V2 Chapter 30

At the end of the one week break, I organized a rather uncomfortable lecture for my General Staff in the war room. An overdue lecture about a god-forbid-topic, it was a much-belated lecture. I should have delivered this lecture a long time ago, probably on the very day when I found my General Staff.

The war room was fully packed with the members of my General Staff. I started the lecture by explaining the difficulty of challenging an Immortal or a Greater Spirit in a direct confrontation to my staffs.

“In order to win a direct battle against a Demon Lord or any Greater Spirit, in particular, you, first, have to correctly identify the Authority and the Miracle that a Demon Lord wields. But even that was not nearly enough. Therefore, misidentify either one of the two, your winning percentage instantly becomes zero.”

Playing the role of Dr. Reality in Misery’s talking channel was the nerdiest thing that I have ever done in my entire life, after cosplaying as ROC’s most recognizable characters. But here I was, explaining about URLOX’s worst wackjob to 147 people with all the seriousness in the world. I could not believe that there would be a day when I had such a serious nerdy talk in front of this many people.

In the ROC universe, some words bore a different meaning from their Earth’s counterpart. The word “Great” was the equivalent of “War.” The word “Civilized” meant “Advanced, strong, and developed.” It did not contain the “kind and empathizing” meaning within it. Similarly, the word “Authority” in the ROC universe contained a different meaning especially when it was used in the spirit realms.

“In the game, Authority can be loosely understood as Attributes. For instance, it was evidenced that Sinintee wielded the Authority . The wielders of this Authority were shown to possess the power to manipulate various forms of energy and elements to shape the world. Theoretically, with this Authority, Sinintee can manipulate and bend all elements in existence to his will. However, the number of elements and the extent that Sinintee could manipulate from having this Authority correlated to his Ranking in .”

As usual, I had a hard time explaining my knowledge to my General Staff without referencing to ROC as a PC game. Had I not allowed my General Staff to experience ROC as a game prior of this lecture, they would have a hard time understand my explanation due to the amount of ROC jargon that I constantly bombarded them every now and then.

“Immortal, Mythical, Transcendent, Conqueror, Challenger,” explained I while drawing the ranking system on the whiteboard from the highest to the lowest ranking.

Immortal

Miracles produced by the user of this level can tear the fabrics of reality and physics and even pre-established miracles.

Mythical

All miracles wielded by the user of this level produce tactical value while some produce strategic value.

Transcendent

Wide range of control over miracles of the tactical level. The miracles will shape and manifest accordingly to the personality of the user.

Conqueror

Can access to more miracles, albeit at a convenient level.

Challenger

Limited command over the most basic miracles of an Authority, the degree when powers are considered convenient.

There were the quiet knowing gasps leaking among the audiences due to their familiarity with the ranking system. I continued nonetheless, “As all of you must have already realized it by now, these are the Competitive Matchmaking Rankings that is calculated and assigned to you based on how skilled you are at ROC. Similarly, the higher in the Ranking, the more the power and skill that an Immortal had over his Authority. So, yeah. Can anyone here tell me the Ranking of Sinintee’s ?” I asked, darting my eyes around the room.

Isonos raised his hand, volunteering before I ended my sentence. I pointed at him.

“We can expect his Ranking on to be above the Transcendent rank,” replied Isonos.

“And why is that?” I asked.

“While Sinintee’s stat sheet did not show up in the game just like the other patron deities and, therefore, we cannot know the full extent of his power, we can gauge it by comparing him to the Demon Lords who possessed the Authority that Sinintee has displayed. For instance, Magnamor’s rank in was Challenger. His capability was severely limited to set fire on things that stand in his line of sight. Xaara, on the other hand, his rank in was Transcendent. Xaara was shown to have the ability to conjure a thunderstorm, meaning he could manipulate lightning and wind. He could also turn himself into a lightning bolt, making himself invulnerable to physical attacks. By drawing a connection with these two Demon Lords, we are safe to assume that Sinintee’s rank on is above the Transcendent Rank. Base on various stories and accounts, Sinintee has demonstrated the ability to control temperature, wind, and lightning. But we do not know if that was the limit of his Authority”

I nodded my head at Isonos’ explanation, satisfied. Isonos used the same method that Misery and those ROC nerds often employed to build the lore of ROC, the bridging method. URLOX built their vast universe through those 64 story campaigns and flavor texts in the character sheet of various warlords and characters. It was a world-building method that left a lot of holes and mysteries and unanswered questions about the ROC universe. The thing that everyone called “The Lore of ROC” was the interpretation that fans built by playing a detective game, trying to shine the light on the ROC universe with all the details and information that URLOX had given. By bridging the tiny dots, connecting one person’s story to another or comparing one warlord’s power to another, those ROC nerds like Misery could fill up the holes and blanks in URLOX’s world.

