan Stone is more important than me, though."

The Clan Stone. It was the giant blue stone on the roof of the fortress. In a Clan War, if this was destroyed, you would lose.

There were two conditions for losing a Clan War. When the Clan Stone was destroyed, or when all of your members were defeated.

Normally, a player whose HP reached 0 would be resurrected at their base, a church, or a temple. But during a Clan War, once you were defeated, you could not return. Therefore, a playing style that focused on not being defeated was more important than defeating the enemy.

And Hayato was a production player with no combat power. If anything, he was the one who needed protecting, along with the Clan Stone.

"You'll get tired if you play along with every one of Esha's jokes. Well then, we'll get into position. See you later."

Ash led the members of the mercenary group and left the fortress.

"Well then, Master, let's go to the roof of the fortress where the Clan Stone is. From there, I can also provide support to Ash-sama and the others."

"Right, I'll leave that to you."

Hayato said, and headed to the roof with Esha.

From the roof of the fortress, Hayato and Esha surveyed the entire area. The front half of the field was their territory, and the back half was the enemy's. Before the Clan War began, players could be anywhere within their own territory. The Clan War would start from that position.

"It seems Ash-sama and the others plan to see how the enemy moves first. They are taking a stance in a horizontal line at the center of our territory to meet them."

"That's probably for the best. It's a formation that can respond to any kind of attack."

"By the way, how do you think the enemy will move?"

"It's highly likely they're underestimating us as beginners. They might even try to break through the center with all ten of them. A so-called instant kill. I think it's a strategy aimed only at the Clan Stone. It's a tactic that beginners can't handle."

What Hayato was predicting, the instant kill, was a tactic where the entire clan charged as a single unit right after the start. They would position everyone right in front of the enemy's territory and, at the same moment the battle began, they would ignore the opponents and aim only to destroy the Clan Stone. If this charge was successful, the Clan War could be ended in less than a minute, which is why it was called an instant kill.

A high-ranking clan would naturally have countermeasures for this, so it was almost impossible to succeed. But a clan of beginners was different. They wouldn't know how to respond and could end up losing without being able to do anything.

(Newbie hunting... it's not an admirable practice. But what I'm doing, even if it's not intentional, is something similar. I was kicked out, but I was originally in a high-ranking clan. If the opponent was a truly beginner clan, I would have felt bad, but against this opponent, I don't need to hold back.)

Just as Hayato was thinking that, the countdown began.

And the battle started.

"Brilliant, Master. The enemy is breaking through the center, just as you predicted."

As soon as the battle started, the players in the enemy territory became visible. The opponent had appeared right on the border between their territory and the enemy's. And as a single group, they began moving towards them.

Meeting them were Ash and the others, but only Ash was in the center. The other members, who had been in a horizontal line, hurriedly began moving towards the center.

"No, unfortunately, I think I was wrong. It seems there are only nine people in the center. That's a decoy, and I think there's one person hiding somewhere. They don't seem to be in the fortress over there, so they're probably hiding somewhere on the field and heading this way... Ah, there. Just as everyone moved to the center, they're moving along the edge of the field."

From Hayato's perspective, there was a player moving at high speed along the right edge of the field. It was probably a plan to destroy the Clan Stone with a separate, solo player even if the central push failed, Hayato thought.

Now, what should I do, he wondered. At that moment, Esha took a step forward.

"Please leave this to me. It seems the opponent has a skill composition that increases their mobility. I've judged their defense to be low. In that case, I can do something about it."

For some reason, some of Esha's skills surpassed 100. One of them was magic. Hayato thought she would probably use a powerful magic spell. But there was something he wondered about.

(Come to think of it, I've never seen Esha's weapon. If she's mainly a magic user, I think she would have a staff or a book equipped.)

Ignoring Hayato's question, Esha approached the railing of the fortress. She placed her right foot on that railing. That pose revealed black leather long boots from under the long skirt of her maid outfit.

But Hayato didn't see them. His eyes were captivated by something else.

He didn't know when she had taken it out, but what Esha was holding was, by all appearances, a gun. A type of gun with a long barrel called a rifle.

Esha placed the index finger of her right hand on its trigger and supported the barrel with her left hand. Then she looked through the scope attached to the rifle.

"Critical Shot."

A small magic circle unfolded at the muzzle of the gun as Esha said that. And at the moment a sound like a firework bursting was heard, a ball of light was fired from the magic circle at high speed. That sphere of light pierced the player who had been heading towards them.

The pierced opponent instantly vanished into particles of light. That was proof their HP had reached 0. Esha had defeated the opponent in a single blow.

With her finger still on the trigger, Esha relaxed her stance and rested the barrel of the gun on her right shoulder. Then with her left hand, she took out a bottle of Melon Juice and drank it all at once.

Holding the bottle of Melon Juice almost vertically, the way she tilted her head back and gulped it down was very wild. With his thoughts in a jumble, Hayato stared at Esha, thinking something like that.

But immediately after, Hayato regained his train of thought.

"Whoa! Hey, um, right! The setting! Pay more attention to the setting!"

"What did you say? Pay more attention to what? More importantly, that Melon Juice was delicious. A drink after a job well done is always exceptional."

(Could the word 'setting' be an AI Protection target? Why? No, more importantly, this isn't right, is it? A gun... no, I saw something like a magic circle at the muzzle, so it's not fired with gunpowder, is it? And Esha drank Melon Juice. Which means her MP decreased? Does that mean it's a gun that fires using MP?)

"Um, what is that weapon?"

"This? This is the 'Beelzebub 666 EC Custom.' By the way, the EC stands for Esha Crown."

"I don't care about the name. That's, um, a gun, right? That's weird, isn't it? Tell me it's weird."

"It's true that this is what's called a Magic Gun, but is it strange? They're not very common, but they're not strange. In fact, I'd rather you call it cute. This ribbon is its charm point."

(I don't really get the setting of this game. But then again, Manga Meat is the same. I don't think manga exists in this world. It's pointless to get hung up on it, but isn't it kind of weird? Could it be some kind of joke from the admins or developers?)

"Master, it seems Ash-sama and the others are about to fight."

(There's no point in thinking about it. I'll put it aside for now. My purpose is to win this Clan War and to gauge how well these NPCs can fight. I know Esha can fight. Next is Ash and the others.)

Though he wasn't quite convinced, Hayato decided to turn his gaze towards Ash and the others.