Back in the Palace of the Kingdom of Axelor, the two people who were supposed to be thousands of years old were staring at the screen in front of them, dumbstruck due to the scene that they were witnessing.
Arnold couldn"t believe it. In all his years of scheming and planning against foes, he had always trusted his instinct in reading them, and a.s.sessing what they would and wouldn"t do.
For example, someone who was supposed to be as smart as the King of Lanthanor would never enter enemy territory, alone, and then demand to enter even deeper inside to risk his own life.
All for…what? A few thousand people?
It didn"t make sense!
Even while the domineering dialogue of the King seemed to echo in his mind, he just couldn"t make sense of it.
Weren"t you supposed to be one of the best in this age, at least in the Central Continent? Aren"t you the one who came up with all those crazy ideas, just like the Emperor, and even succeeded in implementing them?
Then why the h.e.l.l are you doing something so stupid now?!
Calming down his shock at the absurdity of the situation, Arnold thought for a bit, and realized that there were only two possibilities.
One, there was some hidden card that the King trusted in, that made him confident enough to put up this kind of show, and still believe that he would live to tell the tale.
Or, two…he was just that dumb.
This had, in fact, been a masterful plan that would also have severely dented the adoration present for the King all over the continent.
Arnold had never thought that that was a factor.
Yet…what if that was the case?
What if the real reason was a mix of both, and what if this King truly lived off of the feeling of being adored?
There were no reports to support this…but Arnold had seen many like him in his long life.
Whatever the truth was, he had to admit that after a very long time…he had been pretty d.a.m.n shocked.
It looked like it was the same for his old friend, who was still staring at the screen, where the Commander was quivering in the hands of the King, not knowing what the h.e.l.l he was supposed to do.
In fact, now that he thought about it, Arnold realized that this case had even been mentioned by his friend, who had done so only to say that no one would be foolish enough to do that.
Clearly…he might have been wrong on that part.
In front of his eyes, he finally recovered and said, "Well…that happened."
Faxul had known what would happen. The whole point of him presenting this plan to Arnold, and then choosing a town close to the border had been for Daneel to enter in this way.
Still, he was supposed to be shocked, and he had been prepared to act his life out.
Only…Daneel"s entrance really had been so amazing that the shock had come automatically, meaning that he hadn"t needed to put in so much effort.
His shock had also stemmed from the fact that through the display trinket, he could tell that…the emotions raging in his friend"s eyes were absolutely real.
He wasn"t faking it.
And at that moment, Faxul remembered something he had seen long, long ago.
It had been right after their 3-month h.e.l.l training, when he had been headed to the library after obtaining some money from his guardians to check out all the paths that were present for him to select.
Only…that had been the day when Daneel had put on that play, where Elanev"s father had arrived and apprehended those sick people who had been having fun by seeing poor people waste their hard earned money.
That incident that been followed by Daneel being applauded by all those present, as he had rid them of an evil that had plagued them all for quite a long time.
Even now, he could remember the specific s.h.i.+ne in his eyes, which had made it clear that this was someone…who truly delighted in helping others.
That same quality was even more magnified now, and it was a really good thing to see that even though so many years had pa.s.sed and so many things had happened, Daneel hadn"t lost that all-important thing which set him apart from most.
That…was one of the reasons that Faxul had no reason handing over the people who had trusted his father, and then him after that, to take care of them.
After all, even though this specific instance was something orchestrated by them, together, Faxul was pretty sure that Arnold would have gone ahead and done this anyway.
So…he knew that the reason behind Daneel"s anger was probably that fact, and he was pretty sure that it must have had a tremendous effect on all those watching.
Which was just what they wanted.
All over the continent, Daneel"s statement made many, many people stand up and cheer on this man who had stood up even though there was grave danger.
There was just…something special about one who marched forward with determination to stand on the side of what was right, even if it meant certain death.
After ensuring that everything was going well, Faxul recovered and saw Arnold looking at him, which led him to say that.
Right now, the key was to wait and let Arnold decide what to do, as they hadn"t wanted to coax him to do everything, as that would result in too much suspicion.
So, Faxul continued and said, "Like I said…this was the most foolish option there was. Now, if we don"t agree, we will look like cowards, instead of the same happening to him."
Arnold took a few moments to respond, and it looked like he was thinking about something.
Faxul wondered whether he should panic, but he just remained calm, and finally felt happy when he saw Arnold shake his head and say, "How can we, as Empire Spirits, decide to be cautious against someone from this age? However I see it, there is no risk for us. He has a deathwish. Let"s fulfill it. It is the best way to get rid of a threat, after all. This way, even those Big 4 won"t intervene, "cos I"m not even going out of my way to kill him."
