The battle started when the second and third armies engaged the gates. Simultaneously, the first army also began to send monsters into the city, making sure defenders couldn't spare any forces. Breaching the second wall was only a matter of time at this point, so I just waited for this to happen.
To pass the time, I watched how Ling managed the defense, giving orders and assisting directly by slowing or even stopping some monsters with her space power. The situation of the defenders was so dire that Tomoe, Hare, Jeanne, and Kiyohime were already in the fight, helping to defend the gates.
Up until now, none of my Guards was defeated. While some were injured in combat, Tyrande quickly healed them so they could rejoin the defense in the next battle. To have any chance at victory, we needed to take them out of the fight.
~"You four are ready?"
-"Of course."-Responded Mei, Herrscher of Origin.
~"Remember, deal with them one by one."
-"We know, go in, kill, retreat, repeat."-Kiana, Herrscher of Finality repeated the plan.
~"First, deal with Jeanne. If she is out, they will have to be much more careful with the soldiers."
-"Sure."
Receiving acknowledgment from Hua, I watched how four of them rushed toward the battlefield. She then covered four of them with a near-perfect illusion created with the Authority of Sentience, which was further strengthened by Mei with the Authority of Origin.
Kiana also assisted with the Authority of Finality, erasing any traces they left, while Bronya organized the path and detailed plan of action so they could achieve their objective.
This combination allowed them to approach Jeanne unnoticed, allowing them to attack her while she was unprepared. Despite that, Jeanna was able to respond to their offensive, blocking the first attacks while calling for backup.
Sadly for her, the four Herrschers were almost as strong as my Guards. Probably only Ling or Jingliu could defeat each of them in one-on-one combat, so fighting against four was out of the question even for a short while. Before the help could arrive, Mei was able to deal a mortal wound to Jeanne, kicking her out of the Simulated Realm. Four Herrschers then retreated, avoiding the pursuit.
-"Success!"-Kiana returned to my side while showing the peace sign.
~"Good job."
-"Yes, but Bronya thinks that the next attacks will not be so easy."
-"They will stop acting alone."
~"You are right, Hua. They have already started to act in pairs."
-"We can still deal with pairs, so who next?"
~"Out of five dragon girls, all but Ling are now tasked with hunting you four, so we will focus on the rest. Would you prefer Kiyohime and Shenhe or Tomoe and Hare as the targets?"
-"Tomoe and Hare will be a little easier, so let's start with them."
~"Then I'll leave them to you."
The battle was still at a stalemate, so I decided to turn the tides with my little surprise. The defenders had already gotten used to monsters being teleported into the city, dealing with them without giving them any thought, but those monsters were specially prepared with one thing in mind: they would die in the city.
All of them had special blood. That blood would slowly gather and silently infect some defenders, turning them into monsters. Despite not being strong, they were perfect for doing one job: assassination. Right now, around fifty such monsters have been hidden in their midst, and while most won't be able to do much more than kill some middle-level commander, one of them had the perfect position to cause major damage, as he was the guard of food storage.
Not only is he able to set fire to their rations, putting them in a precarious position, but he has mixed the infected monster's blood with food, corrupting one more important piece, a Warden. Wardens not only fight on the front lines but also guard some important commanders, and that one was in the meeting between Ling and other commanders right now.
Days before, I asked Bronyas, Seele, and Galina to prepare something that could explode with the Power of Death as they could do with their cores, and so they created such a bomb. A bomb that was now in the hands of that Warden. Smuggled in the body of a monster in one of the previous attacks.
Ling was fully focused on the battlefield, so she couldn't react in time when she felt the Power of Death suddenly appear right next to her. The next moment, the defenders have lost their commander.
What followed was a rout of defenders as the fifth army struck the moment their chain of command was severed. Defenders were quickly overrun and forced out from their positions on the middle wall. They mounted the last desperate defense on the inner walls, but it only bought them one more day of the fight.
In the end, the city fell after seven months, three weeks, and five days.
My avatar in Simulated Realm stayed behind and repaired any error that I noticed during the test, while my other avatar met everyone outside.
