Although Daneel heard the message, he was too absorbed in screaming due to the pain from the headache to think about anything else, and these screams only subsided after an entire minute during which his head had felt as if it would blow up once again.
After that, though, in the silence that followed, someone spoke.
"See? He"s probably telling the truth! And my master is the only one who can possibly bring back someone who has split the consciousness into a thousand pieces! You can dissipate the attacks, guys. My King, I hope you"re well?"
It was Kellor whose voice interrupted Daneel just as he was about to check the achievement because he had managed to obtain a semblance of normalcy, making him blink and finally realize that he was lying on the ground right in front of where the monstrosity had stood before. There was a deep crater in that place, but there was no body.
The memories of what had happened after the split returned to him via the system, and he understood why his sovereigns were acting like this. He was still not in a position to think about it, so he focused on making the pain stop.
Looking around, he first had to adjust to his surroundings, and the first thing he saw was the spot where he had been strung by all four of his limbs by the silver cuffs. The cuffs were on the ground, still smoldering from the Mageroot-less spell cast by him which had enabled him to escape, and as he looked around, he saw that the Domination Corps were also here, looking at him with worried expressions on their faces. Behind them, at quite a distance away, he could see the 2000 strong army which had been about to run them over on the ground, lifeless, as if a switch had been thrown to shut them off.
Finally, as his gaze settled back onto his sovereigns, he saw them all with extremely concerned expressions on their faces, and with Eloise especially having very puffy eyes, s which meant that she had been crying continuously. Tears did not mean that one was weak, and Eloise had always been someone who had strong emotions for those that she cared for.
As for the rest, they all looked at him with care, while also glancing with animosity at the old man who had shuffled backward after seeing that Daneel had awoken.
Without answering Kellor, Daneel turned his gaze to this old man and saw that he was actually shuffling his feet and twiddling his fingers, with a nervous expression that took a lot away from the wise and all-knowing impression that one would get if they saw him.
[Core faculties have all been revived. Scan successful. No subsequent damage found.]
This was the message he had been waiting for. If there was still something wrong, he would rather that he kept lying down in order to address it without disturbing the injury by moving around, but now that there was nothing to worry about, he stood up and braced himself for the nausea that will follow.
It felt as if he was waking up from a slumber that had gone on for years, and as he righted himself without the help of his sovereigns, he once again put on the Royal air that he had come to be a.s.sociated with.
His sovereigns were standing in front of the Domination Corps, and he spoke to them all in a voice that echoed throughout the cave.
"Today… Is a day of victory, which must be attributed to you all. Thank you for not caring about your lives to come and save me. That is all I can say, and that I will never let down the expectations that you have placed on me."
He felt that this needed to be said, especially for the 200 soldiers, and after that, he addressed his sovereigns.
"And as for you all…"
Chuckling to ensure that he was back to his old self, he continued, "You aren"t getting rid of me that easy. No, I"ll be here for a long, long time, and there"s no way that I"m going anywhere. And Elanev… Yes, you will never get the credit."
There was a second of silence that appeared as he said this, but after that, the sovereigns and the Domination Corps all started to laugh.
The one they had come to save was all right, and they were still alive. These…were things to be grateful for.
Daneel smiled as he saw this. His emotions were quite complicated at the moment, but he wanted to address them later. First, he wanted to ease the atmosphere and also let these people rest. While he had been looking at them, he had noticed that most of them were swaying on their feet, because they were extremely tired from holding up those trinkets for a long, long time while thousands had been banging down upon them, ready to tear them to shreds if they found even a moment"s chance. Hence, he had wanted to first say something to address their concern, so that he could ask them to disperse.
After giving them a few seconds during which they each patted themselves on their backs, Daneel spoke again.
"What you have achieved today is momentous, and I"m so, so happy seeing all the progress that you have made. You can rest a.s.sured that I will be ramping up the methods with which you can improve yourselves, and believe me when I say that you still have a long, long way to go. You will never, ever regret the decision you made to follow me. For now, Domination Corps, disperse. I can see that you are all tired, and you need some well-deserved rest. You can also take the next 10 days off to spend with your families, and of course, keep this entire matter a secret. But be sure to enjoy yourselves to the fullest, because after that… The Devil of Balance that you have christened will be given a lot more work."
All of the soldiers had been about to celebrate when they heard the news about having the ten days off, but the king"s last statement made them all gulp and shudder as they remembered that man who was still in his pursuit of the balance which he had already obtained when he broke through to become a Champion.
Still, with smiles on their faces, they all bowed and banded together with the Mages of the team before disappeared. Daneel had already detected that the anti-teleportation barrier in this place had been temporarily lifted, and that was why he had given the order.
With this task done, he finally turned to the old man and asked, "And may we find out who you are?"
