"So, the Baptism has already started?"
"Yes, he must be experiencing it now. However, like I told you, we can pull him out, and then let it start again. Only…subsequent tries are always harder, for various reasons. Do you wish to pull him out?"
Pacing around the room, Daneel kept glancing at Faxul, whose eyes were twitching as if he had had a bad dream.
He had just asked Drakos what he was supposed to do to give Faxul the choice, but he had received this answer.
Daneel had been thinking that he would have to just wake Faxul up, or something, following which his friend would definitely choose to face the danger.
Yet, as he heard this, Daneel hesitated.
How sure was he of Faxul"s answer?
The answer was: pretty d.a.m.n sure.
So, Daneel shrugged and said, "Let him stay. I"m actually pretty confident in him. You don"t know how determined he was back when we were in the Academy. I think he must have worked harder than even me, because he had lower potential and comprehension. He would always be the one burning the candle at both ends. The others would mock him, saying that he wouldn"t get anywhere with that potential no matter what he did. Of course, he didn"t listen. Even now…I believe that that rebellion streak of his will help him."
Even though Daneel said this, he had to admit that he was pretty tense.
He wished that this would be the case, but the power they were talking about was at such a level that Daneel could guess the difficulty of the Baptism.
So, getting an idea, he asked, "Can we watch?"
If a baptism was taking place in one"s mind, and if they could Mind Control him or gain access to his consciousness like they had done before when he had s.h.i.+fted bodies, then couldn"t it be possible that they could view what was going on?
Drakos answered after a few seconds.
"Yes, I think it"s possible. Let me be honest with you. This is actually a…secret spell made by father, who wanted to see who the people whom he was going to trust really were. After all, in the Baptism, there can be no lies. This spell can only be cast if there"s a two-level difference between the target and the one casting. We"re lucky, because he"s a Warrior and I"m a Hero, meaning we will be casting the spell using Hero-level complexity. Shall we get started?"
Daneel couldn"t help but marvel at the Emperor"s shrewdness as he heard this.
This was like the ultimate test that would establish once and for all what kind of person one was. So, even if it was a breach of privacy, Daneel felt that it was the right thing to do, especially if pa.s.sing the Baptism would mean that the person could wield power at the scale Daneel had seen.
If such people went rogue, the consequences would be catastrophic.
Sighing, Daneel said, "Yes, Let"s do it."
…
Meanwhile, Faxul had just spit out blood and gotten to his feet.
Daneel was still standing there, looking at him with a disgusted expression on his face, while darkness surrounded him.
As he recalled his best friend"s words, he couldn"t help but feel disgust, too, at first.
It seemed as if Daneel"s voice had some sort of hypnotic power vested inside it, which affected him at a subconscious level and pulled out all the thoughts that were tucked away there.
Useless.
Pathetic.
Unworthy.
Kill yourself. Kill yourself. KILL YOURSELF!
His mind seemed to have been pulled into a quagmire, in which he had come face to face with everything he had felt, but didn"t want to deal with.
Clutching his head, Faxul fell to the ground.
His life, up until this moment, started to flash through his eyes, with each and every incident in it magnified.
…
Meanwhile, Rayen was frustratedly staring at the communication trinket that connected him to the King of Lanthanor.
He was pacing around on the border of the Kingdom, unseen by all, while still holding that bag.
He had been so excited to fulfill his end of the bargain so that he could meet his son. After all, this had been the second condition of the King back when he had outed himself as the Devil: to bring all the Champion Paths and other important information he had from the secret stashes of data that all Heroes had.
Yet, now, no matter how much he tried, he couldn"t get through to the King.
After all, how could he know that the King had entered his best friend"s mind and was currently viewing the latter trying hard not to shatter into a million pieces?
Sighing and thinking that there might be something or the other he must be occupied with, Rayen decided to wait, but as he did so, he took out a communication trinket shaped like a stick figure.
He lovingly caressed it, remembering how he had obtained it.
Little Raul had just joined Engraving cla.s.ses when he was just 8 years old. This…had been the first trinket he made, with the help of the Engraver, who had remarked that he had excellent talent.
Raul had proudly presented it to Rayen, who had chuckled and activated the trinket, himself, before keeping it, saying that this would be how they would communicate.
Since then, whenever he had had to contact Raul, he would use this trinket.
Even when Raul had made that decision to end the lives of all those sons of daughters of Heroes, Rayen had heard it from this trinket.
Out of a whim, he said, "Raul, I hope I see you soon."
To his shock, a message was heard from the other end, which made him jump back and stare at the trinket while wondering whether he was dreaming.
"Dad? Where are you? I thought you were on lockdown by the Head?"
…
Daneel was trying to make sense of his own feelings while he saw his best friend collapsed on the ground, clutching his head in pain.
That wasn"t all that Daneel could see. Apparently, this spell was designed to peer into one"s consciousness. So, Daneel could clearly see what was going on inside Faxul"s mind in the form of images that surrounded his head.
Right now, the memories of his before disaster had struck the Black Raven Kingdom were being played out. They were all so happy and filled with love, up until the point where he had had to flee so as not to be killed.
