"Yeehaw! Hyah, hyah, hyah!!"
The carriage went tearing across the thick snowbound road, racing onward toward the mountains in the north.
Goddess Loki's carriage-driving skills were unexpectedly good.
Compared to Freya, who sat quietly beside her, the red-haired goddess yanked on the reins, her slender, fragile little frame braced against the howling snow-wind as she cackled with laughter.
[A carriage can move that fast?!]
Even Isagi felt it was a touch unbelievable.
Riding in the cabin with the girls, the snow-blanketed fields and woodland on either side blurred into a single long thin streak, leaving Isagi to wonder for a moment whether the two horses pulling them weren't actually tamed monsters of some kind — like the wyverns the Ganesha Familia used as mounts.
The other side's carriage was kicking up a trail of dust in a league of its own.
Their own carriage, meanwhile, was clinging tightly to its tail — Goddess Astrea, it seemed, was no slouch at handling the reins either.
The goddesses had all traveled the world, and naturally that meant each of them had, at one point or another, driven carriages around on their journeys — after all, they couldn't have gone everywhere on foot.
At this very moment.
The Goddess of Justice even wore a strangely familiar, practiced look.
Before long, the carriage plunged into the Beio Mountain Range.
The route Loki and Freya had chosen was clearly completely different from their own, and so before long the two carriages had each peeled off onto entirely separate mountain paths — to the point where they could no longer even see one another.
The [Duel]s had not yet begun.
According to projections, the journey from the city to the destination — a small town on the far side of the Beio Mountain Range — would take seven or eight hours at the very fastest.
And as for the seven [Duel]s, even winning every single one would only force the opposing side to sit motionless for a grand total of seventy minutes.
Not negligible to the race, but limited.
Which meant the timing of each [Duel] declaration was crucial — because the rules only said adventurers couldn't directly interfere with the carriages' progress. They never said anything about being unable to think up "other ways."
Isagi had a great many plans up his sleeve — that much was certain.
And the other side would surely be no less prepared.
"The rule for [Duel] applications is that either side can propose one freely. The side that proposes goes first — they choose which adventurer they're sending in, and only then does the opposing side pick their challenger."
So.
There was room for strategy in the order.
You could play the old "weak horse against strong, strong against weak" gambit, or, depending on the opponent, deploy someone whose abilities specifically countered them, or someone you were confident could win.
Taking the initiative on a duel gave you the first move, but it also exposed you to a tailored counter — making it a fairly fair rule, all in all.
And right now, the other side wasn't actively sending anyone out to duel. They were waiting, presumably.
"In that case, once we reach here—"
Isagi pointed at a corner of the map and said softly.
"We'll be the first to propose a duel."
"Got it."
The overall battle strategy had been thoroughly hashed out with the girls the previous night, so naturally no one objected.
And so —
A long while later.
Under the expectant gaze of the city's many adventurers and gods, the Astrea Familia was the first to send up the firework signaling a [Duel] invitation.
Beneath the leaden, snow-laden sky.
The brilliant firework that rose up lit nearly half the mountain region, and its specially crafted detonation was, of course, heard by the other carriage hurtling through the peaks.
At the same moment.
Accompanied by the booming, sonorous voice of the Ganesha Familia officer serving as the announcer.
A pair of divine mirrors unfurled before each of the goddesses.
"From the Astrea Familia, the first to take the field is—"
"Sanjouno Haruhime."
A Lv. 3 fox-girl with no real combat ability whatsoever, meaning this duel was destined to be a "loss" from the very first breath.
But almost immediately—
A second firework went up, this one another fresh [Duel] declaration from the Astrea Familia aimed at Loki and Freya's side.
"Next, the Astrea Familia sends out—"
"Heith Velvet!"
Two consecutive duel applications back-to-back left every spectator watching utterly baffled.
And on top of that.
Both fighters they had thrown out were people who simply couldn't win.
Heith might be Lv. 5, and arguably the strongest healer in the entire city, with a measure of combat power herself — against an ordinary Level 1 adventurer she might even put up a respectable fight.
But the problem was, the opposing side was all Lv. 6 at minimum, long-renowned heavyweights of the city.
"Are we being looked down on?"
At that very moment.
Inside Loki and Freya Familia's carriage cabin, the strongest of both Familias were gathered together. Looking at the [Duel] invitations the other side had sent over, every one of them was momentarily stunned.
On the Astrea Familia's roster, at least two duels were guaranteed losses — anyone could have predicted that before the war began.
But Finn and Hedin, the two "strategists," had both been certain of one thing.
The Goddess of Justice's Familia would do everything they could to minimize the impact of those two unwinnable bouts.
For instance.
After winning one [Duel] first, they could immediately throw Haruhime or Heith in. That way, with the loss of that duel, both carriages would be forced to halt in place for "ten minutes," effectively canceling out the consequences of the failed duel.
It was the most obvious "play." But it seemed the other side didn't want to do that?
"Are they comfortable with bleeding twenty minutes right off the bat?"
