As soon as Daneel heard that sentence appear from the mouth of the short man, relief flooded through him.
That was it?!
In the worst case, Daneel had been expecting that maybe his collaboration with the Empire Spirit might have gotten exposed, which would definitely lead him to be subjected to many awkward questions, before probably getting killed. Of course, the chances for this were slim, but he couldn't rule it out completely.
Next to that, his other biggest fear was that they had gotten to know that he was in possession of some very top tier inheritances such as the Art of the Withering Leaf and the Basilisk's Breath. He knew just how much the Big Four valued inheritances, so he had no wish whatsoever of having their greedy eyes fall on him.
Or, it could also be possible that some of his schemes might have been exposed, which would once again lead to some very unneeded suspicions.
Thankfully, none of these were the case.
Ever since that moment when he had exposed his power when pushing away and abolishing that veil of death, Daneel had been prepared for someone to come along like this.
After all, it was pretty incredible when one thought about it. It had only been a couple of years, but he had somehow risen from being a normal Human to a Peak Exalted Warrior.
He knew that ever since the Olympics, many people must have already been keeping an eye on him due to that spell he had used which had saved the day. Just like Marcus and the Matron had said, he was already under suspicion of having a very high-level inheritance, and the only reason he hadn't been bombarded by stray individuals on the Path to Power was that Marcus was supposedly protecting him in return for him saving his son.
Now, with this very grand exposure of his baffling strength, Daneel knew that he would definitely be under their scopes so much more.
Yet, what he didn't understand was why this was so appealing to those from the Big Four, who were in possession of inheritances that must definitely have similar methods of making something like what happened to him possible, even though they might need a lot of materials in the process.
Knowing that he would soon find out the answer for that, Daneel feigned panic.
Seeing this, the thin man started to laugh loudly, while the 15 elves who had been frozen finally gathered their bearings.
However, instead of kneeling or showing some sort of respect, one of them asked, "Are you from the Big Four?"
Bang!
The next second, a hole appeared in the head of the elf, making him slump to the ground lifelessly while the other 14 watched on.
"That is not the tone to use when you are speaking to someone whom you should pray to as God. Kneel, you monkeys."
Surprisingly, it wasn't the thin man who did this. It was the short one, who had gotten an expression of extreme irritation as soon as he heard the tone of the elf.
Daneel had been hoping that at least one of them might have a clearer head which he could appeal to, but seeing that that wasn't the case, he sighed, realizing that this was probably going to result in so much more pain for him.
Well, there would just be that much more pain to inflict when he got his chance.
Hearing this, the 14 elves initially panicked but let go of their egos.
They kneeled low, but the short man raised one hand and made force bear down on their backs, making them kneel even lower, until their legs finally gave out and made them lie on the floor on their stomachs.
This made a smile finally appear on his face, as if he was happy that their heads were no longer above his.
From this, Daneel could gather that the short guy was definitely very touchy about his height.
"Which of you drafted that request that you sent to the Big Four?", asked the short man, while the thin one just folded his arms behind his back and kept watching while standing beside Daneel.
"Pray that you never get on his bad side. Later on, when we ask, you better give the right answer, or he will be giving you the full course of the King of Torture."
Hearing the thin man say this, Daneel raised an eyebrow, as he had been thinking that if anyone could hold that title, then it would be this guy who had been taking so much pleasure in inflicting pain on him.
As if reading his mind, he chuckled and said, "Hey, I just like seeing others squeal! But that guy… that guy lives to cause pain. For me, it's just a pastime."
By this time, the short man had reached the 14 elves
"A-All of us," answered one of them in a shaky voice, which made the smile on the face of the thin man extend even further.
Daneel got a bad feeling, but even before he could form another thought, loud screams suddenly started to reverberate in the Royal Court of the Palace, following which a very disgusting smell of burning flesh reached Daneel's nose.
With horror, he saw that these 14 were being roasted alive.
"That's what they get for impetuously demanding the Big 4 to step in and stop the alliance. Cretins should learn to beg, not demand."
The thin man said this under his breath, which made Daneel finally understand the whole situation.
These 15 stupid elves must have known about the unspoken rule in Angaria which stated that alliances shouldn't be formed. With their puffed up egos, they must have somehow obtained a method of contacting the Big Four and used that to send an impetuous request that brought these two here.
It was quite obvious that what these Heroes hated more than anything else was having to see people who they considered to be much lower than them acting as if they had any value in front of them.
After an entire minute, the screaming finally died down before stopping. Daneel had been observing the short guy, and just like the other one had said, he could tell that the exultation and pleasure that he was receiving from hearing the screams was on another level.
