Leaving the sect through the secret exit he had been shown by Jessica, Daneel made his way to the forest with residual energy for the third time to meet with Percy.
Just like before, he first made sure that Percy was alone from a distance before teleporting to him.
As soon as Percy saw his Master appear behind him as usual, he exclaimed, "Master! My father has left the sect on some important business! He won"t be coming back for a day… It"s the best time to strike!"
As Daneel saw the enthusiasm on Percy"s face, if he had been the man before this revelation with the Empire spirit had taken place, he might have been inclined to directly believe the kid because of all the interactions they had had so far.
However, right now, he just couldn"t do so.
For some reason, he felt that something was off, and this wasn"t even any sort of paranoia that might have formed due to his recent experience and frustration.
Still, how was he supposed to verify what was true and what wasn"t?
First, not wanting to arouse any suspicion in Percy, he grabbed the kid"s shoulder and said, "Good job! I"ll set my plan in motion… Don"t worry, come dawn tomorrow, your brother will be no more. Just relax and go back to the sect. Your rewards will also soon reach you."
At the mention of the word "rewards", Percy"s eyes twinkled, just like they normally would.
Everything definitely looked normal on the surface, but again, Daneel wasn"t convinced.
"Thank you, Master! I"ll go back to the sect then, before anyone notices that I"m missing!"
Saying so, Percy was just about to teleport away, but Daneel tightened his grip on the kid"s shoulder.
A cold look came on his face, and his eyes turned razer-sharp.
"You aren"t leading me or your senior disciple into a trap, right?", he asked suddenly, making fear appear on Percy"s face.
He had been smiling genially just a second ago, so such a sudden change in att.i.tude startled Percy, resulting in him needing a moment to a.s.semble his thoughts.
After he did, he immediately fell on his knees.
Lowering his head, he spoke in a grave voice.
"I am ready to swear any oath you wish from me, Master. I have no ill intentions against you. All I want is the end of those disgusting sc.u.m who don"t deserve to live. Master has been very kind to me. Even if I have to give up my life, I am ready to prove my loyalty."
Not a hint of panic had flashed across his face, even when Daneel had enacted his plan of trying to eke out a reaction using surprise.
The fear had only been that which had formed because of the knowledge that he might have lost the trust of the Master whom he "adored" so much.
Even his speech had been told in an even and serious tone, with all the signs of being from someone who really was ready to do what they were saying.
After a pregnant silence came over the forest for a few seconds, it was broken by Daneel laughing out loud wildly.
This was his Master Novrain laugh, and hearing it, Percy looked up from his position on the ground where he had been kneeling.
"Of course I had to ask, kid. Get out of here. You"ll hear good news tomorrow."
As Percy heard this, he rejoiced in his heart before beaming.
Yes, indeed, such a figure would definitely at least consider the possibility.
Besides, he might just have brought it up to warn Percy never to even think of doing anything like that.
Getting up, he smiled at his Master and lingered for a moment, his gaze taking in the man"s figure, before teleporting away.
This location was quite far from the Sect of Hedon, so even a Warrior needed to teleport multiple times to get to it.
His first teleport took him to a random spot between the forest with the Energy remnants and the Sect.
Without continuing to teleport again, Percy carefully descended to the ground while looking around to make sure that no one had followed.
After landing, he did another round of checking, this time using Champion level trinkets that were supposed to be quite expensive. Usually, Warriors seldom possessed trinkets of such value.
Seeing that the coast was clear, he first put the trinkets away before leaning on the trunk of a tree for support.
Closing his eyes, he remembered the image of the arrogant, yet fair man that he had just met.
He went through each and every interaction he had with him, from his first "acting" episode, to the situation when he had had to get inventive to deliver wine bottles.
Sadly, come tomorrow, the man would mostly be no more.
At least, even if he wasn"t the one to die, all relations he had with him would be severed, which would effectively mean the same thing.
