Far above the swirling tension blanketing the city's surface, the atmosphere inside Babel Tower felt considerably calmer, yet thick with psychological pressure. Apollo approached Hestia, who sat alone among the crowd of other gods.
His hair had been arranged to perfection for the grand occasion, every strand gleaming under the light of the room. He approached Hestia's seat with a satisfied smile already on his lips, as though victory were already in his grasp before the battle had even begun.
"..."
Hestia didn't respond in the slightest. The petite goddess simply kept her back to Apollo, her eyes fixed rigidly on the personal Divine Mirror floating before her, her fingers gripping the fabric of her dress tightly.
"My, how cold."
Apollo shrugged casually, not the least bit offended by her icy attitude. He began making his way back to his own seat, his steps unhurried, radiating a confidence bordering on arrogance.
"We're just seconds away from noon!"
The voice of the commentator, Ibri Achaa, filled the thirtieth floor through the broadcast, breaking the taut silence.
A wave of cheers rolled through the plaza in front of the Guild, echoing all the way to the walls of Babel Tower. The eyes of adventurers, bar owners and their staff, merchants, and gods alike were all fixed on the flickering images within the Divine Mirrors. Breath was held in unison.
Then—
*DONG!*
"The War Game has begun!"
A loud, resonant bell rang out sharply, its vibration felt to the bone, marking the official start of the battle between the two Familias.
◆━⊰✿✧✿⊱━◆
At that same moment, inside the castle ruins serving as the arena, the distant toll of the War Game's opening bell reached them faintly through the Divine Mirrors.
Compared to the breathless atmosphere in Orario, the battlefield itself seemed far less satisfying — tending even toward quiet.
Because this was a castle siege, the time limit had been set at three days. Most of Apollo Familia's members believed their opponents' strategy would simply be to wait until the final day, when their concentration would be at its lowest, given that Hestia Familia lacked the numbers to storm the castle directly.
As long as they kept watch against every attack, they should be perfectly fine where they were. There was no need to rush.
The atmosphere inside the castle walls was thoroughly relaxed — some members even looked bored.
"Hey, Luan. Go to the watch post."
An officer of Apollo Familia pointed toward the stairs with a listless gesture.
"Why should I?!"
Luan Espele complained loudly. He had been ordered by his superior to leave the interior of the castle, which had been cleared and carefully arranged for their comfort.
"Your eyesight is good, isn't it? Since you can't fight, do a few rounds along the walls like you did yesterday. Make yourself useful while you can." The officer answered without even looking at him.
The castle itself turned out to be extremely wide — large enough that a hundred people would struggle to maintain constant visual coverage of its perimeter. They would always be undermanned somewhere if they didn't rotate.
Luan had no desire to leave the comfort of the castle interior, but he reluctantly complied with the order to avoid punishment.
He could hear the others laughing at him as he closed the door to the main room and climbed the cold stone staircase up to the top of the walls. The wind blew stronger at this height.
"Hey, Luan. What are you doing up here?"
"...Keeping watch."
Two archers on patrol spotted him immediately when Luan appeared on the northern edge of the wall. Both of them snickered the moment they heard that, knowing exactly what had happened to the non-combatant.
Luan turned his back to them and looked out over the vast northern plain.
There was almost nothing out there. A few trees and scattered chunks of rock here and there, but nowhere anyone could hide effectively. The grassland stretched from the north and spread out to the east. A river flowed past the castle to the south, and the edge of a forest was visible to the west.
A gust of wind passed through his hair as he squinted toward the north, when Luan heard voices coming from behind him.
"Magic is really the only real threat."
"What are you worried about? The big guy here has some gifts for anyone who comes close."
A Beastman stroked his longbow and bared his fangs with a wide grin, completely dismissing the other archer's caution.
The power and range of all Magic was determined by the length of its triggering chant. The defensive walls were thick and solid enough that only an extraordinarily powerful type of Magic would have any hope of causing damage to them, let alone breaching them. Magic requiring a long chant would be the enemy's only viable option.
Any Mage who came within arrow range would be met with a rain of arrows long before they could finish reciting their chant. The Beastman wasn't worried in the slightest — he even looked eager for a target.
