Thump thump thump thump thump thump...
Apollo could hear his own heart beating strongly as the girls started making their move.
Despite being surround in vegetation, they moved extremely silently as if there was some kind of magic surrounding them, eliminating all their sounds.
Soon Daisy's team arrived at her position, but they had gotten there so silently that even though they were right beside the cat girls workplace, they still had not been noticed.
Apollo felt his heart accelerate, he knew the moment had arrived and from now on all he could do was pray...
Daisy jumped out of the moat and hit one of the cat girls right in her stomach, giving her a kick in the chin in the next second, knocking her out. The other cat girls got so surprise by their actions that they ended up freezing in place, giving Iris and Ivy a chance to knock them out as well.
(What the hell are they doing!?)
The three caught their respective targets, put them on top of their shoulders like rice bags, and started to run down the mountain path, as some kind of kidnapper carrying their victims away.
The other cat girls caught sight of what was happening, but their minds still couldn't register that extremely unusual event, making them unable to react. It was only when they heard their Master cry of rage, that they started moving, but by then, the three had gained a good amount of distance from them.
"CATCH THEM! DON'T LET THEM ESCAPE!!!"
""Y-y-y-yes, Master!""
Because it was happening too suddenly, their Master didn't really have time to analyze the situation or he would have noticed something odd was going on. Let's say Daisy trio were really kidnappers, shouldn't they simply wait in the outskirts of the base and take those who are alone, and escaping unnoticed? There were plenty of girls going to the ruins to retrieve material, so that was a perfect place for an ambush! Why would they why go in so deep into the enemy base before taking their prize? This would lead to an inevitable conclusion that either the kidnappers were dumb or there was something odd going on, right?
Henrik saw the girls disappearing in the forest with a frown in his eyes. He had no idea who was attacking him, but he had to admit whoever he was, his timing was perfect. But, obviously, that didn't mean he would just allow himself to take a beating and not strike back. Henrik's mind started to calculate the routes these girls could escape through and decided to use his pawns who were down the ruins to buy some time.
"Pawns 15~21, block the south path! Pawns 9, 10, 13 and 25, block the southeast path! Every other pawn above 10, divide in groups of six and chase after them!"
""Yes, Master!""
As he started to give out orders, his mind simulated the deployment of each girl and their general position on the map, allowing him to predict which areas would became vulnerable by each of his commands. Noticing he had just moved out most of his forces, almost emptying his base in the process of chasing them, he got a sudden hunch of what the enemy's aim was.
"Soldiers 1~7, come back! Leave the chase to 8~10! Ranger team, spread out and scout the area looking for more intruders! This may be a distraction and from here on it will b-"
Bang!
A loud sound of metal being hammered suddenly spread through the whole mountain.
"Damn! I was right! Their aim is my HQ!"
Bang!
"All soldiers, move out to defend the HQ! Rangers, forget the last order and go give them support! All pawns aside from those below the mountain, retreat back to the base and prepare for battle!"
Bang!
"Sneaky bastard! Someday I will make pay or my name is not Henrik Forecast!"
-
"Someone! Quickly contact the rescue team!"
"W-what!? What happened?"
"Two players have started fighting it out!"
"Eh!? The official round didn't even start!"
"What do you want me to say!? I'm reporting what I'm seeing! It's not like their actions has anything to do with me!"
"Well, yeah...huh..."
"Stop lazing around and go! We don't care if all servants are killed, but if a citizen truly dies in our game, it will be a huge headache for all of us!"
"You say that, but there were plenty who lost a finger or two in the tutorial. Won't that give us a head ache as well?"
"Not really. The doctor can regrow any limbs that they lose, and even give them stronger ones. Also monetary compensation is easy to deal with. The only real problem are deaths, as even if we can make a perfect clone of the person, it's impossible to revive a person once they're dead!"
"So, what will happen?"
"I dunno. Maybe Master will give a new chance to the loser, or maybe he will be kicked out. It all depends on his mood and you know how moody he can be."
