Standing on the outer wall, I looked down at the battlefield where city soldiers fought against monsters.
~"Get 2.000.000 soldiers to reinforce the point H8."
-"Yes, Sir!"
~"Take 500.000 recruits to assist with logistics for the third artillery batterie."
-"Yes, Sir!"
-"Sir, there are groups of recruits that disobeyed orders and attacked the monsters!"
~"Ignore them. Patch up any opening in our defenses and treat them as air. If any of them survives the battle, capture them for court martial."
-"Yes, Sir!"
The scale and numbers of this trial have become absurd compared to the test run before due to the Martial Meeting. This year, a total of five trillion participants entered the Qualifiers. All of them became recruits in the military, which currently counts over a hundred trillion personnel, supported by the civilian population, adding up to a total of more than a quadrillion people living inside the city's walls.
To put that in perspective, the population of the average planet incapable of cosmic transportation is only around ten billion, a hundred thousand times less than in this city. The planned population of Hold right now is only one-hundredth of that, fifty million in the current Capital and second that for the five cities that are being built.
Even after adding the whole Hexafleet, the population under the direct rule of Hold only approaches a hundred million, thousands of times less than what I have during this trial.
Luckily, as a person from a world where multi-galactic organizations existed, battles of this size were not unknown. I even fought in a few, such as against the swarm when I witnessed the ascensions of Aeons.
Learning how to command units of such sizes was necessary for the upcoming War with the other world, so despite not using anything more than my perception and Divination, I was almost fully focused on this trial to gain as much as I could from it.
Because of that, most of the military organization for the city was directly copied from the current structures of the Hold. The whole military is divided into five armies: Northen, Southen, Eastern, Western, and Central. Those mimic five Knight Orders of Hold, being entirely independent of each other aside from the highest command.
Internal structures are consistent with most armies in the world, and only the method of ranking soldiers is a little different. Each soldier possesses two ranks: personal rank and command authority.
The personal rank is earned based on the soldier's strength, experience, and merits. The higher this rank, the better the remuneration for the soldier, as well as his access to more advanced techniques, technologies, and information, but that comes at the cost of having to complete harder missions.
The command authority, on the other hand, is earned only by receiving training and being appointed to it by Generals. Depending on this rank, one was able to be in charge of bigger units during the battle, receiving a certain degree of freedom to act during combat operations.
The problem here was that as most of the people here were only simulated NPCs, their cognitive abilities were limited, so I needed to micromanage matters during the combat much more than a General would do in a normal battle, but this was not too problematic to the current me.
Being on the defensive with formidable fortifications gave me a lot of buffer time to react, so despite a lack of efficiency and insubordinate people, as of now, there wasn't much pressure applied to me.
~"Order two divisions to attack the flans and relieve the main front. When the situation stabilizes, begin moving to clean the battlefield."
-"Yes, Sir!"
The battle happening was not a head-on meeting between two forces, nor was it a glorious charge to defend the city from invaders. Even calling it the battle was a little unfair. What was taking place was a horde of mindless monsters trying to overflow over the wall by claiming the bodies of their brethren while being shot at by the defenders.
Most low-ranking soldiers were either assigned to the artillery, trying to reduce as much of the enemy numbers before they approached the walls using artifacts and special techniques, or ordered to kill monsters with powerful bows.
Higher rank soldiers would be assigned to fight the monsters directly, entering the fray under the walls to kill as many monsters as possible before retreating to rest and recover. There were also bigger units created by high-rank soldiers that, would perform missions outside the walls.
Two of those units, battalions consisting of millions of personnel, under my orders, started moving from flanks to slowly reduce the area of the wall under the siege.
No matter how many monsters try to attack at once, due to the size of the walls, the battlefield rarely would even span a thousandth of a percent of the wall's span. This allowed me to freely move units to sides and even behind the wave of monsters that was stopped by the wall to eliminate them more efficiently.
As a defender, this was the most important part of my job, balancing risks and losses with efficiency. With time, monsters will not only become stronger, but more importantly, their waves will get more numerous and occur more often. Not to mention all Herrschers waiting for a chance to bulldoze through everything.
