No one knew what to make of his announcement. The sovereigns were confused. The a.s.sa.s.sins were bewildered. The Emperor looked excited, and the rest were caught between states of shock and despair.
Seeing that the time to strike was now, he lowered his hands and continued.
"You have trusted me all this while to do what is best for the continent. Once again, I have no choice but to call upon that trust. Like I said… I have a plan. Instead of standing here and explaining it all, it is much faster to begin implementing it directly. And the first step… involves that woman, over there."
He pointed to his right, and following his finger, the others laid their eyes on the Bishop who was still unconscious. The cage around her blinked with light from time to time, announcing that it was still chock full of energy that was being used to contain her power. All that was needed was a single command, and all kinds of pain could be inflicted on her as the original designer of this mechanism had been the Empress of torture.
Yet, instead of doing any of those things, he walked towards her and stopped when he was right in front of the one who had caused the deaths of so many. He frowned, then, as his objective came to the forefront of his mind, but after that, he glanced in a certain direction and drew confidence from whatever he saw there.
Some wondered exactly who he was looking for. Casting a spell to zoom in, they soon understood that they had forgotten about someone vital to everything that was happening now.
The G.o.dking"s master, Jonah.
Out over the sea, Jonah could be seen pacing to and fro. Occasionally, he would also run in Angaria"s direction and then be thrown back.
"Yes, he has been trapped by the Bishop. She stripped his skin and flesh, and after laying bare his bones, she carved formations you can"t even imagine into each and every one of them. Her every word is a command for him, and if he resists, his own physical self will rebel. I can bet that he"s probably thinking that he was useless until now… but this entire plan hinges on him. He gave me something valuable… but like a blind fool, I was unable to see that value until now."
His description made many of the sovereigns, and especially Faxul glare at the Bishop and even begin to move towards her, as if they intended to take revenge.
Yet, raising his hands and stopping them, Daneel said, "Stay there. And do not move."
Moving that hand forward, he tapped the cage, and after a few seconds, the Bishop blinked and awoke.
She had to take a few moments to understand where she was. She looked around, her eyes darting between the G.o.dking, the sovereigns, and the continent that still stood whole. Then, she looked at the sky, and a low laugh started to emanate from her lips.
"Bishop. You killed my people. You killed my master. You killed my wife. By all accounts, I should be using all my might to make you suffer for the rest of your existence. Don"t you agree?"
He got no response. The laughter did turn into a cackle, though, and from her eyes, tears dripped to the ground.
What Daneel said next made both her, and the others fall silent and stare.
"But I will do no such thing. You see… I need you. Who is a king, but one who has the strength to even pardon his enemies, if it is for the good of his people? That is exactly the position I am in, now."
He took a deep breath, then, and in his mind, all the memories of his master flashed by, one by one. What he was going to say was based on them. If they hadn"t been given to him, he would have had no idea regarding how he was to go about this… but thankfully, the man who had sacrificed everything for his home had come through in the most brilliant manner possible.
On the surface, the Bishop was a cold, calculating woman who might seem as if she had naught but evil in her shriveled up heart. But underneath… was a little girl who just wanted to reach her goal. That little girl had been seen crying when she had been presented by the future that awaited her if she failed, and now, he hoped that little girl would listen when he made his appeal.
"Bishop. What I need from you is simple. The Saints of the Church are waiting for an update regarding the war to strike. They will attack to end everything, but as it is a move that will have them expend a lot of energy, I suspect that they still wish to see whether you will succeed. They will move if you die, too. What I need you to do… is tell them that you"re doing well. They must think that there is a chance for you to win. They must have enough reason to wait. They must sit still… until I want them to. It"s pretty simple. All I need you to do is send a message. And in return… I will give you your life back."
He could see flashes of realization on the faces of many around him, but he only had eyes for the Bishop. A thoughtful look had pa.s.sed her face, but after that, when he stopped speaking, she rushed in his direction and banged her head on the cage before shouting, "And what use is my life, if I can do nothing with it? If I don"t do what you say, I can at least die knowing that all of you will be joining me, soon!"
The time to throw his dice was now, so Daneel felt a familiar thrill course through his veins. Shaking his head, he said, "You are mistaken. The life I give you… is one with just as potential as the one you left on the Mainland. You will be granted a position equivalent to the one you have now in the Church…by the TriCobra sect. You will have every chance to accomplish what you wish to do on the Mainland. Everything you did against me and my continent was for the Church. Leave it, now, as all that awaits you in its ranks is death, or a fate even worse. What say you?"
Those last three words echoed over the center. This was the crux of his offering. From those memories of vulnerability, he had been able to find out that there was some secret goal that she had hidden from everyone. Maybe it was a family she needed to save… or someone she needed to kill. Either way, she was not the heartless b*tch who only wanted to ma.s.sacre those weaker than her. In this sense, she was different from most he had met from the Church, and for that, Daneel was thankful.
But still, it remained to be seen whether that side would win out. The memories had also told him that she had no specific love for the Church, and that was also another important point that he was relying on. Behind him, he could hear many voices of protest. The a.s.sa.s.sins had even begun shouting, but he muted them all, making a world that consisted of only the two of them.
She kept looking into his eyes, searching for something he couldn"t think of.
"Is it deceit? Do you suspect me? Or is there too much hate in you?"
He struggled to not let any of his doubt show. Each second that pa.s.sed made the atmosphere grow heavier and heavier, but in her, there was no change. At one point, Daneel thought that he saw something in her eyes that almost looked like relief… but he couldn"t be sure, as it was gone too quickly.
She answered after a full thirty seconds. When she opened her mouth, he even felt himself lean forward unconsciously.
"You aren"t the only one capable of judging people, G.o.dking. I agree… but on one condition. One of the three leaders of the TriCobra sect must promise me these things in person."
All at once, joy flooded his mind and he felt like jumping into the air. With a single sentence, she had conveyed all of her thoughts. He had been right in her judgment about her… and in turn, by a.s.sessing everything she knew of him, she had judged that he was trustworthy. At the end of the day, she had trusted her calculating side which had reached the obvious conclusion that his offer was the best way forward.
Most of the frustration and anger she had felt so far had been caused by the future that had been falling away from her with every defeat. If such a worry was no longer on her mind… wouldn"t she feel relieved, too?
"To seal the deal… here is a gesture from my side."
It looked like she wasn"t done. As he turned to her, she took out a stone from an inner pocket and crushed it.
Immediately, he knew what she had done. With growing happiness, he whirled to the right… and sure enough, in the air, he could see his master.
He couldn"t even wait for a second more. He flew into the air, too, and an instant later, he had barrelled into the man"s arms.
The two of them hung there, in the sky, hugging each other. Two words kept coming out of Jonah"s mouth, and hearing them, he clutched the man even tighter.
"Well done. Well done. Well done!"