The explosion was so loud that even Daneel, Faxul and the unnamed person, who had paused outside the Kingdom of Axelor along with the Head so that the latter could heal Faxul as a courtesy, heard the loud sound and turned around toward the direction of the capital.
Slight tremors could be felt from the earth, and for a second, a flash of light could also be seen lighting up the sky further in that direction.
With his view of the entire continent from above, the Head could clearly see and understand what had happened.
The capital of Axelor had always been shaped like a ma.s.sive dome, decorated artfully with the long bones of whatever the strange creature was that this Kingdom used for this purpose.
Right now, right in the middle of it was a large, smoking hole, through which the emptiness where the Throne Room had once been could be seen.
Furrowing his eyebrows, the Head turned to fix his eyes on Daneel, who adopted an expression more innocent than any he had shown before.
It was almost as if he was as surprised as the rest due to this development, but after the Head glared at him for a few moments to make him remember what he had said before, Daneel finally raised his hands and said, "All right, fine. I couldn"t resist. He left his Palace wide open, so I sneaked in a very talented a.s.sa.s.sin who placed some explosive trinkets. I made a promise. During the Olympics, he was the one who had released those mosquitoes that killed hundreds of people. Today, I took revenge. Promises are meant to be kept, Head, and you can be sure that I will keep the one I made for you, in the same way that I kept this one."
Seeing the sentence uttered in a dead serious tone, the Head didn"t know what to think for a few seconds.
He was sure to face backlash for protecting someone who had killed the King of an enemy Kingdom, but it remained to be seen what kind of effect this would have on Axelor.
That would be the key factor: whether this attack would cause widespread death. After all, a.s.sa.s.sinating Kings and Queens was something that happened a lot in the history of Angaria, but it didn"t always mean that that resulted in a Kingdom becoming weak. On the contrary, a few times, stronger individuals had taken the mantle and taken revenge on those who steered the a.s.sa.s.sination, which set in stone the fact that if one wished to follow this route, then they had to be ready for it to backfire on them.
For some reason, the Head could tell that Daneel wouldn"t be suffering from this problem. Also…it was good to once again see that he would keep his promise and that he could be ruthless when needed, which was a trait that was all too rare in the modern batch of disciples in the Big 4.
So, just sighing and shaking his head, the Head said, "All right. This is it, right? You"ve got nothing else planned that"ll cause major changes in the Central Continent? Because although I"m Head, I am answerable to the Council, you know."
The Head only asked this out of exasperation, thinking that the answer would definitely be "yes", and that he could let out a breath of relief.
Yet…when he saw the King sheepishly look down and focus on his feet like a shy maiden, a bad feeling came over the Head.
Sure enough, a few moments later, the King of Lanthanor raised a finger and spoke in a slightly abashed tone.
"Err…just onnnnneeeee little thing…"
…
In Azmar, the army which had been rus.h.i.+ng in the direction of the citizens who had been reported to have spoken to the person recognized as the Evil King Daneel were stopped in their tracks as they, too, turned east to see the gigantic fireball, and the subsequent smoke that arose from the spot where the Capital was certainly located.
Everyone stood in awe as they witnessed this, and even though they didn"t know it, they could tell that they were witnessing something that might just change the history of their Kingdom in unfathomable ways forever.
Only…the citizens who had been promised revenge by the King of Lanthanor, and who had been told by Lazon beforehand to look there to see the word that had been given to them kept all had smiles on their faces, along with s.h.i.+ning tears in their eyes that fell as they knew, before everyone else, what this spectacle meant.
The King was definitely dead.
Remembering his twisted face when he had merrily referred to the purges that had killed their loved ones, they felt satisfaction surging through their minds which made them once again fall to the ground, just like before, when they had bent the knee.
If they had been doubtful of the decision they had taken before, it was no longer the case now.
There was nothing more effective than seeing someone promise something impossible, and then do it right in front of their eyes, right away. This was capable of instilling a kind of belief that couldn"t even be explained using words.
"Hail the King…"
"Hail the King!"
"HAIL THE KING!"