“Your conclusion is correct. It is safe to assume that Sinintee’s Rank on is above Transcendent,” I commented on Isonos’ answer and added. “But it’s lacking in precision. Why? I can say for sure that the Authority and the other Authorities that Sinintee wielded are all of Immortal Rank. How can I be so sure about it? URLOX gave this SOB the moniker . That’s the first hint. Your second hint lies in that mythical story about the fall of Naharis. It was said that one of the reasons that contributed to Naharis’ madness was Sinintee. Sinintee’s threshold for self-improvement was greater than his father. This is the second hint. Do you see what I see?” I asked.

My staffs were quiet. Though, there were a few individuals showed a widened eyes of realization while being quiet.

“Try to input yourself inside Naharis’ shoes. Imagine this, you are Naharis. You are the Master of Spirits and Rulers of Escana. You possess almost every Authority that existed in this universe. Not only that, you have mastered all of your Authorities to the highest possible level. The highest Rank that you could imagine. And then, Sinintee, your son showed you that you have seen nothing yet. He showed you that the Authorities, which you shared with him, could be improved even further. You realized that you have been mistaken all along. While you have certainly mastered your Authority to the highest level possible and your Authority exceeded that of other Greater Spirits, that was not the final limit. You merely capped out on your Authority. You hit a limit, your ceiling, and never will you be able to reach that final threshold of your Authority. But Sinintee could. You realized that. Similarly, in ROC, you are considered an All-Star level player when you attained the Mythical Rank. However, there was a huge gap between a Mythical Rank player and an Immortal Rank player. Out of 60 million ROC players, 1000 managed to become pros. 150 reached Mythical Rank. But only 10 would become the Immortal Rank. Not all Mythical Rank player could cross that gap.”

It was impossible for me to demonstrate the gap existed between a Mythical Rank player and an Immortal Rank player through words alone. Not even a stat sheet or a detailed scouting report could show that huge gap. No regular metric, whether it was team- win-share point or personal stats, could demonstrate that gap to common fans and the media.

That was why FY’s importance to the ROC pro-league was more than just being a Super Star pro-gamer. He was the most relevant ruler and the most reliable the metric for people to measure that gap between a Mythical Rank and an Immortal Rank. FY was recognized as the best All-Rounder in the history of the game even though a genius like Superior existed. Since FY was not here, I could not demonstrate my point to my staff. So I just continued.

“There is more evidence to support my guess but this is enough for me to draw a conclusion. But let me say this, URLOX are a fucked-up collective bunch of smart-asses. Their game is full of fucked-up ideologies and full of fucked-up events and twists. But they are, in the end, smart-asses. And smart-asses like them often fell in love with their lame wordplay and puns, thinking that they are smarter than other people because other people could not understand or laugh at their wordplay,” As usual, I cursed URLOX whenever the topic of ROC was involved. “I’m betting my own head that this SOB Sinintee maxed out all of his Authorities and he was the only Immortal who has managed to achieve such massive feat. He maxed out every Authority that he possessed. The word Perfect in his title was a wordplay. He maxed out all of his skills and attributes, and thus he was a Perfect game character. So yeah, you have it. The Authority is not the only Authority at Sinintee’s command that reached the Immortal Rank.”

I could hear the hush of gulp and gasp among my General Staff.

“He’s literally the worst person to make an enemy. Why did I make a person like that my enemy? I AM STUPID. You should know that by now. Anyone had a second thought about fighting on my side in this war are free to withdraw. After all, you should not follow someone as stupid as I am,” I joked while wearing a straight face. My audiences showed a mixed reaction to my joke. Some chuckled. Some sighed. Some gulped.

That was my cue to continue the really uncomfortable part of my lecture, the real topic. Sinintee, that piece of shit was only the intro of my lecture.

“Unless Eogaill and Wonten seriously fuck up their job, their only job, we will not have to face Sinintee in a direct confrontation at any time soon. However, always expect mishaps, always assume that something like that could happen at any moment. My only advice to all of you for dealing with such a shitty scenario is as follow. Choose between GOOD LUCK FIGHTING or Surrender. I suggest Surrender.”

My General Staff instantly became rowdy, looking at me as though I had lost my mind. Of course, they should. I was their leader and here I was convincing them to surrender if they ever lost a battle.

Yup, this is why I did not mention this topic on the first day.

I did not remember if there was any mention of greatest conquerors in Earth history, the like of Napoleon or Alexander had ever taught their men what to do when their conquests and wars went south. Alexander the Great believed that he was a son of Zeus. A megalomaniac with abilities and competency to back up his large ego. The same could be said about Napoleon. Throughout various moment of their life, both of them have demonstrated an unwillingness to admit or believe that they were susceptible to failure and defeat. And because neither of them believed that they could be defeated, none of them had taught their men what to do when they were defeated.

I, too, had never believed that I could be defeated by the like of Sinintee or any of Demon Lord for a moment. That was my arrogance, my ego as the Prince of The Alliance. And I believed that I had the tools and ability to back up my arrogance. But at the same time, I knew that nobody was ever invincible and unbeatable. Not in ROC or in the real world or in any world.

The strongest God could be contested.

The worst Demon Lord could be retired.

Even a genius like Superior could be outplayed at his own game.

The Queen of endgames could misplay and fail just like anyone else.