"Ugh... All right! I will send the message to the rescue team now!"
-
Bang!
Paula swung her hammer with all her strength, hitting the door one more time.
The HQ's door appeared normal, but it was actually reinforced with steel, making it as durable as the ones used inside spaceships. Despite that, it was still unable to resist the whole power of Paula's hammer, slowly deforming on each strike.
Bang!
The loud sound of the hammer made sure to warn the whole base of the enemy's plan. Noticing his mistake, Apollo considered using other tools next time, but upon thinking his lack of options, maybe for now the hammer was still the best choice.
Bin!
Bea tried to follow Paula, hitting her hammer in the same spot, but, to her surprise, her strike was completely ineffective, giving out an odd sound.
"Wah!? Why is it not working out!?"
"Put your back into it! Move your whole body, not just your arms! Like this!"
Bang!
While Paula and Bea technically had the exact same strength, it was clear that Paula had a lot more control over her strength than anybody else. Bea tried to mimic Paula again and again, but she was completely unsuccessful, and May, she didn't even try, giving out the excuse that if senior Bea was unable to do it, she wouldn't be able to do it herself.
"Quickly! Stop them!"
Henrik soon arrived, followed by a group of rangers equipped with bows and arrows, as well as short knifes.
The bodyguard quartet, composed by Mika, Sora, Jun and Kiki, positioned themselves around the destruction team (Paula, Bea and May), acting as a barrier to prevent anyone from disturbing them.
"Who are you, people!? Why are you attacking us!?"
"We ar-"
"REVOLUTION!"
Mika tried to answer, but Jun cut her speech, screaming in a loud voice that single word. Instead of keeping the guard cord, Jun jumped out, striking the rangers in front of her with her baton before they could shot anything.
"Jun!? What are you doing!? We are supposed to-"
"REVOLUTION!"
Mika tries to stop Jun, but this time it's Sora who cuts her out, jumping after Jun on the enemies, not allowing them to reorganize themselves.
"Bea, May, help them out. I alone am enough over here."
"Yes, senior Paula!" "All right!"
"All right! At least with senior Bea and May, we should be able to keep the li-"
""REVOLUTION!""
"NO! NOT YOU AS WELL!"
While it could be said that May was just following the flow, Bea's actions had some logic behind them as well. Because they expected the enemy soldiers to arrive soon, it was best to deal as much damage as possible before they lose the advantage and were forced to retreat.
"Focus on their bows! Break their weapons apart! If they have no weapons, their attack will be half as effective!"
""Yes, senior Bea!""
Even if the enemy heard them, what could they do? Were they going to stop using their weapons just because the enemy aimed to break them? If they did, the thing that would break would be they themselves.
Obviously Mika didn't agree with this plan, making her quite conflicted on how to act now. Most of her allies had already joined the fray and it felt definitively wrong for her to be the only one left out, but at this time, she looked beside her, seeing Kiki unmoving, and thought at least she was not alone.
"....sigh...revolution..."
Speaking in a voice so low that even a mosquito would have a hard time hearing it, Kiki slowly started to move toward the chaos as well.
"Eh!? Et tu, Kiki!? Argh! Damn it! All right! I will go as well!"
But just as she started to move, new troops appeared from the mountain path, causing Bea to sound the retreat.
"Everybody retreat!! Wall formation!! Play time is over!"
""Yes, senior Bea!""
Bang! Booom!
Making a loud sound, the HQ's door finally fell to the ground, opening the passage to the inner part of the HQ building.
"Oh no! Stop them no matter the cost!"
The cat girls went berserk, jumping on them to stop them at the cost of their lives. This crazy strategy ended up being somewhat effective, mostly due to Apollo's commands against killing the cat girls, making the cat girls pile on top of the plant girls, not allowing them to move.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on whose side you were, Paula was out of their reach and was easily able to enter the HQ, and then, with a full swing of her hammer...