kscans

Chapter 35 - The Fortress with a View of the Sunset

On the day of the Clan War, Hayato and his group were waiting for the battle to begin in the base's dining hall.

Preparations were perfect. They were in a state where they could fight at any time.

There were two points of concern. The situation when the opponent won by annihilation, and the use of the Scattering Grass and Light-Absorbing Grass. Even the Maid Guild's investigation could not figure this out.

All that was known was that the opposing clan at that time was A-rank. And that the clan had filed a complaint that the Demon Summoning Research Association was not playing fair.

An act that an A-rank clan would consider cheating. And since the Clan Management Committee did not deem it cheating, it was not cheating but a legitimate act.

Hayato had tried to confirm this with Mist, but she could not tell him due to a confidentiality obligation. Or rather, she said it was not her department, so she did not know.

Whether he was a coward or just cautious was a fine line, but this matter had been on Hayato’s mind for a while.

"Master, there’s no use worrying about it now. We just have to defeat whatever enemy comes our way."

"That’s true. I don’t think there’s anyone stronger than you guys, so I don’t think we’ll lose no matter what they throw at us. But not knowing the opponent’s hand, well, it makes me a little anxious. No matter how strong a specialized formation is, I feel like there must be something more to a clan made of ten Summoners. And the fact that they’ve maintained an A-rank in that state is astonishing, I think."

A Summoner becomes immobile from the moment they summon something. They can still act while immobile, but it is no exaggeration to say that their own combat power becomes nonexistent.

(A strategy of summoning four demons per person. They must know it’s dangerous if they themselves are targeted, yet having no allies to protect them should be tough.)

The summoned demons and spirits move on their own. You can give them some instructions, but basically, they are quite unreliable. It is possible to order them to protect their summoner, but a two-point demon is quite weak. Even if there are many of them, they would be defeated quickly. An eight-point demon has stats that are only slightly better than a normal player’s, so a two-point demon is only about a quarter as strong.

(If they can’t destroy the Clan Stone, do they switch to a different strategy? Like everyone summoning an eight-point demon? Hmm, I don’t know. Ney and the others said they didn’t know either.)

Hayato’s former clan, Kokuryu, did not have any Summoners. The members all had basic, by-the-book skill compositions, so he could not gather any information from them either.

"It’s late today."

As Hayato was lost in thought, Ren said this while drinking her orange juice.

He checked the time and saw that it was already past five in the afternoon. Clan Wars were held over the course of almost a full day, so not all clans fought at the same time. This time, Hayato and his group had not yet been transferred to the battlefield.

"The later it gets into the night, the more I appreciate it, though."

"But Mist-san, you have sunscreen, so you’re fine during the day, right?"

"No, no, even with sunscreen, weakening cannot be avoided. However, the sunscreen Hayato-san made is high quality, so it only results in about a ten percent status down. At night, I can fight at full power and be resurrected as many times as I want, so the later it gets, the better."

"Is that so. Oh, but it’s true that my curse collection seems to get stronger at night too!"

"That’s your imagination. And being a vampire is not a curse, you know?"

Listening to Ren and Mist’s conversation, he thought that vampires were broken.

Although limited to nighttime, being able to be resurrected even if you fall in a Clan War was unbelievable.

There were several countermeasures. The most straightforward one was to destroy the coffin. Without a coffin, you could not be resurrected. That said, whether you could destroy the coffin while facing a vampire was another matter, and it would be difficult.

The coffin would not be effective if it was in the clan’s shared storage, so it had to be placed somewhere, which would be inside the fortress during a Clan War. Getting that close was difficult in the first place.

There were other methods, such as piercing a vampire’s heart with a wooden weapon to defeat them, but it was rare for someone to carry a weak wooden weapon in a Clan War.

(Most players probably know how to become a vampire, but they don’t know about being resurrected in a coffin. And they don't know the countermeasure either. It’s clearly a trap for first-timers. Well, since someone like me who can’t fight is in the clan, we need to have this kind of handicap.)

Just as he thought that, his vision shifted, and he was transferred to the Clan War battlefield.

The setting sun was sinking below the horizon, over a rugged, rocky wasteland. This was to be this battle’s field.

With the Clan War about to begin, Hayato and his group decided to review their strategy once more.

"Hayato, sorry. On a bumpy place like this, I can’t get a good footing, so I can’t transform into a dragon. Even if I could, there are too many obstacles, and I don’t think Dragon Breath would be effective."

"Oh, don’t worry about it. I’m not sure if Dragon Breath would even be in time, so it's fine. You’re strong even when you fight in human form, so please do that."

Summoning magic uses a medium, so the time until the effect activates is short. It is possible to summon in less than a second.

In comparison, Ash’s transformation aside, Dragon Breath has a long activation time. There was a high possibility of being attacked by the summoned demons before the effect activated.

"Got it. So, our plan is to aim for the immobile Summoners, right?"

"Yeah, please do that. The opposing clan is said to summon a large number of demons, but each one should be weak, so I think you guys can get close. If it looks possible, go for the Clan Stone too."

"Leave it to me."

"Mist-san, I’m counting on you too."

"It’s evening, but it should be manageable. If we start at this time, it should become night partway through."