The one true King vomited himself to an empty husk in secrets when expectation and pressures crushed him.

Nobody has ever been truly undefeated. Anyone could be killed. Anyone could be defeated even if that person was the equivalent of ultimate destruction, even if that person was Death herself or Time. People often said, “Father Time can never be defeated.” Death championed Time to defeat me. People were wrong. Death championed the wrong person to fight me. I had made Time submitted to my will inside this Divine Dream.

Even an infallible midnight sun… even my midnight sun fell off the sky on a truly shitty day. That was the time when I realized invulnerability and immortality was nothing but illusions. Nobody has ever been truly undefeated. Nobody.

Amidst that noisiness, I narrowed my sight on Searek. Understood my thought, Searek pummeled his massive on his table with a thunderous snap and called order on the entire body of the General Staff.

I waited until true silence settled the entire war room. I cleaned my throat and continued speaking in an emotionless voice.

“I will repeat myself here. When worse came to worst and when you cannot see yourself winning or coming through of a situation or if you have already lost, surrender. I repeat, SURRENDER. Fighting a battle that you cannot possibly win is neither smart nor sane. Some may call it bravery. Not me. I call it stupid and insane. And that is not your job. I know that I have been repeating myself a lot, but being smart and sane are your job. If you cannot surrender to an enemy when you have already clearly lost a battle, your place is definitely not among my General Staff. I have no need for such an exemplary display of insanity and stupidity among the rank of my advisors. Being stupid and insane is my job. Do not take my job away from me.”

Listening to the sound of their breathing, I did not think that my General Staff understood my intention. People like Lynx, rationalists, who have always carefully questioned my style of administration and decision making, had a look of pure confusion. People like Isonos, an insufferable delusional bunch, who have already convinced themselves that I was always right and I always had a plan for everything, they were divided between having an epiphany and one step away from being baptized.

I knew that a leader’s job was to inspire his men, not depressing them. I knew that a leader must convince his people that they could win when they were mostly going to lose, and even when they have already lost. I knew that a general must instill self-sacrifice and the unwillingness to surrender to his soldiers. I knew that. I knew what I was doing was the opposite of being a leader and a general.

Any general who told his men to “Go ahead and surrender when you lose,” would be a stupid general. That was a perfect recipe to encourage desertion and mutiny. Any man who told his followers to “Give up when it was time to give up,” was not of leader material.

Recently, I found that it was difficult to be myself, being stupid and insane for as far and long as I wanted to be while being a leader of an army. My experience of leading a mob of hitmen and a cult did not demand to be smart or sane. In fact, nobody has ever complained about me being a divorcee from logic and sanity. Leading an army while being stupid and insane was as hard as any challenge that I have ever faced.

But I knew that a Judo practitioner would learn Ukemi first before he would learn any throwing technique. I learned that a BJJ practitioner would learn how to escape a Mount first before learning how to perform a Mount. I have learned that sometimes, the only way to win something was by losing everything first.

Therefore, I had to fulfill my greatest responsibility in this war as the leader of my General Staff.

Ignoring the confusion of my staffs, I challenged the definition of “Being Confused” further by teaching them how to sell me out properly after they had surrendered and switched side.

My General Staff showed me the reaction that I have long expected. They had no idea if they have served the right person.

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There were many logic holes in URLOX’s games, both in RTDS and in ROC.

For instance, Sinintee was supposed to reach the Immortal Rank in just like Lust. There was no story or account or words of Sinintee demonstrating his mastery in aside from that one time with Craxus. Sinintee and Wonten turned Craxus into a walking cheat-code with a Divine Dream. But that said nothing about how skillful Sinintee in conjuring a Divine Dream. This was one of the many plot holes in URLOX’s setting.

Since I had no idea what Sinintee was capable of, I could only use Clariciel, Lust, and Death as a standard to measure Sinintee’s since I had already experienced a Divine Dream engineered from them. Clariciel’s mastery over was not worthy of mention when comparing to Death and Lust. I did not feel completely trapped during that time when she beat the crap out of me. I felt like I could wake up and escape it if I tried. Death’s black dream made a person lost his touch with reality. It felt oppressive and hopeless. Fighting against it was like fighting against the futility of life. Lust’s red dream made a person actively rejected reality from all angles and aspects. It was so real, so visceral and so true that a person would embrace the things he saw in that red dream as his reality. But above all, Lust could conjure a dream within a dream. Her red dream eroded both my dreamland and Death’s Divine Dream.

So, I had a lot of expectation of Sinintee knowing his Immortal Rank in , back then and now. Back then, when Lust still resided inside my dreamland and had my back covered, I was itching to see a battle between two Immortal Rank. Popcorn and first seat booked, I was ready to watch that battle.

But if there was one thing that this Escana world had in abundance, it was “disappointment”. I should have learned my lesson a long time ago. I should have expected myself to be repeatedly disappointed. Now, when Lust has left this dreamland, I was still waiting for Sinintee to demonstrate his Miracles derived from to break out of his cesspool prison. So far, Sinintee has shown me nothing regardless of what kind of humiliations and trash-talk that I tossed at him. It was either Sinintee could not break out of his prison or he was hiding his cards from me.

