kscans

Chapter 365 - The Event's Victory Conditions

Thirty minutes after the battle in the Great Forest of the Undead began, Ox was assessing the situation near his own Area Stone.

The scout unit led by Heath was gathering information on the vast forest while avoiding combat. Heath was a member who would lure monsters to more favorable locations or gather information to avoid unnecessary battles on the way to a destination, but in this event, he was proving to be a highly effective scout.

Ox and his team had a strategy, but that was only within their clan. They didn't know how the clans they weren't allied with would move, and it wasn't like they would move according to their intentions.

It was Ox's job to consider when and how to move his clan while adapting to the surrounding situation.

Fortunately, Nestor of Bounty Hunter had logged in. He and others were saying things like "maids are scary" and "samurai are scary," but it didn't seem like they had no will to fight.

However, Nestor and the members who had boarded the airship with him said they didn't want to get close to the enemy. So, as planned, he entrusted them with the defense of the Area Stone. This was because the area around the Area Stone was a clearing without trees.

Nestor had also ordered the unharmed members who weren't traumatized to follow Ox's instructions. So Ox had also become the commander for the members of Bounty Hunter.

It was tricky to figure out how to use the long-range specialists in this forest, but the enemy wasn't just the Demon Lord's Army, there were also other major clans. And while it was a forest, there were paved roads wide enough for carriages, so he decided to position them on the roads leading to the Area Stone.

After giving those instructions, Ox turned to Nestor, remembering something he needed to confirm.

"By the way, Nestor, were there sisters on the airship?"

Nestor looked confused for a moment, but then he seemed to remember and nodded with an "Ah."

"There were. Sisters who looked exactly alike, like twins, but one was fair-skinned with light blue hair, and the other was tan with black hair... I think."

"Were they enemies?"

"The fair-skinned one was an enemy. A companion of Hayato's, and strong enough to dodge gunfire. I'd like to tell them they shouldn't implement that for an NPC."

"That's something else... so was the tan one an ally?"

"I don't think she was an enemy, at least. She saved me when I was about to be taken out by the other sister. They were both saying some incomprehensible things, but they seemed to be hostile towards each other... I think."

"I see, understood."

His answers were full of "I think" and "it seems," probably because another memory was more striking and he had forgotten. Ox sympathized, figuring that if you were dropped from the sky, your memories before and after would become hazy.

That aside, upon checking with various other clans, he learned that there were still many more dangerous NPCs. Some he knew of from the start, while others were NPCs he was hearing about for the first time.

A gal-like girl in a short kimono, a red-haired woman equipped with multiple weapons, two female tamers who were rampaging in the sky, and though unconfirmed, a knife-wielder dressed like an assassin... the list was endless.

And the biggest problem was the Demon Lord and her retinue dressed in Gothic Lolita attire.

The Gothic Lolitas that appeared as rare monsters in the Demon Lord's Castle were famous. But they only appeared one at a time. They never attacked in a group of ten. But now, as if to say that was ancient history, they attacked with the Demon Lord in fearsome coordination.

They were said to have instantly killed the rare monster "Unknown" that appeared at Deep Impact, and with their beautiful appearance, they had gained fans who admired them as befitting the Demon Lord and her retinue.

That aside, they wouldn't win unless they thought of a way to stop them.

(I don't know why she's weak against ghost-type monsters, but if we can't stop the Demon Lord here, we won't be able to stop her in any area...)

As a countermeasure, he could have the clans specializing in Necromancy use the magic to create Undead, Create Undead. If that worked this time, it would be their main strategy, but it would be meaningless if countered by their "Requiem."

There was also a song called "Halloween" that strengthened Undead as a countermeasure to that, and Parsha's group from Despair Angel was supposed to use it, but it was hard to say how that would turn out.

(Should we sacrifice this place to weaken the enemy? The New Demon Lord's Army has strong NPCs too, but they're whimsical, making it difficult to consider them a reliable force. In the first place, will the next battle between the Demon Lords even be fought properly...?)

For Ox, that was the biggest problem.

To win this event, the Demon Lord they were allied with had to win. The territorial dispute was just to improve the Demon Lord's status and the amount of prize money.

