The self-proclaimed strongest board gamer, who tried to create rules and was an unknown creator, got disqualified.
Even though I lied about having a hidden miniature to prevent the tournament atmosphere from sinking due to the disqualification, it seems all my efforts were in vain.
“Well, even so, what just happened was a bit…”
“It’s good to look for hidden miniature conditions, but not playing the game properly because of that is a different story.”
“I was about to die of frustration watching you keep making special equipment without ever using it. You were so focused on it that your army was almost wiped out.”
The situation was different from when Agni the Magician was around.
Agni the Magician was genuinely serious about the game itself, and if he had pulled out an original miniature after an intense back-and-forth with Knight Roland,
This guy just kept making special equipment and hoarding it without really using his army, leading to a one-sided massacre.
In the end, it wasn’t fun to watch, so the audience’s reaction couldn’t have been good.
That’s why even with the disqualification, the atmosphere didn’t sink or get dampened.
The atmosphere had already been dead for a long time due to the boring game.
‘Was it just excitement like Agni the Magician, or was it extreme over-immersion…?’
The idea itself wasn’t that bad.
From his perspective, he might have been aiming for a unique way to win, but to others, it just looked like weird behavior.
Anyway, the subsequent matches were, to put it bluntly, uneventful, or to put it nicely, smoothly proceeded. With the unprecedented development of the Ultimate White Dragon in the first match and a disqualification in the second, the following matches seemed relatively bland.
In the end, the rule maker had a significant impact (?) on the overall tournament.
And so, the 8-player tournament ended, the semifinals concluded.
Finally, in the finals.
“Finally… we’ve made it this far.”
“………”
“Since you’ve made it to the finals, you must be an incredibly strong board gamer. But!”
*Flex!*
“The one who will rise to the top is me…!!”
That, the top position…
You’re not talking about muscles, right…?
*
Waaaaah───
The grand hall of Glesia Magic Tower was filled with all sorts of cheers and excitement. And at its center.
A massive game board made of ice, and vivid miniatures sculpted from ice.
Knight Roland, who had reached the glorious position of the finals, briefly reminisced about the past.
‘Even during the Bang tournament… I felt it.’
The cheers of the audience, the undeniable tension, and the strangely exhilarating feeling.
The tournament, the finals, was such a joyous place.
During the Bang tournament, I was too focused on the prize to fully feel this place.
But now, having reached the finals again with the new board game War’s Hammer, Knight Roland felt the corners of his mouth slowly rising.
Before becoming the Guardian of the Royal Family or a Grandmaster.
Back when every duel, every battle was so crucial.
“I gather the Orc Chieftain, Orc Shaman, and Orc Great Warrior to begin the selection ritual! With this, I end my turn, and all units are considered dead… but I can summon the special unit, the Orc Warlord!”
And the opponent was fitting.
Like Agni the Magician I faced first, with muscles rippling as he lifted the miniature, showing how much he had trained.
The boldness of sacrificing three powerful special units to summon an even higher-tier unit.
And the strategy of sacrificing half the army to buy time, eliminating the chance of interference.
A true board gamer, endlessly serious and thoroughly strategic.
“The Orc Warlord’s effect! It doubles the dice correction value of nearby Orc units!”
A simple but incredibly powerful effect.
The Orc Warlord is a special unit that can only be summoned by sacrificing the Orc Chieftain, Orc Shaman, and Orc Great Warrior, each a special unit in their own right.
In War’s Hammer, each special unit has different summoning conditions, but among the many tricky special units, the Orc Warlord requires the most time and effort.
That’s why Orcs aren’t considered a high-performing race.
But in return.
Once summoned, it boasts enough power to dominate the game.
“The Warlord is out!!!”
“With this, the Orcs will win!!”
“The game isn’t over yet! The human side still has over 10 units left and two dark magicians!”
“With the Orc Warlord out…”
“Each orc around here is probably stronger than a dark magician, so what does it matter?!”
Waaaaah!!!!
Even as more than half of his troops disappeared, the audience cheered and roared with confidence the moment the orc warchief was summoned.
They were overjoyed at the very fact that the orcs, a minority race, were defeating the humans, the dominant race.
Even if you’re a board gamer who usually plays humans, seeing a minority race win in such a massive tournament is bound to stir up some romanticism.
A few board gamers were still trying to figure out the situation, but at this moment, the entire audience was rooting for the orcs.
“Warchief! Warchief! Warchief!!!”
“Can you hear it? The roar of the audience.”
“…………….”
“Everyone said orcs are a minority, that they could never win. They told me to just play humans or dwarves instead.”
“………….”
“They even said if I wanted real romance, I should play dragons………But now, what do you think?”
Thud.
“Orcs are an honorable race! They are absolutely not a minority!!”
