Member nation of the United Continental Alliance. Territory of the El-Nar Spirit Covenant Union.
Provisional defensive fortress and primary defensive line.
A structure reminiscent of the elven defensive fortress once shattered by succubi. On this front line, multiple defensive strongholds several times larger had been constructed.
On the plains south of the nearby elven cities, the edifice built there gave an almost bizarre impression to all who beheld it.
"Umm, now that's trouble. For the King of Ruin to resort to such a strategy... What might happen? Even I'm so frightened I might leak a little ♥"
On the uppermost floor of the defensive fortress, taking position in the spot with the clearest view, the succubus witch Vagia lamented her own blunder.
Her gaze was fixed on Mynoghra's territory, shrouded in pitch-black veils. The massive spell Takuto Ira unleashed during the full-camp meeting had expanded to cover nearly the entire Dark Continent, drawing a boundary that permitted no interference from either side.
The United Continental Alliance, of course, hadn't merely been sitting idle. Until this very moment, they had been trying every conceivable means to find a way to break through the spell.
The current state of affairs clearly demonstrated the result of those efforts.
It was obvious they had been outmaneuvered by a step. It was only natural that anxiety now stirred within Vagia.
"Your Majesty, but there's no problem, is there? Our power is overwhelming. That was made clear even by the King of Ruin fleeing that meeting. No matter how much time they take, it should be impossible to overturn this gap."
"That's right, indeed. If the enemy has time, so do we. Already, Mr. H's weapons and armor have been distributed to all our elves and succubi. Even Quolia has fully transitioned to a war footing within this past year. Now, all that remains is to await our day of victory."
Her elite subordinates offered reassurance to Vagia's anxiety. Clad in the top-tier equipment among what Mr. H had provided, they were the main fighting force of the succubus faction.
As Noble Succubus, a rare aristocratic class among succubi, they held a position analogous to Atou within Mynoghra, or Erakino within the TRPG faction.
In short, they were warriors capable of facing a thousand foes each.
They stood in a completely different league from ordinary succubi. These very individuals now evaluated the war's outcome with words brimming with confidence.
"Yes... yes, that's right..."
Vagia nodded as if considering their words, while murmuring inwardly to herself.
(But, one year...)
That precious intelligence regarding the one-year timeframe had fortunately been delivered by the Holy Maiden serving as the vessel within Quolia.
Maintaining a war footing with no clear end in sight was difficult even for Vagia, though she was inwardly grateful—though she'd never admit it—that her troops' morale held at all. The real problem was time. Takuto Ira, who was supposed to have been cornered and subdued in one decisive move at that meeting of all factions, had slipped away. Now he was undoubtedly rallying forces to stand against her. The fact that he'd escaped made Vagia break into a cold sweat. Her subordinates and Quolia seemed buoyed by their faction's overwhelming military strength, but a year was more than enough time for someone to scheme. Yet Vagia had no intention of voicing her concerns here. No matter how many times she explained, it was difficult to convince the fundamentally optimistic Succubi, and furthermore, the fact that the Holy Continental Alliance was a dominant military power was an unshakable truth. In truth, the judgment of her two guards—that no matter what Takuto Ira did in a year, the disparity in their forces was insurmountable—was more logical than Vagia's own assessment of the unknown preparations he might make. But her opponent was the King of Ruin, Takuto Ira. Vagia shook her head and forced a smile. It felt like she was too accustomed to playing this particular role, the character she projected for show. Still, she could say with confidence that this version was more truly "her." Above all, this was the role she had chosen to play. So—
"Oh my ♥ I was worrying for nothing, wasn't I? With this gloomy mood, I can't possibly charm the gentlemen, can I? Come now, it's almost time! Everyone~! Are you ready? ♥"
She played the part of Vagia, the Chaste Witch, to fulfill her contract with the God of Expansion. To deliver her love to the entire cosmos.
"Waaaaaaiiiitttt!!!" the Succubi cheered in unison.