All of the sovereigns also turned to him, and they still had the anger that they had almost died at his hands just a few minutes ago.
The answer he gave… Surprised them all, and Faxul even almost let loose the attack that he had trained on the man out of frustration.
"Err… I dunno."
He said this while scratching his head, with a confused expression on his face. He was the very picture of an old man who was getting on in his years and had wandered into someplace and could not now remember just how he had done so, but none of them were buying it for even a moment.
Only Kellor was an exception, but he did not speak.
This person had displayed quite clear motives before, along with awe-inspiring power that had only been able to be defeated because of a suicide attack by the king. The Mages had been able to clearly see what had happened, and they had been convinced that there was no way that he could come back.
The only reason why they were still not attacking him… Was that he was the one who had cast the spell that had allowed the king to awaken, and he had volunteered to do so, saying that if he didn"t, the King would be lost forever.
This thought also weighed heavily on Daneel who had seen this scene in the memories that the system had shown him, so he placed his next question carefully.
"What memories do you have?", He asked, because that seemed the most pertinent question.
"He only remembers the spells that have been pa.s.sed in his mind, Daneel. Leave him be. His is a sad fate, but we can come to that later."
Daneel"s eyes widened as he heard this voice from behind him, and he immediately turned around to find the man that was the reason behind everything that had happened just now.
It was Master Jonah, and unlike his image from before, he was dressed in extravagant, grey Church robes along with multiple chains of jewelry around his neck.
He had a smile filled with pity on his face as he had been looking at the old man, but after that, when he turned to Daneel, it turned into one of pride.
"You succeeded! Ha ha, I knew that you would! Anyone who is capable of hearing that message would have been capable to defeat this guy and activate the spell that was kept here, so I had no qualms in telling you to go. I was worried, though, because it is not that simple, but there shouldn"t have been too much difficulty. You always had a knack of surpa.s.sing everyone"s expectations!I"m sorry that I did not warn you, but the whole point was that it should be extremely sudden."
Daneel nodded sheepishly as he heard this, as he had just gotten a thought.
He had just realized… That it might be a fact that he was the one who had brought all this upon themselves.
It was obvious by now - the system had the complexity of a Peak Champion, and it was only someone at that level who could intercept the message sent by his master. He had the system which was basically a cheat, and it had enabled him to do so, so the obvious conclusion that was that he, too, was at the Peak Champion level. Although that had almost been true because of his miraculous Champion Path, he hadn"t been firmly there, and that was the reason why they had had to undergo something so difficult.
Still, Daneel put aside these thoughts because he was in the presence of his master whom he could actually speak to without the Overseer listening in.
The moment he opened his mouth, a flood of questions that he had held deep in his heart for the longest time flooded out.
"What is all this, master? And how are you alright? How have you been? When is the Church attacking? What"s the Mainland like? What comes above Hero level? What happened to that guy you took with you? What-"
Master Jonah raised a hand and actually chuckled as he heard this before saying, "We can come to all that, but first, can I speak to those behind you who are also the main reason why you"ve pa.s.sed this test? Elanev, Faxul, Kellor, dear Robert, you too!, Sweet Eloise, Ca.s.sandra and Mr. Troublemaker Aran. All of you… Have exceeded the expectations placed on those who are deemed as the followers of the one who is worthy to gain entry to this sacred place. Let me tell you this: you are the reason that Daneel has pa.s.sed this test, just as much as the insane power that my disciple- and I proudly say that- has managed to acc.u.mulate in such a short amount of time. Beat your chests with pride, because it is now time to aim for even more power. You showed your willingness to sacrifice yourselves, and that…is worthy of being commended. But first- give me a moment with your King. My time here is limited, but I still wanted to tell you this: be proud of how far you"ve come from where you were when I left the continent, and keep your eyes trained on the peak."
These words spoken by this ill.u.s.trious man whom they had all always respected because he was the reason that they even knew of the Church"s plan to exterminate Angaria made all the sovereigns smile with happiness. They looked at each other and even patted each other"s backs, following which they nodded and disappeared.
Finding themselves alone, Daneel also posed the last, but very pertinent question that he hadn"t stated before.
"So…who the F*ck is in the place of the Overseer?"
With a chuckle, Master Jonah replied, "I see you"ve learned to curse! Now is the time for you to get at least a few of the answers you seek. But first, let me ask you a question. Have you ever heard of, or seen, golden lightning strike down from a clear sky?"
Daneel shook his head before glancing at the only other person in the room- the old man who still looked extremely confused.
Seeing the suspicious look on his disciple"s face, Jonah spoke, and what he said caused such shock to appear in Daneel"s mind that he wondered whether his consciousness which had just been put together might break apart once again.
"I guess it is time you finally know the truth. If you know who he is, maybe you wouldn"t be so quick to judge! My dear disciple, meet the one and only…Emperor Fenoras."