No one was hearing her, at this point, and it was only Joselyn"s insistence that was keeping her going.
Never before had the King been disgraced in such a manner.
Never before had he seen defeat and death from this close a distance.
No one knew his thoughts. His eyes were fixed firmly on Vohler, still defiant, and even though the grandeur that he usually commanded was severely diminished in this current form of his, the people of Angaria knew that he would never go so low as to beg for mercy.
So why should they? The pleas stopped, and so did the prayers.
It was as if his eyes which were still filled with the fire of hope and resistance, even at this juncture, had acted like catalysts which made all the people watching stop everything they were doing and look right at him.
As they did so, they saw all of his actions, so far, play in their minds. His promises, his words, his actions, all of them were laid bare for them to see, and of course, the people of Angaria reached the same conclusion that had led to them coming to this area in the first place.
He…was their rightful ruler.
At once, many turned in the direction of the old lady, who gulped when she felt so many gazes fall on her at the same time.
She finished uttering the words, and began to raise her hand to sign the writ, and finish the unification of the nations of Angaria.
"Kill him! Why risk him using the Grand Inheritance the moment its official?"
"Vohler! What the f*ck are you doing? Just crush his d.a.m.n head!"
"Vohler, have you gone crazy? Just do it!"
In front of the Peak Heroes who had been helping Vohler until now, their leader had suddenly frozen in place.
They had been watching complacently until now, knowing that Vohler would act at the last moment and make sure that the King"s wish to become the ruler of the continent would not come true before his death.
That was the order sent by the Church, and that would also be the best revenge they could get for the organization which had been thwarted by him so completely during the event that had destroyed Axelor.
Yet, at this pivotal moment, they saw that Vohler wasn"t moving. They knew that he was the most protected individual in the Artefact as he was its owner, so they didn"t even bother moving to try and push him. Instead, they tried to shout louder, but no change came over the man.
The sovereigns and the Heroes of the Order all watched with blank minds which had been filled with so many emotions until now as the old lady began to sign the writ.
At that moment, Vohler finally seemed to snap out of whatever had taken ahold of him. With an expression of anger, he raised his other hand and began to move it in the direction of the King"s head, as if his objective was to crush it so thoroughly with his own strength so that nothing would be left.
More gasps were heard as the people saw this happening, and many were convinced that the King would die before his wish came true.
By now, it seemed that it was a foregone conclusion that his death was certain. After all, what could one do when their entire body had been minced to nothingness, while their Mageroot was also so taxed with everything it had done so far that it couldn"t move a single elementary particle?
The King would die, but he would die after becoming the first ruler of an Angaria unified as one since the ancient Empire.
Even the sovereigns didn"t know what to think. The last two who were holding out with hope also began to get ready to give it up, and at that exact moment, the sign was finished.
All gazes changed direction to focus on the King, so that they could see the last moments of his life. He had lived proudly, and he was going to die proudly.
Any moment now, Vohler"s hand would meet flesh and plow through to kill the King who had taken up a permanent place in the hearts of so many. Any moment now, the last hope of Angaria would die, and the continent would be doomed to the fate of being destroyed so completely that its name would be lost forever.
Only, it was at that moment…that something miraculous happened.
A hand appeared, out of nowhere, to catch Vohler"s and stop it in its tracks, and at the same time, the King"s head, which had been lowered slightly until now in Vohler"s hand, rose.
A glorious smile was present on his lips, and because it was so out of place in the situation he was in, all those who were watching felt astonished.
The reason behind the Daneel"s smile was, of course, a notification that had just sounded in his head.
[Final Backup Plan: Delay the Target successful. Energy reserves close to exhaustion.
Primary Objective: World Domination has been achieved. All criteria met for system upgrade. System upgrade has begun.
System upgrade has been completed. 19 plans created to save host"s life. Host is requested to choose one that is to be deployed.]
Daneel didn"t need to think to give an answer.
"Use the flas.h.i.+est one."
[Plan selected. Deploying.]
Daneel didn"t know what to expect.
And for once…the system actually did something that shocked him just as much as it scared the wits out of the entire continent.
While Vohler stood there, trying to make his hand move to finish the job, the sun that was s.h.i.+ning at the highest point in the sky became eclipsed, and in its place, an unimaginably gigantic figure that looked like it was flying in the air peeked through the clouds, before sending down a foot like a G.o.d to flatten all 31 Heroes in front of him.