While it will be over half a year before the first Herrscher can appear, there are almost no strong people who can fight Herrscher head-on on my side. This was also why I ordered Baiheng to mix into contestants. Aside from creating trouble, she will find people who can create a force to fight with Herrschers.
Due to the rules that I agreed to for this trial, I couldn't directly involve myself in fighting against the monsters, but I could stop Herrschers. My power was, of course, also limited, but it was almost impossible to kill me, meaning their attacks would be similar to what I was ordering them during the test of this trial, drawing out attention to achieve another purpose.
Baiheng was too weak to fight Herrscher alone, so I asked her to gather some promising contestants for later, and Acheron was in a similar situation to me, being able to fight them, but due to restrictions, she can be overwhelmed if not careful.
Ignoring those matters for now, I continued to give orders as the battle was quickly drawing to a close. After there were no more living monsters, the second part of every battle started, clean up.
All monster's carcasses needed to be destroyed, as not only were they unable and could be trapped in themself, so disposing of them was the first step. After that, the obvious steps of repairing the damaged parts of the walls, healing the injured, and many other tasks were also carried out.
While for soldiers or knights, battle can be a place to earn glory or a hellscape, for commanders, it will only be one thing: a routine. As heartless as it might sound, a general is a person who exchanges lives and resources for objectives. To be in this position, one needs to be a better statistician than a soldier.
~"Report."
-"Yes, Sir! Total losses during this combat amount to 25.187 soldiers, among which 16.291 were on-field executions due to insubordination."
~"What about the damages?"
-"Only minor destruction to the outer layer of the wall. The order for the repairs was already passed to the craftsmen. The artillery is also scheduled for maintenance, and it will be in perfect condition by the morning."
~"Pass my order. All the recruits are to be promoted to rank-1 soldiers and be put on permanent rotation on active duty, two days on duty, and five on the call. They are granted access to the outer city and a basic allowance. 1.000 best-performing recruits are to be given rank-2 and be ordered to study for commanders."
-"Yes, Sir!"
~"This is to be announced at the muster tomorrow. Don't let them slack, as there will be a special guest coming to inspect troops."
After finishing all the minor orders that needed to be completed, I left the wall and returned to Riveria.
-"Done?"-Riveria spoke when she noticed my return.
~"Yes, I prepared the stage for you tomorrow."
-"Sigh. Now that I think about playing a role you gave me in front of so many people, I feel strange."
~"Perfect place to test some of your ideas for your world's elven kingdom."
-"Otto indeed fits the image of a decadent noble only wanting to profit himself, but he is too capable to be compared to these elven bastards."
~"To think you hate them to the point of calling the bastards. Is there a harsher insult to those pureblooded elves?"
-"Sigh. I might have overreacted, but just before coming here, I received a letter from my father."
~"Hou?"
-"He ordered my return and informed me of my engagement to a certain noble house. I'm to be seventh in total but with the position of the main wife of that person."
~"Is your father sick? Or does he hate you so much?"
-"Who knows. I used to think he blamed me for the passing of my mother, whom he loved to death, but now I think he just can't stand the thought of me being better than him."
~"It's something I can't comprehend. How did your kingdom become so misogynistic? Spirits are pure beings. Even fairies that were created by gods follow that trait. Elves who descend from fairies also carry the influence of that characteristic, making women noticeably stronger than men of their race. Just look at my Spirit Empire. Most men who are at the top are there due to talent in a special field of magic, but overall, women dominate the rankings."
-"My kingdom was once prosperous, ruled by a queen. However, a problem arose when the queen died during the war. Before she could be replaced, Rakia attacked our forests. As a result, most of our strongest warriors died in combat. To stabilize the situation, the advisor of the former queen was appointed as a regent on a 'temporary' basis."
~"I can imagine what happened next. Sigh. Pure beings, when corrupted, become greatest devils."
-"Hmm... What does that 'purity' mean?"
~"To put it bluntly, a lack of ego. Staying true to your purpose, to be exact. Spirits are pure as they normally lack an ego, having only some basic intent. Gods, on the other hand, possess robust spirits and egos, so despite also being born from Laws, they are not pure beings."