-"Yue! That was dirty."-Ling instantly approached me and started to complain.
~"Strategy is all that works."
-"Don't think that quoting Nobu will make me less mad."
~"Look at it from a different angle. You are such a danger to me that I had to resort to the assassination."
-"I don't care! I had such a nice plan to deal with that attack, but you destroyed everything."
~"OK, OK, I'll drink with you later."
-"You better!"
~"So what do you think about this trial?"
-"It was fun."-Hao Yu answered directly.-"But I don't know about difficulty."
-"Yes, you have to tune it a little more."-Shen Meng also voiced her concern.
~"Yes, I will make sure it's more fair to defenders. I'll also expand the city to not only have five zones but also for gates to be expanded into fortresses and some additional elements like towers to be present. Also, among the simulated citizens, carpenters and other masons that can repair the wall will be present."
-"Yes, this will make the trial more fair. But without your Guards, fighting against Herrschers would be nigh impossible."-Soaring Feather reminded me.
~"I'm still thinking if I should include them in the true trial. But most likely, I'll create avatars for them so they are not recognized."
-"On the subject, those avatars of the Herrschers are neat. They are quite similar to your Aeon form, silhouettes in color associated with their Authority."
~"They modeled it after me. I only need to make some minor adjustments, and the trial will be ready."
We chatted about the trial. I received some propositions and advice on what to change, but everyone was rather satisfied with it. In the end, we decided to put more importance on my trial rather than simple Qualifier. It will become the main attraction, with the rest of the contest only deciding on the ranking of the best.
~"Do you need any more assistance in preparing for the Martial Meeting?"
-"No, we will deal with the rest. I know you have something to deal with, so I won't take more of your time."
~"Thank you, Meng, but if anything happens, be sure to notify me."
-"Sure."
After talking some more with everyone, I teleported into Chaos.
At the same time, my other avatar returned from Simulated Realm and met with Ningguang and Astraea to discuss the first world that we will take over.
-"How are the preparations for Martial Meeting going?"-Astraea asked while sitting down next to me.
~"Basically done. While some minor matters still need sorting, Meng will take care of them."
-"Then we are moving to the main issue."
~"Right, I did some reading on that world and located places and people that can be called protagonists, but I hadn't checked for events as I don't want to be bored there."
-"I don't mind, but during your stay, you have to establish a foothold for the Hold. Ningguang has already prepared a plan for you."
-"Yes, but before everything else, who will you take with you?"
~"Sakura, Rin, and Tomoe, as they are the only ones who have skills that will be necessary there."
-"You will also have to take Yukong with you. She has already received instructions on how to act there, and she will take care of the business for you."
-"From my side, Ji Xuanyuan volunteered to deal with the political matters there."
-"We don't have to explain to you that both of them have more than work in mind while deciding to travel with you."
~"I understand. So it will be the six of us?"
-"Yes, do you need anything before you can start?"
~"Aside from what we will discuss, I need to prepare some things for the Rebirth, mainly identities we will take there, as you already know."
-"Then let's start from those."-Ningguang took out some documents and passed them to me.-"Those are back stories I would like you to create for Ji Xuanyuan, Yukong, and you. I'll leave Sakura's, Rin's, and Tomoe's identities to your discretion."
~"I already spoke about that to them, and they just wanted to be sisters, Sakura oldest, Tomoe middle, and Rin youngest. Sakura will be my age, while the remaining two will be a year younger."
-"Good, Youkong and Ji Xuanyuan need to be of age when you are dealing with the Plot of the World. Rest is written here."
In the Ninggunag plan, Youkong was to be the sole daughter of a doctor and a businessman parents who were to die in a tragic accident shortly after her coming of age. She will inherit hospitals and pharmacies owned by them and, using her genius, develop medicines that not only cure severe illnesses but even prolong life. She will then expand on other avenues of business and slowly take over the economy from the inside.
Ji Xuanyuan, meanwhile, is to be a daughter of a military family that entered politics. Her parents are to be alive, the mother being the president's aide and a major candidate for future president, while the father is to be general in charge of the army. She will be a graduate of the military academy and will be part of the military, though she will act in the role of a representative to the government rather than a field commander.
