To think I nearly got my own forces encircled! That was not a formation I had ever seen before, and these infuriating ambush forces moving about and striking from beneath the ground only compound the problems!

Nothing seemed to work either! Whatever those things were than enabled him to control the golems, they were far more durable than I'd suspected. And those… cameras. If taking them out was a hinderance, the effects of such certainly weren't revealing themselves!

"Only two enemy casualties… after this long…"

…Time was nearly up. It wouldn't be possible to deal with the rest at this rate…

"Any plans to finish this, Rider? Or have you perhaps been lulled into this supposed game of his?"

"Don't be foolish, master. I have every intention of ending this. However, those golems are proving to be far more… resilient than I'd initially believed them to be."

"…Meaning what, Rider?"

"My energy is nearly spent. I can only keep this going for another minute or so, at the very most. Unless-"

"Unless I use my command spells?"

"…"

"That is what you were going to suggest, yes?"

"It was."

"…"

"…"

"…Tch. Fine. I suppose it was for times like these the damn things were made..."

With the glow of a dark red light, I found myself with renewed energy and focus. It wasn't a full restoration, but that would have been expecting too much.

"Oh, is that the use of a command spell I saw?! Yes! Now that's what I'm talking about! You get what the kids never could: that this is a war! Unless one was willing to put their all on the line, one has no business stepping onto the battlefield!"

"Tch! Here I thought this was all a game to you!"

"Oh, you poor, helpless soul! War is a game! How do you not see that yet?!"

"War is no game, child" I roared.

"How is it not, Rider?! That war is mean and nasty, I don't deny! But nevertheless, war remains a game! It has victory conditions! It has defeat conditions! By definition, war must be a game! But don't merely trust the books if you don't wish to! Take a look around us, Rider! Do you not see the beauty you and Caster are creating this very moment?! Your moves to break the formation?! Marvelous! If only I'd moved fast enough; seen earlier than I had, why I'd-"

"You would dare call this beautiful?! This is an insult! A disgrace to all those who give their life!"

"But who is dying here, Rider?!"

"That-"

…Who was… dying here…?

"…"

"That the statues look like real people, I can't deny. Disturbingly so, one could even say. Yet, they are of stone, not flesh and blood! They are cold; soulless! Or are you perhaps referring to your men here, despite them surely being long since dead?! Is this a second life for them, to you?! Bound to you in service for all eternity! Unable to do anything but fight! Is that existence given form all it takes to be alive, Rider?!"

"…"

"…Ah, right. I'd forgotten you weren't interested in discussing philosophy. A shame, really. While I acknowledge it's a useless field and shouldn't be taken seriously, it is still… amusing… to discuss and debate within the realm of theoretics. But if your heart's not in it…"

Who was dying here…?

Taking another look over the battlefield, a new viewpoint dawned on me. Us spirits could hardly be considered alive, neither myself nor my men. They were dead. We were dead.

Nor could the golems be considered living beings. As he had stated, they were soulless creations of Caster, shaped from stone and powered by magical energy. There was no life to them; blind servitude to whoever held the means to impose their own will upon them.

So long as we were here, out of sight from the rest of the world… It did not matter how this battle was fought. Conventional precautions could be thrown to the winds, and the theoretics of war could be brought to full display, as there was no risk.

…No one alive would suffer any consequences… For he had created a battlefield in which no one who stood upon it could die…

"A game, hmm…"

"What is it, Rider?"

"It is nothing, master. Pay my ponderings no mind."

…I see… I loath his blanket application of it, but I can see it now… So, that was his way… war is a nasty game indeed…

Given the current conditions… So long as life was not threatened…

…I have wanted to… try… a few things out… So be it; respond to this, the best you can!