In the case of the latter, it had just been leisurely enjoyment, but for the former, it seemed to be like a drug with which he could not live without.
Yes, the shorter one was definitely the more deranged of the two.
Why were so many Champions and Heroes so f*cking crazy?
This question appeared in his mind, and Daneel resolved to ask Drakos about this later as it looked like his interrogation had just begun.
This time, he was supposed to be prepared, so as he saw the short guy cast the spell to cause flames to appear around him just like he had done with the others, Daneel immediately conjured a barrier which protected him.
However, with a frown, the short man waved his hand, following which the flames grew to a blinding intensity for a brief second thereby shattering the barrier before returning to a more normal temperature that started to make Daneel sweat.
"Resist, and you'll regret it. You already heard the question. Answer."
The temperature constantly increased, which was indicative of the sweat on Daneel's body that soon started to have to run through multiple blisters that appeared on his skin due to the heat.
He was gritting his teeth hard in an attempt not to scream, but he couldn't resist anymore.
Once again, he told himself the same things as before, while his screams reverberated in the room, replacing those of those elves.
"Alright, I'll tell you!", he said finally, just as some of his blood started to evaporate from the heat.
He had judged that this might be the level of pain at which people usually cracked, and it looked like that was the case, as a smile appeared on the face of the short man as soon as he heard this.
Stopping the flames, he once again adjusted the monocle and waited for the answer.
"I… found an inheritance on the grounds of the Academy by fluke when I was studying there. I didn't use it until it became King, as I was simply not in possession of enough resources. It was in the form of a square block of stone that had strange inscriptions on it, and I didn't even know what it was until a Ker Gem fell on it by chance.
"After that, a lot of information entered my mind as I touched it, and in that information was a specific location east of here where I found a pool that had some sort of shining liquid inside it. I entered that pool and almost went crazy because of the pain, but I endured and walked out a Peak Exalted warrior. The slab is even on my body! Please take it, and leave me!"
Daneel made sure that when he spoke, the answer still contained just a tiny bit of pride, as a King would definitely not completely break down even in the face of agonizing pain.
Both of these Heroes spotted that, but they ignored it for the moment after hearing the answer.
They started to whisper among themselves, but Daneel could guess what they were talking.
He had spun the story and also gone to huge lengths in order to make it look authentic, going so far as to even make that fake pool and leave behind the residue of the same liquid that had caused him to jump forward in power in that cave where the Black Raven Empire Spirit had been hiding out.
Of course, he had worked with Drakos while coming up with this, and according to the Ancient Dragon, there were a few eccentric people who left behind locations like these. Apparently, many of them should have been found in the history of this continent, so it wouldn't be too surprising if one more was unearthed.
As for the stone slab, again, it was made with the help of Formation Master Drakos who assured him that it would definitely fool any Hero alive.
A few seconds later, the thin man walked up to Daneel and searched his body before extracting that stone slab with glistening eyes.
"For your sake, I hope that at least a little of the Ker Roots or materials that were used are left behind. Otherwise, our trip would be for naught, which would make us VERY pissed."
Hearing this, slight alarm passed through Daneel's mind, as he finally realized their goal.
It was so god damn simple! It was just simple greed!
By now, he knew that Ker Roots were very rare materials that would even be lusted aster by Heroes. Hence, it really was a mystery regarding how the Mad Doctor had obtained one, but that question was something he would have to leave for another day.
According to Drakos, Ker Roots were so beneficial that both Heroes and Champions could use them effectively to train, which meant that these two simply wanted resources for themselves, instead of coming here after discovering something earthshattering such as some of Daneel's true secrets.
The thin man immediately teleported away, and returned after two minutes with a deep frown on his face.
Looking at the short guy, he shook his head, which made the flames return on Daneel's body.
Of course, there was no residue of Energy left at all, as Daneel had absorbed it all during his breakthrough. If there was any left, there was no way that he would have left it lying around in that location.
What now? Surely, they weren't contemplating killing him, right?
The sentence uttered by the thin guy under his breath confirmed Daneel's suspicion, and made him wonder whether he would be really exposing some of his secrets today after all.
"Screw that mandate. Let's just kill them."
The short man nodded, following which the flames started to increase to that blinding intensity again that would definitely result in Daneel's body turning into ash.
"STOP!"
A voice suddenly interrupted them, while a barrier appeared around Daneel, protecting him.
A man with broad shoulders and bulging muscles appeared in front of him, and as the two Heroes saw him, anger appeared on their faces.
"You two have already established that there is nothing for you here. Leave him be. If not, I, Marcus, will have to step in."