"Sir? Sir! Can we have a word? Could you please describe in detail whatever you were talking about?"
"Oh, that? Of course! IT"S THE MOST AMAZING THING I"VE EVER SEEN! One second, those two bad men were doing "BOOM! POW!" on those barriers, and it looked like they were gonna win! I saw the look on the face of the pretty lady inside, and I NEVER miss a pretty lady! But after that, after that, HAHAHA, I can"t say it, I can"t say it! Guys, help me out!"
"KNEEL BEFORE THE KING!"
As the reporter heard these words shouted by the group of 10 people in front of him, he had no option but to step back, startled.
"YEAH! But when he said it, you know, it was…man, it was something else. I wanted to kneel, too! Well, a little bit, but it went away in a second. Anyway, after the King said that in that…AWESOME way, THOSE TWO JUST KNEELED! It was amazing! We were all thinking they were baddies that no one could beat! BUT THEY JUST KNEELED! After that, that dome thingy outside broke, and a man and a woman stepped out of thin air-YES, THIN AIR! And put their hands above those two! Then, those two were taken away, and also that baldy who was all b.l.o.o.d.y. That"s it, right, boys?"
"Hey Roy, you forgot what happened to the King!"
"Oh ya, the King! A group of like 8 guys, with serious-lookin faces, came outta nowhere and surrounded the King. He disappeared then, too. Poof, just like that. Gone. We come from a farm, you know, so-"
"Thank you! That will be enough! Have a nice day!"
Quickly stepping away from this group, the reporter held up a trinket to his mouth and said, "That"s the report from the scene! Stay tuned for more updates! What happened to the King? Is he alright? Who won the event? We can all find the answers together, after you hear all about the new brand H&D Garments and Designs! My colleague tells me they made all the clothes for the Olympics, so you should definitely check them out! This is Avery, and you are listening to the Network of Angaria, live from the scene of the Olympics!"
As the program s.h.i.+fted to a commercial, Faxul slammed his palms on the table in front of him in frustration.
Wait, he had meant to slam his palms.
"Eli, YOU SAID THERE WOULDN"T BE ANY SIDE EFFECTS!"
As he screamed this in his mind, a voice replied.
"Calm down, Faxul! It"s temporary, it"ll go away! Focus on finding your friend first! You should have seen that moment! I mean, seen it with elementary vision! Well, you were a Raven, so of course you couldn"t. I was awake, even though that baldy tried to knock me out by reaching through to the s.p.a.ce pocket I was hiding in. He didn"t…control the particles! HIS WORDS MOVED THEM!"
"Ok."
Hearing the lackl.u.s.ter response from his partner, Eli, the Protector Raven of the Black Raven Kingdom, went nuts.
"YOU DOLT! OK?! ANY MAGE WOULD BE GOING CRAZY! WAIT TILL WE GET BACK TO THE KINGDOM, I"M DOUBLING YOUR MAGE TRAINING!"
"Pfft. You"re not the boss of me."
"Oh, WE WILL SEE. SQUAK!"
Hearing the "Squak" at the end in his mind which meant that Eli was really p.i.s.sed, Faxul decided to keep his mouth shut.
He couldn"t help it.
After that awe-inducing sight that had silenced the continent itself, Daneel had been taken away by a team of mages, while the culprits also seemed to have been apprehended by those from the Big 4.
Of course, secretive as they were, they hadn"t spoken to anyone from the Central Continent, and even Sister Xuan, Daneel"s liaison with the Big 4, was missing.
Hence, the people were just waiting around, discussing what they had seen, while even the commanders of Lanthanor were going crazy due to the fact that their King was missing.
….
Meanwhile, at a location 3 kilometers under the surface of the Black Raven Kingdom.
"Is this really necessary?"
"Yes, IT"S NECESSARY! This kid just made two pseudo-Champion level individuals kneel in front of him! By casting a spell without using a mageroot! WHEN HE IS JUST AN EXALTED HUMAN! Don"t any of those ring any bells?"