"Tsk."
Luan clicked his tongue in distaste, knowing the two of them had covered everything with sheer arrogance. He had been given a meaningless task just to fill his time.
◆━⊰✿✧✿⊱━◆
On the other side.
Standing on an elevated patch of ground covered in dense shrubbery, Kei observed the castle from a distance of eight hundred meters through a specialized scope.
"Look at those smug expressions. They're not taking this seriously at all. They're convinced victory is already in their hands."
Lowering the scope, Kei pursed her lips, the corners of her mouth curving upward into a thin smirk.
"From their perspective, a hundred versus six does seem lopsided. Based on that, you really can't blame their confidence. But..."
A gust of wind swept over her, lifting her white hair back behind her, making Kei look genuinely heroic in this moment under the afternoon sun.
"Let me show them that true strength lies not in quantity, but in quality!"
Recalling Charlie, who in his world of origin — one that had entered a post-apocalyptic era — had been capable of exterminating billions of monsters single-handedly, Kei felt not the slightest trepidation. Her confidence in that man was absolute.
"Alright. Let's begin. Follow the plan.*
Kei retrieved the special weapon that man had prepared for this War Game. From the Space-Time Cache bracelet on her wrist, the storage space opened briefly.
*SHING!*
In an instant, a weapon that transcended the age of this world made its first appearance within it.
Its long barrel, a deep jet black, seemed to swallow the surrounding light — standing upright as a cold monument to destruction. At the end of the barrel, a large muzzle brake was fitted to dampen the tremendous recoil as a .50 caliber round was fired. A large optical scope sat solidly mounted on top, the predator's eye capable of locking onto a target's fate from thousands of meters away. The stock was minimalist yet functional, built from an adjustable metal frame that provided the stability a sniper needed when holding their breath for the shot.
This was an extremely rare anti-materiel sniper rifle — the PGM Hécate II.
Without delay, Kei dropped into a prone position on the grassy ground, her eye lining up with the scope with sharp focus. Her breathing steadied, her heartbeat slowed.
"Feel the pain of childbirth!"
Kei activated the only magic she possessed that could be used instantly without a chant, channeling Mana into the weapon's mechanism.
"Myriad Curse!"
*BANG!*
The sharp crack of an explosion rang out — but not the sound of iron on iron. A bullet composed of compressed magic shot forward at 825 meters per second toward a Beastman archer who had been boasting on top of the wall moments before.
At that terrifying speed, he had no time to react. His ears hadn't even registered the sound of the round cutting through the air.
"ARGHHHH!!!"
A pitiful shriek, like a pig being slaughtered, shattered the tranquility of the castle.
The Beastman crumpled onto the stone floor like a shrimp, his face twisted into an expression of suffering beyond words, cold sweat instantly drenching his entire body. A pain resembling the violent contractions of childbirth assaulted his entire nervous system.
"Enemy attack!"
The archers on the castle wall snapped to high alert, bows raised. Unfortunately, they could not see the attacker anywhere. There was no smoke, no trace of the Mana signatures they were used to.
*BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!*
Kei fired three more shots in rapid succession with fast, efficient bolt-action movements. Each round connected accurately with a different target.
"ARGHHHH!!!"
"URYAAAA!!!"
"GYAAAAA!"
"MAMA!"
Within seconds, the line of archers on the northern wall experienced the extraordinary sensation of Myriad Curse — a simulated pain of childbirth so overwhelming it would bring even the toughest man to his knees. Even the unfortunate Luan was not spared from Kei's sights.
"Mission accomplished. Next, it's that perverted Elf's turn."
Through the scope, Kei could see the panic spreading among Apollo Familia's members as they scrambled to understand where the attack was coming from. They were running for cover and abandoning their posts.
"Charlie-san always has the most creative ideas. He even developed a weapon like this."
When Charlie had handed the PGM Hécate II over to her, Kei had initially thought it was excessive. After all, killing was prohibited in a War Game. But after he explained that the sniper rifle had been modified to serve as a medium for channeling her magic — and that it left no lethal physical wounds — she accepted it with great enthusiasm.
This was the perfect weapon for incapacitating without killing.
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