I feel like I was challenged.

Aside from the intense frustration permeating my very being, the way my opponent taunted me with Chiaki right in front of my eyes before pulling her away just in time leaves me in unprecedented agitation.

However, unfortunately, this fight threw me backward quite severely.

I lost troops and grounds due to the shift in attention and recovering everything requires time.

So while I concentrate all my subconscious mental resources on preparing the second offensive, my conscious human mind doesn't have much else to do but to grovel in my inability to act.

I mean, I'm literally seething, as miasma spills out of my body as if someone forgot the tea.

"Ma-master. Are you alright?" (Damina)

Damina?

I guess I must make for a rather distressing sight.

Sigh.

"No. No, I'm not okay. My best friend had something done to her, and she is just out of my reach. I'm frustrated and angry, and just can't figure out what to do. Sigh. But this isn't on you. I, I just need to learn how to cope and think about the best way to react to get out of this rut." (I)

"Certainly not, ma-ster." (D)

Hm, she's gotten quite proficient at fighting this mental conditioning.

That's admirable.

"Master! I beg of you! Let us help you in your time of need." (Lajus)

"You know very well that I can't in good conscience allow this. What if you'd get hurt, or even destroyed?" (I)

"My lady. Even if that were to happen, I deem it a worthy end if it would be for a cause such as the chance to truly be of aid to our creator. This is an opportunity as it won't ever present itself again. What good would this existence be if I couldn't exist in the way that I, from my deepest core, believe is the way I should?" (Kroga)

Damn, did this guy take a meditation course?

But he does make sense.

"I was made to crush your enemies! Let me crush!" (Helfas)

And he's... well, intense.

"My lady. I am very aware of the risks involved with taking offensive action. But in my humble opinion, not to act would mean to lose without even trying. It's the kind of gamble I would always be willing to take." (Lajus)

I might not be able to truly reciprocate the ideal of sacrificing yourself for a greater good.

Especially, if said greater good is supposed to be me, as I don't think that I'm worthy of this kind of devotion, but this doesn't mean I wouldn't be able to understand that this is their thing.

The whole point was to not deny them their own thoughts.

Even if it led them to this conclusion.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

"Master. We all wish to support you. If you'd just grant us this one chance to do this one thing for you, we'll never go against your wishes again." (D)

What am I supposed to reply to this, except...

"Sigh. Fine, as you wish. You are allowed to fight at the frontline. It would take a bit of the pressure from me. However, you are only there as support. You are absolutely forbidden to do any risky maneuvers. Nothing that would allow the enemy to target you. You need always be able to retreat to me, is that clear?!!" (I)

"Y-yes!" (all four)

Sigh.

This way at least they won't go out behind my back on even more dangerous adventures.

This one time when they invaded the enemy heartland together was already enough.

And I need to admit, my focus wasn't all that great recently.

My mood was too down after the latest setback for me to show enough effort in leading troops and such.

I should get back on track and probably as well start seeing things more positively.

Like for example, I know that my opponent is using Chiaki as their chess piece.

But that means that they need her, and she's likely to show up again in my vicinity.

Also, despite this recent setback, I think I'm winning in the macro game.

My units are better, and I need to admit that my dark side, which took over all the tactical manoeuver stuff, really got a knack for this.

Just that, as she pointed out, she can't do all that much if I pull the power cord from her controller.

However, the good guys didn't even try to attack yet, which allows my side to define the next exchange.

Not to forget my special project.

Uh, what?

Damn, am I paying attention to any of my actions?

It's already the whole time in development.

While one part of mine was well-behaved playing along with this game, my main focus was all the time to flip the fucking board and pick up the pieces we want afterward!

So I was very occupied with either rewriting or just shattering the framework of this realm.

If I can do this, I can finally act completely unhinged.

Without all those bindings limiting our powers.

Yeah, my dark side feels like the kind who would flip boards.

Yet I can fully get behind my very own idea of stopping to play along.

After all, playing after the enemy's rules doesn't sound smart, when instead making my own sounds so much more appealing.

Which includes one thing in particular.

I am almost scared to ask.

I'm really not paying attention.

I'm building a special portal that allows us to open a passage right to the rest of my realm, where we can theoretically spawn infinite numbers from over there.

This realm limits very strictly how much we can press into it.

It's like funneling a thread through a single hole in the seams.

So I'm saying let's just rip a gashing wound into the fabric of reality and flood everything!!!

Wow... That's quite drastic.

I'm not half-assing things!

That much I already gathered from the time how I tried to transform an arrangement of planetoids into a portal of doom supposed to lead right into my home.

Yet I'm still on my side.

Even if there are people with souls here, I'm rather sure I could preserve them and figure out later how to grant them appropriate living conditions.

So in total, it's a question of patience.

If I can stop for a moment to just force my way and keep an eye for the bigger picture, things aren't even looking so dire.

That is if my opponent decides to still stick to the rules they themselves decided on.

It is for this reason that I swallow all of my anger to prepare for a bigger strike that will hopefully suffice to finally break through their ranks and bring Chiaki back.

After all, it's not like they will just send their leverage towards me.

In this manner, I spend my time, not thinking about anything else but pressing my agenda.

As they became too fiddly, I even allowed my demon generals to partake in the frontline fighting, instead of mere background support.

Of course, with strict orders not to get too exposed.

However, I need to admit their participation takes quite a load off my mental processing, as their independent thinking means they can act without my tactical input.

So basically, it's like a coop mission, where you only need to focus on your part of the job, while the other carries their own weight.

By now I'm almost exclusively concentrating on breaking through the seams of the world, as my dark side called it.

"Grmbl"

This has quite the effect, as the whole realm falls more and more into chaos, while its order becomes undone.

Quakes, storms, eruptions of miasma, the very borders of this reality exposing themselves.

Who would have thought, huh?

I'm so deep into my power management processes, that I almost do not notice my demon General Lajus approaching.

"Lajus?" (I)

I'm just glad that I managed to memorize his name.

He deserves this.

"Master, I bear urgent news!" (L)

"Please tell." (I)

Should I just look over?

But hearing his context might serve me better.

"The enemy is attacking in full force!" (L)

"Huh?" (I)

That's a new one.