In the previous battle, for some reason, the New Demon Lord's side had retreated immediately.

Various speculations were flying around, like it was because Hayato, whom they had abducted, was about to escape, or that it was linked to another event that hadn't finished yet.

(Don't tell me we need to abduct Hayato to win...? No, what if the territorial dispute is a fake, and we need to do something else to win?)

Ox began to suspect that the event was designed for the Demon Lord on Hayato's side to win.

It would make sense for an NPC, but Hayato was just a player. He thought it was questionable to make him a key part of the event, but he couldn't deny the possibility. In fact, he was starting to think it was the only explanation.

(If I could make contact with someone from the New Demon Lord's Army, I might learn something.)

With that thought, Ox decided to have Parsha look for someone who had spoken with the New Demon Lord's Army. Just as he decided to contact her later, he remembered something.

(That's right, Shooting Star. I think they teamed up with the New Demon Lord's Army and went after Hayato's group. I heard they took over the Demon Lord's Castle that way. Then Harrington... no, that's not right, Ronios.)

The leader of Shooting Star was a man named Harrington. But when Shooting Star went after Hayato's group and lost, information leaked. The actual leader was Ronios, not Harrington.

After that, Ronios and her group sold off valuable items to pay reparations to the Eastern Country, and the clan disbanded. However, he had heard that Ronios and her group were still playing the game.

Shooting Star was a clan that had only recently started participating in clan meetings, so he hadn't exchanged voice chat IDs or anything. He decided to ask Parsha later, figuring she would know.

"Ox-san, do you have a moment?"

Ox responded to a voice chat from Heath.

"What is it?"

"The rocky area in the northeast has been taken by Hayato's group. Players are attacking to try and retake it, but a group of vampires has taken up a position with Hayato, and it's dangerous to even get close."

"A group of vampires?"

"Not monsters, I think they turned into vampires with Necromancy, but they are incredibly strong. And it looks like there's a vampire summoner, and they're summoning some crazy strong demons."

"Does it look like our unit won't be able to handle it?"

"It'll be difficult. They were strong to begin with, and they resurrect even if you defeat them. It's not with a Phoenix Feather, it seems like they're being resurrected by something else entirely, so I think we'll just be worn down."

"I see. For now, I just want you to confirm how they're resurrecting. There's no need for our unit to force a fight."

"Roger that."

Ox sighed.

He knew this wouldn't be an easy opponent. The biggest problem was that they were using methods he didn't know about. That was due to the difference in game experience, but he had to come up with a countermeasure on his first encounter.

Normally, there would be information online, but in this game, if you post information, it gets taken down immediately. Ever since it became known that the Foundation was doing it, no one posted online knowing it would be deleted.

(It seems I'll need to pay an information-broker clan.)

The clan Raven, which specialized in buying and selling information. He knew there were players who role-played as such. Parsha of Despair Angel was also strong at gathering information, but since Raven took in-game currency as payment, the accuracy of their information was high. Above all, their conversations were normal.

If Heath couldn't get the information, he would have to rely on them, he wrote in his mental notebook.

Then he contacted Miliara for confirmation.

"Ox here. What's the situation on your end?"

"Ah, Senpai. The Demon Lord hasn't come to the vampire's mansion yet. There are ghost-type undead roaming around, so I don't think they can move yet."

"I see... By the way, is that MPK you were talking about before possible?"

MPK, or Monster Player Killer, was a not-so-praiseworthy act of getting a monster's attention, its hate, and then passing it off onto another player to defeat them.

In Another Frontier Online, player versus player combat, or PvP, was normally not possible, but you could defeat someone by setting a monster on them.

It was a dishonorable act, but in this event, PvP was possible in the first place, and monsters were roaming the field as a third party. It was only natural to make good use of them.

"We can manage it somehow. Members with Rings of Teleportation have already headed for the enemy's Area Stone, leading a train of Undead. They managed to lure some rare monsters too, so I don't think it'll be an easy win for them."

"I hope it goes well. Miliara, you continue defending the vampire's mansion as you are."

"Understood!"

Ox cut the voice chat with Miliara and thought again about what to do.