The orc board gamer’s muscles trembled. He was moved by the fact that the race he chose was being cheered for.
That’s the kind of reaction you’d expect from a board gamer who truly loves War’s Hammer.
Even though his army was larger, judging by the atmosphere alone, Knight Roland seemed already defeated.
“……Well.”
“Huh?”
“We’ll only know if we try, right?”
The orc warchief is undoubtedly a powerful special unit. Not only does it provide a double dice buff to nearby units, but the warchief’s individual abilities are also incredibly strong.
In reality, once the warchief appeared, even with a larger army, Knight Roland’s chances of losing were higher………but.
Knight Roland was looking for an opportunity.
Even as the entire audience cheered for the orcs and the orc gamer himself was confident of victory.
Knight Roland didn’t give up on the game.
“That’s right……! That’s what a true board gamer is!! Not like that rule-making guy I faced before!”
“I’ll roll the defense dice. Defense bonus is……5.”
5, definitely a high number, but.
Right now.
“I’ll roll the attack dice! The result is 3! Normally, this would be a failed attack, but……the orc warchief’s special effect!”
“……….”
“Orcs near the warchief receive double dice bonuses! So the attack dice value isn’t 3, but 6! The attack succeeds!”
The ice-crafted orc warchief roars. Wielding a massive axe, adorned with bones and pelts of various beasts, its overwhelming presence charges the morale of the surrounding orcs.
Similarly, a 2-meter-tall ice orc warrior leaps into the air and brings down a greatsword on a human soldier.
Crash!
Even though it’s just ice materialized.
The astonishingly high quality vividly depicts the orc splitting the human soldier in two and the human soldier kneeling in death.
All these vivid scenes, along with Knight Roland’s unyielding spirit, keep the audience in a frenzy.
Though Knight Roland managed to take down a few orcs using various tactics and unit abilities.
By then, most of the human army had been wiped out.
“Now……only two dark magicians remain.”
“………….”
“Dark magicians are the most uniquely powerful among human special units. Sorry, but I won’t give you a chance to turn this around.”
“A chance……….”
“I’ll move all my orc units except the warchief and one orc warrior toward the dark magicians!”
Even if all the orc units moving forward are killed, this strategy ensures the warchief can’t be targeted, just in case.
Moreover, it’s nearly impossible for two dark magicians to handle all the orc units. Even if the distance increases, the orcs still benefit from the double dice bonus.
No matter how special the dark magicians are, they can’t win in this situation.
“Defensive magic adds a +3 to the defense dice───”
“Attack dice is 4! With double effect, the bonus is +8! This is the end!!”
Indeed, the two dark magicians were eventually taken down by the orc units without much resistance.
With that, the army was annihilated.
The orc board gamer’s victory was all but confirmed, but.
“……The game isn’t over?”
“I’ll roll the movement dice.”
“Movement? The entire army is wiped out, so who’s left……? Ah!”
Only then did the orc gamer notice a single human unit hiding in the bushes near the orc warchief.
It could have been known, but since they sacrificed an orc shaman with tracking abilities to select the orc chieftain, they didn’t notice.
Did they realize the orc shaman disappeared for the orc chieftain and hide a unit in the bushes beforehand?
“Stupid! In a situation where even one unit is precious, you do something like that…?”
“Creating a crisis of annihilation and delivering a thrilling reversal to the audience… That’s my board game.”
“Ha, but just one human unit! That’s not enough!”
“I challenge the orc chieftain to a duel!!”
“What…!?”
Of course, War’s Hammer doesn’t have a duel rule. Basically, War’s Hammer is a war board game, as the name suggests.
There’s no obligation for the orc board gamer to accept Knight Roland’s proposal.
However.
“A duel…?”
“If you’re truly a proud orc! You wouldn’t refuse a one-on-one duel with this human knight…!!”
“……Ha, haha.”
The orc board gamer was once a knight aspirant.
He had talent in aura and swordsmanship. He dreamed of becoming a knight since childhood.
But he had to give up that dream due to others who envied his talent.
They called him out for a one-on-one duel, but in reality, they ganged up on him and used violence.
The orc board gamer, who injured his spine there, could never wield a sword again.
“A duel…!”
Though it was doubtful if he could even live a normal life, thanks to grueling rehabilitation training and muscle training to stabilize his spine, he managed to return to daily life.
Still, he couldn’t wield a sword.
Instead, he became engrossed in the board game War’s Hammer, drawn to the orc race that pursues honorable duels and glory.
“I accept!! The orc chieftain does not avoid a duel!!!”
Knight Roland, who deliberately hid a unit in the bushes, waited for the orc chieftain to approach.
And the orc board gamer, who accepted a duel he didn’t need to.
It was an action far removed from efficiency, strategy, or performance.
But it was ‘romance’ itself.