His snivelly appearance was gone, replaced by one of extreme sadness, grief, and frustration.
Sinking to the ground, he bent his legs and hugged them before starting to rock to and fro.
If anyone happened upon him right now, they would definitely think that he was a child who had been kicked over and over again.
As Daneel watched him while standing right in front of him, he felt such a sheer amount of pity that he had to resist the urge to go forward and console the kid.
Even though Percy had shown no reaction whatsoever due to his sudden question, eking out the truth using that method hadn"t been his main objective.
Instead, it had been to use that moment after distracting him using the sudden question to use the Mind Control spell on him.
Using the spell to make Percy think that he was alone, he had followed the kid to this place.
Daneel had already had experience fooling trinkets like those which Percy had used, so the system had taken care of them.
After that, he had watched as the kid"s mask collapsed, resulting in him crumpling to the ground.
He looked so…wretched. Pathetic. Miserable.
Clearly, his childhood had been much worse than he had let on.
Daneel was still unclear regarding the exact reason behind him choosing to collapse now and go into this state.
However, he could tell that his suspicion had been right.
Something was wrong.
Frankly, he was also quite shocked at the kid"s acting abilities.
There hadn"t even been a single hint before!
Of course, even now, it could be that this collapse was only something Percy allowed himself to have whenever he exited the sect, and that it had no relation to Daneel"s plan.
Just as he was about to wish that there was some way to confirm the exact reason, he heard a low voice chanting something in the clearing.
Percy"s head was between his legs, while his hands were hugging them. Obviously, the sound was coming from him.
Wanting to find out what it was, Daneel tiptoed towards him, even though he knew that the spell would make it so that Percy wouldn"t notice him even if he stomped around.
As he got close and finally heard the contents of the chant clearly, he stepped back with his mouth hanging open with shock.
"My Mother, Kelsey. My best friend, Bonnie. My half-brother, Bruce. My half-sister, Overa. My…"
This list went on and on, spanning over 40 names, but what had shocked Daneel so much was the last one, and what followed after.
"…My Master, Gonver. My Master, Novrain. He killed them all. I must live long enough to kill him."
Over and over again, this chilling chant reverberated in the clearing.
With each time it repeated, his tone seemed to get stronger and stronger.
Finally, when he stopped the rocking along with the chant, his eyes when he looked up were bloodshot.
He seemed to be imagining an image, and his expression was filled with such bloodthirstiness that Daneel wondered just how this kid was even sane.
This only lasted for a second before vanis.h.i.+ng, replaced by that same punchable, snivelly kid that Daneel knew.
No…that Daneel had thought he knew.
Calmly getting up and dusting off his clothes, he took out a communication trinket and said, "It"s done, father," before taking a deep breath and teleporting away.
Daneel didn"t follow him this time. Instead, he stayed in that glade as he sank into deep thought.
Either the Mad Doctor had found the locating trinket that Percy had left behind and threatened him to do this, or this entire thing had been a plan by the Mad Doctor to draw him to the Sect.
Both possibilities had reasons for being correct or wrong, but Daneel decided not to dwell on that now.
No, he first had to decide what he was going to do. Should he skip this mission as the Mad Doctor was definitely waiting for him?
As Daneel thought about it, he remembered what he had promised himself after that close shave with death from Ashah.e.l.l.
He was equipped with a system that had Peak Champion complexity level. He wasn"t even walking into a trap. If he still decided to act safe, then he would just be an undeserving coward.
As Daneel made his decision, his eyes seemed to s.h.i.+ne like two torches of blazing fire in the darkness.
Those sc.u.m were going to die, but the Mad Doctor wouldn"t know what hit him.
As for Percy, a strange thought appeared in Daneel"s mind regarding him, and he couldn"t even tell where it had come from.
Even though he had only taken on the kid as a disciple on a whim, maybe it was time to really act as his Master.
A Master who treated his disciple"s problems as his own.