"You go first."
Clo, master of this realm, spoke with arrogance.
But that did not mean Annan had the advantage. For one thing, none of the tokens represented Annan himself. Clo had written the rules of the game, after all.
Outside, Vitalig was anxiously trying to tell him something.
Annan shook his head to show he could not hear, then turned his gaze back to the lifelike War Map, which gave him a view of the land from above.
At least it was not Knight Chess. If it were, Annan might as well have surrendered already.
"What's wrong? Without your adviser, you can't command your troops at all?" Clo sneered.
Annan looked up and held Clo's gaze. "You still don't understand? You didn't lose because the Ratfolk controlled you, or because the Council Chairman betrayed you..."
The miniature Free City beside him began to drift forward.
"Then I'll defeat you again."
Free City floated toward the nearest city-state. A sword-and-shield icon appeared above its walls, followed by two countdowns.
One showed how long its food would last; the other, how long the Siege would take: 98 days and 13 days.
In reality, Annan could not even remember this city, one of countless Towns that had surrendered. Yet it could hold off Free City for nearly half a month.
Meanwhile, Clo began deploying his forces. He sent all the Elite Soldiers from the Kingdom's heartland, the Sunset Plains, southward.
More than a dozen knight and mage tokens appeared on the War Map. Dotted lines beneath them pointed toward Free City, and countdowns appeared overhead.
The fastest would arrive in five days; the slowest would take seventeen.
It seemed reinforcements would arrive before Free City took the city.
Neither the Skeleton King nor Little Bat had made a move, though. Clo had