It started as a whisper, but it soon turned into full-blown cheering which shocked those of the army into regaining their senses, as they wondered why this group of people were chanting this slogan with extreme expressions of satisfaction on their faces.
They would have gone up and asked, but the next moment, they received immediate orders from the commander in charge of them to make their way to the Capital as soon as possible.
So, with no option but to think that maybe, this was a chant for their own King, whom they didn"t know to be dead, they left, while the shout continued to echo throughout the town.
…
Chugging down a bottle of wine casually while seeing the chaos wrought by him, Elanev"s master smiled as he felt the communication trinket in his pocket vibrate.
"Any problems?"
Hearing the calm voice of the King of Lanthanor, the old man humphed and said, "During the Empire, it was an established fact that if you left something up to Senior Fists of Justice, it would be done no matter who came in the way. Like I told you, it was a piece of cake."
As Daneel heard this, although he had seen the explosion for himself, he let out a breath of relief.
Of course, the old man wasn"t where he was, so he couldn"t see this, but he did hear it.
"I have to say that your plan is right up there among the top in what I"ve seen from the most talented generals during the Empire. h.e.l.l, even the Emperor would have struggled to make one as elaborate as this one. It was a genius idea to smuggle in an additional Empire Spirit in your mind along with yourself when you entered Axelor, as Arnold would be pretty startled on seeing you head to his precious parts of the Grand Inheritance. If he had detected an additional being, he would have been on alert, but all he would be able to tell from the feedback of his formation would have been that your mind has the complexity level of a Hero. And, of course, no one could have used this opportunity except me. All you needed to do was drop me off in the mind of some random person with a grievance, along with the set of trinkets that you specially made. I"m an expert in swaying people to accept me, so all it took was 10 minutes. Hehe, it definitely helps that there are so many stories from bards, even in this Kingdom, about powerful masters who sometimes grace people with no background to make them strong enough to get revenge. He thought I was someone like that, too, and after that it was a simple issue of taking his permission to use his body, putting his consciousness to sleep, and using the Ker-root based trinket made by that Dragon to bypa.s.s the formations in the Palace of Axelor so that I could place those special explosive trinkets in the Throne Room. He was completely occupied by you, so it was a piece of cake, especially as Drakos"s trinket did wonders. Of course, wherever his stone pedestal is, it"s unharmed, but as a major part of his consciousness has perished along with the King, he will have no option but to go to sleep for an extended period of time. That"s the major negative with partial possession. If the body dies, that part of the consciousness disperses, too, so the original one is often injured beyond salvation. And when asleep, Arnold is no threat to you, or anyone. You really hit this one out of the park, didn"t you?"
Daneel felt a small amount of pride as he heard this, along with the sting that still hurt him as he had had to use the precious Ker Root he had obtained in the Sect of Hedon again. Alas, Drakos had said that it was necessary if a trinket capable of bypa.s.sing formations of the level that would be defending the Palace in the absence of the King needed to be made.
This had been the last layer of the plan meant to remove Arnold from play, as he was just too dangerous an opponent to keep around. Hence, Daneel hadn"t hesitated too much before deciding to splurge.
He was fine with not ending the Empire Spirit, for now. All he needed was for Arnold to be completely incapacitated, and with the death of King Safiros, that had been accomplished.
"What next, though? You can"t enter this Kingdom again, as they"ll be turtling up using everything they have. Even if they can"t finely control the Hero-level formations, they can activate and deactivate them. So there"s no way in. This part of me will have a merry life here, and I"ll give you constant updates regarding everything that"s happening, but you know that I can"t do more."
Of course, as Daneel was always an advocate of getting more out of every plan he made, he had also used this to place a permanent spy in Axelor in the form of a part of Elanev"s Master. The idea had come from the man"s ill.u.s.trious past, where he had lived multiple lives all over the Continent in this method.
Sadly, Daneel was too busy now with a different matter, so all he could say was, "Just keep me posted. I"ll decide when I can spare some time for it."
"All right. Time to go make this boy a man, then."
As he saw Senior Fists of Justice cut off the connection, Daneel refocused his gaze on where he was.