They were all beautiful, well-mannered, true to their desires, and above all, powerful. The army Vagia had built did not devote all its abilities solely to beguiling men. Many were formidable warriors equipped with the weapons and armor provided by their collaborator, H. Moreover, she had carefully reviewed and prepared magical cards from the trading card game that could prove effective in this coming battle. The allied Holy Knights had also been granted these benefits, putting them in a state of perfect readiness. And though their numbers had dwindled, the other side still had a Saintess.
While it's troubling that our cooperation with the Three Saintesses of the Elves on this side hasn't gone particularly smoothly, in terms of sheer military strength, we have more than enough. Moreover, Vagia has already once overwhelmed Takuto Ira and You with her lethal combo. No matter how we reorganize our forces, it might not be enough.
But—.
"My woman's intuition is screaming at me. There's going to be a fierce clash ahead, you know ♥"
(I must steel myself now, Vagia. If I don't win here, it's all over...)
She murmurs to herself as if trying to convince her own heart. Was she excited for the imminent great war, or did the tension naturally manifest as a defense mechanism...
Vagia's expression shifted from a soft, gentle, and lewd look to a gruesome, ferocious grin.
Eventually—
As if addressing every faction gathered on this continent,
As if the gods gazing down upon the board were making their declaration,
As if every soul heading into battle had cried out from its depths,
...the veil of darkness vanished,
—and that moment arrived.
=Message===
The Great War has begun.
―――
=Message===
The Session (Great War) is now beginning.
Participants, do not forget your greetings.
―――
=Message===
The very soul trembles.
It seems *The Great War* has begun.
―――
=Message===
It is a day of destiny.
All fight for their pride.
The Great War has begun.
―――
=Message===
Scenario: The Endless Final Battle
You have entered the Great War route.
―――
The Great War, engulfing two continents....
It has finally begun.
◇ ◇ ◇
The opening of the Great War was dramatic, shocking, and overwhelming.
The Veil of Darkness vanishes, and the armies of ruin appear.
The Succubi, a fighting force of the ADV faction and the mainstay of the Orthodox Continental Alliance, had never once doubted their overwhelming power.
Ravage and conquer. Invade and expand.
In accordance with the commands of their patron god, the God of Expansion, they spread their wings wide, driven by a desire for domination now carved into their very instincts, ready to devour all in their path. But their movements halted for a single instant. Those who stared ahead were struck dumb, momentarily convinced they had wandered into a dreamscape.
"What the hell is that...?"
The words murmured by a nameless Succubus the moment battle was joined gave voice to what every soul witnessing that sight was thinking.
"Impossible! How can such a thing exist!?"
Vagia, Queen of the Succubi. Her tall, slender confidant—a Noble Succubus—screamed the words. Another confidant, a younger-looking Noble Succubus, recoiled in fear, stepping backward, her body trembling in anticipation of the impact to come.
What filled their eyes was an impossible sight.
No matter how one reasoned it, it defied all prediction. Even after examining every conceivable possibility, testing and verifying every conceivable method, this was something that should never have emerged. Yet here it was, bearing down on them in this very moment as a concrete, undeniable threat.
Vagia, who had been commanding her forces from atop the fortress, was equally aghast.
She had not presumed to underestimate the enemy's strength or resilience.
Without a moment of complacency, she had deployed her full might, and had spent no small amount of cost and time constructing the defensive fortress in order to absorb and counter the enemy's inevitable charge.
Everything had been prepared to perfection.
Guns, magic, monsters—even players, she had the preparation and confidence to shatter them all.
But this was going too far.
To suggest they should have accounted for this was simply unreasonable.
The thing before them—colossal beyond reason, something that had no business existing on land—screamed and roared with laughter, as though driven mad by some particularly dangerous reagent.
"Ahahahaha! I can see a pink elephant! A pink elephaaaant!"
With a twisted voice, an unpleasant voice, a voice that creaked and groaned,
Yes, it screamed.
—The colossal ship.
The galleon, with pulsing red veins like poisoned arteries running across its white hull, plowed forward.
The ultimate trump card deployed by Takuto Ira, prepared by Mynoghra—a grotesque fusion of the special hero known as the "Iridescent Cosmic Mushroom," now a ship that swept across all land as if conquering an ocean.
"Oh, elephant. The pink elephant is so cute! Let's go together!!"
