"I haven"t the faintest idea about how she got that name…but it"s quite catchy, isn"t it? Hey, you can check as much as you want- she said it, not me! I just went with the flow!"
The Hall of Beginning was once again filled with people, and in front of them stood two individuals, one of whom had a smirk on his face.
Of course, this was the King of Lanthanor, and when he said these words, the Head buried his head in his hands, while the Heroes burst into an uproar.
"The audacity!"
"You clearly planned it! We aren"t fools!"
"Yes, we didn"t find anything…but you must have hidden it! This goes against all of the rules of the Order!"
"It must stop! You even televised it, so it"s already spreading throughout the continent! We must stop it!"
Daneel didn"t stop smirking even though the Heroes looked like they wouldn"t stop protesting any time soon.
A bunch of kids. That"s what they looked like to him.
A bunch of kids…and a viper who had somehow snuck into the group.
Of course, the viper he was talking about was Perfect"s father, who must already have sent news regarding what was going on to the Church.
Right now, this viper was vehemently talking about how such a thing had not been attempted by even the Emperor of old, and all Daneel wished was that he could use his one hundred Heroes to crush this guy, and then scatter every particle of his existence all over the continent as a warning for those who might be following the Church, but were still going about freely with the belief that they were doing so discreetly.
Controlling this thought and also putting away the cold look that had appeared in his eyes for the briefest of moments, Daneel said, "As the confidant of the Overseer, I"ve used my rights to go over all of the rules of the Order, starting from those in the Library of Origin, which was previously hidden by the previous Overseer so that his origin would not be known to us. Together, we have taken the decision that it shall now be opened to all Heroes. Please do peruse the Library, and then maybe re-read the rulebook, before coming here and protesting that it goes against the rules. If you"re lazy, let me help you: ONLY foreign religions are banned, and should be stamped out with the full wrath of Angaria on this continent. Everything else is allowed. And because it seems that the lot of you are not very well versed in the history of Angaria, let me tell you this: even before the establishment of the Empire, there were minor religions created by certain Hero-level figures who wanted to solidify their rule in the best way possible. It"s certainly not a new idea. Besides, when have you cared about the Central Continent, which you were prepared to sacrifice? Just go back to whatever holes you were hiding in until now because you had no reason to use to oppose me, and keep hiding there. If rumors begin to spread that you lot have just been looking for a reason so that you can undermine the support I have because of what I did…things may become dire. Who knows…maybe those who support me a lot will even attack you! In that case, dear Overseer, what do the rules say?"
As if on cue, the new Overseer looked up and said, "The Order shall not interfere in fights between Heroes, even if they seem unfair in terms of numbers, if the reason behind the fight is personal. The Order was always meant to be a place where people of all beliefs can gather, so it goes against the bedrock of this prestigious inst.i.tution to malign anyone based on their beliefs."
The perfect recital stunned the Heroes, and following these words, Daneel spoke again.
"And that"s that! Be careful not to get mobbed by a hundred Heroes, ok? See ya!"
With a wink, Daneel disappeared, leaving the Head alone.
Seeing this, the Head sighed, but it wasn"t like they hadn"t discussed this beforehand.
Raising his hands to quell the outrage that had appeared in the group, he continued to clarify that the King was only talking about a hypothetical scenario, and that his actions were actually allowed according to the rules, just like he had said.
Indeed, the two of them had ch.o.r.eographed this between themselves after seeing the request for an audience from a bunch of Heroes who wanted to protest his actions in the Central Continent.
After looking on for a few more minutes and seeing that the threat had worked pretty well by silencing a lot of those who had come, Daneel smiled to himself and returned to the Palace of Lanthanor.
He hummed a merry tune to himself on the way, as things were pretty great, at the moment.
After the iconic words he had spoken which he had come up with after a lot of thought, he had simply flicked his fingers and treated the village, and also all those over the entire continent who were watching, to a scene where all of those who had been following Bourdain had a coat of darkness expelled from their shoulders, leading them to blink their eyes and come to their senses before turning on the man who had started to froth at his mouth by then.