This was actually a place that gave him the feeling of déjà vu.
Months ago, when Faxul had been crowned King, this place in the sky had been used to allow everyone to see everything that was going on. Just like then, all the people of the Capital were gathered in the streets, while display trinkets were also showing the scene all over the Kingdom, and even all over the Continent, with the help of the Network.
Two people stood in the air, and as the sun reached its highest point in the sky, one of them, who was wearing black robes with life-like Ravens embroidered on them, stepped forward and spoke.
"People of the Black Raven Kingdom! The King of Axelor, who is now presumed to be dead by the attack of an unknown force, used a spell to control and abduct me. He used this same spell to control the commanders of the army, too, who ordered our soldiers to unite with that fell Kingdom in that way. At this moment, I bow my head in shame, for I failed you."
Without giving the people a moment to react, he continued.
Pointing a finger beside him, he said, "If it weren"t for this man, our Kingdom would have been doomed. Our people would have been slaughtered for simply making their opinions known, and the free will and spirit that we hold dear would have been trampled on, making us unworthy of being the descendants of the Almighty Black Raven. All those who stood on his side were right: he was speaking the truth, and he is the one you all must thank for saving my life, and allowing our Kingdom to be free from the clutches of someone who would have reveled in destroying everything we stand for. In every way, he has proven himself to be a better King than I."
As he said this, King Daneel walked forward and laid a hand on his friend"s shoulder, as if to tell him that he shouldn"t feel so.
This honest display of friends.h.i.+p and camaraderie warmed the hearts of many, but suddenly, the gathering was interrupted by a loud sound that made the hearts of almost all the citizens gathered here beat faster, as they remembered when they heard it last.
"SQUAK!"
It was the Protector Raven!
Descending from the sky with the same grandeur it had shown back during the ascension of King Faxul to the Throne, which was something which was still fresh in the minds of all those present, the enormous Raven stepped onto the invisible podium in the air on which the two Kings were standing.
Seeing it appear, a smile came on King Faxul"s face, and he walked forward with a smile, announcing, "Even the Protector Raven could not save me, as it looked like I was doing everything of my own free will. I-"
As the remaining words got stuck in King Faxul"s mouth, an incident occurred that was witnessed by all which made almost everyone in the Black Raven Kingdom wonder if they were dreaming.
As King Faxul walked forward, the giant Black Raven walked forward, too, on its two legs, as if to greet him.
Only…after it reached him, it flew over him in a swift motion, which was the reason behind King Faxul choking on what he had been about to say.
While he turned around in shock to see what the h.e.l.l was going on, the might Protector Raven of the Black Raven Kingdom actually…landed in front of King Daneel, and bent its beak which was the size of a human head.
Instinctively, the King of Lanthanor raised his hand, which made the Black Raven step forward and nuzzle its beak against the King"s palm, while a resounding squak emanated from it at the same time.
"The sacred Connection Ceremony!"
"Th-the Almighty Black Raven deemed him worthy of being our King?!"
"B-but he"s an outsider…"
"Who cares? He"s done more for us than most! That"s why the Almighty Black Raven acknowledged him! He truly cares about us!"
"The one who pa.s.ses the Connection Ceremony must ascend to be the King! That is the teaching of our forefathers!"
"All hail the Almighty Black Raven!"
As shouts in this manner started to echo all over the Kingdom, Daneel asked Faxul, who was in front of him in the form of the Black Raven.
"Hey, does that really feel good, or are you acting?"
The answer, though, was disregarded by Daneel, as he had just received a message which made his mind go blank.
In the priority list of messages that should be relayed to the King, one of those on the top included any changes in the secret room in the library, where Drakos"s pedestal was.
And, according to Kellor, right now…a golden light could be seen cascading onto the floor outside the door behind which the stone pedestal stood.
The last time this had happened, Daneel had broken the first seal after the Olympics.
As excitement beyond any level he had felt in a long time surged through him, he waited with bated breath for this ceremony to end, so that he could finally, finally, FINALLY go find out what awaited him behind the G.o.dd.a.m.n third and final seal of the Empire Spirit of Angaria.