This location was shaped like a rectangular box with one long walkway on one side and 4 rooms of various sizes on the other.
Each grew in size, where the first one could hold 1 person and the last could hold 10.
However, one thing that was common among all of them was that they all seemed to have some sort of locking mechanisms on one side.
Indeed, they were prison cells.
As these words said by the head mage of the "pierce" team echoed through the walkway, the Matron, who had asked the question, closed her mouth but grumbled beneath her breath.
She and Marcus were standing side by side, with their hands still outstretched, as they were currently restraining the two culprits from the Church.
They were on one side of the walkway, and on the other were the team of 8 mages who all similarly had their hands aloft, with the King of Lanthanor in their midst.
"Fine. But I"ve already verified him once. He has an inheritance. If I see you getting jealous, I will take you to the Central Court myself. Watch yourself."
Saying so, the Matron kicked open the second door, which could hold 3 people.
Clouds of dust flew up due to her kick, but they were suctioned away by some unseen force.
Seeing this, Marcus said, "So many centuries have gone by, but these still work like a charm. What a wonder."
"There"s a reason we study the work of our ancestors to learn. Close the door. Do you think the young King will be OK?"
"After that warning, definitely. I"m just worried about…"
As Marcus"s voice trailed off, the Matron looked at him with a worrisome expression.
"Lucas will be fine. Now then…"
"OW! YOU UNCIVILIZED PIGS! HOW DARE YOU…ok, ok, calm down now, we are valuable a.s.sets…"
As a solid metal blade that had just appeared in the air above one of the culprit"s genitals hovered dangerously close, his tone changed from one of anger to compromise.
Yet, hearing this, both Marcus and the Matron actually chuckled before closing the door.
"No, you"re not. At least, to the Church, you"re useless throwaways, stuck at the same level for years. If you had accomplished your mission, maybe, you could have gotten that drug to make you Champions! So, let"s stop pretending like you are important. Now then. Just spit out whatever you can without dying. I have a different place to get to."
If anyone saw the casual way in which the Matron said these words, they would have been shocked.
After all, these individuals belonged to the Church, which was the sworn enemy of Angaria.
Where was the anger? Where was the vehemence? Where was the raw energy in the air?
The answer was spelled out by the culprit in response.
"Just because you caught a lot of us in the past doesn"t mean you can brush the Church off! We are the-"
On hearing the same old pride which she had already gotten sick of, the Matron just let the knife drop.
She had seen the visuals before of that ghastly building, and what those people who were in reality from the Big 4 had done.
She couldn"t do anything to them, but she felt the need to…lop off some organs.
SPLAT
"YOU CRAZY b.i.t.c.h! YOU COULD HAVE ASKED ONCE AGAIN!"
"Tell me now, or I"ll keep cutting it off no matter how many times it grows back."
"All right, all right! We were ordered to kill the rulers at all costs, and also to cripple any seeds if possible! The event also had to be interrupted! That"s all I can say!"
Knowing that this was true, the Matron and Marcus opened the door and were about to walk out.
However, they stopped when they heard a voice filled with raw rage come from the other man, who had stayed silent till now.
Hearing him, even the first man"s expression of pain changed to one of anger.
"Who…had the gall to make US kneel? To make the CHURCH kneel?"
At this, Marcus and the Matron actually looked at each other, and a small smile was on their faces.
As they racked through their memories, they realized that this was, in fact, the first major victory that they had obtained against the Church in a long time.
And there couldn"t have been a better time to get it.
Hence, with wide smiles, both of them said together "Daneel, the King of Lanthanor," before walking out and shutting the door behind them.
Meanwhile, in the last room down the hallway, the man in question had just regained his consciousness, and he found himself surrounded by 8 strange men who were all glaring at him.
After a moment of silence, a barrage of questions a.s.saulted him, and it was all he could do to control himself and not say "SHUT UP."