The God of Tactics looked so apoplectic that Daneel wondered whether he would throw a fit, but surprisingly, he held together his composure to say one thing.
"Yes, but you did not wipe the floor with me, as I promised I would. Watch."
BOOOOOMMMMM!!!!!!
A moment after he said the last word, a loud explosion rocked the entire area, creating such a large mushroom cloud of dust that Daneel wondered whether someone had detonated a nuclear bomb from Earth.
Commander-in-chiefs had the option of knowing the percentage of their troops that were alive, and repeated messages came in his ear which went:
"10% troops killed.
10% troops killed.
10% troops ki-…"
Daneel wondered whether he had actually lost, but suddenly, those messages stopped, and a loud gong was heard in the area.
It caused the entire area to freeze, almost like time had stopped, and a voice reverberated in the ears of all those who were present.
"Objective reached by team with commander-in-chief 'Cverlord'. Final result: 53% troops remaining vs 5%. War simulation has ended. Please visit the nearby Obelisk to claim your rewards. Have a nice day!"
The cheery voice which said this was so out of place that it almost made Daneel laugh, but he didn't, as he felt himself locked on to by a pair of eyes that were filled with so much spite that it was almost as if they were spitting fire.
"This isn't over."
As they all began to be teleported away, the God of Tactics' words floated into Daneel's ears, and the last thing he saw was the many craters which were visible in the central area where the massacre had been going on.
It looked like that madman…had outfitted his soldiers like suicide bombers and had detonated them all at that moment.
The next moment, they all woke up in a room from comfortable beds.
Daneel had known since the beginning that it was all a simulation being carried out while they were asleep, but he hadn't said anything because he wasn't supposed to know it. The system had notified him, and he had endeavored to not even think about it until now.
He acted shocked like his other sovereigns, and of course, they were the only ones surprised at this as the rest had already been through simulations before.
Of course, the others were shocked, too, but it was for a different reason.
Only their team was present in the room that they were in, and the Spikeking suddenly leaped out of his bed and ran to Daneel before grabbing his hand and shaking it enthusiastically.
"Brilliant! Just brilliant, I say! That bastard almost took us out, but it was a last-ditch attempt! That was so satisfying! I'm gonna tell everyone about it! I bet that nutjob is crying as we speak! Come on, drinks are on me!"
His words broke the spell that was cast on the room, and everyone began to smile and celebrate.
Right…that last move had been unexpected, but they had won!
Taking a deep breath, Daneel laughed happily with the others, but he stopped when he saw that the Spikeking was waiting for an answer.
He had initially intended to go and get the information about his master right away, but seeing the man's expression, he decided that it could wait for a little bit of time. After all, these were his teammates, and they had faithfully carried out all of his orders. He might need to employ them once again soon if there were any more simulation missions, and he wanted them to be in good spirits, and not think that he was just a snobby guy who wanted to order them around.
Morale was always important in any team, and even the sovereigns all had brilliant smiles on their faces. So, as Daneel nodded, the Spikeking and all of his subordinates jumped to their feet and immediately ran out of the door nearby.
That was when Daneel realized that they had appeared in another corner of the place where the marketplace was present, and of course, above were the obelisks that were floating around freely.
The familiar sky of stars greeted him, and soon, he was back in the bar and clinic, with a cup in his hands.
Everyone had been served, and the Spikeking raised his glass in the air and shouted out a toast.
"To the Overlord, the one who will soon take the entire Order by storm! Mark my words, he will be known to everyone, but I'll make sure to boast to all of them that I knew him first! Ha ha, drink up, drink up, me maties!"
With that, he took a large gulp and practically chugged down the glass which was almost the size of a pitcher.
Seeing him in laughing raucously, his subordinates did the same, and Daneel, too, drank the beer which burned his throat as it slid down into his stomach.
As soon as it settled there, though, it made him feel as if he had just trained and was at the peak of his energy, and with pleasant surprise, he took a few more sips.
His sovereigns had also realized these amazing effects of the beer which was golden in color, almost like champagne back on Earth, and they looked at him with raised eyebrows before asking the bartender for a refill.
The man behind the bar counter twirled his magnificent mustache happily and kept refilling, knowing that he was serving those who had clearly won, and would definitely not skimp on the price. Food was also brought out, and it soon looked like it was going to be turned into a full-on party.
The Spikeking was so happy that he even announced that he was treating the whole bar, and even though there were only five people there, these five quickly called their friends, and the bar was filled in a matter of just a few minutes.
Most people didn't know each other, but just like in bars back on Earth where introductions were unnecessary to just drink freely, everyone enjoyed, and the atmosphere turned into a joyous one.
After 20 minutes, the Spikeking finally looked like he was reaching his limit, as he set down his huge glass with a clink and said, "Alright, you have to tell us now how you came up with it, and how you knew the perfect method to pull it off so that the other side weren't able to guess what you were doing. At first glance, I thought that it would be too simple, but it turned out to be very effective. Are you that much of a genius, or are that guy's abilities too overhyped?"
Alcohol always had a way of loosening people's tongues, and it was the same with the Spikeking, who directly asked this question without caring about the fact that he was practically insulting Daneel by mentioning the latter part.
However, Daneel was in a great mood, and he knew that it was not one asked out of hidden intentions. The man was genuinely curious, and anyone would get that doubt after listening to the impressive feats of the God of Tactics and then seeing his performance on the battlefield.
Looking around, he saw that his sovereigns, although they had remained silent and just kept drinking, were also interested, as they bent forward to listen to what he might say.
