Seeing the horrific turn of events, Mark dropped to his knees, and as the sword clanged to the floor beside him, everyone could hear him muttering.
"I was going to let you go… d.a.m.n you! It was what my brother would have done! Killing you would not have brought him back! d.a.m.n you! d.a.m.n you!"
Indeed. Daneel had seen his intention, and had known that he was going to let him go.
Alas… The High Seat had seen things with his own mentality, where he could not even comprehend anyone letting someone like him go, despite the loss that he had brought about.
With a sigh, Daneel said, "Our past always comes back to haunt us. He never gave any mercy, so he expected none. Mark, condolences on your -"
He was forced to stop midsentence when his gaze wandered to the rest of the members of the family.
Primarily, he saw the elders, who looked as if they had almost been inspired.
One by one, each family member started to fish out the trinket from inside their mouths.
It seemed like a precaution that had been placed there, and later, Daneel would find out that its original purpose was to act as a weapon stored in a place that no one could ever expect.
All of the trinkets were specially manufactured so that no aura, at all, all would leak from them, so that the moment they were spit out in fights where it might seem as if the opponent was the victor, the blast would be significant enough to be able to turn the tables, or allow them to escape.
Even though Daneel had given his word, it seemed that the rest had also decided that they would rather die.
Or… It might be that his sentence regarding their sins might have scared them, as if all that awaited them in their future were days of torture followed by being forced into the war, then an early death might be preferable.
Rage flood into Daneel"s mind in an instant, and without thinking, he screamed at the system.
"Activate Aura Magnification as much as possible!"
As if feeling the urgency in his voice, the system chose not to respond with words - it simply did the task that it had been given, and waited for him to choose the aura that would burst forth.
In the ancient world, it had always been said that anger was like a whetstone that sharpened the mind, if used properly. Now, in a murderous rage, Daneel"s mind went automatically to the aura that he thought would work best.
"Stop what you"re doing right this second! Did you think that you could leech off of this continent until now, and then die, letting it all go to waste?! Did you think that you were granted permission to take the easy way out of this?! Did you think, even for a second, that each and every ounce of Energy that you absorbed in all of your sorry lives would not be wrung out, until the very last drop? Then you thought wrong! Stop it, right now, or I"ll shove those trinkets in your a.r.s.e and let them explode! In the name of the G.o.dking, I command you to freeze!"
His voice thundered over the members of the family, while an aura that had not been felt since ancient times erupted over the land of Angaria.
Animals ran to hide, before fainting as their little hearts couldn"t take it.
A wind was kicked up which made thousands of leaves fall to the ground, as it seemed as if even the trees were shuddering with fear.
Numerous cracks appeared in the earth, from which insects underground could be seen fleeing in the thousands, before falling unconscious as well.
The very sun seemed to darken, as an enormous shape that looked like it was even bigger than the entire continent of Angaria loomed over the 59 individuals whose eyes were starting to pop out of their sockets. Only its vague shape could be seen, but that was enough to cause nightmares that would make them cry in their sleep for as long as they lived.
The head was that of a serpent, with its jaws so large that a country could easily be swallowed if they snapped shut just once. It"s gigantic body twisted and turned until it looked like it was just a ma.s.sive blob of muscle and scales and pure, malevolent destruction, and all those watching became convinced that if it ever left its abode in the sky and came to the land, just the moment of its arrival would be enough to spell their doom.
The system was clearly putting everything it had behind the aura, as all 59 individuals directly fainted while frothing at their mouths.
The explosive trinkets fell harmlessly to the ground, and seeing that the crisis was averted, Daneel reigned in his emotions, and tried to calm his heart.
That was when he finally turned to the sovereigns and the rest of the individuals he had summoned, who were all staring at him as if he was the incarnation of the devil.
With a small smile, he said, "Well… That was a close shave. Now, I called you here for another reason-"
The rest of what he was going to say got stuck in his throat, as he was greeted by a sight that made him get a dumb look on his face.
THUD! THUD! THUD! …
One by one… everyone present thudded to the ground, with their eyes still filled the terror induced by the Leviathan.
As the aura had not been targeted at them, their condition was not as bad as that of the members of the family, but clearly… Just the errant effect of the magnification had been enough.
Seeing the scene in front of him, Daneel could only smack his forehead and curse his carelessness.
A moment later, though, he shrugged and sat back on his seat.
Taking another sip of the wine, he slowly let out a breath, as suddenly, with no other sounds present whatsoever, this day had turned out to be a very, very peaceful one, which he did want to let to go to waste.