Back then, when ROC was still a game, I could poke fun at logic holes similar to this. The Lore nerds like Misery would try to come up with their own excuses to give URLOX easy passes. Rational grownups like FY would admit that URLOX has made mistakes and left them alone. Trolls like S0rr0w, Fantasy and me, we relished the great materials provided to us. We either sent some smartass emails to URLOX pointing out all the nonsensical inconsistencies and plot-holes in their game and Lore. That, or rallying our legions of internet trolls and real-life trolls to a single banner, poking at URLOX from all directions and angles.

Now, these plot holes and logic holes became an integral part of my reality, I could no longer laugh.

“Hey, focus on your task. Pay attention to what are you doing!” demanded Pride snapping her fingers in a provocative manner. She wore a peeved look, staring at me through the mirror. Eyes slanted and angry.

“O, trust me. I’m focused. I’m definitely focused on bursting your asses today,” I smirked and provoked Pride. My hands were still busy fixing Pride’s newest hairstyle. I decided to challenge myself and gave Pride a completely new look, curling her hair in Victorian-style ringlets. Never had I tried styling Alice or Thùy Dương with this hairstyle before, since it did not suit their personality and style. But Pride seemed to fit with this hairstyle like she was meant for it. But then, again, no matter what Pride wore, either a suit or a dress, she looked stunning.

“So what kind of mischief were you up to in the last seven days?” Pride inquired. Unaffected by my provocation.

“Who do you think you are talking to? Flokí and his clowns? Nobody had all the time in the world to keep clowning around like them.” I scoffed, pushing my provocation further.

Pride exasperated and jabbed my stomach with her elbow. “Happy?” She asked.

“Happy,” replied I after drawing a tearful sharp breath. I held my stomach, wearing a completely satisfied look.

“Pervert prince,” Pride gave me a scornful look as if she was staring at a bag of dirt.

“I have never asked you to refuel my masochism. You did it yourself, you pervert Demon Lord,” I quipped.

“So?” Pride nudged her chin, asking while admiring her reflection. Pride gave off the impression of a woman who always ran into troubles with the capacity of her cloud drives. No capacity was ever enough with the number of selfies that she took every day.

“So? So what?” I scowled, acting stupid. I pretended to not understand Pride.

“What have you been doing?” Pride clicked her tongue and asked, visibly peeved.

“Curious?” asked I. I could stop myself from grinning, reveled in my new found ammunition to shoot Pride.

Pride clicked her tongue again and spoke no more. Knowing my personality, she stopped digging deeper into her own grave.

“Actually, there was nothing too mischievous or too much to say. Lots of this. Lots of that,” I spoke in a reconciling manner, flashing a disarming smile. I paused for a second to admire that expecting expression on Pride’s face. “BUT WHY SHOULD I TELL YOU?”

Upsetting your opponent before a battle was a legit tactic. It was a part of ROC and Esports. That’s why every team should have a troll like me or S0rr0w playing for them.

I was holding a farewell rock concert tour for Wrath before releasing him to the real world. A broken Demon Lord was no Demon Lord. A rock & roll singing and peace-loving Demon Lord were a Demon Lord in name alone. Setting him loose, telling him to spread rock & roll across the spirit realms and ditching any war-related business was also an effective move to show warmongers like Sinintee a big middle finger. The most destructive Demon Lord Wrath, who was supposed to be Wonten’s equal in Might, Sinintee’s equal in destruction and has been nothing but a mindless tool of destruction until now, chose peace and culture over war as his court of future when he discovered his consciousness and clarity.

I wanted to listen to how Sinintee would twist words and truth and preach his “War is the foundation of civilization and progress” nonsense when he looked at that new Wrath. That weapon of mass destruction made progress and improvement and still improving now that it has separated itself from war for good. I wanted to listen to Sinintee’s preaching about his nonsense when he stared at that rock singing Wrath. I wanted to see the color of despair on Munezee’s face when he stared at Wrath and could not realize him, the creature that he kept chained since the beginning, his faithful tool of terror, his trusty hound, and the most important reason to why he was feared by other Demon Lord. I wanted to taste the harrowing shock and resignation on those Demon Lords when their most powerful Demon Lord turned on them in the direst hour. If they still could make jokes and banters at that moment and still say “War is a game to be enjoyed,” it would be their win.

These brain-dead morons who have established a world order base on wars against a rock-singing Demon Lord, I would love to watch that kind of battle. Rock & Roll was meant to upset orders. If the order of the world was built on wars and games, if this world order was a script of URLOX, making a tool of war singing rock & roll on his free will, that, in itself and of itself, was already a win for me.

But there was no reason for me to tell Pride any of that now. Keeping quiet here would upset her.

Pride stopped talking with me for good. Quietly, I coordinated Pride’s dress with her new hairstyle, dressing her in a royal adorned high elf’s long gown. I had to pause, held my breath and admired my work. As usual, Pride was wearing her “I know I am beautiful” look, haughty but satisfied, but I could always forgive her. Pride waited until I was done admiring. She lifted the hem of her long gown with one hand and extended the other to me. I held her hand and escorted her to our battlefield.

