Now only four individuals remained in the competition. Maksim was favored to win, but with the entire world beating him down, he fell eventually. As Herbert Plumer of China was the only one to withdraw his forces, the consequences would hit him hard. Later that year, three nukes dropped on China. This event seriously demoralized the Chinese people, not to mention the death and destruction.

However, Herbert had managed to come out of it better off than Muqali, who led the Soviet Union. The robotics corp that Maksim had sent to Soviet lands had done a lot more damage than he had anticipated. Now, he almost wished he had taken the nukes instead of forcefully pushing on and ending Polish rule. The damage left behind by his decision was quite significant.

Turenne of India had also removed some of his forces from the war. So, the coalition decided that Herbert would use one of his nukes to drop on his one true ally. This decision allowed the remaining individuals to have an equal amount of nukes. Japan and the Soviet Union hoped that this would weaken China and India's bond, but that did not turn out to be the case.

Japan had handled it the best. The soldiers from conquered nations were able to repel the enemy forces easily. Japan was relatively unphased. That wasn't the case for many nations. All of the soldiers Hideki Tojo sent home afterward saw the devastation that had occurred to their home. Cities lay in ruin, bodies lay rotting in the streets, death and destruction everywhere.

To many, this was the last straw. No amount of propaganda could have staved off what was to come. It was a revolution of those oppressed by the Imperialist Japanese regime. From Australia to Indonesia, parts of Latin America to parts of Africa. Japan's response to this was to use overwhelming force to crush any insurrection.

While the four remaining individuals all had their problems to deal with, only one of them took the initiative to expand. It was Turenne of India. He took his forces and started waging an all-out war with Muqali. This sudden action came as a shock to everyone. Logically speaking, there were many issues in India that he should have taken care of first. Yet Turenne had forsaken all of that to catch his enemy off guard.

With the fresh scars that the invasion of Europe had done to the Soviet army, they were not in great shape to fight in another war. Muqali thought he would have some time before he would have to fight again. Turenne forcing his hand now meant he had full confidence in how a war would turn out. No matter, the only thing Muqali needed to do now was to fight back.

Turenne had drilled his army in a way that they would be able to tough out any weather. Including the extremities of the Soviet lands. They launched their invasion soon after Poland fell. The short interval between the two events was to ensure the Indian forces could capitalize on the unorganized soviets. It worked like a charm for the first few weeks. After that, Muqali no longer needed to find enough men and supplies.

However, that was when the Chinese armies came in to assist. They struck from another route altogether. It was a pincer attack. While the Indians were focusing on pushing through the Stan countries, the Chinese forces snuck their way through Mongolia and the southern parts of the Soviet Union. They did not end up having any casualties doing this.

Now, Muqali was truly scrambling to fight off the invading forces. He even asked Hideki Tojo to help him out. Unfortunately for him, the Japanese were too busy quashing insurrections all around the world. Additionally, Hideki had no interest in helping Muqali out anyway. The way he saw it, the Soviet Union, its lands, its people, and its leader was no longer of any use to him.

It just so happened that Japan had the single largest current empire in the simulation. As long as they remained in his control, he would have a massive advantage over the others. Once the Soviet Union was its last breath, then Hideki would take North America as well.

That time came soon enough. Muqali and his forces had taken a lot of damage in conquering the Polish empire. Additionally, their already battered forces could only take so much punishment before they buckled. As brief as the coalition lasted, only three nations remained in the fight for global dominance.

These three nations were Japan, China, and India. Including all of their respective territories. In terms of pure landmass, Japan was ahead as they controlled the Americas, the majority of Asia, and parts of Africa. Put together, China and India only had a landmass slightly larger than Japan. As was customary in high-class multiple community tournaments, there was a summit of the remaining heads of state once they were down to the last three.

The three heads all agreed to meet in the neutral territory of Sweden. The first nation to declare neutrality back in 1814 and has not participated in a war since. As the most influential people would be attending, everything had to be pristine and perfect. Any plotting around this event would disqualify the perpetrator immediately. On the day of the meeting, Hideki Tojo was the first person to be there. Turenne and Herbert came soon after.

"Well, this is certainly a surprise. Before this simulation started, I would have no problem believing Turenne would be sitting here at this table with me. Herbert, on the other hand, you're a little harder to believe. There were so many who were better than you in terms of pure strategic prowess," Hideki Tojo commented as the two took their seats.

"That much is true. I'll give you that," Herbert replied. "But they do say that I can create small miracles. Seeing as I am here and others aren't just proves my abilities."

"Agreed, you being in the top three is a miracle in and of itself. You deserve some congratulations and recognition for that. However, the three of us have been lucky so far. Our biggest competitor is gone, and our alliances kept us all alive. However, I am pretty confident in saying that the outcome of this simulation is set in stone."

"What makes you so sure of that, Hideki?" Turenne asked.

"Because you two are weak. Not in the sense of military knowledge, mind you. I am talking about your unwillingness to do what is required! You two are too nice, too forgiving, too humane. We are living in a war world. Yet you two don't seem to understand that being on top is what matters."

"Well, I disagree with you there, Hideki," Herbert shook his head. "I've heard the reports of what you do to your captured and national soldiers. It's a tragedy. If we were back on Earth, you'd be tried for 100 different war crimes."

"Well, we're not on Earth, now are we?" Hideki shot back.

"That may be true, but you just don't get it. To me, war has no meaning here." Turenne said nonchalantly. Even Herbert looked bemused.

"What? War runs the economy on this planet! Everything we do on this planet is because of war. Are you joking right now?" Hideki asked in a rare outburst.

"No, I mean what I said. On Earth, wars were something you did for the pride of your country. It had real consequences. Politics, although not my strong suit, was a relatively small part of war. Here? That is not the case."

"I can't relate to that. During my time, wars were almost all political," Hideki retorted.

"I'd have to agree with Hideki on that one. Wars just became so much more political after your time, Turenne."

"The point I'm trying to make is that war has no consequences here. Currently, war is nothing but a cheap sport, and that is a tragedy. Non-stop violence is not good for anyone but warmongers. I take one look at you, Hideki, and I see that you are indeed one of them. Sooner or later, you will run out of steam."

"I highly doubt that. Look at how many people there are on this planet and how many millennia they have been here! I daresay I enjoy war more than most of them. How many of them do you think have given up on war even after all this time? The answer is not many."

"Hideki, your worldview is just too small. You are right. There aren't a lot who have given up on war entirely. But how many do you think shifted their focus? All those who decided to do research and development, all the merchants, all the community officials. They saw that senseless violence was not for them." Turenne retorted.

"Turenne, as you say, I am most likely going to give up on pure warfare soon as well. The things I've seen will haunt me forever. Some of those things include what you have shown me in this simulation, Hideki," Herbert added.

"None of that matters! I stand by my statement that this simulation is mine. The two of you will need a major miracle if you wish to take me out."

"Perhaps you think that this whole simulation was about who was best. But I assure you, more people care about the match than the outcome."

"That's where you're wrong. The winner of this simulation will be the winner of the Sun Tournament. That person will have the honor of bringing victory to their community and inspire a new generation to fight."

"And that's the sad thing. We keep on fighting, but for what? Will we keep on fighting for another 10,000 years? Half the communities here might have perished by that time. Heck, humanity could very well be gone at that point too. Then why are we fighting? It's not for anything glorious, I can tell you that much," Herbert raised a hypothetical.

"You two are way too pessimistic. I'm not talking to the two of you anymore. Prepare for a war, unlike anything you've ever seen before. Because I can assure YOU, that the only thing that matters is to win."