The Heroes of Angaria had all been talking between themselves on the way to their destination.
As they were all part of the small clique of those who dwelled at the very top of the Order, they knew each other well, but all of these relations had been strained ever since their different ideologies had come to the fore.
However, at this moment, it felt as if they were united again.
Hence, when they saw the G.o.dking stop and turn around to address them, they looked at him as one, with all of themselves completely focused on him.
"Heroes. Once, I wondered why this name was given to those in this powerful realm. Is it because a Hero is someone that everyone aspires to become? Or is it because the legendary Heroes of old always had power that made them worthy of being sung of endlessly? Now, today, I believe I have the answer. Heroes are those who carry the hopes and wishes of all those who believe in them on their shoulders. Only a Hero can carry so much and not feel hopelessly burdened. Only a Hero can stand in front of the weak and protect what he believes in, for he has the power to act on his thoughts and feelings. We met as strangers. Today, we fight as brothers and sisters. I feel honored to share this battlefield with you. The enemy lies ahead of his; if they succeed, we will lose the small advantage we have of fighting from our homeland. They need to be eradicated, to the last man, or we might lose the war even before it begins. Ready your weapons. It is time."
His words made each and every one of the Heroes puff their chests up with pride and look at him with s.h.i.+ning eyes.
Many of them had been wracked by doubts and indecisiveness in all the time that Daneel had been fighting the Heroes from the Church. For them, even their Paths depended on the state of their minds, so they had not been able to see any improvement in their power, either.
All of that had changed when they had chosen something to believe in wholeheartedly. This was also the secret behind how they had managed to master the combination formation so quickly, and as the Heroes shared knowing looks between each other, they prepared to surprise this man whom they had taken as their leader.
Daneel already knew this, as that was the only way that could be used even by those very talented to master something so complex. Even in the ages past, there were always instances where solving a moral dilemma within oneself would result in a great leap of power, and clearly, the same had happened for the people in front of him.
They were in dire need of power, anyway, so he was quite happy with this development. Turning around, he nodded to the a.s.sa.s.sins, as he knew that his Heroes did not need long to prepare themselves.
The a.s.sa.s.sins had been listening when he gave his speech, and from the system, Daneel knew that Husare had seen the effect his words had had in the crowd and had gotten an approving expression on her face.
Using words skillfully to raise the spirits of one"s followers was indeed a rare skill that he had always had, from the beginning, so feeling happy, Daneel said, "Lead the way. I trust this is a direct a.s.sault? Or do we need to talk strategy?"
Snapping out of her thoughts, the reptilian replied, "It"s a direct a.s.sault. The worst part is that they will be expecting us. They will have their defenses up, but we have no choice but to attack. I suggest that we use those Heroes in the vanguard. Some of them might break, but if they succeed in breaking through, we will be able to save our Energy for the main force."
Daneel frowned, as what Husare was suggesting would mean that they were going to treat the Heroes of Angaria as scapegoats.
There was a bit of merit to her idea about how they would be able to save their own Energy, but right away, Daneel knew that this was not something that he could let happen.
Shooting a glance at the Heroes who were waiting for him to give the command, he got a small smile on his lips and said, "I will be the vanguard. I, alone, should be sufficient to break through; when I do, make sure to be ready. I hope I won"t be too fast for you to keep up."
As he shot off in the direction that they had been flying until now with these brave words, all three a.s.sa.s.sins bristled with annoyance, but seeing the other Heroes following him, they began to speed up, too.
Barely a few hundred meters from where they had had their discussion, Daneel felt a great disturbance in the elementary particles in the air.
Generally, they were present in the atmosphere so naturally that mages would not detect them unless they used their elementary vision, but here, they were all in a state of agitated flux, as if something was actively churning them for some purpose.
The system gave him the answer without him asking for it.
[After checking the records of the Order, it has been found that phenomenon being experienced by host is similar to that which accompanies the a.n.a.lysis of the elementary particles of a new region. The process was theorized by ancient scholars who believed that such an act of violently agitating elementary particles would reveal their nature, and allow an invading force to throw off the obstruction that they would feel due to intruding upon the Will of a World different from their own.]
The answer was puzzling, though, as he had a.s.sumed that the Church would be able to throw ofd any pressure being placed on them due to the fact that they had a.n.a.lyzed Angaria in their last visit.
The reason behind their actions did not matter, though, as after flying for another second, he came upon a structure that he had never imagined that he would see about the Endless Sea.
From afar, it looked like a giant, green-coloured statue of a man with kind eyes and a hand raised to either take command of the world around him, or bless those in front of him. It was at least 40 feet(12 m) tall, roughly the size of a small building from Earth, but around it, walls that were each 30 feet(9 m) high had been erected in two concentric layers.