“Oh, your personnel increase,” Pride quipped as she sat down on her seat.

Isonos and Ember were already arrived ahead of time, waiting in attention among the rank of my helpers and operators.

“I’m switching my gear,” I gave Pride my only warning before returning to my position.

“Searek, Faugus, the two of you shall stand and observe today. Isonos, I will give you 1/3 of my army. Do whatever you want with them. Sasengun, you coordinate the battle as usual. Ember, you are the chief controller of our side for this game. I am fielding this game as one of your operators,” I briefed my battle plan to my staffs for the first time.

It took a few seconds for everyone to absorb my nonsense battle plan.

“You cannot do that, Shandorei,” Sasengun wisely urged with all the desperation in the world.

Faugus was holding the bald spot on his head, having an intense headache. Isonos was licking his crooked beak, grinning. Only Searek remained poised and calm. Ember’s face went pale in a nauseating hurry. I literally just told him to play this game with Pride for me, knowing full well that if I lost this game, it would be over for everyone and everything.

“This is too much for me, master…” Ember flustered. He arrived at the battlefield completely unprepared for this moment. But this was what war truly was, full of twists and surprises. Even the best strategists and tacticians could not always predict the future correctly when they combined. A person had to adapt to the change of events and tides to keep himself afloat. Sometimes, a person just had to say, “Fuck that,” and just focused on improvising and adapting to unexpected changes. Phúc and FY spent years to learn that important lesson.

Ignoring the common opinion shared between Sasengun and Ember, I stared at Ember. “Whether it is too much for you or not, Can you do it, it’s my job to decide. Not yours,” I stated firmly. “The millions pounds question is, WILL YOU DO IT?” I asked.

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“Hey BITCHY DEMON LORD, are you sure you did not hack?” I shouted at Pride while giving order to my sieging troops.

Pride took her eyes off her screen and gave me an infuriated smile. Pride chose the dark occultist faction for today game and, somehow, someway, she has managed to summon her in-game avatar under constant harass from Isonos and me. The chance of Pride managed to summon her in-game avatar was 1/50.

“You HAX,” I cursed, trying to mess around with Pride’s rhythm. The two of us bickered back and forth as the game progressed. Pride was hell-bent on punishing me for my nonsensical decision of making Ember playing this game for me.

In the multiplayer mode of ROC, Pride could be summoned in her avatar form just like any other Demon Lords. Players could actually read her character sheet. Usually, the page of a Demon Lord’s character sheet showed the Authority wielded by that Demon Lord. And the page displayed the Miracle that the Demon Lord could use.

Pride’s character sheet was pure crazy. Crazy in a sense that people like me could not help but wonder if URLOX were smoking some illegal substances while they were designing Pride. While there was nothing stand out from Pride character sheet, just the usual brief biography and a cryptic poem, her page were, however, absolutely insane. It was uniquely designed to look unlike the page of any character in the game. Pride’s perks were not displayed in a branching tree or a vertical cascading list, they were displaying in bubbles. A person could only read Pride’s Authorities but not see the effect of her Authorities unless they clicked on the bubbles.

Pride inherited every single Authority that Naharis was known to possess. As a result, a page was not nearly enough to list all of her perks.

Pride had the , Niwdar’s primary Authority which allowed her to heal wounds and sickness. She also possessed the . This was Eogaill’s primary Authority. . Sinintee’s primary Authority. . Wonten’s primary Authority.

Then, the common that most Immortals had. Another common authority that shared between Demon Lords like Lust, Yasubotay, or Rasahlu. . Flokí’s trademark Authority. . . . . . . . The numbers of Authorities that Pride possessed went on and on. An entire page full of bubbles that constituted the Perfect Demon Lord.

It was ridiculous that Pride possessed every Authority that was available to every Demon Lord and even more. She was a complete package. If Sinintee was proclaimed as Perfect due the fact that the Authorities under his possession maxed out at Immortal Rank, Pride was called “Perfect” because she possessed every Authority that Naharis has once possessed. And more.

existed. A unique Authority that was only available to Pride. It gave Pride her trademark miracles , , , and while also put a shackle on Pride, preventing the rest of her Authorities from going pass the Challenger Rank.

was more of a negative perk than a positive one. It was the only reason that prevented Pride from being universally recognized as the strongest and most broken Demon Lord. It was the only negative perk that Pride had, and, at the same time, the worst negative perk that any Demon Lord could have. I could say for sure that it was the greatest handicap for an Immortal. It was the worst disability for a Demon Lord to have, similarly to S0rr0w’s trigger-finger sickness.

