In the Kingdom of Axelor.
Since the moment that the contingent that had gone to the Olympics had returned to the Kingdom, the King of Axelor had locked himself in his room.
No matter how much time passed, he refused to come out, and servants passing the door the King's bedroom reported hearing strange sounds that scared them.
Governing of the Kingdom was mostly in the hands of the minister who had thought that he would be all but dead due to his decision to help the other citizens during the crisis with the mosquitoes. Although he was surprised that he hadn't been reprimanded for that yet, he always had his guard up, ready to run if need be if someone came for his life.
Today, he was walking through the streets of Axelor on an assignment to see whether their disqualification from the Olympics had had any effect on the citizens.
Right now, he was at a very busy street where there were multiple food stalls parked on the side.
Running up to one of them, a little girl picked up a candy that she liked.
After her mother reached, she smiled and bought the candy.
However, when she was about to leave, she had been given a pamphlet by the candy seller after he said something with utter disgust on his face.
Interested, the minister walked up to this candy seller and snatched a pamphlet which was placed on the cart without anyone noticing.
It read:
"Burn the Lanthanorians and the Black Ravens! Axelor is the true winner of the Olympics! Cowards! If you were afraid of us, you should have just played between yourselves!"
With a sigh, the minister rolled up the pamphlet and threw it in a dustbin on the side.
Axelor thrived on one thing: indoctrination.
Its borders were some of the most secure in the entire Central Continent because of the incredible manpower deployed to govern almost each and every inch of them.
There was even a famous saying in Central Angaria: "If a fly manages to pass through the borders of Axelor, it's either Axelorian or it's about to become Axelorian."
The intent behind this governance was that they wanted their people to be in a beautiful bubble which was built by them.
This had clearly worked out for Axelor, as it had grown into one of the most powerful forces on the Central Continent.
To the people, the King was god.
If he asked, they would be ready to give up everything that was theirs.
No matter what news made it through to the people, it was heavily vetted to make sure that it showed Axelor in a positive way.
Even in cases like where momentous news leaked in, Axelor always made sure to put a stamp on any effort to propagate…truths.
There were, of course, some chinks in their system.
For example, traders.
Theirs was a large Kingdom which needed trade to function.
Yet, those who were allowed to trade in Axelor were also those to whom it had been made clear that not conforming with the instructions given meant death.
Each and every trader who entered was outfitted with a tracking trinket which kept watch on them at all times, and they were also closely monitored.
As for those who went out of the Kingdom into the outside world, Axelor had a plan for them too.
Those who were allowed to leave the Kingdom could only do so under oath that they would answer any question asked by Axelor after they returned.
First, only the most fanatic of Axelor were given permission in the first place.
After that, they would be required to state an oath that they would never badmouth Axelor, that they were also willing to answer any question truthfully on their return, and that they would definitely return before a stipulated period of time passed.
After they returned, they would be quizzed on their core beliefs to check whether they were, well, still indoctrinated.
This system had been in place for hundreds of years, and it worked for the large part because people were so closed off inside the Kingdom that they never questioned the outside.
They lived fair lives for the most part, except for the fact that the tax was higher here than any other location in Central Angaria.
Half of all the citizens made belonged to the government, and if anyone disagreed, they would be put to the death.
All forms of media were contained and regularly tested to ensure that only the right content made it through.
The minister, himself, had been in charge of regulating media before he had been promoted to his present post.
Right now, he was here because just the other day, a trader had been put to the death because he gave away the real details of the Olympics.
Yet, clearly, it hadn't caused harm, and there was no more need for a purge.
These days, most times, the minister hated his job.
However, he never let his show, as he didn't have a deathwish.
After getting back to the Kingdom, the minister made his way straight to the King's Chambers.
Here, there was a special trinket in the shape of a hand placed on the door.
Pressing his palm on it, the minister began to speak.
"I've checked the place myself, My Lord. Parameters haven't been met for purging; the news hasn't spread at all."
"Hmph. Keep an eye on it anyway. A quick purge never goes wrong. Reminds people to be afraid. What news on those monkeys on the mountain?"
"We have been maneuvering our forces discreetly into their surroundings. They just saw it too late; they realize that they can't do anything about it. We are also working on choking off their resources. Even though they can get resources using teleportation, they will soon start to choke due to consuming more than they get. After that, they will have no choice but to surrender."
"Unless their formation opens. Damn the Big 4, and that Master from La-ARGH!"
The sound of things crashing came from the inside, while the Minister patiently waited for the King to return.
This wasn't the first time this was happening, and it definitely wouldn't be the last.
After all, only a madman would decrease their power and step back into being an Exalted Human for the sake of winning a competition.
Coincidentally, the method of going back to one's previous strength had the same effect: making someone crazy.
After a minute or so, the King of Axelor spoke again.
"We couldn't risk taking on someone whose power we don't know. Keep tightening the noose. Even if their formation opens, I've been promised help. Sooner or later, they will croak and come to our side. Or we can just destroy them and take their techniques as ours. Them and their stupid rules. How absurd is it for a rule to exist that bans the Sect from leaving that mountain no matter what happened to them? Well, it's going to lead to their downfall. What is it?"
The King was still an Exalted Human even though his power had gone down, so he could hear a pair of footsteps hurrying towards the minister.
The minister had already seen that person and was taking the communication trinket held out by him.
The King sensed this, so he waited to find out.
However, receiving no response from the minister, he got irritated and said, "Answer the damn question."
As if this was a jolt out of the blue which made the minister come back to his senses, he shook with shock where he stood and said, "My King, news from the Hidden Kill Sect! It hasn't been confirmed, but there are multiple reports coming in. Someone has set their main stores on fire! The Sect members were able to get to it before everything was lost, but their stores have taken a major hit! This means we can move our plans up!"
…..
Standing on a walkway and admiring his handiwork, Daneel stared at the roaring flames of fire reaching towards the heaven before they were quickly doused using air starvation and ice.
Well, it had only lasted for a moment, but it had been pretty damn gorgeous.
While the Sect devolved into chaos around him, he calmly made it back to his room.
Entering, he saw that Percy was still standing in front of the mirror.
While Daneel watched, he tried to change his appearance rapidly like Daneel had done before, but he kept failing.
On seeing Daneel, he said, "Master, please! It's driving me crazy! Please teach me this one thing about the camouflage technique, I beg of you! I've finished all of your assignments!"
It had been a long day, and Daneel felt very tired, so he wasn't in a mood to handle the kid.
However, it was true that all of his instructions had been carried out to the T. So, this kid did deserve something, as there was still a lot more that Daneel intended to get done using his identity.
Taking out an empty communication trinket, he asked the system to make a modified version of the camouflage technique that would be 10% faster in replicating someone perfectly.
It was a spell that modeled how the system did the job, so Daneel didn't take it lightly. He went over the spell and only handed it to the kid after making sure that it was only using a known concept in a different way.
"Kid, I'm tired, get out. This is just a small taste. But don't get your hopes up. It will only make you 10% faster."
Beaming, Percy said, "That's all right, Master! I would still be 10% faster than all my peers!" before cheerfully waltzing out the door and putting on the scowl, as he had morphed back into his original appearance.
Shaking his head, Daneel collapsed into his bed.
He had to admit, setting fire to supplies had been FUN.
However, that was the easy part.
Wondering how he was going to pull this off in the short time he had, Daneel went to sleep, and dreamed of burning food stores.