As the ship advanced across the inland sea, repeating its utterly sane-less babble, there was no one who could stop it. The choice of a grassland for the final battle, made to avoid guerrilla warfare in the forest, only made the situation worse.
Compared to beings of supernatural power, its speed was sluggish, yet it still moved faster than any ordinary soldier could chase.
With a speed absurd for its size, its massive bulk slammed straight ahead.
"If... if this continues, it will crash into the fortress!" screamed a young-looking Succubus. There was no time to explain the obvious, but her words served to snap the dazed Succubus garrison out of their stupor at the unrealistic sight.
"Fire counter-magic! Support units, assault units—everyone, pour every last attack you have onto that thing!"
A tall Succubus gave the order.
High-ranking Succubus hurried to chant spells.
Whether derived from Lord H's equipment, innate Succubus abilities, or aided by elf cooperation, colorful attacks flew toward the frenzied Merurulian.
"Aaaaaaaaa! Mushroomeeee! I need more mushrooms, elephant! Giive me mushrooooms!!"
As the white colossus drew closer, the maddened shrieks grew louder and louder.
Vagia watched the scene unfold, beads of sweat streaming down her forehead.
I had heard that narcotics could dull pain and sensation, strip away the mind's limiters, and unleash terrifying power—and the scene unfolding before me was proof of that in the most literal sense.
The expression "drug addicts" was far too polite for what I was witnessing.
"The attacks aren't working!"
"Flank them! A frontal assault is suicide! Get aboard the deck!"
What the hell is that thing? I've never seen anything like it—never faced anything like it. The fervor that had gripped the Succubus ranks moments ago was draining away as if it had been a lie. Doused in ice water, the Succubus forces fell silent or shrieked in terror.
But the Succubus faction was no mere rabble; their ranks boasted warriors capable of cutting down a thousand men single-handedly. They were shaken, certainly, but their discipline was too deep to collapse over something like this.
Possessing the gift of flight, they followed their commanders' orders—avoiding the frontal approach and choosing instead to strike from above and from the flanks to destroy the Merurian.
Countless Succubus descended from the skies on either side in elliptical trajectories.
But would Takuto Ira not have anticipated such a basic tactical maneuver? Would he not have prepared a counter for something so predictable?
The answer was, naturally, no.
"Ohhh! I'm getting going! The mushrooms are getting going, Mister Pink Elephant! Come, take my hand! Let's go see the sea together, let the waves rock us gently as your adorable trunk strokes our hull! Ahh, Elephant! Don't, Elephant! That's too much!!"
Accompanied by the most vulgar conceivable words, a fierce buzzing like swarming insects roared through the air. Simultaneously, rays of light shot forth from the Merurian, and the Succubus they touched burst into sprays of blood as they plummeted downward.
No—"plummeted" was far too gentle a word. "Shattered on the spot" would be more accurate.
I could tell these were devastatingly powerful firearms, but what kind of firepower did it take to accomplish something like that?
They were lower-rank Succubus, yes—but still Succubus. And enhanced ones at that...
The seemingly bottomless depth of the forces Takuto Ira had prepared was spreading bewilderment and fear ever wider among the Succubus ranks.
"Everyone, fly away now~! Stay on the ground like this and you'll be picked off in no time, ♥"
At Vagia's languid words, the Succubus forces recovered some composure. They all hurried to take flight from the fortress.
The defensive line visible below was torn apart like scraps of paper.
Even the magic barriers layered multiple times over, the dug trenches and palisades—none of it could withstand the charge of that colossal body. Of course, the Succubus and elves deployed on the surface were desperately counterattacking, but the sheer firepower kept them from closing in, and their immense size meant they were dealing little real damage. A scene straight from hell was unfolding. Within just minutes of the battle's start, everything had been thrown into utter chaos. But the true hell was far from over. Because this was a grand war involving every faction...
"Urgent report! An unexpected assault! Demons—demons have appeared! We are being attacked from the rear! The capital and the Mana Source defensive strongholds are under simultaneous attack!! Estimated enemy strength includes players and multiple Noble-class entities!!"
"A rescue request from the Holy Kingdom Quolia Defense Forces! Defections are spreading. Holy knights armed with weapons are turning on each other!"
