The rest of the morning flew by in a blur, as Daneel and even the entirety of Angaria seemed to be completely caught up in the festivities of the last marriages left.
The news about the G.o.dking getting married had been met by many cheers by the Angarians, and a few disapproving grunts from the older residents. Of course, the younger Angarians were mostly in awe of him, and on that day, they were many goals set to follow in his footsteps.
Standing on the podium that was being expanded and filled with chairs to welcome all the distinguished guests from all over the continent, Daneel watched the land below where thousands of people could be seen congratulating each other.
With most of the pressure gone now, it could be said that he was in the best possible state for the battle. A little of it was still there to remind him of the stakes, but most of his mind was filled with the zeal to succeed and usher in the paradise he had dreamt so much about.
"Ah, it looks like everything is going well?"
Apparently done with the request that Daneel had made of him, the Head arrived at his side and peered down in the same direction that Daneel was looking.
"No… Everything is ready. All that remains is for us to begin. Have you brought what I asked for?"
With a nod and a look at the surroundings to make sure that no one was watching them, the Head handed Daneel a wooden box that the latter examined for a couple of seconds before making it disappear.
"Thank you. I could have picked it up myself, but I didn"t want to arouse any suspicions… how have the invitations been received?"
With a happy smile, the Head answered, "Well, but in some cases, with a lot of impatience. It seems that some of the Heroes were thinking that they might have to attend secretly as the Order is, after all, supposed to remain secret, but that doesn"t mean that they can"t simply look like normal guests. I expect even those who don"t like you much to turn up, because after all, they will definitely wish to study their rival…"
Chuckling, Daneel smiled, too, and said, "Then let them. Good compet.i.tion is definitely one of the most important things in any force… so I"m happy that there are still many who wish to beat me."
Laughing, the Head clapped Daneel on his shoulder and teleported away. Finding himself alone again, he sat with the system to make sure that he, himself, was prepared. Satisfied with everything, he disappeared, too, and began to travel back to his bedchambers.
There, he found a professional make-up artist that had been sent by his mother. This was something that took him right back to Earth, so for a few minutes, he even forgot where he was and just sat down and let her fuss with his face and hair.
It was only when the thought came that this was taking too long that he realized that there was a little something called magic in the air, so standing up, he simply conjured a mirror and told the woman to describe exactly what she wanted to change in his appearance.
The woman was startled, at first, but then, she remembered who she was talking to and bowed before beginning to give him the details.
Daneel had the system take over. They were done in barely 15 minutes, and the end result made him raise his eyebrows and stare.
His appearance was much more refined than it had ever been. All of his facial features had been subtly changed to become sharp and domineering, with the effect being magnified due to his hair which now looked crimson when the sun fell on it. It was also swept back casually to result in a hairstyle that would have put any model to shame back on Earth, so with a grin and a Ker Gem as a tip, he dismissed the woman.
"Ready already? She took two hours with me!"
The silence that had arrived in her wake was destroyed when Aran and the Emperor entered the room. The former had also been turned into a das.h.i.+ng figure, while the latter hadn"t changed much. He had only put on white robes and discarded the shabby garb of the wandering old man that he had not changed even after being healed, but this, in itself, was enough to let his royal demeanor s.h.i.+ne.
Aran and Daneel spent a few minutes talking, after which it was finally time.
He had been asked to wait where he was while the other marriages proceeded, but with the G.o.dnet at his disposal, Daneel simply told the system to show him the proceedings.
For the past hour or so, the entire continent had slowly started to gather back at the clearing in the center of the continent where he had upgraded the system before. This time, they were coming for a much more joyful purpose, and that was apparent in the smiles and laughter present all over the crowd that consisted of millions of Angarians.
Above them, the large podium where his throne used to be was now filled with chairs where the distinguished guests had been seated.
Daneel saw many familiar faces among them. In the front was the master of darkness and the disciple of balance, Rayen and Raul, arguing about something that he could not hear. A few rows behind them sat the Champion who had helped Daneel quite a lot in his time of need, the Watcher. Along with his head, the man also had a body, now, and he was smiling and talking with the disciple whom they had originally kidnapped so that he could infiltrate the Sect of Hedon.
A few rows behind them sat the bandit queen and her subordinates. She had asked for an entire row to seat all of those who had saved her life in her journey to become who she was now, and the request had been granted. All of these bandits stood out among the others, but they were wholly engrossed with themselves, munching on the food that was being served by floating plates all over the podium.
On a different side, a row in the front consisted of all those he had called before to the meeting that had ended on that disastrous note. Being back at the same place where it had happened had made them uncomfortable for a bit, but now, they were happily talking between themselves.
Looking at all the faces of all of these people who had impacted his life in some way or another, Daneel felt himself getting emotional. The journey so far had truly been incredible, and all that remained was to ensure that it would keep going forward.
Interrupting his thoughts, a loud gong that was meant to signal noon was suddenly heard all over the continent. Everyone had been told about this, so they all turned their eyes to the sky.
Exactly 5 seconds after that, the barrier suddenly transformed into numerous doves with sparkling white feathers that filled the air with their gentle calls before taking flight.
Many people blinked and stared, trying to make out exactly what they had been hiding, and when the place where the marriages would all happen was revealed, the entire continent seemed to draw a collective breath.
It looked like it was made of solid gold, and it was carved so beautifully that everyone wondered if all of the artists of the entire continent had been contracted to make it come to life. It was large, easily large enough to fit over 100 people on top of it, and all the carvings on its underside were lovely figures of men and women hugging, kissing, walking under the moonlight, or other such similar things.
Each and every figure was so lifelike that it seemed as if they were moving, and as many people did a double-take, they realized that this was actually true: the carvings were flowing freely, forming a live mosaic in the air that captivated the eyes of millions.
The scene that was waiting for all those who got past the spectacle was equally breathtaking. The doves that had come into being before was still present, flying around and lending the entire altar a peaceful atmosphere.
Specifically picked out flowers were present here and there, floating in the air lazily, while the floor of the altar filled with all the known elements coming into being in fantastical shapes before turning into a different one, to signify the cyclic nature of life.
It was an enchanting place, fit to marry those who had made magic their life, but there was one last touch.
With a roar that shocked the living daylights out of many, a dragon suddenly appeared in the middle of the altar.
Panic beset the crowd in multiple places, but all of these people quickly calmed down when they remembered the image of the same dragon flying around the continent with the G.o.dking on its back before.
After the roar, the Dragon transformed into a man dressed in flowing black robes.
Holding his hands aloft, he spoke in a voice that echoed all over the continent.
"Following the rituals of the ancient empire, I, Divine Dragon Drakos, am here to fulfill my duty as the Witness of the Heavens. The marriages that we will see today will be bound by the vows they take. I was anointed as a Witness by the ancient Holy Brotherhood of the Empire, but even though they have perished, the method of marriage that they perfected still pervades Angaria to this day."
Daneel nodded as he heard this. He had never had to think on this topic before, but after finding out that he would be getting married today, he had researched a bit about the general method in which people went about this auspicious act on Angaria.
He had remarked on the peculiar fact of Angaria not having any major religion long, long back, itself, so it wasn"t a surprise to learn that the way people got married varied according to the Kingdom they were in. There were a few things which were common, though, and these were the aspects that had been carried down through the ages after being preserved by the survivors of the Apocalypse.