Book 5: Volume 1 Chapter 4, First Battle

Translator: Kazumi

Editor: Silavin

 

Conquest Battle outcomes were generally determined by each floor’s control percentage.

 

However, this placed smaller Towers, with naturally limited floor size, at significant disadvantage.

 

Therefore, when smaller Towers challenged larger ones, they could specify the controlled area.

 

For example, if one of the Tower of Four Elements challenged Amamiya Tower, it need not control the entire floor.

 

The opponent in this battle had designated an area one-quarter the size of a single floor as the control zone. This meant Amamiya Tower must defend that proportional area across each floor in every battle.

 

Naturally, defense was not the only option. Invading the opponent’s floors was equally viable.

 

However, Kousuke intended to have randomly summoned monsters solely for defence during the first battle.

 

Incidentally, the desert floor had been designated as the first battleground.

 

The desert floor harbored no existing summons and had been left undeveloped, making its potential loss relatively painless.

 

Kousuke intended to carefully observe how the opponent attacked in this first battle.

 

With the first Conquest Battle scheduled for the following day, Kousuke had made various preparations. That afternoon, he assigned a particular errand to Sylvia and Peach.

 

As an inter-Tower battle, Kousuke had made certain discoveries.

 

Some concerns remained, so he asked Sylvia to visit a specific location to address them all.

 

He also sent Mitsuki along as an escort.

 

Due to the ongoing Conquest Battle, Kousuke himself would not be leaving the Tower.

 

For this reason, he had convinced Mitsuki that Kouhi alone would be enough for his protection, and sent her along.

 

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With preparations proceeding steadily, the battle day finally arrived.

 

All members except Mitsuki, Sylvia, and Peach had already assembled in the Control Room.

 

The Amamiya Tower Control Room had been equipped with multiple monitors beyond the existing control panels, allowing everyone to monitor battle progress.

 

This enabled all Control Room occupants to track how things developed.

 

Everyone understood today’s battle was merely the first step, so they watched the screens in a relatively relaxed mood.

 

The atmosphere resembled watching some sporting event.

 

“It’s finally beginning.”

 

Shrein, who had cleverly positioned herself beside Kousuke, spoke while watching the screen.

 

The declaration had clearly specified the start time, apparently determined by the system, making early initiation impossible.

 

Only minutes remained until the Conquest Battle commenced.

 

The control panel screen displayed both the floor Kousuke would defend and the opponent’s floor, resembling a particular simulation game.

 

The opponent’s floor had appeared for the first time ten minutes before the start.

 

While Kousuke could place summoning circles on his own floor during those ten minutes, he just had chosen not to.

 

The opponent’s floor lacked the distinctive terrain features Kousuke’s possessed, instead showing standard grassland and forest.

 

Knowing the opponent Tower’s location would allow predicting which monsters might appear.

 

However, this only applied to starter monsters. Evolved monsters remained completely unpredictable.

 

What Kousuke most wanted to confirm was the extent of the enemy’s monster evolution.

 

Numerous blue dots appeared on the screen.

 

He had already confirmed these dots represented monsters currently present on the floor.

 

Incidentally, he had once sent Nana to that floor. She appeared as the identical color, making locating her quite difficult.

 

However, the zoom function had eventually revealed her position through magnification.

 

During that test, he had also confirmed blue dots indicated allied monsters.

 

Currently, with no enemy attack underway, he could only observe blue dots moving freely.

 

In this state, enemy appearance would remain unknown until the designated time.

 

“We have a full day ahead, so staring at the screen like this continuously would be quite hard on the eyes.”

 

Kousuke smiled wryly as Shrein gazed intently at the display.

 

Looking around, he noticed several other members in similar states, their posture deteriorating to computer nerds.

 

“I understand that. But aren’t you nervous, Kousuke?”

 

“Not that I’m not nervous, but perhaps I’m more worried about excessive measures in response to the potential loss.”

 

“Should I see you as composed, or simply unconcerned? It’s really debatable. Just look at Floria.”

 

“Why compare me to her!?”

 

Floria flinched when Shrein mentioned her.

 

Floria had reigned as Queen of Razequa Amamiya for over a decade, yet she was staring nervously at the screen until being called out.

 

Kousuke did not miss the shocked expression on her Daughter, Mia’s face, beside her.

 

Perhaps noticing Kousuke’s gaze, Mia shrugged and addressed Floria.

 

“Mother, aren’t you more nervous than during your actual governing work?”

 

“Well, that can’t be helped! I have far less experience in this area.”

 

Floria blushed slightly at her Daughter’s observation.

 

Those around them inevitably chuckled at the exchange.

 

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With the tension eased by the Mother-Daughter, the Conquest Battle finally commenced.

 

In a sense confirming Kousuke’s predictions, immediately attacking enemies appeared displayed in red.

 

“So they’re aiming for a rapid victory.”

 

Kousuke commented while watching the proliferating red dots.

 

Blue dots on Amamiya Tower’s side, where few summons had been prepared, were already outnumbered more than two-to-one in the attacked areas.

 

Naturally, this only applied to the attacked portions. Amamiya Tower still held overall numerical superiority, but examining attacked areas alone suggested floor conquest was only a matter of time.

 

“I see. The enemy has prepared very carefully. They’ve gathered precisely the right numbers.”

 

The floor Kousuke had prepared specifically for this conquest was lower level, populated entirely by low level monsters.

 

An insurmountable skill gap existed between low level and mid level monsters, making this Conquest Battle’s defeat merely a matter of time.

 

“Yeah. In that case, I’ll simply observe their movement patterns.”

 

In Conquest Battles, some instructions could be given to normally free-roaming monsters.

 

This became even more pronounced when using familiars, but Kousuke deliberately intended to issue no instructions this time.

 

Rather, he planned to study the enemy’s movements.

 

His focus for the first battle would be observation.

 

Several specific things needed to be verified.

 

“Ah, it’s working.”

 

As soon as the Conquest Battle started, Kousuke operated the control panel and muttered this after confirming successful summoning circle placement.

 

One matter to verify was whether summoning circles could be established during active combat.

 

He had placed the summoning circle mid-battle, and it had functioned without problems.

 

“Summoning seems to proceed smoothly. If used effectively, this could allow me to use various interesting tactics.”

 

Shrein, observing Kousuke’s operations, expressed similar thoughts.

 

This time he had established a low level summoning circle, but he wanted to test intermediate and advanced ones eventually.

 

However, he did not plan further placements this time.

 

Setting up intermediate and advanced summoning circles would be reserved for future battles.

 

Ultimately, having made minimal preparations, Amamiya Tower lost the first match before the morning concluded.

 

The second half ended without opponents deploying additional monsters.

 

Whether this reflected depleted strength or deliberate force conservation remained unclear.

 

Regardless, the first match concluded with Amamiya Tower’s defeat.