With a troubled expression, he got up from the throne with the intention of calming his mind, somehow. This problem was not something that would be solved by him sitting on it, pondering for hours on end, so deciding to divert himself somehow, he thought for a bit.
Repeatedly, the faces of two women kept appearing in his mind, so without further ado, he began to fly toward the Palace of Lanthanor, where they were.
He was halfway there when he received the message.
"There is an emergency. We need to talk."
This was the first time he was hearing Husare speak in such a serious tone, so Daneel stopped what he was doing instantly and started to hurry back to the throne.
"Come to this location. There"s no time."
Along with this curt message, she sent him coordinates to a place out over the Endless Sea.
Concerned for a moment, Daneel had the system use the G.o.dnet to check the coordinates. It was only after seeing that there was no ambush waiting for him there that he proceeded to head in that direction, and by the time he arrived, the three a.s.sa.s.sins were waiting for him.
"What took you so-"
"Quiet. We just received word that an expeditionary force that set out secretly from the Church is on the verge of activating their beacon here. If they succeed, they"ll be able to use it to teleport people and Artefacts. They"ll start building a base, and with their defensive measures, it will be suicide to a.s.sault them. If they succeed, we will lose all our natural advantages - so I suggest we ruin their party. There is no time to prepare - we have to go, and we have to go now. Are you ready?"
Interrupting the feral man who had begun to growl in reproach as soon as he saw Daneel, Husare said this using the same tone with which she had sent the message.
Daneel frowned, as this was too sudden.
"Give me the coordinates of the exact point to which we will be going. I"ll give you the answer then."
She looked like she was tempted to scream at him as he said this calmly, but controlling herself, she gave him what he had asked for.
Daneel could see that the urgency might not be faked, but he was not prepared to go to a place where the G.o.dnet was not active. It was the G.o.dnet which empowered him enough to not even fear multiple Peak Heroes, as his Path was able to be activated to the fullest, which put him at the peak of the continent.
All of that would disappear if they went out of its bounds. Then, he would barely be able to go toe to toe with a single Eminent Hero. If he carelessly went on this trip and got overwhelmed, he would have no one but himself to blame for his early death.
As feared, the coordinates were outside his domain.
"Give me a few seconds. I intend to bring some people along with me."
Without bothering to wait for an answer, he turned around and began to think about who he should approach.
The sovereigns would be equally as powerless as him, so they were not an option.
To activate his Path, he needed to take along people who were loyal to him, but if he brought Champions and normal Heroes, they would be too much of a burden. If a moment came where he might have to choose between their lives and the completion of their mission, he would be filled with regret, so having no other option, he turned to the Order.
He explained the situation to the Head quickly, who responded with extreme speed. He immediately began to contact multiple Heroes in the order who had vocally been very supportive of Daneel, after promising that he would send a force in the next one minute.
The wait wasn"t long… But the sight that greeted him after the minute pa.s.sed was one that surprised him.
A large group was approaching the place where they stood, and no matter how many times Daneel estimated the number of Heroes who supported him wholeheartedly, it did not add up.
As they came closer, he saw that the ones the head had talked about were in the front, whereas those behind them were made up of different kinds of Heroes who were supposed to have different ideologies and beliefs.
Strangely, a large part of them were the ones whom he had had to knock out when he had ordered all the Peak Heroes of the Order to kneel. As for the rest, they were made up of the strongest individuals who had been indecisive before, when the sweet-talking Heroes had been trying to sway them to a path where they would have had to face a crus.h.i.+ng defeat at Daneel"s hands.
Now, their faces were filled with determination and their fists were tightened enough that veins could be seen on their skin, as if they were ready for a fight.
"I thought you said you would send only those who supported me?"
With a chuckle, the head responded.
"I was going to do so… But word spread to these Heroes, too. It was a surprise for me, too, when they spoke up to tell me they have been waiting for a moment like this to show their loyalty and power. Seeing the Eskilon family brought a great change in them, as in the case of most of them, their very beliefs were based on the long and ill.u.s.trious history of that family. They saw it as a force that had never bent its knee to anyone and still reigned supreme among the other families of the continent, so when they saw it fall, their minds apparently fell into turmoil, before fixating on your deeds, and how justified your order to kneel had been. They say they are ready to give their lives for you, as you are the last and only hope we have, and I believe them. I believe they are past the point of childish grievances and jealousy. Take them with you, G.o.dking, and I promise you that you will be pleasantly surprised. They might even have a surprise of their own for you - I hear that even in such a short time, they managed to perfect a particular combination formation. After all, they are supposed to be extremely talented sons and daughters of fortune. Good luck, and safe travels. I pray that you will come back with good news on your lips. Angaria will wait for you with a thousand eyes. Farewell."