Read ahead on my P@treon...
p@treon.com/MayaMatengele01
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Nangou Haruya was not running, but sprinting...
"I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die! This is totally cheating! How can she use that kind of ability to match the Divine Beasts in this virtual world?! I object to this game!"
~Sorry, but the game itself is fair. It's just that some races have inherent advantages. If this were in the ocean, you Sirens would definitely have the upper hand, right? Besides, at the start of the game, didn't everyone have confidence in their victory?~
"Are you misunderstanding something, old man Ino?! The ones representing the Sirens in this game are an Immanity and a Dhampir!"
Even though Haruya protested, it didn't seem to change anything. It was clear that the game wouldn't be stopped midway.
If only they had taken precautions earlier, like setting up a mechanism to forcibly terminate the game in case of an emergency...
But such a safety measure would also render the game meaningless, as it wouldn't allow them to become the representatives of the three races.
Simply put, the greater the potential reward, the greater the risk.
Haruya retreated once again, trying to avoid the Shrine Priestess and her Queen piece. Going head-to-head with them was nothing short of suicidal.
At this point, Haruya had no idea what Sora and Shiro would do next.
"Regardless, I'll play more defensively from now on, focusing entirely on defense."
This was the conclusion Haruya reached after some thought. In fact, many people would understand this logic.
If direct confrontation with the enemy offers no advantage or chance of victory, then opting for a defensive strategy and waiting for an opportunity to counterattack is the way to go.
Just then, as Haruya was running back, he caught a whiff of danger.
He stopped in his tracks and looked up to the right, where a glowing dot appeared in mid-air.
Then, the dot slowly expanded... it was an energy spear...
"SHIT! Damn it!"
Judging from the direction, it was coming from Sora and Shiro's side!
As the spear got closer, Haruya decided not to immediately activate his Cheat Ability…
His reasoning was simple: he wanted to understand the nature of this attack and its exact impact. In short, it was his insatiable curiosity…
This was why Haruya had managed to maintain his sanity despite dying repeatedly.
Well, whether he was truly sane was still up for debate. After all, who would want to figure out what killed them?
It was painful, and not something anyone could easily accept.
But Haruya was different. He stopped, thinking that the energy spear must have been launched by one of the Divine Beasts.
The next moment, the energy spear struck the ground.
The violent impact destroyed everything in its path... trees, mountains, rivers, and Haruya, who had been standing under a tree.
His virtual consciousness ended there...
Feeling the extent of the destruction, Haruya figured out how to avoid it...
...
<< Checkpoint: Reload >>
Returning to the moment before Sora and Shiro's attack, Haruya found a depression in the ground while running.
If he had activated his ability before the attack, he probably wouldn't have known where to hide.
In that case, he would have had to die repeatedly…
Crouching in the depression, the ground shook as rocks fell and trees shattered around him.
After a while, the shockwave from the energy spear subsided, and Haruya finally let out a sigh of relief.
Whether defending or attacking, it always seemed like he was the one getting eliminated.
"Is Plum still not done yet?" Haruya glanced back at the forest, wondering how Plum was doing.
Looking around, Haruya's gaze returned to the floating chessboard in front of him. Half the game had already passed, and it was about to enter the most chaotic and intense phase.
He decided to move the Rook out to prevent the Shrine Priestess from flanking and attacking the King.
Haruya's plan remained the same: defend, then counterattack.
That said, the current situation was far from ideal.
Both Sora and Shiro, as well as Izuna and the Shrine Priestess, were gradually gaining the upper hand.
When it was Haruya's turn, he moved the Rook from its position to the left.
There, it encountered Sora and Shiro's Pawn.
Both were dragon-like Divine Beasts, but Haruya's Rook was clearly larger and more imposing than Sora and Shiro's Pawn.
"Tear it apart!" Without realizing it, Haruya let out a somewhat chuunibyou-esque shout...
The dragon's claws shredded the Pawn's body.
The turn ended, and it was now the Shrine Priestess's turn...
"This is bad!" At that moment, Plum came running out from the mountains behind them, carrying a bunch of fruits and leaves, "Why did you make me collect all this stuff, Haru-kun? We've been tricked! Sora and Shiro are closing in from that side, and the Shrine Priestess is on the other side. In a way, we're surrounded. We're doomed, doomed!"
"Shut up, Plum. Now, tie these things together with leaves and branches, then crush the juice and sprinkle it on the rocks." Haruya instructed.
"Huh? Are we making rock salad? I'm not eating that. I only want Haru-kun's saliva."
"I said shut up…"
Their turn ended, and it was now the Shrine Priestess's turn.
The two of them worked together to carry out Haruya's plan, rushing forward with a pile of rocks...
Not far away, the golden-haired Shrine Priestess, sitting atop her Queen Divine Beast, laughed as she asked, "What are you doing? Giving up?"
"I'm going to take out your Queen with this move." She added.
"If you can." Haruya taunted.
The Shrine Priestess hesitated for a moment. To her, this seemed like nothing more than Haruya bluffing.
After glancing at the chessboard, the Shrine Priestess made the move she had mentioned earlier.
The Werebeasts' Queen began its attack.
Faced with attacks from both sides, Haruya shouted, "Throw them now!"
The two of them, Haruya and Plum, hurled the juice-covered rocks before the Werebeasts' Queen Divine Beast could act.
The Warbeasts' Queen Divine Beast was about to attack, but its nose twitched when it saw the rocks. Its eyes lost their sharpness, and it let out a whimper like a puppy.
*ROAARRR–* *Whimper~*
Just like that, it pounced on the rocks that emitted the fragrant juice.
The ground shook as it ran, but the scene wasn't as majestic as one might expect.
Wagging its tail and sniffing the scent, it chased after the rocks Haruya and Plum had thrown.
Beside them, Plum's expression was somewhat ambiguous, but his hands didn't stop.
Not just the Werebeasts' Queen, but Haruya's Queen also ran out, and the two giant Divine Beasts began fighting over the juice-covered rocks.
Like puppies…
The attack from the Werebeasts' Queen Divine Beast was forcibly halted.
""What the hell is this?!!""
As expected, the spectators erupted in humorous remarks...