69novels Chapter 838: Little Ladies
Chapter 838: Little Ladies
A table rose from the white floor in front of him, dark stone shot through with embedded starlight, constellations drifting beneath the polished surface like koi in dark water. A chair materialized behind him. The table was sized for him, the board on its surface entirely his.
Across the void, the Kaiju had its own. He couldn’t see the details from this distance, but he could feel the dimensional link between the two surfaces, a tether stitched through the space.
Its gaze glowed faint against the white, watching him from a table scaled to its own impossible size.
’You’re joking.’
He sat.
[Phase 1 Results]
[Defender: Dungeon Ground Held: 100%. Enemy forces eliminated: 28%.]
[Claimant: Peak territory gained: 50%. Territory held at phase end: 0%.]
[Result: Minor Defender victory. Both Masters advance to Phase 2.]
[Defender advantage: First deployment pick, +1 starting Strategy Card.]
Kaiden stared at the numbers.
’Minor victory? I reclaimed my entire dungeon and wiped out a third of its army. The commander that ran away gets off free?’
[Ding!]
His own system chimed in.
[The Claimant withdrew its forces and the Successor reclaimed his territory but did not pursue.]
’What do you mean? We pursued them until the edge.’
[The fight could’ve continued outside the Dungeon’s gate.]
’...’
[The Successor, too, withdrew and spent the remaining time preparing.]
[Both Masters chose to disengage.]
’I suppose...’ Kaiden would’ve liked a bigger edge, but the system wasn’t wrong. He’d spent that time ranking up, bonding Alexandra, and getting his team ready instead of conducting a suicide charge.
That had been the right call. It just stung to see "minor" next to "victory."
Then figures dropped onto the table.
Eight small shapes materialized on the polished stone in front of him, each about four inches tall, perfectly detailed, unmistakably alive, and for one surreal second Kaiden looked down at miniature versions of the women.
"WHAT THE FUCK?!" Luna’s voice came first, shrill, tiny, and absolutely furious.
Nyx brushed her pink hair behind her ears with matchstick-sized fingers and scanned the table with immediate composure.
Aria’s silver eyes found Kaiden before her feet finished touching the stone.
Calypso burst out laughing, red tail curling beneath her.
Bastet’s ears went flat and her tail puffed to twice its width, amber eyes scanning for the threat that had shrunk her.
Scarlet appeared sitting cross-legged with her arms folded.
Vespera stood perfectly still at the edge of the group, and the brief flash of disorientation that crossed her face said she hadn’t expected to be pulled inside the sealed dimension.
Alice materialized last, and her head whipped in every direction before her gaze locked onto a faint projection shimmering above the far end of the table, a translucent image of the Kaiju at its own board, six burning eyes glowing through the hologram like embers behind frosted glass.
"THE GIANT FUCKER GREW?!" Luna screamed, gaping at the monster. From four inches tall, the thing appeared to have grown enough to make every miniaturized woman go still.
Then Calypso tapped Luna’s shoulder with a red finger and pointed the other way.
Eight tiny heads turned toward Kaiden’s end of the table, and eight pairs of eyes traveled up his armored chest, past his jaw, to his face staring down at them from the height of a small building.
"...Kai’s giant too," Aria whispered, silver eyes wide and her cheeks already coloring.
"We’re four inches tall on a magic table, Moonshine." Scarlet’s voice was flat. "Fuck my life."
Kaiden waved then picked up Luna, because the gremlin was standing at the table’s edge looking up at him with her mouth hanging open and her fists at her sides, and the expression on her tiny face was so purely bewildered that he couldn’t help himself.
Two fingers pinched the back of her combat suit, carefully, the way you’d handle something precious and furious, and lifted her to eye level.
Luna sat in his palm with her legs dangling over the edge, purple hair pooling against his thumb, and stared at his face from a distance that, given her current size, was like staring at a cliff.
"This is surreal," she said, and the word came out quiet in a way Luna almost never was.
Her cheeks went pink. From Kaiden’s perspective it looked like a tiny doll blushing, and the warmth it sent through his chest was the kind he filed away for later.
- SinfullyDevoted: Time to get freaky?!
- MoonlitSinner: She fits in one hand...
- Kaiden’s Wife (mod): S-shut it you perverts!
- StarryNightCrush: He picked up Luna first. Alice is going to commit a crime
Kaiden set Luna back on the table, where she sat exactly where he placed her and didn’t move, still flushed. He scooped Alice up next and settled her on his shoulder, and she grabbed his collar with both hands and pressed her entire four-inch body against his neck like a very small, very angry barnacle.
she whispered softly while nestling against him.
Nyx watched the entire sequence from the table with her arms crossed and her head tilted, pink eyes bright.
"So," she called up toward Kaiden’s face, projecting her voice with the confidence of someone who refused to let a height difference of several hundred percent diminish her authority. "Are we going to address the part where we’re chess pieces, or should I let you play doll house first?"
[The Gambit: Rules of Engagement]
[Each Master commands their Champions as pieces on the board.]
[Melee pieces advance one square: forward, forward-left, or forward-right.]
[Ranged pieces move identically, but may join combat from up to two squares in the same directions. Once committed to a clash, pieces are locked until resolution.]
[When pieces clash, both are transported to an isolated combat arena. The victor claims the square. The defeated piece is eliminated.]
[Win condition: Advance any piece to the opposing Master’s position.]
The table’s surface shifted. Constellations beneath the stone rearranged into clean geometric lines, and a grid emerged, six rows deep and four columns across, each square glowing faint blue against the dark surface.
[The Gambit: Board]
[♚ Claimant]
[Row 1: — · — · — · —]
[Row 2: — · — · — · —]
[Row 3: — · — · — · —]
[Row 4: — · — · — · —]
[Row 5: — · — · — · —]
[Row 6: — · — · — · —]
[♔ Successor]
[Deploy your Champions.]