While the Alpha team was playing around with the boar, another battle way bigger was happening in the other side of the battle field.
On one side, 3 boars filled with fury. On the other side, 3 little girls filled with energy.
Well, that's not quite right. Instead of one side and the other, it was more of a complete mess of a free for all without tactics or logic.
In the beginning, when the three boars were sieging Daisy, the battlefield was already complicated with three boars charging and surrounding a single girl who didn't stop moving for a second. But it was only when the two others entered the battle field that true chaos began to reign supreme vanquishing any kind of order that had been preestablished in that battle.
Instead of launching a sneak attack at a single boar to reduce their numbers, the two intruders each chose a single target and decided to not finish it off before their match was finished, any attempt of cooperation was denied and the girls actively interrupted each other to ensure their victory in their private match.
Daisy, who saw the two attacking not only the boars but each other, soon understood the rules of the competition, and instead of restraining them or giving them a scolding, decided to join the game, announcing out loud and taking out her ax.
Apollo, who monitored at the situation through the HQ computer, got completely confused seeing the odd behavior of the blue and red dots, dancing around and piling up on each other just to separate and start it all over again, so he decided to investigate what was going on by switching the camera to the first person view, but the dots moved fast and incoherently, making it hard for him to click at them normally, much less doing a double click where the time in between the first and the second click was already enough for the points to have changed position again.
"Damn! Stay still for a second!"
"Master!?"
Bang!
As Apollo murmured to himself, wishing to click on Daisy's blue dot, Daisy understood it as a command and automatically stopped moving, just in time for the boar to hit her with a charge.
Luckily she used the ax in her hand as a shield, minimizing the damage she took, but because of the difference in mass between them, the impact was strong enough for her to be send flying out of the battlefield.
"Daisy!!!!"
"Yes? What is it?"
"Are you okay? I thought I just saw a boar charge right at you just now!"
"Oh! It did! Because of your order I was not able to dodge, but I was still able to defend."
Daisy spoke in a carefree manner, but Apollo could feel she was feeling some grudge.
"Sorry, because of me, you got yourself hurt."
"Eh? That doesn't matter! It's just that I would have won the game had you not stopped me there. Those two were occupied with each other, so it was a perfect chance for me to score!"
"...Game???"
"Yeah! We are playing a game to see who can break their boar's tusk faster!"
Noticing what was going on, Apollo couldn't help but get angry.
"STOP PLAYING GAMES AND FINISH OFF ALL THESE BOARS!"
Apollo's shout was so loud that even without the communication equipment, everybody in the Valley, be it boar, little girl, or anything else, was able to hear it loud and clear, making all girls answered in a synchronized manner never seem before.
""Yes, Master!""
Apollo sighed and looked at the Map, but what he saw gave him a scare. First of all he saw all red dots vanish simultaneously, then he noticed Rose was no longer at the Factory and her dot had completely disappeared and, as he desperately searched through the whole map where the hell Rose had gone, a voice suddenly come out of his bracer announcing the end of the Tutorial.
[Final Mission Complete!]
[Tutorial Complete!]
[2nd Tier Technologies Unlocked!]
[Resources Simplification Disabled!]
[Rights over your current territory will be transferred to your name in 24 hours! Congratulations!]
[Right to join the first phase of the G.F.T.]
[Would you like to join now?]
[Yes] [No]
Apollo ignored the system message and continued to search desperately for Rose, but no matter where he looked at, there were no traces of her.
"Rose, where are you?"
At the same time, answering him, Apollo felt a wet feeling touch his shoulder.
"I'm right here, Master."
"Gyaaaaa! Oh! Rose! You gave me a scare! You suddenly vanished from the map so for a moment I thought you had sacrificed yourself to kill the boar."
Recognizing her voice, Apollo explained himself, but as he turned around and found a red maid instead of a green one, his heart almost stopped yet again.
"Oh God! What happened to you!?"
"Oh! Excuse me! I have presented myself in a shameful state! Please allow me 5 minutes to lean myself."
"That doesn't matter! Can you stand still for a second? Show me your wounds, I will apply first aid!"
"Master. It's the boar-"
"The boar doesn't matter! You matter more than a thousand boars! If you have to sacrifice yourself for me to win, then it's way better that I lose! Now, let's sit down first, you don't look so well, maybe it's because of all the bleeding..."
"Master, there is no bleeding! I'm not hurt!"
"Eh? You are...fine? But all this blood..."
"All this blood is the boar's blood. When I was coming back from the factory, I heard your order and finished it off! So I cut it's neck, but due to my lack of planning I ended up bathing in it's blood, resulting in the deplorable image you see now."
"Eh? You finished it off!?"
"Yes. That's why I was 3 seconds late."
"Did I even define a time limit??"
"No, but you expected me to finish at least 5 minutes before it's arrival, right?"
"Well, maybe that passed by my head, but I never voiced it out right?"
"Knowing what's passing in her Master's head is also a Maid's job!"
"Ugh..."
Apollo took a deep breath and stared at the map, slowly digesting the lessons he learned.
"I need to be more strict with them, or they will walk all over me... But it's good that it's over... All right, girls, the battle is over! Time to celebrate!"
"""Yay!!!!"""
...
Later at night, Apollo exited the Palace to breath some night air. Looking at the stars he remembered all the things that happened since he was abducted from home.
"I can't believe it! It's finally over! A lot of things happened, but in the end, I think it brought some nice results! I don't care about the money prize or any of that shit. Right now I just want to go home!"
Apollo looked at his bracer, the question from hours ago was still pending, waiting for his answer.
[Right to join the first phase of the G.F.T.]
[Would you like to join now?]
[Yes] [No]
"The obvious answer is NO!"
Apollo didn't hesitate, clicking "No" so fast that it was almost as if he feared it would disappear if he waited any longer.
Maybe there were still a few grudges against the organizer of the tournament and everybody involved that made this last three days the most distressing days of his life, but a little ant like him could only suck his thumb and bear with it, because the moment it tried to bite them back would be the same moment he would be crushed by them.
Feeling relieved that everything was over, Apollo turned around and started heading back inside when a voice coming from his bracer suddenly made him freeze in place.
[Thank you for joining the G.F.T.!]
[The first phase starts in 7 days!]
[Make sure to prepare your base enough S.O.W.'s as they will be essential to pave your way to victory!]
Looking back at his bracer, Apollo noticed that the "No" button that he had just pressed had transformed into a "Yes" button, selling him the illusion he had pressed the wrong button my mistake.
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? I CHOOSE NO! NO! NO!!!!"
But Apollo had checked the question multiple times. There is no way he wouldn't remember the order of the answers or answered anything wrong.
"CANCEL! RETURN! UNDO! EXIT!"
No, actually, it was all a trap from the very beginning. The organizers never had any intention of letting anyone who survived the tutorial go home without participating in the tournament. No matter what button he clicked, the button would turn into a "Yes" button, making his choice nothing more than an illusion!
"AAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Apollo noticed the trick right away, but even if he knew, what could he do? Even if he wanted to refuse to participate, nothing would change and he would still be forced to participate in the end. So all that was left for him was to protest, to scream! And that he did, up until dawn break again!
"I DON'T WANT TO PLAY ANYMORE!!!!!!"