“Crazy! He accepted the duel!”
“He really accepted that! He’s an orc board gamer to the bone!!”
“……No, even if the stats of the human knight and orc chieftain are similar, the difference in special abilities is huge. Even in a one-on-one, the result would be the same. It’s just a calculated move.”
“Even so, it’s the final match! The chance of winning isn’t 100%!”
“That’s… true.”
The audience, showing various reactions, focused on the one-on-one duel that would conclude the final match.
Both are special units with similar stats, but the performance difference in special abilities is too great. Normally, the outcome is obvious.
But.
“I attack first! I roll the attack dice… 2, but the chieftain’s effect makes it count as 4!”
“I roll the defense dice. The dice is 5! I block that attack!”
Clang!
The human knight blocks the orc chieftain’s axe with his sword.
As much as the romance of the two board gamers.
Shisha’s ice vision also depicted the duel with meticulous and overwhelming quality.
“My turn. Attack dice is 4!”
“Defense dice is 3, but with a special effect, it becomes 6!”
Axe and sword clash. Sparks fly from the ice-made weapons of the two beings.
The orc chieftain, despite his massive size, moves swiftly and strikes with dazzling axe swings. Each swing of the chieftain’s axe, towering over the human knight, was a blood-curdling attack.
But the human knight blocked or countered all of them with a single sword.
Occasionally allowing attacks, but somehow enduring and continuing the duel.
They roll dice. They swing weapons.
How many turns have passed since the human knight and orc chieftain started their duel?
“Attack dice, 6! With a special effect, it counts as 12! This is the end!”
Finally, the orc chieftain prepared his most powerful strike.
The moment the audience sensed defeat.
“……All special units have unique effects. I use the knight’s special unit effect.”
“!!!”
“The knight’s effect is… rolling two dice once during the game.”
Whether it’s attack, defense, or movement.
The human knight uses only one dice, but just once.
You can break the rules.
Clearly powerful but a one-time deal, it’s considered weak for a Special Unit that needs to be summoned through multiple sacrifices. After all, the Orc Warchief can use the Knight’s ability every turn.
If you’re going to leave something behind, why not leave the Dark Magician? Why leave the human Knight, who is considered the most ambiguous among the Special Units?
Before the question could be resolved, Knight Roland rolled the defense dice.
“6.”
“Please…!!”
The first dice was a 6. The highest number, but still far from 12.
What are the chances of rolling another 6 with the remaining dice?
It was clearly a low probability.
“I don’t believe in luck. However.”
“……”
“I believe in the bond between me and this miniature. As fellow Knights!!”
“What…?”
Dice Roll.
The dice that decide fate roll across the game board.
“Total defense dice…12!”
“No way!!”
“This blocks the Orc Great Warrior’s attack! And the attack dice! 6!!”
“W-well, as long as it’s 3 or higher…!!”
No matter how high the opponent’s dice roll is, as long as it’s 3 or higher, the Orc Warchief’s effect can block it.
It can block it.
──But can it really block it…?
A tiny bit of distrust towards the Orc Warchief arose within the Orc board gamer.
“………1.”
“Even if you double it, it’s 2! The Knight’s attack hits!!”
“Ah, no!”
“Take this! Aura Slash!!”
In the end, the human Knight and the Orc Warchief have similar stats.
Which means the Orc Warchief’s health isn’t that high either.
The Knight, covered in blood but still holding onto his sword, strikes───
Swoosh.
“……You said it earlier. ‘Fellow’ Knight.”
“……Yes.”
“One last thing…may I ask who you are?”
“All I can show you is this.”
Flap.
What he pulled out from his pocket was a card.
Cards aren’t used in War’s Hammer. So what is that card?
The Orc board gamer, who examined the card closely, widened his eyes.
“That’s…the special character card of Knight Roland, only given to the winner of the Bang Tournament at Arkhé Magic Tower…!!”
“……”
“You…could it be!”
The aspiring Knight, who had to give up on his dream, looked at his opponent.
Still wearing a hood.
The pinnacle of his dream, the Knight.
Finally, the Orc board gamer let out a hollow laugh.
“I…lost.”
Thud.
As the Orc Warchief, struck by the Knight, knelt down.
“””””Wooooow!!!!”””””
The auditorium erupted with cheers.
And the winner was decided.
*
[Hey, can I ask you a few things?]
“……Go ahead, Leisha.”
[Why did you shout the skill name like ‘Aura Slash’ when you attacked at the end? Isn’t that embarrassing?]
“……”
[And why not just reveal your identity instead of showing that character card?]
“………”
[Also, there are still some Orc units left. Why did you declare defeat yourself?]
“……”
[And most importantly, Kyle…why are you crying?]
“That’s…because it’s romance.”
[????]
Leisha…
Doesn’t understand the heart of romance………
