Chapter 1309 – ##14_Sicilian Defense (2)
##58
1.
For those who might have forgotten, let’s review the rules of the position board.
1) On a given board, each edge represents a ‘path,’ and at each vertex, ‘runes’ essential for drawing magic circles are randomly placed by a random number algorithm within the crystal ball.
2) Magic cannot be completed with just paths and runes. Therefore, each player is given three ‘mana sources,’ which they place in desired positions to start the game.
3) Once the game begins, players take turns making moves, like in Go, using the runes at the vertices and the paths along the edges to create magic.
4) The created magic is used to attack the opponent’s mana sources or defend against their attacks.
5) The player who first captures all three of the opponent’s mana sources or forces their surrender wins.
6) Don’t attack your opponent out of anger; let’s enjoy the duel!
2.
Even though Gehenna is adopting a policy of appeasement by accepting external witches after the war, there’s still a subtle power struggle between the traditional citizens and the new ones.
It’s impossible for the relationship, which was just yesterday filled with bickering like “Ugh, those Gehenna prudes” and “Ugh, those backwater hicks from the mortal realm,” to improve overnight.
“This is getting interesting?”
“Go, Diana! Show them the power of a Gehenna Grand Master!”
“Nairi! Don’t lose! Show them the terror of a former special forces veteran who’s been through thick and thin!”
Therefore, the match between Nairi from Hexennacht and Diana from a prestigious Gehenna noble family took on a strange Korea vs. Japan vibe.
It was perfect for dividing into sides and getting emotionally invested.
“I’ll take the bets.”
“I’ll put 2 pounds on the apprentice witch.”
“What? You traitor?”
“Pocket money has no sin.”
“I’ll bet on the experienced one. 4 pounds on the side of the witch of a thousand talents.”
Amidst the chaotic atmosphere with serious betting, Nairi and Diana kept their eyes glued to the position board.
Nairi, who was suddenly pushed into this duel, had no intention of going easy on her just because she was an apprentice witch.
Nairi had her own motivation to win this duel and get a “Well done!” stamp from her godfather.
She was also confident in her abilities.
Although she was utterly defeated by Rosie Allue, that was because Rosie was a psychopath who brought a real assault rifle when everyone else was just playing with water guns.
Rosie didn’t really care about her rating and always played casually, so it was hard to know exactly, but someone with nothing better to do calculated that her rating was around 3,880.
Anyway.
She thought she was just an apprentice witch.
The position board wasn’t a game that apprentice witches couldn’t play, but the difference in experience couldn’t be ignored.
However, when the early game for mana optimization ended and they entered the mid-game to secure the central runes, Nairi was taken aback.
To summarize Nairi’s feelings in one sentence:
‘Why is she so solid?’
During the early game, when she was building her foundation with small, interspersed checks, she just thought, ‘She’s really sticking to the basics.’
A typical Gehenna-style opening, preparing for a solid mid-to-late game through defensive play.
She showed a calmness that was unusual for an apprentice witch, not getting swayed by small checks, but seeing that she was just doing her own thing without seizing any opportunities for counterattacks, she made a rough assessment.
‘Ah, she’s a play-against-the-wall type.’
A style where they just do what they’ve prepared, regardless of what the opponent does.
People who mainly study from textbooks and learn by the book tend to have this feel in actual combat.
For reference, among the impatient aggressors or exiles, playing like that could get you hit with magic instead of a chair, so it’s a style that’s avoided.
Nairi’s prescription for that was…
‘I’ll just shake her up like crazy after the mid-game.’
That style, summarized as ‘Yeah, whatever you do, I’ll do my thing,’ usually collapses after the mid-game.
In a game like the position board, where all sorts of variables are rampant, trying to fill up 200 population and then attack is a strategy that only works at the intermediate level.
‘Shall I pick up the tempo a bit?’
Nairi began to unleash her characteristic aggressive moves in earnest.
Nairi’s forte was her mid-game storm-like offensive power.
Among the older witches, she had received rave reviews like, “You play games like a real jerk,” “Is it fun for you to play games like that?” “Who taught you how to play the position board?” and “Come outside.” She attempted a central brawl.
And now, back to the present.
“Ugh….”
“……”
She’s too solid.
If Nairi’s attack was a storm, Diana’s defense was like an impregnable fortress.
No matter how much she pushed, she wouldn’t budge, absorbing all attacks in place as if she were glued to the ground.
‘This isn’t going to be enough.’
As with any strategy game, controlling the center in the position board is a shortcut to victory.
If you succeed in positioning yourself there, it becomes easier to attack the enemy’s mana sources, and conversely, it becomes easier to block the enemy’s attacks in the middle.
Unless there’s a special situation, the outcome is often decided there.
‘Okay. Then try blocking this.’
Nairi decided to briefly refine her attack before picking up the tempo.
According to her calculations, she needed two more moves until the next re-attack.
From then on, an even stronger ‘Nairi Storm’ would tear through the center of the battlefield.
“Huh.”
