Commander Khun stood barely ten meters away from the human commander.
'What the hell is this? He's the same level as me, but my innate skill isn't working on him!'
The leader of the dark elves was seething with rage. His entire army's strategy was built around his unique ability to make opponents unable to use their skills.
'Normally, the stronger the opponent, the shorter the silence... But against this demon, it's like it doesn't work at all! That's never happened before...'
Seeing Colonel Akra being devoured by his opponent's elements, and the enemy gathering more energy, he realized the fate of his army was sealed.
Unwilling to give up, he gathered all his strength, positioned himself between the enemy and his army, and activated his supreme skill to buy a bit of time.
[Bone Fortress]
A wall of bone began to rise between the dark elf and Shade, but before the effect of the supreme skill could fully take shape, a wave of elemental energy crashed into it.
Feeling the overwhelming force disintegrate his last line of defense, the commander screamed in despair.
A notification appeared as darkness consumed the battlefield.
[You have died.]
--------------------------------------------------
Sora floated in the sky of the Stade de France, reading the notifications appearing before his eyes.
[Commander Sixty has led your troops to victory! Click for more information about the war.]
Satisfied by the first notification, a smile tugged at his lips.
'Good!' he thought, clicking the notification to get more details.
[Spain - Barcelona - Spirit Kingdom - Tier 4]
Status: Victory
Casualties: 0 / 5,000
Commander: Sixty
'No losses. Perfect.'
He didn't have to wait long for news from other fronts.
[Germany - Berlin - Werewolves Kingdom - Tier 3]
Status: Victory
Casualties: 0 / 10,000
Commander: Eleven
While Sora rejoiced about the successive victories, players began to materialize all around the stadium, returning from the front lines, unharmed and led back by their respective commanders.
The joy of seeing the battalions and legions return intact was contagious, and soon after the first troops returned, a ritual began to form.
At the return of each army, Richard Dosse, unable to participate on the front lines but famous among the troops, announced the victory and the battle results.
"Back from Stuttgart, our army returns victorious and suffered no casualties!!" he shouted, amplifying his voice with mana.
Hundreds of thousands of players scattered across the stands erupted with joy, casting bursts of light from their fingertips.
The explosions of mana caught Sora's attention, and he looked up, smiling. The soldiers were forming mini fireworks in a clockwise wave.
'An Ola with lights... That's beautiful,' he found himself thinking.
But a few minutes later, a notification he had been waiting for sent a chill down his spine.
[United Kingdom - London - Dark Elves Kingdom - Tier 2]
Status: Victory
Casualties: 19,934 / 50,000
Commander: Shade
'I must be dreaming. Almost 20,000 dead? 40% losses? What the hell happened over there? Shade is way stronger than the players they were facing!!'
While he desperately searched for an explanation for such a result, Shade materialized in front of him, kneeling, head bowed.
"I'm sorry, Sora..." Shade, usually calm and in control of his emotions, looked like a shadow of his former self.
His gaze was sad and confused, struggling to hide the rage boiling inside him, threatening to explode at any moment.
But Sora wasn't there to judge his brother. "What happened? How did they do it?"
Shade remained silent for a few seconds before sharing his side of the story.
After a moment, Sora sighed. "They were well prepared... We underestimated them again. They snatched too many points, denied us the most important Aces and Flawless victories. In such circumstances, you couldn't have done any better..."
Seeing that Shade still didn't feel any better, he added, "No matter which of us went, the result would've been the same. Maybe even worse... I think you going personally helped limit the damage."
Shade shook his head. "If it had been you, things would've turned out differently..."
Sora gave him a pat on the shoulder. "I doubt it. Rest for now."
Shade nodded. "Then absorb me, and share my power with our brothers for the next few hours. I'll be ready for the battles in Sydney, Manila, and Osaka later today."
Sora complied, using his [Alter Ego] skill to absorb Shade, allowing him to rest within his [Soul Palace].
Focusing again on the wars still ongoing, he was relieved to see the Tier 3 and Tier 4 battles going exactly as planned, with zero casualties.
Turning his attention to the wars scheduled later that day in Africa and Asia, he applied the same strategy—gathering all continental troops in one place before dispatching them via teleportation.
