Ch.36[Chapter 36] Preliminary Skirmish

[(RED) War expansion will be completed in 10 minutes for the Red team. Complete your deployment.]

“What did you say?”

The Tentacle Explorer’s side, Stage 2 waiting room.

The second commander, Plague Bishop Plagius, frowned at the war expansion that came faster than predicted.

His expression was clearly visible through the pus-filled bandages wrapped around his entire body.

“Intelligence Chief! Still no communication?”

“W-well…”

A troubled expression showed beneath the hood of the person called Intelligence Chief.

It seemed both sides had come prepared to grind their teeth, each having deployed personnel capable of controlling battlefield information.

The Intelligence Chief’s information gathering and concealment abilities were among the best, but the opposing side undoubtedly possessed even higher-level information concealment capabilities.

To the point where they couldn’t even identify who was handling the opponent’s information.

Plagius sighed. An ominous green wind mixed with his breath and dispersed into the air.

They had no information about the battlefield.

This inevitably meant they would have to formulate strategies based solely on predictions, without knowing the opponent’s intentions.

“We have no choice. We’ll have to strategize in a way that’s advantageous to us.”

If there was any consolation, it was that the Tentacle Explorer had deployed clans closely aligned with him in the early stages.

Plagius ignored the system notification that only 7 minutes remained and checked the personnel in Stage 2.

…

[(BLUE) War expansion has begun. You have 20 minutes to formulate your strategy.]

In the Giant of Hundread Hands’ waiting room, there was rather a feeling that what was expected had arrived.

Though it was a bit faster than usual, Dick Stacy, the Blue team’s Stage 2 commander, looked in the mirror, swept back his fiery beautiful red hair, and put on his officer’s hat.

In the mirror was a girl with fierce slanted eyes and pale skin covered in freckles, smiling.

“How do I look, v.a.l.l.o.c.? Not bad, right?”

Stacy smiled, narrowing her eyes at the demon visible through the mirror.

Though she still had a childish appearance, she looked somewhat like a soldier in her brown officer’s uniform with a blue band armband.

“Twenty minutes. Stacy, twenty minutes.”

V.a.l.l.o.c. growled, fondling the whip in his hand.

The rusty but sharp blades made a dull sound as they followed the movement of the whip.

“Everyone has their own tempo, v.a.l.l.o.c.”

Stacy put a cigar in her mouth in a completely relaxed posture.

V.a.l.l.o.c. frowned at the incongruous combination of a childlike appearance and smoking, but didn’t dare point it out.

After all, Stacy’s age was much greater than her appearance suggested.

“Maintaining tempo is essential for victory. The moment my tempo falls out of sync with others, everything falls apart.”

Stacy expertly blew out cigar smoke while operating a device with numerous antennas placed under the mirror.

She turned the flat, round knob to move the arrow to where it said 127.3 Dhz, and the device began to emit crackling sounds along with battlefield noises.

“The communications officer did a good job with the installation. The sound quality is quite good.”

V.a.l.l.o.c. almost commented on how Stacy could call the mostly crackling, almost noise-like sound “good quality,” but Stacy spoke first.

“Hmm. Hill 3. Hill 1. Our main force is at Hill 3. Enemy’s main force also at Hill 3… Currently the main battlefield is Hill 3. Fortification? Not a bad strategy for Strelch.”

Stacy inferred the battlefield situation from the words flowing from the device.

“This is why they call you a genius.”

V.a.l.l.o.c. clicked his tongue loudly in amazement.

Stacy was a genius. She never forgot anything she heard, even nonsense, and anything she read was perfectly stored and recreated in her mind.

Above all, the reason she was called a genius was her instinctive ability to use that information well.

After acquiring and analyzing information, she interpreted and manipulated it to her advantage.

That was exactly who Stacy was.

Even now.

After realizing she couldn’t obtain information about the battlefield situation, Stacy suddenly searched for and combined various objects within the Stage 2 waiting room.

She created an eavesdropping device by combining a fork and plate, cassette tape and two ruby fragments, and curtains and goldfish food.

This was done because she remembered that a communications officer had gone to Stage 1.

Although she couldn’t access enemy information due to the information blockade spread across the battlefield, it was enough to steal information from her own forces.

“Good. It seems the situation is favorable for our forces. Perfect conditions for me to run wild.”

Stacy smiled brightly like a child. A rosy flush appeared on her pale cheeks.

