Chapter 248: Battle Plans
"Then we should find a hideout that doesn't have too many residents around it. Maybe somewhere outside the city where we can fight without having to worry about the people there. Can the Wiik-bat find anything like that?"
Mark nodded as he began to give some instructions to the Wiik-bat. Mark could send signals to the Wiik-bat without having to talk, so it was easy for him to just tell the Wiik-bat to look for a secluded area that had a wide space and a good hiding spot where they could use as their territory. The Wiik-bat accepted the order and Mark cut the link after telling it to be careful not to be seen.
Mark turned back to Luna and noticed that Luna was not paying attention to him, she was staring at the wall in front of her and thinking deeply about something. Mark watched her curiously and wondered what was going through her mind.
Luna was thinking about how she could be of help now that her powers were sealed the way they were. She couldn't manipulate water like before, so she was basically just deadweight in this situation. Could she be reconnaissance like the Wiik-bat? No, that would be dangerous since she was the most important thing here.
If she went out without Mark, then it was almost certain that one of the other participants would look for her and kill her.
But the biggest question on her mind.
"What will happen to me on Earth if I die here…?"
Luna was most curious about this. The game said that forfeiting the game meant immediate death, but it never said what would happen to her on Earth. Will she be sent back to her real world or will her existence be erased? This thought put a bit of distress in Luna's heart as she wondered what would happen to her guild and everything that she built on Earth.
It took her a long time and a lot of effort for her to get to the point where she was on Earth and now she was risking losing everything over a game that she never even wanted to be a part of.
Was she going to lose everything because of some game that some god started on a whim?
Just thinking about it made Luna tighten her hands into fists in anger. This entire situation was becoming more disagreeable for her the more she thought about it. Why did she have to do what Ares wanted? Why did she have to agree to participate in this stupid game? Why does she have to listen to some god that wasn't even her patron god? Was Neptune going to just overlook this?
[All the gods have given their permission for their children to be used in this game. Participants are chosen randomly from various worlds based on their compatibility.]
Mark blinked in slight surprise as he saw this message appear on the edge of his vision and he wondered when he ever asked something like this.
"That's just bullshit."
Luna suddenly cursed and Mark realized that Luna also got the same message in her head. But from the way she was glaring at the ground, Mark knew that she did not get a system prompt like him. Was the message put inside her head directly? That's convenient.
"Luna, we need to come up with a plan."
Mark finally spoke up and drew Luna's attention back to him, and Luna sighed as she turned to him with a small frown on her face. It was obvious that she was not happy to be there. Mark waited patiently for her to get herself back in order before he started to talk.
"What sort of abilities do you think the other chess pieces will have? Personally, I think the most difficult to fight against will be the queen piece. If this game is based on the game of chess, then they will be the piece with the most freedom and their power will be no joke. The rook will definitely have a high defense and the knight might have a high attack or movement ability.
I don't really know what sort of ability the king would have since he doesn't really do much on the gameboard, but the bishop might have something to do with holy magic. What do you think?"
"The king might be the most difficult to handle in his territory."
Mark gained a contemplative look and hummed. That was possible. The king might actually have something like that. Luna continued.
"Since the king doesn't do much, his power might be like a necromancer. I have a member in my guild who can control dead anima to fight for him and with his high mana output, he could even be considered to be on the level of an undefined if the conditions are right. The king could be someone like that.
Knowing the qualities of the chess king, it is more likely that he would hide in his territory and wait for us to come to him."
Mark saw the sense in what Luna said and he took note of everything before he brought up something new.
"If that is the case, then it might be best to let the rook come to us. His defenses would definitely be highest in his territory and it might be debuffed when he comes out of his territory. The knight and the queen are the same. They would be too strong to handle in their territory. We need to pick out a territory as quickly as possible.
Fighting out here in the open is just making us sitting ducks for anyone that catches us off guard."
Luna stood up and stretched tiredly and Mark couldn't stop a small smile from forming on his face as he watched her body contort in the bunny suit. That had to be the cutest thing he had ever seen in his life. Luna noticed Mark looking at her and she frowned at him in annoyance.
"What are you looking at?"
"Do you always wear that to sleep?"
A small blush crept up on Luna's face, but she squashed it immediately as she answered back in a haughty tone.
"And so what if I do? Do you think it's unbecoming of the leader of the Moonlight Guild to wear something like this? It's too bad that I don't care what you think."
Mark chuckled as he realized that Luna was getting defensive.
"I didn't mean it like that at all. It's cute."
Luna's blush increased immediately as she heard Mark call her cute. Luna was no stranger to people thinking she was pretty. She has been called a million varieties of beautiful by a million different people and all of them have become so common to her that they weren't anything special anymore. But for some reason, it was different when Mark said it.
He didn't call her beautiful, pretty, or even stunning. He just called her cute. Like he was talking to any random girl on the street. There was no hidden motive, no strange looks, nothing at all. It was just Mark.
Luna shook her head to clear her thoughts and she glared at Mark.
"Don't be stupid and stop making fun of me. Do you have anything I can change into? I need to get out of these clothes."