At that point, his mind had somehow spun it to make it look it was his fault.
There was even a fake message from his dad saying that he was responsible for all of what was happening.
It was then that Daneel realized what was happening.
The essence of the G.o.dbeast was twisting his memories, with the goal of making him succ.u.mb to inner grief and give up.
It would be like…if one"s own life was taken from them and made into a movie, where they were depicted as some kind of villain who was responsible for everything bad happening to all those around them.
Soon, the first scene of their meeting was going to come- of that time in the Fists of Justice Training Hall when Daneel had gone to the kid who had looked calm unlike the others and introduced himself.
And…it was twisted like all the others. It looked more like Faxul had seen something in him and come up to him to become his friend, just so that he could use him to his benefit.
Was that how Faxul really saw these memories? Or were these all just tricks being played by the G.o.dbeast"s essence?
Daneel had no idea, but he felt very sad as he saw Faxul in this condition.
His friend had always gotten the short stick in life. Even when he had been a child, his potential had been damaged by his dad to keep him safe.
Since then, he had always had to struggle for each and every thing. True, he had gotten fortune later on in the form of becoming the King of the Black Raven Kingdom, but what had happened after that?
He had gotten manipulated by the Empire Spirit, and had even opted to kill himself just to help Daneel.
It was like a tale of extreme tragedy that no one would like to read, because it would make even them feel sad.
Yet, what was really admirable was his att.i.tude of not giving up.
Daneel could sigh and wish that that would help, and give him this power which he truly felt he deserved. If that happened, there would be no one happier than him.
Not wis.h.i.+ng to watch any longer, Daneel asked the system to keep a monitoring spell that would trigger when Faxul was in real danger. Then, he could return to pull him out.
He had just asked Drakos and found out that the signs of that would be clear, so he knew that he didn"t have to worry about not being here when he was needed.
As soon as he opened his eyes and took his hand off of Faxul"s shoulder where he had placed it before to enter his consciousness, he received the messages from Rayen.
It seemed that the Head had stopped the lockdown, finally.
However, Daneel felt no excitement. All he felt was worry.
Only, it seemed that this process might take days because the sense of time inside Faxul"s mind would be skewed by the essence which would want to have as much time as possible to whittle down its target.
Looking at Faxul"s p.r.o.ne body one last time, Daneel teleported away.
…
Right after Rayen had received that message, he had had to take a few seconds to verify that he hadn"t gone crazy.
Wasn"t Raul supposed to be a prisoner? Why would a Peak Warrior allow a Champion enough freedom to access a communication trinket?
It was definitely strange.
Yet, the urge to talk to his son was too strong.
"Raul?", he asked hesitantly, and as he heard the reply, he couldn"t help but gasp in disbelief.
"Yes, dad! It"s me! Where are you? I"ll come over there. The King did say that you might come to visit us soon."
"O-on the outskirts of Lanthanor…"
Barely a second later, Raul had appeared in front of Rayen with a smile on his face.
"Sorry I"m late, I had to give an a.s.signment and then co-"
Interrupted by a bear hug from his old man, Raul smiled and hugged back.
Rayen was close to tears. He had already dispelled the darkness around his body, which was something he only did in the presence of those he trusted.
Right now, he just looked like a normal middle-aged man who looked ecstatic that he had been reunited with his son.
But, hastily stepping back, he said, "Raul, did you escape to come here? If so, you should go back! That King can kill you whenever he wishes!"
This made Raul chuckle and say, "Don"t worry, dad. That man…has us both twined around his finger. He defeated me in fair combat, dad. Look."
Saying so, Raul raised one hand and made an image appear using light elementary particles.
It was of him being bested in the span of a few seconds by the King of Lanthanor.
Seeing this, Rayen couldn"t help but stare at Raul with wide open eyes.
"Hey. So the Head left, huh?"
At the same moment, Daneel teleported behind the Hero, startling him and making him point at Daneel as if he were a ghost.
"Y-you…"
Usually, Daneel would have found this a.s.suming. Seeing the image still playing over Raul"s hand, he could tell that it had just been revealed that he could beat an Amateur Champion without using any tricks.
However, he wasn"t in a good mood, at all.
So, he just walked forward without hesitation and took the bag from Rayen"s shoulder while the Hero continued to stare at him.
He had already received the message that Rayen was coming to fulfil the second condition that Daneel had given back when they had reached an agreement.
Without hesitation, he plunged his hand inside the bag, as if he was rummaging around, while in truth he was touching all the books so that the system could record them.
After that, as he stood up, he said, "System, tell me if there"s any important information that I need to know right now."
The answer made Daneel pause, and raise his eyebrows.
[Scanning. Champion Paths found. Research materials found. Journals found. Total Number of Books: 264.
Scanning for relevant information.
A journal from the time of the Empire has been found which theorizes a Champion Path that can, potentially, defeat any and all that exist. However, this Champion Path is based on one that is purported to be the weakest in existence, as one that is chosen by Peak Warriors as a last resort if they don"t break through by other means. Would host like to hear about this information?]