"Here's one possibility."
Finn said thoughtfully.
"Haruhime's magic can raise someone's level — but before a [Duel] starts, adventurers aren't permitted to use their abilities. Which means, if two duels are running simultaneously, and the locations aren't too far apart, Haruhime could cast her level-up magic on Heith."
If that were the case, a Lv. 5 Heith would be elevated into a Lv. 6 — on paper, strong enough to hold her own against anyone on their side aside from Ottar.
And if she could actually pull off a win.
It would more than offset the side effects of Haruhime's guaranteed loss.
Finn was clearly thinking many moves ahead.
The Pallum [Braver] was deeply serious about this. Even though he hadn't originally been all that interested in this war game, since his idiot of a goddess had chosen to participate, he was going to do it right.
At the very least, he wasn't about to be seen as the one dragging everyone else down.
Whatever else.
None of the three from Loki Familia were willing to be belittled by the goddess of beauty's warriors, and so they would naturally give it their all.
"Even so, Heith can't possibly be a match for us."
Allen Fromel said.
As Freya Familia's vice-captain, this wasn't arrogance — it was simply that he'd witnessed Haruhime's "level-up magic" firsthand. The fox-girl had spent a stretch of time in Freya Familia, undergoing "adventurer training."
And during that period, most of Freya Familia's members had personally experienced the magic called [Uchide's Mallet].
To put it bluntly, the effect was "pretty middling."
Exactly as Isagi and the others had assessed at the very beginning — Haruhime's level-up magic only enlarged the "vessel" itself and the stat values it contained.
In other words.
It really did raise the baseline abilities of a single level, but no further than that.
For high-level adventurers, technique, experience, and one's own Skills and magic — every fragment woven together into a finished "specialty" — those were the things that mattered far more.
You think a stat bump alone lets you fight across level tiers?
For someone like Isagi, whose own "mechanics" were already absurdly broken to begin with, it was a fairly potent enhancement.
But for Heith, it would absolutely not be enough.
"Let's just take the fight first."
Gareth muttered. No matter what, they needed to pick two people now and finish the duels with the other side.
Of course.
Because they had known well in advance that the Astrea Familia had two "weak horses," Finn and Hedin had long since worked out their response.
They'd originally expected the Astrea Familia to keep those two in reserve, waiting until their side first proposed a [Duel] before deploying Haruhime and Heith, hoping to absorb a few "awkward" matchups.
But the way things were unfolding now — with the other side voluntarily throwing the weak horses out — was actually overwhelmingly in their favor.
So.
"Riveria, you handle Haruhime."
And.
"Hogni, you take Heith."
Loki Familia and Freya Familia each sent a single fighter.
Respectively the Elf Princess, and the dark elf youth who always sat silent in the corner of the carriage, cradling his longsword.
This wasn't because the two of them were the weakest of the bunch.
It was the result of careful deliberation.
Riveria was, after all, a mage — her close-combat ability had its weaknesses, and her one-on-one capability wasn't particularly imposing, so she could honestly be counted as the Loki–Freya side's own "weak horse."
As for Hogni, he was simply too well-balanced.
And besides, if Loki Familia sent out a single person to deal with the Astrea Familia's "weak horse," naturally Freya Familia had to send someone too.
Hedin was being quite fair about it.
"Be careful out there."
They weren't underestimating their opponents.
Both Finn and Hedin believed Isagi's camp must have some trick in motion — otherwise no one would ever adopt such an unexpected opening.
But—
A few minutes later, both [Duel]s were over.
As expected, Haruhime and Heith were both defeated. The one truly surprising thing was that, despite never receiving the fox-girl's level-up magic, Heith had still managed to trade blows with Hogni for several minutes.
But there was no point.
Soon enough, because of the two failed [Duel]s, the Astrea Familia's carriage was forced to remain stationary for twenty minutes.
And so.
Through the divine mirror's broadcast.
Looking down from above the Beio Mountain Range, Loki and Freya's carriage tore forward at blistering speed, leaving the Goddess of Justice's Familia — stalled motionless in the distance — to dwindle away behind them as they raced into the far reaches.
The two sides had picked different paths, but they were both pointed in the very same direction, and so a visible gap began to open between them.
"What in the world is the Astrea Familia even doing?!"
Back in the city.
The gods and the many adventurers watching the live broadcast were all dumbfounded.
Everyone had assumed those back-to-back deployments of Haruhime and Heith must have had a reason.
Maybe some kind of top-tier "brain match."
But who could have imagined — there was no strategy whatsoever?! The two girls had lost cleanly, without the slightest twist, exactly as anyone would expect. Which made it, somehow, the biggest twist of all!
And what's more—
"Loki and Freya Familia have finally started moving!"
Amid the crowd's exclamations.
Through the divine mirrors hovering above the mountain range, the spectators could plainly see a great swarm of monsters rushing toward the stalled Astrea Familia carriage.
The rules of this war game.
Stated that adventurers could not directly use any magic or method to interfere with or assist the carriages' advance.
