As Joselyn"s voice was finally heard over the din of millions of people worrying about the man they had come to place on the highest throne possible, Daneel silently heaved a sigh of relief while still appearing as if he was calmly sipping the tea that tasted stale, mainly because of everything he was hearing from the system.
[a.n.a.lysis halted. Reason: Complexity insufficient.
It has been determined that an Artefact is being used, based on information obtained from the Age of the Empire. The information details the criteria to be used to cla.s.sify an object as a formation-based trinket, or an Artifact. Due to the presence of self-adjusting elements, the cla.s.sification has been made.
Please upgrade system to continue a.n.a.lysis.
No scenario has been found to exit the Artifact. The resources available to the organization known as the "Order" have also been checked. No combined force or magical item can break through the Artifact in its peak time of efficacy, which has been calculated to be 3 hours based on Energy levels detected.]
It seemed that the number of instances where the system had no option but to throw its arms up in the air and say that it gave up were growing more and more with each pa.s.sing day. Once, it had been his most precious a.s.set. It had single-handedly allowed him to reach this stage, today, but slowly, it was growing defunct.
Well…that wouldn"t be the case for long.
As much as this thought gladdened Daneel"s heart, the realization that the forces and the power of the Church had surpa.s.sed anything he could have antic.i.p.ated soured it so much that all the happiness was canceled out.
The main reason behind this was his own a.n.a.lysis of the golden dome, which had almost made him miss his step before, when he had been acting as the ruler with everything under control.
When he had found out that he was getting giddy while even trying to make sense of the dizzying sub-formations which were so perfect that he was tempted to stand there in awe and study them, he had felt like looking up at the sky and shaking his head in disbelief, as the final hurdle in his way before he could finally obtain the ultimate prize was just too high.
Yet, knowing that appearances were key, he had continued to act, just like he was doing now.
Beside him, the Hero who had been injured by the Hawk"s attack was kneeling, while regenerating the flesh around the large hole in his chest.
BANG!
With another loud sound, the Hawk struck again, and a second later, another Hero joined him.
That first Hero soon went back to the dome, and in that way, the a.s.saults of the Hawk continued.
Glancing up at the man who was coordinating it all, Daneel felt like gritting his teeth as he was up against a cold calculator, rather than a person with emotions that could be manipulated.
The Windlord. He had heard of him, but because he was just a silent, yet strong Hero whose only aim in life seemed to be to complete the research regarding the next realm, he hadn"t suspected him much.
The Windlord"s parents were also absolute loyalists, so the system had decided that the probability of him being a traitor were low, as he was brought up with the ideals of two people who believed in the importance of one"s home above all.
Clearly, they had failed.
With a calm gaze, the Windlord continued to look at Daneel, as if taunting him to make his move.
Yet, all Daneel did was try to adjust the taste of the tea, while ignoring the impacts of the Hawk.
60 minutes. If he held on, the world was his. If he didn"t, the world was done for.
If he was being frank, his own calculations had already failed. He hadn"t antic.i.p.ated this Artifact, but if there was one thing he was proud of, then it was his adaptability.
This was the final gambit he was making before the war, and even though he had been prepared for the danger, being in this situation of no return made the adrenaline race through his veins.
World domination. Since the moment he had heard the system speak in his mind after waking up in Angaria, everything had been leading up to this point.
Would he fail at this final step, making it all mean nothing?
Not a chance.
With another calm look at the Hawk, Daneel began to go over all his preparations, while all of Angaria watched on.
…
"What is this, Head? It"s a sham. It"s all a f*cking sham! Is this really the continent we lorded over for all these years? WHAT THE F*CK IS GOING ON?"
As this anguished scream sounded in the Head"s ears, he brought himself back to the room where an emergency meeting was being held in the headquarters of the Order.
For the third time in a single year, all of the Heroes of the Order had gathered in one place.
The first time was still fresh in the minds of the Heroes. They had been forcefully taken control of, and to this day, he found reports of Heroes waking up from meditation in a cold sweat as they relived that dreadful feeling.
The second time had been during the sentencing of the Hero who was the mentor to so many of them. They had watched as the kid whom they had previously thought nothing of made the perfect decision which satisfied all sides, and that was the moment where their impressions of him had begun to change.
The third time was now.
Seeing the Head"s eyes come back in focus, the Hero whose shouts were still echoing in the meeting hall of the Order spoke again.
"The Big Four are in shambles. One of them has disappeared. The other three are still reeling from the vision, while unwilling to believe that they will lose their ident.i.ty soon. Some have begun to see that it is the only way, while others are too stunned to think. We, as the Order, are supposed to be the ones showing the way. Instead, all we do is sit on the sidelines, while events happen as if we don"t exist. WELL, WE ARE HERE, AND I"M TIRED OF DOING NOTHING!"