[(ALL) Star Tentacle Explorer has completed war expansion quickly through Twisted Enlightenment!]

[(ALL) The battlefield is expanding! One hill and additional terrain will be connected.]

Until she faced an unexpected situation.

Stacy frowned.

…

“Quickly move the ammunition to the walls! The longer our return fire is delayed, the more dangerous the walls become!”

Strelch’s voice was completely hoarse, but he shouted until blood came from his metallic voice.

Strelch’s mind was so focused that he was considering dying once and reviving again.

But Strelch smiled.

The war expansion would be completed soon.

Then he could pressure the enemy using the fortress as a center point.

The top of the wall was already in shambles.

When parts of the wall collapsed due to enemy characteristics, those spots were filled with the corpses of allies.

The frozen corpses served as bricks themselves, creating makeshift walls.

The stairs were being repaired for the 17th time due to continuous infiltration and sabotage by enemy special forces, and communications officers and engineers were coming and going to establish a second line of defense in case the outer wall was breached.

But the people in the fortress smiled.

“Just hold on a little longer until the war expansion is complete! Hold out until reinforcements arrive!”

Thanks to the belief that they could win if they just waited a little longer.

But that belief was soon shattered.

[(ALL) Star Tentacle Explorer has completed war expansion quickly through Twisted Enlightenment!]

[(ALL) The battlefield is expanding! One hill and additional terrain will be connected.]

[(ALL) The additional hill will be generated next to Hill 3, and the additional terrain will be generated between the Giant of Hundread Hands’ base and the hills.]

The Tentacle Explorer had made the first move.

“Damn it.”

Strelch began to seriously consider whether to abandon the fortress.

…

At the Tentacle Explorer’s base, personnel who had been waiting in the Stage 2 waiting room began to be summoned one by one.

The first to step onto the battlefield was a man with black skin dressed as a magician.

“Ah, haha.”

The black magician, with a skull painted on his face using white fluorescent paint, laughed as he looked at the battlefield.

Occasionally his shoulder would jerk, but it seemed not to move of his own volition.

“Calm down, Night Magician.”

The next to be summoned was Plague Bishop Plagius.

As soon as he was summoned, Plagius tried to calm the Night Magician who had rushed ahead of him.

Having lost three chances to participate as punishment for breaking the rules last time, the Night Magician was half-crazed with joy at his return.

While Plagius understood his feelings, he was still the commander.

For now, it’s not too late to move after assessing the situation. That’s what Plagius thought.

“Intelligence Chief. Gather information immediately. I’ll give you 30 seconds.”

“Already done.”

The Intelligence Chief activated his ability and instantly grasped the battle situation.

While they couldn’t know in the waiting room, once they set foot directly on the battlefield, further information disruption was meaningless.

The Intelligence Chief was more capable in actual combat, after all.

“Hills 1 and 3 seem to have fallen to the enemy. Hill 2 is ours, and the newly created Hill 4 is still empty. There’s a major battle at Hill 3. The enemy appears to be building a fortress and holding out… It seems we are indeed needed in this situation.”

Having received the information summary instantly, Plagius rewrapped his bandages that were fluttering in the rough, cold wind.

“We’re heading to Hill 4. The fact that they’re still fighting means the enemy’s resistance is fierce, but considering the fortress, it also means we’re fighting well enough. It would be better to occupy Hills 2 and 4 and pressure Hill 3 from both sides.”

“Let’s do that.”

The new commander Plague Bishop Plagius and the Intelligence Chief led the reinforcements toward Hill 4.

The Night Magician followed behind them, grinning.

Still unable to control his twisting body.

…

Giant of Hundread Hands’ Stage 2 waiting room.

“The enemy has been reinforced first. This means our strategy won’t work.”

V.a.l.l.o.c. was passionately arguing with Stacy, who was deep in thought.

“We have 5 minutes left. Give me a chance to go to the front. The plan to move together is good, but we need to support the fortress first.”

V.a.l.l.o.c.’s face was terribly distorted as he tried to persuade her. It was evidence of how strangely the situation was unfolding.

‘Enemy behind the fortress! Enemy reinforcements-‘

‘Abandon the wall- Immediately- Second line of defense-‘

‘If we use divine power-‘

Stacy was lost in thought.

But she couldn’t deliberate for long.

In the end, Stacy decided to adopt v.a.l.l.o.c.’s plan.

As if she could tolerate the variable of v.a.l.l.o.c. in her grand plan.