Flag Game Chapter 26

The twenty sixth chapter of the Darwin's Game ~Flag Game~ novel.

## Summary

The announcement for the next Flag Game arrived early in the morning three days after Rein awoke. Rein's strategy for the Flag Game was to "do nothing", or deal with the damage taken from the previous Flag Game and maintain the status quo. Kaname and Shuka wanted to use Kaname's privilege High Roller to get rid of either Black Lotus or THS in a clan match, however the members of both clans had disappeared, and there was no guarantee that it would have any effect on Fuli with his multiple accounts. In order to kill him, they had to make sure he didn't realize they knew about his privilege, which was why Kaname and Shuka were satisfied with Rein's strategy of "doing nothing".

The main problem was finding a way to kill Fuli in the first place, which Rein thought about as she underwent rehabilitation in the Sunset Ravens building's training room. She first came up with the idea of having Sui and Souta use their sigils, however the idea would require a large amount of water in addition to leading Fuli to the trap, and would force them to prepare a plan B in case he ran. Another idea was to attack Fuli's vital spots at once after figuring out their location, however Rein didn't have an attack that could do something like that.

At that point Xuelan showed up and asked Rein about her body. Rein answered that she was fine, then had Xuelan promise to participate in the next Flag Game, which Xuelan agreed to, stating that she'd dealt with what she had to do. The topic shifted to Fuli, with Xuelan mentioning that it'd be difficult for her to kill him as she specialized in humans, though she mentioned that she'd use poison, adding that she had some curare. There was no guarantee that it'd work, nevertheless she decided to have Xuelan try it out.

Despite that, Rein felt like she needed a countermeasure of her own. She wasn't skilled with a bow, fighting with a crossbow against a monster like Fuli would be dangerous, and fighting him close up would be suicidal. Xuelan pointed out that there was no need for Rein to fight, especially since Xuelan herself would be participating, and while she was logically correct, Rein still wasn't satisfied. She felt like dealing with her problem would be a major factor in the upcoming Flag Game and would help save her life, noting that she couldn't avoid Fuli even if she kept to the rear.

The night of the Flag Game arrived and the members of the Ravens were ready and in position around 30 minutes before the start of the game. The previous Flag Game had started at sunset, though this time it would start 20 minutes after. The attack group consisting of Kaname, Ryuuji, and Ximing had already taken over the THS building housing the northeastern flag, and Kaname reported to Rein that they hadn't seen any enemies. During the two weeks between the Flag Games, Kaname and the others had attacked both Black Lotus and THS as revenge, and while they didn't find any members, they succeeded in destroying their property, preventing the defense mechanisms from working.

Ryuuji wondered if THS was actually going to show up, prompting Rein to answer that Wadatsumi would respond to personal attacks. In response, he pointed out that Wadatsumi was dead, but Rein simply told him that as "Wadatsumi" Fuli had to act like Wadatsumi or risk getting found out by the members of THS. During the two weeks between Flag Games, Rein had built a system that would rebroadcast the information that was consolidated by her workstation to the Ravens members. Fuli and his allies would most likely attempt an ambush using the hide cloak item, and because of that it'd be more effective to physically spot their location instead of using a map search.

At that point, Shuka arrived, reporting that she didn't see any enemies and wondered where Fuli would attack from. Rein told her that she believed he wouldn't attack head on, pointing out that while the Ravens saw Fuli as a threat, Fuli was scared of Shuka. Shuka thought Rein was joking, nevertheless Rein knew she saw Fuli be scared, which was why he transformed himself into Shuka's father, and Rein told Shuka that Fuli using Shuka's father's appearance was proof of his fear.

10 minutes before the start of the game, the warning sound rang in Rein's earphones, causing her to check the security camera footage on her tablet. The camera footage showed a minivan parked at each of the Ravens flag buildings with people in working clothes coming out of them. Rein saw that they were holding electronic cutters, prompting her to notify the others that the enemies had begun their attack.

## Characters

* Kashiwagi Rein
* Liu Xuelan
* Sudou Kaname
* Maesaka Ryuuji
* Karino Shuka