Ash, the four members of the mercenary group, and Mist would be the assault team, directly targeting the Summoners. Even if the Summoners were defeated, the summoned demons would not disappear, but they would not increase in number either, so targeting the Summoners first was the standard procedure.

"Esha, Relic-san, and Ren-chan, please defend the Clan Stone. Relic-san, please stay outside the fortress and prevent the demons from getting inside."

"Understood. If they are weak demons, I should be able to defeat them with my Hand-to-Hand Combat skills."

Relic’s objective was to guard the fortress entrance and prevent them from getting inside. He would also make heavy use of his area-of-effect Hand-to-Hand Combat skills to deal with as many demons as possible.

Since the opposing clan’s strategy was to summon a large number of demons, guarding the fortress entrance was the right move. That said, combat was basically one-on-one. Even if he would not lose, the opponents would not kindly wait their turn. The opponent would aim to get inside the fortress by sacrificing a few demons.

And personnel were also needed to defeat the demons that broke through Relic’s guard at the entrance.

"Esha and Ren-chan, I’d like you to protect the Clan Stone itself from inside the fortress. I know you both specialize in long-range, but I think you can win one-on-one against weak demons."

The only way to get to the fortress rooftop was by climbing the stairs. There were two sets of stairs in the fortress. Esha and Ren were assigned to guard one each. Since fighting where they came up from the stairs would force a one-on-one situation, that was the arrangement.

There was the option of having Relic guard the stairs, but since his area-of-effect attack would be wasted, this arrangement was made.

"Understood! I’ll guard it well!"

Ren replied energetically, but there was no reply from Esha. Esha had been looking at the sunset for a while, completely silent.

"Um, Esha? Is something wrong?"

"Oh, no. Sorry, what is it? A sense of déjà vu, I suppose. I feel like I’ve gazed at a sunset from a fortress like this before."

Esha answered this way while looking at the sunset, without looking at Hayato.

"Oh my, you too, Esha? Actually, I was just thinking the same thing. I don’t think I would ever forget such a beautiful sunset, though."

Relic also reacted to Esha’s words.

Do AIs get déjà vu, Hayato wondered, as he voiced his thoughts.

"You two were in the same clan before, so maybe you fought in a similar situation?"

"That may be so."

Relic said this, but Esha said nothing.

Esha kept her body turned toward the sunset, and Hayato could not see her face from his position.

But when Esha turned around, Hayato was a little surprised to see her face. It was an expression of such loneliness that he could not have imagined it on the usual Esha.

"Uh, um, Esha, what’s wrong? Are you okay? Want to eat a Chocolate Parfait or something?"

At Hayato’s words, Esha looked stunned for a moment, then smiled slightly.

"You’d be sorely mistaken to think I can always be won over by food. Please don’t worry. I just felt like I was forgetting something important. It’s what you call a centimeter feeling."

"You mean sentimental. Are you feeling a little better? Um, it would be a great help if you could concentrate on the Clan War for now. I know it’s bad timing, but..."

"Yes, I’m sorry. I’m fine. I understand the plan, so please don’t worry. I just need to prevent the demons from entering through the fortress stairs, right? I’m not good at close combat, but I’ll make them a feast for this gun. Oh, and I will have the Chocolate Parfait. It’s my second one today, though."

Esha said this, then twirled her gun like a circus performer before finally holding it in her right hand and resting it on her shoulder. Then she grinned.

"I’m counting on you. Um, Ren-chan, what is it? Please don’t pull on my pants."

"I think it’s unfair that only Esha-san gets one. I want to eat a Chocolate Parfait too. It’s my second one today, too!"

"Oh, yeah. Of course. I’ll prepare two servings."

"I see. So, the one who defeats more enemies gets the two Chocolate Parfaits. My arms are tingling."

At Esha’s words, Ren’s face lit up, and she took up a Five-sun Nail and a Straw Doll in both hands.

"I won’t lose, not even to you, Esha-san!"

"It’s not that kind of competition. Esha, please don’t taunt Ren-chan by beckoning with your left hand."

"Alright, Hayato, we’re going to our positions."

"You could help me out a little more, you know?"

Leaving behind a Hayato who felt like he was being pushed around, Ash and the others left the fortress and moved to their positions.

Ash, his guild members, and Mist moved to the vicinity of the center, closest to the enemy camp.

Hayato predicted that the Summoners would summon at the very back of the enemy camp at the start. The summoning could not be helped, but the plan was to throw them off balance with a sudden assault. If possible, they would aim for the Clan Stone.

The problem was that this battle was not on an empty plain but a rocky wasteland with many ups and downs. There were many obstacles and it was not flat, so it was uncertain whether they could go straight to the opponent. It could be said to be a location that was more advantageous to the opponent.

Relic was at the very front of their own camp, at the entrance to the fortress.

The only entrance to the fortress was at the very front of the center of their own camp. Relic would intercept the demons there. Relic’s combat style was mainly Hand-to-Hand Combat skills. He had a Weapon Skill with an area-of-effect attack, but due to cooldown issues, he could not use it repeatedly. It would basically be one-on-one.

Esha and Ren would defeat the demons that got past him near the stairs on the fortress rooftop. In Esha’s case, since she could attack the field from the fortress, she would initially support Relic, but that would only be for a while. Once the demons entered the fortress, she would switch to defending the stairs.

Just as Hayato had reviewed the overall positions and strategy in his head, the Clan War began.