Screams of fear, gasps of shock, and exclamations of terror.
Almost all the eyes of all living Angarians had been fixed on Vohler"s figure when he had been about to succeed in his goal of ending the reign and life of the King who was the first, in this age, to achieve a t.i.tle greater than that he held.
Hence, by the time people felt a strangeness in the air and looked up to see that gigantic face, it had already almost disappeared, but what they did see would accompany their dreams for a long, long time.
Its features were indistinct, either because it was too high up, or because it had blackened out the sky so suddenly that people hadn"t had the time to let their eyes adjust.
However, the foot that it sent down was visible to all, and the moment it made contact with the last of the Heroes left unscathed by the King"s historic defense, they were flattened as if they were naught but the weakest of bugs.
It also came down so perfectly that only Vohler"s hand was left in the air, grasping the King"s hair, and as it let go after a second, it almost looked as if it was too late, and that his head would fall to the ground, lifelessly, thus spelling his end.
Only, a moment after the "Heavenly Stomp", his eyes burst open, and they were filled, to the brim, with the brightness of joy.
His head floated there for a few moments before disappearing altogether along with that foot and the Heroes who had been standing beneath it, and in its place, a mist came into being, before coalescing into a very familiar individual.
The moment he appeared…a charismatic smile came on his face, and after a moment of silence during which the people blinked, agape, all h.e.l.l broke loose.
Roars of happiness and elation drowned out all other sounds. The people of Angaria began to jump up and down, unable to believe what had just happened, but also unwilling to close their eyes, lest it all disappear like a dream.
There were quite a few who were still completely astounded, with their minds completely blank, but as the group that had already begun celebrating was so large that their cries inundated the ears of all of these people, all the questions that could be asked were driven away, and all that was left was a feeling of delight.
And who could be blamed for celebrating first, with no questions asked? They had been wis.h.i.+ng for something exactly like this so much that they had even been prepared to give up their lives to see it happen, so when it did, they wanted nothing else but to jump in bliss.
There he was, smiling wide, as if this had all been nothing but a play that he had orchestrated from start to finish. There were only a few, small things that could be noticed which indicated that that was not the case, and perhaps, it was the existence of these signs which quelled any doubts regarding whether that was really the case.
The main sign was definitely his body, which was fainter than usual, and his face, which was just a touch pale. He was also standing stiffly, as if he was in pain, and there was also a slight tightening around his eyes which showed that he was trying hard to maintain his expression.
All the Heroes in the cavern were standing, with their hearts still, as the King continued to look around at all the people below him for a few seconds.
There were only a few who had gotten broad smiles as soon as they saw him reappear, while the rest were still stuck remembering that…thing, which had appeared in the sky.
They were Heroes, and hence, they had the ability to catch a perfect image of something even if appeared in front of them for only the briefest of moments. They all remembered the exact moment it had appeared, and for many of them, the thing that they were just not willing to accept that it"s face was familiar to them.
Of course, it was that of the King.
As the seconds ticked by, they slowly started to get back to their senses. Some were so utterly stunned that they began to stammer and stutter while pointing at the sky in the image, while others became convinced that the "kid" that had just spoken to them had done exactly what he had promised. This thought made them sit and stare dazedly as they tried to understand that they would never be able to match him, and for Heroes such as them, the realization was like a punch in the face.
Right as someone was about to recover enough to speak, the Mother of Healing, whose aged face was filled to the brim with happiness, raised her had to stop them, as the King had done the same in the display trinket.
The people took a few seconds to listen and quiet down, and the moment they did, the first thing the King did was to walk in the direction of the Heroes who had been injured by Angelica.
The quality of the Artefact was such that all wounds caused by it would have to actively controlled by all the magic power available to one if they did not want it to spread and consume them, so when these Heroes saw the one who had somehow changed everything in one breath walk toward them, they could only stare with unblinking eyes.
After recovering from his own shock, Daneel had decided that these threats had to be taken care of before he could speak with the people.
Until now, his mind had been fuzzy, and he really had been completely absorbed in standing there, in a fake body, while smiling as if everything was all right.
It was only now that he was recovering, so without further ado, he decided to ask the system the most pressing question.
"So…what the h.e.l.l was that?"
The system"s answer almost made him miss a step.
[New module: World-induced Dream was created using host"s Path and the improved capabilities of the system. An illusion was created using the moment during which a vast majority had their minds fixed on one thought, thus allowing them to be manipulated, as the fixation on that thought was sufficient for infiltration.
World-induced Dream was also used to convince target Heroes that they are dead, before teleporting them to the Palace of Lanthanor.]