Gacha Kingdom Building-Chapter 310: Packet Loss (03)

--This chapter is written in Ellie's POV--

The girls and I dropped to the floor at the base of the stairs leading to the fifth floor. Ragged breaths escaped us as we stared up at its towering steps.

If not for Ceres' constant, escalating provocations, we wouldn't have struggled so much against the endless squads of AOTG soldiers blocking our way at every turn.

She wrote text across the screens to provoke us, detonated the computers on the desks we used for cover, and even created fake images to trick me into shooting at nonexistent cameras, only to mock me for it.

It was beyond annoying how easily she got reactions out of me!

Paired with the flashing lights, her methods drained us of patience, energy, and will.

To make matters worse, she used her Gift skillfully, ripping monitors off the walls to shield the AOTG soldiers from our attacks. Bea and I had no option but to burn through our mana to shoot through her screens, but even Anna, who could rip them apart with a swing of her sword, could only brute-force her way through so many before running out of steam.

With each bullet that grazed us, our debuffs worsened, or a new one was added, turning an already exhausting battle of attrition into an expensive rush that pushed our minds and bodies to their limits.

She hadn't even faced us directly, yet I felt like she had us backed against a wall.

Ceres: "I don't understand why you would waste so much effort..."

Even though it was meaningless, I couldn't stop my hand from moving. Seeing Ceres' emotionless eyes looking down on us, I pulled an arrow from the quiver on my back and shot the screen directly in front of me. All to avoid her face for a minute.

For a second, she stopped talking, only for every screen to reflect the slight grin spreading across her lips.

Biting my lower lip, I took a step towards the stairs, doing my best to ignore the smile on her face.

The thought of climbing them ahead of the girls tempted me so much that I could barely hold back. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

Beatrice: "...Are you worried? You've wasted so many resources already..."

Noticing how much I was struggling, Bea stepped between us and provoked Ceres using her own words.

It only lasted for a second, but the expression on Ceres' face changed. With only one floor left to separate us, perhaps she wasn't as calm as she wanted us to believe.

Bea didn't miss this. The smile on her face was even colder than Ceres', befitting of a witch.

Ceres: "Tch. I suppose you're right. Let's end this quickly, shall we?"

Beatrice: "I'm looking forward to it..."

Once Ceres' image disappeared, some of the screens surrounding us fell to the ground, shattering glass at our feet.

These screens had hidden entire corridors and rooms from us, and before long, we heard steps fast approaching us through them.

Just as we feared, many AOTG soldiers were waiting for us behind these secret rooms. In the blink of an eye, they stormed the floor, barely giving us the time to enter formation.

Anna: "You've gotta be kidding..."

We had just finished the uphill battle that was clearing the fourth floor, and again, we found ourselves surrounded by the AOTG.

Even though their numbers were lower than before, we had barely recovered from the last wave.

We couldn't keep the same pace as before.

And we didn't get out unscathed.

Fire bullets slipped past Anna and exploded against my shoulder, burning through my skin and leaving it red, raw, and exposed.

I pushed through the pain in my shoulder to pull the bowstring, but I was a second too late.

Bea had been caught by a water whip, and with no one to intercept the incoming spells, Anna was forced to swing wide to defend herself. The opening was small, but it was enough for a spearman to charge forward and drive his blade into her abdomen.

I fired two rapid shots at the spearman that got Anna and the mage that surprised Bea, but the damage was already done.

Anna fought the entire battle while bleeding from her wound; her breathing grew more uneven with each passing second. Bea limped from her strained ankles, and my right hand failed me too many times.

We had already suffered plenty of bruises and cuts before the ambush. After it was over, there wasn't a single spot on my body that didn't hurt. Or burn.

It was painful. But I could only imagine how much worse it was for Anna.

She was wounded time and time again, yet, knowing she'd be putting us at risk, she refused to so much as take a side step.

Despite the pain, she didn't fail.

I couldn't say the same, and it was hard for me to apologize for it. But... After how relentlessly she fought, it would be too pathetic not to say anything.

Anna: "It's fine! We'll get payback soon..."

I could feel the desire to bring Ceres down building up within Anna since the battle started, and like me, she seemed ready to explode at any moment.

Yet, I wasn't sure if these were her honest feelings or if she wanted to keep our spirits up by downplaying the situation, while inside she struggled alone.

Anna was too tough and too protective.

Either could be true, and it wouldn't surprise me if both were.

Ellie: "...Yeah."

I didn't have the strength to voice this worry. Not when it meant opposing her resolve.

As we climbed the mountain-like steps leading to the fifth floor, I silently followed Anna's back, keeping an eye out for any surprise attacks or enemies in her path.

I heard Bea's soft grunts behind me. She struggled to reach the final step and almost reached for my shoulder for support, but she remembered my injury and instead leaned on her staff.

Once she caught up with us, Anna gave Bea a second to catch her breath before she pushed down the two screens blocking the way and opened the path to the fifth floor.

Once the screens fell, our sights landed on a completely remodelled fifth floor.

The previous floors had changed too. Ceres had narrowed them to make space for her hidden rooms and corridors.

However, the fifth floor was much more obvious.

The screens climbed the walls and arched over our heads, enclosing us in a spiraling corridor of absolute darkness.

At the end of this corridor stood a woman with her back turned to us. Her eyes were fixated on the only light source on the floor, a single lit-up screen.