S0rr0w’s story in ROC Esports was what people called “The Ultimate Underdog’s Story.” A person suffered the same trigger-finger sickness should have never become a pro-gamer of any Esports game but those turn-based tactic games. But S0rr0w did just that. No pro-gaming team and organization would be desperate or stupid enough to have that kind of player playing for them, other than Lavatein. ROC was notoriously for being a high-APM (Action Per Minute) demanded game. People like me, Orithyia and Superior could bulldoze over other pro-gamers through the sheer force of our high APMs. Our opponents could have the right tactics and strategies and even perfect schemes. But, it was like what Iron Mike has said, “Everybody's got plans... until they get hit.” The three of us were one of the rare chosen few who could win a game of strategies and tactics while playing it with our brain turned off. That option, that boon was not available to S0rr0w even when he played against a casual ROC player. S0rr0w’s APMs clocked at 203, his average, the lowest average APM recorded in the entire history of the game by a pro-gamer. The fact that S0rr0w managed to be a ROC pro-gamer was already a miracle. The fact that he has managed to climb over his competitions and be recognized as one of the most dominant players in the competitive scene, it was the greatest miracle in league history.

Pride’s was similar, a great handicap.

A battle between Immortals was a clash of Authority and Miracle. Though Pride’s Miracles were all classified as tactical when she used them against mortals, against other Immortals, her Miracles and Authorities could only be nuisance and convenience at best. The ranking system that URLOX created to demonstrate the power scale of the Authority wielded by Immortals repeated the words “tactical” and “strategic”. These two words were used to describe the value of an Authority when the wielder of that Authority used it against other Immortals. As such, the one possessed a higher ranking and more advantageous Authority would have an indisputable advantage.

The fact that Pride possessed no Authority above the Challenger Rank, none that could give her a tactical edge over other Immortals put her at a severe disadvantage. Pride was like fighter armed with all sort of hot and cold weapons that allowed her to fight at close range, medium range, and long-range. However, she fought in a league where everyone else fought with tanks, destroyers, air-fighters, and armed with nukes.

“So how can someone like this command over 7 Demon Lords?”

This question remained a logic hole in URLOX’s setting until I lived with Pride inside that villa.

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Fielding as an operator had its advantages. I understood the ever-changing flows of a Blindfold ROC game so much faster and had fewer problems to manage. Normally, the information had to go through the mouth of a helper to an operator, and then Sasengun before reaching me. And when multiple information reached me all at the same time, it was hard to manage.

Now, the information was more direct, reaching me through the mouth of my personal helper.

As a result, I had more freedom and time in how I resolved problems at a tactical level. The tradeoff of being an operator instead of being a player was in the amount of control power. It took around 20 seconds or more before I could tell Ember and Sasengun to switch to a different strategy. Too slow. When I was playing Blindfold ROC as a player, it took me less than a second to do that. Playing in the player position, I had more control in strategies but not tactics.

I missed FY’s presence. I was a luxury that FY should have never afforded. And he was a luxury that I did not deserve. I played ROC with FY as my strategist for so long that now I felt handicapped without him at my side. It made me realized that I had not made any progress even after I had stepped out of my comfort zone for so long. I was still better at being a tactician than a strategist.

The sun was peeking out of the horizon. Cut from tension, Ember crumbled to the ground on four, hurling whatever the content of his stomach was for his dear life. Fully seasoned with stress and anxiety for a straight 21 days without a break in between, his entire body rattled in tiny shaking, drenched in sweat, completely softened like a block of human-size fermented tofu.

“Congratulation on your first battle, now go back to the manor and rest. Tomorrow will be the same. You will be a chief controller once again,” I informed Ember, shaking Ember by his pale softened shoulder.

Ember turned his head upward and looked at me as if I was a monster of no compassion. But the monster was what Ember has fought for the last 21 days. Ember just had his first taste of a monster that I created with my hands. I could not even count how many times Pride nearly destroyed our entire team throughout the last 21 days. Ember got his asses handed to him on dozens of situation and we had to bail him out over and over again.

Ember has just learned many important lessons through his first battle. Not many men could say that he has learned one of Sun Tzu’s many philosophies with his body.

I pulled Ember to his feet and summoned a chair for him to sit down. “Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy are the noises before defeat,” I vocalized the philosophy for him, “A general has to be both, strategic and tactical. Do well remembering that.”

I was teaching Ember but I was also lecturing myself.

Ember was very careful about planning logistics, which was always good quality. However, overstressing the importance of logistics and strategies placed a severe limitation on his options and move pool. He was playing the game too safe and often relying on logistics to overcome battles.

Ember timidly nodded his head. I did not go deeper about the rest of the lessons, realizing that the moment was not the best opportunity for that.

I walked to Isonos, “So, how is it?” I asked.

“Fantastic, teacher,” replied Isonos with pure unadulterated excitement in his voice, “I’m thankful for the opportunity.” He crossed his arms, bending his back, and thanked me.

Isonos was a complete natural in Blindfold ROC. Playing ROC with mouse and keyboard was not his forte. He did not have the hand-eye coordination or reflex or the mechanical skills that everyone else had. In fact, his mechanical skills were poor. Goddamn poor. As the result, back then I was still dividing my General Staff into teams for them to practice playing ROC, whichever team had Isonos in their roster, that team had a 70% of losing their game.