Taking advantage of that tiny gap, Diana’s unexpected counterattack landed.
Like a turtle, she had been crouching, and then, she pierced Nairi’s weakness, who was distracted by her offense, with a move that exploited a momentary gap.
If this were a real battle, it would be a direct hit that would make the tip of your tongue tingle and your legs give out.
-Thwack
After staggering Nairi, Diana pinned her down and began a heavy pounding with her full weight.
The game ended just like that.
“…I lost.”
“Shall we go straight to the next round?”
“No, I’ll just have a cigarette.”
As a dazed Nairi returned to the older witches, she was met with jeers and teasing.
“Nairi is so bad?”
“She was hitting her all she wanted, then got hit once and passed out.”
“You lied about beating Rosie, didn’t you?”
“Tsk, if it were me, I would have just slipped that and sent her flying with a sweep-bang.”
“I lost money because of you!”
Nairi was the overwhelming veteran among the older witches, so they had a lot of pent-up feelings towards her.
They teased Nairi, who was smoking in the smoking area with a bewildered expression, and released their pent-up frustrations.
“Was it necessary to bleed so much in the center? Couldn’t you have attacked the sides?”
“No, why did you stop when you were attacking so well? You should have kept attacking!”
“I know, right? Ugh, it was frustrating. You gave her an opening, and that’s why you got counterattacked.”
A barrage of advice.
Nairi didn’t make excuses, like how if you just give up the center to an opponent with that kind of style, the game often solidifies, or how if she had kept attacking, Nairi’s mana would have run out first, or how the position board is a game that is greatly affected by psychology, so it’s rare for an opponent who has been constantly hit to counterattack so sharply.
She just silently reviewed the game she had just played.
“……”
She was definitely hitting her with gusto.
If she had hit her that much, she would have been psychologically intimidated and wouldn’t have been able to seize the timing for a counterattack so easily.
But that apprentice witch took advantage of the slight pause in Nairi’s offense, suddenly stood up, walked over, and landed about three heavy attacks.
That was it.
To the older witches, it looked like she had been hitting her all she wanted, then got hit a few times and just collapsed…
But the timing of that counterattack, the meticulous groundwork she had laid while defending before launching the counterattack, the accuracy of only landing heavy, direct hits that would make your head go blank once she switched to offense, and the ruthlessness that didn’t give her a single moment to recover.
That wasn’t a fluke.
It was a play that had been thoroughly calculated from the start.
“Round 2. Let’s start.”
“Okay.”
Nairi renewed her resolve.
Her play had become complacent due to her prejudice that she was just an apprentice witch.
This time, she would prepare for an offensive from the early game and attack at a faster tempo…
.
.
.
“Good game.”
“Ah.”
Nairi lost.
This match ended in 15 minutes.
Having roughly predicted Diana’s style of play, Nairi induced localized skirmishes from the early game.
She deliberately picked fights to prevent her from just staring at the wall, launching an early rush that utilized both the center and the sides.
Then, the apprentice witch, who had seemed so docile, suddenly changed as if she had become a different person and counterattacked.
And she didn’t just counterattack; she started a brawl in reverse.
Thinking she had the upper hand, Nairi responded, only to see her mana source get blown away by a surprise attack amidst the chaos.
If one mana source is blown away in an early brawl, not in a solid mid-to-late game, the outcome is obvious.
She had been utterly defeated in her strongest area.
“No… She pretended to be a defensive type… How can she be so good at brawling?”
Nairi, who had gotten up and returned to the older witches, was on the verge of tears from frustration.
“It’s okay. People can lose.”
“Nairi, I’ll teach you again step by step.”
“You just weren’t good enough, right? Are you upset? If you’re upset, you should have done better.”
“You were careless. It’s not a crime to be careless twice, right?”
“Nairi. You’re still the strongest among us. You just happened to lose to an apprentice witch.”
The older witches comforted Nairi, who looked so pitiful that she seemed to have lost her soul.
“Just a moment.”
Diana called out to Nairi, who was about to leave the Mikhail Salon with slumped shoulders.
Everyone looked at Diana with puzzled eyes.
Was she perhaps going to show the magnanimity of a victor and offer some comfort?
Was she going to be so kind as to praise her, saying, ‘You played wonderfully’?
“I didn’t hear your rating properly earlier. I need it to update. What is it?”
After hearing the rating, Diana nodded and quickly went back inside.
“Wow… That Gehenna apprentice witch is ruthless.”
“Is she confirming the kill?”
“Waaah, sob sob…”
“Nairi, don’t cry. It’s okay.”
Leaving behind Nairi’s sobs, who had finally broken down, Diana silently thought about her plans.
The Diana of today is not the Diana of the past who only played against her mother.
She is not the novice who was giddy after receiving a board from her tutor, Shin Siwoo, nor is she the hothouse flower who was crushed by his unpredictable plays.
She is a veteran warrior who has accumulated countless experiences while armed with thorough theory.
“Okay.”
With this, she can bring that man to his knees.
With this…
She can marry off her mother.
