In a room two chambers away from the King's Chambers, one side of the wall had been cleared of paintings and other decorations to give place to the panels that had been newly set up at the location.
Before Lanthanor had undergone a change in leadership, this room had belonged to the Eldest Prince whenever he made a visit to the Kingdom. In fact, many rooms near the King's chambers were now empty due to the inhabitants being lodged elsewhere currently.
Daneel had simply asked for a big chamber nearby which could be designated as a "Situation Room" of sorts. Thus, the bed and all the furniture had been cleared and a round table had been placed in the center as per his orders.
Presently, only Daneel, Kellor and Faxul were in the room due to all three commanders being deployed.
Daneel had given the commanders the same video broadcasting trinkets that he had used before in the throne room.
Watching the images in the panels, the King of Lanthanor was sitting with one hand on his chin trying to sort the myriad thoughts that were going through his head right now.
For one thing, he was deeply disturbed regarding the timing of this discovery. He had only just found out about his need for Ker Gems the day before, and he hadn't even made any headway into figuring out a plan to obtain them.
Was it truly just a coincidence that the situation occurred right after?
No matter how much he thought about it, Daneel couldn't figure out any other possibility which made sense.
In fact, regardless of whether he had found out about his own need or not, Daneel would have chosen to march anyway due to the sheer importance of the resource.
After all, even the slightest chance that someone could be in full cognizance of his thoughts and activities apart from the system was too terrifying to even think about.
He was already doing everything he could. From ensuring that he always stayed safe to frequently checking the surveillance tool, Daneel was taking every precaution possible.
Thus, he decided to not go along that route because he knew that it would be of no use.
Turning to the panels, Daneel started observing the actions of the army with interest.
Back on Earth, he had heard that logistics was the biggest problem that needed to be handled when directing an army.
Although this was still the case in Angaria with regards to large-scale deployment, the existence of magic and teleportation made it so that troops which specialized in quick movement could be made.
The shock troops were one such type of squadron. Comprised entirely of elites, the troops only consisted of 50 Eminent Human Level mages and 50 Red Demons.
Each mage was paired up with a Red Demon, making them a unit who moved together.
Being at least at the 6th Grade Human level fighter, these Red Demons were trained especially for quick in and out missions that focused on speed and the shortest time to kill possible.
As for the mages, all of them were proficient enough in space magic that they could teleport continuously without too much exertion to get to any location.
The west of Lanthanor was covered mostly in evergreen forests along with scattered rivers and lakes which teemed with wildlife. The only force on the map in this direction was Eldinor, but the location the army was headed to did not trespass in the lands the Kingdom of the Elves called their own.
Being an Exalted Human Level Mage, Cassandra could easily teleport both Aran and Luther. Leading the squadron, she was also in charge of giving orders regarding movements currently.
They had planned it so that their last teleportation would land them 10 kilometers from the target location, from where they would proceed on foot.
The three commanders were in the lead, and after reaching each location in between, they would first check for danger before signaling the troops to come over. This was how shock troops operated: there was no time to deploy scouts, hence the individuals most likely to survive an ambush were responsible for investigating the way forward.
When they got to the final location, a frown crossed across Cassandra's face as she felt a tingle up her back. Her red hair was tied up into an immaculate braid while her leather pants and jacket had multiple pockets which seemed to be filled to the brim.
As for the other two commanders, Luther was still dressed all in black while Aran had switched out his casual outfit with armor similar to a Red Demons'. Only, the red epaulets which signified their status had a gold trim to them which made him stand out as the commander of the strongest Fighter troop in Lanthanor.
"We have company.", she said, before removing her hands from the shoulders of the two men.
A few moments later, a male Elf and 2 humans appeared from three different directions with careful strides.
Seeing their clothes, it was quite clear regarding which organizations they belonged to.
The Elf was obviously from Eldinor, which was the closest Kingdom to the location of the find; this gave them a first mover advantage.
Of the two men, one had a black raven on his shoulder much like the one gifted to Daneel. After speaking into a trinket for a bit, he nodded at the three who had appeared in an amicable manner.
The other was the most different from them all. Unlike the rest who were simply standing with no weapons drawn, this man held two scimitars in both of his hands while a wary expression covered his face.
"The dogs who ran away dare to make an appearance here?"
It was Aran who said these words, making the man grimace with anger before forcefully regaining control of his emotions. He knew that this was a ploy to destabilize his mind, and he had no intention of being tricked by the man who was known for his cunningness.
Still, the memory of his great nation, Axelor's army retreating due to just a few words from a newly crowned King still brought him rage and fury.
Seeing this sight, the elf smiled before saying, "Go at it here, we have no problem. But don't even think of making it further inside. The three Kingdoms who arrived first have already reached an agreement, and you are just too late."
Hearing this, Luther only smiled coldly before flicking his fingers.
THUMP
Suddenly, a rectangular 'box' made of metal came into existence in the area between the three commanders and the three who had come to welcome them.
The box was a 30 feet cube, and it seemed to have been somehow made without using any materials to attach metal sheets together.
Small holes which glinted with a shine in the sunlight could be seen all around it, while a single cylindrical tube extended forward on one side.
As if receiving orders, the whole box rose into the air slightly before rotating to make the cylinder face the man who was holding the scimitars.
A blaze hit the man's face, as he looked into the cylinder to see a meteor covered with raging fire already conjured, ready to strike and reduce him to pieces.
As for the other holes, they were all comprised of arrows which had already been nocked.
With one order, the man could be blown into smithereens while the other two could also be peppered by arrows shot by 6th Grade Human Level fighters.
Seeing this sight, the three looked at each other briefly before nodding and retreating inward. The man with the scimitars left last, after looking at the commanders with a nefarious expression on his face.
After all three disappeared from sight, the metal sides of the box started to disintegrate into something that looked like ash.
As more and more holes appeared, the soldiers who were standing inside became visible.
5 Elite Mages stood on each side of the box, collecting the ash that the metal was disintegrating into. The ash seemed to be controlled by them, as it flew into the gourds on their backs in a smooth motion.
5 more Mages had their hands hovering over the meteor. Holding some kind of trinkets in their hands, their gazes were fixed on the meteor which was slowly shrinking.
In the middle, 25 Red Demons minimized the bows back into their trinket form before doing the same with the arrows that had been nocked just moments ago.
"Set up the detection formation."
Hearing these words from Luther, the 50 soldiers nodded before hastening to complete their tasks so that they could fulfill their new orders.
.....
Meanwhile, in the situation room in Lanthanor.
Seeing everything that had just happened, Daneel was trying hard to stop a startled expression from coming onto his face.
First of all, the box reminded him of 'tanks' from Earth. In fact, even the base model was the same, except for the fact that this one could apparently fly.
Secondly, he had no idea why the three had left after seeing the tank appear.
"Your Majesty, that is one of the most valuable group military formations in our Kingdom. What just happened is a common protocol in situations like these: the forces which arrive first confront the ones who come after them, to get an idea about how much the arriving force was putting at stake to take over the Ker Gem mine. After doing so, if there wasn't a large difference in the troops deployed, the forces would arrive at an unspoken agreement; a truce of sorts. Because we arrived 4th, we were greeted in this way."
Hearing Kellor begin the explanation, Daneel could only sigh as he realized that there was truly a lot he needed to learn which couldn't be taught simply by assembling the information in the library.
After all, as a great scientist on Earth had said:
"The only source of knowledge is experience."