Chapter 198


    Part 27


    “Your leadership was unshakably positive and optimistic, you endeared yourselves to the people of


    every race to a surprising degree, and you inspired them. Unsurprisingly, the youth of Keran were


    your strongest supporters.


    “Yourmand was characterized by very quick and inventive thinking, wise delegation of duties, and


    one of the most aggressive military strategies of any team.


    “You attacked almost immediately with gods and Strike Wizards. You correctly evaluated the enemy’s


    strength within a few hours, and knew that a quick and sudden victory was not in the offering. By


    carefully and gradually deploying, you fought a tenacious and continuous battle with the demons


    almost all the way to Keran. Doing so denied your people as much time to develop their capabilities


    as they had under some of the more patient teams, but that was bnced because you fought an


    effective war of attrition, and by the time the demons were close enough to attack Keran, there were


    fewer of them than in any other team’s scenario. Another fact is worth noting; until the demons reached


    the inner worlds and you attacked them with the warships of Keran and the Triax, not one single life


    was lost among our alliance.”


    He went on to outline their war in greater detail as the Revealing above disyed it, then concluded


    their presentation.


    “Know that the cing of the final teams wasrgely decided by how many of our people were killed,


    how much of Keran’s surface and oceans were destroyed, and how much destruction of The Triax’s


    major vessels urred.


    “All of the top five teams, including yours, had very simr results. All of you lost less than one in two


    thousand persons in achieving victory. The differences in the second through fifth ced teams’ results


    were so slight that they might justifiably be attributed to random chance.


    “You came very, very close to achieving outright victory in this tournament. The teams who ced


    ahead of you include many members of long-lived races with many millennia of experience, and you


    have almost matched them.


    “You should take great pride in your achievement, for it is incredible in the estimation of any thinking


    being.”


    “Thank you.” Six said for his team, and they were given an enthusiastic ovation by everyone there as


    they bowed first to Pakdag, and then to the gathering.


    Fourth ce was won by the team led by Prince Jaromer of Thon andposed of the elite of the


    elven race, along with select members from other races. Third ce was taken by a team led by


    Tithian and others of the Senate of The People of Morning, and included the elite of the other Xervian


    races from The Grand Council of Xervia, and a few from other races. Second ce went to the team of


    Somonik and some of The Ny-Nine, with a few members from every other race.


    Despite their diversity, each of those teams was dominated by the character of their leader, and of their


    leader’s race. All three enjoyed strong support and good morale. All three of their races were well-


    known to be devastating in warfare, which helped their poprity. The elves and the unicorns were


    also globally popr and trusted due to their consistent records of just behavior and non-intervention


    with other races. While dragons weren’t nearly as well-liked as those two races, Somonik’s personal


    appeal as a great leader with a record of many millions of years of just behavior, self-sacrifice, and wise


    decision-making overcame his team’s lesser overall poprity.


    The close simrity in those three teams’ results were unsurprising once it was realized that they had


    yed with very simr tactics and strategies. All three had been among the most conservative and


    least aggressive teams, patiently building their capabilities and biding their time until the most


    opportune moments to strike. In point of fact, they had all used the same strategy that The Keran-


    Triax Alliance actually nned to use against the demons in reality. The differences in theirmand


    styles and abilities, and the differences in peoples’ response to them, were not great enough to make a


    significant difference to the oue.


    This text is property of N?/velD/rama.Org.


    “Now, regarding the winning team; I do believe that a bit of suspense is in order.” Pakdag finally said


    with an uncharacteristically mischievous little chuckle as the great Revealing began diagramming and


    showing highlights of the best performance.


    “The victory was convincing,prehensive, and decisive. Almost every criteria by which such a


    “As I’ve said;pared to all the rest of the teams, the best five were distinct in having much lower


    totals of friendly casualties and damage. But even among the best five, the winning team stands out by


    having allowed only three-fifths of the casualties suffered under the second ce team, which was led


    by Somonik.


    “The morale and spirit of our militaries and civilian poptions were significantly better under the


    winning team than under any other leadership.


    “The effectiveness of all our fighters and the productivity of our civilians were better under the victorious


    team than under any other.


    “Your tournament champion’s performance allowed the least damage to our infrastructure and homes,


    and more was built during the performance than was destroyed, so we ended with more than we began


    with.


    “Simrly, our champion allowed the least damage to the wilderness and waters of Keran, and more


    natural life was nted and sown by us in previously devastated or desert area than was destroyed by


    the demons over the same time. Some of what the demons did destroy was already fully reimed


    even before they were defeated. By this process of constant remation, our champion was prepared


    to deal with a lengthy demon-war on Keran while reducing the chance that the life of our world would


    be killed off around us by the demons before we finished fighting them. Our victory in the winning


    scenario was swift enough that this precaution was unnecessary, but the point is still worth noting.


    “That was one of the moremon and surprising downfalls among the teams who suffered defeat, by


    the way; they allowed so much of the life of Keran to be killed off and poisoned while they were


    fighting the demons that our world became unsurvivable. More of our mortal poptions then died from


    poisoning or thirst or starvation than were killed by the demons.


    “But during the finest of today’s performances our poption actually grew, for more were born than


    were killed.


    “The tournament-winning strategy was both cautious and aggressive, and involved waiting until the


    demons showed the first signs of readying to attack us. Every possible moment was used to improve


    our forces before we acted, trusting that we were always improving our military capabilities more


    quickly than the demons were, and therefore every moment of dy before attacking them improved


    the probability that we would be victorious. That was the cautious part.


    “When our champion’s observers finally reported the first signs of the demons’ engagement


    preparations, the enemy were only some three million kilometers from Keran. That is only twice as


    far as Elbin, our furthest moon. At that point we were led against the demons in an all-out attack of


    absolute dedication andmitment. All of our gods, all of the gods of The Triax, all of our vessels, all


    of The Triax vessels, all of our mortals, all of our power. All were deployed against the demons in a


    simultaneous attack that was both thergest single deployment executed in the tournament, and one


    of the most well-coordinated. Nothing was held in reserve, absolutely nothing. And that is aggressive


    indeed. The demons were destroyed to thest within a month, three-quarters of them on the first day


    of hostilities, and only a meager portion of them ever made it to Keran.


    “My fine fellow citizens of The Keran-Triax Alliance, I proudly give you the champion of The


    Tournament of Governors,mander of the winning team, Keran’s greatest Leader; Prince Mark of


    Hilia!”


    Mark found himself letting out a huge sigh of relief, and chuckled at himself a bit upon realizing that


    he’d been holding his breath from the suspense for many minutes without difort.


    The huge room erupted in cheering and apuse as every one of Mark’s family and friends who were


    present tried to hug him and congratte him at once, and seeded to one extent or another.


    After about nine seconds of that Aliliaughed and loudlymanded the rest; “Enough! Let the man


    im his due before we smother him!”


    They let him go, but he held onto Talia and Alilia. “You two areing with me.” he dered with a


    grin, and carried them to the center of the stage as the ovation continued all around them.