The Immortal Player

The moment that the counter ended, everyone from Team ARES materialized inside the throne room of the said Tradean Empire.

Other than everyone from their team, there were also fully armored NPCs who were bowing towards Pedro—their King in that simulated scenario. And… They did not dare lift their heads without his command.

Thus, Pedro used this chance to scan through the details of the Simulated Battle and the objectives he needed to accomplish to win the match.

[Tradean Empire: Team ARES]

[Military: 10,000 NPC Soldiers]

[Population: 100,000 NPC Civilians]

[Match Objectives]

-Conquer Enemy Stronghold or Annihilate the Opposing force!

[Objective Completion Reward: Win the Match!]

…

Pedro simply waved his hand to the right—consequently closing his player interface. Then, he sighed and said, "Raise your heads, brave and loyal warriors of Tradean! I, your King, wants to know the situation we are in?!"

"Yes, your majesty!" The Empire Soldiers, Warriors, and Knights lift their heads as a red armored man with thick brown hair on his face stepped forward.

The man said, "We got the news that the Defacto Kingdom will launch a full-scale attack to your highness' lands! They have prepared 5,000 soldiers to attack us by surprise! Luckily, our spies were able to warn us just several hours ago! We already have alerted the whole Empire and have gathered around 1,000 of our men and stationed them outside the walls!"

"We have also sent messengers to call our remaining troops back—that are hunting monsters in the Tradean Ravine! Their number was around 9,000 and is enough for us to single-handedly crush the enemy! However… It would take them two to three hours to return. And I fear that if the Defacto Kingdom launches an attack now… Forgive me, your majesty, but… There's only a slim chance for us to win the battle!" The man explained to Pedro with a worried tone.

Pedro frowned in response and asked, "How many soldiers are guarding the gates?"

The man could only force out a smile and said, "Embarrassingly… There are only 10 Soldiers assigned on each of the four gates, your majesty! It was supposed to be around 50 soldiers but because of the dire of the situation, we assigned 40 from each gate to the main force!"

Pedro simply sighed and shook his head in response. Then, he glanced to Talia and Lony, while saying, "Bulk, Shawarma follow me! I will personally lead the thousand men to the battlefield!"

The Empire Soldiers, Knights, and Warriors could only stare towards Pedro in response as Lony and Talia simply nodded with a mischievous smirk in response.

"But your majesty…" The man with the red armor wanted to argue.

But Pedro simply glared towards him and said, "I know your worries! But with my lead… We can rally the thousand soldiers and make them fight courageously for the empire! This way, we can buy some time for the reinforcements to arrive and even prepare themselves for the fight!"

The red armored man wanted to argue but Pedro spoke once again before he could utter a word, saying, "I, the King of Tradean Empire, commands you—the strongest warriors, soldiers, and knights of the Empire, to be the shield of the Empire's Walls in my absence! My Queen, White—together with my Advisor, Chicken Burger (AN: this is Mathew), would gain an equivalent authority as mine when it comes to decisions that need my approval!"

"Now… Arrange my horse and prepare the thousand men to leave!" Pedro said one last time that made every NPC forced out a smile in response.

At this moment, a man with the red armor knelt towards Pedro and said, "Your highness… Forgive me for my selfish request but… Please allow me to join you in the battle! As the General of Empire's Soldiers, I should be beside your majesty's side at the least!"

At first, Pedro was hesitant. If he takes all the thousand men—including the 'capable' soldiers, with him, he was afraid that there would be no one to defend the Kingdom if the enemy attacks even with a small diversion force.

Although Sabrina, Mathew, Arvee, Roval, Loren, and Aldo would be left on their stronghold, he still finds it risky to leave the defense of an entire stronghold to themselves.

That is why Pedro wanted to leave the strongest soldiers behind. This way, the rest of the Team ARES would have a second line of defense that would eliminate threats or enemies that are able to pass through the player's defenses.

But since he wanted to utilize the chance to strike first and cause disturbance on the opposing force—making them realize the fact that their "plans" were seen through by their enemy, Pedro had no choice but to agree since it was only one of the tens of soldiers, warriors, and knights inside the throne room.

Thus, Pedro was assured that even if he took the General of the soldiers with him, the rest of the Team ARES would still have backups with them.

