The world that God perceives is the world that I perceive.
Humanity’s sadness is cold, and its anger hot. That is our world.
✦ ✦ ✦
Today the news was so scary that I can’t even laugh. A nuclear-powered submarine vanished without a trace.
Hey guys, it’s PotatoStarch! The world sure is dangerous, but I’m still here making war in my video games, wearing my bright red tracksuit from middle school, and chowing down on a piece of toast. Another peaceful day in Japan... right? Well, not really, but whatever. I have to focus on DDR.
We’ve entered the final battle phase. The trigger for this event is the vampires losing one of their Apostles, so it’s only natural that it happens now. Although it’s quite rare for them to lose Golden; most of the time it’s Crumbling Mountain that is killed by Absolute. That makes Crumbling Mountain seem weak, and the strategy sites call it a “basically a guaranteed event” and “the internal administration ending its turn.” However, it’s really just a matter of bad chemistry. For example, if we were to take Thunderstorm and Absolute, who are now clashing heavily in the center of the continent... wait, why do I know that? There are so many markers on the map; I can’t check their forces’ numbers or stats, but just knowing their positions is a huge advantage. Hmm... just looking at this makes me feel uneasy.
There are no markers for the other Apostles. That’s normal. Not even for Sakiel. Do they only show up during battle? But there was nothing during the battle with Golden... Hm... let’s put a pin on this. For now, they’re far away. Those two are destined to be in a long-distance stalemate anyway.
This is what I mean by “chemistry” between Apostles. Sakiel would defeat Thunderstorm with ease, but would be absolutely destroyed by Crumbling Mountain. Physical melee fighters are scary. Not to mention it would basically be a muscled-out man chasing after a little girl. Uh, yeah... gotta be really careful. In the end, how the Apostle battles turn out greatly affects our chances of victory.
Incidentally, if the first Apostle to drop out is from the elven side, the final battle phase isn’t triggered. Instead, the vampires get very cocky. This leads to the elves getting desperate and almost enslaving the humans. They don’t just make them a vassal state, oh no. The men are sent to the front lines as human shields while the children are fed to their familiars. It’s truly horrific. But the most savage thing of all is that the elves get wiped out eventually, too.
Ha ha ha! DDR is such bullshit, isn’t it? But we all knew that already.
I’m so glad I didn’t have Kuroi side with the vampires. Remember that tusk bonus I received after skewering the sherboa during the first monster wave? I still have it equipped. If I’d offered it to the Demon God as I’d planned... well, it certainly wouldn’t have been funny.
Dragon Demon DX. Not Deluxe, but DX.
What it stands for, I have no idea... all my searching resulted in nothing—in fact, some even called me an idiot in the process. Whatever, I swear I’ll make this final battle end in a victory for the humans! Which is why, Kuroi, I need you to learn Summon magic! Normal tactics won’t beat the Demon God. I don’t even know how to defeat her. However, in this DX version, a Devil God exists. Fight fire with fire, and a god with a god. I have no choice but to double down on this. In order to win, Summon magic, one of the strongest types, is an absolute must. Once that’s unlocked, I can aim for even more power.
And! And! The way to strengthen her skills is to just kill vampires. Not that fending them off is an easy feat, but in two ways, this is a great chance to grant power to the Devil God.
First, it’s an opportunity to increase Kuroi’s fame as a martial artist. In that way, I can spread the results of the strengthened religious structure I created here in the Frontier. It’s missionary work. Evangelizing through battle.
Second, it’s a chance to steal faith points from the Demon God. When vampires are defeated, they drop ash and pebbles. Those pebbles are important. Like the leaf decorations of the elves, the pebbles contain the power of the Demon God’s blessing. I’ll offer those to the Devil God, turning them into “Devil God tokens.”
In other words, they are experience points. I feel a bit awkward calling them by that old standby of video games, but I’ll take it. I’ve got to do all I can. The method is the same regardless of the god, so no worries on that front. And as part of the battlefield tradition, the Church has taken custody of all the pebbles dropped so far.
That reminds me, we haven’t collected the pebble from Golden yet. Of course, Kuroi lost consciousness back then, but it’s still a mystery how we lost it. Then again, when it comes to Apostles and their servants, their blessings end up being inherited by someone else, so it wouldn’t have been some game-breaking power. It’s just a little annoying.
Anyway, that’s how it is. So hurry up and go to the next battlefield, Mr. Hot Knight and company. Defeat as many vampires as you can and show the world just how strong and cool we are! Together! More, more!