/jp/ - Otaku Culture

>>45401815
Anon picked up two tiles from the board, a grassy field surrounded by 3 forts and bisected by a river, placing them at his vanguard in a stack. “I tribute 7 seals to my channeler, activating her Polymerization spell! This allows me to combine my Gold General and Incense Chariot into Ruxor, the Fragrant Mage! Now, I activate the Akashic tome so that Ruxor can cast a spell immediately after summoning: A Firebolt aimed at your monk and ox!”

“Not good enough, Anon! Your Ruxor is in my jizo’s sights! I sacrifice a stone general to nullify Firebolt and disrupt the Polymerization!”

“Thanks a lot, Momiji! The higanbana planted behind your jizo reacts to the tribute! Now I can summon three carrion crows and send your jizo to the Sanzu river! By the time it comes back, you’ll already be dead!”

The players were in fierce competition, alliances forming and breaking each turn. Anon’s army of druids commanded by the fey king had stockpiled enough resources to begin summoning their veterans and casting artillery spells. Momiji’s forces led by a bodhisattvas met them in battle, utilizing Buddha’s teachings to weaken, nullify and destroy their materialistic desire for power. All the while, Aya’s necromancer princess took their dead as his own troops, his loyal crows protecting him from harm while sowing the seeds of chaos. Any chain-reaction could decide the rest of the game.

When Anon’s turn concluded, he collected a few tokens before Momiji’s turn. All he needed was another two turns to summon his hero. On the wolf’s turn, she continued her brave offense against the sorcerer's forces before he could amass power. Yet, Aya continued to thwart her advances, preventing the wolf from making any meaningful advances.

“Anon, I have a proposition for you: We’ll crush Aya now, then face each other. By then, you’ll have enough mana to do whatever you want to. Just don’t open a portal until she’s defeated!” For Momiji, there was no shame in losing to Anon and his foreign tactics. To lose against Shameimaru’s passive playstyle would be humiliating.

“No deal. It’d give you way too much time to position your units within my ranks. If I need to face someone in the endgame, I’d rather face Aya’s mindless forces instead of your nullifiers!” Anon knew his wizards had a favorable match-up against the undead forces. What’s more, convincing him not to summon his hero could be a form of mental warfare! Trusting in the heart of the tiles, the human decided to defeat both tengu with his own strength.
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“… And now I move my shinigami to the river’s eastern end. Alright, your turn Anon!” This was it. This was the move that win her the game. All she needed was for Anon to open his portal-!

“First, I’ll have Weissman of the Dunes salt the river, preventing any units in or near it from activating their effects!” It was a safe move, negating Aya’s envoy between the living and dead and many of Momiji’s adherents. “With 30 tokens as tribute, I open the portal to the Fey Plane, summoning Setanta, Hound of Culainn!” On the board, a bright blue light shone as a large, tall tile bearing the hero’s name materialized. Capable of multiple attacks and movements in one turn, it was a game-changing piece, especially supported by Anon’s spells. Aya smiled at his achievement. Momiji simply shook her head and moved a tile into her fort.

“That’s nice and all, but I don’t think we need a fey portal. I’ll go ahead and change that for you!” Aya moved every one of her crows into the river tiles in one turn. The board tiles flipped to accept each offering. The gears inside rumbled as board decorations took on a red shade and the shimmering portal turned black. “With the sacrifice of Death’s envoys, the barrier between the mortal planes is merely a suggestion! Now that the river runs red with blood, your salt is worthless to staunch the flow of death! Now, Shinigami, waylay the passage between realms to bring forth a TRUE monster!”

“Wait a minute, why didn’t the salt work?” The board flashing between sinister shades of red, black and purple only served to confuse him further.

“I told you not to open a portal. The crows technically went to Hell and died in the blood river, bypassing the salt. It’s not over yet, but now we have to deal with her boss monster.” Momiji waited placidly for Aya to deliver her inevitable monologue.

“’Boss’ monster? I think you mean ULTIMATE monster! Behold, the forbidden harbinger of destruction, sealed away for ten thousand years! The murderer of mortals, the shearer of souls, the duke of desolation! Arise, my champion: Gashadokuro, the Creaking Skull!” The tengu was beyond words: Wind whipped from the board, extinguishing a nearby candle as Sentanta’s tile disintegrated, instead forming five tiles that bore the giant skeleton’s name.

(Part 56)