Taking the mouse and keyboard away, and telling Isonos that he could command troops by relaying order at them was like showing a caged bird an open sky and an open cage. No longer restricted by his slow reflex or his poor mechanical skill, Isonos proved why his name commanded so much disdain and hate in the history of Escana.

“Keep up the good work,” I commended Isonos for his performance, “But, in the next battle, slow down a bit. You are good but remember to coordinate your attacks with your teammates. There were a lot of miss-opportunities. Go back to the manor and do whatever may suit you. Tomorrow, I expect the same performance from you.” I did not tell Isonos to rest, knowing that he would study the record of today game with a limited amount of time that he was given.

Isonos nodded his head and cheerfully rolled his wheelchair away.

I hugged Sasengun, smothering her within my tight embrace, “That final situation was so close. That was so close. Too close. You bailed us out. Literally. Had you made a wrong call, we lost. That was too close. Too close,” I chattered quietly, burying my face into Sasengun’s cascading hair for comfort.

“Then, you should not have made Ember play this game for you,” Sasengun admonished me, wrapping her arms around me.

Unlike me, Sasengun, and Isonos, Ember was not built for pressure and stress, which reminded me of FY’s greatest weakness. I intended to make Ember overcame this weakness, one way or another. And since there was nothing more high-stake and stressful as playing a game of Blindfold ROC with Pride inside this dreamland, there was no better training for Ember than this. It was the same rite that FY and Phúc have gone through until they became the iron men that they were.

“Unfortunately, he will play this game tomorrow as well whether he likes or not. So bear with me.” I sighed, sharing a long and deep kiss with Sasengun. But, one was the loneliest number and thus one became two. Two quickly became three and that where I had to put a stop before it got out of my control. I told Sasengun to go back to her room and rest with much reluctance on our parts.

I asked Searek and Faugus regarding Isonos’ performance in the game. They gave me various answers, close, but not the answers that I was looking forward to hearing from them. Therefore, I gave them my advice, “From today onward, the two you will observe our game. However, focus your attention on Isonos alone. Watch how he respond to a threat, how he attacks, how he defends. Be more observance.”

Isonos played Blindfold ROC as if he was Searek and Faugus combined. He played with a controlled recklessness. Reckless and suicidal just like Searek, but controlled and insured like Faugus. Searek approached his battle with too much emphasis on offense and pressure while Faugus had the same mindset on defense and traps. Searek intuitively commanded his troops with a very high-risk-and-high-reward manner. Faugus took less risk and only bit when he was sure that he could chew. Isonos’ approach was an ideal of both offense and defense, instinct and wisdom. Not perfect, but very ideal. It was so ideal that I had to admire.

I bid Searek and Faugus a goodbye before heading to Pride’s corner.

“I remember him,” Pride said. She wore her emotionless face, masking her grudge beneath, giving me her hand like a noble lady.

“Which one?” I asked, holding Pride’s hand and lifting her from her chair.

“That cripple garuda. He nearly pushed the Nagas to extinction when they were still at the prime of their power.” Pride ruffled the creases on her gown and gave me the usual victory kiss.

I flashed a thin smile, completely pretended to be satisfied with just a single kiss.

It took a couple of games for Pride to refresh her memories about Sasengun. But it took only one game for her to remember Isonos. If Sasengun was Sanguine’s most prized warlord, Isonos was Sanguine’s most established warlord. Isonos’ relationship with Sanguine was what Craxus was to Sinintee if Craxus did not give Sinintee his credits or praises, and did whatever he wanted while ignoring Sinintee’s Divine Dream. Misery called Isonos before URLOX admitted modeling Isonos from the character of Ivar the Boneless.

If only Isonos was still alive and not insane, I would trade everything to make him my general.

But then, if Isonos was not insane, he could never be a warlord that he was. Isonos was a complete wild card. He did not move according to Rasahlu’s whisper or Yasubotay’s vision or Sanguine’s invisible trails. Isonos would do whatever he wanted to do even when his mind was being corrupted by Rasahlu’s whisper and Yasubotay’s vision.

Even now when he was working for me, Isonos was still the same. As a result, I would only tell him my vision and goal but never the paths to arrive my goal. I let Isonos do whatever he wanted as long as he got his job done.

“This guy, do you want him?” I asked Pride in a teasing manner, “He’s a rare talent, an example that can convince even the most stubborn non-believers of the Great Man Theory to change their mind.” The Great Man Theory suggested that history can be largely explained by the impact of great men, or heroes; highly influential and unique individuals who, due to their natural attributes, such as superior intellect, heroic courage, or divine inspiration, have a decisive historical effect. Students of history had a divided view and belief about this theory. Some were believers. Some weren’t. I believed only half of the theory.

“Does it matter?” Pride tilted her head, asking.

“What do you mean?”

“Does it really matter if I want him or not?” Pride smiled, “When I defeat you, dearest prince, he’s mine anyway.”

“You have not won a single game yet. Win one first, then we will talk, dearest Demon Lord.”