She turned to us, but her eyes stayed glued to the screen as it floated before her.

Then, almost as if to show us what she had been looking at, every screen in the corridor turned to our image.

I thought it was the same trick as before and traced the camera's position, but...

Every single screen captured us from a slightly different angle.

Almost as if...

Ellie: "The screens themselves... Are cameras...?"

It was the only explanation that made sense, as every time I tried to find a camera, I would pinpoint its position back to another screen.

But in that case, why didn't Ceres keep our images up all the time? We could never destroy the hundreds of screens on each floor, and the AOTG would have a massive advantage over us.

Beatrice: "...You have the makings of a witch."

Ceres' lips moved, but she spoke so softly that we couldn't hear her answer.

Until her image appeared on the screens, and the sound of her voice echoed through the fifth floor.

Ceres: "And what would that be?"

Beatrice: "Strictly speaking, the mastery or obsession with one of the five forbidden magics. Arcanum. Temporal. Runic..."

It was the first time Bea mentioned the other forbidden magics by name, and I couldn't help but notice she left two unspoken…

I turned my head almost instinctively, and having predicted my curiosity, she whispered that the last two were bad enough that she'd rather not even name them, especially to me.

Ceres: "Interesting. But I don't have-"

Before she could finish, Bea took a single step forward, making sure her face was front and center on most of the cameras before speaking with a chilling smile.

Beatrice: "You have the obsession. Trust me, you'd be welcomed among witches."

The two women, distorting the meaning of a smile, stared at each other with sadistic eyes. Bea even brought one of her fingers close to her lips, looking as if she was about to devour Ceres whole.

Ceres: "...Is that so?"

Without losing her composure, Ceres turned away.

The screens turned black again, hiding her in the darkness.

A screen flashed in bright light at our left.

Our eyes naturally drifted towards it, allowing one of the black screens Ceres had launched from the dark to reach us.

Anna didn't have the time to raise her sword, so she grabbed the screen, ready to throw it back to where it came from.

But then, a web of blue lightning erupted from the glass, forcing Anna to her knees.

She closed her eyes to endure the pain, and a second later, she found the strength and the anger to stumble back on her feet and throw the screen away.

Beatrice: "...Her magic travels through the screens. I can't detect her when she's everywhere at once. Ellie?"

I had even less luck.

While I was sure I could still see Ceres in this corridor, she had most certainly "disappeared".

Ellie: "She's probably hiding behind one of the monitors."

Just as I said those words, Ceres appeared behind us.

Anna swung her sword almost immediately, only to strike another screen that shocked her.

Anna: "Nnm... I hate this woman... Ugh..."

Ceres' [Lightning Magic] wasn't powerful enough to knock Anna out.

In normal circumstances, at least.

With so many debuffs working against her and all of the other wounds she suffered, we couldn't afford to keep falling for these traps.

Unfortunately, Ceres was more than happy to continue playing with us.

Using the screens, she made it seem like she had run from one spot to the other, and even had her mana travel through the screens at the same time.

I fell hook, line, and sinker.

After my arrows rebounded on the glass, a text appeared on the screens around us.

"Do you need glasses, little girl?"

Ellie: "..."

My face burned as much as my shoulder.

There was a lot I wanted to say. But I didn't want to give her the victory.

I already knew from the previous floors how unrelenting she could be.

Instead, I took a deep breath and focused.

My senses weren't as sharp as Mia's, so I couldn't hear her typing. But even her eyes didn't compare to mine.

I focused on the screens at the end of the corridor.

The pitch-black glass reflected almost nothing.

Almost.

Ceres' white hair and coat... I caught a glimpse of them reflected on a screen.

I gritted my teeth, fighting back the burning pain in my shoulder to fire five shots, one straight up and the others to either side.

The seemingly random arrows were imbued with my [Wind Magic], which I used to shift their trajectories in the last moment, catching Ceres by surprise.

Before I could fire more, she had already surrounded herself in a dome of screens.

But moving so quickly was a mistake.

I activated my Gift, and despite the AOTG's bullets decreasing my luck, four of my shots managed to trigger a [Status Effect] of my own on Ceres.

One of them was a buff called [Mana Overload]. It briefly pushed the mana inside a person to its absolute limit for a powerful attack.

This buff didn't last long for someone unprepared to use it meaningfully.

But to a certain witch, Ceres had effectively turned into a firefly.

Walls of fire surrounded Ceres.

Her lightning wasn't strong enough to stop Bea's magic, and the screens couldn't protect her from the overbearing heat.

Her only option was to reposition, which meant creating an opening in her glass barrier.

Hidden by Bea's [Dark Magic], Anna used the opportunity to give Ceres a taste of her own medicine.

Her sword pierced Ceres' abdomen, but before she could grab Ceres...

A blur passed by her, and in the next moment, Anna was sent flying towards us, crashing against the screens behind Bea and me.

Beatrice: "...We have company."

Ellie: "Yeah... I can see them."

Two figures approached from the dark.

They slowly walked towards Ceres as she raised a screen to support herself.

Anna: "That was... Strong."

These weren't the words we wanted to hear.

My heart raced, and cold sweat ran down my face as I watched Anna cough blood from her mouth.

It was the first time she had a genuine smile on her face.

Which meant "strong" was an understatement.

More than likely, the figure that sent her flying was at least as strong as Ceres.

...Probably more.