A few minutes later, Daneel was standing while leaning his back on the edge of the mountain, looking out at the endless expanse.
However, his eyes were glossed over, almost as if he was asleep while awake.
This was because he hadn"t been ready to take any chances. He had the option of sitting and perusing the records of the Hidden Kill Sect in their archive room like the expert he was claiming to be, but the truth was, he was scared that a secondary formation might kick in just like the one that had supplemented the one before.
Thankfully, no such thing happened.
This room had been quite small, with barely enough room to walk around. It wasn"t the general library where all of their techniques were stored; no, that was secured by a formation that couldn"t be cracked by the system right now.
After all, no force would make it so easy to access their core techniques.
The reason for the lower security for this room, according to the system, was because it did not contain sect-treasure level items like those techniques.
All it contained were the Sect rules.
These weren"t even the only copy of the Sect Rules-according to Skrrag, there were better, less moldy versions of these books in the library protected strongly which also held the techniques.
Apparently, this only existed because of its historical value, because this was the official storage place of the Sect rules before.
Daneel had almost panicked before during their drunken conversation when he had heard that the rules were along with the techniques. He had even thought that all that wine was probably going to waste, but he relaxed and rejoiced when he heard about this place.
He valued the techniques, but right now, if he had to choose, he would have chosen the rules.
Somehow, that d.a.m.n Axelor was close to boosting itself up with the power of this sect, and there was no way in h.e.l.l that Daneel was going to let that happen.
"System, I don"t care about studying each and every rule. Just tell me one thing. Is it possible for an outsider, or a freshly recruited person, to take the position of the Sect Leader for some reason? If so, what could that reason be?"
After he asked the question, Daneel only heard silence, making him panic for a bit, thinking that his cause was completely hopeless.
Thankfully, the system responded after a little while.
[Affirmative. 2 Answers Found:
Answer 1: Bylaw 187.1 states that in the event where the Sect is facing certain demise, a High Council will be formed which contains all the top a.s.sa.s.sins in the Sect. This Council has the power to show "No Confidence" in the Sect Leader, which will activate Bylaw 198.2 which states that in times of crisis, where there is no Sect Leader in the Sect, a new Sect Leader can also be elected by a const.i.tuted High Council without regarding the minimum time of service in the Sect required to be eligible for the role. This law was put in place to counter situations where the Sect Leader may be a.s.sa.s.sinated, leaving no one with enough experience to take his place. In these cases, it is written that loyalty to the Sect is most needed, so, the time that one has spent in the sect is not taken into account. The situation that has been asked for by host can be achieved by invoking these two bylaws.
Answer 2: System has found hints of a prophecy which has been quoted in a few notes written down by the rule-makers. No concrete information is available with present data, but a specific phrase increases the probability that this prophecy is tied to host"s question:
"When doom is nigh, bow before the Basilisk Rider"]
Hearing this, Daneel first fell shocked before falling into deep thought.
Because of Axelor b.u.t.ting their heads in and becoming a threat, the situation was so dire that he did not even have the luxury to rejoice for a moment due to the fact that he had achieved his goal.
There were apparently not one, but two ways to get what he wanted: control of the a.s.sa.s.sins who made the entire continent afraid.
After making sure once again that no one was surveilling him, Daneel made his way back to his room.
He had left on the pretense of taking a moonlit walk, so before he entered his mansion, he made sure to look the part by strolling aimlessly with the stars and the moon lighting his path.
After entering the mansion, Daneel suddenly got a p.r.i.c.kly feeling in his spine.
He asked the system to once again check whether there was anyone watching him, but when it didn"t find any indication of a surveillance spell, he felt suspicious.
First, the Hidden Kill Sect definitely didn"t trust him enough to let him do what he pleased in the Sect. He had been monitored by someone when he left a little bit before to break into the archive room, but he had shut them down by putting on his "Expert Act" and casting surveillance-jamming spells.
However, they definitely wouldn"t give up so easily.
Daneel had hatched a plan to a.s.sess some things so that he could decide on his next steps, but now, he felt hesitant to carry it out.
He was being tracked in some way inside the house. If he left for a long period of time, it would definitely cause alarm. The trip to the Archive Room had, after all, been quite short.
Daneel had to be sure. He did not want to leave any variables out, so he called for his "disciple" to his room the second time on the same day.
When Percy arrived, he had a scowl on his face, as if he was picking a fight with someone.
Of course, it changed into his usual snivelly expression after he entered.
"Master! You don"t know how happy it makes me to be of service to you twice in one day! What do you need at this time? I am in possession of some self-pleasuring spells that will blow your mind! Would you like some?"
Hearing him, Daneel felt like puking.
"Kid, seriously, if you let your trap fly around like that again, I swear you will regret it. Stay in the house, and be me. You must have a camouflage technique, right? Let"s switch ident.i.ties. Again, don"t ask me why. Just shut up and do it."
Percy had indeed opened his mouth to ask his typical trademark irritating questions, but he shut up when he heard this from Daneel.
Keeping the smile, he turned to a mirror and cast a spell.
Daneel wondered why he needed a mirror, but he understood the next second.
The kid hadn"t been able to get his face correct!
Wasn"t he from the Big 4? How could he not even be in possession of something that Daneel had obtained way back when he was just an Amateur Human?
After checking in the mirror and looking at Daneel"s face, Percy started adjusting the disguise until he was more or less identical.
"Hey, I thought you said you had some talent? You can"t even cast a d.a.m.n camouflage spell correctly?"
Saying this, Daneel flicked his finger stylishly and instantly transformed into a perfect replica of Percy.
Not a hair was out of place, and as Percy saw this, he walked up to his mirror image in shock.
Observing the perfect similarity between them, he did something which made Daneel step back in slight shock.
He fell to his knees and bowed like before with his head to the ground, shouting, "Master, it is not that I am untalented! You are simply a monster! Not even my father can pull off a camouflage technique like that in that little time! It takes hours to make a perfect replica of someone! Please, Master, teach me!"
Wait…what the h.e.l.l?
What was this kid talking about?
[System would like to inform host that camouflage spells work by manipulating the bone structure and skin of an individual by visualizing the end result. Perfect visualization is almost impossible in one glance, as certain details are always missed. System scans a person to cast a camouflage spell, so host has never had to deal with this problem.]
Well.
Oops.
Daneel had forgotten that he was casting it through the system, and in doing so, he had revealed more information that he wished.
"Hehe, just keep finis.h.i.+ng my a.s.signments, and maybe you will get a chance to be taught by me. Now, just be me. I"m leaving."
Nodding with a serious expression on his face, Percy, or, in this case, the replica of Master Novrain, got up and said, "Get the h.e.l.l out, kiddo! You can"t suck up to me no matter what services you offer!"
Hearing this, Daneel raised an eyebrow at the innuendo, making Percy reply in an apologetic whisper, "Sorry, Master, I was being you…"
Shaking his head, Daneel left the house, knowing that he had no time to waste.
He had been making this plan since listening to the system list out the ways to take control of the Sect.
The prophecy was interesting, but he couldn"t make heads or tails of it. If he obtained more information about it, he might consider pursuing it, but right now, he was going to try and use the first method.
In it, the first thing to do was place the Sect in a crisis. A real crisis.
Clearly, the Hidden Kill Sect was holding on despite Axelor"s advances. So, Daneel guessed that although things might be bad, they must still be at a stage where they could be handled by the Sect.
What if…he changed that? What if he…bad turned to worse?