After a few seconds, Pedro simply sighed and said, "Hurry and Prepare the Soldiers, General! We are charging to the Defacto Kingdom before they would even be able to leave their territory! I want to deliberately tell them that we were able to see to their plans and confuse their leaders—to buy enough time for our reinforcements to arrive!"

"Yes, your highness!" The General of the Soldiers said as he bowed one last time to Pedro before rushing out of the throne room.

At this moment, Pedro simply glanced at all of the NPCs and the rest of Team ARES, and said, "I leave the Empire's Defense in your hands!" Then, he glanced to Lony and Talia, and said, "Bulk, Shawarma, Let's go!"

Lony and Talia simply nodded in response as they follow Pedro—leaving the throne room.

"Glory to the Tradean Empire!" The NPCs shouted as they knelt down and bowed towards Pedro—who just left the room.

Then, a few seconds after Pedro left, they stood before kneeling and bowing towards Sabrina, while saying, "As you command, your highness!"

"Err…" Sabrina could only force out a smile in response as she glanced towards Mathew—as if she was asking him what does she need to do next.

Mathew could only hopelessly shake his head in response as he takes over the leadership of their defensive force. He said, "Before anything else, can someone tell me which direction is the Defacto Kingdom located?"

"It is towards the East of the Empire, Sire!" A man said whilst kneeling and bowing—not even daring to lift his head.

Mathew simply nodded in response and said, "What about the Tradean Ravine?"

"It's located at the North West of the Empire, Sire!" The same man said in response.

"Are there any other threats around the Empire?" Mathew asked.

"There are none, other than those two, Sire!"

Mathew simply nodded in response and said, "Divide yourselves into five groups! Your highness, Queen White, would lead a group and would be the ones to defend the Eastern Gate! I would lead a group and would defend the Western Gate! Bhor and Yellow would lead a group and defend the North! Crow would lead a group and defend the South! While Pink would remain in the palace and defend it! We, the four groups that would defend the gates, would immediately depart as soon as you organize yourselves!  Please hurry in doing so! We can't leave 10 soldiers guarding each gate of the Empire!"

Hopeless, the best of the best Kingdom Soldiers, Warriors, and Knights organized themselves based on which group composition would be the most effective in defending the four gates of the Empire.

Knowing that the threats from the Defacto Kingdom would come from the East, Mathew assigned Sabrina—the second most powerful player on their team, to defend that critical side. Obviously, most of their enemies would be attacking from that direction.

With their reinforcements coming from the North West, Mathew assigned Roval (Bhor) and Aldo (Yellow) to the Northern Gate. It was the side that could be least threatened because even a diversion group would be easily stopped in the assumption that they would encounter the reinforcements coming from the North West along the way.

Arvee (Crow) was assigned to the South because it was the second most critical side following the Eastern Gate. There would definitely Diversion Groups from the Defacto Kingdom that would attack the South of the Tradean Empire.

And since the reinforcements of the Tradean Empire would come from the North West, there was no possibility that the reinforcements would be able to slow and weaken the Diversion Forces aiming for the Southern Gate of the Empire.

And since Arvee was the fourth-strongest on their team—following Mathew himself, it was only expected for him to be assigned to defend the Southern Gate of the Empire.

Lastly, Mathew stationed himself to the Western Gate since it was the side that would play a slightly important part in their defensive strategy.

The Western Gate is the first side of the Empire that would definitely get in contact with the majority of the Reinforcement force. Since Mathew was acting as their tactician, it was ideal for him to remain on the western gate so that he could immediately organize them as soon as they arrive.

At the same time, since he was the third strongest player on their team, it was only to be expected that he would be stationed at the opposite side—where Sabrina was defending. That way, they would be assured that both halves of the Empire are well defended under the two of them. 

On the other hand, Loren (Pink) was supposed to be grouped with Aldo and Roval. However, since it was a Kingdom Defense mode, there must be at least someone from their team to remain and defend the castle or the palace of their Empire. After all, those were the very core or heart of an Empire that depicts the glory of its leader.

And Loren was stationed to defend the Core of the Empire in case someone would be able to sneak in from the other defender's detection. Well… There was nothing bad with being extra careful.