Atst, the Interss Battle for the first block had begun.


    As soon as the buzzer rang, we, the ?ss 1? members, blitzed out of our base, saving Celia, Lana, and Sierra who had been left behind in the base.


    Whether it was Guild battle or Interss battle, the first move always held strategic value.


    The confrontations in the ?Capture the Castle? were rtively few, and in contrast to ?Base Capture?, so taking it easier than raising the tension from get-go was alright. Albeit, the important bits still remain constant.


    The defence team already moved out to create the defence line.


    As our base was surrounded by mountains in the north and west direction, it had only left the east and south direction for the enemies to invade. The paths were barely one square wide as well, so that only left passage wide space only. So our defence was uptight.


    Lana, Sierra, and Celia were there for hit-and-run tactics as well as base defence. Couldn''t have our basepletely empty after all, eh?


    Coming back to us, the offence team, we had been dashing toward east.


    "Karua, search enemy!"


    "Hn. ?So-nya?!"


    Our prime objective had been to grasp the location of the opponent''s base. We get to choose our base first, but in retrospect, this alienated us from verifying where the rest of bases were. So herees the role for scouting skills.


    Albeit, our ss had severelycked the folks with scouting skills.


    The quartet of ?Best of the Best, the Great Star? had definitivebat jobs. And muscles were out of question. I mean, what were they gonna do, use ''muscle sense''? As if such a thing exists.


    The rest of the five girls had been in a simr situation with the quartet, havingbat jobs. Plus, they''d only picked offence skills it seems.


    The only who had the scouting skill with enough firepower were ?Tough Ranger? Myu, ?Star Agent? Karua, ?Butler? Celestine, ?Battle Maid? Shizu, ?Female Ninja? Pam, and ?Magic Archer? Yuuka.


    However half of them—Myu, Shizu, and Yuuka had been left behind to take care of defense. We had now only three people with us.


    "Hn, I feel a reaction... there. It''s big. But, I also feel a reaction there... faint however."


    Karua pointed toward a mountain range, seemingly sensing a huge reaction. Then, she pointed in easy at the faint reaction. Hmm, was there a scout or something in that direction? But with how the match had just kicked off, someone nearby means a base was around in the air.


    I decided to split up immediately.


    "Alright, everyone, we''re splitting up. Celestine and ?Machos?, check out that direction."


    "Certainly, Zephyr-sama. The east it is, leave everything to me."


    "Hmm, that leaves us for the south. Take care, Celestine, ?Machos?."


    "We swear on our muscles to undertake this mission with full-body shake."


    "G-Great. Then, err, I leave it in your hands. ?Best of the Best, the Great Star?, you''reing with me to the south."


    "Let''s go, my biceps are already itching for some action!"


    Everyone appeared motivated enough.


    It was our prime objective to locate bases, but they''re not restrictive from avoiding shes. However, kicking the bucket in game only was to be avoided. There was no loser''s resurrection rule here. Once out, you would only be a mere spectator for the rest of the match.


    "Well, you can jump in a fight alright, but you must not lose. This is the only definitive restriction."


    "Hah, this is something we will never lose! Just watch us kicking everyone''s ass with our muscles!"


    Leader of ?Machos? proimed while unting his muscles. ...Would they be alright? Oh wait, they should be. They''ve muscles on their side after all (?).


    On the brighter side, ?Machos? had been at least properly dressed—or you know what, I was actually not <span data-sentryponent="defaultRenderMark" data-sentry-source-file="index.tsx">that sure. Just that they''re not naked overall. Their usual style was something that couldn''t be shown in front of girls, so I had imposed my authority on them to wear clothes at least until thebat,


    Hence, the five of ?Machos? were now wearing fur over their bare skin, and—something I presumed to be for ease of movement—a dress resembling straw skirt down there. I really wanted to know which barbarian tribe they''re from.


    Just to myself, but they had always made me rethink: were we really the same students, and more so in the same ss?


    Celestine and ?Machos?, a total of six members, left for the east. Remaining us, the four of ?Best of the Best, the Great Star? and six of ?Eden? members—we took a detour around the mountain and aimed for the south.


    "Hn, there."


    "Woah, aren''t they too close!?"


    Soon, or more like, barely a couple minutester, we spotted one of the bases. Startlingly, the base was actually on the opposite side of the mountain range that had our back. Had the mountain not been in the middle, they would have been in a direct line of fire. I must say, they''d guts. I wonder which ss it was?


    "Yourmand, Zephyr!?"


    Saturn asked for our next course of action. I nodded, and replied.


    "It seems they''ve yet to set up their defense line. And we''re all set. Hmm, alright, let''s test them out a bit."


    I didn''t know which ss they''re from, but their preparations were half-baked. And above all, their base waspletely in wide. Not surprising with how easily their location was exposed.


    Everyone aside from ss 1 roughly had an idea about the other ss''s base. But after ss 1 or ss 2, there was no clear distinction. Nevertheless, that was still a valuable point.


    The lower sses had to make sure they set their base in a covert position as much as possible. They shouldn''t have been in such an open position. It was as if they''re begging toe and attack them.


    Well, such knowledgees with experience. It couldn''t be helped that they''re newbies.


    Either way, I couldn''t bear to crush them when the match had just started, so we''re just going for a little warm-up. At the end, time was also of essence, and we had to mark down other sses'' locations.


    "We will be targeting the guardian monsters! We will then head south immediately after gaining some points! March forward, ?Best of the Best, the Great Star?!"


    " " " "It''s our tuuuurn!" " " "


    Saturn and team stepped forward at mymand. Helck was at the forefront, Jilong and Tom in middle position, while Saturn at the rearguard. They''d a solid formation. Well, I was the one who had trained them, so that''s to be expected. Ahaha!


    "Oh myyyy, everyone sure is pumped with excitement. It has been a while since I have been in teamwork, though you can be assured about healing and barriers and give your all!"


    Misato quipped with a skippy tone.


    The opponent, finally taking note of our presence, jumped out of the base at a hurried pace.


    Fuhaha, it''s finally the first real Interss Battle for me. Bring them on!


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