-"What about Lady Astraea and Lady Artemis?"
~"They were born pure, as their divinities of Justice and Purity possess that trait, but can't be called that anymore, due to the growth of their spirit giving birth to desires."
-"Then pure beings must lack desires?"
~"No, their desires must be aligned with their essence. But more importantly, they can't be tarnished by self."
-"Tarnished by self... Interesting way to put that. But that, are you, a True Spirit, pure being?"
~"Hmm... Yes and no. I'm not a pure being, as I act willfully and possess strong desires, but the core of my being is pure."
-"So that's why you put such importance on enjoyment after your ascension... You are forced to become pure by your power. You are losing your desires, emotions, and even self..."
~"Slowly."~I acknowledged Riveria's deduction.~"Akasha is the record of all, and I'm the scribe that defines the existence. If I were to push my power to the extreme, I would become something akin to the [Law of Equivalent Exchange], not a mere Law like others but an essential power guiding the [Myriad of Worlds]."
-"..."
~"Let's not talk about such heavy subjects. Even if I were not to oppose that, it would take eons to happen, so don't worry about that."
Sadly, the atmosphere after this conversation needed some time to return to the norm.
The next day passed as planned, and the new routine for the contestants slowly started to form. Otto also started doing his part, and not even a month later, five distinct factions formed among the contestants.
The first and biggest faction formed under Otto, as he was able to play into the needs and cravings of the contestants to make them follow his lead.
The second and third formed around Riveria and me, one becoming deeply entangled with the military, slowly rising in ranks, while the other consisted of auxiliary personnel, helping both in defense and in the city.
The last two fractions were more special, as one was made by rebels who would soon try to make a fuss under Baiheng's guidance, while the last formed from strong Cultivators who wanted to gain certain autonomy from the military.
The monster waves that would occur almost daily were also slowly becoming harder to deal with. Different types of monsters started to appear, and damage to the wall slowly started to accumulate.
Even now, when Nobu and her Generals had their hands tied by mindless monsters that can't follow complicated commands, they showed their abilities by dealing much more damage and losses than I expected.
Knowing that they couldn't compete with me using only those monsters, they turned to make them traps for unsuspecting soldiers, so even when killed, they still posed a danger to those cleaning the battlefield.
The contestants also finally get used to living behind the walls, finding their way to achieve results in this trial. Even some headliners started to appear, attracting not only the attention of spectators but even Otto's, Riveria's, and my eyes.
But many don't find a quiet routine to provide 'opportunities they deserve', and as such, the flames of rebellion soon were ignited.
-"Heh, they couldn't help themself anymore."
~"It's not like you pushed some of your 'people' to help rebels, Otto."
-"You know me, Yue. I respect fools and know how to use opportunists, but I will never allow foolish opportunists in my ranks."
~"True. Do what you want. Just don't be caught up in the cleanup."
-"Sure."
Leaving Otto's mansion, I moved to military barracks in the central city.
-"Your Excellency."
~"I know. Crush them."
-"Yes, Sir!"
~"Acheron, do you want to take a stroll?"
Acheron looked at me and nodded. Taking a sword from the wall, she walked to my side.
Two of us quickly traveled to one of the outer cities that rebels chose as their stronghold. Approaching the entrance, I saw soldiers hanging from the city walls and towers.
Using perception, I quickly found that there was no NPC in the city. Only contestants were present. While I didn't have any attachment to those generic false existences, knowing what was done, I also didn't have to act as a benevolent protector of the people.
~"Acheron, there is no need to care about the city."
-"You want to erase this place from the world?"
~"Indeed. We will purge this place."
Acheron nodded in acknowledgment as her hair started to turn white.
-"Who kills more?"
~"Sure, we can bet on that."~I shook my head in slight exasperation.~"I'm happy that you can now even play around a little, but your humor is morbid."
A crystal sword appeared in my hand while black wolves started to emerge from the shadows around me.
⌊ Their time has come.~⌉
⌊ Ready or not! ⌉
~"Go."