After a few moments during which Daneel had to endure being stared at by all his trusted confidantes, he chuckled and asked, "What"s wrong?"
This made the room look at him as if he were playing a joke with them.
What was wrong? Everything was!
Eloise was the one who finally stood up and decided to make her doubts known.
"King Daneel…a lot is. First of all- falling out with the Black Raven Kingdom. Why would that even happen? Especially after you went to all that trouble with the Olympics and the memorial to show them that we are worthy, and that we are their friends."
This statement made Daneel frown a bit, as he remembered those two plans of his, which he had to admit were some of those which hadn"t worked out as he wanted them to.
One of the objectives of the Olympics had been to show the Black Raven Kingdom the power of Lanthanor, as they were a people who respected power over all else.
That might have succeeded, to a degree, but it hadn"t been enough.
Secondly, when those soldiers from the Black Raven Kingdom had been killed after entering his Kingdom on the orders of the black-robed man, Daneel had had a ma.s.sive memorial built in their honour on that land, before freely allowing any and all citizens to visit so that they could spend time at their loved ones" grave.
That had increased goodwill towards Lanthanor, but, again, it hadn"t been enough that the Black Raven Kingdom would be content with being ruled by him.
Basically, these were some of the most obstinate people that Daneel had seen in a long, long time.
He had kept that in mind while coming up with this plan.
True, they were obstinate, but over time, he had learned how their minds work through observing them.
"Don"t worry about that part, Eloise. That isn"t even the most interesting one. Faxul was the one who suggested this in the first place, by the way. To have a public falling out so that he can act as a spy for us. The Kingdom of Axelor is just too tightly closed off for us to access. And I"m not comfortable having him do whatever he wants without knowing what he"s up to. Also, I need a method to enter his Kingdom to obtain a few things. We have to admit that those two plays weren"t very effective, Eloise. All they did was make goodwill rise regarding Lanthanor, while they also started to believe that we are powerful enough to be regarded as "friends". When I made those plans, I guess I didn"t understand something very important."
This impa.s.sionate speech by Daneel made everyone lean forward with very serious expressions on their faces.
Of course, there weren"t many in the room in the first place, as Aran and Ca.s.sandra were still in the "March through h.e.l.l". Robert was up next, but all he knew was that the other two commanders had gone on some special training.
Yet, the atmosphere was filled with expectation regarding what exactly the King"s plan was.
"You know, it reminds me of a quote of-…Er, one that I read somewhere. "Of the people, by the people, for the people." My calculations and plans before always only thought of them as normal people, just like those from Lanthanor. Yet, the Black Raven Kingdom is unique in the fact that they have a specific ent.i.ty that they pray to- the Ancient Black Raven, who was the one that is supposedly responsible for their existence. As such, they will never expect some sovereign ruling over them who hasn"t been acknowledged by their ancestor."
This made expressions of realization appear on the faces of those present.
Right! The Black Raven citizens definitely were pretty unique among all those in Angaria.
They were also said to be the most bullish and stubborn in the continent, which explained why this was something that had changed for a long, long time.
But…what did all this have to do with the King"s plan?
They soon got their answer.
"So…what I"ve developed is a two-p.r.o.nged approach. First, they need to be content that the one ruling over them is worthy. And, second…they should want to be ruled by me."
Huh? How were they supposed to do that?
The King continued with a smile on his face.
"My plan already accomplishes the first thing, anyway. The second one is, however, the most important. You see, I suspect that with the stubbornness of these people, even if they see me somehow being acknowledged by their deity, they might still feel that I"m an outsider. The second part is to make sure that that doesn"t have too strong an impact on the takeover. So…to accomplish it, we will be using one of the strongest emotions of mankind: desire. We will show them the stark contrast between being ruled by me, and being ruled by someone else. At the end of it, I want them begging to be under me. And, don"t worry, if everything goes well, that will happen."
…
A few hours later.
Seeing Faxul sleeping peacefully on his bed in the Kingdom of Lanthanor, Daneel couldn"t help but feel happy for him.
He was leaning against a wall, and as he raised his palm, a black hole kept appearing and disappearing, just like the one that his friend had used to attack him before.
Indeed, seeing it being used in a weaker form had allowed him, and the system to study it, and, hence, he could replicate it.
Only…it was a Hero-level spell, so all Daneel could do was copy it.
This had been pretty shocking, although he should have expected it after seeing the tremendous power in that visual message.
Initially, the plan had been to see if he could add this to his a.r.s.enal.
However, after playing with it for a bit, Daneel had realized that that was not a viable plan, at all.
The problem was that it took too much effort to cast.
As it was a high-level spell, if Daneel used it, it would suck away all his strength, leaving his Mageroot fatigued.
The only reason it was viable for Faxul was that he was casting it without using his Mageroot, at all. Apparently, as he had already guessed, it was induced from the world because of the awakened bloodline.
