Chapter 840: Match Begin
Luna cracked her knuckles. The sound was barely audible given her size, but the grin she aimed up at Kaiden was sharp and sure.
"So," the gremlin said. "When do we start?"
The deployment interface pulsed at the board’s edge, waiting for Kaiden’s command. He didn’t give it yet.
His gaze drifted to Alexandra.
She stood behind his chair, still and straight, watching Luna stretch on her square, watching Aria pool moonlight at her fingertips, watching Nyx study the enemy formations with pink eyes that were already three moves ahead.
Her friends were preparing for war and the Hearth Valkyrie’s contribution to that effort was standing very still and trying not to show disappointment.
Her Restoration had never touched a real wound. She had a class and no one to practice on because nobody was hurt yet.
Kaiden looked at her for a moment. Then he drew the edge of the Blood Monarch’s Gauntlet across his own wrist.
Blood welled, dark and warm. Alexandra’s blue eyes went so wide the white void reflected in them twice.
"Practice," he said.
Alexandra’s mouth opened. Closed. Opened again.
"You..." The whisper cracked into a shriek. "You absolute dummy! You complete lunatic! What is WRONG with you?!"
Mighty hissing began pouring from the blonde girl.
"Who does that?! Who just slices their own wrist open?! You’re supposed to be the commander! This is the behavior of an unhinged person!"
"It’s a shallow cut."
"THAT DOESN’T MAKE IT BETTER!" Her hands balled at her sides, and the fury in her voice was so complete it circled back around to something almost dignified. "And I am NOT healing that, because healing such reckless self-inflicted wounds is reinforcing bad behavior and I absolutely refuse to be your enabler!"
Arms folded. Chin up. Blood still running down his wrist.
"I’ll just bleed to my death then, I guess," Kaiden shrugged and refocused on the board.
Alexandra trembled. Her eyes narrowed to slits. One foot stamped against the white floor with a sound that should not have been physically possible in a dimensionless void.
"Kaiden Grey..." Low, ominous tone. "You have so many strong women in your life yet none of them taught you how to not give others heart attacks for no reason at all?"
"Hehe~" a certain pink lady giggled slyly. "We’re risk takers, bestie."
"..." Alexandra sent the piece a deadly glare then grabbed Kaiden’s wrist with both hands and golden light pulsed from her palms, warm and unsteady, Restoration answering her intent before she had any idea how to aim it.
The glow sputtered, brightened, sputtered again, and Alexandra’s brow furrowed as the cut refused to close on her first try.
"Hold still," she muttered, pressing harder like that might help as the light steadied for a moment before it faltered again.
"You’re doing fine-" Kaiden began.
"Quiet. Bad boys don’t get to talk. You’re in detention, mister."
"..." Kaiden’s lips turned wry.
<She’s amazing! Teaching big brother proper behavior?!> Alice observed from his shoulder, wowed to the core.
Kaiden ignored her with practiced ease.
Alexandra shifted her palms half an inch, tried again, and the golden warmth held long enough for new skin to creep across the wound’s edge, pink and thin, before the light sputtered out again.
"Almost," she muttered, adjusting her grip. The tip of her tongue poked out between her lips. "Hold still."
"I haven’t moved an inch, though?"
"!!" Her eyes widened in realization, before she pursed her lips. "You’re breathing too much."
"... My bad. I’ll stop."
"W-wait, don’t stop breathing! Dummy! I can’t believe you!"
A certain overly eager girl seemed to have transitioned from the role of a dutiful maid to a caring nurse all too seamlessly.
Kaiden sighed amusedly and turned to the board while Alexandra continued working on his hand, golden light stuttering against his wrist in fitful bursts as she muttered rapid complaints about reckless commanders and irresponsible self-harm.
The deployment interface still pulsed at its edge, patient and waiting, and eight women stood on the stone surface in a loose cluster, not yet assigned to squares.
He’d been thinking about placement since the rules appeared.
Four columns. Eight pieces. Two rows. Front and back.
’Melee up front. Ranged behind them for support fire. The ranged mechanic lets backline pieces join a clash from two squares away, so column pairing matters a lot.’
He looked at his girls and the grid beneath them and started placing.
Luna went to the front left. Column A, Row 5. She looked up at him with a grin that was already sharpening, bouncing on the balls of her feet like the square beneath her was a starting block.
"Flank?" she asked.
"That’s where you always thrive."
The grin widened. "Alright."
Vespera went to center-left. Column B, Row 5.
Scarlet took center-right. Column C, Row 5.
Calypso filled the right flank. Column D, Row 5.
Back row next. Aria took Column A behind Luna. Nyx slid into Column B behind Vespera. Bastet claimed Column C behind Scarlet. Alice materialized on Column D from his shoulder.
[Defender deployment confirmed.]
The board updated.
```
[♚ Claimant]
[Row 1: C5 · C6 · C7 · C8]
[Row 2: C1 · C2 · C3 · C4]
[Row 3: — · — · — · —]
[Row 4: — · — · — · —]
[Row 5: Luna · Vespera · Scarlet · Calypso]
[Row 6: Aria · Nyx · Bastet · Alice]
[♔ Successor]
```
[Turn 1. Defender moves first.]
Eight pairs of eyes looked up at him from the board, and across the void, six burning eyes stared from a table scaled to a mountain.
Kaiden drew his first two cards for the turn. The translucent faces spun into focus beside his hand, joining the five already orbiting there.
He barely glanced at them. He already knew his opening move.
"Mother. Please move one square forward."
Vespera stepped onto the new square without a word, arms at her sides, back straight, gaze fixed on the enemy line two rows ahead. She didn’t need instructions. She already knew why he’d put her front and center, and she had no problems with it whatsoever.
[Defender Turn 1: Vespera (B5 → B4).]
Across the void, six eyes shifted. The Kaiju’s table glowed.
[Claimant’s turn.]