Her job is to provide backing to Youkong, keeping her safe from interference from other countries while expanding her influence at the same time. She is not expected to take over the country or even the world but to make sure no one sabotages our business.
To complement two of them, I was to be a child of an old and influential family with countless connections and money. While not the only heir candidate, due to the talents I showed in my childhood, I was most likely to inherit the position of the Family Head from my grandfather.
During my younger years, I was able to meet both Youkong and Ji Xuanyuan thanks to the contacts of my family. I was to become close with Youkong over the years, especially after helping her after her parents' death. I was also to be an investor in her business, thus becoming the majority shareholder of her company.
Simultaneously, Ji Xuanyuan was to be my fiance in that world. We were to know each other from our young years when we would play together. Most of my early life was spent with her before she left for a military academy.
Ningguang outlined many details to allow us smooth control over the economy, mainly focusing on owning media, medicine, and military industries to have influence over governments and people.
After I prepared the world for eventual takeover, we would create a special infection that would start to ravage that world, while Hold's religion would slowly extend there to convert people, and when time is night, that world will be absorbed.
The infection had already been created by Jackal, who used Oripathy as the base to create an infection that would slowly damage a person's spirit, resulting in memory loss and dementia until finally causing them to enter a vegetative state. The speed of the illness' progress depended on the individual and varied between two to even twenty years, as she tested in the Simulated Realm.
Reading over some more pages containing details of the operation, I couldn't help but think we became the bad guys.
~"Be sure to seal all records of this operation. I don't want for it to be known."
-"About that."-Astraea interjected.-"I hope you can later erase any memories of this operation from the people in Hold."
~"Hmm... I'll even go a step further. I'll change the reality so that this infection happens naturally. I'll do so for every one of those five worlds we will take over, erasing any memories of this being our plan."
-"No. You are not to erase our memories."
~"Astraea, I know you want to bear this with me, but I don't mind. Good or evil doesn't matter to me. I'm Aeon of Ordination. My word is the Law and the only Truth. I don't have a conscience, nor can morals bind me."
-"I know, after all, I'm also a goddess. But I will stand by you no matter what. This was the Oath I took during our marriage."
-"I'm also on the same page as Astraea. This was a decision taken by us five, so we all have to know it."
~"Right, my bad. I won't erase your memories, now or ever."
-"Thanks."
~"Now, how will you solve the issue that will happen after we throw away our identities?"
-"This is actually something that I wanted to speak with you about."-This time, it was Astraea who took the document out before passing it to me.-"I thought of this problem and consulted Loki. She advised me to simply 'Blame it on gods whim'."
~"Blabe it on gods whim, huh... Loki like answer, but I can see what she meant."
-"I asked Yae to start spreading stories of how you would incarnate into mortal beings to live simple lives to deepen emotions between us. The reason for you coming to that and the rest of those worlds would be the same: to deepen the emotions between your partners."
~"You flipped the script. It's no longer we need to go there, so while at it, let's have family time. But now, it's I want to spend more time with you, so let's go there."
-"That's why it's a perfect reason, a half-truth. Not only would it strengthen your image of a romantic and dedicated partner, but also give artists some ideas for the upcoming festival."
~"Right, the Festival of Domination will happen shortly after the Martial Meeting, but after that, it will be time for Hope."
-"Yes. Luckily, you were able to expedite the matter of the five worlds."
~"So it was decided that the Festival of Hope will consist of art exhibitions?"
-"Arts and Crafts, but yes, that would be the centerpiece. We would also open the third city to the people then."
~"Ugh, we really need to increase the population."
-"Yes, but don't worry about it now."
~"My avatar has already arrived outside that world, so I'll start changing the history so it fits your plan."
-"You plan to go there right away?"
~"Not right away, but from tomorrow. Today, I plan to rest with you all."
-"I see. That is indeed an enticing idea."-Ningguang started putting back the documents.-"What will you cook?"
~"What would you like?"
-"Suprise me."
The three of us started walking to the inner palace, where the whole family started to gather.