Kumo Desu ga, Nani ka?

「Was it not a mistake to split the Queens into two groups?」

A report had come from the Queen at the Dazdoldia continent entrance - that the enemy army had attacked. In comparison there’s been no movement at the Kasanagara continent entrance. It’s transparent that their plan is to concentrate their military forces on one side and force their way through. As for Sophia-chan’s impression of the situation, well, I think it can’t be helped that she feels that way.

「Even so, if I’d left one side open then of course they’d have just attacked that side anyway.」

I reply with a wry smile. The Divine Word Religion has teleportation rings installed all over the place. Even if it took some time, they could move their army to either side. In addition, even though it might take them some time, it’s still faster than we can re-deploy our defensive forces. In the end, we have no choice but to station our defense units at both ends.

「Well then, even now we could still recall the Queen who is unoccupied perhaps.」

「Same sort of thing. The moment we recall the Queen on the Kasanagara continent side, there’s still the possibility of some hidden troops suddenly rushing the place you know.」

While I doubt there could be some hidden troops on the scale of an army, that doesn’t mean that there couldn’t be a small elite assault force. In particular, with the ancient dragons the other side has, without the Queen there it would be difficult to field superior forces against them.

「Being on the defence is a disadvantage isn’t it.」

「Not necessarily you know.」

Rather, being on the defensive has more advantages actually. The advantage the attacker has is that they can decide when and where to attack. In other words, that initial choice is the first and last advantage that they have. Once that is over, all that remains are disadvantages. I believe that I’ll get a return on my investment, even if I waste the “funds” of a single Queen.

「Well, the battle has only just begun. Simply playing for time is enough to get us closer to our victory condition. So why not go with some leisurely delaying tactics then.」

The Elro Great Labyrinth is vast. Simply getting from the upper layer to the bottom layer, takes a considerable amount of time. Even if there are several shafts that could be called shortcuts, countermeasures have already been taken. If anything, it would be great for us if they casually tried to make use of them. If they use the normal route then that alone will take a long time, and if they try to take a shortcut then that’s where they’ll be brought down. Whichever way the cookie crumbles, it’s no problem.

「At any rate, they sure have gathered a lot.」

Sophia-chan says that like she’s looking at something far in the distance. Or rather, not so much “like”, rather she “is” I’m sure. Vampires have the ability to create something like clones, so she’s probably looking at how Merazofis-kun is doing since he remained on the surface.

「They don’t have another chance after all. They must have gone to extremes though.」

I had expected them to take a bit longer before they attacked, but instead they’re really early. So it can be reasoned that they went to extremes.

However, from their point of view that’s likely the right choice. The faster they move, the more advantageous it is for them. No, rather than saying it’s advantageous, it might be better to say that they moved before it became disadvantageous. Most likely, the more time that passes, the bigger the chaos amongst the people becomes. At any rate, the whole of humanity had Taboo installed after all.

Just having Taboo is enough to make one feel disgusted. In addition, looking at the Taboo menu leads to severe mental pain. For that very reason, most people would probably try to avert their eyes if possible. But, that won’t last forever. Taboo generates obsessive thoughts. They can’t be resisted forever. One day they will be forced to reluctantly look at the contents of Taboo. Then, once they’ve seen the contents, the obsessive thoughts that come from Taboo, along with the feelings of guilt stirred up by the actual contents, will begin to stab at them. Once that happens, it will cause them to hesitate to point their blades at us.

I can’t be sure but perhaps the more time that passes, the more supporters we will gain. Alternatively, the more suicides and the like there’ll be. And once that happens, the countries will be in chaos and be in no condition to fight. The Pope took rapid action before that could occur, probably hoping for a quick decisive battle. Despite not even having the time to think about it properly, he took the optimal course of action. I can’t say that it hadn’t occurred to me before, but having him as the enemy sure is extremely annoying.

「Our victory condition is solely to play for time. Even as we speak Shiro-chan is working inside there towards causing the System to collapse. Until that is achieved, we shall defend here to the last. Simple, right?」

Saying so, I point at the door behind me. This is the innermost place of the bottom layer of the Elro Great Labyrinth. The door towering there, is for the nexus of the System in this world. The place where Sariel-sama is.

「Conversely, the victory conditions for the Pope’s side, is to come here before the System begins to collapse, and use those with the Ruler authority as a key to lock the System against collapse.」

In short, if they break through us, then it is our defeat.

「Well, the situation could change depending upon the conclusion to the battle between Shiro-chan and Gyurie, but either way it doesn’t change what we have to do.」

We will believe in Shiro-chan’s victory, and defend this place. We will do whatever we can. That’s all there is to it.

「Hmm…」

Then and there, Sophia-chan begins to worry about something. 𝘧𝓇𝗲𝑒we𝙗noѵ𝑒l.𝐜o𝘮

「Are you doubting something?」

「Put aside our situation, I was just wondering what Dustin-ojii-sama plans to do.」

「I said it a moment ago…」

Was this girl not listening to me or something?

「I am not talking about the victory conditions, I mean what happens after this battle is over.」

「What happens after this battle is over?」

「I mean, with the method Dustin-ojii-sama is taking, surely that will lead to collapse, right?」

「Ah.」

I get what she means now. That’s something that has bothered me as well.

The Pope’s objective is to obstruct us, in other words, to let the System keep on operating as it has been until now. Sariel-sama will soon reach her limit. Gyurie will then succeed after Sariel-sama, and all of the power that Gyurie has will be released until the minimum required amount of energy is reached, or something like that. However, that is just not plausible. The souls of mankind are already getting close to their limits, like Sariel-sama. For Sariel-sama to have approached her limits, means that the souls of mankind are also reaching their limits. As that happens, the souls of mankind have to recuperate before they can reincarnate again, meaning that the population of this world will rapidly decrease. In turn, the more the population decreases the more the amount of energy that the System can collect decreases. Even if the System continues to operate normally, it is obvious that it will deteriorate.

「In all probability, the Pope is hiding something from us.」

「Hiding something?」

I nod.

「There’s no way the Pope hasn’t made that realisation. That being the case, I expect he has some way to make the numbers add up.」

We’re talking about that Pope, right? That monster cannot knowingly go down a path that will lead to ruin. He’s definitely thinking of some alternative.

「How?」

「Who knows. If I knew that I wouldn’t be frustrated about it.」 𝐟𝙧ℯ𝑒𝒘𝐞𝒃𝗻𝒐ѵ𝘦𝑙.com

I shrug my shoulders.

「However, if he is hiding it from us, it means it is something inconvenient for us then.」

Indeed. Him hiding it from us, means that it is something inconvenient to us. For sure that means that for us it is something bad.

「Ah hah. In other words it would be good if we could just crush it then.」

「Putting it simply, that’s how it is.」

I don’t know if the Pope is up to something. But, in the end it doesn’t change what we need to do either.

「Now then mankind. Why don’t you show me what you’ve got huh.」