The next day, when Percy got up, he grimaced fiercely, feeling his entire body burning with pain.
Looking down, he saw that he was in a healing solution special to the medical bays of the Big 4.
Even though his flesh seemed to be slowly knitting itself together, it's mangled remains made him wince visibly and look away.
What god had he offended to undergo this kind of torture?
The last thing he remembered was hearing some word, which had made him feel so frustrated that he had promptly passed out.
He was in a solitary room, so, with nothing else to do, he thought back to what had happened.
Yes! He had been assaulted both in body and mind, and he had even been dragged back into that phenomenon!
Hadn't that blonde-haired kid said that one could willingly leave it if they wished?
Wait…he had also cautioned him not to go.
As his thoughts turned awkward, he left that line of reasoning and shifted to the memories of being beaten up.
There really had been…something peculiar in the way the opponent had moved.
A secret seemed to be hidden behind a veil, and all he had to do was reach forward and remove it.
Alas, no matter how much he tried, he got nowhere close to accomplishing that.
He still kept at it, and just when he thought he was going to understand something incredible, a nurse walked in holding a data trinket in her hand.
Rather than her appearance, it was what she said that affected him.
"Percy, right? Due to the injuries you suffered, your body had an adverse-"
ADVERSE!
Yes, it was that damn word uttered in that damn innocent voice!
Endless frustration blanketed his mind, making him faint once again and enter the land of dreams, where he, for some reason, dreamed of being beaten up by someone with blonde hair.
…..
Meanwhile, in the tower so high in the air that no living creatures seemed to be able to live around it.
Ashahell was still frozen in place, as if he had become a statue that would only rouse itself if there was an absolute need.
As he felt his communication trinket vibrate, he moved his hand, making dust fall to the ground before he answered.
"Sect leader! There is an urgent report that that scam actually wasn't one! There are hints of a core inheritance of unknown level!"
A core inheritance?!
Suddenly, his countenance changed as he vanished from where he stood.
Appearing in the lowest floor of the tower, Ashahell only paused for a second to get the location before setting off once again.
The entrance to the cave that was referenced by the report made him pause, as it brought back many memories.
10,000 people, most innocent, herded inside like lambs to the slaughter.
A black-robed man, prepared to kill them to obtain absolute power.
Him, arriving just a little too late to stop the massacre.
So many dead bodies, littering the cave like they were nothing but useless garbage.
Husbands holding wives, parents holding children, children holding their siblings.
All lifeless- to result in that golden globe.
In his fury, he had apprehended the black-robed man, but the power was just going to go to waste.
So, because he had to give meaning to all these lives that were lost, he had taken it for his own, and it had changed his life forever.
However, that was all in the past. Many things had happened since then, and he was now preparing to bring to Angaria a massacre the likes of which it had never seen before.
Alas, if only it weren't necessary.
Not letting himself be shackled by his memories, Ashahell put on a stern expression before entering.
Inside, he immediately reached the lake using his advanced elementary vision to pinpoint all the historical changes that had occurred in the elementary particles.
Indeed, there had been some kind of phenomenon here, and it was very likely that it was a remnant from the old ages.
There had been more than a few inheritance sites found where those who had left them behind must have certainly been eccentric, as all of them had certain rules that had to be followed.
Also, it wasn't strange to find inheritance sites that moved around.
More than anything, the thing that convinced Ashahell that this was an inheritance site was the presence of hints of magic that was at the peak Champion level.
Surely, no one could fake something like this, that too just to scam a few hundred measly Ker Gems.
"Keep an eye out for the inheritance site. Take a full report of the one who found it. If he looks like he's lying, use the oath. But if he's not, leave him be after taking the report. Also, take detailed reports from everyone who was here."
Sending this message, Ashahell sighed and looked around once again.
Flashes of dead bodies once again appeared in his mind, but they were nothing compared to what was going to happen.
Right now, the only thing he wished was that this would be over soon.
"Send me the routine report on the King of Lanthanor."
Sending this one last message, he traveled back to the top of the tower.
….
As Daneel and the rest were happily recounting the Ker Gems they had obtained, they were shocked when they heard hard knocks on the door of the single room before hearing the words, "Travis Éclair? Open up! We are here representing the sect leader!"
As all of their expressions first turned into those of thieves who had gotten caught counting their loot, the shameless sect initially tried to hide the bundle of Gems somewhere.
Finding no suitable hiding place, they simply shoved it into a pile of worn laundry, hoping that no one would want to go through the stink.
When the door opened, a strict man with buzzcut hair came into their vision.
"Travis Éclair? Follow us to give a detailed report regarding the inheritance site you found. You can keep whatever you earned. The sect leader simply wants a full and truthful account of everything you learned. You will be compensated in return, too. As you know, you will be sitting in the 'Chair of Truth'. Lie, and we will have no choice but to use your oath to force you. Understood?"
When the other 4 heard only Daneel's name being called, they initially felt relieved before feeling guilty due to this.
However, before they could regain their worry and show their care for their friend, Travis replied in a strong voice, "Of course! Please lead the way!" before walking out without hesitation.
Only, before he left, he left one line.
"Touch my share, and you'll suffer the fate of Percy."
With a gulp, none of them dared to touch the Ker Gem pile.
….
Being lead to the tower in the middle of the sect, Daneel's eyes lit up with excitement, but he tried to cover this up.
He had been hoping that this incident would make a situation for him to arrive here, as this was the destination he had to arrive at sooner or later if he wanted to fulfill his goals in the Sect of Hedon.
That entire scam beforehand had been set up by having the system develop a spell for the simulation that it was now capable of. Any capability of the system could be made into a spell, and this had come in very handy for Daneel many times before, too.
Because of the system's upgrade, the complexity of the spell was pushed up to peak Champion level, which actually made it feasible that there was no foul play on Daneel's part involved.
As for the little fun he had with Percy, it was simply by manipulating the spell to trap him while happily going gung-ho on him with his fists.
Entering the tower, Daneel asked the system to scan as much as it could.
However, he was stumped when he heard its reply.
[Complexity of formation exceeds system's complexity. Please upgrade system to rectify. Upgrade Cost: ????]
Another upgrade!
As the one who had been charged to bring Daneel saw the blonde-haired kid get an expression of deep frustration and hopelessness on his face, he wondered whether he was guilty of something.
However, Daneel was just devastated due to the fact that another upgrade had popped up.
And-it seemed that even the system wasn't aware of the upgrade cost.
[Pre-requisites haven't been met for host to be allowed to upgrade the system to the next level. The upgrade is locked.]
What the hell?
Seeing that he was entering the tower, Daneel forcefully put thoughts like these aside.
In a way, it actually made sense. He had needed an upgrade to take full control of the formations in the Kingdoms, and because the Big 4 were organizations one step above, it was logical that it might require another upgrade.
However, he was too moody to notice this now.
After being led to a solitary room, he was sat down in an ancient-looking stone chair.
Thankfully, as he had expected, the system could control his heartbeat and other aspects about him so that the Chair wouldn't pick up that he was lying.
After he was done giving a fictitious report about how he had found that spot by chance, he was made to wait in a room that reminded him of the interrogation rooms back on Earth.
He asked who he was supposed to wait for, but those who had brought him didn't answer.
A few minutes later, a man with a long face wearing black robes with a golden trim opened the door and sat down in front of him.
Daneel didn't know why, but the hairs all over his body stood up in alarm when he looked into this man's eyes.