With that, Daneel decided to give his reasoning.
Taking one more sip and controlling a burp that almost came to his lips, he began.
"It was actually a little bit of both. If you recall, he told me about his track record, and it was obvious that most of his winning streak was because of the fact that he met people who weren't very experienced. That was obvious in the way you mentioned how those battles went, and how they were all finished in a short time. That was enough for me to understand that this was the case, and as for the two that he lost, they went on for much longer. I started my guesswork from there. I believe that there are only two types of commanders: ones who are good at 'acting', or taking action, and ones who are good at 'reacting'. True, those who are at the peak of the peak will be excellent in both, but even then, they will prefer either one, and they will excel at it. I wanted to find out which kind of a commander this so-called God was, and it soon became obvious from your descriptions that he was the latter. In such cases, it is always best to take people out of their comfort zone, even if it means that they might have been preparing for such a thing."
Taking a pause, he took another gulp, and all the others did the same.
"From there, I took into account his ego, too. It would definitely be helpful if it could be targeted in such a way that he would lose his temper, and that was how I hit upon the plan to use a derogatory method to repel the force that he would send. Information was always key throughout it all - if I didn't know what he was going to do, I could not have planned for it, and if I didn't know so much about him, I wouldn't have been able to make assessments regarding how he might react. The goal was always to use the simple method of hiding the soldiers and then attacking from behind, but I had to infuriate him enough to make him decide that he would crush the fort and enter at any cost. His arrogance was also important here, as it would prevent him from thinking that I was capable of putting forward plans more complex. True, he seemed intelligent in the way he declined my offer for a match with stakes, but by doing so, he exposed and confirmed a lot of things, too. He is arrogant, but he is also a cowardly man, and that is why he never enters a match with stakes even if he knows that there is a great chance of him winning. All of these pointed me to this plan, and what I needed to check was whether the materials were enough to ensure that all those who would be hiding would be able to go into a sleep that was almost like a coma, while being fed water and food."
As this last part, which was actually the main reason and the main twist that had allowed their plan to succeed was mentioned, laughter was heard all over the area, and by this point, others had also started to get interested. They stopped drinking to listen in, but Daneel still continued, knowing that it would all spread soon anyway, so it was better if he pumped up his reputation by telling everyone about it himself.
"Then, it was simple. I made sure that all of our efforts would make it look as if we were fortifying our position as much as possible, and even though it went slowly, I ensured that the trinkets that we were making would be kept secret. The initial plan went successfully, and seeing the way he completely went into preparation mode, it became obvious that he would storm me directly. True, he was still smart at the end to detonate those bombs, but it was not enough. So, even though we won, it was actually close. The only problem was hiding all of our soldiers while being watched by his spies, but that was easy because we always targeted the time whenever the spies were focused on something else. The spies would have used other methods to check the area, and it would have been disastrous if they tried to enter from underground. So, I kept the barriers transparent while we were preparing, thus drawing their attention and making them keep watching as they wouldn't want to miss anything. We would start construction somewhere, and they would all be diverted to there, and on the other side, soldiers would start trickling out and hiding themselves under the ground, where they would fall asleep and wait for the command. The barrier was also transparent to make the so-called God think that he knew everything about the outside area, and that was instrumental, too. Hence… They were all able to rise at the same time and attack, and the rest is history. I guess that finally, it was also key to make sure that all of our cannons and crossbows would be ready to turn around, and they were actually the ones which killed the most people. No one would think that anyone would be crazy enough to make sure that their weapons would be able to turn around and target themselves, too, as this would practically leave them open to being captured by enemies and then being used on them. It was hidden well for that purpose. And that's it! Everyone, drink up. It is a grand day for me! This is my first day in the Order, but I won a War Simulation! I'll be going to pick my rewards. Cheers!"
His last declaration made the entire bar fall silent with shock, and this made Daneel chuckle as he left along with his sovereigns, all while everyone stared at him as if he was crazy.
A newbie winning a War Simulation, and that too against the God of Tactics?!
They had assumed that this was someone with experience whom they had just not heard about before, so this revelation struck them all so profoundly that they began to scoff that it must be false. Of course, the Spikeking started to assured everyone that it was the truth, and soon, it began to spread like wildfire that someone called the Overlord had arrived who had done something so momentous that it overshadowed all of the newbies that had entered the Order so far, in recent times.
Of course, Daneel had expected all this, but at the moment, he was at the obelisk. He knew that he would need his sovereigns' quotas of rewards, too, to fulfill all of his goals, but he decided that for this first one, he would allow them to take whatever they wished. Hence, they were at different obelisks.
As for himself, he had two rewards to choose, and one of them was obviously regarding his master.
He selected it in the module, and a message came saying that it was being prepared, and that he would be able to view it in a few moments.
As he had the time, he scrolled through others that had unlocked due to him being able to pick them, and soon, he came upon one that made his eyes sparkle.
"Information session regarding anything on the continent which will be purged from the memory of the one who answers the questions. Intended for those who have certain queries, but wish to keep them secret. Members are assured that even the Overseer will not listen in. Absolute secrecy is guaranteed, and this is the reason why this is classified as a reward for a Four-star mission. Individuals that can be asked are those who have researched the continent extensively, and are at the Hero level."
Without hesitation, he picked this one, and right away, he was teleported into a room where an old man sat.
Before Daneel realized that he had triggered this reward for some reason before the other one, the old man looked at him and said, "Your five minutes start now. Ask."