As usual, we talked smack, bickering back and forth. Neither of us returned to our room when we returned to the villa. I swam in the hot spring-water pool while Pride sat on the bank, reading books with only her feet dipping in the pool.

“Don’t you want to change into a swimming suit for old time sake?” I asked. The last time we swam together in the hot pool, Pride was teaching me water-dancing in her bikini.

“No, thank you,” Pride rejected me flatly and then quickly added, “I feel like I might get pregnant this time if I am not careful.”

A move like this has to be illegal.

It was unfair that a woman could give a man a clear reject while telling him what she thought of him at the same time. It’s like rejecting a person while telling that person to keep trying. I laughed, swimming in backstroke while keeping my small talk with Pride going. I told Pride that I decided to lift the summoning rule nonsense that URLOX had set. I allowed the dark occultist faction to select whichever Demon Lord that they wanted to summon and removed the Only-one-Demon Lord at any time restriction.

Pride wiggled her finger, suggesting me to swim toward her. And I did, like a complete love-struck moron.

“Are you daring me?” Pride closed her book and flashed an angry smile, the kind of smile that made my heart melt.

“Maybe I am. Maybe I am not,” I shrugged, “But do not assume that you have already won with just that kind of advantage. I am used to playing against this faction. Let me remind you of that.”

Pride leaned over and straddled my cheek with affection. She still wore her angry smile, “Do you think I would keep playing along with you and be a practice target for you and your followers?”

“As I have been telling you, win one game first, then you can talk,” I retorted, “Or perhaps, you are being afraid?”

“Afraid of what, you tell me.” Pride’s voice suddenly gained an edge as she leaned closer.

I casually stole a soft kiss from Pride. I flashed a smile. “Pride, my dear, you learned this game from me. You mastered my techniques. You studied my tactics and strategies longer than anyone. You got used to dealing with my tactics and strategies. I have taught you everything that I knew about this game without holding back any trick or secret. I trained you to be my kryptonite. I suppose that you have already asked yourself, Why is he doing this? You must have already asked yourself this question when you explained the effect of to me.” I held Pride’s hand and pressed it against my cheek, gazing into Pride’s eyes. “Be very careful,” I warned.

“Of what?” Pride asked.

I dragged Pride into the pool, making a huge splash.

“Yes,” I struck a gusto pose, laughing to tears while staring at Pride’s baffled look and drenched form.

Pride was angry, gritting her teeth. Then, my laughter infected her. She gave up and exasperated, shaking her head, “Did you start talking about all of that nonsense just to get me into the pool and wet?”

“Getting you into the pool is easy. Making you wet is easier. Give you a warning and then making you wet is hard,” I laughed, “So are you going to change into your bikini or keep wearing that dress down here?” I pointed my finger at Pride’s floating long hem that appeared like a fire jellyfish on the pool.

Pride splashed my face, giving me a silent reply. I choke out the water and snapped my fingers, dressing Pride in her gold bikini.

“I think my swan waltz has become a bit rusty. My dearest lady, will you help me freshen my memory about it?” I extended my hand.

Pride snickered and held my hand, leading the dance. The two of us swam and danced like a pair of swans. However, unlike that time when Pride was still teaching me the dance and etiquette of the swan waltz, neither of us whispered sweet nothing into each other’ ears this time.

“Even if you kept dragging this dream for an eternity, even if you kept delaying, that person would not stand up on his own all of a sudden.” Pride targeted where it hurt the most, “A person who has surrendered like that would never rise again. You are wasting your time waiting.”

“Just focus on what’s in front of you,” I smiled, “Think too far, think too deep and you might fall off a cliff right in front of you.”

“If you think those helpers of yours were enough to make me fall off a cliff, you are being too naïve.”

“My captain has often reminded me of this. To be a champion in ROC, you have to be better than everyone else. But, ROC is an ever-evolving game. You cannot stay at the top by being better than everyone else. Everyone else will learn from you and they will catch up. You stay on the top by constantly becoming a better version of yourself.”

We fired off our warnings at each other. When the dance ended, we shared a deep kiss, then returned to our room, preparing for the next game.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

“No, I change my mind. Ember, you take over Sasengun’s position. Sasengun, you play this game,” I briefed the lineup to my staffs.

Sasengun wore an “I knew it” look, exasperated. Isonos laughed. I pointed my finger at him. “It’s not funny,” said I like a true sadist, making an impression of Ember.

Ember looked like a man who has spent all of his time learning a quick course in playing Blindfold ROC at the player position. Ember gave me a look as if he was cursing me inwardly.

“My friend, if you work for me, always expect the unexpected,” I told Ember, flashing a treacherous smile.

I had not given up on victory just because I have given my General Staff the permission to surrender at their liberty. They were two different things. I was not a kind and forgiving person just because I instructed my General Staff to save themselves from further pain and torment when they encountered a situation that they could not win. Again, they were two different things. In BJJ, a person was taught to escape a mount and a lock first to protect themselves and their training partner from unnecessary harms. Just because a person spent time learning to escape the mount and the lock, it did not mean that a person has already given up beating his opponent.