(Parsha and her group were also supposed to be heading for the vampire's mansion first. But the battle hasn't started yet. So it should be fine to send a voice chat.)

With that thought, he sent a voice chat to Parsha.

"Parsha, can you hear me?"

"An angel's oracle. It is not to hear a voice, but for the naturally existing sounds to become the whispers of angels..."

"Save that for later."

"...How cold of you. Is there something you need?"

"I want to know Ronios's voice chat ID."

"Ronios? From Shooting Star?"

"Yeah, do you not know it?"

"I do know it. Though I've never used it."

"Then tell me."

"...I'm hesitant to give out someone's ID without permission. I'll contact Ronios myself. May I give her your ID?"

"That's fine with me."

"Then please wait a moment."

The voice chat with Parsha ended.

It was unclear if Ronios and her group were even logged in, but there was a high chance they were participating on this side. If he couldn't get in touch, Parsha would probably contact him again.

There were still many things to do, but for now, he had reached a stopping point. All that was left was to wait for reports, Ox sighed.

He thought to himself, what's the point of getting so serious about a game, but he did want to see the dynamic of a new major clan, considered weak, defeating a long-standing major clan.

Ox himself wasn't interested in winning or losing, but he didn't like seeing his subordinates and allies looked down on, even in a game. Besides, he owed Rauxal of the clan Imperial a debt from a real-world job. He hadn't told anyone, but there was a personal grudge there too.

(Even if we lose the event, if a situation arises where I can feel like I've beaten Rauxal, I'd be satisfied... but I wonder.)

As of yesterday, Hayato and the NPCs were often mentioned for their activity on the enemy side. That was because of the airship, but it wasn't as if the major clans hadn't been active.

Information had come in that the well-coordinated clan Imperial had gotten off the airship midway and fought a perfectly synchronized battle. If not for the airship, Imperial might have been the clan that stood out the most.

He wanted to clash with that clan properly at least once, and just as he thought that, a voice chat request came in.

"Ronios?"

"Hey, Ox, long time no see."

The voice that reached Ox's ears was a woman's. Ronios had her bangs covering her eyes, and with her slender build, she was often mistaken for a slim man, but on voice chat, that wasn't visible, so his only impression was that she was a woman.

He had never met Harrington, who was originally introduced as the leader, and Ronios in her butler's uniform was always the one who dealt with things. As for Cremola in her maid outfit, his only image of her was of a small animal chewing with its cheeks stuffed full of food.

Recalling that for a moment, he continued the voice chat.

"Yeah, it has been a while. So, I wanted to ask you..."

"Whoa there, let's not jump straight to business. Let's talk a bit. It seems a lot of people around me don't want to talk, so I'm starved for conversation."

"...Talk to Parsha later."

"Conversations with her are fun too, but I think I'll pass on that."

"I don't have much time, so I'm getting to the point."

"Alright, alright. So, what is it?"

"Can you get in contact with an NPC from the New Demon Lord's Army?"

"Before I answer that, can I ask why?"

"I want to confirm the victory conditions for this event."

"...I see. You suspect that even if you capture territory, you won't win the event."

Ox thought it was a relief that she was quick on the uptake. He felt that she had reached the same conclusion as him without him having to explain in detail.

In his usual work, he wouldn't just expect people to understand without saying everything, he would communicate down to the finest details, but he trusted Ronios's ability to reach a conclusion in a matter of seconds.

And so, Ox simply replied, "That's right."

"In that case, I'll try to contact them. I'll ask them to get in touch with you, Ox."

"That would be a help. By the way, are you and your group participating in the event?"

"No, we're not participating. We're just watching. Yesterday was fun. I thought Hayato was the same as ever."

"I thought you would be participating this time since you were doing all sorts of things in the Eastern Country."

"Well, you see, I was told off and warned not to get close to Hayato for a while."

"Told off? By who?"

"Jolth from Bandit and Ney from Kokuryu. Don't you think that's cruel?"

Jolth made sense. He had been looking out for Hayato for a while and had even publicly stated that if anyone messed with him, they would become his enemy. So Ronios had earned Jolth's anger.