With a chuckle, Arnold made his voice appear above the town.
"King of Lanthanor. It seems that you want to get away with this by bluffing. Well, we have nothing to fear. Our gates are open. You can come in by yourself, or you can even bring an army. The same thing that happened before, will happen again. Soldiers, return to your posts. The purge can wait until after the King of Lanthanor has been dealt with."
"Humph."
As soon as the King of Lanthanor heard this, he put on an expression of derision and tossed the commander in his hand to the side, who coughed violently and clutched his throat, which had been so close to being crushed.
Scrambling to his feet, he ordered a retreat, which resulted in all the soldiers leaving under the blazing eyes of the King of Lanthanor, which made them all feel quite conscious and even a little bit scared.
The townsfolk couldn"t believe what had just happened.
Although it was true that a lot of them had been inclined to think that the King of Lanthanor might be in the right regarding this issue, they hadn"t been very firmly entrenched in either side.
Yet, now…all that changed.
That change started in those in the cage, who stared at the bold figure of the King with tears of grat.i.tude in their eyes.
As soon as the soldiers left, he flicked his fingers without even looking at them, which made the metal cage and all the shackles fly into the air before being tossed aside, outside the town.
With this, the King began to rise into the air, as if he really was going to do what he had said.
This action made everyone see one other thing: he hadn"t said anything to those he had saved. No, he had done so just for the sake of doing the right thing, and now, he wasn"t even expecting anything from it.
This began to be whispered among those who were saved, and soon, the whole town was abuzz.
After rising to a certain level, the King stopped and hovered there, but his eyes were closed as if he was talking to someone.
This allowed more time for everyone to talk between themselves, and affirm everything they were feeling.
Even a few moments later, by the time the King finally left, everyone was still talking about how he did seem to be the one who wasn"t lying, in this case.
Yet…was he really going to march into an enemy Kingdom for them?
Most of them couldn"t believe it.
So they watched on.
The breaking of the barrier had resulted in communications being restored.
So, after finding out that the Network was showing a scene from the King"s eyes, almost everyone rushed to the houses where the Network was present.
"The King has said that he will keep this channel open for as long as he can, so that the people can see what happens in Axelor."
This announcement greeted them, while they saw the aerial images of the scenery between their Kingdom and the Kingdom of Axelor, before the image finally changed to show a border wall that was manned by hundreds of soldiers.
All of these soldiers had expressions of anger on their faces, as if they were seeing the most dreaded villain in their lives.
As for the border gate nearest to the direction where the King was flying in…it opened as he approached, which made it clear that King Safiros was keeping his word.
And why wouldn"t he? For the first time, a King of a different Kingdom was walking into an enemy one, alone, with them knowing that he was coming.
Without any hesitation, the King flew in the direction of the gate, as that was the spot where the barriers had been deactivated.
Yet, the moment before he entered the airs.p.a.ce of Axelor, he paused and turned to address the millions who were watching.
"I can detect that there"s a blocking formation inside. Citizens of the Black Raven Kingdom who gave me the benefit of the doubt. Let it never be said that the Dragon didn"t soar with the Raven when dire winds blew in the sky. I march forward now, knowing that I might not return, because I know that if I do not do that to save all of you, I will never be able to live with myself. I promise you that when I leave here, it will be with your King- one who is no longer under the control of Axelor. And if I don"t…I will be happy that I will have died fighting for something I believe in. Either way, farewell, Angaria."
Leaving these words that echoed in many, many minds and became affixed with a hue of awe in most of them, King Daneel turned around and flew into danger.
His n.o.ble silhouette, one that would never be ready to cower, no matter what, was the last thing that they saw.
As soon as the display trinkets cut off, the soldiers of Axelor who were on the border walls were greeted by a sight they would never forget.
The King of Lanthanor…smiled, and teleported away, instantly breaking apart the Champion-level anti-teleportation barrier that was present here, which was something that no Warrior should be able to do.
At the same moment, Arnold instantly shot up from his throne and screamed, "I KNEW IT! IT WAS ALL A TRAP! THE FORMATION SENSED SOMEONE AT THE HERO LEVEL! HE MUST HAVE FORMED A BOND WITH THAT d.a.m.n DRAGON! HE"S HEADED FOR THE PARTS OF THE GRAND INHERITANCE!"
Even before the last word exited from the Empire Spirit"s mouth, Daneel reappeared right outside the place where Arnold had given that demonstration to Faxul.
Smirking, he sent a message to his friend.
"Time for the last phase. He allowed me in, but he sure as h.e.l.l won"t let me get these things easily. I"ll handle him, though. You just get everything done on your end. Remember to keep it silent, and be sure to hurry over when you"re done, because you won"t want to miss this."