“Read the rulebook, assemble your army of pieces, complete the mission, conquer the capital, and achieve ultimate victory.”
Hyacinth was a little surprised; Xin Yuehu had actually come up with such an interesting game activity.
…At least it looked interesting.
“But I don’t think we can easily trust Xin Yuehu’s words!”
Nan Xiaofeng said,
“She’s definitely just messing with us. Once we really make the pieces and send them in to investigate, we’ll definitely encounter Hellcat and her team, who are super strong, just like last time when we escaped from Foxkov!”
“But we can’t use magic in this Mindscape World, so we can only try to investigate with these pieces.”
Iris turned to look at Hyacinth, spreading her hands with a wry smile. A row of various pieces was laid out in front of her, and she was meticulously painting them with magic.
This was Xin Yuehu’s consistent style.
Once inside the Mindscape World, one had to abide by the rules set by the creator. If it weren’t for Xin Yuehu having no ill intent, they would have long become her playthings.
Perhaps Xin Yuehu just wanted to play together? Iris couldn’t help but have such a thought.
But it was quickly overshadowed by the Cheshire Rabbit’s eerie smile in her memory, and she shook her head repeatedly.
Qiugui seemed to have accepted reality, so she simply sat aside, diligently painting the pieces of her chosen faction.
“I say, Qiugui.”
“Hmm?”
“Why are you so leisurely painting pieces there?!”
Chun Lan said, puzzled,
“Shouldn’t we be thinking about how to escape from here? This is a Mindscape World! A very dangerous Mindscape World!”
“Is that so…”
Hearing her teammates, Qiugui looked up and around.
This wasn’t her first time seeing a Mindscape World—during the great battle against Leviathan in Sui City, the Autumn Osmanthus Squad also participated in the fight, personally experiencing Red Rose’s immense barrier magic.
It could even encompass an entire Star Realm Rift and provide powerful magic amplification to the Magic Girls within it, making it extremely powerful.
“…But do we have any good way to leave here?” Qiugui thought for a while, then asked Chun Lan.
The latter remained silent, shaking her head.
“I don’t know… But if we just keep going like this…”
“Regarding that, we have plenty of experience in dealing with it,” Nightingale interjected.
The four members of the Autumn Osmanthus Squad looked at their teammate, who was concentrating on painting the pieces in front of them.
In terms of seniority, Nightingale was the junior of everyone in her squad, but when it came to experience in battling other Magic Girls, Nightingale could absolutely surpass most Magic Girls in the world.
She also had absolutely seasoned experience in dealing with Xin Yuehu’s Mindscape World.
“Under normal circumstances, as long as we cooperate well with Xin Yuehu, she won’t create a crisis situation, nor will she threaten our safety,” Nightingale said.
“Really?” Chun Lan was quite skeptical.
“We can only try according to what Xin Yuehu said.”
Hyacinth sighed, speaking softly, and looked down at the row of pieces in front of her.
“Nightingale is right; if Xin Yuehu truly wanted to eliminate us, she could have done so the moment the Mindscape World unfolded. There’s no need for all this trouble.”
“Then let’s follow her rules—and carefully study how to escape.”
With Hyacinth, the authoritative expert in Xin Yuehu’s domain, endorsing it, Chun Lan and the others finally relaxed and sat with Qiugui, diligently studying the rulebook in their hands.
.
If one were to describe today’s activity in the simplest way, it could be explained by the description in the rulebook:
“Each piece has its own score. You need to assemble a team with a total of 3000 points, deploy pieces of different roles and abilities around the battlefield, and cooperate with each other.”
“The objective of this mission is to break through the defense line, enter the capital, and seize control of the core area.”
“So, has everyone assembled their teams?”
Hyacinth stood in front of everyone, looking at the pieces her companions held in their hands.
Using magic to paint was much simpler than ordinary hand-painting and could more effectively present the appearance they wanted the pieces to have.
Hyacinth chose the cool-looking World Eaters Legion, while Iris took a liking to the Black Legion.
Although in the background story these two were Chaos factions, there was no strict faction division in this wargame.
Following the guidance of the rulebook, the Magic Girls quickly dispersed, using the vast magic of the Mindscape World to materialize the pieces into familiar-like beings, commanding them to begin reconnaissance.
“So, we can directly see the pieces’ vision… It’s just like playing a real-time strategy game,” Nightingale said, surprised, as she played with the magical light screen in her hand, speaking to Hyacinth and the other person beside her.
Her chosen faction was the Adeptus Mechanicus, which was highly functional and equipped with a large number of corresponding piece familiars for reconnaissance and annihilation.
“Real-time strategy game?…” Hyacinth tilted her head curiously.
“It’s a type of video game, unfortunately, it’s declined now, but it used to be very popular,” Nightingale said, spreading her hands.
“The way we’re commanding this army to explore the surroundings right now is quite similar to that kind of video game.”
“Hmm… Although I don’t quite understand, Nightingale, have you found anything? Has the reconnaissance team sent back any intelligence?” Iris interjected.
“Yes, the infiltrators I sent out have roughly figured out Xin Yuehu and her team’s faction choices and the construction of their outer defense line.”
As she spoke, Nightingale unfolded a magical light screen in front of the three of them. A map of the capital, shrouded in war fog, was displayed on it, but a large area of the outer perimeter had already been explored.
“According to the intelligence sent back by the infiltrators, the faction choices of Hellcat and Cheshire Rabbit can be confirmed.”
“The Ultramarines and the Blood Angels. Their combat power is extremely strong, their defense line is impenetrable, and they are equipped with heavy firepower, making it very difficult to break through from the front.”
The three of them glanced at the several Dreadnoughts hidden in the darkness behind the defensive positions, and none of them had any desire to forcefully attack such a position.
“A frontal assault is unwise; we need to outsmart them,” Hyacinth said.
Seeing Hyacinth display such a cautious attitude, Iris and Nightingale were both surprised.
“…Why are you two looking at me like that?”
“Aren’t you usually the first one to charge in? Why have you suddenly become so shrewd?” Nightingale muttered softly.
“I’m not that reckless! I just want to intercept Hellcat first!” Hyacinth retorted, her face slightly flushed, but without much confidence.
Soon, after some searching and investigation, Hyacinth set her sights on a weakly defended area:
At the edge of Hellcat and Cheshire Rabbit’s defense line, there was an abandoned elevator entrance leading into the capital. The infiltrators were trying to sneak in, and perhaps they could open a shortcut into the interior of the defense line.
“The defense line here is… is managed by Fenrir, and her faction is the Orks.”
“Excellent! Let’s launch our attack from here! And at the same time, contact Qiugui and her team to have them send small units to feign attacks on both flanks to cover our main attack direction!”
With that, Hyacinth stood up, raising the very plastic-looking toy chainsword in her hand.
“Let’s go! My warriors!”