Expecting attacks from the front and reinforcements from behind, the Artifacts of the Church that were in the airs.p.a.ce of Angaria all waited to grasp victory from within the jaws of their foes.
They had just been informed about how a large portion of the a.s.sault-type Artifacts had been hidden, and that they would all fire on the barrier now. With so many weapons bombarding their target at once, it was guaranteed that the barrier would break, and of course, that would be followed by a ma.s.sacre that would be much, much bloodier than the one they had witnessed before.
Hence, by the time they realized that the trajectories of the attacks from behind were off…it was too late.
Each attack precisely struck the least protected point of each Artifact. Almost all of the attacks were successful in breaking through the last of the resistance put up by the alloy of the Church, and disabling the weapons. As for those that managed to escape by luck, the Domination Corps moved to destroy them like the rest.
In a single breath, it was over. After powering down, all of the hundred weapons in the sky began to move toward Angaria. Almost all the Angarians didn"t know what the h.e.l.l was happening, but the moment those pristine Artifacts entered the sky, a large man appeared in front of them.
He was at least ten feet tall, and he was wearing sleek crimson robes that framed his perfectly proportioned body. He had devilishly handsome features and long hair that reached his shoulders, and while everyone wondered who he was, it was the voice of a woman that rose from a certain part of the continent that exposed his ident.i.ty.
"Arnold?! You… You betrayed us, right? You killed tens of thousands of Axelorians! Then how…"
As her voice trailed away, the man in the sky smiled and said, "Ah, Arafell. Ever the charming maiden…you should pose that question to those two men standing right at the center of the continent. I think it"s better if it comes from their lips."
Indeed…it was the Empire Spirit, Arnold, who had returned, and as the people began to remember his deeds, the shock they were feeling only increased until many sat down on the ground, unable to handle the confusion filling their minds.
While all this was happening, Daneel and the Emperor had both been beaming with unconcealed joy. In all the time they had spent planning, they had kept hoping that something like this would happen, but they hadn"t depended on it just in case the Emperor"s bet had been wrong.
Ever since Daneel had heard from Drakos that the Emperor had taken on Arnold for reasons that no one knew, he had realized that there was something hidden behind the tale as the man did nothing without a proper reason. Knowing of the Emperor"s penchant for planning, he had been convinced that the man might have made another preparation for the future, and sure enough, when they had sat down on that day, he had asked about the matter and finally found out the answer.
He still remembered each and every part of the story. Arnold had been a famous rogue on the continent. As the head of a mercenary gang, he had had the blood of thousands on his hands…until the Emperor had defeated his followers and taken him captive.
The entire continent had stared, agape, after they found out the next day that he had actually been recruited as one of the Emperor"s closest followers. Many tried to dig up just why and how this had happened, but all they were able to find out was that the two men had had a night-long discussion after which Arnold had been released.
When Daneel had found out the secret behind it all, he had barely been able to control his disbelief. Apparently… Arnold was the son of a very famous "Protector of the Peace" in the days of the Empire.
These Protectors were part of an official government body created by the Emperor to deal with criminals who weren"t very powerful. Hence, Arnold had grown up watching his father bring all kinds of lawbreakers to justice, but finally, the man had died in the hands of a group of smugglers who also kidnapped him in the process.
He spent the rest of his childhood learning the ins and outs of crime, and everyone thought that this upbringing had changed him completely. Only…the values and beliefs taught by his father had been buried deep inside him, so after he grew powerful enough to have his own group of followers, he had set out to wipe out criminals by being one of them.
He wasn"t perfect, but his main driving force had always been to do good in ways that those who called themselves "good" could not even imagine.
After finding this out, the Emperor had trusted his gut and entrusted Arnold with the responsibility of defecting to the enemy side if there ever came a day when the survival of Angaria was at stake, again. He had been told that no matter the cost, he must attempt to convince everyone that he was a betrayer so that no one would doubt him.
After finding out about how Arnold had sacrificed tens of thousands of Axelorians, the emperor had shown a little bit of doubt about whether it was his trust that had been betrayed, but when they looked closer into the circ.u.mstances surrounding the incident, they found out that it was something that would have happened anyway. Even if Arnold wasn"t the one to carry it out, there had been others who would definitely have been able to accomplish the same thing, so it was very probable that he had chosen that opportunity to fulfill his mission.
Of course, until now, they had had no way to know whether they had guessed correctly…so as Arnold slowly floated back home, Daneel couldn"t help but praise the Emperor and his almost prophetic talent for foresight in his mind.
Flying into the air to meet the man, he turned to the continent and said, "Meet Arnold. On the surface: killer, smuggler, king, genocidal maniac, but in his heart… a "Protector of the Peace". Let me tell you all his story…"
While Daneel narrated the tale, his sovereigns who had all known that this was a possibility quickly moved to store the weapons that were now in their possession. Arnold had already sent them messages with detailed instructions regarding how the Artifacts should be controlled, and when Daneel glanced at them, he could see the vibrant happiness they were feeling due to how Angaria which had previously been bereft of advanced Artifacts now had an entire army of them ready to go.
The only cause for concern was the resources required to power each one, but Daneel hoped that the system would be able to do something about this. All of the Artifacts were powered by statues of the Saint, and even though they were chock full of them right now, would it be enough for the next wave, which was going to be the strongest?
Daneel decided that he wouldn"t think of things like these for now. After he finished the story, the citizens of Angaria who could hardly believe him stared in silence for a few seconds, but after that, it was surprisingly Arafell who shouted, "Welcome back, Protector…who knew you would play a part in this war, too? Still…I must say that it feels great to see you. You"ve made your father proud."
As expected, as soon as the citizens of Arafell saw how their Queen had accepted this newcomer, all signs of doubt left their minds and they began to shout in the silence that followed her words.
"Glory be to Arnold! Welcome back! Welcome back!"
There were many who were still apprehensive about him because they remembered how he was the reason behind the fractured state of Angaria, but as Daneel continued to stand beside him with a grin on his face, they relented, too.
The cheers grew in intensity slowly, but after a minute, they turned into a roar that reached the heavens.
To those below, it looked as if there was no perceptible change in Arnold except the way his smile had broadened. However, because Daneel was standing right beside him, he could see the slightest hint of a tear in his eye.
"He chose a life filled with hate…but I always knew that he yearned for his efforts to be known. He convinced himself that it would never happen, so I expect that this must be quite an emotional moment."
As the Emperor"s message floated to his ear, his smile broadened and after a second, Daneel teleported to the people and joined in with their cheers, too, while Arnold bowed with style to accept all the applause.
Only the two of them knew that he had done so to hide the tears that were definitely flowing freely now, but they kept the knowledge to themselves as they joined their voices with the rest and lost themselves in the joy of victory.