But there was nothing barring them from using the surrounding "environment."
The Beio Mountain Range was rarely traveled.
One major reason was the sheer abundance of monsters within.
Although the surface-dwelling monsters were comparatively weak, when their numbers swelled they could still cause considerable trouble.
At this very moment.
Faced with the roars echoing across the snowfields, Isagi and the girls had to deal with monsters surging in from every direction.
These were, of course, all deliberately "lured over" by Loki and Freya Familia.
Not only did they have to clear out the monsters, they had to protect the carriage and the horses, and most importantly — they couldn't let the horses bolt in panic.
"Ryuu, Ais, I'm leaving them to you."
"Understood!"
The current situation had been within Isagi's expectations from the very start.
Something so obvious that even he could think of it — there was simply no way the likes of Finn and Hedin on the other side would fail to think of it too.
So Isagi had prepared well in advance.
The monsters might be numerous, but they weren't strong. Letting Ryuu-senpai and Ais handle them was more than sufficient.
As for his own side, there were more important matters at hand.
Isagi had, of course, thrown those duels on purpose.
By sending Haruhime and Heith out first to initiate the duels, with the inevitable defeat, his own side would be parked in place for twenty minutes — and Loki and Freya's carriage would race ahead first.
And from there, what Isagi was about to do was—
[Wind].
Across the entirety of the Beio Mountain Range, a sudden wind kicked up.
The previously serene snowfall instantly turned into a frenzied chaos, the howling wind and snow rasping against the ears, swallowing even the line of sight directly ahead.
This was, of course, all thanks to the little spirit Yuufi.
And of course.
That wasn't all — there was also Saika.
As a jellyfish, one of the little one's abilities was naturally tied directly to "water."
And in the bitter cold of midwinter, the droplets Saika scattered down from her divine sword would freeze into ice crystals in the blink of an eye. Folded into the screaming gale Yuufi had conjured, mingling with the snow, the weather was made many times worse.
Isagi wasn't about to weaponize the two little ones into producing some truly horrific natural disaster — like an avalanche — to block the other carriage's path.
But what they had now was already enough.
Most of the paths through the Beio Mountain Range were treacherous to begin with.
Mountain roads that hardly anyone walked, already buried under deep snow, and now compounded by weather this foul — naturally, all manner of accidents were practically inevitable.
Snow piling deep enough to bury the road entirely;
Or winds and snow so fierce one couldn't tell direction, forcing a wrong turn;
Or even freezing the carriage horses stiff, slowing them to a crawl;
But weather this severe, spread across such a wide area, would naturally affect his own side too — which was precisely why Isagi had needed Loki and Freya's carriage to go ahead first.
With them walking out in front, breaking the path for him, things on his own side would become a great deal easier.
As the twenty minutes ran out.
Goddess Astrea quickly took up the reins again, and the carriage began running through the mountain paths once more.
The two carriages had originally been racing along entirely different mountain paths, but with a slight course correction, the Goddess of Justice was soon driving her carriage along directly behind Loki and Freya Familia's.
After all, they hadn't traveled deep into the range yet — the two sides may have picked different routes from the outset, but the distance between them wasn't actually all that great.
Ahead.
The Goddesses of Trickery and Beauty struggled forward through the brutal conditions, while behind, the Goddess of Justice glided along an already-cleared road, smooth and unobstructed.
This was what they called "the further behind you fall, the further ahead you get"!
When Isagi had first proposed this plan, the girls had practically wondered whether something had gone wrong in his head.
But against all expectations — it really was working out exactly like that!
Of course.
A strategy like this could only level the gap between the two sides at best. For a war game like this, what truly mattered in the end was the raw, hard-strength contest of the [Duel]s.
And so.
The next bout had to be a decisive opening victory.
Amid the snow-clad mountains, very soon, the other side's [Duel] invitation arrived.
The firework cracked open once again across the falling snow — and this time, it was truly the war game's "opening battle."
"Loki and Freya Familia have applied for a [Duel]. The fighter they have dispatched is—"
"Allen Fromel!"
[The Goddess's Chariot].
The adventurer who held the legend of being the fastest in the city, vice-captain of Freya Familia, and... Anya's older brother.
Almost simultaneously with the announcer of the Ganesha Familia bellowing the name from the heavens above.
From the snowstorm ahead.
An unspeakably piercing killing intent was already sweeping forward.
Almost in the blink of an eye, the cat-person youth, longspear in hand, had cut through the distant blizzard and arrived directly in front of the carriage.
"Leaving it to you, Ryuu-senpai."
[Gale], wielder of the "Goddess of Justice's Sword."
VS.
[The Goddess's Chariot], the one no one had ever managed to catch.
Isagi smiled faintly, and threw the elf girl a look of absolute, unwavering trust.
____
👻🔥+40 ch: Walnut-chan🔥👻
🔥 New history: Path of Elation in Warhammer 40K
Let's achieve our community goals:
🎯 100 Powerstones = +1 extra chapter for everybody