Hence, unless that was possible, it would simply be a waste to use this in battle. There were much more effective spells that Daneel could use that took much lesser effort.
Yet, Daneel wasn"t too concerned about this. He had already decided that he would obtain one, himself, and he had added a subroutine where the system would also let him know if it found any data that would allow him to make that happen.
Right now, all he felt was…immense happiness for his friend.
Using Drakos"s spell, he had been there when Faxul had turned down that old man.
He had seen him be tempted, and then realize that he wasn"t unworthy, after all.
What more could Daneel want?
He had always wished all the happiness and prosperity in the world for those he had cared about, and thus, he was ecstatic for his closest friend.
When he had heard that speech from Faxul about what he had realized, pride had welled up inside Daneel, and he had almost felt like a happy parent who had just seen their child succeed in something.
Only, after that, they hadn"t been able to listen to what the old man had said, and Drakos had said that there was always a message that was exclusive to bloodline possessors.
Except for the Emperor, whom they had trusted, no one else knew the contents of the message.
Daneel had found this intriguing, and he had decided to ask Faxul when he woke up.
A few minutes later, Faxul did get up and look around drowsily before spotting a gla.s.s of water and some food- meat and vegetables, on the bedside.
There was also a Ker Gem which shone faintly, and he actually took that into his hands and started absorbing Energy, which allowed him to throw off the deep fatigue that he was feeling in his bones.
After a few seconds, he finally looked up to see his friend waiting for him.
Smiling slightly, he said, "I"m sorry about the-"
Waving his hand, Daneel cut him off and said, "No apology needed. I found out the power of a bloodline possessor, and you killed one of those sc.u.m who invaded us. No loss, no foul."
This made Faxul smile broadly, and as Daneel looked at that smile, he realized that it was more… freer than he had ever seen.
Yes, this change was definitely a delight to see.
At this point, Drakos spoke up in his mind.
"Young King, your friend should begin his breakthrough to Champion right now. Typically, Peak Warriors go through the Baptism to awaken their bloodline, using which they smoothly step into the Champion realm because of the resonance they feel with the essence of the G.o.dbeast. Right now, everything he has absorbed must still be very fresh in his mind. Hence, it is the best time."
With a nod, Daneel repeated the same to Faxul, who said, "All right. There is no place I trust more, so I"ll just go right ahead."
In each and every Champion Path text, the clear method to break through was written down after one found the thing they wished to use, and developed the resonance.
All one needed to do was connect with it, and…bring it forth.
Daneel had seen it happen once in Raul"s case, but he hadn"t been paying too much attention.
Now, he prepared to carefully observe everything.
Faxul simply folded his legs on the bed and closed his eyes, following which he breathed out calmly.
At the same time, as Daneel observed with his elementary vision, he saw all the elementary particles around him swirling in circles around his friend, as if he was influencing them in some way.
After a moment, all of these particles rushed into his body, changing each and every part of him in ways that were too complex to even look at.
Just trying made Daneel get a sudden headache that made him stop. As he clutched at his head and looked to the side, he heard Drakos chuckle and say, "It is better not to gaze at any mysterious ascension that is facilitated by the World, Young King. Even in the time of the Empire, we had no idea how it worked, and those who tried to comprehend it often went mad. Well, it does make sense. After all, if we could figure it out, we would be able to raise any normal man to become a Champion."
Daneel could only nod, and by the time he looked up, it was all over.
Faxul had just gotten up, and as he raised his fist and clenched it, a light "boom!" Could be heard.
The bloodline was a way for one to become a Champion in the Fighter Path. And, clearly, the power of a Champion level Fighter…was definitely nothing to scoff at.
"Drakos, what about the Mage Inheritance that will let him bring out the power you showed me? If I"m understanding this right, then it means that he can only fight like before, right? With smaller black holes, and greater strength?"
"Yes, Young King. The Inheritance…is, sadly,-"
"In the third seal."
"Yes."
Daneel said this with his teeth gritted, but he relaxed when he remembered the plan he was going to set into motion.
There was no time to waste. So, walking forward, he said, "Congratulations, Faxul. But we can talk in-depth about this later. I just want to say that I"m proud and very, very happy for you. Now then. Regarding the plan you proposed…"
…
2 days later, King Safiros was sitting in his throne room, finalizing the plan for the "Lanthanorians" who would invade his Kingdom, soon.
In a week, it would all go down.
Because all of the citizens were heavily isolated, they would never be able to tell the difference between real Lanthanorians and the fake ones he was going to use.
His word was law, and if he said that they were from Lanthanor, then they were.
However, at that moment, a voice suddenly appeared in his head.
"Stop everything you"re doing, and go to the border of your Kingdom. An old friend of mine awaits. If it"s really him, things will become much, much easier. That old bird always was pretty crafty."