Learning from the losses in London, he decided to send five [Alter Egos] to every Tier 2 war around the world.
Victory after victory followed. There were still casualties from time to time, but the results improved, and Sora's image across the world evolved in real time.
Hundreds of players had taken the liberty of streaming war footage, despite Sora's clear order forbidding the sharing of any information.
He could only watch helplessly as friend requests flooded in, people tried to get close to him through mutual contacts, and reports came in of uprisings launched in his name, mostly in places he hadn't sent his "super soldiers."
Alius stood in front of Sora, who was holding his head in frustration. "Did you really think they'd all obey your order not to stream?"
Sora looked up. "Those idiots don't realize that every time they leak one of my skills, the enemy takes notes."
Alius smiled. "Next time, you'll need to have everyone sign a contract. Are you going to punish the ones who streamed?"
"I already kicked them out. But it's not like I'm going to have them executed for it. Damage's already done."
Taking advantage of the pause, he changed the subject. "How's your training going? If you found the time to come see me, I'm guessing it's going well? And what about Hope?"
His [Alter Ego] nodded. "Yeah, I hit the first goal I was aiming for. Hope seems to be doing well... She says Newtons knows so much about the world that she thinks he's a beta tester, or some kind of cheater. And after seeing the flood of messages from Emily and Kim, I crawled out of my cave to check on your group... It's not even been two days since we last saw each other, and there are uprisings all over Earth with people trying to make you their leader..."
Sora shook his head. "They don't really want me as their leader. You know that. They just want my firepower to crush our enemies."
Now it was Alius's turn to disagree. "I don't think so. I think you've become the beacon of hope people didn't dare to dream about. It would do them a lot of good if you got rid of their hypocritical leaders."
Sora paused, thoughtful, before replying. "I don't like it. Sure, I want as much control over the upcoming wars as possible—but I don't want to rule over civilians. I don't mind helping as many people as possible, but I don't care about their countries and land. But the idiots governing them and who refused my help? Most of them lost their wars. Some reached out again asking for help, but others would rather let their region burn than hand over command to someone else."
Alius studied Sora's face. "Need soul power? I can lend you some [Soul Pearls], if you want. Should make the upcoming battles easier."
Sora was surprised by the offer and nodded. "That would really help... How many do you have?"
Alius focused, and after a few seconds, held out a ring. "There are 25 million in here. You can return them later."
Sora stood speechless at the insane number of [Soul Pearls] his younger brother had just handed over—and at the speed with which he'd condensed them.
'He condensed 25 million pearls in a few seconds, without me detecting even the faintest flow of soul power or any trace of waste? His soul mastery is way ahead of mine... And I thought the gap between us was shrinking with my recent experiences and the improved version of [Soulcraft]... Looks like he's been putting in serious work.'
Despite help from several hundred Alter Egos and gifts from millions of viewers during his first stream, Sora hadn't yet reached a soul level of 25 million.
And yet Alius, working alone, had just offered up that much without even flinching.
Moved by his younger brother's generosity, Sora thanked him. "This is going to slow down your training... I owe you, little brother. I'll give them back tomorrow after the last battle."
Alius seemed amused by the reaction. "Then I'll see you tomorrow!"
He vanished immediately, not giving Sora the chance to say anything else. Sora smiled and sent a message to some of his [Alter Egos], intending to help them grow stronger.
-------------------------------------
Increasing the number of Alter Egos assigned to each battle and strengthening those already present, Sora quickly noticed the change.
"We're pulling off one overwhelming victory after another! And more importantly, not a single casualty in the last twenty battles…"
Checking the time impatiently, he thought, "Only one battle left…"
The result didn't take long to appear:
[Commander Shade has led your troops to victory! Click for more information about the war.]
Used to this type of notification, he quickly clicked the small window and was relieved to read its contents:
[Japan - Osaka - Demon Kingdom - Tier 2]
Status: Victory
Casualties: 0 / 50,000
Commander: Shade
"Perfect!" he thought—just as a new, far more intriguing notification appeared before his eyes.
(Update!!) [Supreme Quest: Absolute Freedom]