"Additional report! At the Quolia defense line, confirmed participation of players, a saint, and a witch! Quolia is countering with its own saint, but is at a disadvantage due to unknown abilities!"
"You're kidding—!!"
The two escorts' expressions had grown increasingly pale. They had realized the sudden turn of events. On top of that, the attacks were happening simultaneously across multiple fronts. Given the desperation in those voices, it was easy to surmise that assaults of similar scale were taking place here as well. But Vagia clenched her teeth simultaneously. Because the reports contained one extremely troublesome piece of information. (They've seized the Mana Sources...! Tsk, this means the magic cards are completely useless!) Vagia had already stripped the power source of the Trading Card Faction—their cards themselves. Originally, this wasn't a game she knew, so she'd struggled to understand the operations and systems, but she should have gained enough power and comprehension to tilt this battle in her favor. But all of that now came to nothing. The "Seven God Kings" card game utilized Mana Sources to activate various effects, and if its magic source was captured, all actions became impossible.
However, there was one strange thing.
Aside from the World Tree of the capital—a famous mana source—the locations of other mana sources or places where mana crystallizes were supposed to be kept secret. That information was top-secret, known only to certain Succubi or elves under the highest levels of classification. Under normal circumstances, it was the Achilles' heel no one should ever know about.
How did they find out!? How did they investigate!?
Those words repeat over and over, but no answer emerges.
Perhaps they used some ability to obtain the knowledge, but there's no time or room to entertain such thoughts.
Because...
"Oh no, this is hopeless..."
The ship had finally reached its destination.
Almost simultaneously with Vagia's half-hearted murmur, the giant white vessel, in motion, collided with the fortress amid a burst of insane laughter.
The elf-crafted defensive and counter-offensive arrays prepared by the fortress were utterly destroyed in this single strike. The sturdy fortress, built from precious stone and ancient trees blessed by spirits, was reduced to a mountain of rubble.
The roar of explosions and clouds of dust. Screams and shrieks.
The battlefield was now in such chaos that further coordinated military action by either side seemed impossible.
Everything was in disarray; everything was utter pandemonium.
Each combatant attacked whatever enemy they spotted, expending all their strength to annihilate their foe.
"Ah, the pink elephant... You were good today too, you."
The area where the massive masses had collided was a picture of utter misery.
The Mellurian was barely holding its original form, but its head section was severely damaged, and with several holes in its flanks, movement was impossible.
As for the fortress, the central core housing its operational heart was largely destroyed. At best, some stone walls and a few warehouses or sheds remained, their presence largely inconsequential.
Having taken to the air to survey the situation, Vagia descended onto the peak of the rubble mountain.
Though twisted, a portion of the fortress spire remained intact, standing at a height where one could just see the deck of the ship.
Her gaze fixed upon the Melurian.
Unlike her, her eyes held urgency and shock, yet also a powerful will and fighting spirit.
Her focus landed on the man she deemed the most dangerous in this world.
"Hey there, Virtuous Witch Vagia. An invitation for a rematch. Won't you dance with me?"
"A passionate invitation♥ I'd be a fool not to accept. But can I pull it off?"
Witch Vagia tossed a light retort at Takuto Ira, who stood on the shattered, ruined deck as if nothing had happened, provoking her.
She was the only one here who could stop this man. She knew it.
That resolve held firm within Vagia.
"I'm terribly good at keeping gentlemen on their toes♥"
Vagia raised the weapons she had kept hidden, gripping one in each hand.
They were Legendary-class weapons bestowed upon her by Mr. H.
Overwhelming power manifested as a gale of magical energy that swept violently through the air.
Her sheer presence alone crushed the morale around her, causing both sides' subordinates to naturally back away, fearing they'd be caught in the crossfire.
An instinctual terror gripped the battlefield, and everyone's gaze momentarily fixed on Vagia.
Even in the face of this, Takuto Ira merely laughed, thoroughly amused.
=Message===
[Chain Event] The Arrival of the End: The Great War
The Regalia Treaty Organization has declared war on the Continental Alliance of Legitimacy!
The Great Leader, Takuto Ira
"Let's enjoy ourselves until everything is destroyed."
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