Oliva, her family and the rest of the village had been moved to tears, unable to believe that everything had been resolved so easily, and all of them had bowed to him, before promising that their prayers would never stop. They were indebted to him, and to them, he was the deity they would forever keep in their hearts, and even pa.s.s down to their children.
In return, Daneel had promised that the words he had spoken were true: if one"s prayer(which he called "wish" so that he could act as if everything had not been planned by him) was true, then it would be granted, so all they had to do was believe.
As for what "true" meant, he had also made sure to elaborate that any wish when made after every effort had been made to obtain the same, and when the need for that wish was sincere and genuine, would qualify. Every person would know it when this was the case, and if they didn"t, all they had to do was ask Olivia.
Oliva had beamed at this, and Daneel had seen that his plan of making her the chief "priestess" of what he was creating here was going well.
She was still his most ardent supporter, and it was clear that that would continue to be the case.
All in all, the operation had been a grand success, but of course, he wouldn"t have been able to do it without his sovereigns, and one other person.
Appearing in the "situation room", as he had dubbed it, as it was where they always gathered whenever there was something important they had to manage, Daneel spotted this person, and walked up to him before saying, "Great job. Shapes.h.i.+fter to Shapes.h.i.+fter, let me tell you…you did justice to our Bloodline."
Lan blinked as he heard this, at first, but after seeing the playful smile on the King"s face, he burst out laughing.
Of course, it was his Bloodline that had been taken to make the man in front of him a Shapes.h.i.+fter, so it was obvious that it had been a jest.
Daneel also laughed as he saw the man get the joke, and patting his shoulder, he turned to Eloise.
"Update, oh Queen of the Palace."
This was the unofficial nickname that had been given to her after everyone had seen that she was the one who managed almost all of the daily activities in the Palace, but before, neither of them had acknowledged it, as it indicated something that they were both too shy to think of.
Now, though…things were different.
Blus.h.i.+ng a bit but then recovering almost instantly, Eloise said, "Our plan of creating a televised program using our own set to show the plight of the village, and then s.h.i.+fting to the actual location for the final showdown was a complete success. Because we could control the former completely, we were able to use actors effectively to communicate the hopelessness of the people of Eastcliff, along with all of the emotions that they were feeling which elicited quite a lot of empathy from many of the citizens of the continent. Most were able to connect with the plight of the villagers, as, at some time or the other, they were in the same state. Also, because we made sure to take time to show each and every thing in an "episode" style, more and more people became hooked, and waited to see how it would end. Before the final broadcast, it was announced that what they were going to see was real, and that you will soon be implementing something like what they will see all over the continent. During the main program, we didn"t even use any music or narration, but the crescendo of emotions caused thousands of people to break out into the same cheer. Daneel, the word "G.o.dking" is now on the lips of almost everyone on the continent…now, we just need something to tie it to you being an actual diety to convert your support all over Angaria into wors.h.i.+p."
Daneel smiled in response, and said, "Yes, in Eastcliff, we were able to use a topdown approach to directly create wors.h.i.+p. But in the rest of the continent…this conversion needs to happen. This is your next job, my sovereigns: think of a way to quickly make this happen. It won"t be easy…but with all of us, combined, I"m confident that we will find a way. Oh, and take the help of the Elf Queens, too: it will be different for their people, so they should be included in the conversation."
All of the sovereigns were also present in the room, so hearing him, they all nodded.
"What will you do? It sounds like you won"t be joining us…"
This question was asked by Kellor, and the answer made them all raise their eyebrows.
"Me? Oh, just a few little tasks…a few debts to collect, and a few places to go to. I think I"ve been acting low-key for too long…so I"m going to dial things up."
With that, he disappeared, and a few seconds later, Daneel reappeared over a familiar place.
It was a Fortress which overlooked the sea, and taking in a deep breath, the King bellowed, "Oi! The Legacy Disciple is here! So listen to your ancestor…and KNEEEEEL!"