But Ney from Kokuryu was the leader of Hayato's former clan. They were still on good terms, but she wasn't from a major clan, so even if she got angry at Ronios, it wasn't something worth mentioning by name.

It was more of a 'so what if she got angry' situation, but he inferred that she must have been quite angry for him to mention her name.

"Considering what you did to Hayato, I think that's only natural, don't you?"

"You too? No one takes my side in this matter. Even though Cremola and Harrington helped me, they say it's my fault and won't defend me. It's quite a problem."

Her tone was so light he wanted to ask if she was really troubled.

Buying the lot next to Hayato's base, abducting the NPC tamer's pet... even if it was to make Hayato get serious, she had meddled too much. A restraining order was a natural consequence.

"Even so..."

"Hm? What is it?"

"No, you used to have the air of a butler loyal to his master, but is this how you normally are? So carefree."

"This is indeed my true self. That was fun in its own way, so I could have kept up the act... but oh well. Now then, I'll contact them right away. But just so you know, I'll contact them, but I don't know if they'll actually get in touch with you."

"That's enough. I'm counting on you."

The voice chat with Ronios ended.

Nestor, who was nearby, slung his gun over his shoulder and looked at Ox.

"Were you talking to Ronios?"

"Yeah. I heard they had dealings with the New Demon Lord's Army before, so I decided to use that connection."

"So they're going to help us out."

"...They don't seem to be participating in the event, but I should have asked for that too. For some reason, I feel like we can't win this event without doing various things outside of the event."

"Various things like what?"

"Various things."

Probably, Hayato held the key. It would be quickest if they could talk, but he wouldn't give information to the enemy.

That aside, he also thought he should talk to both the old and new Demon Lords.

If things went well, a conversation with the New Demon Lord, or an audience in the context of this world, should be possible.

The problem was the old Demon Lord, but Hayato might refuse. Still, by going to Hayato's base outside the event, there might be some kind of reaction.

The New Demon Lord's Army still had more territory, but it was better to assume they were already being pushed back. In that case, Ox thought, they should take any measure they could.

After that, Ox reconfirmed the situation, but there were no major movements. Battles had started in the forest, but they were all small-scale and not in a situation where the tide of battle was likely to change.

The old Demon Lord's Army was having tamers ride double with others on their mounts to expand the effective range of Requiem. The ones carrying this out were Alvie and his group from Kiss of Death.

From the situation, it seemed they were setting up singers who could use Requiem from the enemy's Area Stone to the vampire's mansion, eliminating the ghost-type monsters, and expanding the Demon Lord's range of action.

Protecting them were the major clans. Bandit, Imperial, Over the Top, and Starkest.

He thought it would be fine for the Demon Lord to just wait near the Area Stone without going on the offensive, but for some reason, the enemy's Demon Lord was always trying to fight on the front lines.

(No, asking 'why' is a foolish question. It raises the morale of your allies. The NPCs are probably set up that way, and the players would be happy to see the Demon Lord they're supporting fighting on the front lines. There's probably no system like a status boost, but their tension will rise. And when that happens, their movements improve.)

Considering that, the New Demon Lord's Demon Lord was honestly not good. She had never appeared in an event battle, and in the battle at the Magic City Under, she had fled immediately. Many players lost morale because of that.

If he could meet her, he would ask her to fight more often... just as he thought that.

A discomforting high-pitched sound reached Ox's ears.

Wondering what it was, he turned around to see space splitting vertically, revealing a black void.

He hastily raised his shield, and a tan-skinned sister emerged from the space. Then, a samurai-style swordsman in a kimono and others in armor and robes came out one after another.

"Are you Ox?"

"Y-yeah, that's right... Are you from the New Demon Lord's Army?"

"Correct. I got a message from Ronios. Oh yes, my name is Hypnos. You can think of me as an executive of the New Demon Lord's Army."

And the samurai-style man just said, "I am Nanagi."

Despite them all being NPCs, they had a strange sense of presence, or rather, an aura of intimidation.

"Now then, I heard a rather interesting story from Ronios, so for the sake of winning this event, let's cooperate from now on."

Saying that, Hypnos smiled at Ox.